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

[pinkxray]

Just chatted about a retention offer on my Amex gold. Got 15,000MR for $2,000 spend in 3 months. Figure between that and using the grub hub credit, the AF is covered. Everything else is a bonus.


We just got home from 2 nights at Florida Legoland and 3 nights at Royal Pacific/Universal. So naturally it’s time to start planning my next trips. Our Aulani trip in Nov. is mostly set until I can book dining/activities.

It’s the Alaska cruise in June 2024 that’s stressing me out. We are booked on NCL encore out of Seattle. I can only really take off a week. I don’t work Fridays so we can be away Fri-Sunday. Tons of the Alaska cruises leave Monday or Tues so that cuts them. I think NCL will work for our family but the port times are so much shorter than some and some reviews aren’t very good for the NCL encore.

I can change to Princess/ Discovery Princess of Seattle but thats another $1,000 or HAL Koningsdam. HAL leaves out of Vancover. I haven’t tried out of the US much.How much of a hassle is it to fly there vs Seattle?

 

[mom2febgirls]

Hawaiian’s IT (website/app) is almost as bad as Disney’s. Incredibly frustrating to use. Did you create a Hawaiian miles account? And it still won’t show you the miles? If so I can look up the miles for you with my account. You can send me a private message or just share the itinerary here and I’ll look it up.

Thank you so much. I did make an account so maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it won't let me choose miles. I assumed it was because I don't have any.

I'm looking for SLC to HNL around Feb 18.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Have you called the Swan Reserve and asked them to link your reservations so you can stay in the same room? I suspect Disney linking them for dining reservations will not do that. You will probably still have to go down to the front desk to check out after the first night and then check in for the 2nd part.

YMMV on this. I've had issues. At Swan, the front desk person at checkin linked our 2 res but on the last day of the first res, housekeeping came and tried to kick us out. Had to go to the front desk to get it straightened out.
Just last month, stayed at Westin in NOLA, and the front desk person refused to link reservations, said they don't do that and we had to stop at the front desk on the last day for the first res. They checked us out of first res, checked us in for second res and gave us new key cards as they canceled the original ones. Bonvoyed. Seems like more work for them.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Just chatted about a retention offer on my Amex gold. Got 15,000MR for $2,000 spend in 3 months. Figure between that and using the grub hub credit, the AF is covered. Everything else is a bonus.


We just got home from 2 nights at Florida Legoland and 3 nights at Royal Pacific/Universal. So naturally it’s time to start planning my next trips. Our Aulani trip in Nov. is mostly set until I can book dining/activities.

It’s the Alaska cruise in June 2024 that’s stressing me out. We are booked on NCL encore out of Seattle. I can only really take off a week. I don’t work Fridays so we can be away Fri-Sunday. Tons of the Alaska cruises leave Monday or Tues so that cuts them. I think NCL will work for our family but the port times are so much shorter than some and some reviews aren’t very good for the NCL encore.

I can change to Princess/ Discovery Princess of Seattle but thats another $1,000 or HAL Koningsdam. HAL leaves out of Vancover. I haven’t tried out of the US much.How much of a hassle is it to fly there vs Seattle?

Can't speak to your other concerns but we did Alaska on DCL out of Vancouver a few years ago. Vancouver is lovely, very walkable and the port is beautiful. Can't compare to Seattle as I haven't been there but we had a lovely time pre and post cruise in Vancouver and no issues at all.

 

[Judique]

YMMV on this. I've had issues. At Swan, the front desk person at checkin linked our 2 res but on the last day of the first res, housekeeping came and tried to kick us out. Had to go to the front desk to get it straightened out.
Just last month, stayed at Westin in NOLA, and the front desk person refused to link reservations, said they don't do that and we had to stop at the front desk on the last day for the first res. They checked us out of first res, checked us in for second res and gave us new key cards as they canceled the original ones. Bonvoyed. Seems like more work for them.

Amazing how things go sometimes! In May we were at the old Swan for two nights. When I checked in I started to mention that I had 2 nights booked separately with FNC's.

Desk clerk immediately said 'we took care of that and you are in the same room for both nights'.

No fuss no muss. Until a few days later and I saw a weird charge on my bill that seemed to be a charge for combining the reservations!

Well, did nothing. Watched it for a few days and it disappeared. I think it had to do with how their accounting system handled it.

I did not have to report to the desk the next morning, or get new keys.

Even at Boardwalk, last time they combined something it was more seamless.

 

[amcc]

Interesting offers on my Amex Plat this morning - spend offers for $100/20 x 8 in the UK, $300/50 x 6 in Italy, and $200/40 x 10 in France. All valid till 12/31. Great offers for anyone going to Europe this year. And spend $500 get $75 at El Corte Ingles in Spain. Combine any of these and the VAT on a luxury bag purchase and you've got a great deal.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Amazing how things go sometimes! In May we were at the old Swan for two nights. When I checked in I started to mention that I had 2 nights booked separately with FNC's.

Desk clerk immediately said 'we took care of that and you are in the same room for both nights'.

No fuss no muss. Until a few days later and I saw a weird charge on my bill that seemed to be a charge for combining the reservations!

Well, did nothing. Watched it for a few days and it disappeared. I think it had to do with how their accounting system handled it.

I did not have to report to the desk the next morning, or get new keys.

Even at Boardwalk, last time they combined something it was more seamless.

Yeah, I think it's weird because I know they can do it, they just don't want to.

 

[georgina]

Maybe my Swan issue with needing to go the front desk to check out/check back in was because I wanted to use a Marriott GC to pay the resort fee, which the desk person said would be charged separately after each night. (I was staying 2 nights on separate FNC's.)

 

[afan]

AF hit on my hyatt biz. 6 months ago I think I said I'd keep it because I was getting good offers, well those have stopped.

Aside from the $50 credit times 2 is there any reason to keep it when I already have the personal?

Also does the credit only work at hyatt named properties or would Tokyo station work, I booked through hyatt though I know that doesn't mean anything. Though I also don't plan to spend money there so I'd be spending to use the credit.

 

[punkin]

Interesting offers on my Amex Plat this morning - spend offers for $100/20 x 8 in the UK, $300/50 x 6 in Italy, and $200/40 x 10 in France. All valid till 12/31. Great offers for anyone going to Europe this year. And spend $500 get $75 at El Corte Ingles in Spain. Combine any of these and the VAT on a luxury bag purchase and you've got a great deal.

The stores these are good for seem to be very limited

 

[Haley R]

I’ve been on a bit of a break from chase because I was over 5/24. I finally got under 5/24 on Saturday so I applied for a CIP and was approved today!

In an unrelated note, dh put some return flights on hold for our Japan trip. It’s not our first choice for a return flight but we wanted to at least hold them in case we can’t get our preferred date when it opens up in a couple days.

 

[havaneselover]

Can't speak to your other concerns but we did Alaska on DCL out of Vancouver a few years ago. Vancouver is lovely, very walkable and the port is beautiful. Can't compare to Seattle as I haven't been there but we had a lovely time pre and post cruise in Vancouver and no issues at all.

I’ve never been to Seattle but have been to Vancouver. I’d prefer the latter.

 

[bbsearchlight]

I have the following spend offer on my Chase Freedom card:

"You'll earn a total of 5% cash back for every $1 you spend on up to $1,500 in combined purchases at gas stations and grocery stores from July 1 through September 30, 2023 with your Chase Freedom® Card.*"

Since the Freedom already earns 5% this quarter at gas stations, does that mean I will now earn 10% back at gas stations?

 

[georgina]

It’s the Alaska cruise in June 2024 that’s stressing me out. We are booked on NCL encore out of Seattle. I can only really take off a week. I don’t work Fridays so we can be away Fri-Sunday. Tons of the Alaska cruises leave Monday or Tues so that cuts them. I think NCL will work for our family but the port times are so much shorter than some and some reviews aren’t very good for the NCL encore.

I can change to Princess/ Discovery Princess of Seattle but thats another $1,000 or HAL Koningsdam. HAL leaves out of Vancover. I haven’t tried out of the US much.How much of a hassle is it to fly there vs Seattle?

It's been 20 years, but we cruised out of Vancouver and flew in and out of Seattle. Spent a day seeing Seattle sights, took a train (Amtrak) to Vancouver, spent the night before the cruise in a hotel, went to the ship the next morning. After the cruise (they let you off the ship quite early) we rented a car, did some Vancouver sights (Stanley Park and Capilano suspension bridge/raptor demonstration), and drove straight to SEA to fly home. The kids remember a lot of that trip fondly. Not sure if that will fit with your time frame.

 

[havaneselover]

I have an Amex Platinum Biz I need to cancel in the next few weeks. Just booked a few SW flights. And I used my Dell credit Saturday--ds wanted a full hd monitor for college. Meanwhile I'm waiting for my CIU. Once I get it I'll put part of my Q3 federal tax estimated payment on it and will use the 81k URs toward our Japan tickets.

 

[IFlossU]

Thank you so much. I did make an account so maybe I'm doing something wrong, but it won't let me choose miles. I assumed it was because I don't have any.

I'm looking for SLC to HNL around Feb 18.

Well..it would appear there is currently no points availability from SLC. I played around with dates, amount of people, etc. to no avail. It shows only cash bookings. I checked from PHX my home airport to make sure it was functioning, and there is points availability out of PHX. I’m not sure why there wouldn’t be flights available out of SLC for points bookings. Is this a new route? That’s disappointing. But apparently it’s not just you. It’s literally just not available. You could maybe try calling them to see if it’s bookable by phone the Hawaiian CSRs are quite friendly. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

 

[AmyAnne]

Chase occasionally runs a promotion to redeem URs for apple products at 1.25x or 1.5x on the sapphire cards, but only a couple times a year.

Where you buy might depend on the level of customization required - if your family member wants a specific watch/strap combo that is non-standard then you need to buy from Apple. If they would be happy with one of the standard watches, then I'd suggest looking at Costco.

Bear in mind the Apple Watch 9 should be announced in September which should lead to some deals on the 8. Target just cleared out their 7s a couple weeks ago, but maybe some deals around on that somewhere.

Thanks for the reply. But what the heck with all the options! I thought this would be easy. We are a family of multiple Apple products but yet I have no idea what the watch options are about. Even Costco has too many choices: not just series 7 or 8 (I understand that) but what is Ultra? Series SE?

I think I might have to go have a chat with the people at the Apple store.

 

[afan]

Thanks for the reply. But what the heck with all the options! I thought this would be easy. We are a family of multiple Apple products but yet I have no idea what the watch options are about. Even Costco has too many choices: not just series 7 or 8 (I understand that) but what is Ultra? Series SE?

I think I might have to go have a chat with the people at the Apple store.

I did hear on the news or GMA this morning that target would have deals on watches for their target days. With all those sales next week it'd be a good idea to keep an eye out for the deals.

 

[VickieMouse]

I have the following spend offer on my Chase Freedom card:

"You'll earn a total of 5% cash back for every $1 you spend on up to $1,500 in combined purchases at gas stations and grocery stores from July 1 through September 30, 2023 with your Chase Freedom® Card.*"

Since the Freedom already earns 5% this quarter at gas stations, does that mean I will now earn 10% back at gas stations?

I don’t know the answer to your question, but where did you find this offer?

 

[reliev]

I don’t know the answer to your question, but where did you find this offer?

im guessing chase.com/mybonus ? I never get anything anymore