I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

You won't be in a crowded bank lobby. First of all, no one goes to banks anymore, and they're usually deserted if/when I have to go in. Second, you'll be in an office with a rep, so no one would overhear anyway.
The Chase banks around here are more open concept so it's not a private office but a desk off the lobby area (away from the tellers) That said, you can write down info you want to share privately but once they see your accounts they see everything. I think last time I used my debit card for them to log into my accounts. When the banker saw all my accounts, she was like "wow you have quite a few credit cards!" Hmm if she only knew...
 
Do you have a trip report on your Grand Canyon trip? That sounds like a great itinerary!
I was *this* close to booking a GC trip for spring break this year, and then decided we'd be in the car too much. My kids are about the same as yours though, so maybe with Disney thrown in they'd be a little more excited.
I did not do a trip report. We flew to phoenix, rented a car and stopped for supplies. It was then a 4 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. With the time change, it was a long day and we were all tired. We stayed in park for 2 nights and didn’t even move the car once we got there: the first day we watched sunrise (time change) and then rode the bus to hermits rest stopping at all the overlooks in the morning. In the afternoon we went to Mather point and the geology museum and walked the trail of time back to where we were staying. The next morning we hiked 1 mile down the south kabib trail to skeleton point and back up. Then we packed up and left for Joshua tree.

The day driving from the Grand Canyon to Joshua tree was the worst in times of distance- it was about 6- 7 hours of car time, but we took the side leg off to rt 66 to see peach springs which is supposed to be what cars was based on (don’t bother, just stop briefly at the seligman exit; they have photo ops at a few stores and you can get right on the interstate). It’s a really really remote drive once you get off the interstate- about 100 miles on small roads through the Mojave desert and it totally freaked me out. I was convinced if the car broke down we would all die. I’m an east coaster girl, I’m not used to deserts.

We stayed in twenty nine palms. Joshua tree was basically a half day thing for us and then we swam at the hotel pool and ate at a really good restaurant called kitchen in the desert.

It’s about 2.5 hours from Joshua tree to Disneyland. We stopped in Palm Springs and rode the ariel tramway and got lunch, which was ice cream because it was 108 the day we were there. We briefly drove around, but just wanted to get to Disneyland.

We did 3 days at Disneyland which was awesome:

It was a good trip and I feel like the pool in Joshua tree and the driving was concentrated to just a few days, but it was like 800 miles of driving.
 
The Centurion Lounge at PHX wasn’t worth going in when it was free. We’ve been twice, and both times it was uncomfortably crowded, and horrible food. The 2nd time we actually left and went next door to the Escape Lounge, which was only marginally better. We were able to get a bite to eat, but still found it crowded and not particularly pleasant. I guess I might try the Escape Lounge if I had extra time, and was needing a little snack. Otherwise I would rather find a non-crowded gate area to sit in. It’s that bad.
We ended up getting Panera for lunch, spent $50 on some decent food and walked while we waited for our flight. Cheaper then the $60 for 2 guest and I closed my exerciser ring.
 
Dd texted me a while ago and said she doesn't think she wants to travel at the end of April. Primary reason is her bf would like to spend some time here before he heads to CA (he graduates this spring). Depending on what job she takes and when it starts, she may go to CA (Mill Valley) with him for a few weeks. I am going to try calling Ashford Castle and seeing if they will refund my booking (made with URs); if not I bought CFAR insurance, but it only covers 75 or 80% of the cost. Flights and London and Dublin hotels I can cancel without penalty.

I got to thinking, since I'm not traveling at the end of April, why not go to Europe for an extra few days in early April (I was scheduled to fly to FRA, then on to Amsterdam on April 10th). Since I booked a cash fare and used a SWU to get into biz class, I had to find a flight that had a seat open on a SWU. Found the same flight on April 5th, so called AA, the amazing CSR confirmed the SWU, then cancelled the April 10th flight, booked me on April 5th, then applied the SWU.

Decided that I will take the train from FRA to Brussels (3 hours) on April 6th, spend 3 nights in Brussels (definitely taking a day trip to Bruges), then take the high speed train to Amsterdam on the 9th. Since the trip is over Easter weekend I'm hoping that most restaurants / shops / museums will be open on Easter Sunday and Monday. Looking forward to my trip!
 
Hello all…..

So if chase pulls your credit and tells you that your application is under review does that mean you will be approved for the credit card? Thanks
 
Not churning related, but this group has such good advice on such a wide variety of things, I thought I'd ask.

I am traveling for work with 3 of my employees. As in, we are on the same flights to/from, and we are all in the same hotel (all separate rooms of course) and will likely be Ubering to/from the airport (in Sacramento) to the hotel and back

I am still relatively new to being a manager and I am pretty sure none of them have traveled for work before.

Is there anything specific you think I need to be aware of in this situation? I have traveled for work before but always alone.
 
I can't think of anything specifically as they will be responsible for their own expenses most likely. However since you have travelled with your company just remind them about company policies ie you get x amount per meal, is alcohol included etc. Also are detailed receipts a requirement or is the credit card slip fine. Of course if everyone has a corporate card it probably doesn't matter but I always prefer to earn points/miles and be reimbursed.
 
Dd texted me a while ago and said she doesn't think she wants to travel at the end of April. Primary reason is her bf would like to spend some time here before he heads to CA (he graduates this spring). Depending on what job she takes and when it starts, she may go to CA (Mill Valley) with him for a few weeks. I am going to try calling Ashford Castle and seeing if they will refund my booking (made with URs); if not I bought CFAR insurance, but it only covers 75 or 80% of the cost. Flights and London and Dublin hotels I can cancel without penalty.

I got to thinking, since I'm not traveling at the end of April, why not go to Europe for an extra few days in early April (I was scheduled to fly to FRA, then on to Amsterdam on April 10th). Since I booked a cash fare and used a SWU to get into biz class, I had to find a flight that had a seat open on a SWU. Found the same flight on April 5th, so called AA, the amazing CSR confirmed the SWU, then cancelled the April 10th flight, booked me on April 5th, then applied the SWU.

Decided that I will take the train from FRA to Brussels (3 hours) on April 6th, spend 3 nights in Brussels (definitely taking a day trip to Bruges), then take the high speed train to Amsterdam on the 9th. Since the trip is over Easter weekend I'm hoping that most restaurants / shops / museums will be open on Easter Sunday and Monday. Looking forward to my trip!
Sounds fun! What is an SWU? I’m hoping to make it to Bruges this trip as well. My DH will be joining me in Germany on May 1st and we plan to rent a car for the week while visiting our DD and family. I leave for Germany April 2nd. I’ll be taking the train from my DD’s home to Amsterdam on April 18 to meet up with a friend for some sightseeing.
 
Talk of the escape lounge in PHX. I can't get into DL until 1230 so I thought I would check it out. As almost always with anything centurion related all I would want is the hard boiled eggs. Glad I have another option but I'd pay before any of this.

It's the one in terminal 3 but am guessing it would be the same in 4. You do have to order with wait staff as well.
In case you find yourself in terminal 4 again, The Escape Lounge is quite different from terminal 3. It’s much larger, and has a buffet and bar. More like a smaller version of the Centurion Lounge. Terminal 3 just kind of looks like a restaurant if I’m remembering correctly. I don’t fly out of 3 often, but it is a nice terminal.
 
In case you find yourself in terminal 4 again, The Escape Lounge is quite different from terminal 3. It’s much larger, and has a buffet and bar. More like a smaller version of the Centurion Lounge. Terminal 3 just kind of looks like a restaurant if I’m remembering correctly. I don’t fly out of 3 often, but it is a nice terminal.

But knowing what the foods like at the sea centurion and what's on this menu, still not going to find much more, if anything, other than hard boiled eggs. It's my one complaint about their food. Not everyone is a foodie.

Was quite happy with by beef barley strew and ham & cheese sandwich at the dl lounge once I got in. And the chocolate chip cookies, they are so good.
 
Sounds fun! What is an SWU? I’m hoping to make it to Bruges this trip as well. My DH will be joining me in Germany on May 1st and we plan to rent a car for the week while visiting our DD and family. I leave for Germany April 2nd. I’ll be taking the train from my DD’s home to Amsterdam on April 18 to meet up with a friend for some sightseeing.
AA has System Wide Upgrades available for flyers that reach set milestones. You pay economy class fare and can get upgraded into biz class right away, as long as there is an SWU available. It can be tricky to find open seats with SWUs available, but with some work it can be done. Since dh flies AA at least twice a week in biz class on a paid fare, he accumulates at least 5 - 6 SWUs / year. I don’t think he knows what they are or how to use them and even if he did he wouldn’t put the time and effort in trying to find availability
 
Anyone have any advice for Moab? We used some Hyatt FNCs to book the hotel there but it looks hard to get to from here. Any advice would be appreciated.

We scratched Costa Rica and are doing Colorado and Utah, specifically Moab. We plan to fly into Denver and drive to Gateway, Colorado, through the mountains (4ish hours) and then do an overnight there at Gateway Canyons resort which overlooks this beautiful Palisade. Then we head to Moab (2.5 hr drive). We're staying at the Hilton Hoodoo there.

We could have done a connecting flight to SLC, but then we'd still have to drive for several hours, so I'd rather do a non-stop 2ish hour flight to Denver and be done with it. I know the driving through the mountains could be an issue this time of year, but fingers crossed.

We are staying overnight in Denver on each end of the trip and using up some Marriott FNCs. I'm feeling pretty excited about this trip.

Gateway Canyons Resort, Gateway, Colorado
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Anyone have any advice for Moab? We used some Hyatt FNCs to book the hotel there but it looks hard to get to from here. Any advice would be appreciated.
Moab is pretty small - will you have a car? We stayed at an Airbnb a little past the downtown but it was very easy to drive to Arches. We booked all our park reservations for early morning and found that worked great in the summer as by noon we would leave the park and go have lunch and the early morning entrance meant we didn't wait in line at the entrance. Once in the park, we never felt crowded - its huge!! I booked Fiery Furnace and that was a big hit (my youngest and I didn't do it). Arches was amazing, every part of it from the colors to the arches to hikes. Our Utah trip was one of those trips that just blew our expectations through the roof since coming from such a naturally different environment, everything was unexpected and a surprise.
 
I did not do a trip report. We flew to phoenix, rented a car and stopped for supplies. It was then a 4 hour drive to the Grand Canyon. With the time change, it was a long day and we were all tired. We stayed in park for 2 nights and didn’t even move the car once we got there: the first day we watched sunrise (time change) and then rode the bus to hermits rest stopping at all the overlooks in the morning. In the afternoon we went to Mather point and the geology museum and walked the trail of time back to where we were staying. The next morning we hiked 1 mile down the south kabib trail to skeleton point and back up. Then we packed up and left for Joshua tree.

The day driving from the Grand Canyon to Joshua tree was the worst in times of distance- it was about 6- 7 hours of car time, but we took the side leg off to rt 66 to see peach springs which is supposed to be what cars was based on (don’t bother, just stop briefly at the seligman exit; they have photo ops at a few stores and you can get right on the interstate). It’s a really really remote drive once you get off the interstate- about 100 miles on small roads through the Mojave desert and it totally freaked me out. I was convinced if the car broke down we would all die. I’m an east coaster girl, I’m not used to deserts.

We stayed in twenty nine palms. Joshua tree was basically a half day thing for us and then we swam at the hotel pool and ate at a really good restaurant called kitchen in the desert.

It’s about 2.5 hours from Joshua tree to Disneyland. We stopped in Palm Springs and rode the ariel tramway and got lunch, which was ice cream because it was 108 the day we were there. We briefly drove around, but just wanted to get to Disneyland.

We did 3 days at Disneyland which was awesome:

It was a good trip and I feel like the pool in Joshua tree and the driving was concentrated to just a few days, but it was like 800 miles of driving.
This reminds me of my first "big trip" with my kids.... (in some ways) One thing I did was plan an interesting stop every 3 hours while driving, that really helped with the distances involved. So for our 1st day we flew into PHX, got car/lunch, drove to Flagstaff ( with a nice little stop in Sedona to walk a bit) stayed overnight in Flagstaff,which was great b/c it was a tiring day. The next morning we visited nearby Walnut Canyon,then continued on to GC south rim,and stayed 2-3 nights. It was perfect. Our trip was about 2 week total,with the same type of plan throughout for driving/stops planned. Of course ended at Disneyland and that was so fun. Good memories.
 

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