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

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I spent enough on my HHB to get the free night award. The charge that should have put me over the top was made on Black Friday and posted Dec 3, but it shows I still have over $300 left to spend. I know it takes a long time to get the free night email, but shouldn’t it at least show up on the website tracker by now? Seems like the tracker usually updates pretty quickly after a charge posts.
 
I'm gonna share a "I Love my CSR" story.

I've been planning a trip to Europe for summer 2020. I had put AA award tickets on hold, but ended up letting the holds expire last month while I worked out my itinerary. I checked yesterday, and the AA award tickets had gone up to 56K miles one way from 30K miles (economy) per person. DH didn't understand why I was unhappy about that, until I told him that was the difference in one of us flying home vs. all three of us flying home from Europe on his AA miles (he has 96K AA miles). Then he got it.

This morning I looked at using UA miles since DH has 130K in his account and we have URs to transfer if needed. The itinerary I looked at for biz lie flat seats would cost 310K UA miles per person round trip as an award ticket. :eek: Cash ticket price on UA's website was $4,560 per person for biz class or $2412 for econ.

Then I searched through the CSR UR portal, and for the same flights I could buy the biz class tickets for $2534 per person*, but because of the CSR's 1.5x multiplier, I instead used 175333 URs (= $1753.33 cash out value) per person. I did put $12.54 on my CSR so that I have an easy way to prove I put the flights on my CSR for travel insurance purposes.

End result - I have biz class airfare to Europe and back for less than I would have to pay cash OOP on United's website for economy tickets. The "opportunity cost" was $5,260 cash out value vs $13,680 for three biz round trip tickets or $7,236 for economy. We'll check out the United Polaris lounge in EWR on the way out and the Polaris lounge in ORD on the way back. I'm super excited!

*It's not strictly apples to apples since the DEN-EWR leg is in economy but all the rest is in UA Polaris biz or First class seats.

ETA: The CSR saved me 105,366 URs compared to the same tickets using a CIP/CSP. I'll pay the $55 net difference in annual fee any day for that.
 
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I’m currently cooking sausage and peppers in a crockpot and chicken gyros in the IP.
That website is great. When we gutted our kitchen I used tons of recipes from that site. No kitchen for 6+ weeks so I set up the dining room to cook with IP, crock pot, rice cooker and electric frypan. I used the slow cooker the most, I would throw everything in before leaving for work and it would be done when I got home and would set to warm. Then add noodles or rice cooked in the rice cooker. I didn’t use the rice cooker much before that but found it easy and it doesn’t take up a burner on the stove when I’m cooking. I frequently have 2 larger pans on the stove which actually doesn’t leave room to use the rear burners.

We always use our rice cooker. It's set it and forget it until done, which works with our relaxed cooking style. I always used to do the full cooking process on the stove top, but hardly seems worth it with a rice cooker on the counter.
 




I think we have a few teachers here @hsmamato2 (?) @LilSweetPeaPhoto. Teacher's gifts: what is appropriate? I usually give GCs (and am to dd's male teacher -- $50.00 Happy Dining GC and $45.00 Fandago {purchased as BBB with Chase offer}), but not sure about female teachers. I would like to give her cherished English teacher a Bkr water bottle or Cluse watch with a $50.00 or $100.00 AmEx GC. Is that too much? She's had this teacher for the past 2 years (AP English and post-AP English) and adores her and the teacher LOVES her. For her AP Calculus teacher I also want to get something special as she has really ignited a Calculus spark in dd and dd is thriving in her class (Cluse watch or just GC?). Then there is her AP Mandarin teacher who has taught her for the past 4 years but is very hard to read -- just $100.00 AmEx GC? Since it's dd's last year and her teachers are all excellent I want to get them all nice gifts. For the iLab 'teachers' (2 and both are male) I got each $25.00 Happy Dining GCs (Target buy $50.00 dining GCs and receive a $5.00 Target GC) and a nice Voluspa candy cane candle (both are married so the wives will like the candles). Thoughts?
I have never had any of DS’s teachers refuse a gift. I would think her HS teachers would be excited since it seems that teacher’s gifts become more sparse when you reach MS and then HS. I am not sure I would do a watch though since they may have an Apple Watch, Fitbit or something already. I have done Coach clutches for DS’s female teachers along with the gift card.
People be out here spending more 💵 on teacher gifts than I spend on my kids 🤣 or my wife 😯

I told you guys I was the cheapest man in the world 😃 (and proud of it 😂)

I hope our teachers enjoy their homemade cookie trays :)
 
My turn for a ridiculously off topic comment today...

😍😍😍


I watched almost every one of this young man’s HS games from 2010-2013. He is one of the most remarkable sportsmen I’ve ever had the pleasure of following. Has a brother with cerebral palsy. Has done numerous things for kids with special needs (he wore cleats today for GKTWV). Attended Ivy League Penn after not being heavily recruited out of HS yet made it to the NFL anyways and he loves God - seems like the kind of guy most parents would want their daughter to bring home. What a stellar young man :D I was sooooo happy when I saw this on Redzone today!!
 
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I think we have a few teachers here @hsmamato2 (?) @LilSweetPeaPhoto. Teacher's gifts: what is appropriate? I usually give GCs (and am to dd's male teacher -- $50.00 Happy Dining GC and $45.00 Fandago {purchased as BBB with Chase offer}), but not sure about female teachers. I would like to give her cherished English teacher a Bkr water bottle or Cluse watch with a $50.00 or $100.00 AmEx GC. Is that too much? She's had this teacher for the past 2 years (AP English and post-AP English) and adores her and the teacher LOVES her. For her AP Calculus teacher I also want to get something special as she has really ignited a Calculus spark in dd and dd is thriving in her class (Cluse watch or just GC?). Then there is her AP Mandarin teacher who has taught her for the past 4 years but is very hard to read -- just $100.00 AmEx GC? Since it's dd's last year and her teachers are all excellent I want to get them all nice gifts. For the iLab 'teachers' (2 and both are male) I got each $25.00 Happy Dining GCs (Target buy $50.00 dining GCs and receive a $5.00 Target GC) and a nice Voluspa candy cane candle (both are married so the wives will like the candles). Thoughts?
i did the same got 2 for my kids pre school teachers.
 
My hubby just watched a video about someone going on rise of the resistance. I haven’t said anything but he was complaining g a bit on our trip about “needing a break” from Disney. GASP. We are DVC members, there is no break 🤪. I said ok we can take a year off and go to Aulani or even rent our points and do something else, but now that he saw the video- he is ready to go back!
 
People be out here spending more 💵 on teacher gifts than I spend on my kids 🤣 or my wife 😯

I told you guys I was the cheapest man in the world 😃 (and proud of it 😂)

I hope our teachers enjoy their homemade cookie trays :)
And to be fair, one of our “businesses” is my wife’s cookie biz so they are professional quality cookies 😉
 
They will! Especially since your wife shut you down and now there will actually be some to give 😂
🤣 🤣 So so true!!!

We are big on keeping Christmas low-key from a monetary perspective. We try to find small tokens of our appreciation that don’t break the bank but let people know we are thinking of them. We also want to make sure our girls don’t lose sight of the true reason for the season in the midst of all the consumerism. We probably actually went a little overboard this year due to the B&N gift cards I had from our Amex MRs.
 
🤣 🤣 So so true!!!

We are big on keeping Christmas low-key from a monetary perspective. We try to find small tokens of our appreciation that don’t break the bank but let people know we are thinking of them. We also want to make sure our girls don’t lose sight of the true reason for the season in the midst of all the consumerism. We probably actually went a little overboard this year due to the B&N gift cards I had from our Amex MRs.
I whole heartedly agree! I think someone mentioned earlier about the kids writing notes to their teachers. I’ve spoken to many teachers in my office over the years and they all say the same thing; they cherish the sentiments that come directly from the kids themselves.
 
People be out here spending more 💵 on teacher gifts than I spend on my kids 🤣 or my wife 😯

I told you guys I was the cheapest man in the world 😃 (and proud of it 😂)

I hope our teachers enjoy their homemade cookie trays :)
I don’t spend that $ on teachers. I’m not sure that’s the norm here. DS’s teacher is getting a spice gift box from Penzey’s Spices and a $10 Target GC. I avoid giving food/homemade gifts because of allergies, intolerances, etc and the fact I know people that throw homemade food straight in the trash since they don’t know how it’s made. (I mean I know I washed my hands a million times and work in food service but the recipient doesn’t know my cat didn’t walk across the treats as they sat on the counter. I’m sure Mrs SFF is very sanitary but some people aren’t .). FWIW our school doesn’t allow any homemade treats at all anymore (PTA provides snacks for any school parties) which isn’t the same as gifts, I know.
 
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