I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

[Haley R]

No experience with United Polaris but AA Biz was not great for 'togetherness.' DS was 13 when we flew and I was next to him, DH on the opposite side across the aisle. I couldn't reach him to tap his arm or even really talk with him. There is basically a small 'counter' area on each person's side so you're not close to the other person. I basically spent the whole flight reading or watching movies by myself. Photo for reference, DS was next to me, DH is the head you can see in the seat beyond DS.View attachment 754540

This is the picture I see for the plane we would be flying on with United. It looks like dh or I could be in the middle with ds and be able to be pretty close to him. We could fly into/out of Munich from IAD. Dh is thinking maybe doing Munich and Zurich

 

[2TxAgs]

@Haley R - what's the longest flight your son has taken? How is he about staying in a seat/small space for even 2-3 hours?

Obviously none of us know your particular child, but from the perspective of a mom with 3 kids, I can't imagine trying to keep them restrained/busy/happy for 9 hours while everyone around me was trying to sleep. I'm sure people will jump in and say what a great traveler their child was when young, but I would think that's more the exception than the rule. Most flights to Europe are overnight with early in the day arrivals. Too early to get into a hotel. I'm just imagining 2 tired parents and one cranky toddler with no access to a room for hours.

There are so many wonderful places you could visit that don't require a 9 hour flight, followed by a jet-lagged exhausting day. Maybe you could spend this year working to build up your son's travel tolerance (several short flights and 3-4 days in hotels) in preparation for a trip to Japan next year?

 

[Haley R]

@Haley R - what's the longest flight your son has taken? How is he about staying in a seat/small space for even 2-3 hours?

Obviously none of us know your particular child, but from the perspective of a mom with 3 kids, I can't imagine trying to keep them restrained/busy/happy for 9 hours while everyone around me was trying to sleep. I'm sure people will jump in and say what a great traveler their child was when young, but I would think that's more the exception than the rule. Most flights to Europe are overnight with early in the day arrivals. Too early to get into a hotel. I'm just imagining 2 tired parents and one cranky toddler with no access to a room for hours.

There are so many wonderful places you could visit that don't require a 9 hour flight, followed by a jet-lagged exhausting day. Maybe you could spend this year working to build up your son's travel tolerance (several short flights and 3-4 days in hotels) in preparation for a trip to Japan next year?

He has flown multiple 3-4 hour long flights as well as driving over 8 hours to my parents house. The point of this trip was to fly further to get him used to an overnight flight and flying for a longer time. He’s done pretty well on all of them. I have no idea how he’ll do with this trip but I feel like we have to start somewhere. It’s longer than we planned with the Ireland trip so we might still explore options that are closer

 

[Haley R]

We went ahead and booked IAD-Munich for two weeks in biz. It was 360k for all of us. It’s an 8 hour flight there and 9 hours back so longer than we had planned with Ireland. I think we’re gonna look at other options that are closer just in case but at least we can cancel and get our points back since it’s United.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

This is the picture I see for the plane we would be flying on with United. It looks like dh or I could be in the middle with ds and be able to be pretty close to him. We could fly into/out of Munich from IAD. Dh is thinking maybe doing Munich and Zurich

That does look much nicer. However, airlines do change planes often and sometimes you get a different product than you originally booked.
DS always did fine and was good about sleeping; we always gave him the window seat so he wasn't trying to get up or move about. His first international flight was at 13 months and he slept 3/4 of the flight but screamed the other 1/4.

 

[Haley R]

That does look much nicer. However, airlines do change planes often and sometimes you get a different product than you originally booked.
DS always did fine and was good about sleeping; we always gave him the window seat so he wasn't trying to get up or move about. His first international flight was at 13 months and he slept 3/4 of the flight but screamed the other 1/4.

I have no idea what to expect from him. I’m mostly worried about when he gets tired and if he’ll sleep or get cranky. He still takes a nap every day but I’m assuming he won’t nap that day because we won’t have a hotel at his normal nap time and we’ll have to be going to the airport for the international flight. I would hope that would make him more tired for the overnight flight but who knows.

 

[wanderlust7]

We went ahead and booked IAD-Munich for two weeks in biz. It was 360k for all of us. It’s an 8 hour flight there and 9 hours back so longer than we had planned with Ireland. I think we’re gonna look at other options that are closer just in case but at least we can cancel and get our points back since it’s United.

We have a trip planned this summer that includes Munich-Nuremburg-Berlin. In my Munich plans I have visiting Marienplatz, a beer garden, the BMW factory tour, and a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. On the day trip, I hope to also do the alpine coaster at Oberammergau. Also looked into the Forest Experience Center Ziegelwies, which looks like a good place for kids, but we probably won't be able to fit it in.

My kids tended to sleep on planes when they were younger. I think it's something about the vibration. Hope your DS will be the same!

 

[Haley R]

We have a trip planned this summer that includes Munich-Nuremburg-Berlin. In my Munich plans I have visiting Marienplatz, a beer garden, the BMW factory tour, and a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. On the day trip, I hope to also do the alpine coaster at Oberammergau. Also looked into the Forest Experience Center Ziegelwies, which looks like a good place for kids, but we probably won't be able to fit it in.

My kids tended to sleep on planes when they were younger. I think it's something about the vibration. Hope your DS will be the same!

Oh awesome! I’m glad to see someone else going there. I’m definitely a little nervous about the flight but maybe it being longer than the Ireland flight will give ds more of a chance to sleep? We found quite a bit to do just in Munich. Dh was thinking maybe Zürich or some things in Austria but we really haven’t looked much

 

[sinnika]

Have any of you been to the Frankfurt area? Dh found flights for about 440k United points for biz to fly there and back out of Newark. I don’t know much about Frankfurt so we’re gonna look and see if it’s something we’re interested in.

I have flown into Frankfurt 4 times in the past 18 months, twice in Polaris, once in premium economy, and once in economy. I live in Houston and they do have nonstop flights, though my most recent flight I connected in Amsterdam so I could score a Polaris flight for 69,000 miles. Once, I connected thru IAD to meet up with my sister and they did change planes on us and we were no longer sitting together in economy. If you are looking for lower reward points to Europe, avoid June-August if possible. We flew to London the first of September and weather was delightful and a great baby/young child city. We met up with our DD and family to spend a few days there before a DCL cruise from Dover. You can roll a stroller right into a taxi! Coolest thing ever! Our grandson has flown across the pond at 3 months and again at 13 months. And he has visited 16 European countries so far! They are here till September and hope to visit a few more countries while she is on maternity leave and grandma #2 comes to visit. They did visit Switzerland in January and found the area very baby and stroller friendly but quite expensive. You could always rent a car in Frankfurt or Munich to get around. There are so many beautiful places within driving distance. Tain travel is excellent but you will be managing your own luggage so travel as light as possible.

 

[wendow]

Finally took the plunge and booked our first Disney cruise for our 25th Anniversary. We honeymooned at WDW and had long planned to do something Disney related for our 25th so I had been collecting Disney gift cards for the last couple years when various credit card offers appeared. Worked out to an 11.3% saving on the cruise price.

When we saw that DCL is also celebrating their 25th anniversary this year - it just sealed our choice.

Congrats and Happy Anniversary! We just did our first Disney (and first ever) cruise! It was just myself, dh and our boys. One of our girls is now married and the other is on the Disney college program. I'm already kind of thinking of how to finagle another cruise! It was a ton of fun and so different than anything we'd done before!

 

[EACarlson]

Once I added high arch supports I had to go up a whole size from 8 to 9 lol. The podiatrist told me it’s the hard tile floors we have here in Florida. This didn’t start until last year.

If it's the hard floors, maybe look into OOFOS for around the house. They were designed to cushion the feet of marathon runners after they finish. It's helped me quite a bit with my PF.

What would my churners do? Direct flight from LGA to home, 3 hours 44 minutes.
We booked AA for 11K points each (3) but because I booked when I was AA Plat Pro I was able to reserve MCE seats for free, I'm back down to Gold.
Same flight is now available through BA for 11K Avios (would have to sit at the back of the plane),BUT J is available for 22K Avios (66K total). We do have 400K MRs, so we have the points. I just need someone to help me decide.

I'd spend the 22k Avios, and be prepared to pay for seat selection with BA in J. I don't get folks saying 22k for J is too expensive. I'm spending 22k for Y on DL later this year domestically.

 

[miztressuz]

A reminder if you got a code for the $900 Chase Checking/Savings combo offer, tomorrow, 4/19 is the last day to open the accounts. They aren't issuing new codes, so if you missed out on this deal, perhaps it will come around again in the future.

Also, both my husband and I needed to go in-branch to have our ID verified; we couldn't open online. I see the banker back in January opened the higher checking and savings accounts for my husband, called the Chase Premier Plus. These have higher fees and requirements, so now he'll have to go to the hassle of having that changed. Frustrating...

I only noticed it when today I went in to do mine and she tried to do the same thing instead of the basic Chase Total Checking.

Anyone know how long it took for their savings and combo bonus to post? Now that we'll have to switch around the account type, this language has me concerned: "To receive this bonus, the enrolled account must not be closed or restricted at the time of the payout"

Some of you mentioned Flying Blue now has biz class seat selection fees, and they are like $90 each way pp, so not inexpensive! I noticed the BoA AirFrance Flying Blue card in this post, which has a 70k SUB, $100 statement credit for $2k MSR/3 mos. $89 AF. But card approval + meeting SUB seems to earn 100 XP, which would earn Flying Blue Silver status (from what I can tell), which would allow for free seat selection. That status is good from one year from earning it, so perhaps this might just be a one year card. The MSR is pretty minimal and 70k SUB is equivalent to one biz class flight, so it's definitely something to consider. For me, the seat selection would really add up because we tend to travel in a party of four or more in Flying Blue biz class. And I do like to sit next to my family in biz class because otherwise it seems so isolating.

6.1 Air France and KLM Flying Blue Platinum members, Club 2000* card holders, Flying Blue Gold members, and Flying Blue Silver members may reserve a Business Seat free of charge granted they have provided their Flying Blue number at the time of booking. This fee waiver also applies to traveling companions in the same booking. Customers who have not provided their Flying Blue card numbers at the time of purchasing their tickets can book a Business Seat at applicable rates.

Good find! I haven't dug around extensively but that seems to fit. I wonder how often they do the XP as part of card sign up. Would be nice to alternate years with a P2 if you regularly plan flights on Flying Blue lines. Definitely worthy of some search time for folks considering it.

Also tagged the post in the DISchurners News & Discussion thread for future reference.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Oh awesome! I’m glad to see someone else going there. I’m definitely a little nervous about the flight but maybe it being longer than the Ireland flight will give ds more of a chance to sleep? We found quite a bit to do just in Munich. Dh was thinking maybe Zürich or some things in Austria but we really haven’t looked much

We haven't been, but Munich is one on my list so I've done a ton of research, lol. Salzburg is pretty close that you could make it a day trip, and the town looks so cute. There's several things to do there. I'm also fascinated by the river that they surf on in Munich!

 

[mom2febgirls]

I have a question about Delta Skyclub guest passes. My sister and I are both flying out of Chicago on the same day on different Delta flights. Will I be able to get her into the skyclub using a guest pass or does she have to be flying on the same flight?

 

[hsmamato2]

If you haven’t canceled yet, hit SW up on Twitter. They’ll fix it quickly.

Thanks for the replies (to all) we changed it quick and easy! SWA is def. having some issues but overall customer service is still pretty good!

 

[Haley R]

We haven't been, but Munich is one on my list so I've done a ton of research, lol. Salzburg is pretty close that you could make it a day trip, and the town looks so cute. There's several things to do there. I'm also fascinated by the river that they surf on in Munich!

I saw a video showing the surfing river! It looked pretty cool. There is so much to do with a 3 year old in Munich and the hotels are way cheaper than what we were seeing for Ireland.

 

[becauseimnew]

I saw a video showing the surfing river! It looked pretty cool. There is so much to do with a 3 year old in Munich and the hotels are way cheaper than what we were seeing for Ireland.

I'm happy this is all working out for you all, I know it's not the trip you wanted but I bet it will still be amazing.

 

[amcc]

Oh awesome! I’m glad to see someone else going there. I’m definitely a little nervous about the flight but maybe it being longer than the Ireland flight will give ds more of a chance to sleep? We found quite a bit to do just in Munich. Dh was thinking maybe Zürich or some things in Austria but we really haven’t looked much

Munich and the surrounding region is one of our favorite places. The actual city is gorgeous - Rick Steve's walking tour was perfect for highlights and interesting history. We visited Bayern stadium - a glory of soccer for my son, a glory of engineering for me. Neuschwanstein and Linderhof are stunning palaces with grounds and vistas that are swoon worthy (and Linderhof interiors are a jewel). A stroller with good wheels is a necessity as hiking and strolling are seen as family activities and there is quite a bit of infrastructure to support it. We spent 6 days total (3 Munich 3 outside) and want to go back and spend more. Driving was so easy.

 

[hsmamato2]

Does anyone here have a Bilt MC? Since I don't rent it hasn't held a lot of appeal for me, but seeing AA and Hyatt as transfer partners is intriguing. I've checked DISchurners and don't see any support links for Bilt so if you have one would you post it over there?

ok..... Bilt.... is this a good card to try out if I don't rent? Seems like a decent deal just for the bonus points to transfer....(?) yes? no?

 

[Haley R]

I'm happy this is all working out for you all, I know it's not the trip you wanted but I bet it will still be amazing.

We honestly were pretty open to go anywhere. We really just want to travel with ds and aren’t too picky where we go. Dh is the one that convinced me to go to Ireland lol. I’m actually thinking Munich looks better than Ireland for multiple reasons but there seems to be so much to do with ds at his age right there in Munich. We’re thinking about doing Legoland. We haven’t done it here yet but have wanted to go for awhile