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

[disneymagicgirl]

I would also vote for Pop! Less money, renovated rooms, smaller resort than CBR, no internal busses for parks not on the Skyliner, and you can always walk over to AoA and explore since your DD really liked it. You are also on the Skyliner now so all dining and shopping at CBR, Riviera, and the Boardwalk area are within reach!

The major pro with CBR and the Skyliner is no transferring for you since it is the main hub. I think that is a minor pro in comparison.

My brain didn't even go there, but that is a great point!!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Beach Club...

I know! But it is over $500 a night and it will be hit or miss on even using the pool. Will save it for a warmer, cheaper time.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Sounds like reimbursed 3x travel!

Yup, plus I'm staying at the Grand Hyatt in DC and have the offer on one of our Amex for spend $300 get $60 back. Not certain Hyatt will let you prepay like Marriott, but I'm going to call and try.

 

[amalone1013]

Can you compare the food between the two? The AofA food was depressing, and we walked to pop and their menu was basically the same.

Of course, CBR has the internal bus situation but that is somewhat alleviated by the skyliner.

Soooooo apparently just before Labor Day AoA got rid of a bunch of their interesting food options. What I read from that is it is very similar to Pop. All we've eaten at Pop are Mickey waffles and pastries, sooooo Can't comment too much on food. We ended up not eating at AoA at all LD weekend. We missed out on Mickey waffles!

So I'd personally go Pop, I really like the reno'd rooms vs the old style but also I'm cheap so I would want to save the $300 for food or something else, like another trip... lol. But we don't spend much time at the resort currently.

When did you statement close? Looks like mine closed today so I am hoping the $300 will be there shortly.

Shhh, I don't know when it closes, I just know when it shows up in Ynab Looks like it closed the 16th (and officially posted as the 16th for the bonus)

 

[Alexle2007]

My $300 went pending last night and my statement isn't going to close for 2 more days.

Hmmm...I know for sure I have met the $4k in DD requirement since it came directly from my federal payroll check. Guess I'll just keep looking it. I canceled my DD last week so hopefully I don't need to start that up again.

 

[Limes96]

NO PICKLES IN THE SHUN CORNER.

And what if someone were to BRING pickles into the shun corner? Would they then be shunned to the unshunned corner?

 

[speedyfishy]

I know! But it is over $500 a night and it will be hit or miss on even using the pool. Will save it for a warmer, cheaper time.

I have it for $400

 

[marsh0013]

Hi Everyone! I'm about 70 pages behind and I'm probably never going to catch up. I'll check Dischurners for highlights perhaps.
I wanted to jump on here with a couple of questions... I got an upgrade offer for my (former Amex SPG) Bonvoy for a Brilliant Bonvoy with 125K points after 5K spend in 3 months. That's a good deal, right? I'm finishing MSR on the Hilton Biz right now.
I also wanted to ask about keeping spend on Amex cards to keep them happy. Is it just certain cards or is it all of them? I have the Delta Gold that I haven't used since meeting MSR.

Ooh thanks for posting. I see my husband has this same offer. We are about to blow through both our CIP minimums with our new roof, and I thought we might have to try applying for a new Amex since we won't be ready for Chase. This upgrade will be perfect instead! I think it's definitely a good offer. Wasn't it originally 100k bonus for new sign ups? If anything maybe was up to 125k at peak. We'll definitely be doing this.

 

[vanjust14]

Hi Everyone! I'm about 70 pages behind and I'm probably never going to catch up. I'll check Dischurners for highlights perhaps.
I wanted to jump on here with a couple of questions... I got an upgrade offer for my (former Amex SPG) Bonvoy for a Brilliant Bonvoy with 125K points after 5K spend in 3 months. That's a good deal, right? I'm finishing MSR on the Hilton Biz right now.
I also wanted to ask about keeping spend on Amex cards to keep them happy. Is it just certain cards or is it all of them? I have the Delta Gold that I haven't used since meeting MSR.

Ooh thanks for posting. I see my husband has this same offer. We are about to blow through both our CIP minimums with our new roof, and I thought we might have to try applying for a new Amex since we won't be ready for Chase. This upgrade will be perfect instead! I think it's definitely a good offer. Wasn't it originally 100k bonus for new sign ups? If anything maybe was up to 125k at peak. We'll definitely be doing this.

Yes, this is a good deal. When I had the offer it was 100,000. Just make sure you call to confirm the offer is attached after you accept the upgrade. Trust me, I found out the hard way!

 

[snugglebug]

My mother in law always came, my father in law (they were divorced) came usually. My mother however, in all her years, came to ONE piano recital, and I think she came to one musical performance, out of everything she ever did. And the farthest away she ever lived was 45 minutes. It was always "it might snow", or "I have a migraine". It was always something. And because of that, we pretty much don't speak anymore.

I'm sorry. We are almost at that point. My mom goes to almost all of my nephews' games. She had reason to miss things while we were in Maryland. But, we're only a few hours away now. Even when we've stayed with her for away tournaments/competitions she very rarely attended a game/competition. She even had me thinking she was skipping my daughter's wedding. They have no reason to not visit us, but my parents don't. The inlaws never show up either, but they do have health issues now so I can kind of forgive them. Kind of. That doesn't cover the past.

 

[tink1970]

Is anybody familiar with how united works their schedule? Right now, I can see cash prices for aug 17, 18, 19, albeit very high cash prices, but no award availability. I think I saw this happen with Aug 16, then award availability showed up for that day sometime yesterday, and cash prices got more normal. I'm watching to see if the same thing happens with Aug 17 today. This is for ewr-sna and ewr-lax.

I'm just not familiar with this at all and I waited til very close to my actual booking date to try to learn. I tried googling, looked st the flyertalk forum, but maybe I'm a bad searcher because I'm not coming up with anything really helpful.

United doesn't start loading award fares until noon Central and then it's done in batches. So sometime after then August 17 will pop up. I can't tell you what priority flights have so I'd recommend checking in periodically. HTH!

MRs or URs?

MRs don't directly transfer to United so definitely URs are easier. If you want to set up Avianca, Aeroplan, etc then you can indirectly use *Alliance although I've never considered them for domestic flights.

TL;DR
possible to use MRs but URs are much easier

 

[marsh0013]

United doesn't start loading award fares until noon Central and then it's done in batches. So sometime after then August 17 will pop up. I can't tell you what priority flights have so I'd recommend checking in periodically. HTH!

Yes! This is exactly the info I was looking for. Thank you so much!

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

So I'm a total whiner about scratchy clothes. I won't wear any wool, even merino wool. I don't find mine to be the least bit scratchy.

Thanks! I might treat myself to one today

United doesn't start loading award fares until noon Central and then it's done in batches. So sometime after then August 17 will pop up. I can't tell you what priority flights have so I'd recommend checking in periodically. HTH!

For real? I was assuming it happened overnight! Guess what I'll be doing during my lunch every day

 

[tink1970]

Thanks! I might treat myself to one today

I did-I have no self control. I'm super excited about it-port cashmere wrap which should match my maroon suede shoes-I'll take both to London/Paris in 2 weeks

For real? I was assuming it happened overnight! Guess what I'll be doing during my lunch every day

-um, I have a history of stalking United availability....I actually found the times that flights are released somewhere-maybe FT?. Delta's is hard for me since it's at midnight Eastern and usually TATL don't show up until about 2 or 3 am.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I did-I have no self control. I'm super excited about it-port cashmere wrap which should match my maroon suede shoes-I'll take both to London/Paris in 2 weeks


-um, I have a history of stalking United availability....I actually found the times that flights are released somewhere-maybe FT?. Delta's is hard for me since it's at midnight Eastern and usually TATL don't show up until about 2 or 3 am.

You have saved me so much time and mental energy! I couldn't find what time United released flights---perhaps my search terms weren't good enough. I've read a lot on FT about United but never came across that.

 

[tink1970]

You have saved me so much time and mental energy! I couldn't find what time United released flights---perhaps my search terms weren't good enough. I've read a lot on FT about United but never came across that.

Well then I hope I remembered correctly! If I'm wrong, please send me to the shun corner with pickles.

 

[Lain]

Hi Everyone! I'm about 70 pages behind and I'm probably never going to catch up. I'll check Dischurners for highlights perhaps.
I wanted to jump on here with a couple of questions... I got an upgrade offer for my (former Amex SPG) Bonvoy for a Brilliant Bonvoy with 125K points after 5K spend in 3 months. That's a good deal, right? I'm finishing MSR on the Hilton Biz right now.
I also wanted to ask about keeping spend on Amex cards to keep them happy. Is it just certain cards or is it all of them? I have the Delta Gold that I haven't used since meeting MSR.

Ooh thanks for posting. I see my husband has this same offer. We are about to blow through both our CIP minimums with our new roof, and I thought we might have to try applying for a new Amex since we won't be ready for Chase. This upgrade will be perfect instead! I think it's definitely a good offer. Wasn't it originally 100k bonus for new sign ups? If anything maybe was up to 125k at peak. We'll definitely be doing this.

The 125k Marriott points/$5k spend upgrade offer to the Bonvoy Brilliant is good. The best public offer for the SPG Lux/Bonvoy Brilliant was 100k Marriott points with a $5k MSR. There were targeted mailers for a 125k Marriott points with a $5k MSR offer.

However, if you accept the upgrade offer to the Bonvoy Brilliant, you’ll make yourself ineligible for a SUB on the Brilliant if you were to later apply for it separately because you will have “had” the Brilliant card in Amex’s eyes.

One thing you could consider, if you don’t mind adding a personal card to your 5/24 count, is apply for the Bonvoy Brilliant as a new card application — the current public offer on it is a 75k Marriott points with a $3k MSR. Once approved, immediately accept the upgrade offer for another 125k Marriott points with a $5k spend requirement. This will give you a combined $8k MSR over the next 3 months, but it’s a rare shot at double dipping these offers.

P.S. DoC confirmed this works here:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/can-you-get-an-upgrade-standard-bonus-on-the-spg-luxury-card-yes/

But be sure to apply for the Brilliant as a new card first because of the lifetime language restriction in the application terms, then accept the upgrade offer before it disappears (because Amex realizes you’ve opened a Brilliant card).

P.P.S. The Brilliant does have a $450 AF, so I know asking you to consider 2x$450 AF seems nuts. The card does have a $300 Marriott credit that offsets part of the AF. I’d also suggest holding onto the Brilliant for a year plus the 8-12 weeks it takes for the 50k Free Night Certificate to deposit into your Marriott account and double dip the $300/cardmember year Marriott credit. You’ll likely have to pay the 2nd year AF to keep the cards open for the 50k FNCs to post, during which time you should also double dip that 2nd cardmember year $300 Marriott credit, then you can downgrade one or both of the Brilliant card(s) to the $95 AF SPG/Bonvoy card to get a prorated refund of Brilliant card(s). For more, read my post about this on DISchurners.

The introduction of peak and off peak pricing did not hit the 50k FNC so bad. Cat 6 standard redemption is 50k, off peak is 40k (which is a waste of a 50k FNC), and peak is 60k (which makes a 50k FNC unusable). But Cat 7 off peak is 50k! So there’s a chance to use the 50k FNC at a higher category hotel than previously. 2x 50k FNC makes for a nice weekend somewhere.

 

[amalone1013]

Enrolled Gold card in dining credit.

*starts browsing grubhub*

 

[needsomesun]

My kids are 19, 17, 11 and 8. My 19yo is no longer doing any activities like this and she drives so she’s off my plate from that perspective.

My dd17 dances at a high level. She takes ballet (including a couple pointe classes), lyrical, modern, tap, jazz, contemporary, partnering, conditioning, barre so this means dance 4 days a week and soon will be 5-6 once they begin working on the performance. She isn't driving yet so I am hauling her around all the time. She also is in choir and has a job at Target. Again, all me running her around. She is also really active in our church youth group is on the leadership team (3 separate events a week). She’s homeschooled but takes classes at a co-op two days a week and college classes another two days. We really need her driving lol cause I spend a couple hours everyday just driving her.

My boys are busy with sports and theater for one plus co-op and church activities and play dates but all their stuff pales in comparison to my dd’s

@mamathompson In my experience, they just get busier as they get older so hold onto your hat cause you’ve got some whirlwind years ahead lol!!

Same here, 3, ages 11-15. They're exhausting. I'll be gone chauffeuring from afterschool til 9pm today. I don't know how working parents do it. My job (part-time) has been asking me to go full time for months since my kids are older and self sufficient. Errr, no, I'm way busier now, then when they were younger. It'll be a little easier when the oldest gets her license.

 

[wendow]

@disneymagicgirl
I'd also choose Pop over CBR. The refurbed rooms at Pop are so nice and very bright. I am not a fan of the dark rooms at CBR. And I'm so over internal buses. Like way, way over after this last trip. I'd stay just about anywhere to avoid that again.

I can't really compare the food but we also don't end up eating much at the resort.