I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[ten6mom]

Everyday life without an MSR is boring.

See what you all have done to me???

And- I am really glad I booked the return from Japan when I did (and FOR when I did) because the only returns left now are into the next week. As much as I would love to stay longer, there is no way I can either afford the additional hotel nights OR get that much time off work.

 

[ten6mom]

Awwww American Airlines wants to give me free Platinum status through April 19! Too bad I'm not flying anywhere between now and then.... oh well!

 

[speedyfishy]

Fascinating article about competition in the food delivery space.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/1/9/21058674/grubhub-sale-food-delivery-struggling-industry
TL;DR: Grubhub is currently profitable but exploring a sale in an effort to consolidate amidst declining market share in a very competitive, low-margin business. DoorDash is backed with VC money and growing its market share, but it's expected to lose $450 million for 2019.

And apparently, I'm a "promiscuous" diner because I like to shop around for the best discounts among the various food delivery services.

losing money but between the higher food prices in the app, the delivery fee and the service fee it’s often a 30+% up-charge.

 

[punkin]

Awwww American Airlines wants to give me free Platinum status through April 19! Too bad I'm not flying anywhere between now and then.... oh well!

I got it too. I actually have a revenue flight booked but only one and I'm doubtful I'll have another.

 

[Jax1023]

I think one of you mentioned the Blue Springs State Park to see manatees (sorry I can’t remember who)? I think we’re gonna do that on Saturday if you have any tips. We’re planning to get there close to when it opens.

We went to Homosassa springs state park which is on the other side of florida and further from you. But the best tip for all of it is get there early- the manatees come into the springs overnight when it’s cold, and leave to go out in the rivers as it warms up.

Colder days are better and it looks like it will be on the warm side this weekend.

 

[Lain]

losing money but between the higher food prices in the app, the delivery fee and the service fee it’s often a 30+% up-charge.

See, you can avoid much of the upcharge by choosing pickup instead of delivery. You can even come out ahead of the menu price with Amex and soon Chase credits, Amex/Chase Offers, promo codes, and discounted gift cards.

 

[Haley R]

We went to Homosassa springs state park which is on the other side of florida and further from you. But the best tip for all of it is get there early- the manatees come into the springs overnight when it’s cold, and leave to go out in the rivers as it warms up.

Colder days are better and it looks like it will be on the warm side this weekend.

Their website says we could call ahead to get their manatee count. I wonder if we should do that so we don’t drive all the way there for nothing. Dh is usually up early. If we don’t go there we’re thinking about going to winter garden for the day

 

[marsh0013]

Awwww American Airlines wants to give me free Platinum status through April 19! Too bad I'm not flying anywhere between now and then.... oh well!

They had given me that status sometime last year. I used it to get a match to Southwest A-list. That got me a great boarding number without paying, on the 1 flight I had during the promo period SW gave me. Ha. I’d see if you can get it matched anywhere on other airlines if it would benefit you.

 

[ten6mom]

They had given me that status sometime last year. I used it to get a match to Southwest A-list. That got me a great boarding number without paying, on the 1 flight I had during the promo period SW gave me. Ha. I’d see if you can get it matched anywhere on other airlines if it would benefit you.

I'd totally do it if it was during a useful date (like late November!) Unfortunately, I'm not flying anywhere again until Japan- not even on miles, because my miles are all gone now!

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Looney Toons, Hanna Barbera (Tom & Jerry was my favorite), Woody Woodpecker, Sesame Street, Electric Company and best of all Mr. Rogers were pretty much what I grew up on.

Those and Captain Kangaroo. We had local shows like Ray Raynor and Bozo’s Circus too.
Off topic on the off topic but we enjoyed A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood last month.

How about Romper Room?

Romper stomper bomber boo, tell me, tell me, tell me do.

You're missing out!

DTF=Din Tai Fung. It's a Taiwanese chain of restaurants known for making some of the best xiao long bao in the world. Xiao long bao is a kind of steamed dumpling, popularized in Shanghai, with a delicately folded pouch holding, usually, a pork filling. The steaming process heats up the pork and melts its fat, resulting in a soupy filling as well. The dumplings are traditionally dipped in rice vineger and some ginger, but carefully as to not puncture the pouch, and eaten so all the flavors of the soup and meat melt in your mouth.

DTF serves a lot of other types of dumplings, noodles, and rice dishes on their menu, but the original xiao long bao is what put them on the map. They have locations all over the world, but here in the US, they're found all over SoCal, with only one location in NorCal (Santa Clara), and in the Seattle and Portland areas up in the PNW.

I really wanted to try this last time we went to DLR but decided it was too far. In the end another day with Walt won out. Next trip I’d love to try but I’m guessing there aren’t any locations I could doordash from USH.

We discovered dumplings when we went to visit my son who was living in Taiwan for a year. We're not on the west coast but have found a few local places where we can get them (and Costco carries frozen ones that are in the "acceptable" range). My son has been perfecting his dumpling cooking when he has time--they actually are not difficult to make if you have a steamer and the right dough (he gets the dough from an Asian food market)

Thursday is dumpling night at our house. Usually the Costco or Trader Joe one’s. I make dumplings a few times a year, like Chinese New Year, birthdays, etc. I make a hundred or more. I think the filling and folding is a bit tricky but I’m a perfectionist. I won’t let anyone else help because they don’t do it right. Lol. DH helped once but his weren’t perfectly shaped, so I banned him from helping. He’s glad.

NKOTB are legit my 5 boyfriends, LOL. Joe and Donnie follow me on twitter. I've had a few messages w/ Jon as well. Met them a bunch (since they've come back, not when I was 12, LOL). They are all so short, LOL!

I’m too old for New Kids but doesn’t Donnie live near me in the Chicago burbs?

 

[speedyfishy]

See, you can avoid much of the upcharge by choosing pickup instead of delivery. You can even come out ahead of the menu price with Amex and soon Chase credits, Amex/Chase Offers, promo codes, and discounted gift cards.

Only peasants pick up their own food lol I have mentioned McDonald’s is across the street from me but I still order Ubereats, right? lol

 

[Lain]

Only peasants pick up their own food lol I have mentioned McDonald’s is across the street from me but I still order Ubereats, right? lol

Ok Millennial.

 

[tzolkin]

Totally new to this and not sure if I'll be able to keep up with the thread pace, but worth a try... Any suggestions and advice welcome. Posting info mentioned on pg1, but let me know if other info would be helpful.

Current Cards that we've had for years--
Chase Freedom (use for regular spending)
Chase Disney (don't really use much because the rewards are pointless)

Recent ones we have opened--
03/19 Ikea Projekt
03/19 Lowes

*There's a "You're already approved" message for the Chase Sapphire Preferred (60,000 bonus points) plus an offer for $600 for Chase checking and savings that I noticed when I logged into my Chase account.

• What amount of spend would you put on a card monthly? $2000 regular expenses-- could increase if we used cards to pay bills (I usually pay utilities and things from my bank account). More when we are using for home renovations or travel.
• Do you currently payoff your CCs in full every month or do you carry any balances/pay any interest? Never paid one penny of interest
• What airport(s) do you typically fly out of? Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh
• Do you have a preference of Frequent Flyer program? No
• Does SOUTHWEST Airline service your airport? Yes, I think
• Do you have a Hotel Rewards program preference? No
• Do you currently have travel points or miles in any program? (if so, which programs and how much) Just flew on American Airlines for Christmas. No other points accrued.
• Who does your travel party consist of? Depends on trip-- either just me and spouse or also two teens, occasionally adult daughter as well
• What at your specific goals for churning credit cards? (i.e. Disney World Trip, Cruise, European Trip, Cash Back to pay-off a mortgage or student loans, etc. - you can have multiple goals too!) Cash and Travel. Within the last year we have drastically reduced our expenses (downsized by half) and increased our income. We are saving a lot, but another motivator for making the change was being able to travel more.
• When do you plan to take these trips? (Keep in mind that it can be difficult to earn points/miles to cover imminent travel...it's best to plan far in advance, especially with regards to international travel) We are planning a family trip to the NW (Washington, Oregon, Calif) in July. A trip to Rwanda (next summer). We have several other future trips, but nothing set on those (Europe family, Hawaii with my parents, something tropical as a couple)

 

[Jax1023]

Their website says we could call ahead to get their manatee count. I wonder if we should do that so we don’t drive all the way there for nothing. Dh is usually up early. If we don’t go there we’re thinking about going to winter garden for the day

If you can call and find out, I would. Seems like that park has some manatees that winter there. The ones on the west coast only come in from the gulf when it’s cold. So you might see some either way. But I’d personally rather make a trip when I know i would see them.

Or call the day before. If the weather is similar I doubt the manatee count would be significantly different

 

[Haley R]

Only peasants pick up their own food lol I have mentioned McDonald’s is across the street from me but I still order Ubereats, right? lol

We always pick up our own food. I feel like Dh and I are poor examples of millennials lol. Although to be fair, we’re just barely millennials

 

[Haley R]

If you can call and find out, I would. Seems like that park has some manatees that winter there. The ones on the west coast only come in from the gulf when it’s cold. So you might see some either way. But I’d personally rather make a trip when I know i would see them.

Or call the day before. If the weather is similar I doubt the manatee count would be significantly different

That’s true we could call tomorrow. It’s saying 77 tomorrow and 81 Saturday so pretty warm. It’s about an hour and a half from us so I’d rather not go if there won’t be any to see.

 

[Jax1023]

That’s true we could call tomorrow. It’s saying 77 tomorrow and 81 Saturday so pretty warm. It’s about an hour and a half from us so I’d rather not go if there won’t be any to see.

I’d call tommorow afternoon. The ocean etc is probably still cooler as there’s been some colder days recently.

also I’d like to state I’m very jealous of 81 lol. It was 33 and so windy today.

 

[WardFam]

Awwww American Airlines wants to give me free Platinum status through April 19! Too bad I'm not flying anywhere between now and then.... oh well!

We just flew American to Hawaii and they are giving me Platinum Pro! No flights for me coming up either. Boo!

 

[Haley R]

I’d call tommorow afternoon. The ocean etc is probably still cooler as there’s been some colder days recently.

also I’d like to state I’m very jealous of 81 lol. It was 33 and so windy today.

Okay we’ll call tomorrow and see what they say. We had some nights in the 40s earlier this week. I’m 100% enjoying the weather here. It will never get old. When we saw people in Iowa they were like “don’t you miss having seasons?”. I was like “ummm, no!”. Hmmm, would I rather have seasons or 80s in January? Tough choice

ETA: I just found a website that posts daily counts and today they had a record number of 566 manatees! I think we should be good on saturday but I’ll check tomorrow to see how many there are

 

[WardFam]

They had given me that status sometime last year. I used it to get a match to Southwest A-list. That got me a great boarding number without paying, on the 1 flight I had during the promo period SW gave me. Ha. I’d see if you can get it matched anywhere on other airlines if it would benefit you.

now this is worth looking into! We are flying to Shanghai in March on points with Delta. If they will match status that would be cool!