I love credit cards so much! v5.0 - 2022 (see first page for add'l details)

[gottalovepluto]

What is everyone spending the AmEx Biz Plat credits on? I am running out of ideas.

Are you trying to burn by year end? Don’t forget it’s gotta ship to charge. Got hit by that end of Jun and lost a credit

 

[punkin]

What is everyone spending the AmEx Biz Plat credits on? I am running out of ideas.

What credits? Saks? I bought a couple outfits for my grandson. Adorable and I would never have spent the money otherwise. Airline? I have been buying united travel bank. I'm waiting to do that in January and will have about $800 in there which will pay s good chunk of DD's italy trip.

 

[punkin]

I have Southwest booked for tomorrow to get to a cruise in FLL. Every day this week that particular flight has been cancelled. I wake up this morning to see that every single flight to FLL from my airport on Southwest tomorrow is still ON. I can’t rebook on another airline and it’s a 17 hour drive. I WILL make my cruise. Flight arrives evening before cruise boarding. Question is: at this point do I trust Southwest to get me there or start driving after work tonight? Just asking for what you would do, but I think I’m leaning toward driving anyway. Got everything packed.

I would risk the flight. I think by tomorrow they should have things better. And you do have a bit of a time cushion for delays. But I'm a gambler and a 17 hour drive seems like straight up hell to me!

 

[KPK02090]

Will buying the points I need get me over the top for the companion pass?


Thanks

Sorry, no, purchased points don’t count.

 

[disneyfan150]

I have Southwest booked for tomorrow to get to a cruise in FLL. Every day this week that particular flight has been cancelled. I wake up this morning to see that every single flight to FLL from my airport on Southwest tomorrow is still ON. I can’t rebook on another airline and it’s a 17 hour drive. I WILL make my cruise. Flight arrives evening before cruise boarding. Question is: at this point do I trust Southwest to get me there or start driving after work tonight? Just asking for what you would do, but I think I’m leaning toward driving anyway. Got everything packed.

If it were me, I would be driving.

If the weather cooperated, the drive to FLL wouldn't be the end of the world. Pre-cruise excitement would give me the energy I would need. We made the drive from Houston to Port Canaveral for a cruise a few years ago. It is the drive home after the cruise that was harder. At the time, I thought to myself - never again. BUT if I were cruising this coming weekend and my flight was scheduled on SW, I would absolutely go back on my word and get in the car.

Sending best wishes your way for safe travels and a great cruise!!

 

[elgerber]

I have Southwest booked for tomorrow to get to a cruise in FLL. Every day this week that particular flight has been cancelled. I wake up this morning to see that every single flight to FLL from my airport on Southwest tomorrow is still ON. I can’t rebook on another airline and it’s a 17 hour drive. I WILL make my cruise. Flight arrives evening before cruise boarding. Question is: at this point do I trust Southwest to get me there or start driving after work tonight? Just asking for what you would do, but I think I’m leaning toward driving anyway. Got everything packed.

I'm with most everyone else. If driving is a decent option, I would drive. I wouldn't trust SW for anything this week.

 

[hsmamato2]

They had two operational meltdowns in ‘21- June and Oct. This makes 3 operational meltdowns in 18 months. That’s not normal. In fact it’s probably a record of some sort.

exactly! I got caught in the oct '21 mess and used my AA points last minute b/c SWA was a hot mess...my bro got caught in this weeks mess and decided to drive 20 hours to his airbnb.... after this past year I no longer trust SWA. I feel anxiety booking with them (and I still do b/c points) but I try to have a backup plan now. I don't know what will happen to this airline after all this but I doubt it's gonna be a good thing.

 

[becauseimnew]

What is everyone spending the AmEx Biz Plat credits on? I am running out of ideas.

I bought a bose speaker, I've actually bought like 3 of them.
Next year I plan to use to buy the Adobe Creative Cloud lics. I bought it earlier this year, during a price error and I like the product. I will probably downgrade to the Photoshop/Lightroom since the creative lic is $600

 

[EACarlson]

SW is claiming that they are on track to run a full schedule tomorrow. I think they'll run 90-95% of one. I booked a back up flight on Delta this morning for my trip starting 1/17, I'll be watching closely how SW does for the next week or so.

 

[mom2febgirls]

Are you trying to burn by year end? Don’t forget it’s gotta ship to charge. Got hit by that end of Jun and lost a credit

If you pay for expedited shipping and it comes in under $200 will that count?

 

[Haley R]

I have Southwest booked for tomorrow to get to a cruise in FLL. Every day this week that particular flight has been cancelled. I wake up this morning to see that every single flight to FLL from my airport on Southwest tomorrow is still ON. I can’t rebook on another airline and it’s a 17 hour drive. I WILL make my cruise. Flight arrives evening before cruise boarding. Question is: at this point do I trust Southwest to get me there or start driving after work tonight? Just asking for what you would do, but I think I’m leaning toward driving anyway. Got everything packed.

We just flew allegiant back to Florida and there were at least 3 families that switched to our flight because their southwest flights were cancelled

 

[LynnTH]

Going to ask on this board as I seem to get the most answers here. Posted on Cruise Critic but nothing yet.


Going on Med Cruise in May. First time to Europe. Group consists of Me, DH, DS 24, DD 21, DS's Girlfriend 22 and My Brother and SIL. My son is paying for his and his girlfriends cruise -but we are paying for all the tours/transportation for the 5 of us. So, is getting a bit $$$.

We have some tours set up but don't really want to do a tour at every stop. Can anyone tell me if there are some stops that are better for wandering around on our own or any suggestion at these stops. I

We Fly into Rome a few days early. We have transportation, hotel and tours already set up for Rome.

Cruise Stops:
Amalfi Coast - Nothing yet
Sicily - Nothing yet
Santorini - Have Tour set up plus a photo session. Son is going to propose to girlfriend here.
Ephesus - Nothing yet
Mykonos - Nothing yet

The Cruise ends in Athens. We are here for a few days after the cruise. We have transportation, hotel and tours set up already for Athens.

Also, I am assuming we tip any tour guides/drivers. How much? 20% like in the US. How about for transportation from Airport to Hotel and such - do we tip those also?


Thanks for any suggestions/info !! Lynn

 

[wilckepedia]

Will buying the points I need get me over the top for the companion pass?


Thanks

Unfortunately, no. And because the linking function seems to be breaking the link... https://www.southwest.com/html/rapidrewards/eoy-tier-communication.html

 

[iujen94]

Going to ask on this board as I seem to get the most answers here. Posted on Cruise Critic but nothing yet.


Going on Med Cruise in May. First time to Europe. Group consists of Me, DH, DS 24, DD 21, DS's Girlfriend 22 and My Brother and SIL. My son is paying for his and his girlfriends cruise -but we are paying for all the tours/transportation for the 5 of us. So, is getting a bit $$$.

We have some tours set up but don't really want to do a tour at every stop. Can anyone tell me if there are some stops that are better for wandering around on our own or any suggestion at these stops. I

We Fly into Rome a few days early. We have transportation, hotel and tours already set up for Rome.

Cruise Stops:
Amalfi Coast - Nothing yet
Sicily - Nothing yet
Santorini - Have Tour set up plus a photo session. Son is going to propose to girlfriend here.
Ephesus - Nothing yet
Mykonos - Nothing yet

The Cruise ends in Athens. We are here for a few days after the cruise. We have transportation, hotel and tours set up already for Athens.

Also, I am assuming we tip any tour guides/drivers. How much? 20% like in the US. How about for transportation from Airport to Hotel and such - do we tip those also?


Thanks for any suggestions/info !! Lynn

We did a cruise with many of these stops in 2018. I didn’t love Mykonos - we walked around the town (tons of tourist shops) and saw the windmills. But we LOVED the restaurant Katerina’s Bar. Walking distance from where we tendered. Great food and amazing view. Ask for a seat on the balcony over the water.

Where do you dock for Amalfi Coast? We docked at Naples and did a shared tour of Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Sorrento through AP Tours. Overall we loved it, although wished they skipped Sorrento and extended Amalfi Coast because the Sorrento stop was so short, and it would have been nice to have more time to wander around Positano.

Have an amazing trip!!

 

[wtpooh]

Going to ask on this board as I seem to get the most answers here. Posted on Cruise Critic but nothing yet.


Going on Med Cruise in May. First time to Europe. Group consists of Me, DH, DS 24, DD 21, DS's Girlfriend 22 and My Brother and SIL. My son is paying for his and his girlfriends cruise -but we are paying for all the tours/transportation for the 5 of us. So, is getting a bit $$$.

We have some tours set up but don't really want to do a tour at every stop. Can anyone tell me if there are some stops that are better for wandering around on our own or any suggestion at these stops. I

We Fly into Rome a few days early. We have transportation, hotel and tours already set up for Rome.

Cruise Stops:
Amalfi Coast - Nothing yet
Sicily - Nothing yet
Santorini - Have Tour set up plus a photo session. Son is going to propose to girlfriend here.
Ephesus - Nothing yet
Mykonos - Nothing yet

The Cruise ends in Athens. We are here for a few days after the cruise. We have transportation, hotel and tours set up already for Athens.

Also, I am assuming we tip any tour guides/drivers. How much? 20% like in the US. How about for transportation from Airport to Hotel and such - do we tip those also?


Thanks for any suggestions/info !! Lynn

We did a Med cruise last April. May will be perfect weather wise! I can't speak to all your ports but we did a private tour (hooked up with random people who were organizing tours on cruise critic) of Ephesus and it was wonderful! We had a fabulous guide. I could probably get her name from my friend if you wanted to go that route. The ruins were quite amazing.

Mykonos, we did a ship tour of Delos. But if you are just going to Mykonos, I don't think you need a tour. You just take the ferry (think it's like $2 euro pp?) from the new port to the old port and Mykonos is very walkable. It's not terribly big and there's shops, restaurants, the pink Pelican and the windmills.

We did a private tour from Naples port (we skipped Naples) to Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano. This tour was fantastic (and why we stayed with the same group on their tour of Ephesus) We had a separate guide for Pompeii and then had a tour van with guides for Sorrento (where we had 2.5 hours to bum around) as well as Positano (which was a photo op from the cliffs overlooking the city) as well as a stop at a Limoncello factory.

I didn't book any of the private tours. Just asked on cruise critic to join established tours. In one instance, there was enough interest that the organizer just booked a 2nd van. That was for Herkalion, Crete.

 

[havaneselover]

Going to ask on this board as I seem to get the most answers here. Posted on Cruise Critic but nothing yet.


Going on Med Cruise in May. First time to Europe. Group consists of Me, DH, DS 24, DD 21, DS's Girlfriend 22 and My Brother and SIL. My son is paying for his and his girlfriends cruise -but we are paying for all the tours/transportation for the 5 of us. So, is getting a bit $$$.

We have some tours set up but don't really want to do a tour at every stop. Can anyone tell me if there are some stops that are better for wandering around on our own or any suggestion at these stops. I

We Fly into Rome a few days early. We have transportation, hotel and tours already set up for Rome.

Cruise Stops:
Amalfi Coast - Nothing yet
Sicily - Nothing yet
Santorini - Have Tour set up plus a photo session. Son is going to propose to girlfriend here.
Ephesus - Nothing yet
Mykonos - Nothing yet

The Cruise ends in Athens. We are here for a few days after the cruise. We have transportation, hotel and tours set up already for Athens.

Also, I am assuming we tip any tour guides/drivers. How much? 20% like in the US. How about for transportation from Airport to Hotel and such - do we tip those also?


Thanks for any suggestions/info !! Lynn

We did a Disney cruise in the Mediterranean last may. I spent about $2k for three excursions (two people). After Rome, my favorite stop was Amalfi coast (Capri, sorrento, Pompeii). Capri was amazing. I tipped 20 euros total to our guide for each excursion. 5-10 euros person was standard. There was one excursion where there was a person who took us to Rome and then a guide in Rome. I tipped both.

 

[LynnTH]

We did a cruise with many of these stops in 2018. I didn’t love Mykonos - we walked around the town (tons of tourist shops) and saw the windmills. But we LOVED the restaurant Katerina’s Bar. Walking distance from where we tendered. Great food and amazing view. Ask for a seat on the balcony over the water.

Where do you dock for Amalfi Coast? We docked at Naples and did a shared tour of Amalfi Coast, Pompeii and Sorrento through AP Tours. Overall we loved it, although wished they skipped Sorrento and extended Amalfi Coast because the Sorrento stop was so short, and it would have been nice to have more time to wander around Positano.

Have an amazing trip!!

We dock in Salerno. Maybe Mykonos would be a good stop to just wander on our own.

 

[LynnTH]

We did a Med cruise last April. May will be perfect weather wise! I can't speak to all your ports but we did a private tour (hooked up with random people who were organizing tours on cruise critic) of Ephesus and it was wonderful! We had a fabulous guide. I could probably get her name from my friend if you wanted to go that route. The ruins were quite amazing.

Mykonos, we did a ship tour of Delos. But if you are just going to Mykonos, I don't think you need a tour. You just take the ferry (think it's like $2 euro pp?) from the new port to the old port and Mykonos is very walkable. It's not terribly big and there's shops, restaurants, the pink Pelican and the windmills.

We did a private tour from Naples port (we skipped Naples) to Pompeii, Sorrento and Positano. This tour was fantastic (and why we stayed with the same group on their tour of Ephesus) We had a separate guide for Pompeii and then had a tour van with guides for Sorrento (where we had 2.5 hours to bum around) as well as Positano (which was a photo op from the cliffs overlooking the city) as well as a stop at a Limoncello factory.

I didn't book any of the private tours. Just asked on cruise critic to join established tours. In one instance, there was enough interest that the organizer just booked a 2nd van. That was for Herkalion, Crete.

We do like more 1/2 day tours - so we have time to do things on our own as well. Doing a lot of Historical stuff in Rome and Athens, so would like to do other things in some of the other ports.

What kind of things did you do?

 

[Albort]

I just refreshed the reddit links for 2023. by starting new ones, new links will go up so we will know the links are good. So please repost your links.
if there are any reasons you need your old links, feel free to reach out and/or if enough ppl need the old thread back, i will post it back.
If you have any feedback/suggestions, reach out to me here or via PM.

 

[LynnTH]

We did a Disney cruise in the Mediterranean last may. I spent about $2k for three excursions (two people). After Rome, my favorite stop was Amalfi coast (Capri, sorrento, Pompeii). Capri was amazing. I tipped 20 euros total to our guide for each excursion. 5-10 euros person was standard. There was one excursion where there was a person who took us to Rome and then a guide in Rome. I tipped both.

So maybe this stop we should do some sort of tour.

So, some of our tours in Rome/Athens are between 400 and 650 euros (for 7 of us). So, 20% would be way too much in Tips? Or is that about right?