It looks like 2% back for executive members and a Costco cash card up to $2,000. It says call to book so I am not sure what value you get per person for the 6-night CA trip. I may call tomorrow and find out
I can't talk you out of it cause I use plastiq a lot to help with my MSR's. Keep in mind, your mortgage can really only be paid *easily* with a MC. Amex and Visa require a serious workaround and that can be very YMMV.
I have always used decals on my bands but now I don’t even wear a band. I wear the puck on my watch. But I still put decals on my puck
It’s all about the ideal use of points. The optimum scenario is using your husband’s points on 1 of the POFQ rooms. His limited point total is basically driving the whole scenario.Why does the only one car but two rooms not work for my scenario?
Interesting that it's slightly better for the OOP on useAAmiles! Good catch! See, this is why I come to you and ask first
I sold my GC's so I cannot be a DP. Sorry! I never got around to calling them and then I forgot about our convo about it
@mmmears and @pillow There is a note on the checkout screen for aavacations (can't remember about useaamiles) saying 'if you want to pay with an AA gc, you need to call'. I think the question is does it work when you are also points as part of the payment??
As a churner it really isn’t crazy. Planning 18-24 months in advance gives you a chance to get the right points in the right currency. Even if you only have a rough idea of when, identifying where can be pretty helpful!
Ok. I was forgetting about the MC only thing so thanks for the reminder. I don't think I'm into serious workarounds regarding that particular bill. I'm thinking I could use it to easily fulfill my MSRs for the grAAvy train while still working out MSRs on UR and other cards that are more flexible. Hmm...
Hmm, this is definitely food for thoughtIt’s all about the ideal use of points. The optimum scenario is using your husband’s points on 1 of the POFQ rooms. His limited point total is basically driving the whole scenario.
IF you did the other scenario your OOP would be $427 but you’d have 24,500 AA miles leftover. (vs using ALL of your AA miles and paying $291 OOP). I think your priority is to limit OOP rather than conserve AA miles. One could argue that spending $136 OOP could be worth it as 24,500 AA miles is worth more than $136...
Side note: my phone keeps autocorrecting miles to smiles and AA smiles makes me laugh lol!
Since I know we will be back next year, I plan to keep the AA (s)miles piling up lol. Maybe spending a bit more OOP is okay...?
He'd have the same amount as me if they had just played nice! Think I'm gonna keep using it!
Yup! This is exactly what I do. I can meet one MSR of 2k in one mortgage payment. I'm totally good with the fee charged for that. I also use venmo so maybe something for you to consider as well if you aren't averse to the small fee. That opens the door to Visa. I've not used Amex with Venmo and I think the recommendation is not to.
I will report back!
Don’t think of travel preferences as adulting - it’s just that, a preference. IF planning one of these trips isn’t something you want to do, or feel capable of, that’s ok. (I know that isn’t exactly what you were saying but figured this was worth commenting on anyways).
So I believe my long term strategy (for now anyway) is to stay under 5/24. I want to keep things under control but wouldn't mind going faster than I am currently going. I haven't used my mortgage for any MSRs so I feel like that is a pool of money that could be working for me. 10k spend for 2 CIPs every 3 months is definitely a stretch for us but we can CIP from that cup at whatever rate works for us right?First off: @wendow is spot on. It’s gotta be a Mastercard to make it easy BUT we all know that the Citi AA biz train is a MasterCard
It really comes down to your long term strategy. If you are attempting to stay under 5/24 then you only can go so fast. However, if you are riding the biz AA Train and drinking from the multi CIPpy cup, and doing so in 2 player mode to boot, those can be some big MSRs and perhaps using Plastiq to hammer those AA cards out is a good idea.
It really comes down to what your organic spend level is and whether you need to pay the 2.5% to max your earnings while watching your pacing. 2 CIPs every 3 months is $10k MSR though so that’s a pretty big pill to swallow.
I’ll do rundowns of Qatar & Cathay business class in the next couple weeks but this seemed pretty special!
I doubt we’ll get serious about it until after our trip and closing on our house but I’ll take any and all ideas for a new vacation spot! We tend to like places outside and don’t like sitting in one spot for too long. We’re really bad at relaxing so sitting on a beach wouldn’t work for us.
You guys are convincing me that maybe Costa Rica should be our next vacation spot...
Good morning my credit card peeps from Cathay Pacific’s The Wing First Class Lounge! I don’t know if we’ve had a run down on Cathay 1st here yet? So I’ll try to keep y’all updated so you can follow along
Check-in: So Cathay will through check to partners even on separate tickets. Ok. But they had something pop up that said I needed to pay AA for my bags. (I’m economy AA home.) They were incredibly polite as I explained being a cardholder gets me a free checked bag (they had never heard of this benefit or the credit card but were SERIOUSLY polite and apologetic through the whole thing). Eventually they sent me on my way and said they would sort it out & didn’t want me waiting any longer (I was probably there for about 20 mins, a supervisor was involved. Any other airline- or probably any other class of ticket- and they would have settled on “sorry can’t check-through” but this is Cathay F. Lucky for me!)
They directed me to the closest lounge which happened to be The Wing and it has a dedicated First Class area. I started with a latte and then moved into the Haven for breakfast.
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To the right is a view over the tarmac, we are a floor or 2 above the main level I think, lovey view if you like plane watching.
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Barista artwork. It was nice to get a Vanilla Latte. That’s my bread and butter but outside Cafes I’ve been regulated to lattes with sugar the last few weeks. Woah is me I know
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The Haven has a buffet and an a la carte menu. The champagnes listed are same three they have on offer at the champagne bar. The only name I recognize is Perrier Jouet so that’s what I went with after breakfast and it didn’t disappoint! I will obviously be trying them all though (in limited quantities because I intend to at least start my flight to the States sober!)
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Selected the wonton noodles, wontons were good and I didn’t fill up on all the noodles they put in- I know there’s better food coming. It’s not an either or situation between the buffet & a la carte so I got some fruit off the buffet.
Now to read and chill with some champagnes before my flight.
*For those wondering how I got here I used 70k Alaska Miles for JNB-HKG-LAX with a week stopover in HKG curtesy AS routing rules allowing that. The AS mikes came from a flight/stay package from SPG/Marriott prior to the deval and massive changes. JNB-HKG was biz class because there was no first on the flight.
ETA: take back what I said about the champagne bar as I just saw a Moet in there. I’ll do a more through inventory in a bit for fellow champagne enthusiasts (and will not be trying them all after all!).
Do you happen to have any trips soon? I saw the spirit jerseys in the parks a few weeks ago still. I've been debating that one because I love tiki room
