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

[Calfan]

Super excited! Just booked the Hilton Tokyo Bay for our 2020 Japan trip on points!! I booked two rooms for three nights. I was worried that with the recent Hilton devaluation, my Hilton points stash might not be enough to cover the whole stay, but I was pleasantly surprised that each room for three nights was 170,000 points total (66,000 for one night and 52,000 for the other two nights, so an average of 56,667 per night), so I had just enough to cover it all (with about 11,000 to spare). I'll check back periodically to see if the points come down at all, but really happy to have this piece done for our trip

 

[wendow]

To add to my already stressful day....got about 4 hours of sleep. Woke up at 3 am and thought my cat was dead. We gave them medicine last night and think she must’ve ate more than one serving (eating the other cat’s). She wasn’t moving and was barely breathing. She’s fine now but we’ll be way more careful with their medicine before we leave today.

On top of that, the moving company said they’d be here between 8-10 and still aren’t here...we are leaving today no matter what so they need to get their a$$es here. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Thankful your kitty is ok! Hang in there. You are on your way to FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[calypso726]

There is no way I said that. I thought you were female.

So now we are torn between the benevolent dictator being a woman or Carl from UP.

I would love to go there, but WDW is much easier for us to get too. I told my DH if there is a downturn again someday in the resale market I want to buy more points but for now we are ok, it’s only when our kids go with us that we burn through a lot more! 1,000 sounds like a lovely number though

Yet my addonitis persists LOL

Woof, price increases. I can't find the renewal rate for DVC at the moment, but still even just the Gold pass... I'm guessing this will keep happening, and why wouldn't they? The parks are always packed.

In a bit of exciting news, I managed to snag a Victoria and Albert's ADR for our December trip! We've never been. I'm looking forward to eating a variety of tiny things for 2 hours and leaving hungry.

Trust me you won’t leave hungry!

Sorry maybe I'm being paranoid but is this directed toward me? Because I've used promo links for several of the dischurners so I think I've given back. If it's not directed toward me I apologize.

Even if it's not for me, I guess I'm not right for this group because I'm sensing a lot of negativity toward someone. Thanks to all who have helped me out.

Whoa, hold on a minute here. First, I don’t know what the comments are about specifically since half the time I skim through posts and don’t catch everything unless I’m tagged.

Often, much negative commentary is directed at other travel hacking groups that get negative like Reddit and Flyer Talk or the comments on popular blogs and gets discussed here. Sometimes a link is posted so we can all go watch and sometimes not and there’s some venting. Sometimes we get a poster here that asks a question, we give advice and then never hear from them again. That does feel like a slap to the face. We have regulars here that may not respond when their questions are answered with so much as a like. Perhaps, like me, they scroll by and may not notice unless they’re tagged. So I try to think that must be the case and not take it personal. The thread does move pretty fast. Keep these things in mind. We are not Reddit or Flyer Talk here. We are the polar opposite. Keep that in mind.

 

[vanjust14]

Dels

So funny, i was thinking last night once @Natgridenergy comes on he's going to join in with some good ones too

 

[mefordis]

Super excited! Just booked the Hilton Tokyo Bay for our 2020 Japan trip on points!! I booked two rooms for three nights. I was worried that with the recent Hilton devaluation, my Hilton points stash might not be enough to cover the whole stay, but I was pleasantly surprised that each room for three nights was 170,000 points total (66,000 for one night and 52,000 for the other two nights, so an average of 56,667 per night), so I had just enough to cover it all (with about 11,000 to spare). I'll check back periodically to see if the points come down at all, but really happy to have this piece done for our trip

Great deal! When are you going? I am planning a r post Olympics (mid - late August) trip. I'm hoping to avoid crowds since the Olympics will be over, but I think I'd better book my hotels as soon as I have my outbound flights booked just in case it is crazy. I am looking for Marriott properties.

 

[vanjust14]

I was glad that you did what you did the other week. So many here are so patient and helpful, but it had just gotten absurd.

I don't know how I don't know what you guys are all talking about, lol. I'll need to go back and look...

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

Both girls (on our insurance still) need to have wisdom teeth removed---dd19 only has 2 and dd24 only has 3. Oh boy.

 

[Haley R]

Glad your cat is ok!! Sorry about the movers, hopefully they may it there soon!

Still not here

 

[Haley R]

Thankful your kitty is ok! Hang in there. You are on your way to FLORIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The movers still haven’t come. Dh called and emailed his relocation agent and she hasn’t responded. He’s on the phone with the moving company now. We, for some reason, have two different moving company names-no idea why

 

[amalone1013]

Anyone done HHN at Uni? We are going Oct 4-9, we have APs. My kids are 9 (going for her 10th bday) and 13. They are not scaredy cats at all and love Halloween so I think they’d be fine fear wise. Not sure about me!!! Is it super crowded? Worth it?

Last year Stranger Things brought a ton more people than normal apparently. It was our first time. They are doing another ST house this year, so it will probably be the same.

Anyone trying to maximize this 1.5% plastiq promo? Thinking of trying to send a payment to my heloc for 10k and then pulling that same amount out to pay the bill. @SouthFayetteFan did you end up doing this?

You reminded me, I need to decide if/how much of this promo to use. After I use up my FFDs, we will have about $5k to pay still...

Quoting myself. If I submit a Plastiq payment to my HELOC for 10k on my CFU that gets 1.5 UR's, I will get 15,225 UR's for $150 which is $0.00985 per point. Used for travel, they turn into 22,837 UR's on my CSR. Worth it? Am I missing something?

ETA, forgot about the whole chase personal card cash advance thing. This may not work as planned.

Other than cash advance issues, all of your math works out for me.

 

[mefordis]

Last year Stranger Things brought a ton more people than normal apparently. It was our first time. They are doing another ST house this year, so it will probably be the same.

You reminded me, I need to decide if/how much of this promo to use. After I use up my FFDs, we will have about $5k to pay still...

Other than cash advance issues, all of your math works out for me.

What’s the cash advance thing? Was curious about the HELOC and Plastiq as well.

 

[Calfan]

I already have the miles in my United bank for one way EWR to NRT. United's hub is 20 mins away from my house and they have the flights I want - direct saver fares for 70k one way. However, I am willing to be flexible if there is another airline I can take for my return. Air Canada's fares look great but they are not partners with Chase so I cannot transfer over my URs. Only Amex MRs. Just wanted to know if there was a rock I haven't unturned.

Just want to make sure you are aware that you can use United miles to book Air Canada flights since they are both Star Alliance members. We have done this in the past.

Great deal! When are you going? I am planning a r post Olympics (mid - late August) trip. I'm hoping to avoid crowds since the Olympics will be over, but I think I'd better book my hotels as soon as I have my outbound flights booked just in case it is crazy. I am looking for Marriott properties.

Our trip dates are June 15-July 1, so ahead of the Olympics. We will be at Tokyo Disneyland at the beginning of the trip. Hilton bookings for Tokyo Bay opened on Sunday, but no points reservations were available. From past experience, I knew it can take a few days (or up to a couple of weeks) for Hilton to release points availability, so I went ahead and made a cancellable cash reservation just in case and cancelled that one this morning after making my points booking. Outbound air should be booked later this week.

 

[Etonduf]

Okay, guys.

I just removed myself as AU from my dh's CSR.

Also, go ahead and roll your eyes at me: I was on his CSP (which we PC'd to a CF) as an AU!!! I removed myself from that, too. I'm on Credit Karma now trying to organize my cards.

You may wish to organize the information in a spreadsheet, if that's not what you're already doing. Lot of people just make their own in Excel or Google Sheets. I use this template from reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/9430cv

It will make your life a lot easier.

And regarding your AU removals. I believe you need to contact the three credit bureaus after you're removed (not Chase) and request removal from your report. Otherwise you're stuck waiting to see if they drop off, and hoping that they actually do.

 

[mmmears]

I’m really fed up with Disney right now: the hike in AP prices, the ticketed events, and the soon to be paid FPS. I like the rides better at wdw but Tokyo Disney does literally everything else better.

I agree that it's just ridiculous these days, yet they are filling the parks. DH and I saw the last round as a sign that we should look elsewhere for our vacation fun and voted with our $$$. As you know there are lots of nice places to explore out there, and we are going to try to see a few of them. The parks will be there when we want to go back and by then there will be new things to see and do. I will say that I'm glad I'm not locked into Disney vacations at this point since the park tickets alone have gone up so much over the last 10 years.

I'm sorry if I sound negative, because I sometimes see this as a positive in that there are some great trips we've had that we never would have taken if we hadn't started to think that going to WDW or DL wasn't a great deal. And I am so so glad we took those trips.

 

[StephPlum]

I don't know how I don't know what you guys are all talking about, lol. I'll need to go back and look...

Let me know if you find cause I am confused as well!

 

[orangecuse]

@Haley R nooooo the worst! They better hussle and not break anything in the process! I honestly find dealing with movers the worst part of moving (but a necessary evil especially at that distance).

@mefordis I am learning right now too and I lurk a lot over at r/ churning. I don’t have a reddit account I just google the forum and read through their daily question and discussion threads. Feel like I learn a lot by watching other people get yelled at over there

 

[vanjust14]

Anyone done HHN at Uni? We are going Oct 4-9, we have APs. My kids are 9 (going for her 10th bday) and 13. They are not scaredy cats at all and love Halloween so I think they’d be fine fear wise. Not sure about me!!! Is it super crowded? Worth it?

Like others have mentioned, the lines for the haunted houses get super long. I've only gone once and we were able to get two houses in. The atmosphere was still very cool though walking around. We went mainly because my DS was a big Walking Dead fan and he wanted to go to that haunted house so that is what took up most of our time. My friend's 10 year old DD was with us and she was so scared they left early.

I cannot multitask while reading this thread!

Me neither! I think I read every single post and then there will be quoted messages or talk about things that I never saw and I am like, how the heck did I miss that! lol

 

[Killer Fish]

Anyone done HHN at Uni? We are going Oct 4-9, we have APs. My kids are 9 (going for her 10th bday) and 13. They are not scaredy cats at all and love Halloween so I think they’d be fine fear wise. Not sure about me!!! Is it super crowded? Worth it?

I have not done it in Orlando since my UCF days however I did it 3 or 4 years in a row at Hollywood and honestly it was worth it there to buy the pass with the front of the line access....think it was like $50 or $60 more a ticket but was completely worth it instead of waiting an hour and a half to two hours for a house. We were always able to do every house and every ride and be gone before closing.

 

[ep1229]

On our way to Hawaii, totally made use of the Priority Pass restaurant credit at SFO. The process is pretty smooth. They just scan your card and you get $56 credit. I used both (one from CSR and one from Amex Plat) of my memberships to get free lunch and dinner. We had a long layover. In between that time, we went to the Amex Centurion lounge in terminal. That was my first time going to one. I just got my Amex Plat a couple months ago. It was super crowded and hard to find a seat. The food and drinks were petty good though. I’m not very good at making trip reports but if you want to follow along on Instagram stories, just let me know. We are visiting Maui and the Big Island.

 

[wendow]

Y’all. My dh has gone more cray-cray than Disney. Anyone who is very knowledgeable about dvc willing to pm and chat? Don't want to clog up the board with a bunch of very newbie questions but I'd rather ask my friends here than go to the dvc forums...