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

[wed100105]

I looked at multiple websites including the Chase portal and our best options seem to be February 14-16 or February 21-23. Both would be at Pop Century. February 14-16 would be $502 and February 21-23 would be $548 and booked through Priceline. Obviously this is more than I would normally pay to stay at Pop, but they do have the skyliner.

Dh isn't on board at all and would rather drive two separate days than stay in Orlando. He wants to do a weekend somewhere else so my question is are there any places some of you have stayed in Florida that you absolutely loved?

Clearwater!

 

[Psychodisney]

I’ve never looked into either of them. I’ll have to see if there are things there we’re interested in!

Nice dolphin watching boat trips, airboat rides, shelling. The Marriott on Marco is gorgeous if you’ve got Marriott points. There’s a reasonable Hyatt House near downtown Naples.

 

[Haley R]

Nice dolphin watching boat trips, airboat rides, shelling. The Marriott on Marco is gorgeous if you’ve got Marriott points. There’s a reasonable Hyatt House near downtown Naples.

We don’t have Hyatt or Marriott points. We could use URs though

 

[wed100105]

Good, it sounds like it'll work. Certain we will buy tickets later in the year for more travel or when next year's schedule starts to post for spring/summer 2021. We already bought tickets for spring and summer on SW for this year prior to him making the switch on the Amex Plat. I hate to waste the credit! Couldn't figure out what to do with AA, we didn't fly it in 2019 for personal but DH did fly AA a lot for work but doesn't need the baggage fee incidentals or whatever else it can be used for, and it ended up not being used.

I have the Hilton Aspire card on my list to try for hopefully next spring, I can see using Hilton and have some places in mind for next year if things work out.

DP for the Hilton Aspire-

2019- Frontier airfare charges less than $100 worked on my card as did Discount Den renewal and carry on bag fees.

SW fares less than $100 worked on DH’s card worked even though I booked them together (1 adult and 2 kids).

I was really considering dropping these cards, but they live to see another year for each of us. I’m staying 2 nights at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando with free night certificates and then staying 1 night at Hilton Bonnet Creek in April on points. I should be able to get $750 in resort credits (my card renews in between our stays I believe.)

 

[LB002]

We'll be staying at a Great Barrier Reef resort in September. I am petrified of deep water. Without my contacts I cannot see (do goggles work well enough that I can wear contacts?) I started following the resort on Insta in hopes of desensitizing myself with all the beautiful snorkeling pictures they post My dh wanted to get scuba certified before the trip and I said NO WAY

My DH is certified and I *tried* so hard when we were engaged to get certified as well. I hated every minute of the pool classes, and when we went out to do the first open water dive I panicked and that was the end of that adventure. I have this thing about being able to breathe! I don't even like then the kids smush stuffed animals against my nose, I get a flash of panic. I can snorkel though.

DH is going to dive in HI next month. I'm taking the kids on another excursion (actually tonight I'm going to try to figure out which one!)

 

[LB002]

The pain of the last few pending charges sitting on my SW Performance card that seem to be mocking me by not posting yet.

I have exactly the same! Paid a bill Wednesday night to finish my MSR and it's still pending. I have until 1/11, so I should be OK.

I just checked my Chase account and my 2nd SW card was showed up in my profile, so CP here I come!!!

 

[WVMomof3]

Clearwater!

We spent time in Clearwater Beach today and I can honestly say that you could not pay me to stay anywhere on the strip. Not for me at all, kids didn't like it either. Sand Key is fine, Clearwater hard nope for me.

 

[amalone1013]

So my Arrival + AF has posted. If I downgrade to the no fee will I still earn 2x on everything and be able to cash out on travel expenses? I’d like to keep a MC in my mix.

2019- Frontier airfare charges less than $100 worked on my card as did Discount Den renewal and carry on bag fees.

Just to clarify, fares under $100 worked?

 

[Haley R]

We spent time in Clearwater Beach today and I can honestly say that you could not pay me to stay anywhere on the strip. Not for me at all, kids didn't like it either. Sand Key is fine, Clearwater hard nope for me.

What did you not like about it

 

[DaveL]

I have exactly the same! Paid a bill Wednesday night to finish my MSR and it's still pending. I have until 1/11, so I should be OK.

I just checked my Chase account and my 2nd SW card was showed up in my profile, so CP here I come!!!

Yeah it got even worse this evening, I am like $9 shy with like $300+ sitting in pending. I have till the 10th but just want to see it go to pending points so I can start the happy dance.

 

[wed100105]

Just to clarify, fares under $100 worked?

Yes both on Froniter and SW (Dh and I each selected different airlines.)

 

[DaveL]

Anyone been to the parks with a cooler since the no ice rule started? Just wondering if the ban was just for loose ice and if you can bring a zip lock bag of ice in a cooler in? I don't suppose so, every trip we have taken a cooler of water bottles filled with ice in and just trying to figure out what we'll do for this summer.

 

[punkin]

I have exactly the same! Paid a bill Wednesday night to finish my MSR and it's still pending. I have until 1/11, so I should be OK.

I just checked my Chase account and my 2nd SW card was showed up in my profile, so CP here I come!!!

Which second card did you apply for? Business?

 

[alryan]

Does anyone else have trouble pulling the trigger on using points and rewards? Is there a reason I wouldn't want to use Chase Ultimate Rewards for a car rental? I'm also considering pulling points out for cash or gift cards. We often travel and get better deals with military discounts or our timeshare. I just like hoarding points though!

Boring trip details---feel free to skip.

DH said yes to an Easter WDW trip! Fingers crossed that my boss approves my request for a day off as we have to fly out of STL now because Frontier is not extending service out of our local (1 hour away) airport and that change results in taking Tuesday off. I have 100,000 miles, and 50K Elite status (thanks to their Mastercard), and $250 in vouchers from our 2019 spring break trip to use. Total cost to me OOP - $14 for spring break after using the vouchers. I still have the 100,000 miles to use. The Elite status gives me free seat assignments and 1 checked bag on each flight. Come February I will have another $100 voucher, but a $79 fee to pay. I can't see me keeping this Mastercard now since it's no longer really convenient to fly out of our local airport.


Flights $14 (will be covered by my Amex travel benefits if I decide to stick with Frontier as my chosen airline).

Hotel - first night, Hilton points at Hilton Bonnet Creek
Remaining nights - Wyndham Bonnet Creek 2 bedroom deluxe; Wyndham timeshare (using our points - great deal! Our cost without discounts is $700 for 6 nights. I'm hoping to get an upgrade with the 1 bedroom I have booked, which would be even sweeter.)

Car Rental - debating using URs. I can't find a car big enough for us under $400. It would cost me about 38,000 Chase URs, and I have around 600,000 right now. I'm kicking myself that I didn't book the $300 car rental I found last week.

Tickets- military 4 days (debated 5 but really like an off day) - will have to pay this OOP - $1325

Parking - $100 (4 park days)

Food - I'm estimating (high I hope) needing $1200-1500 total. I have $1000 in gift cards saved, and we'll probably use them mostly for food. Does anyone know if I have to pay with my Disney Visa to get the 10% discount at participating restaurants? Can I just show it? The discount + gift card savings would be a pretty good chunk off the inflated Disney dining prices.

ETA: I'm also hoping to use our AMEX Hilton Ascend cards at the Hilton Bonnet Creek gift shop to purchase Disney gift cards. (I just saw on their website that they sell them.) That equals $500 ($250 for each of us) in Amex Resort credits.

I know everyone has their different styles and what they want out of their redemptions, so the answer is somewhat personal, but I am all about free. And with URs versatility it's no wonder mine disappear as soon as I earn them. If a rental car is going to cost you $400 no matter if you use points or not, then to me it is a no brainer to use the points. Now if you found a rental on another site for $200, or significantly less, then it could make sense to use cash. I've always found the UR portal to have similar prices for rental cars so I've used them many times for that. You could even cash out URs to pay for the military tickets. Like you said, if timeshares or military discounts work better for your family cashing out could be right for you.

Have a great trip! I love Bonnet Creek and those military tickets are awesome! Thank you or DH for your service! Let us know if the gift cards work for the Aspire Credit, I don't remember people using it for that.

 

[snugglebug]

I put a SW WWYD scenario over in Dischurners, would love some opinions.

 

[smmco]

[

I'm really curious what you mean by this...I think my teens are amazingly prepared for life. They've been allowed to grow up and 'adult' without the constant peer pressure that you'd find in public school.

I wasn't referring to homeschooled kids just kids, in general, these days. They're very tech-savvy but much more sheltered then I was as a child. At least that's what I've noticed with my kids and my nieces and nephews. Their social skills are more tied to social media sites than actual interaction with other humans.

 

[LB002]

Which second card did you apply for? Business?

Yes, the Premier

 

[smmco]

[

This. I'd go nuts without the weekend getaways. Our free night certificates and resort credits are the real winners for our weekend getaway plans. IHG, Chase Marriott BonBlah, Amex Mariott BonBlah Biz, Amex Marriott BonBlah Brilliant, Amex Hilton Aspire. Those cover 14 nights a year for us since PlanePrincess and I each carry the same cards. We have always redeemed for a value greater than the AF too, so the cards pay for themselves. I'm not even including the Radisson Rewards Premier cards we have because we use those for stays in Europe and just let the anniversary points pile up. Although we did do a weekend in Europe to see a show once, but that's not the norm LOL

I was looking at the Radisson Rewards card for our trip to Copenhagen. I just finished the MSR on the Hilton BIZ for Prague. Due to our Carnival cruise Canceling we're no longer going to Prague we're going to Copenhagen and there's no Hiltons in Copenhagen. There are Marriotts, but there a lot of points.

 

[GlamMistress]

Excitement at the mailbox today. Mickey Mail in the form of my DCL luggage tags for our trip next month and my Costco biz credit arrived too. Citi Ticketmaster presales, here I come!

 

[WVMomof3]

What did you not like about it

People. Lol. It is just so crowded.