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

[ten6mom]

Well I went ahead and bought tickets for Hadestown in South Carolina for me and my son. Least expensive flights were on Southwest so I did that.

To keep it churning related, I paid for the hotel (just a little Holiday Inn Express) with the points that I transferred to IHG from my stranded Virgin miles.

The airport, hotel, and venue all appear to be within about 4 miles so I think I won't even need transportation.

Still money out of pocket but I hope it makes a memorable experience for him.

 

[leeniewdw]

Quoting both of these again. I do need to call AF about all this. When I search AF site for RDU-FCO, it's showing flights every day of the week thru CDG. I was pretty sure that when they made the switch to AF (from Delta) on this RDU-CDG route, it only said M-W-F. I found the press release from RDU from July and it definitely says M-W-F.

The Paris service is timed to provide ideal connections from CDG to Air France’s network of nearly 200 destinations and 89 countries. Service is scheduled to begin on Oct. 30 and fly every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on a 279-seat Boeing 787. The 787 is a larger aircraft that has not previously flown from RDU and has more seats than the plane currently flying the Paris route.

Unless something changed from just a few months ago, this makes me skeptical about those other flights.

Quoting myself again. Something is DEFINITELY odd with these VA booking for AF. If I search 9/10/24 (a Tuesday) from RDU-FCO using cash, I get this:



This makes sense because AF is supposed to only go to CDG (the route that takes you to FCO) on M-W-F. However, if I switch and search on points:




So, the route is suddenly available if I use points (I'm sure it's not). I suppose this might have something to do with how new this route is for AF (it actually doesn't even start until 10/30). I am starting to suspect that all these VA searches/finds are just bogus (especially because none show on the AF/FB searches).

Perhaps originating from RDU is just not in the cards.

Thank goodness I didn't get stupid and xfer my pts to VA already.

 

[mfly]

Well I went ahead and bought tickets for Hadestown in South Carolina for me and my son. Least expensive flights were on Southwest so I did that.

To keep it churning related, I paid for the hotel (just a little Holiday Inn Express) with the points that I transferred to IHG from my stranded Virgin miles.

The airport, hotel, and venue all appear to be within about 4 miles so I think I won't even need transportation.

Still money out of pocket but I hope it makes a memorable experience for him.

It's a great show! We saw it earlier this year. I hope you both enjoy it!

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

So to chime in on the VGC and Walmart. I was shocked my Staples had VGC available. So I got $1800 to help hit the $15k FNC on my Surpass. I should be able to hit it now w/o much effort. Anyways I went to the closest WM to Staples and easily loaded $400 onto my Serve.

Feeling good I decided to stop at my WM on the way home to try and do another $400-600. There is one lady who works the MC who's goal in life is to bust people using VGC. I was next in line and she show showed up to help as the line had gotten long. So I got her. @&^%$^!!!!!! She makes you show the card you are using. I normally pull out my debit card, then fumble around telling her it's the wrong one, then swap in the VGC if I can. Yesterday she was on to me. I legit couldn't find my debit card though. When I finally did, it was my business acct. And I didn't want that one. She looked away and I quickly swiped the VGC and then hid it. She's like "it didn't take your card". Let me see your card again. I'm like it says processing. Then it showed it processed but she hit cancel and said it didn't go through. She then told me I had to do it again. And immediately started the new transaction and told me to show her my debit card and insert it. She refused to let me swipe so there was no scamming. Then she called over the other worker and started to whisper something. So I reluctantly put my debit card in, and finished the transaction and then walked away.

Anyone else have a MC worker so determined to bust people loading VGC? I swear other workers don't care. Other WM have never cared. I don't push the limits. I ask to do 2, $200 loads. I wish FD were around here more. The ones I use in vacation in NC LOVED me! They got all excited to see me daily to get that $500 transaction, LOL.

So I guess I'm going to have to avoid the MC when she's working which I try to do. But I swear she's almost always there. They normally only have 1 line open and 90% of the time the cashiers tell me they have no clue so I have to go the MC. Or I'm going to have to drive to other WM to do this. So annoying!

 

[punkin]

Just came back from Italy. Paid on points for 6 people (cash for 1). Never could have done that without this forum. I now need to plan a trip for just DH and me (in lie flat seats this time) just to rest from this family vacation.

 

[Minnie368]

Can anyone tell me if Capital One personal and business cards are under the same login? I like keeping them separate. Would like to know this before I apply for a cap one biz card. Also, do their biz cards show on personal credit report?

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Ugh, I got a refund on my Citi AAdvantage card for a cancellation. Will Citi claw back my AA miles?

What happened was that my dog sitter for out 2 week trip to Italy just cancelled on me. She's going to need to take care of her daughter's dog now and that dog doesn't get along with others. The trip is in 3 weeks. Not sure if the next person I find will take cards. Should I just throw some spend in that card, maybe pre-pay something, to avoid a claw back?

 

[AndreaDM]

I know nothing about the Performing arts center.
But, Charleston is a lovely and walkable, charming Southern city (not from North Charleston though) and if you haven't been there, don't miss taking a bit of time to enjoy the area. My last visit is too long ago to suggest hotels or restaurants, but I'd love to go back for a few days. I just keep driving by and heading for Hilton Head.

Well I went ahead and bought tickets for Hadestown in South Carolina for me and my son. Least expensive flights were on Southwest so I did that.

To keep it churning related, I paid for the hotel (just a little Holiday Inn Express) with the points that I transferred to IHG from my stranded Virgin miles.

The airport, hotel, and venue all appear to be within about 4 miles so I think I won't even need transportation.

Still money out of pocket but I hope it makes a memorable experience for him.

First of all, it is a great show, saw it in Cleveland earlier this year. Second, I just came back from a long weekend in Charleston yesterday! Yes, if you have the chance, please go downtown and experience at least one of the many great restaurants! We were there for 3 full days and I still feel there were so many we wanted to try! A carriage ride is an awesome way to get an overview and some history of the city, highly recommend. We stayed 4 nights at the Holiday Inn Express (250 Spring St.), we stayed on points for free and it was adequate although we did take a lot of Ubers. However, when I priced out the historic downtown hotels we still came out wayyyy ahead! There is a Publix across the street if you want to grab snacks/drinks, etc. Let me know if you have any specific questions on the hotel or Charleston!

 

[ten6mom]

First of all, it is a great show, saw it in Cleveland earlier this year. Second, I just came back from a long weekend in Charleston yesterday! Yes, if you have the chance, please go downtown and experience at least one of the many great restaurants! We were there for 3 full days and I still feel there were so many we wanted to try! A carriage ride is an awesome way to get an overview and some history of the city, highly recommend. We stayed 4 nights at the Holiday Inn Express (250 Spring St.), we stayed on points for free and it was adequate although we did take a lot of Ubers. However, when I priced out the historic downtown hotels we still came out wayyyy ahead! There is a Publix across the street if you want to grab snacks/drinks, etc. Let me know if you have any specific questions on the hotel or Charleston!

Thank you... we will have just the day of the show... it's an evening performance.

It appears to be only about 10 miles from our hotel to what I assume is "downtown", so I hope it will be easy enough to get an Uber so we can walk around a little bit.

Where/how did you obtain the carriage ride?

 

[AndreaDM]

We booked the carriage ride ahead of time on Tripadvisor since I had that Target code, however, you can just walk up and book them, there are several companies that offer them, can't miss them. We used Old South.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I signed up, thank you! would you recommend separate lerts for each way?
I'm probably going to transfer the miles since there's te bonus and then I'm ready to go. I'll wind up on af at some point

Yes, I would do separate alerts for each way. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

With everything going on in right now, I thought there would be a very real possibility that ABD may decide to cancel Egypt trips. Obviously this would be dependent on safety. Therefore, I thought it prudent to book a back up trip just in case. My priorities were easy to book and cancel and I have the points in place for accommodations. Next, easy to book flights on miles.

Now those of you who have "known" me since the inception of this thread know that I pretty much plan 2 years out and book everything about a year out or as soon as availability drops. I've always given this advice to the newcomers here and I know many others on this thread use the same strategy. Planning something for a little over 2 months out was an interesting experience. I found myself quite limited. Initially I wanted a safari but didn't find anything in business class to Kenya or Tanzania from London (I'm keeping the pre trip regardless of ABD canceling or not). The doesn't mean I won't stop checking because that would be my preference. NZ looked like the juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze which was my second choice. Plus I'd want a LOTR group trip and didn't want to deal with canceling that if ABD did not cancel Egypt.

I eventually settled on Costa Rica as a back up. Finding 3 consecutive nights at a Hyatt property in multiple locations was like playing sudoku with a booking platform. But I managed it. So we have 3 nights at Secrets Papagayo, 3 at Tabacon resort and Spa and 3 in Los Altos. I'm quite certain my dates and logistical proximity of properties would make a venn diagram LOL but whatever. I can always play a little more with dates and availability. There enough flights out of Miami that I can pull the trigger last minute. The flights are also short enough that DH aka The Plane Princess won't have an apoplexy flying in coach

Plan A, B, C, D, E came in quite handy for booking flights on this trip to begin with. I didn't think I'd have to implement potential alternate plans for the trip itself, but here we are.

Looking forward to Plane Princess Makes a Venn Diagram trip report!

 

[reliev]

Legendary trips! Wow, never thought of them that way but love the idea! I always figure if the bloggers can do it then I can too. I do appreciate the bloggers having put some amazing locations on my radar.

Aw that’s too bad. Would have loved to meet you as well. I am always tickled when I’m out and about and then out of the blue someone approaches and says “Hi Calypso!” It’s fun to meet the DISboards online community in real life.

if any of you ever get bored coming to the mouse ill make an appearance for a cocktail would be cool to see all these helpful people irl.

 

[Sheree]

Yes, I would do separate alerts for each way. Good luck! Keep us posted.

I transferred 250k UR to FB. Instant! Now I'm ready!

leaving in the a.m. to visit the mouse so want to be able to grab something if it pops p

 

[calypso726]

if any of you ever get bored coming to the mouse ill make an appearance for a cocktail would be cool to see all these helpful people irl.

We are there fairly often on weekends. I’m up for a cocktail and DH would do a mocktail

 

[AmyAnne]

So to chime in on the VGC and Walmart. I was shocked my Staples had VGC available. So I got $1800 to help hit the $15k FNC on my Surpass. I should be able to hit it now w/o much effort. Anyways I went to the closest WM to Staples and easily loaded $400 onto my Serve.

Feeling good I decided to stop at my WM on the way home to try and do another $400-600. There is one lady who works the MC who's goal in life is to bust people using VGC. I was next in line and she show showed up to help as the line had gotten long. So I got her. @&^%$^!!!!!! She makes you show the card you are using. I normally pull out my debit card, then fumble around telling her it's the wrong one, then swap in the VGC if I can. Yesterday she was on to me. I legit couldn't find my debit card though. When I finally did, it was my business acct. And I didn't want that one. She looked away and I quickly swiped the VGC and then hid it. She's like "it didn't take your card". Let me see your card again. I'm like it says processing. Then it showed it processed but she hit cancel and said it didn't go through. She then told me I had to do it again. And immediately started the new transaction and told me to show her my debit card and insert it. She refused to let me swipe so there was no scamming. Then she called over the other worker and started to whisper something. So I reluctantly put my debit card in, and finished the transaction and then walked away.

Anyone else have a MC worker so determined to bust people loading VGC? I swear other workers don't care. Other WM have never cared. I don't push the limits. I ask to do 2, $200 loads. I wish FD were around here more. The ones I use in vacation in NC LOVED me! They got all excited to see me daily to get that $500 transaction, LOL.

So I guess I'm going to have to avoid the MC when she's working which I try to do. But I swear she's almost always there. They normally only have 1 line open and 90% of the time the cashiers tell me they have no clue so I have to go the MC. Or I'm going to have to drive to other WM to do this. So annoying!

I encounter these sorts of cashiers every so often at either WM or the grocery store. If they ask to see the card, I just show them. Then when they say, "No gift cards," I just say, "Sorry, I'll have to come back later." I've thought about trying to do the swapping thing but I figure it's best to make as little fuss as possible.

 

[Runnsally]

DP for the AirFrance Amex offer spend $1k get 20k MR.

I recently booked AF flights and paid over $2k on taxes. I just received the 20k MRs. The reason I find this interesting is because the offer is (if I’m not mistaken) for flights originating in the US. I booked 2 one way tickets. The 2nd one originates in Paris. I received the offer redemption email after booking, but figured they’d deny it for the flight originating in Paris. Guess not.

Fingers crossed. I just did the same thing for a flight originating in Europe hoping it might go through - got the offer redeemed email…waiting on the miles…

 

[IFlossU]

Fingers crossed. I just did the same thing for a flight originating in Europe hoping it might go through - got the offer redeemed email…waiting on the miles…

I’m pretty positive if you received the email the points will post. It took 1 week for the points to show up.

 

[Psychodisney]

FM reporting big changes to Aspire and Surpass. Some might be favorable changes but for me, I'll probably let it go next cycle.

 

[NewbieMom]

FM reporting big changes to Aspire and Surpass. Some might be favorable changes but for me, I'll probably let it go next cycle.

Interesting news! My resort credit resets in November. Do you all think I could still use $250 in December and get another $200 in January? That would be really awesome! I happen to have a stay over Xmas.