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

[wendow]

I... what? I've tried to time my bathroom breaks, but it doesn't work that way!

I'm also curious how you are able to plan down to the minute in a place as unpredictable as WDW. For example, we've arrived for ADRs usually 5 minutes early, and we never get our table at the same time. Or if you do QS, maybe the line is longer than you expect. Or the bus line is longer and you have to wait for a second bus.

This is fascinating! And exhausting.

We do down to the minute planning. My dh adjusts our walking speed to allow for bathroom breaks I'm not kidding! We are fast walkers but he puts us walking at a leisurely pace so that we have time to dash in and dash out of the bathroom.

We only do TS meals on non-park days so that isn't something we have to worry about. He allows 45 mins for QS meals which we never use unless it is our dinner meal and by dinner, we are usually off the touring plan.We do not use it in the evenings, and if we do, it's very loosely followed. We have had bus delays throw off our touring plan but we also always plan to be at the bus stop at least 1 hour before park opening so we've not had problems with that very often.

We really enjoy touring this way. It could just be our stage of life though. I cannot remember if you have kiddos, thinking no??...but for us, being a large family, there are a lot of people with a lot of different things each wants to get done. Since we only get to go once a year, we have to make every minute count. I have my boys who want to ride everything over and over and I have my girls who are really into instagram and finding all these walls and locations that everyone uses in their pics. I find it silly but they enjoy it and they aren't doing anything wrong so we try to fit in all that. My kids love the characters and they love them all so we have to meet everyone we can. My dh & I went once to wdw by ourselves and we didn't follow as much of a plan but we had a lot less that was important to us (like we didn't really care about Dumbo and Astro orbitor).

 

[wendow]

Right??? It took MIL an hour to get to her first school yesterday, normally it's maybe 15min. And then most of her kids she needs to see weren't there anyways.

Yep, last thursday when we got dumped on during the morning drive, it took my dd18 over an hour to drive to college (normally 20 mins) and took my dh 35 mins to drive dd16 to school and that is normally 10 mins. Plus another 45 from there to get to work and that is normally a 10 min drive. BUT no way do we cancel school or even, heaven forbid, have a late start. It's just amazing!

 

[schmass]

it just makes no sense. I’m sorry that totally sucks. Has anyone been denied the bonus with no pop up ever? @schmass? Just wondering if anyone’s safe

I had gotten the pop-up a few times when trying for the Hilton Biz. I cancelled the app and put thousands of dollars on my Amex cards and then applied for the Rose Gold with no pop-up. Thought I was good until I realized the bonus never posted.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I'm trying to come up with a plan for DH and my self for our next couple cards. We're currently working on MSR on DH's Citi AA Biz. I'm planning to finish this off in March with a $1700 payment towards my student loan.

Me: Apply for BBP in February to see if I'm still getting Amex popup, or if I don't get the popup, to see if I actually get the bonus. I'm waiting around to see if there's an increased Hyatt bonus again in the next couple months and I'll get that if there is.

DH: Canceling his CIP when the AF comes due in February. Applying for CIU for him in March. Will also pick up a Hyatt card for him at some point.

Plans for future travel: Accumulate a few more URs for WDW in September, have a serious stash of hotel points for Japan in 2020. Particularly Marriotts in Tokyo and the Hilton Tokyo Bay for Tokyo Disney.

I want to pick up some SPG/Marriott cards for DH, and a Hilton card, but I can't decide what to get. DH has NEVER had any Marriott or SPG cards, so I'm in the clear to get anything for him. He is 2/24 (will be 1/24 in May), so I just need to leave room for him to get the CIU and Hyatt. I was looking at the SPG Luxe and the Hilton Aspire, but I'm just not sure I can make either of them make sense for us. The SPG Luxe I could eventually use up the $300 Marriott credit with some stays, but I really don't have much planned for us this year other than traveling for horse shows, and Marriott hotels are definitely not a given based on where we show. The status might be nice, but then again DH and I are hardly ever in our room when we travel, and we don't need an upgrade to a suite for two people. For the Hilton Aspire, I definitely don't ever see us using the $100 resort credit. We've only stayed at Hiltons for our DL trip and Universal trip. Tokyo Bay is the next planned Hilton stay (other than a two night stay at a Hampton Inn in April for a horse show).

Does anyone see a reason I should get DH anything other than SPG Biz/Hilton Biz? I'm not seeing it, but would love to hear some other opinions!

 

[wendow]

@speedyfishy That completely stinks you did not get the Amex bonus. I'm so sorry! It's stories like yours that have me laying off Amex for a very long while I think.

 

[speedyfishy]

Booooo!!!

Trying to make some sense of this. So between Feb and Nov he got 3 other AmEx cards? Were there continued spend on those - consistent or sporadic?

He has gotten 8 Amex cards since Feb. one was the Amazon card in Dec (got the bonus) one he just applied for and I haven’t even started spend yet and one bonus has been denied.

The cards got no spend basically after the bonus until I saw the pop up reports. Since then I have used a lot of Amex offers and got about $3000 worth of Disney Giftcards for my wedding at a discount.

@speedyfishy That completely stinks you did not get the Amex bonus. I'm so sorry! It's stories like yours that have me laying off Amex for a very long while I think.

If it makes you feel better I have gotten 10 Amex cards since Feb 2018 and I have not been denied any bonus. My SO has 8 and his 6th card is when they started denying the bonus. Got the bonus on the 7th (Amazon giftcard) and the 8th is in progress.

 

[platamama]

This would be good to know. I am switching the CSR from me to DH. He was just approved and I will cancel in Feb (AF on 2/1). If I could add myself as an AU and not pay the $75 fee, that would be great. I am going to miss having that card. Of course, I was just planning to carry his!

IME you won't have to pay the $75 AU fee until the next anniversary year fee posts. I opened my CSR in 1/2017 and the $450 AF fee posted on 2/1/2017. I added DH as an AU in 9/2017, and the AU fee for him didn't show up until 2/1/2018.

I removed him as AU in 10/2018 to drop him to 4/24 so that he could get the CIP. So on 2/1/19 I'll find out if my AF is $450 or if having him as AU for part of the year makes my AF $525. I'll report here what ends up happening!

 

[Haley R]

I had issues with this last year so I called in and they changed it over the phone. Kind of a pain, but it worked!

I’m probably behind but we had this happen and Dh called. They were able to change it for us. We will probably call from now on

 

[wendow]

If it makes you feel better I have gotten 10 Amex cards since Feb 2018 and I have not been denied any bonus. My SO has 8 and his 6th card is when they started denying the bonus. Got the bonus on the 7th (Amazon giftcard) and the 8th is in progress.

I've gotten 7 amex in the last year so I just feel like my pop-up moment is any day now. I'm busying myself with other banks right now so it's good

 

[Oscar Madison]

Isn't it crazy!?! They just do not believe in snow days here. We've woken up to 10-12 inches before and school is on as usual

Builds character!

 

[Oscar Madison]

Yes, I purchased a $50 gift card and got $15 credited back. It did take a few days before the offer even said it was redeemed, but it did go through.

Just did 3 separate $50 buys. Thanks

 

[wendow]

Builds character!

Or a hatred for snow

 

[Oscar Madison]

Or a hatred for snow

Snow I love...cold - not so much.

 

[AmyAnne]

So I just went to check...I got the 150k points for the spend on the Aspire. I also self referred. So I got 170k And I managed to hit the bonus from Oct-Dec twice, so that was another 20k. 190k in points since October ain't too shabby.

There's a spending bonus for the Aspire? Is this targeted?

 

[StephPlum]

SWA site...GAAH! had a drop in price today(a small one) and it won't allow me to change the flight!!! tried 4x on the website to do it.... is it b/c I booked a R/T and only want to change one leg?
So I just canceled and rebooked..... don't know what the problem was in changing!

That sucks. I try to only do single legs now to make it easier to change if one part goes down in price.

 

[striker1064]

For the Hilton Aspire, I definitely don't ever see us using the $100 resort credit.

So just a couple thoughts... it's $250, not $100, and you can cash it out.

This probably toes the line for what may or may not be generally acceptable, but the credit will trigger on a room rate deposit as long as you book a rate that is charged directly by an eligible resort. As I recall, the Hilton Hhonors member rate is always like this.

And then I mean, Amex credits you the $250, and what do you know? You have to cancel. Good thing you booked a cancelable rate so you can get your deposit back!

 

[StephPlum]

If anyone was looking, seems like southwest changed their next flight release to 1/31.

Thanks for the update. I am planning a trip in August and waiting to see the schedule. Company will pay for those flights so not looking to book on that day but want to see the schedules for planning purposes.

 

[StephPlum]

My packing cubes are coming today. I am utterly surprised. Ordered on Sunday and coming free shipping 2 business days later. Wow! I may or may not practice packing with them this weekend while I am avoiding the super bowl with TB.

 

[GZanta77]

So just a couple thoughts... it's $250, not $100, and you can cash it out.
!

There are two bonuses - one is a $100 bonus for booking select hotels. The other is a $250 credit for spending at certain resorts.

 

[amalone1013]

Discover is giving me credit for my $51 Sam's order that didn't post until 1/2 $2.55, woohoo I can go buy a reusable bag at WDW now!