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

Status
Not open for further replies.
What do you guys think the best deal is for MNSSHP/MVMCP tickets? Disney direct with AP/DVC discount, UT, or Sam's?

Disney direct has the night I want with AP/DVC discount for $106.50 (At least 10% GC savings brings it to $95.85-ish)
UT has it for $103.67 (3x travel on CSR/CIP, redeemed towards travel brings it to $99-ish)
Sam's has it for 110.33 (I have no discounted WM GCs)

I think Disney clearly wins and I can adjust the date by calling and pleading with resort ticketing if there is bad weather or something. Am I missing any other possibilities?
 
Popping in to say I just had an awesome massage at the Centurion Lounge in Miami! So I’m not hating on the Platinum card just now. We are on our way to NYC to see Hamilton for the 7th time LOL. We found an unexpected flight with lie flat seats on the way back home. PlanePrincess is happy.

This reminded me that I have been thinking about a NYC trip, in part to see Hamilton again (we saw it in Chicago). Calypso (or any other Hamilton fans): have you done a Hamilton tour? From the little I have read, I think it involves a guided walk though the city, with info about the locales relevant to the Hamilton story.
 


I feel like I've seen people here discuss trips to Clearwater Beach, but don't see any hotel reviews on that thread. Anyone stayed at any Marriotts in Clearwater Beach? There are several there for 35k in January, plus the Fenway Hotel in Dunedin which looks kind of cool and is part of the Autograph collection for Marriott.

Dunno anything about Marriotts near Clearwater, but I spent a couple hours walking around Dunedin once and it's a really cute town. Wish I had more time, and will eventually make it back when I have more time.
 


Interesting as the two smaller stores near me have 15 each. The SuperTarget closest has only 7.

Weird. All mine are the same size but the one with everything gets the most customers so maybe that's it for that one at least. Hard to say why the other two aren't similar. :confused3
 
We (and @Alexle2007 ) stayed at the Sheraton Sand Key, and I know @Judique has stayed there also. I liked it. It is not in the Clearwater Strip, which I personally loved, but I think @Alexle2007's family did not like that. It was an easy trolley ride to get to the busier Clearwater area. I walked for miles on the Sand key beach and saw maybe 10 people total. On the Clearwater side you will have 10 people in your personal space at all times. This was in June, so not sure how it is if you are looking off peak. We took the Trolley all the way to Dunedin. It was a cute little town. We just walked around and ate there then took an Uber back to the Sheraton so we didn't have to wait on the Trolley. The Trolley was easy enough, but we had to transfer and had a little wait in the town of Clearwater (not the beach area) and it is strange over there. lol The town is apparently mostly owned by the Scientology Church. We thought there was a big resort that had a massive shift change while we were waiting because all these people were walking around in uniforms. Nope, it was church members. I don't know anything about the church, hope I don't offend anyone, not saying anything bad about it, it was just strange. Have no idea why they all dress alike.

So are you looking for beach activity or something else while staying there? Quiet beach activity I would pick the Sheraton (or Marriott across street). In the middle of everything beach activity then Clearwater Beach area or quiet quaint little Downtown area then pick Dunedin.
I think we were spoiled by our 1st trip to Clearwater Beach where we stayed at the SandPearl resort and had amazing experience. That hotel is beautiful and the 1 bedroom ocean view suite they upgraded us to was very, very nice. So the Sheraton just didn’t compare. Additionally, we thought it was way too far of a walk to get to the beach (we used the golf cart service the one time we did go) and the pool felt crowded.
 
We checked into the dolphin today for our AP preview tomorrow morning! We ate dinner at Picabu which was pretty good. Then we walked to Epcot to get breakfast for tomorrow from the French bakery. Then we got ice cream from the fountain and now I should be sleeping but I’m too excited!
 
I saw that comment about how once you get the pop up for a card, it doesn’t go away on that card/family of cards for the duration of a specific campaign/offer. Maybe it’s Hilton-specific because DW was able to shake the pop up on and got the legacy SPG before it was discontinued. The only thing different over the 1.5-2 month period between the 1st application with pop up and 2nd application with no pop up was we brought the level of spend on DW’s existing Amex cards back up to MSR-period levels. The campaign/welcome offer on the legacy SPG was the same during that entire period.

@Albort and I chatted over some theories regarding the pop up a while back, and I think some of his findings supported another of @gottalovepluto's theories:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3729982/post-60800058

This idea is related to @gottalovepluto’s and @Albort’s idea that even if you get a pop up on one card doesn’t mean you’ll get the pop up on all Amex cards. As @gottalovepluto noted, there are folks who got a pop on one Amex card but then applied for a different Amex right after successfully with no pop up. @Albort and some other sources seem to think that there’s an additional layer to this, and a pop up makes you “brand/co-brand locked.” That is, if you first get a pop up when you apply for a Hilton card, that pop up with extend to that card and all other cards in that co-brand’s family; but if you try immediately after for an Amex-only or another co-branded family’s card, you may not get the pop up.

If this theory of "brand/co-brand locked" is right, then maybe @gottalovepluto's got something with her theory that Amex's algorithm may be using the pop up to manage bonus expenses, e.g., for a brand or co-brand family, particular when certain campaigns/promoted welcome offers are running that are expected to attract increased applications. Amex doesn't want to pay out too much of any one points currency at a given time?

There's still some credence to the spend theory, because people who have high levels of spend on Amex cards never seem to get the pop up. So I'm wondering if the pop up acts like a bouncer at a club. Amex MR cards, Bonvoy cards, Hilton cards, Delta cards -- they all have a room capacity that the pop up manages. Maybe the bouncer is even responsible for letting the "right" kind of people into the club. If you're a low roller and there's a line to get in, you get bounced. If you're a high spending VIP (and maybe being a longtime customer helps), you go straight on through pop up free. As for the applicant, if you get bounced from one club, you just try the next club?

Even if this theory works, I realize it’s not perfect because most of us consider our next cards carefully and to have a pop up lock us out of that card or it’s entire family of cards when we’re ready to apply is incredibly frustrating, even if we have another Amex card potentially available to us pop up free. And if we’re locked out of a limited time elevated offer that we really want by a pop up, it looks like our only hope is to spend our way out of that pop up, which may or may not work.

As an alternate DP, I have now received the Amex pop up on Bonvoy personal, Hilton Surpass, and Amex Gold :rotfl2:
 
Last edited:
Took 2 emails, but I think they are in there. At least Mary said they were there. I am not at home now so can’t log in to check.

Finally logged in to check my Plastiq account and I wonder if Mary got confused or decided to be extra generous. I have 3 $1000 FFD in there now. Wonder if they will pull the other 2 back. I would hurry up and use them but I don't have anything to pay. lol I was just going to pay my mortgage but that doesn't even use up the first $1000.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top