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

[sinnika]

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks in Germany and still no baby. DD’s due date was April 13th. And she really thought she would have this baby sooner! I almost came even earlier in March since I’m here to take care of my 16 months old grandson when she and her DH go into the hospital. So that has thrown a kink in my travel plans. I originally planned a trip to Amsterdam for April 18-20. I moved it to April 25-27 but may push it out further if my friend decides not to visit. Thank goodness for points. I’ve cancelled more plans than ever. Thanks to the TripIt app, everything was in one place so it was easy to edit or delete. I was able to change my reservations for Keukenhof but unfortunately my tickets for the Anne Frank house are not refundable or exchanable. If anyone in this group is in Amsterdam on April 19 and would like them, PM me. They are for 2 people at 12:15pm.
Weather was in the 30’s yesterday morning. I’m hoping for warmer temperatures since one third of my wardrobe are for warmer weather. And I packed carry on only! I think I could even get by with one of those European smaller carryons if I had to. (Though I do love my bigger carry on). Just don’t like carrying it up or down stairs or lifting it up in an overhead compartment.
I had asked about travel insurance right before I left. I have purchased it my last several trips to Europe but procrastinated until the day of travel and my usual company Travelguard would not provide coverage since I would have had to purchase at least a day before travel commenced. So this time, I decided to forgo it. I will have access to health care at the military base if needed and can also visit any health facilities in Europe, pay up front and get reimbursed the majority through TRICARE. Hope I don’t regret that decision.

 

[hsmamato2]

Do you have a P2? I have both the $49 af card and the $89 af one. I am probably not going to cancel either one due to the new rule of one personal. I’ll get the biz one. My P2 never had the $49 af card he’ll churn the $89 card when he can.

I don't anymore...... my (previous) P2 had the $49 cc, it got closed....now I wish I had kept it open so I could have the freedom to go get this new one! I guess I'm stuck

 

[djmeredith]

@sinnika I hope your new grandbaby makes his/her arrival soon! Glad you aren't out much money due to change in plans. Your post reminded me that I need to finish sending all my May Europe plans to TripIt. I started sending them when I was sending them when I started planning but then forgot to do it somewhere along the way.

 

[leeniewdw]

So I’m currently holding a reservation at signal mountain (which for the record is like $350 a night so certainly not cheap).

But was thinking after 4 nights in park in Yellowstone, the kids (and husband lol) might be ready for like wifi and a pool and some activities that aren’t hiking or looking at bison.

Was looking at the ariel tram, a river rafting trip and the rodeo. And I don’t want to drive back into the park at night after the rodeo.

Yes! Should have included that Signal is not cheap!! IIRC, they now have wifi everywhere there, though admittedly I didn't really use it other than checking email and a few posts on Instagram.

When we took our kids in 2007 (our first time at Signal), we did amp up the "activities" when we hit the Tetons. We did horseback riding at Colter Bay and a White Water rafting that was south of Jackson I believe (we used Mad River).

One thing my husband and I do each time a Signal is rent a little boat right there at the marina and go for an hour or 2 around the lake. He does a little bit of fishing and I enjoy the beauty and quiet and read while he fishes. This last trip we packed a lunch and stopped at one of the island beaches for lunch in complete solitude.

 

[Nala83]

I'm new to using fee-free Visas. What do I use for a pin if I want to run it as debit? Using it as credit makes it hard to use the last bit.

 

[StephPlum]

I'm new to using fee-free Visas. What do I use for a pin if I want to run it as debit? Using it as credit makes it hard to use the last bit.

I can drain mine (no pin) at Meijer, Costco. Probably other grocery stores. Or I load to Amazon.

if you have to use a pin, you can set one or I normally just use the last four numbers on the card.

 

[StephPlum]

I don't anymore...... my (previous) P2 had the $49 cc, it got closed....now I wish I had kept it open so I could have the freedom to go get this new one! I guess I'm stuck

I’d go for the Biz. But I get a lot of use from my $49 card so I am biased.

 

[IFlossU]

I'm new to using fee-free Visas. What do I use for a pin if I want to run it as debit? Using it as credit makes it hard to use the last bit.

Usually it’s the last 4 numbers on the front of the card.

 

[becauseimnew]

So it looks like we will most likely fly out of PHL to Dublin at 8 pm on Labor Day. Should we risk flying in that morning? My gut says go the day before but that’s another day to pay for a hotel and I feel like we’ll just be sitting around with nothing to do until the next night.

Leave the day before, we missed our flight out of ORD due to mechanical issues on our repositioning morning flight.

 

[havaneselover]

I'm 11 months out from my DCL cruise to celebrate finishing my Master's (almost halfway done!). This will be my first time flying to MCO for a cruise (DD will meet me there flying in from ATL). Thoughts on Hyatt Regency MCO and Ubering to the port vs. staying closer to the port and Ubering to the hotel then to the port? I do have Hilton and Marriott points and lots of URs but I'm okay paying cash too.

 

[Judique]

I'm new to using fee-free Visas. What do I use for a pin if I want to run it as debit? Using it as credit makes it hard to use the last bit.

I use the last 4 digits on the cards. Never register them or create any pins as I usually use them pretty quickly.

 

[Judique]

I'm 11 months out from my DCL cruise to celebrate finishing my Master's (almost halfway done!). This will be my first time flying to MCO for a cruise (DD will meet me there flying in from ATL). Thoughts on Hyatt Regency MCO and Ubering to the port vs. staying closer to the port and Ubering to the hotel then to the port? I do have Hilton and Marriott points and lots of URs but I'm okay paying cash too.

No original thoughts, but HR MCO is usually spoken highly off by those who've stayed.
Proud of you for working on/getting half way through your Masters. That milestone will be here in no time.

 

[lsutigers03]

For the tube, we just used a credit card to tap but it won't let you use one twice in a row, so each person needs a CC to use. I just gave DS one and he gave it back as soon as we went through so he didn't lose it.

Using Apple Pay and the actual card allowed DW and I to pay with one card when we went last year.

 

[wendow]

I'm 11 months out from my DCL cruise to celebrate finishing my Master's (almost halfway done!). This will be my first time flying to MCO for a cruise (DD will meet me there flying in from ATL). Thoughts on Hyatt Regency MCO and Ubering to the port vs. staying closer to the port and Ubering to the hotel then to the port? I do have Hilton and Marriott points and lots of URs but I'm okay paying cash too.

Congrats on your upcoming finishing of your masters! I can give you a rec of a good driver who can get you from MCO to the Port. We've used him 4-5 times now and he is awesome! Send me a pm if you would like his info.

 

[EACarlson]

I'm 11 months out from my DCL cruise to celebrate finishing my Master's (almost halfway done!). This will be my first time flying to MCO for a cruise (DD will meet me there flying in from ATL). Thoughts on Hyatt Regency MCO and Ubering to the port vs. staying closer to the port and Ubering to the hotel then to the port? I do have Hilton and Marriott points and lots of URs but I'm okay paying cash too.

For the price difference I'd go with either the Hyatt Place MCO or Hyatt Place Titusville. Probably MCO, it's just across 528 north from the airport and has a shuttle. Then you can get an Uber for cheaper since there is no airport surcharge from there to the port. For a 5,000 point room vs an 18,000 point room I'll take a five minute shuttle ride.

 

[sinnika]

Does anyone recommend a map site where you can plan a trip? I’m trying to plan day trips and overnights from DD’s home when my DH arrives in Germany in May. Hopefully the weather will be warmer then. We may get some snow later this week!

 

[elgerber]

For the price difference I'd go with either the Hyatt Place MCO or Hyatt Place Titusville. Probably MCO, it's just across 528 north from the airport and has a shuttle. Then you can get an Uber for cheaper since there is no airport surcharge from there to the port. For a 5,000 point room vs an 18,000 point room I'll take a five minute shuttle ride.

There is something fun I think, about staying at MCO. I like watching the people below.
I have stayed before and after a cruise, and I am going to stay there before my 7am flight home this October.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

Well as I closed in on finishing my Wyndham card, I was looking at the AA Citi Biz and then Marriott throws the 5 FNCs at us again. I got it in Oct 2020 (I remember I jumped on it hours after closing on my refi, LOL). We used those last June at an AI in Cancun thanks to the extensions. My BF got his card last summer, and now has 5 FNCs we plan on using in Cancun in June/July. So I'm going to hold off I think on getting the card, and then for sure hold off on hitting the spend since they issue so fast. I just cancelled my card back in October when it renewed, LOL. Also looking at my status, I'm at 4/24 until August. So I think I'll hold off on getting the card for now because I don't like being froze out of Chase for too long, LOL. Right now I drop /24 in Aug and then the next isn't until March 2024. So let's hope this floats for awhile! Which I guess means maybe I do go for the AA card now.....

Also I'm now well over 3 weeks on my status match. I tweeted them 2 weeks ago and they said it can take 2-3 weeks. So I tweeted them again today. UGH. I want to match so I can do our quick trip to Philly and AC to match everything.

I can’t join the group because I don’t have a profile picture lol. I’m not a Facebook person. I’m sure there are other groups I can look into though.

Dh is gonna look at the Shannon airport but he didn’t think there were any flights. That would be nice though because everything we want to do is on that side of the country

Yeah, Shannon would be easier for us, but now that I'm looking at CLE it's only to DUB.

We took two week long trips in 3 weeks so I'll have some trip reports to share. But, we just got back from Grand Cayman and we got caught up in the Fort Lauderdale disaster. Our flight from Grand Cayman was scheduled to stop in FLL with a nearly 4 hour layover, then continue to Chicago. We took off uneventfully from Grand Cayman then nearly landed in FLL but then began circling the airport like 4-5 times, for over an hour, until we finally had to divert because we were out of fuel.

Diverted to Orlando where we were explicitly told we wouldn't be able to get off because it was an international flight and we were not going to an international gate, we were just landing to be fueled and then were to head back to FLL. This cabin crew was something else "Don't even look for a flight out of Orlando, you are NOT gonna be allowed to get off," one of the FAs says over the intercom. Well of course we land and the pilots time out... and lo and behold, they are somehow magically allowed to get off the plane and clear internationally. Then we wait on the plane for new pilots. All this while I hadn't fed my kids since breakfast because I knew I had that darn four hour layover and I'd planned to feed them multiple times during that long layover and I didn't think I needed copious snacks for an hour flight. Well, big lesson learned there. So then finally they come on and say that the tower in FLL has no power so the airport is closed indefinitely. So then we deplane in MCO with basically zero information on how to rebook. Self service options online weren't working. That's where all the cc annual fee perks started kicking in:

ETA: I just reread this and it sounds so whiny. I have so, so much to be grateful for and I don't mean to come off that way. Just stressful and stressful for my kiddos.

You're lucky! FLL was a MESS!!!! Crews were sleeping on the planes I heard. I'm kinda shocked it didn't seem to cause much of a meltdown for Spirit. Since they have so many flights through FLL.

Question for my cc peeps... I have used and love my IHG $49 card for years now.... but I reallllly am tempted to get that new one with 175k bonus.... I'd have to cancel my old one tho..... wwyd? I could do a ihg biz, which is 35k less but I'd still get to keep my OG card..... trying to decide!

I have the $89 and the freebie and the Biz. I dropped the freebie to open up more credit. I'm sure I'll rotate all three as I've already churned the $89 once prior. But I don't like that you can't have all 3 anymore. So I'm trying to time my sign ups for the $89/biz to be near the same time to max on the FNC. Right now my $89 renews in August. And I can churn the Biz in March 2024. So I may cancel the Premier in Aug, and reapply in Feb 2024.....then cancel the biz and reapply to that in like April 2024. So my FNC are closer together. IDK, LOL.

So it looks like we will most likely fly out of PHL to Dublin at 8 pm on Labor Day. Should we risk flying in that morning? My gut says go the day before but that’s another day to pay for a hotel and I feel like we’ll just be sitting around with nothing to do until the next night.

Well our positioning flight was the day of, and got cancelled. And then our flight to DUB cancelled, LOL. Now we're aimming for DUB so we can just drive!

Does anyone recommend a map site where you can plan a trip? I’m trying to plan day trips and overnights from DD’s home when my DH arrives in Germany in May. Hopefully the weather will be warmer then. We may get some snow later this week!

I was using Wanderlog for planning Ireland. I liked it!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

AHHHHH, in looking I will be able to book the flight TO DUB in 3 days on the AL site. Since I had issues w/ my booking last time, does anyone want to walk me through how I do this? I'm going to book them as one way tickets, CLE to DUB and then DUB to CLE. I feel like last year the avios website glitched out on me, and then my avios went missing. Is that what most do? Last year we ended up having to call for mine and my moms. Also I waited on picking our seats until like a week prior which had us in the middle. Which is fine. But I wouldn't mind the windows if we can snag them. Do you know can I call and get my seats right away? I'll have my mom go for the solo seat that is prime too, LOL.

 

[wanderlust7]

I'm 11 months out from my DCL cruise to celebrate finishing my Master's (almost halfway done!). This will be my first time flying to MCO for a cruise (DD will meet me there flying in from ATL). Thoughts on Hyatt Regency MCO and Ubering to the port vs. staying closer to the port and Ubering to the hotel then to the port? I do have Hilton and Marriott points and lots of URs but I'm okay paying cash too.

We arrived close to midnight last time and it was so nice to walk directly to HR MCO right from baggage claim. The next day, we moved to the Swan Reserve for a park day before our cruise. When I was planning, I was debating if it was worth changing hotels. It definitely was because we had such a late flight and long day.

So I would say definitely stay at MCO if your fight arrives late. If not, then possibly near port, depending on what you want to do that day. Would your DD take a separate Uber to the port hotel if you did that? That would factor into the decision too.

At the HR MCO, we were told we couldn't catch an Uber at the hotel entrance, only taxis. We had to go where Uber pickup is in the terminal. It wasn't a big deal, just an FYI.