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

[SouthFayetteFan]

We only got like 3 or so inches from Dorian. It barely filled our pool. We had to fill it back up some with our hose yesterday lol. We did have a really nice, hour long rain last night. We aren’t showing rain again until next Thursday and it’s a 30% chance.

We’re lucky that we have in ground sprinklers because I’m lazy and wouldn’t want to go water the grass every day. Even with the neighborhood having the sprinklers some yards look so bad and yellow. When I moved here I expected storms every afternoon and I think I’ve seen 2 storms in this house in 2 1/2 months.

Oh I wouldn’t be watering this grass if it wasn’t new seed. I don’t place any self worth in the color of my yard - that would be diametrically opposed to my FIRE strategy.

I’m only watering because I’d prefer to have not wasted $200 on seed and 12+ hours of labor only to have to re-do it all in the spring.

 

[palhockeymomof2]

....last night at the food and wine festival DH went to buy a soda as soon as we entered the park....came back upset with me, asking why didn’t you set up charging privileges on my MB....hummm....because we are at Marriott Lakeshore Reserve until 9/22....then move to BCV

 

[PolyRob]

....last night at the food and wine festival DH went to buy a soda as soon as we entered the park....came back upset with me, asking why didn’t you set up charging privileges on my MB....hummm....because we are at Marriott Lakeshore Reserve until 9/22....then move to BCV

Spoiled by onsite! I do love using the MB especially for something small like that where I can't use a discount.

 

[LB002]

How do you get that in? ^
The rest I get. I think we do a pared down version. Any toys etc are carried by whoever bought/brought them. We have wipes, ponchoes (the tiny disposable ones), sunscreen. I have no need for hair bands or chapstick, no gum etc. I know it all adds up. I usually have a pr of socks for me and DS, ID, credit cards. Never have cash. Lol. Both our phones have charging cases so no phone chargers needed.
DH carries something like this
https://www.footlocker.com/product/model/adidas-alliance-ii-sackpack/236641.html

They've never blinked at the small swiss army. It's about 3 inches-ish. I guess I don't think much about it bc I've been carrying one since my late teens when I was backpacking around Europe and the Middle East. Honestly the scissors, nail file and tweezers get used more than the knife. I'm not expecting a brawl in the parks or anything! I do put it in checked luggage when we fly.

 

[LB002]

I've been using this scale for 5-ish years:

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Dig...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=82KPEFMGJBC1DYN3QGP7
I had to replace the batteries last year and it is very accurate. Resort airline check-in is always impressed with how close I can get to 50 lbs without actually going over

I think this is what we have too. And I'm always at 49.8lb for checked luggage! LOL

 

[LB002]

Well, I think the Hilton Aspire may not work out for me after all. Keeping in mind that the ONLY reason I would get such a card is for my Japan stay in November 2020:

• The 5th night free is only on a 4 night stay booked completely with points, and even at the "low" of 66K points per night that I saw last week (looking at this coming November for a general idea), that would be 264K points. Even if, between me and P2, we managed to acquire 2 cards and get their SUBs (probably one at 150K and another at 125K), there is no way we can continue to meet a healthy spend on 2 Amex cards while still trying to meet MSRs for other needed things. So I don't see us being able to even book the first 4 nights on points in order to take advantage of the 5th night free while we are still working on Chase URs to take care of the other hotels (the flights should be taken care of in the next month).
• And, just for kicks, I tried to go to November 2020, which is, of course, not available yet (to try to see about points). Since it will only accept up to one year out, I changed to search to something like September 15-18, 2020. It says they are SOLD OUT for those dates. I kept going "one week earlier" and finally found availability... in August 2020. I am very concerned about this lack of availability in September, which is after the Olympics are over.

Can any Amex and/or Hilton experts share any thoughts on this? It's perfectly OK for the advice to be "stick with Chase and book at this hotel with URs like you originally planned." It certainly is not going to kill me to not be a Diamond member and get the perks. But now I am worried about there being any rooms at all, whether with cash, URs, or HH points.

Oh and ETA: The Diamond benefits are only for the primary cardholder, so I guess my husband couldn't have breakfast with me or go into the lounge with me... so that doesn't help either!

There. I think I just talked myself out of it for good!

My family stays (and eats) with me at Hilton properties. I'm Platinum with.my Aspire. I think they have status sharing at that level, but we never bothered bc it hasn't been needed.

The Aspire does earn 3x points on all catagories, so points add up more quickly. You can transfer MR from an Amex card at 2x (sometimes they have promos for a higher transfer rate). This still may not be the card for you, just sharing some DPs.

 

[jhoannam]

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/d5w4du/_/f0oixp1

Tagging @jhoannam

I think they have fixed it!

But I'm not going to be able to add them because the reservations I had were for lower points than the current reservations.

 

[570traveler]

Anyone have any tips to avoid a drop fee for car rentals??? Need to book from Enterprise as it’s our only local one. We would be dropping off at BWI and the second time we would pick up at PHL and drop back at home.
If not are there any promos you know of.. AAA??

 

[Judique]

The weekend before Thanksgiving. Not sure you will do well on a weekend in October - leaf peepers and people wanting to go to Salem for Halloween stuff make Boston in October fairly busy. Plus college parent weekends/homecoming stuff. I usually find really good rates in late November and December. But, of course, it isn't nearly as scenic then .

Thanks! Late November and December could have snow also. I'll never forget when I lived in Newport, RI and we went up to Boston area for Thanksgiving with some relatives. Left balmy Newport in my high heels and arrived in Newton to ice and snow and a house on the side of a hill with steep steps leading up to it. Icy steps with sand and salt.

 

[LB002]

You can transfer 10k HawaiianMiles to 15k Hilton Honors points.

You can also redeem HawaiianMiles on its partner airlines:

http://hawaiianair.custhelp.com/app...28/~/redeem-hawaiianmiles-on-partner-airlines
https://upgradedpoints.com/how-to-redeem-hawaiian-airlines-miles/

Good to know! Those Hawaiian points in Feb will be rolled right into my Hilton stash.

 

[Lain]

I think they have fixed it!

But I'm not going to be able to add them because the reservations I had were for lower points than the current reservations.

 

[bernina]

Anyone have any tips to avoid a drop fee for car rentals??? Need to book from Enterprise as it’s our only local one. We would be dropping off at BWI and the second time we would pick up at PHL and drop back at home.
If not are there any promos you know of.. AAA??

No tips but try autoslash. Someone here mentioned it and I used it it price out a 1 way rental from London to Glasgow and it was sooo much cheaper than Costco. The deal was through Priceline and no upfront payment required so I made a few speculative bookings depending on what type of vehicle and if we want to pick up at LHR or a London city location.

I meant to post and say thank you to the person who recommend. It is saving us a ton!!!

 

[Judique]

so.... all this chatter about Bonvoy keep/cancel/PC..... P2 has Amex Bonvoy Biz.... 95 AF (is it supposed to be 125?) stupid free night I'll have to struggle to find a use for.....(spoiled churn problems)...... WWYD? I'm thinking just cancel since I can't PC this to anything,right? My only concern is all of our (not) massive points are in P2's Bonvoy acct (saving to use for a couple of future nights at WDW) do I NEED this card for anything? Anything at all? I'm leaning towards getting rid of it to save on the AF. input please.

In earlier times I would have said keep it. And, for my purposes, I'll still be keeping all my Bonvoy cards, with the possibility of a future review. I've been able to use 5 certificates since last December. But, my experience doesn't necessarily transfer to yours, so you will have to evaluate whether these will save you and your family money. I'm in a vacation pattern where they make sense to me and are so far still functional, even with peak pricing.

But, I think for many folk, the peak season points elevation may have killed the usefulness of the 35K certificate. So, if you don't have a use for the certificate that works in your plan - get rid of it. If you see nights that you will use it for, keep it until it doesn't work anymore. It's become more of a personal experience than a speculative sure thing.

 

[Lain]

No tips but try autoslash. Someone here mentioned it and I used it it price out a 1 way rental from London to Glasgow and it was sooo much cheaper than Costco. The deal was through Priceline and no upfront payment required so I made a few speculative bookings depending on what type of vehicle and if we want to pick up at LHR or a London city location.

I meant to post and say thank you to the person who recommend. It is saving us a ton!!!

P.S. Don't forget to check back periodically for price drops and to rebook. Also, if you activate the Ebates button when in Priceline, it should track payment at the counter reservations.

 

[Judique]

Something I noticed with my Hyatt reservation for the end of the month last night as I was checking on prices.

I booked a couple of nights to take advantage of the $75 off $250 offer. Final cost was $276 and then $75 back from Amex. Anyway last night I noticed that the room price had dropped on the website, so I was about to rebook and cancel the original room.
I was able to go in and 'modify' my original booking to the new room without canceling. Now I'm at $240 which is $10 short of the amex offer, but I'll charge a glass of wine or a few bottles of soda or something to the room to make up the difference. Saves about $25, and still will/should get the $75 back.

After fixing the Hyatt reservation I checked the Marriott ones. Those suckers had jumped in price! I had $82 at the Residence Inn - cheapest available was $127 plus tax.

And, AAA or Senior rates are almost always refundable. There may be a slightly lower nonrefundable rate, 5 bucks extra for refundable works for me.

Editing to say that usually I will pay cash for any rooms under a $100 and save certificates and points for the $200-$300 rooms. Unless I'm cash poor at the moment then all bets are off.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Ahoy everybody. Today be a great day 'cause 'tis Talk Like a Pirate Day! I hope yer churnin' o' credit cards be th' mighty best today 'n that ye get all th' points yer heart has been dreamin' about.

This day always reminds me of what Southwest Airlines did in 2012. Their marketing team literally transformed their entire website for one day into pirate language. It was HILARIOUS! Don't believe me:

• https://www.southwestaircommunity.c...Southwest-Arrr-Hoist-the-main-tail/ba-p/40832

I just wish that there were screenshots of the actual page from that day - I can't locate any. It was AWESOME!

Well, that's enough talk about that as I need to get back to work I hope you all enjoy your day and find all the treasure your heart desires.

 

[LynnTH]

I've been using this scale for 5-ish years:

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Dig...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=82KPEFMGJBC1DYN3QGP7
I had to replace the batteries last year and it is very accurate. Resort airline check-in is always impressed with how close I can get to 50 lbs without actually going over

I bought a scale to use and lost it before our first trip. May have to get this one. I am an overpacker and both my kids are too. (I taught them well). At least going somewhere I know what something weighs but coming home is a different story. Last trip to Disney we get to the airport and the one bag was 49.7 lbs. Boy were we lucky...

 

[wendow]

@wendow have you tried calling dining? I found when we needed 7 they were able to get us a reservation for 3 and 4 and then they put in the reservation that it’s a party of 7. Also they said to call the restaurant the day before to let them know both the reservation numbers and that it’s a party of 7 not 3 and 4. Worked out great and we had one table.

Careful doing the breakfast as when we did it a couple years ago the breakfast put us in the first one. Didn’t have a choice for the 2 or 3 show.

I was going to call today! Good to know on the breakfast since we need one of the two later shows.

Do you know if we book today (and pay today) and a different place opens, can we cancel and rebook? Options are so limited right now

 

[castormom4]

just to double check my thinking, can someone please confirm my plan for SW Companion Pass:

My last card was CIP 7/31/2019 (met MSR today) - I'm currently 4/24 and will drop to 3/24 1/18/2020

Apply 10/1 for SW Performance Biz (spend $4500 before 12/31/19), finish last $500 around 1/15/2020

Wait 90 days between applications

Apply 1/1/2020 for SW Personal (RR Plus) and hit $1,000 MSR by 1/15

We travel 3/14/2020.....hoping I'd be able to get companion place in place in time to still book flights from CVG to Miami, FL for a cruise

Any red flags I'm missing?

 

[castormom4]

Oh, and question regarding the 5% Freedom category including Paypal.....ever since I had a claim denied from Paypal I'm hesitant to use it, but you would just pay with your Freedom card THROUGH paypal, correct?