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

[Haley R]

I checked a few random dates in the summer and see ORD to LHR for 57.5k points in biz class booked with AA but on BA metal, but over $700.00 in fees OUCH; 72k points on AA metal with $5.60 in taxes. I’d definitely book with AA at 72k points for the lower taxes.

AA also flies to LHR out of CLT which is much closer to Florida. I’ve done that flight and it was quite nice. Also if you have an AmEx plat card CLT has a Centurion lounge that you can use (it was crowded when I was there, but otherwise a nice enough place to relax).

Are you seeing nonstop flights at those point costs? I see some that say 57.5k and 85k but they all have one stop and total travel time is 16 hours.

 

[wanderlust7]

How's Amex w/ credits posting and then cancelling the purchase but redoing it? I booked a stay real quick w/ my Delta Amex Plat to get the $200 hotel stay credit for this weekend. But I might want to change the date by one day! So I might have to cancel it. I need to actually PC the card before the trip. I booked my son a quickie trip to Nashville to eat chicken, LOL. But flights look better Sat/Sun than Fri/Sat.

My experience is with the Platinum hotel credit through Amex Travel. If I canceled and rebooked right away, there was no clawback. If I just canceled, it was eventually clawed back, but can be reused same year (still holding the card).

 

[platamama]

Congrats to your DD on getting accepted into the research project!

But wow on those prices. Hope you enjoy the trip! And good thing you have points!

Thank you!! Yes, I've been a point hoarder and am grateful that I can use my points to offset some of the costs of this trip!

Congrats to your DD!

We loved Scotland! The Tattoo was a spectacle and the Fringe was fun, though I had analysis paralysis, didn't book anything until we got there and then some of the ones I was considering became sold out.

We enjoyed Oban and the Three Isles Tour, especially Staffa and the puffins! Edinburgh plus Isle of Skye in 8 days is probably plenty though. I'd like to get to the Isle of Skye one day. If you get a chance, check out one of the Highland Games. We went to the one in Ballater and really felt a sense of place and tradition. A falconry experience is very cool too. We did it with Finn Falconry in Oban, but I think he's not running them anymore.

Thank you!! Oh, your trip sounds awesome. I totally understand about the Fringe giving you analysis paralysis lol. I can tell this one trip will barely make a dent into all the various places to visit in Scotland! I'm going to look into falconry while we're there. DH & I did falconry at Ventana Big Sur and it was so cool; I think it would be a great experience for DD too.

Congrats to your DD for acceptance into the research project!

If you’re looking for other options on getting to EDI, it might be worth trying to fly into LHR, then either taking a BA flight to Edinburgh or heading into the city to take the LNER. Might give you more cost-effective options, plus you could always spend a few days in London on either end of the trip. AA flies direct to LHR from a few airports and usually has biz class award seats for 57.5K AA points (you’ll probably have to pay a few hundred in taxes, but it may be worth it). I’d recommend booking the legs as 2 x 1 way tickets because it’s much easier to make changes to your itinerary.

AA has daytime flights to LHR from ORD and JFK, which would make economy seats bearable for the long flight, then spend a night at the HGI (Ts 2 & 3) at Heathrow or the Sofitel (T5 where BA flies from), then take the first BA flight to EDI in the morning. Super easy, but it means positioning flights, which I don’t mind to save points / money, but it depends on you and your family. Also if anyone in your family has SWUs with AA you can book an economy fare and get a free upgrade to biz class at the time of booking (you have to make sure the flight has upgrades available, which the call center CSRs will help you with since AA removed the availability for customers to view online)!

Thank you!! I was trying to stick with 1-stop routes with one carrier to keep the travel time as short as possible so that we have more time for the actual touristy stuff, and to decrease the likelihood of mishaps (lost baggage, etc.) along the way. I did book them as one-ways so if I see something better come along I can cancel my existing bookings (free to cancel award flights with UA).

I was feeling a bit sad about transferring all those URs to United yesterday to book the flights. To torture myself, I looked again today to see how many miles it would cost...and the United website changed just during the day today from 155K miles this morning (the fare I booked yesterday) to 245K miles this afternoon for the one-way I booked. smh but that puts me in a better mood about that UR transfer!! lol

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Yes, all non-stop. AA flies at least 2 flights a day to LHR from both ORD and JFK.

 

[Sheree]

i upgraded to csr yesterday. a few hours later went to book flight, showed I have CSR but point calculation was still based on csp. but only 3 seats left. so I had to book my 2.

now tonight it's truly showing csr rates, but if I canel flights, it could take up to 5 days to get my points back (or so it says) so I hat to do that and lose the seats.

oh well

now to quickly use my $300 tc! nothing planned. othing to prepay. could I buy United TB $ like I do with amex platinum?

 

[Haley R]

Yes, all non-stop. AA flies at least 2 flights a day to LHR from both ORD and JFK.

I must be looking at it wrong. This is what I see for days that show 57.5k:


If I sort by total travel time, the flights that are nonstop start at 181k. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong

 

[platamama]

Not the person you were replying to, but where are you finding AA biz to LHR for 57.5k points? Dh and I were looking at positioning for London next year and everywhere we looked we couldn’t find saver awards. Our current plan is Houston to Manchester with Singapore and on the way back London to DC with United.

I must be looking at it wrong. This is what I see for days that show 57.5k:
View attachment 843013

If I sort by total travel time, the flights that are nonstop start at 181k. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong

@Haley R , I thought you were near MCO? I found this via pointsyeah .com for June 22, 2024 so I'd guess it's a possibility for Summer 2025 (granted it's to Gatwick and not LHR):

 

[palhockeymomof2]

i upgraded to csr yesterday. a few hours later went to book flight, showed I have CSR but point calculation was still based on csp. but only 3 seats left. so I had to book my 2.

now tonight it's truly showing csr rates, but if I canel flights, it could take up to 5 days to get my points back (or so it says) so I hat to do that and lose the seats.

oh well

now to quickly use my $300 tc! nothing planned. othing to prepay. could I buy United TB $ like I do with amex platinum?

No experience with cancelling and rebooking flights so no idea if it works the same way as it does with hotels if I cancel and log out and back in the points are there to use to rebook
Hopefully someone else have experience with flights

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R , I thought you were near MCO? I found this via pointsyeah .com for June 22, 2024 so I'd guess it's a possibility for Summer 2025 (granted it's to Gatwick and not LHR):

View attachment 843018

We wanted to fly out of Orlando, but we don't like the seating on the British Airways Club World seats. It looks like that route from Orlando to Gatwick might not be getting the Club Suites any time soon. I guess we're being a little picky about seats. We’re actually considering flying to Brussels instead of London so we can fly united Polaris from IAD and pay less in taxes and fees

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I hate trying to predict what do, LOL. As indecision may or may not be my problem. I start Spring Break this weekend. First trip is the boy and I to Nashville for chicken and putt-putt, LOL. He's really pulled up his grades. Last night was his hockey banquet. He was the only freshman to make varsity AND he was voted most improved player. My mom heart was bursting! He's matured so much w/ the team, I love it.

Trip 2 will likely be 2 days in Mexico w/ the kidlets. I'm looking at 27-29. I transferred over Hyatt points when we almost went to Mexico in Feb. Granted the 87k I transferred then would have covered 2 nights! Now it'll cover 1 in a swim out suite though. If flight loads looked better, we could get the Govenor's Suite at a different resort which has it's own private pool, hot tub, is beach/ocean front and has it's own private bed on the beach (cheaper than the swim out!). But the flight loads look really good for 27-29, so I'll likely stick with it. I won't book the hotel until we get on the flight.
Then the BF and I are supposed to go to Punta Cana Apr 5-8. I just realized we'll be flying during the eclipse. He said something about wanting it off to fly. UGH. So I have to check the hotel to see if I can move it around. I don't think I can.

Makes the sting of Ireland a little less painful.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

No experience with cancelling and rebooking flights so no idea if it works the same way as it does with hotels if I cancel and log out and back in the points are there to use to rebook
Hopefully someone else have experience with flights

I've had a similar experience with hotels with a little more complication. There was at least once where I saw the points on Chase but as soon as I clicked into the travel portal my total went back down to the pre-refund level. Tried logging out, using a new browser, but points weren't there in the travel booking window. I then went and forced a small transfer from one of my other cards to CSR hoping that it would force a system refresh on available points total. It did in fact prompt the system to properly reflect full points available and I was able to book new hotel at that time.

So, if you decide to cancel and rebook, there's a possible trick to get the system to recognize the cancellation: do something else with points transfers to force a refresh.

 

[disneylover81]

We are heading to Aulani in September. We normally fly from MEM, but for this trip it was easier to book from BNA, which is 4 hours from us. We will have to stay the night in a hotel on the night before our flight, and then again the night we return from Aulani. I plan to transfer UR points and book the Hyatt near the airport since that's our cheapest option, as we are only there to sleep. There is a Hyatt House and a Hyatt Place to choose from. Is one of them better than the other? We will probably eat the complimentary breakfast when we come back if that matters. One has free parking and one charges $10 per night. There will be 4 adults and one 4 year old in our room. We aren't frequent Hyatt stayers YET, and we have only ever stayed at the MCO Hyatt so we have no experience to go by.

 

[EACarlson]

We are heading to Aulani in September. We normally fly from MEM, but for this trip it was easier to book from BNA, which is 4 hours from us. We will have to stay the night in a hotel on the night before our flight, and then again the night we return from Aulani. I plan to transfer UR points and book the Hyatt near the airport since that's our cheapest option, as we are only there to sleep. There is a Hyatt House and a Hyatt Place to choose from. Is one of them better than the other? We will probably eat the complimentary breakfast when we come back if that matters. One has free parking and one charges $10 per night. There will be 4 adults and one 4 year old in our room. We aren't frequent Hyatt stayers YET, and we have only ever stayed at the MCO Hyatt so we have no experience to go by.

Looking at pictures, the only difference I see between them is a kitchen. If you aren't going to need dishes I would go with whichever doesn't have a parking charge. I stay 10 nights a year at least in the Hyatt Place MLB and love the setup. I've actually convinced my wife to start staying at them for other trips too.

 

[disneylover81]

Looking at pictures, the only difference I see between them is a kitchen. If you aren't going to need dishes I would go with whichever doesn't have a parking charge. I stay 10 nights a year at least in the Hyatt Place MLB and love the setup. I've actually convinced my wife to start staying at them for other trips too.

We don't need dishes as far as I know since we will arrive late both times we check in. I just wasn't sure if there was any real difference between the two that made one better than the other or worth paying the parking fee. We really only travel to WDW, rent condos at the beach or take cruises for the most part, but I found myself looking for a Hyatt this past weekend when we took a quick trip for DH's birthday, but there wasn't one in the area. I do like the great point redemption rates at Hyatt. So we stayed at a Home2 Suites, which was okay, but we had some issues, the biggest being that when I went to take a shower, there was not one drop of shampoo or conditioner in our room. And I didn't pack any because I knew they had it, or so I thought. I do intend to reach out to the manager just to let them know about our experience because this was unacceptable to me.

 

[havaneselover]

I know we’ve discussed this before but I must not have been paying attention. What is the recommendation when a spouse passes away and the surviving spouse was the authorized user on the credit cards?

 

[Judique]

I know we’ve discussed this before but I must not have been paying attention. What is the recommendation when a spouse passes away and the surviving spouse was the authorized user on the credit cards?

I did a small search and came up with a bit of advice given to @WVMomof3 's DD (WVMo3DD) when her mother passed. Her dad had been AU on many of her Mother's cards.

@CyndiLouWho at the time mentioned that the cards are not closed automatically. Her experience was from her father passing and that the cards had to be requested to be closed and that her mother then got her own card/account. Maybe she will read and tell you more.

I'm sorry you and your mother are going through this.

 

[havaneselover]

I did a small search and came up with a bit of advice given to @WVMomof3 's DD (WVMo3DD) when her mother passed. Her dad had been AU on many of her Mother's cards.

@CyndiLouWho at the time mentioned that the cards are not closed automatically. Her experience was from her father passing and that the cards had to be requested to be closed and that her mother then got her own card/account. Maybe she will read and tell you more.

I'm sorry you and your mother are going through this.

Thanks, that advice now rings a bell.

And I appreciate the kind words.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

I know we’ve discussed this before but I must not have been paying attention. What is the recommendation when a spouse passes away and the surviving spouse was the authorized user on the credit cards?

So sorry you are going through all of this, sending prayers

 

[calypso726]

I know we’ve discussed this before but I must not have been paying attention. What is the recommendation when a spouse passes away and the surviving spouse was the authorized user on the credit cards?

I don't have the answer but wanted to let you know you are in my good thoughts.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I know we’ve discussed this before but I must not have been paying attention. What is the recommendation when a spouse passes away and the surviving spouse was the authorized user on the credit cards?

So sorry! I know this time is not fun at all. It's draining, emotional and so hard.