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

[disfanforlife]

A good friend of mine did JET for two years and loved the program, and in fact met his (now) wife at a JET reunion in the US. Now they have 2 kids who share their love for travel and I see their FB posts from all over the world whenever there's a school holiday (even a short one LOL).

How cool! Yes, I know I seem to remember her saying it was for 2 years not 1. She is actually on a different path now - taking the elsat next week(spelling?) and applying to law school. But I think JET is still a consideration if law school doesn't work out for her.

 

[Sarah_B]

Has anyone used boxed.com? I have the AMEX offer for $20 back of $75...seems like I can find plenty of products to make that worthwhile.

There's fish (take that) on dischurner that will get you more $ back. Pair with a cashback portal and it can be a really great deal.

 

[jaysraptor]

DW and I are starting to consider a trip to Germany at the end of the kids school year in May. We are trying to get there to see my DS and BIL before they move at the end of the summer and will be staying with them for the most part. Currently have UR's and AA miles to use for our flights. We don't have enough AA miles to get all 4 of us there and back. Would have to either get more points, or buy 2 tickets to get home. Is our best option to transfer points to United? Seems like we can get 30k saver tickets if we transferred UR's. Have enough of those to cover the 240k needed to get there and back. Any other travel partners we should consider?

Thanks

 

[mmmears]

DW and I are starting to consider a trip to Germany at the end of the kids school year in May. We are trying to get there to see my DS and BIL before they move at the end of the summer and will be staying with them for the most part. Currently have UR's and AA miles to use for our flights. We don't have enough AA miles to get all 4 of us there and back. Would have to either get more points, or buy 2 tickets to get home. Is our best option to transfer points to United? Seems like we can get 30k saver tickets if we transferred UR's. Have enough of those to cover the 240k needed to get there and back. Any other travel partners we should consider?

Thanks

Just a thought, but we generally book one ways to/from Europe, so you could potentially use those AA miles up if you want to, assuming you have enough to book one way. Honestly I have a bunch and I have struggled to use them and just transferred MRs and URs to certain airlines.

 

[Haley R]

I would book a package to get to see him for sure. I think it would be worth it.

I may have to cancel last minute depending on how I feel after the baby is born.

 

[wanderlust7]

Has anyone used boxed.com? I have the AMEX offer for $20 back of $75...seems like I can find plenty of products to make that worthwhile.

There was some great cashback from Ibotta for first time Boxed users back when I did the deal about a year ago. Not sure if they still have it. There are also first time coupons, check the support offers to see which is better. It was a great stacking opportunity and I got a boatload of toilet paper, lol.

 

[jaysraptor]

Just a thought, but we generally book one ways to/from Europe, so you could potentially use those AA miles up if you want to, assuming you have enough to book one way. Honestly I have a bunch and I have struggled to use them and just transferred MRs and URs to certain airlines.

Looking at using AA miles, on 4 30K saver fares, the taxes and fees to get there were a little over $900, and the taxes and fees coming home were a little over $600. Looking at United's 30k saver fares for 4 of us, to get there would be about $22 in taxes and fees and about $550 to fly back home.

 

[jhoannam]

DP: I submitted DD's GE application at 9PM on 1/7/2020 and she was conditionally approved at 3AM today. That was super fast. Hopefully the partial gov't shut down won't affect DD2s application process, haven't submitted that one yet, was going to do that this weekend when I saw my mom since we are going to use her United card.

 

[disfanforlife]

I may have to cancel last minute depending on how I feel after the baby is born.

Of course, that is understandable.

 

[Haley R]

Of course, that is understandable.

I went ahead and booked a lunch at Biergarten. I got the 5:30 pm concert time which would work best so we can drive home after

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

So now that I've come out of lurkdom, I need advice, lol. We are going to China in October, but will only be in Shanghai for 36 hours. For those that have been, how much a priority is Disneyland? We are Disney lovers, but my DH also loves (even more) big cities and Asia, so he wants to do all the major sites as well. Would you suggest carving out time for Disneyland? If so, can the highlights (Pirates, Manor, Tron, am I missing something?) be done in half day? Or would you skip altogether?

Also, we are in the *early* stages of planning a possible Japan and Australia combined trip, a week or so at each. For those that have been, what card/airline did you use to get from US to Japan? I'm thinking the CIP for P1 & P2 will give us enough points for flights (by transferring to United?). IHG Premiere would give us enough points for hotels in Sydney. I'm left wondering what to do about Japan... I see there's a Hyatt. Is the WoH card any good? It would probably give me 4-5 nights with the sign up bonus, and then I'd have to figure out something for the rest. I'm also at a complete loss as how to get from Japan to Australia or vice versa. As I said, this is very early stages... we're planning to go in 2023 for our 15th year anniversary, so I have a few years to work on the cards we need in 2P mode. I'm currently past 5/24 and won't get down to 3/24 until April. P2 is past 5/24 until next month, when he should go down to 4/24, but had recent problems getting approved for a Chase card because of too much credit. They had to lower some to make room for the new card, so I'm thinking this should be first step... lowering all credit lines on Chase cards. Does that generally work and not throw any flags up with them? I saw previous posts that you could do this through your secure messages. So many questions, lol. I will definitely post on Reddit once we're ready to apply with strategy and to pay it forward with a referral! I'm just trying to get general ideas I guess right now.

Our travel party is just DH and I. Here's some other pertinent stats (currently have all personal cards, no biz) -
P1:
01/18 Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer
01/18 AU on P2's CSP
03/18 TD Cash
07/18 Citi Aadvantage Plat Select
12/18 Amex Hilton Honors
04/19 Barclays Aadvantage Aviator Red

P2:
01/18 AU on P2's Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer
01/18 CSP
05/18 Citi Aadvantage Plat Select
09/18 Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer
03/19 Barclays Aadvantage Aviator Red
08/19 Chase IHG Premier

We put about 2K spend on cc's each month, and pay the balance in full every month. Our home airport is CLT (Charlotte) / GSP (Greenville). Southwest does service both.
We currently combined have 130,000 AA points, along with 150,000 IHG points, and 140,000 Hilton points. We plan to wipe out the majority of these for a Europe trip in 2021.
I have 2,300 Marriott Bonvoy points that are about to expire. Anything to do with that small amounts? Can I transfer to someone? We no longer have Marriott cards.

TIA for you all!

 

[hsmamato2]

some points expire questions... what counts for 'activity' so points don't expire for
1) Hilton
2)IHG
3)Hyatt
4) Bonvoy
5) Jetblue
6) AA
7)BA
...... I've had some spend on a branded cc or two, does this count for the ticker? what if I booked something on points, but then canceled before I actually stayed.... does this count as activity? Does the free night award count?Thanks so much

 

[hsmamato2]

Hilton...which is preferable,points pooling,or transfer? and if pooling, do I initiate that from the account I want to pool them all into?

 

[amcc]

DW and I are starting to consider a trip to Germany at the end of the kids school year in May. We are trying to get there to see my DS and BIL before they move at the end of the summer and will be staying with them for the most part. Currently have UR's and AA miles to use for our flights. We don't have enough AA miles to get all 4 of us there and back. Would have to either get more points, or buy 2 tickets to get home. Is our best option to transfer points to United? Seems like we can get 30k saver tickets if we transferred UR's. Have enough of those to cover the 240k needed to get there and back. Any other travel partners we should consider?

Thanks

We flew there last year and were able to find great fares from MIA to Munich for just under $700 RT. Using UR was less than 50k per person so keep your eyes out for cheap fares and then book through the Chase travel portal with a CSR if you have it. I used kayak to find fares and then checked the travel portal. See if you can find 2 AA RT flights and then see the price of those same flights in the portal to book for the others.
I live in Miami so we have great fares to many places in Europe with domestic and foreign airlines.

 

[PolyRob]

I’m wanting to see Daughtry who’s new this year so I’m not sure what to expect. I feel like I should probably just book a dining package. It looks like they aren’t charging up front. There aren’t very many restaurants to choose from though. I’m not sure if I’ll even feel up to going that soon after having the baby but I’d like to try

I went ahead and booked a lunch at Biergarten. I got the 5:30 pm concert time which would work best so we can drive home after

Glad you went with the package! You can always cancel and no money up front is great! Daughtry has a good following.

 

[PolyRob]

Apologies if this is off-topic, but this seems like the place to ask. I recently got a JetBlue credit card--the one with the $99 fee, which I figure will pay for itself in checked bags alone--and have already met the minimum $1,000-in-90-days requirement in order to receive the bonus points.

Does anyone here have an estimate of how long it'll be before those bonus points show up in my JetBlue account? I have a feeling it'll be the full 90 days from the time I got approved even though I've already met the threshold (thank you, AP renewal). But, you know, I'd like to use those points for my May trip. If possible.

Definitely the right place to post and not off-topic! There are a few JB cardholders here with personal and/or biz cards. I recently got the elevated biz offer and I didn't hit the full spend until my second statement (sadly, my last charge took too long to post). The points deposited into my JB account a day or two after my Barclays statement closed. I did not have to wait the full 90 days

 

[happ]

some points expire questions... what counts for 'activity' so points don't expire for
1) Hilton
2)IHG
3)Hyatt
4) Bonvoy
5) Jetblue
6) AA
7)BA
...... I've had some spend on a branded cc or two, does this count for the ticker? what if I booked something on points, but then canceled before I actually stayed.... does this count as activity? Does the free night award count?Thanks so much

Branded CC spend definitely counts because you're earning points/miles. Spend through those that have shopping portals like JetBlue and AA also counts.

 

[DaveL]

Should we bet whether you get your points before me? I think others just had their statement Close and, yep, they have their points. I just don’t like that it says zero.

Well nothing today. So I guess they are trying to be fair.

 

[Haley R]

Glad you went with the package! You can always cancel and no money up front is great! Daughtry has a good following.

I was hesitant at first because I know with the Candlelight Processional packages they made you pay up front. Really the only way I can go is if I convince my parents to come at that time so one of them can go with me while Dh stays home with the baby (he's not interested in going to the concert). I wouldn't want to go by myself and it's too early to take the baby with us. I'm still happy I made the reservation. I love Daughtry!

 

[jaysraptor]

We flew there last year and were able to find great fares from MIA to Munich for just under $700 RT. Using UR was less than 50k per person so keep your eyes out for cheap fares and then book through the Chase travel portal with a CSR if you have it. I used kayak to find fares and then checked the travel portal. See if you can find 2 AA RT flights and then see the price of those same flights in the portal to book for the others.
I live in Miami so we have great fares to many places in Europe with domestic and foreign airlines.

Thanks. We are in southern Arizona. Closest airport is in Tucson, about an hour away. Phoenix is about 3 hours away for us. Don't have a CSR, only CIP.