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

[Haley R]

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our weekend “photo shoot”!

 

[Lain]

Thought I'd give a report from the coronavirus travel front lines--arrived safely in London today after a fabulous first class flight on BA. This was my second (or third?) time in BA First and DH's first in first--he's sold, LOL. The best part was that the cabin was half empty and there wasn't anyone coughing or sneezing. Yay! (We still went nuts with the Clorox wipes and sanitizer.) It was like having a private plane--super secluded up there in the nose of the 747-400.

I originally booked LAX to LHR so DH could try first out, and I was thrilled when our alert came through on Expert Flyer, and we were able to switch to SFO and avoid a positioning flight.

BA recently updated its lounge at SFO, and it was fine. The food in the First Class restaurant was actually a little disappointing. It's a far cry from the Concord lounge at Heathrow, LOL, but that's hard to compete with. Jammies and amenity kits were the same as my last flight--solid--from the high-end English design house Temperley.

I'm very sold on BA's first product. The level of service is notched way up. I also liked being the first person off the plane DH and I were literally through passport control in less than ten minutes from leaving the jetway. We were on the Heathrow Express 30 minutes after landing. Crazy.

I meant to take a ton of pics, but of course, I put my phone away and forgot. I can't get the pic with my champagne to align correctly, but it was perfect with my lobster/caviar canapé, LOL.

For first class, BA's 747 cabin is considered "crowded," but I really like being in the front of the plane. It's much quieter, which is the most important thing for me as my main justification for paying the taxes on these award tickets is the sleep. Arriving rested makes a huge difference for us.

View attachment 478481

View attachment 478482

So far the English coronavirus cases are at 39. California has 20. I suspect they are both going to get bigger so we didn't worry about coming here per se as just traveling. Today was great so I'm hoping our luck holds on the way back on the 12th. My biggest fear is getting caught up in some quarantine mess. I think a lot of people have cancelled plans, and I didn't hear any bad coughs or sneezing anywhere. I suspect people are aware they will get tons of glares if they try to travel with a cold.

I love living vicariously through your travel posts.

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our weekend “photo shoot”!

I love them! You look wonderful

 

[georgina]

I forget if this has been addressed recently BUT.... we have a long-term savings account with Discover. I've noticed over the past few months, the interest rate keeps dropping and dropping, now down to 1.59%. We're looking to jump ship to another bank, but just not sure who. We chose Discover at the time (2 years ago) because they seemed to have the highest interest rate. It was around 2.10% then. I recently got an offer from Citi for 1.85%. Anyone have any recommendations? Again, not looking to churn bank bonuses, just looking for a good bank to have a long term savings account with and actually earn some interest.

I've noticed the same lately with savings accounts. I have some cash I was looking to put in a 1 year CD for better rates. Found 2.05% at Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I've noticed the same lately with savings accounts. I have some cash I was looking to put in a 1 year CD for better rates. Found 2.05% at Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

yep, I'm considering that as well. Ally seems to have 2.10% on a 13 month CD right now.

 

[Judique]

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our weekend “photo shoot”!

Very nice! You've come a long way since we first met you!

Can't wait now to see pics of the little guy!

 

[Killer Fish]

Okay so I just landed $93 RT flight to Fort Lauderdale during my spring break. My trouble now is finding a hotel. UGH! I know it's FL and "Spring Break". I'm thinking I want to stay in that area and do the beach. But I'm not opposed to driving (I have a rental car) somewhere if needed. I need sun more than anything. I'm a beach girl, but I can be a pool girl too.

Any suggestions?

And here's cheap me.....I could have possibly gotten the flight $46 cheaper if I booked at the airport, and I still might try a bit later today. I'll be pretty close this afternoon. And I didn't buy luggage as I'm 1/2 hoping the Spirit pilot I'm "dating" has at least one of the flights I'm on and he can take my bags for free for me, LOL. I was thinking about hitting Vegas, but I know it won't be as warm. And this girl needs some sunshine and to turn my skin brown again! My daughter and I will hopefully be hitting the beach in NC in mid-April, so a beach isn't a must for my spring break.

Keep checking rates......Group Business blocks at hotels are cancelling by the minute for short term business. More and more companies are getting a travel ban. Huge conventions are cancelling day of arrival. I think you will see some deals open VERY soon.

 

[Lain]

PSA: Just a friendly reminder that

Marriott’s category changes take effect tomorrow, 3/4/20. 1,687 properties will be going up — and thus, will require more points, and 507 properties will be moving down. You can check if a property you’ve been looking at booking is affected here. Currently, Marriott’s calendar extends through 2/19/21. If you have the points or a FNC and planned on booking a property that will be moving up categories, you should do it today or it’ll cost you more tomorrow. Remember, Points Advance no longer locks in the award rate, only your room and dates. See:

https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/marriott-category-changes-bad-news/
Hyatt’s category changes and off-peak/standard/peak pricing are set to take effect on 3/22/20. You can see which properties will be changing categories here. You can see Hyatt’s new off-peak/standard/peak awards chart here. Again, you should lock in your reservations before then. Hyatt’s calendar will be open now through early April 2021. For more information:

https://onemileatatime.com/hyatt-peak-award-pricing/#hyatts_new_peak_off-peak_award_chartshttps://onemileatatime.com/hyatt-hotel-category-changes/

 

[Haley R]

I love them! You look wonderful

Thank you!

Very nice! You've come a long way since we first met you!

Can't wait now to see pics of the little guy!

I can’t wait to meet him myself haha

 

[disfanforlife]

Just FYI that you don't actually have to unfreeze your credit to get an approval. I've got a credit freeze on, and my last Chase app went to 7 to 10 days. I was able to call in and verify my identity, etc. and get an approval without unfreezing my credit.

Really? That is great to hear! I have a credit freeze on. I was planning to unfreeze/unlock before applying. It would be nice if I didn't have to bother with that.

 

[afan]

Just FYI that you don't actually have to unfreeze your credit to get an approval. I've got a credit freeze on, and my last Chase app went to 7 to 10 days. I was able to call in and verify my identity, etc. and get an approval without unfreezing my credit.

I don't want to have to call. I can unfreeze it for 24 hours and be done. My amex was an instant approval and they pulled credit. For me it's just easier.

 

[mmmears]

@Haley R - You look fantastic! And most definitely pregnant. Looking forward to seeing pics of you and the little one when he arrives.

 

[Calfan]

Really? That is great to hear! I have a credit freeze on. I was planning to unfreeze/unlock before applying. It would be nice if I didn't have to bother with that.

Well, it might make the process smoother to unfreeze before applying. My latest Chase app sat at 30 days for quite a long time and then went 7 to 10. I was calling the status line frequently enough that I caught it right away when it went 7 to 10. Then I called recon and was able to do the verification and get an approval. Up to you whether it is easier to unfreeze and hopefully just get a straight approval or not unfreeze and most likely have to go through recon.

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R - You look fantastic! And most definitely pregnant. Looking forward to seeing pics of you and the little one when he arrives.

Haha right? It was when I was wearing the Mickey pretzel shirt that I got asked about it.

 

[punkin]

@Haley R - You look fantastic! And most definitely pregnant. Looking forward to seeing pics of you and the little one when he arrives.

That's exactly what I thought. She's carrying it all up front. That does not look fat! It's a gorgeous baby belly!

 

[punkin]

$1500 to fix the car and no MSR. Used my Amex BBP to at least get double points.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I love living vicariously through your travel posts.

Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks, Lain. It's off to a great start. I can just walk around this city and be happy We also hit Nandos, which is one of our favorite chain restaurants in England. They have a few in the US, but it isn't the same menu. They are all over the place here, and I highly recommend (get the Fino pitta!).

 

[disfanforlife]

@Haley R you look great! Love the pics!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

I never thought I'd have to think about refinancing again since I'm at 3.25% and only have 10 years left on a pretty small balance. But still, your post made me look. My local bank is at 2.62 now for a 10 year term. Without running the numbers I'm thinking it still probably wouldn't make sense for me, but it may be worth it to crunch some numbers. So if they just cut rates now, will the rates go down even further from what I see today?

Hope this does help get some business for you!!

So I’m speaking to the Prime rate here (which is tied to the benchmark rate - which is what the Fed decreased today). That primarily affects variable rate debt (e.g. CCs, HELOC, and most importantly to me: SBA loans - since I’m a commercial lender that specializes in that arena!).

Mortgage rates are tied to the 10 year treasury or other longer term rates. This is not an area of expertise for me, but I’d imagine those rates will not see an immediate reduction or the reduction was already built into those rates since they move regularly and are tied to market conditions.

 

[punkin]

So I’m speaking to the Prime rate here (which is tied to the benchmark rate - which is what the Fed decreased today). That primarily affects variable rate debt (e.g. CCs, HELOC, and most importantly to me: SBA loans - since I’m a commercial lender that specializes in that arena!).

Mortgage rates are tied to the 10 year treasury or other longer term rates. This is not an area of expertise for me, but I’d imagine those rates will not see an immediate reduction or the reduction was already built into those rates since they move regularly and are tied to market conditions.

Yes, the 10 year is for mortgages...and to confuse everyone even more, TIPs went negative. I'm thinking recession.