I love credit cards so much!

[disneymagicgirl]

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

Hilton across from DS...you can walk to DS.
https://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/f...-vista-disney-springs-area-ORLDWHH/index.html

Sandestin (we go here every year, sometimes twice):
https://www.hiltonsandestinbeach.com

Marco Island:
https://www.hiltonmarcoisland.com

 

[disneymagicgirl]

@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.

Thank you! I may need to give them a try this year while DD is at DCP since we will have multiple trips. Free is always good!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Back from our week at WDW/Universal. Thanks to those who helped educate me about the fastpass plus system on the MDE app -- despite horrible crowds, we managed to get in more rides than I thought we would. I still prefer the old system but I dislike the new system less than I did before our trip. Also, I'm not as good at spreadsheets as many here, but I'm estimating that credit card rewards paid for at least half of our trip (including flights, resorts, tickets, and food).

Already thinking about a possible destination for next Christmas. Criteria are warm but not beach-focused (need some museums or castles or something). I have looked briefly at cruises to Cuba but so far they are all longer than DH can get away (which is about 4-5 days) or the wrong dates (can't count on kids being finished with exams until December 20-something). Any suggestions? I need a new excuse for a new MSR

southern cali?

 

[miztressuz]

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.

I freely admit that I'm not a math person, despite me trotting out numbers every so often, but I can't wrap my head around his conclusions there. It's just a view point thing and I'm sure they're valid but this is what I see there -

Scenario 1, spend $6,000 in 5% categories, earn 30,000 points.
OR
Scenario 1, spend $20,000 @ 1.5%, earn 30,000 points.

Um, I think I'll try put that spend in 5% categories and use the other 14k in other sign up bonuses. So this is why I play the "what can I get for my spend" game. Same scenario, I spent 6k in those 5% categories regardless if I had a CF or CFU. With the CF I get the 30k points, with the CFU I'm only getting 9k points. So my conclusion is, if I can use any part of the 5% categories, I'll most likely come out ahead. Again, with the assumption that money is going to be spent anyway and I want to earn URs for it (vs. putting it to a MSR for a sign up bonus or something).

If I think about it I'm sure I can understand his point, but 20k is a lot of money to spend in a year (for us at least) so I'd be figuring out how to get better than 1.5% back on that anyway. Even so, if I know I have 20k to spend on Chase card(s) I'd still consider if I might use the categories on the CF. I'll use my earlier number of 15% of spending in 5% categories, which is only $3k - half the max, and the remainder at 1%, that earns me 32,000 UR points on the CF; that's 2k more than putting all that spend on the CFU.

It is a gamble that there will be categories you can use, but for as long as I remember there's been at least one quarter of gas and one for grocery stores. For the last few years the last quarter has been department stores with something else thrown in, one year it was Amazon, last year was Walmart, this year was Chase Pay. They've had restaurants, wholesale/warehouse clubs, and amusements/entertainment before; drug stores have popped up frequently as well. Again, just food for thought, I'm not trying to push you into the CF. If you decide the CFU is better for you, I'm all for that too. There's many ways to play this game. ​

 

[vanjust14]

Penguins and a leopard seal!

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These are just so amazing! Thank you for sharing!!

 

[amalone1013]

Penguins and a leopard seal!

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So neat!

 

[wendow]

Only if they let us upgrade or we trick them into upgrading. It is a cat 5.

I am leaning towards cancelling my package and using the points for 5 nights somewhere I'd actually like.

Remind me how many points we get if we cancel...I was thinking it wasn’t very many. Have you thought about using the cert at the Marriott village outside wdw? I thought was an option but it’s been awhile since I looked it up. Maybe it was just for FNs. @calypso726 put that one on my radar screen.

ETA. Looks like 45k points if we cancel.

 

[wendow]

why thank you! (googles Aaron Eckhart...)

He looks like someone I know too but I’d never heard of Aaron Eckhart so I googled him and that’s not who I’m thinking of. Does he ever get told he looks like anyone famous?

 

[wendow]

Penguins and a leopard seal!

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Your pictures are amazing! I told my kids where you are and showed them the pics and I’m not sure they believe me lol. It’s gotta be so surreal to be there!

 

[mmmears]

@calypso726 Thank you for sharing the photos! It looks amazing! As much as I would like to be adventurous, I don't think I'll ever get to Antarctica, so I am happy to tag along through your photos. I showed the pics to DD, who is very adventurous but can't, at this age, afford that kind of an expedition. Maybe someday, though!

 

[mmmears]

@disneymagicgirl I'm looking at those resorts and it's making me want to go back to Florida! They all look really nice (esp. the ones on the beach).

 

[amalone1013]

Another vote for Wyndham Bonnet Creek we just stayed in a 2 br there, it was larger than the DVC villas we usually stay in....the pools were very nice as well...we had a car And are annual pass holders so drove to the parks
We would definitely book it again with our UR points

Were there any special things since it's a timeshare? Like cleaning before you leave? Were there any extra fees? I'm looking at it on the UR portal now and it's showing a $98 cleaning fee. I'm debating a two bedroom with the ILs. It's $950 for 3 nights, or a little over 63k URs. The best I can find with Disney right now is All Star Music for $564 for one standard room... sorry not sharing maybe if it was one night, but not three... with no Disney rooms on the portal, unless a really good discount comes out... debating...

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Were there any special things since it's a timeshare? Like cleaning before you leave? Were there any extra fees? I'm looking at it on the UR portal now and it's showing a $98 cleaning fee. I'm debating a two bedroom with the ILs. It's $950 for 3 nights, or a little over 63k URs. The best I can find with Disney right now is All Star Music for $564 for one standard room... sorry not sharing maybe if it was one night, but not three... with no Disney rooms on the portal, unless a really good discount comes out... debating...

No we didn’t have to clean before we left...they don’t come to clean the room daily..but I actually like that.....there was a trash room right down the hall so we threw out our trash every few days..

With your traveling party it’s nice to have the common areas open for thoses who get up early or stay up late...the bedrooms are also on either side of the living area...

I saw the cleaning fee but we weren’t charged anything upon check in or check out

This was our first stay in 30 years outside of Disney/ DVC...I was apprehensive but it was great....
If you have any other questions just let me know

 

[kmc8826]

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.






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.

I am confused though what your dilemma is and maybe I am misunderstanding but a couple thoughts. Just because you have your own Hyatt card does not mean that you have to use it when you stay at Hyatt. You could still use your husband’s account and gather points that way for stays. You would get the 60k points onto your World of Hyatt when you met the spend and eventually book an award stay that way but all other stays could be through his account. Just because you get the card does not mean you would have to use it on Hyatt stays. I have the old version but have always used the CSR for stays. World of Hyatt does not even really recognize when you have the card other than bump up your level.

 

[kmc8826]

@calypso726 thanks for sharing! I am a little nervous for those penguins though...I thought leopard seals eat the penguins!

On the issue of the how make payment I don’t do auto pay as I like to control it. Maybe I should look into it though. I don’t write it down either just am totally OCD checking my account balances at once a day and sometimes twice. Between my cards and DH’s that is a lot!

 

[amalone1013]

No we didn’t have to clean before we left...they don’t come to clean the room daily..but I actually like that.....there was a trash room right down the hall so we threw out our trash every few days..

With your traveling party it’s nice to have the common areas open for thoses who get up early or stay up late...the bedrooms are also on either side of the living area...

I saw the cleaning fee but we weren’t charged anything upon check in or check out

This was our first stay in 30 years outside of Disney/ DVC...I was apprehensive but it was great....
If you have any other questions just let me know

Thanks! It sounds like a pretty good deal for our needs. We're only doing a day at Epcot and a day at MK, then headed for the cruise. We wouldn't be back at the room to rest, so it'd just be to and from the parks once. We have APs so no parking charges, but might not have a rental car, so we could just Uber. Now it's just convincing DH. I hate the idea of cashing out URs for a Disney hotel at 1 cents each, because I'm trying to stretch out the points as far as possible.

 

[AmyAnne]

southern cali?

That's an interesting suggestion. Unfortunately one of my sons was hoping to go to grad school in California but he got a scholarship from another school that was too good to pass up -- the school he chose actually will be better in the long run but its weather (very cold) is nothing like California's. We had really good weather (warm, mostly sunny) in Orlando and he actually said, "I wish Berkeley had given me more money." I think we might stay away from California until he graduates . . .

 

[amalone1013]

Yup, got a super enthusiastic response from DH when proposing Wyndham Bonnet Creek...

not.

 

[afan]

Yup, got a super enthusiastic response from DH when proposing Wyndham Bonnet Creek...

not.

If it's cheaper/less points, and you'll hardly be in the rooms I don't see why it won't work. It's not really any further and it'll be nice to nor share a room with your IL's, especially if that's the only way to stay on site for those two nights. And it's only a couple of nights, not the whole trip.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

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.

Hmm. All I can find is Bill Tracker Pro. But it’s not for phone, which is ok since I need something bigger than a phone to see it on