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

[trenty]

Thanks. We are going to give it a try at least and see since our airport is not too busy. When we fly back from MCO Sunday is when we would really benefit from her being able to go through with me.

Did you book her ticket on a separate reservation? If so, this might be why it has pre-check. The system thinks she is flying alone and unaccompanied minors get pre-check. (At least they used to. This happened to me several times with my kids when they were under 18. They got precheck since I booked their tickets separately from mine.)

 

[mamapenguin]

My daughter used to randomly get TSA precheck on reservations that I booked together when she was around 13-14. I didn’t have it at the time so she wouldn’t use it. When I looked into getting it I read that only 12 and younger can go through precheck with a parent. We both got precheck because of that. MCO is one place that I am thankful to have precheck.

 

[leeniewdw]

It's been YEARS since this happened, but I'd randomly get TSA Precheck on my boarding pass when traveling alone. It was normally for business trips (I traveled infrequently) and sometimes I noticed I'd get it on my return boarding pass. Again, it's been YEARS but I had it happen more than a few times. Don't know if I was just lucky and something has changed because I've flown a decent amount the last few years and never got it.

And semi-related, I never could get a Global Entry interview, so won't have that for our Ireland trip next month. My DH never even got his conditional approval (we both applied in July). In hindsight, I maybe should have just applied for TSA Pre , but had no clue we wouldn't get both after 10 months (using CC credits).

 

[hsmamato2]

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5..... the differences between precheck,clear,and global entry? which are harder to get, why they're good to have,one vs the other? in all my years of travel,I've never done any of them.(I was always with my family who didn't have any other options anyway) I noticed even MCO has their own clear program now...

 

[hsmamato2]

ooooh! instant approval for IHG biz elevated offer! I actually got a page about frozen credit immediately,then had to pop over to the big 3 sites to unfreeze....then I called in and she told me it was approved! I'm excited..... I use IHG the most b/c of their big footprint,and I have an unavoidable bill coming due soon!

 

[georgina]

I felt pretty comfortable with using it, but everyone whose driven in Ireland keep saying how close the hedges/walls are on rural roads (which we hope to drive). And I read a horror story on Trip Advisor for someone who did scrape a hedge, which scratched the car. They reported it to the rental agency (Enterprise, the one I'm using) upon return and they billed their card the entire value of the car until the damage was reviewed and repairs estimated! THey had to use their Amex due to the credit limits on others and then had to pay it off because it didn't get resolved before it was due?! Eventually it did, but it was painful.

Here's the thread:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop...ar_rental_company_after_accident-Ireland.html

When we picked up our car in Oxford last summer the Europcar guy pressed hard for me to buy the extra ins through them. He kept saying we could be on the hook for 70,000 pounds. The car had a long list of documented scrapes when we got it, DH did scrape the wheel on a stone wall at one point in rural England, but it blended in with all the previous ones.

 

[trenty]

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5..... the differences between precheck,clear,and global entry? which are harder to get, why they're good to have,one vs the other? in all my years of travel,I've never done any of them.(I was always with my family who didn't have any other options anyway) I noticed even MCO has their own clear program now...

Here is a good article to compare the three. Although I paid $78 for TSA, not $85 as stated here. Maybe the price recently dropped?

https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/tsa-precheck-vs-global-entry-vs-clear-how-to-choose/

 

[Psychodisney]

Can someone explain to me like I'm 5..... the differences between precheck,clear,and global entry? which are harder to get, why they're good to have,one vs the other? in all my years of travel,I've never done any of them.(I was always with my family who didn't have any other options anyway) I noticed even MCO has their own clear program now...

I'm sure others will have other input but I'll try.
TSA precheck: for domestic travel only. $78 for 5 years of coverage. You can leave your shoes on and electronics in the bag. I think almost all USA airports have TSA lines. Some are manned better than others. IMO, TOTALLY worth it. Even if you don't get it for free. You can go to a variety of locations for a simple finger printing "interview". You pay at the location.

GE: for domestic and international travel. $100/5 years. Allows for expedited clearance through customs on return to the US. Pay online when you apply. Appointments have been very difficult to schedule. Seems like they want to push you to enroll on arrival from various points.

Clear plus: domestic travel and not at every airport. $189/year. Free with Amex Platinum. Enroll online and finish at an airport that has it. They scan your eyes to identify you. Works like a fastpass. If you have Precheck and Clear, you jump ahead of other precheck customers. At some airports (like MCO and DEN) , I think it is worth it. For me, its a meh for the price. You can add other family members for $60/person.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

DH are back for a month after a crazy few months of traveling every few weeks. We went to Nola. We stayed at the Eliza Jane and got a super cheap cash rate with a corporate code. If your company offers corporate booking discounts it’s always good to check sometimes the cash rates are a much better deal than using points.

Delta also had a skymiles award sale so we booked Delta one to London. It was 153,000 skymiles a person. London wasn’t high on my travel list, but I was excited to try delta one and I’m now spoiled. I booked delta one to Paris already for next year. We also ended up really enjoying London too. DH has become obsessed with premier league soccer so we took a train to Newcastle to watch a game and we saw Harry Potter and the cursed child, which was amazing. We stayed at the St. James Trafalgar Square which was nice and centrally located. I’m diamond and was only upgraded to a King room, but that was fine. Id like to try the Conrad or Waldorf next time tho.

We also had another trip to NYC with friends and stayed at the Conrad. I’ve always gotten a suite upgrade here and I really love the rooms. There’s tons of space so DH can work from the room.

If anyone has any Hilton hotel recommendations for Paris let me know! I still haven’t booked our hotel yet.

Good to see you!
We are headed to NOLA in 2 weeks. Anything you did/saw that was particularly good? We have a bunch of stuff booked but open to suggestions.
We are a Premiere League obsessed family. Our team is not doing so great this year but Newcastle is having a fantastic year. We did London and a PL game last year for Spring Break. So fun!

 

[becauseimnew]

I'm sure others will have other input but I'll try.
TSA precheck: for domestic travel only. $78 for 5 years of coverage. You can leave your shoes on and electronics in the bag. I think almost all USA airports have TSA lines. Some are manned better than others. IMO, TOTALLY worth it. Even if you don't get it for free. You can go to a variety of locations for a simple finger printing "interview". You pay at the location.

GE: for domestic and international travel. $100/5 years. Allows for expedited clearance through customs on return to the US. Pay online when you apply. Appointments have been very difficult to schedule. Seems like they want to push you to enroll on arrival from various points.

Clear plus: domestic travel and not at every airport. $189/year. Free with Amex Platinum. Enroll online and finish at an airport that has it. They scan your eyes to identify you. Works like a fastpass. If you have Precheck and Clear, you jump ahead of other precheck customers. At some airports (like MCO and DEN) , I think it is worth it. For me, its a meh for the price. You can add other family members for $60/person.

TSA Pre-Check - can get pretty easy and quick, usually within a month.
GE: Can take months to get approved and months for an interview
Clear: Easy to apply and get

 

[EACarlson]

You should look into how much compensation you are owed by UK law. According to this, for being downgraded, it would be 50-75% of the flight price (I think your mileage puts you right on the cusp between the two). Not sure how that applies to a points booking. But I believe you would qualify because you flew into the UK, even though not on a UK airline. https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/resolving-travel-problems/delays-and-cancellations/downgrading/

Edit: Maybe doesn't apply to you, UK261 is confusing.

UK261 doesn't apply as the flight was on United, a US carrier, from the US. Had it been the return or on a UK or EU airline, UK261 would apply.

We have been approved for the AMEX platinum card with a bonus 100,000 pts. Does anyone think it is wise to keep our gold for $250 or cancel the gold and just have the platinum card.

If you use the credits on the Gold fairly regularly I would keep it just for the earning potential. Most of my family's spending is on groceries and restaurants, both 4x categories on the Gold and 1x on the Plat.

I have precheck, but my 17 year old daughter does not. We have a SWA flight tomorrow and her ticket has precheck listed on it. Will she be able to go through with me since it’s stamped on there? I was under the impression that she was too old to go automatically with me and needed to have her own KTN number, but if not, that would be awesome.

If it's on her boarding pass she will be allowed through. There are a defined number of places in Precheck lanes for each airport each day. If there are fewer precheck enrolled passengers than there are slots available there is an algorithm run to determine who else gets the checkmark. Contributing factors are age, travel history, travel party, background checks that we know of. My mother is 63, works in a school and goes through a background check every year, she's had a FF account going back to 1982 with Northwest Airlines and flies a couple times a year. She gets Pre about half the time flying between MSP and MDW.

I enrolled in Pre in 2019 and it took 4 days. I applied for Global Entry in March and am still waiting for my conditional approval, then once I have that I have to find a location to interview. The nearest interview location to me is 90 minutes, the nearest that has bookable appointments right now is 4.5 hours. It may be cheaper and easier for me to fly somewhere else just for the interview, then fly home.

Pre lowered price in November of '22 to $78 for initial enrollment, $70 for renewals stayed the same.

I'm going to rant against Clear for a minute, but may be a hypocrite next week. In many locations, Clear takes their customers and lets them cut the line in front of other passengers. I feel this is wrong and should not be allowed. This is allowing someone to pay a private company to skip to the front of a government operated line. In MSP in 2021, it would have been faster for me to go through the general security line rather than Pre because no one without Clear was allowed into the Pre checkpoint if there was anyone from the Clear line waiting. This has been solved in many locations, including MCO by having a separate checkpoint for Clear customers, which I'm okay with. I got a three month trial offer via email. I've got a flight next week, maybe one in the middle of June and probably one over 4th of July. I'm undecided if I'm going to go through with it, but I might.

 

[speedyfishy]

Good to see you!
We are headed to NOLA in 2 weeks. Anything you did/saw that was particularly good? We have a bunch of stuff booked but open to suggestions.
We are a Premiere League obsessed family. Our team is not doing so great this year but Newcastle is having a fantastic year. We did London and a PL game last year for Spring Break. So fun!

I have some food recommendations! i loved the Po boys and onion rings from Mahonys and we tried the beignets from cafe beignet and cafe du monde. We preferred cafe du monde. And we really liked Gus’s worked famous fried chicken. What activities do you have planned?

The game was so much fun. I’d love to do that again. What team do you root for?

 

[elgerber]

My mother is 63, works in a school and goes through a background check every year, she's had a FF account going back to 1982 with Northwest Airlines and flies a couple times a year. She gets Pre about half the time flying between MSP and MDW.

.

I have nothing useful to say LOL, but wow this was a timewarp for a Minnesota native!!!

 

[leeniewdw]

I'm kinda in shock -- was able to get 2 tickets (there were plenty) for the U2: Achtung Baby show at the Vegas Sphere for December! I picked a mid-week show (we have total flexibility now that we're retired from out professional jobs), maybe that was it!

So, we have NEVER been to Vegas and now we're going in December! We've got RR points that can get us there, but I have no idea where I'd want to stay. We don't have Hilton status (we've got IHG points and UR and MR) and I'm not sure I'm up for all that status matching y'all talk about! My guess is we'd only stay in Vegas for 2 nights and maybe go somewhere else for a few days.

Anyone have a suggestion for a, say 4 night trip to Vegas with 2 nights elsewhere? In Early December? lol

 

[PolyTigger]

I'm kinda in shock -- was able to get 2 tickets (there were plenty) for the U2: Achtung Baby show at the Vegas Sphere for December! I picked a mid-week show (we have total flexibility now that we're retired from out professional jobs), maybe that was it!

So, we have NEVER been to Vegas and now we're going in December! We've got RR points that can get us there, but I have no idea where I'd want to stay. We don't have Hilton status (we've got IHG points and UR and MR) and I'm not sure I'm up for all that status matching y'all talk about! My guess is we'd only stay in Vegas for 2 nights and maybe go somewhere else for a few days.

Anyone have a suggestion for a, say 4 night trip to Vegas with 2 nights elsewhere? In Early December? lol

We have stayed at the JW Marriott which is not on the strip but it is relaxing. Price wise it is in the 250 range and they have great restaurants. Plus it is easy to get to Red Rock and other places.

 

[disneylover81]

UK261 doesn't apply as the flight was on United, a US carrier, from the US. Had it been the return or on a UK or EU airline, UK261 would apply.

If you use the credits on the Gold fairly regularly I would keep it just for the earning potential. Most of my family's spending is on groceries and restaurants, both 4x categories on the Gold and 1x on the Plat.

If it's on her boarding pass she will be allowed through. There are a defined number of places in Precheck lanes for each airport each day. If there are fewer precheck enrolled passengers than there are slots available there is an algorithm run to determine who else gets the checkmark. Contributing factors are age, travel history, travel party, background checks that we know of. My mother is 63, works in a school and goes through a background check every year, she's had a FF account going back to 1982 with Northwest Airlines and flies a couple times a year. She gets Pre about half the time flying between MSP and MDW.

I enrolled in Pre in 2019 and it took 4 days. I applied for Global Entry in March and am still waiting for my conditional approval, then once I have that I have to find a location to interview. The nearest interview location to me is 90 minutes, the nearest that has bookable appointments right now is 4.5 hours. It may be cheaper and easier for me to fly somewhere else just for the interview, then fly home.

Pre lowered price in November of '22 to $78 for initial enrollment, $70 for renewals stayed the same.

I'm going to rant against Clear for a minute, but may be a hypocrite next week. In many locations, Clear takes their customers and lets them cut the line in front of other passengers. I feel this is wrong and should not be allowed. This is allowing someone to pay a private company to skip to the front of a government operated line. In MSP in 2021, it would have been faster for me to go through the general security line rather than Pre because no one without Clear was allowed into the Pre checkpoint if there was anyone from the Clear line waiting. This has been solved in many locations, including MCO by having a separate checkpoint for Clear customers, which I'm okay with. I got a three month trial offer via email. I've got a flight next week, maybe one in the middle of June and probably one over 4th of July. I'm undecided if I'm going to go through with it, but I might.

This is all great information to know. That is wrong to let them skip the line. I did see the separate Clear line at MCO when I was there a couple weeks ago.

I just hope we both get that Pre-Check on the way home Sunday when leaving MCO where the security line is usually pretty long.

 

[wanderlust7]

I'm kinda in shock -- was able to get 2 tickets (there were plenty) for the U2: Achtung Baby show at the Vegas Sphere for December! I picked a mid-week show (we have total flexibility now that we're retired from out professional jobs), maybe that was it!

So, we have NEVER been to Vegas and now we're going in December! We've got RR points that can get us there, but I have no idea where I'd want to stay. We don't have Hilton status (we've got IHG points and UR and MR) and I'm not sure I'm up for all that status matching y'all talk about! My guess is we'd only stay in Vegas for 2 nights and maybe go somewhere else for a few days.

Anyone have a suggestion for a, say 4 night trip to Vegas with 2 nights elsewhere? In Early December? lol

Vegas can be super cheap on weekdays, so you might want to check cash rates first. Or if you want to stay near the show, the Venetian can be booked with IHG points. Not sure if it's worth it, maybe if they jack up the rates on show nights

 

[disneylover81]

Did you book her ticket on a separate reservation? If so, this might be why it has pre-check. The system thinks she is flying alone and unaccompanied minors get pre-check. (At least they used to. This happened to me several times with my kids when they were under 18. They got precheck since I booked their tickets separately from mine.)

We are booked on the same reservation, but that does make sense for a minor to get if it alone.

 

[elgerber]

Does anyone currently hold more than 2 of the CIC and CIU? We need a new card (again) and p2 currently has two open of each.

 

[disneylover81]

My daughter used to randomly get TSA precheck on reservations that I booked together when she was around 13-14. I didn’t have it at the time so she wouldn’t use it. When I looked into getting it I read that only 12 and younger can go through precheck with a parent. We both got precheck because of that. MCO is one place that I am thankful to have precheck.

Yes, exactly! The reason DH & I got it a few months ago, was mainly for MCO. My daughter is 17, but has her own apartment and a baby so I didn't get it for her when we got it (because she likes to tell me she is "grown" now) and I figured she wouldn't be traveling with us as much.