I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[speedyfishy]

GPS is your friend now. Pretty sure GPS popularity with general consumers came from the suburbs. There are just so many roads and they all look alike!

They totally do! It’s just like trees and shopping centers lol

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Anyone know if I put a DVC contract on my CSR if it will post at 3x? Thanks!

 

[miztressuz]

Was someone asking about Citi AF policies for cancelling/PCing cards? DoC just put up a post outlining what's been happening with regards to that.
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/citi-annual-fee-refund-policy/

As with anything Citi I'm just impressed there was enough consistency to actually make a ruling on what should happen in those scenarios.

 

[StephPlum]

We also ended up buying tickets for the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal It went towards my Brilliant upgrade MSR? I'm excited now (I balked at the price, I won't lie) because I've heard good things and I think it would be interesting to consider instead of normal park tickets for Universal in the future... It was $372 for both of us with tax, it gets you into the parks at 5pm and runs until 1:30am, and they close to the public at 7pm or 9pm depending on the park. I know one day Uni tickets are killer, but as a comparison 1 day Park to Park tickets for the same day would run us $405 with tax, for park hours being 9am to 7pm (Islands) or 9pm (Studios). Unlimited food and beverage after regular park close, and they are giving everyone a QS dining plan card to use before the parks close, which is a QS meal & beverage, a snack, and an additional beverage.

So $405 for 1 day P2P tickets, 10/12hrs in the parks, no food/EPs/etc... or $372 for 8.5hrs in the park, special event with supposedly extremely low lines, includes unlimited food/drink (including snacks like Butterbeer and the ice cream parlor in WWoHP), and 2 QS dining plans which would cost $51 if purchased separately... I can report back on this if anyone is interested. Depending on what we think I could see considering a future event for a trip with the ILs vs doing 1-2 day tickets and an EP hotel.

That seems like a great deal for tickets. Are both parks open to 1:30am? Would love to hear how it goes.

 

[amalone1013]

That seems like a great deal for tickets. Are both parks open to 1:30am? Would love to hear how it goes.

They are. There are a few rides that close around midnight, like the coasters and Gringotts, due to noise ordinances. It still sounds like a good event if what I've read about crowds is true. Plus we're night owls, so I will happily sleep in and stay up late

 

[Natgridenergy]

My mom received the same thing. She asked me if it was worth it and I didn't know so I'm curious also!

For the one in Warwick?

 

[vanjust14]

For the one in Warwick?

Yes!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Anyone know if I put a DVC contract on my CSR if it will post at 3x? Thanks!

So I found a datapoint from last year that says yes, it does post at 3x. I am thinking that this will be my best bet for paying the contract since we won't be financing it. Any other thoughts on something better? Thanks!

 

[georgina]

I sent it to DH and I'm going to see what he says. We've been talking about going back to WWOHP with some friends, so this would be great to use for that and we could just either drive down again or Uber. It says I must purchase by 4/17, but then it doesn't expire for another year. I'm going to seriously consider it- especially since I could put it towards Bonvoy Biz MSR! I've gotten one offer from them before. I can't remember the details, but I know it wasn't this good because I wasn't very interested in it.

I got that one in the mail recently too that I considered but my dates are not flexible and they wouldn't tell me if the dates I wanted were available before I purchased. I ended up booking another timeshare place through Orbitz instead for my October trip. We have stayed at the other Sheraton (Vistana Resort) booked through Orbitz before. The presentation takes a couple of hours, we were not required but had a few hours to kill on a rainy morning so did it for a gift card.

 

[Haley R]

My 15 year old thinks it's the best thing ever.

Your 15 year old is one smart cookie

 

[miztressuz]

So I found a datapoint from last year that says yes, it does post at 3x. I am thinking that this will be my best bet for paying the contract since we won't be financing it. Any other thoughts on something better? Thanks!

Using it for a MSR (or MSRs). There's been a couple folks that split the purchase on multiple CCs to meet MSRs. Are there any point stashes you'd like to beef up? If you're paying it off anyway may as well get the higher return for the spend with a sign up bonus.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I got that one in the mail recently too that I considered but my dates are not flexible and they wouldn't tell me if the dates I wanted were available before I purchased. I ended up booking another timeshare place through Orbitz instead for my October trip. We have stayed at the other Sheraton (Vistana Resort) booked through Orbitz before. The presentation takes a couple of hours, we were not required but had a few hours to kill on a rainy morning so did it for a gift card.

Yeah I'll be interested to see what the dates are if we do go forward with it, but we actually have no vacation plans for the next year other than WDW in September. And we don't have kids so no school schedule to worry about. Worst-case scenario: we're taking a nice five day trip over the winter to sunny Florida

 

[striker1064]

Has anyone ever done a Sheraton timeshare stay/presentation? I got an emailed offer this morning for a 4 night/5 day stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando (right behind the outlets) for $199 total, plus they'll give us 15,000 Marriott points. Obviously you do have to sit through the presentation, but I have no problem saying "no" repeatedly. Am I crazy, or does that actually seem like a pretty good deal?

This user on r/churning pops up all the time when the subject is broached, and claims to have negotiated and accepted multiple timeshare offers. Might be worthwhile to peruse the posts. I've learned that the best things you can do are to negotiate the offer (add more points or a gift card), and clearly ask how long you have to stay at the presentation - and then tell the presenter you will be leaving after x minutes, as agreed upon prior to starting.

Other than that, if I ever got one of these, I'd probably do it too.

 

[DisneyMandC]

@havaneselover I stopped by Kroger today and bought $100 in Disney GCs with my Kroger GC. No issues at all at self-checkout. I did not try the VGC again as it occurred to me that they probably can't resell that VGC yesterday after they had to peel the back open to scan it, and I felt kind of bad about that. But I still got 4x fuel points on the Disney GC plus the 10% off the Kroger GC. With fuel points, I put my savings at around 16.8%

 

[tink1970]

Good news! I received the congrats email from Citi this am for my new Biz. Whoo hoo! Now I'm hoping I remember the MSR requirement since I shredded the flyer in a fit of pique yesterday...

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Using it for a MSR (or MSRs). There's been a couple folks that split the purchase on multiple CCs to meet MSRs. Are there any point stashes you'd like to beef up? If you're paying it off anyway may as well get the higher return for the spend with a sign up bonus.

Normally I would totally open a new card (or several) for a bonus, but I am trying not to open any new cards right now for a couple different reasons. And given that, I think the CSR is probably my best bet. I mostly use UR, Delta and Marriott points and think the UR points would be best right now. Thanks for the input.

 

[DisneyMandC]

This user on r/churning pops up all the time when the subject is broached, and claims to have negotiated and accepted multiple timeshare offers. Might be worthwhile to peruse the posts. I've learned that the best things you can do are to negotiate the offer (add more points or a gift card), and clearly ask how long you have to stay at the presentation - and then tell the presenter you will be leaving after x minutes, as agreed upon prior to starting.

Other than that, if I ever got one of these, I'd probably do it too.

Thanks! I'm going to read through his posts. That's really interesting that he's been able to negotiate it. I might contact them and see what I can get.

 

[1st*toright]

Think we've solidified trip details now.

Flight down: DEN-MCO for 9k RRs + CP

Night 1: Pop via Hotels.com $211 - GC stash = $30ish OOP (plus portals, plus free night credit, etc gets me ~$30 back)
Still considering: I think I found Coronado Springs on Priceline for $166 total (cover with Arrival Plus?)

Nights 2-3: Dolphin, $500 room + $89 annual fee from upgrade - $380 AMEX credits = $209 net

Nights 4-6 options: Pop, $566 rack rate (will cover with Arrival Plus)

Flight home: Early morning flight United through UR portal 26k URs total - the price went up a bit and I realized that was basic economy so I booked regular economy so DH doesn't get anxious about not having seats together

I need to call and add DME for each way still. And I'll probably keep looking at Priceline to see if anything interesting comes up, and also checking to see if a discount comes up from Disney for the nights at Pop. If we end up staying booked through Disney I want to put X amount on DHs Arrival Plus to use up the remaining credit, then the rest on mine.

We also ended up buying tickets for the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal It went towards my Brilliant upgrade MSR? I'm excited now (I balked at the price, I won't lie) because I've heard good things and I think it would be interesting to consider instead of normal park tickets for Universal in the future... It was $372 for both of us with tax, it gets you into the parks at 5pm and runs until 1:30am, and they close to the public at 7pm or 9pm depending on the park. I know one day Uni tickets are killer, but as a comparison 1 day Park to Park tickets for the same day would run us $405 with tax, for park hours being 9am to 7pm (Islands) or 9pm (Studios). Unlimited food and beverage after regular park close, and they are giving everyone a QS dining plan card to use before the parks close, which is a QS meal & beverage, a snack, and an additional beverage.

So $405 for 1 day P2P tickets, 10/12hrs in the parks, no food/EPs/etc... or $372 for 8.5hrs in the park, special event with supposedly extremely low lines, includes unlimited food/drink (including snacks like Butterbeer and the ice cream parlor in WWoHP), and 2 QS dining plans which would cost $51 if purchased separately... I can report back on this if anyone is interested. Depending on what we think I could see considering a future event for a trip with the ILs vs doing 1-2 day tickets and an EP hotel.

You must report back on the event - that sounds pretty cool! I would totally take that deal (although I am NOT a night owl and rarely stay up that late!) I did like US after dark - the HP areas look really good at night.

 

[FloridaNative8]

We also ended up buying tickets for the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal It went towards my Brilliant upgrade MSR? I'm excited now (I balked at the price, I won't lie) because I've heard good things and I think it would be interesting to consider instead of normal park tickets for Universal in the future... It was $372 for both of us with tax, it gets you into the parks at 5pm and runs until 1:30am, and they close to the public at 7pm or 9pm depending on the park. I know one day Uni tickets are killer, but as a comparison 1 day Park to Park tickets for the same day would run us $405 with tax, for park hours being 9am to 7pm (Islands) or 9pm (Studios). Unlimited food and beverage after regular park close, and they are giving everyone a QS dining plan card to use before the parks close, which is a QS meal & beverage, a snack, and an additional beverage.

My BFF's DH is taking her to this for her birthday, she's trying to get me to go also!! It looks AMAZING! But, I just signed up for Wine & Dine race weekend (2 Course Challenge), PIF for an adult-only cruise in July with a group of friends, and need to sign up for the Goofy for marathon weekend this week, and reserve lodging for that - thankful for MSRs, but WHOA.

 

[miztressuz]

Normally I would totally open a new card (or several) for a bonus, but I am trying not to open any new cards right now for a couple different reasons. And given that, I think the CSR is probably my best bet. I mostly use UR, Delta and Marriott points and think the UR points would be best right now. Thanks for the input.

Then that's probably best unless status does anything for you on Delta. Don't they have some kind of spend requirement for some status? But unless you can fully take advantage of that status for a greater savings later, it's probably not going to beat the URs. (IIRC you stay Marriott for work so I'm sure status is easy enough to get without wasting spend on it. And even for what you get not sure I'd waste spend on it anyway).