I love credit cards so much!

[Lain]

Thank you!!! I'm going to try it!

You may want to register your MCGC with your name and address before using it online. There should be a website url where you can do that in the fine print of your card.

 

[WVMomof3]

I just noticed this- my swa AF is due in a couple of days(was gonna call to cancel) saw in my acct on 12/5 I got 3k points for 'credit card' and then on 12/11 got another 3k points for 'action based bonus'..... what is the 2nd 3k? (I'll keep another year if I get another retention offer tho)

Did you sign up for the email promotion offer awhile back? I believe that is what it is for.

 

[wendow]

Just playing around looking for new beach places to try in the next year. This place looks great if anyone has a Marriott cert or points to burn.
2 bedroom condo for 35k/night!
Waterline Marina Resort & Beach Club, Autograph Collection

Looks really nice but we can’t use our certs here, or could we?

 

[elgerber]

You may want to register your MCGC with your name and address before using it online. There should be a website url where you can do that in the fine print of your card.

Thanks, I checked my online account, my address is in there. Still trying to figure out the best option, wonder if I can get one in person somewhere? I don't mind paying a fee (if I can find a $200 in person), and I was thinking brick and mortar could take two payments?

Anyone had issues ordering Visa GC from Sams? I know there I can do split payment.

 

[Lain]

@MrPTato - I’m so sorry to read about your family’s loss over the holidays.

@Judique - And what a terrible, traumatizing thing to happen to yours! I’m relieved to read that everyone got out alive, but saddened thinking about the recovery they have ahead of them.

Best well wishes to you two.

 

[georgina]

I'm going to assume all of you with multiple cards have a billtracker app. If not I recommend getting one. For nearly 22 years my ex handled all the finances. Then I had to put my big girl undies on and do it. I got an app and it saves me! I also had to figure out how to balance due dates. Gone were the days of one of us getting paid every week. So I wrote down every pay day I had for the next year so I could balance when my CC's we due vs my mortgage, etc.

Adulting is fun, LOL.

You know what they say about assuming! I am old (and old fashioned). I still use a paper check register, and a small notebook I write in all my bills as the statements come. I also have all my credit cards on auto-pay the full balance on the due date, so I just have to make sure I have enough in the checking account to cover them. I have 18 lines on my notebook page (includes electric, gas, and water bills) and 8 of those cards I use regularly. Planning to get rid of 4 of the other cards in 2019.

 

[WVMomof3]

My highly sophisticated CC bill tracker is an index card. lol It was a 3x5, but I just had to bump up to a 4x6. Every month I do a new one and list all the balances due with the date. And most I don't actually pay until the day before, sometimes day of if I forget. I do have nightmares about missing a date. I do need to come up with a new solution, but I like having it visual within reach so the notecards have worked for me. Also use a paper check register still too. I guess I am not much different than you @georgina, just no autopay set up on any of my Credit cards.

 

[Haley R]

My highly sophisticated CC bill tracker is an index card. lol It was a 3x5, but I just had to bump up to a 4x6. Every month I do a new one and list all the balances due with the date. And most I don't actually pay until the day before, sometimes day of if I forget. I do have nightmares about missing a date. I do need to come up with a new solution, but I like having it visual within reach so the notecards have worked for me. Also use a paper check register still too. I guess I am not much different than you @georgina, just no autopay set up on any of my Credit cards.

Wow you guys are detailed. We don’t write any of our due dates down since they are all auto pay anyway.

 

[Lain]

Let me do a quick report:

The very best thing about it was DD3. She was the most perfect age for the characters. Young enough to truly believe they were real and that she was a real princess after visiting BBB as well.

There are no words for her sheer joy and excitement over everything. We would step off an elevator on a random floor and there would be Tiana, just waiting around for whomever might come by. Hattie would retell the story of Tianna at the elevator all week. Those spontaneous character interactions are a big PLUS over the parks. It was the best 3rd birthday ever, I'm pretty sure. My oldest DD didn't go to disney until age 5. My boys went every year since birth, but boys just aren't the same. lol

Our dining team was slow to warm up, but after a few nights we formed a connection and were sad to leave them at the end of the week. Palo was amazing for brunch. Dinner wasn't as good as I remember but still better than the dining rooms. The main dining room menus have never impressed me, but I am not an adventurous eater. The food is always lukewarm, which doesn't help. Others rave about the food, so it may just be me.

Tortola was a lovely day. We did cane garden bay. Beautiful country. Still a mess from the hurricane. My hubs took the boys zip lining (not an excursion) really early and was back by 10am so we could do a beach day.

St Thomas was a nicer beach day (amenity wise) but more crowded. We went to Secret Harbour since it is less well known, but there were 5 ships in port, so you can imagine how busy everywhere was that day.

Then things went downhill, weather wise. It was expected to be stormy in the Bahamas, which we heard from guests of the NCL ship. They informed their guests that they'd likely have to skip their private island and stayed in St Thomas extra to make up for it. Well we didn't hear anything from DCL. We went through the storm (6/10 on some sea scale which means 13-20' waves), pulled almost up to castaway cay, and didn't dock. Turned around and tried to get us out of the rain for a sea day. Well, it was miserably windy, overcast, therefore cold, and sea day number 4 of a 7 night cruise. The activities they threw together to do onboard were terrible...basically repeats of same stuff all week. Aquaduck was closed due to high winds. Pools were like wave pools and ended up closing multiple times that day for poop incidents. Too windy for foosball and mini golf. It really was not a fun day. Worst part is that it was my DS9's bday and he had looked forward to spending it on CC for months, as he loves it so much.
To be fair, DCL can't control weather. But they really need a contingency plan for eastern sailings that can't get into CC. 4 days at sea and 2 port days is just not acceptable for the kind of money you pay. I'd never book that itinerary by choice. Maybe they need to look at nassau as backup or something. On a western, you have 4 port days, so missing 1 isn't so bad. Eastern is pretty miserable.

On top of the missed CC day for our last day, the entertainment staff was just not like usual. They seemed sort of blah, burnt out, or something. Definitely didn't seem to have the energy they usually do. Of course, that sort of set the tone for the cruise, since their job is to engage guests. The onboard entertainment wasn't very good. The signature stage shows are good, but most guests have seen them multiple times. I do still like them. However the other acts...magician, comedian, etc....not very good. One night was jump ropers. Now, they could do some neat tricks, but not exactly what adults want to see at 10pm when they have kid-free time. One comedian didn't make us laugh at all. None of us...and we are a wide range of ages.

We did the VGT rate and had 2 connecting rooms, with extended balconies on deck 5.

Balconies were huge! Bad thing was the rooms only slept 3 each, so no pullman beds. That meant the boys had to share a bed, DH and I shared, and the girls each took a sofa bed. They boys sharing isn't ideal, but then when DS10 got sick, poor DS9 had to sleep on the floor so as to avoid his germs. We've never had a room without pullman or Murphy beds before, and it wasn't good. However, we did like 5th floor forward alot but I prefer aft. Will likely book 5th aft in the future. We also like 7aft.
Our stateroom host cleaned well, but that was it. She didn't even introduce herself. I had to introduce myself and ask her name. lol. Usually I spend a good bit of time chatting with the stateroom hosts and we form a connection. Not this trip. She didn't call me by my name the entire time. Weird. Didn't put princess sheets on DD3s bed for her bday or anything either. Guest services sent up a bday pin for DD3 on her bday, but not DS9. Luckily, I was able to go down and get him one. I decorated myself on each of their respective days, and we did the sweet shop for a treat and to sing. The dining team also sang at dinner both nights.

My DS10 got sick on Thursday and didn't get out of bed, so that was a bummer for him. He was able to get up Friday, but was still not feeling too great. That put a damper on things.
DD19 met some friends at the 18/20 Society and spent most of her time with them. She did come eat dinner every night, luckily.

Overall, we had some special moments but it was our 5th DCL sailing, and out of 5 sailings it is ranked number 5. I have said the last few years that DCL still has that extra touch that the parks have been lacking lately. After this sailing, I am concerned DCL is losing the special touch as well. That said, I am hopeful it was a fluke, between the weather, sick kid, missing our fave port, holidays....and next time will be back to normal. There were alot of upset people in our cruise group, so I know it wasn't just me. I think DCL needs to change up the dinner menus, shows, and entertainment ASAP since so many guests are repeat cruisers. Then come up with a contingency plan for missing a port on an eastern. Those things would really freshen it up.

As for our travel, we had a layover in ATL going down. Didn't bother to do the lounge b/c of changing terminals. There were alot of options right near our gates so we just did that. Hauling 6 of us and our stuff to another terminal didn't seem like fun. Both of the flights were really turbulent the whole way, so that was scary. Stormy night. ATL to MCO was delayed. Meanwhile, that cheaper Frontier flight I was too scared to book was a nonstop and took off BNA to MCO on time.

I was so thankful that DH insisted on staying in the airport that first night. I had wanted to drive to the port. Well, after the delay we were ready for bed upon arriving at MCO and being at the Hyatt was soooo nice, even for the 24k URs it cost me. The junior suite was huge and newly remodeled. Seems 10pm is a good time to depart MCO b/c it was really empty and quiet in there at that time. The next morning was a madhouse, lol.

We didn't do the allowed restaurant for priority pass in TPA either. We were terminal C and the restaurants were A and B. It required going through security again so we didn't bother. I think overall, PP isn't really a perk I can factor into the cost of my annual fees for CCs.

This was our first time renting a van to go to port. It went really well. We paid $90 through hertz (after using 600 points for a $30 coupon). DH dropped us and the luggage at the curb. Porters were there to help. We went on in and checked in at the counter. He returned the rental car and hopped the shuttle back. Just had to take his picture and we boarded. We had boarding group 3, but arrived later than we ever had and they were already boarding group 12, so we had no wait. It was actually awesome to not get there early since the weather was not good for swimming anyways. However, when we got off the ship, we had to rent a car again to get to TPA. I will never rent a car after the cruise again. We waited FOREVER to shuttle to the rental agency.

Well, that is probably way more than anyone wanted to know. Happy to help others plan and answer questions though!
We hope to do a Med or Alaska next. I'd also like a southern carib, but the summer prices are for those and the Jan ones don't work with the hockey schedule.

@wendow I think I'd almost consider one of those super fancy new ships for your family over DCL. I think there will be alot more for your kids to do at their ages. Maybe you can post the price difference for your dates and that would help me decide what I would do if I were you.

@disneymagicgirl - I’m sorry to read about the way your Disney cruise ended. But can I say that you have a seriously good looking family? Your DD3 is completely adorable, especially when she’s all dressed up as a princess. And your DH looks like Aaron Eckhart or something.

 

[elgerber]

Wow you guys are detailed. We don’t write any of our due dates down since they are all auto pay anyway.

Yeah, I don't track anything either. Almost everything is on Auto Pay and I often pay my CC bills in full, before the auto pay.

 

[wendow]

Wow you guys are detailed. We don’t write any of our due dates down since they are all auto pay anyway.

All our bills are autopay but I still like to see it all on paper. So I write out everything each month. Like I posted last night, this month I have 19 cards with balances to pay (used an offer on pretty much all 13 of our Amex cards!) so writing that all out just made me realize that I think I have too many cards in use.

 

[hsmamato2]

Did you sign up for the email promotion offer awhile back? I believe that is what it is for.

ah! maybe that's it.... thanks!

 

[hsmamato2]

I was super excited to see the new promo yesterday. They had the same mid year last year and we racked up. When DH stays in the same town more than one night I have him move hotels so it becomes 2k/night. Whoop!

ETA: I can suggest some good hilton hotels for ya'll to do 5 nights to max your points if you want. Not sure how many you have though. Love the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort, Hilton Marco Island (though they just remodeled and it shot up in price), or stay in downtown charleston for a long weekend. The one by DTD is great too if you are fine with offsite and I hear people like the bonnet creek property.

which disney Springs Hilton? I'm very interested in the other locations you mentioned too

 

[hsmamato2]

Perfect way to put it. I was raised always looking for the best deal, so sometimes I struggle with this

when I find a redemption that suits me I forget all the advice I read everywhere about 'value' and jump on it. The only true value to me is doing what I want to do,and getting it free or cheap!

 

[snugglebug]

I don't use the tiny check register, but I created one in excel that I print out. I use a three ring binder. The front part is my register sheet so I can track the money in/out of checking acct. The back part is notebook paper. Every month gets a page where I write bill, due date and amount. Then I divide those between the two paychecks and further between the payment method (which CC or NFCU bill pay). I mark them on the sheet as I pay them so I know I don't miss one. As much as I'd like to ditch the paper, it's nice to flip back years and compare that electric bill or things like that. The only time I missed a payment was due to giving birth lol It was only one bill and one time. Every few years I pull out pages, staple them together by year and file them, in case we ever want to refer to them, and I have in the past, though rare.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Unless my numbers are wrong, I don't think that's necessarily accurate. I've had the CF for years and I had consistently generated close to 20k UR each year; and until Q1 this year, I had never maxed out a 5% category (and haven't since!). Now, that spend this year got split onto new cards so my numbers don't look the same as before, but I mathed out a CF vs CFU a few months ago and this is what I came up with:

I feel that if you can utilize at least 2 quarters of categories the CF is probably the better option. Here's an example with a random amount of annual spend on the card:
$3000 on the CFU at 1.5% gets $45 cashback (4500 UR)
$3000 on the CF with half being 5% and half at 1% gets $90 cashback (9000 UR)
So even if you don't max out the quarters, if you can get at least 15% of that spend at the higher return you'll come out ahead with the CF.
($450 @ 5% + $2550 @ 1% = $48)​

Again, this is all going to depend on if you can utilize the categories and what % of your spend is going to that card. If you think the categories won't be used, then the CFU is a solid earner. The ideal is to have a CF and CFU so you don't even have to think about 1% earn on anything again, but depending on where you are in the journey that's probably not advisable to take a 5/24 slot on a CFU It's hard to know now with Chase not releasing the full year calendar anymore, but Q1 is Gas Stations, Tolls, and Drugstores. Most likely you can make a nice dent in that with one or more of those. As if you didn't have enough already, just something to think about if they don't complete the PC from the SM.

I should see if I can find the articles I read....https://thepointsguy.com/guide/chase-freedom-vs-chase-freedom-unlimited/

This is where I kinda went, well I guess the CFU is better
"As you can see above, even if you earn every available bonus point with the Chase Freedom, you still come out ahead spending less than $2,000 a month on the Freedom Unlimited. I’ll assume that most people (myself included) aren’t able to max out every quarter, which is something you’ll need to consider when deciding for yourself."

I would use gas stations, as I go to Costco for gas and can't use any of my amex bonuses there. But there are some categories I don't think I'll spend much in. So I'm not sure. I got the message to call in to switch. I guess I have a few days to decide.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Which app? I have not found one that I can use for all accounts

I use BillTracker for Iphone. I use the free version. It alerts me before due dates. It sets up recurring bills, I can put in bills that happen every once in awhile, etc. I've liked it.

 

[chattadisser]

which disney Springs Hilton? I'm very interested in the other locations you mentioned too

@disneymagicgirl mentioned the Hilton Bonnet Creek and I will say we stayed there and at the Waldorf Bonnet Creek and I'd stay at both again in a heartbeat. I would probably pick them both over any of the Disney resorts except a couple of the deluxe's and those would be more due to sentimental reasons than anything else. Both Bonnet Creek properties had nice big rooms and, to me, the amenities are just as plentiful as the Disney resorts. They also still seem to understand the hospitality side of their business more than Disney does anymore. I would say the drawback to staying there is the bus service, while a nice large motor coach, stops at each park so depending on which park your going to it can be quite a trip. If it works out price wise/point wise I'd stay there.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Okay color me stupid.....why are ya'll cutting your credit limits. I have a CRAZY amount of credit to my name between my personal and business accounts. I wanna say I have $150k out there, LOL. I am carrying $8500 in credit card debt I'm paying down. And I've got $300k mortgage. So my thought is the more credit I have to me, the lower my ratio is and the better my score. My SPG Biz account I think has a $25k limit, I have several other cards around $15-18k. What's the perk in having lower lines?

I'm outside of the chase 5/24 and will be for awhile. If y'all are lowering to get Chase cards.

 

[mmmears]

I looked back on the Hyatt hotel website and can't find the message I saw yesterday about how the World of Hyatt card offer is ending the first week of January. So... anyone know what that means? Did they extend it? Are they just keeping it quiet now? Ugh. Not sure what to do now. We really, really want it in DH's name attached to DH's Hyatt account. But he won't drop to 4/24 until March or April. Do I FOMO now and get it myself (which will be a hassle since our upcoming stays, etc. are in his name)? I'd appreciate any advice.

and again.they keep sending me that email offer.... I'm over 5/24 and don't qualify but I want it!

Same dilemma here with DH. I'm under 5/24 but was planning to grab a CSP this week. Now I'm not so sure.