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

[PolyRob]

Glad you finally made it! Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly and that you have a great time!

As for me, after my 1st flight was canceled, and after my 2nd flight was canceled, and after my 3rd flight had the possibility of us missing the connection in SJC and ending up spending the night at the SJC airport...we decided to bail on the Vegas trip. We came back home, and I've filed a claim with Chase for our prepaid hotel nights (what is with the 72 hour hotel cancelation policies?!?), and I'm hoping that having paid for the taxes and fees on the SW flights with the CSR that I can be reimbursed for the hotel nights of ~$500. Ugh, what a joyless day.

That is SO frustrating! Sorry this happened. Hopefully the insurance can refund anything you may have lost

 

[wendow]

Yes, for sure, but haleyR was talking about paying out of pocket for it all so wanted to make sure she knew to add $50 or so to the advertised rate when comparing to wdw and DS resorts.
So how do you not park? You guys uber there?

We are flying in from CO. Staying at POR before for 4 nights and then moving to SWolphin. Uber to airport for departure.

 

[wendow]

I have found some places don't offer them anymore. Most recently I got a frozen Coke at the Lunching Pad and they had no straws besides the sugar/candy one they gave me with the drink. I did not want the different taste in my drink so I had to take one from my stash. Sometimes messy QS places also gross me out and I use my own. Captain Cooks always seems to be a hot mess with the straw dispenser sitting in a pool of some sort of spilled liquid so I use my own there

The paper straws have seemed to have made their way around WDW property. The only place I got a plastic straw on my last trip was at La Hacienda de San Angel.

Reading this and planning accordingly.

 

[wendow]

So sorry @platamama

 

[PolyRob]

Reading this and planning accordingly.

Yes! Even with the paper straws, you may have to ask because they don't always just give them out. I had that happen at Sci-Fi. The CM apologized profusely saying he couldn't just hand me one and that I had to ask. He was so nice and I told him not to worry at all! (Writing this as I take a sip of Coke Zero from my nice plastic bendy straw)

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Can't wait to hear what you think of JAL First (only if it's good, though, lol), since we'll be on that same route in a little less than a year! Great to know about the Cathay Pacific lounge...

It was incredible!!! Absolutely loved it. I only have a few first class experiences to compare to (Delta, American, British Air), but it was by far the best. I do have to say there was some funny moments though. Let's just say western women were severely under-represented on the plane. Actually there were only a handful of westerners at all that I saw. Women in general were few and far between, and I didn't see one western family. You should have seen the looks we got when we had to walk in front of all the suit-clad business men in our casual California clothes to board first class

The service was outstanding and the food delicious. We both did the Japanese menu and our flight attendants were very visibly shocked that we didn't want the western menu. I was also surprised that their English was fairly basic--there were times we didn't understand each other but there was a lot of bowing going on I would caution anyone with small kids to think twice about JAL for first or even business. The cabins were *very* quiet and we definitely weren't getting the warm fuzzy welcoming vibe from our fellow cabin mates. I would have been very anxious if I'd had my small kids on there. Great flight though.

And they certainly didn't skimp on the pours of Cristal!




Today was maybe the highlight of the trip though. We went to Jiro and not only had an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime meal, but the chef was there and we got a picture with him. We didn't expect him to be there as he only goes a few times a week now, so when I saw him, I swear I was shaking. The food was absolutely incredible. Superlatives aren't enough.

 

[MrPTato]

I do too! I keep them in my park bag in a toothbrush holder.

Thank you, that is such a good idea! I leave mine in a Ziploc, but they get a little crushed sometimes. Definitely doing this on my next trip!

I've not found straws hard to come by in wdw (yes to in DLR). Why carry them in the parks when they are plentiful there? Or have I missed something!?!?!

I feel like maybe this was talked about a couple weeks back or I am just dreaming it up...have you guys tried the metal straws yet? I have seen them in places and with the diminishing of plastic straws not only in WDW, but in general, I was curious how they were.

 

[wendow]

I feel like maybe this was talked about a couple weeks back or I am just dreaming it up...have you guys tried the metal straws yet? I have seen them in places and with the diminishing of plastic straws not only in WDW, but in general, I was curious how they were.

I have metal, glass and reusable polycarbonate straws. Metal are my fav for retaining the temp of the drink and you can boil to clean. Glass can be boiled but doesn't retain heat/coolness of drink. Poly ones cannot be boiled but are usually the cutest. I even bought Disney ones with mickey heads all over them years ago at wdw.

 

[PolyRob]

I feel like maybe this was talked about a couple weeks back or I am just dreaming it up...have you guys tried the metal straws yet? I have seen them in places and with the diminishing of plastic straws not only in WDW, but in general, I was curious how they were.

I have metal, glass and reusable polycarbonate straws. Metal are my fav for retaining the temp of the drink and you can boil to clean. Glass can be boiled but doesn't retain heat/coolness of drink. Poly ones cannot be boiled but are usually the cutest. I even bought Disney ones with mickey heads all over them years ago at wdw.

This is great to know! I have not really tried other alternatives. Metal would probably be my preferred material for sterilization purposes with boiling. Something to consider!

 

[Ngwira]

Super excited to stay there for the first time in Aug! We ate at Picabu when we were staying at BC in Mar/Apr and walked around the resort/pool area. Picabu was really good and less $$. I think we're gonna like it. I will miss it being a Disney resort but I love walking to the BW area and I love walking to Epcot.

Please report back when you complete your stay. Did you use bonvoy points for your stay?

 

[Ngwira]

You are making me want to do a short WDW Halloween trip SO bad!! If I can snag an AP preview for SWGE maybe I can do both.... *rushes off to evaluate point balances for the millionth time*

What’s stopping you? You won’t regret it..lol

 

[Ngwira]

Debating trying to fit in F&W/MNSSHP if we go for HHN...

Hope you can make your plans work.

 

[disfanforlife]

The recently 21 yo intern where I'm working didn't know who pinky and the brain are and hasn't never seen alf. I don't get it. When I was growing up we'd see repeats of older stuff, I've seen ton's of happy days, lavern & shirley, wkrp etc but I guess they just don't replay stuff from the 80's as much.

Those were all some of my favorite shows! And I didn’t see them as repeats, I guess I just dated myself.

 

[disfanforlife]

Yes, yes I was. For two whole years thank you very much.
View attachment 416862

My DD loves watching full house ( repeats) so much I bought her the entire series on DVD.

 

[hsmamato2]

well....we just got the email this morning that P2's Ascend PP no longer works at restaurants.... that he doesn't have anymore....and I got letter in the real mail stating my purple cards would be useless in 15 days,but haven't gotten the replacement bonvoy cards yet..... Amex seems to be a hot mess right now but hey,at least they're focused on one thing right now,clawing back points from a million accounts....

 

[hsmamato2]

I've had an irritating Southwest morning, and am sorry that I didn't pay closer attention to all the folks talking about Southwest canceling their flights (sorry!).

I got a text this morning at 10:21 that my flight today at 3:25 was cancelled. And DH is my companion on this flight. I knew people had shared their experiences on this thread, and I didn't have time to search here while I was also trying to figure out how to reschedule our flight, +/- rental car, checking other airlines for flights out today... I called Southwest (because of the CP) and agreed to be called back within 15 minutes. Within those 15 minutes, the flight I was looking at switching to got sold out, after I had told DH to bail on work and get home because we're going to leave earlier. Since that sold out, I had to settle for the late night flight, and texted DH who was on his way home. He turned around and went back to work. By the time he got back to work, the later flight had sold out so I guess I should be happy (?) that at least I got those seats.

It's disappointing, we lose an entire evening in Vegas when we only had two evenings to start with.

they're still canceling???

 

[hsmamato2]

All cards good and active/loaded! Now, do I tell Sams that they came, or just ignore it. I am thinking ignore it.
I sure would love to know how it happened that all the missing cards were added into my new order.

Oh yeah, I was so mad I forgot. Sams gave me a $50 Sams gift card for my trouble!

I'd ignore it. Why waste more of your life trying to communicate with them?

 

[hsmamato2]

You and me both my friend....

I only have a few MR points,and I can't remember if I self referred or not but all this is making me want to transfer to Hilton asap

 

[striker1064]

For now. Give those RATS a few months to chew on it and figure out a way to ruin our day.

Months I can do. As it is I'm trying to decide what to do with DW's Biz Gold and EDP that just arrived last week, still unused. I know Amex allows you to cancel a new card within 30 days and remove the AF as long as it hasn't been used. As long as I'm sure there's not another round of clawbacks, I'm going to pay off our DVC direct purchase with those cards and cash out after a couple days. I'm going to be rather annoyed if I pay it, get the sign-up bonuses, then get a clawback, though.

I've been trying to calculate how many self-referrals I did with her cards and I think I'm at 45k. The Biz Gold + EDP bonuses gets us 80k, so it's a net of 35k, a Schwab cash-out of $437.50. The combined annual fees are ($295 + $95) $390, so that's very nearly a wash. If I missed any more self-referrals, we're in the red and it's not worth using the cards.

Decisions.

These are the things I think about.

 

[hsmamato2]

That is great, that they came and are all good. It is very strange how they showed up with the $500 one. Makes me leary about ordering from them.

you should be leery,they're the WORST