I love credit cards so much!

[Haley R]

You are not guaranteed a Disney resort even if Hotel Canary thinks it is a Disney resort. If you want to post your dates, I will take a look. @disneymagicgirl knows Priceline better than me so I'd want her opinion too.

That's what I'm most worried about. I don't want to go through all of this and not even get a Disney hotel. Those dates were January 28-31. The other 3 nights for our trip had no Disney hotels listed on Hotel Canary. Thank you!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

It's a 6 night trip so we would do a 3/3 night split. I'm just so nervous lol. We would like to be in the Epcot area, but I have a feeling it'll be AKL.

Oh lol. I was just skimming the thread while at basketball earlier and I figured this was a short bonus trip HAHA. Then I take back my advice...do what you feel is best lol.

 

[Haley R]

Oh lol. I was just skimming the thread while at basketball earlier and I figured this was a short bonus trip HAHA. Then I take back my advice...do what you feel is best lol.

Lol that's okay. It all happened kind of fast

 

[wendow]

Oh lol. I was just skimming the thread while at basketball earlier and I figured this was a short bonus trip HAHA. Then I take back my advice...do what you feel is best lol.

Hey, I was at basketball tonight also I skimmed and also thought the trip was just a few nights lol.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Anyone try this? I have a hunington right up the street. I have a DBA (though it might be expired now) I don't have an EIN but I have a state tax id. I'd likely open the account in my business name if I can find all the stuff. Seems easy to get $750 from reading.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/oh-m...ngton-bank-500-750-business-checking-bonuses/

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Hey, I was at basketball tonight also I skimmed and also thought the trip was just a few nights lol.

Whoa...eerie coincidence!! Were you playing basketball or watching?

 

[wendow]

That's what I'm most worried about. I don't want to go through all of this and not even get a Disney hotel. Those dates were January 28-31. The other 3 nights for our trip had no Disney hotels listed on Hotel Canary. Thank you!

I just looked and I think it is AKL. Definitely post to the thread about these deals and see what those experts think. I do think it is a Disney resort. The amenities line up. It's always a risk though!

 

[Haley R]

I just looked and I think it is AKL. Definitely post to the thread about these deals and see what those experts think. I do think it is a Disney resort. The amenities line up. It's always a risk though!

Thanks for your help. I tried posting on the Priceline thread and didn't hear back so I'll post here and on the resorts board. Here are our 4 options:
BW and BC (3/3 split) = $2482
Priceline deal and BC (3/3 split) = $1738
BW and CBR (3/3 split) = $1937
BW and CBR (4/2 split) = $2137

 

[MrPTato]

Just remembered its a new year...time to get a $100 SW GC with the Amex Gold.

 

[wendow]

Whoa...eerie coincidence!! Were you playing basketball or watching?

LOL, I am far too short for basketball I was watching. My boys are playing. Were you playing?

 

[wanderlust7]

@wendow
Thanks for posting! It sounds like we would like it better than Paris Disneyland even if it was more work to get there. I have Mariott points, Hyatt points, MR’s and UR’s. Hotel wise would you recommend start trying to build more UR’s? Should I get a Hilton card? I have zero Hilton points...not even (gasp) a member of their award program.

I am going to *try* to figure out how to make my MR's work with ANA since I have a nice supply and it's almost 20k more on Delta for us from Denver (appreciate you looking that up!!) which across 6 people is 120k more points. SOOO, I need to work on the other options first...

I couldn't believe my dh agreed right away today. I thought for sure it was just a 'feeling him out' kind of convo. But nope, he was like, 'sure, sounds fun' Of course, he followed it up with, 'as long as we can spend all our time at Disney'. We will see about that Just for reference, third baby was a two year conversation here lol!

I'm going to start looking at hotels tonight. I'm interested in what is on the monorail, that is non-Disney. All suggestions are welcome from those who have been, are going or just have looked into it

The most popular (among Americans) non-Disney hotels on the monorail are the Hilton Tokyo Bay and the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay. They're next to each other and right across the street from the monorail station. We stayed at the Sheraton in an Ocean Dreams room. It was lovely. Getting to the parks was super easy - walk out of the hotel (it's a big hotel), walk across the street, up the stairs, get on the monorail (one comes every few minutes). They have a shuttle to the station too, which is a bit silly, but people take it. I aimed for the Sheraton over the Hilton because they have coin laundry. In the end, it was slightly cheaper too. Their restaurants are really expensive, but the pastries in the cafe (for breakfast) are delicious.

This was before I got into churning, so we paid cash (gasp!). I think URs with CSR at 1.5x might be good, depending on how you value your Marriott and Hilton points. To give you an idea (but keep in mind this was over 2 years ago), we paid about $300 for the Saturday night, $180 for the Sunday, and $140 for the Monday. This was in early June, which is not a super busy time. Prices dropped closer to check-in, so I would be hesitant to book anything nonrefundable early unless it was really low.

 

[wendow]

Thanks for your help. I tried posting on the Priceline thread and didn't hear back so I'll post here and on the resorts board. Here are our 4 options:
BW and BC (3/3 split) = $2482
Priceline deal and BC (3/3 split) = $1738
BW and CBR (3/3 split) = $1937
BW and CBR (4/2 split) = $2137

Would you be sad if you got AKL? If so, I'd go with option #3. If you are okay with AKL, then option#2.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

LOL, I am far too short for basketball I was watching. My boys are playing. Were you playing?

Oh yes. I play 2-3 times a week.

 

[Haley R]

Would you be sad if you got AKL? If so, I'd go with option #3. If you are okay with AKL, then option#2.

We've stayed at AKL before and it just wasn't our favorite, but it's such a huge difference in price. Right now if we didn't do the priceline deal dh and I agreed we are leaning more towards the 4/2 split with BW and CBR. The thing with that is CBR in both options is through Undercover Tourist so no discounted Disney gcs, but will get Chase points. If I'm being COMPLETELY honest I would pick BC and BW, but I'm being picky lol. We've never stayed at CBR before.

 

[wendow]

Oh yes. I play 2-3 times a week.

That's great! Do you play on a rec league?

 

[wendow]

We've stayed at AKL before and it just wasn't our favorite, but it's such a huge difference in price. Right now if we didn't do the priceline deal dh and I agreed we are leaning more towards the 4/2 split with BW and CBR. The thing with that is CBR in both options is through Undercover Tourist so no discounted Disney gcs, but will get Chase points. If I'm being COMPLETELY honest I would pick BC and BW, but I'm being picky lol. We've never stayed at CBR before.

And BW is $371 a night? Have you checked for any 'magical' pricing, or is that 'magical' pricing? How much do you plan to be in the room?

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

That's great! Do you play on a rec league?

Just pickup ball with a group of guys. Split up teams and play for a couple hours.

 

[Lain]

Yes, this is transferring points (MR, Marriott) to ANA and flying in their economy class during the regular season. I'm totally new to looking at all this so please correct me if you see something different when you start looking

ETA: @Albort mentioned using points for Virgin Atlantic. I've not looked into that as much yet.

The benefit to looking into MR>VS>ANA, is Amex periodically runs transfer bonuses when transferring MR to Virgin Atlantic (VS), giving you something like 30% bonus miles. (I can’t remember the last time Amex ran a transfer bonus to ANA, if ever.) Virgin Atlantic is partners with ANA and you can use VS miles to book ANA seats at a better redemption rate because of the transfer bonus. There are a ton of articles on the blogosphere that discuss how to do this (usually for biz and first class, but the principle applies to economy too).

ETA: I’d encourage staying on Amex’s good side as best you can if you want to do this, because with VS and ANA, those MRs are going to be clutch. As mentioned, the Hilton Tokyo Bay is on the monorail line so those Hilton points(/cards) are going to be useful. There are lots of Marriott, and a few IHG and Hyatt options in the greater Tokyo area that’ll put you about ~45 mins from the parks by train almost anywhere in the city center.

 

[Haley R]

And BW is $371 a night? Have you checked for any 'magical' pricing, or is that 'magical' pricing? How much do you plan to be in the room?

I emailed our TA with magical rates and haven't heard back from earlier today. I'm sure I'll hear from her tomorrow sometime. I'm hoping she has something better, but who knows. We are doing 3 DAH events with no plans during the day so probably will go to Disney Springs, hang out at the hotel, and maybe play putt putt. We don't really have any set in stone plans.

 

[Haley R]

The benefit to looking into MR>VS>ANA, is Amex periodically runs transfer bonuses when transferring MR to Virgin Atlantic, giving you something like 30% bonus miles. (I can’t remember the last time Amex ran a transfer bonus to ANA, if ever.) Virgin Atlantic is partners with ANA and you can use VS miles to book ANA seats at a better redemption rate because of the transfer bonus. There are a ton of articles on the blogosphere that discuss how to do this (usually for biz and first class, but the principle applies to economy too).

Just make sure you can understand the VA reps and they spell your names right on the tickets....