Hi all! I'm a long time DISer, but CC newbie. I have been reading these posts for a few weeks now, trying to understand it all & I'm now ready for your advice!
A little about myself, I have stage 4 kidney cancer (doing great!) and am in my 3rd year of a clinical trial at MD Anderson in Houston, TX. CC-wise, I pay for myself & a companion to fly to/from TX every 4 weeks (est. 1K). My airports of choice are Greenville/Spartanburg, SC & Asheville, NC. I have dealt with several cancelled flights and delays during this last year, so a card with a good travel insurance policy may be useful.
My hubby is retired, but still working at another job & I have 7 more years to work. We just sold our rental cabins (we're in the Great Smoky Mtns.), and have business tax #/info., etc. if needed for business cc's.
Here is a breakdown of my frequent airline co's & points that I have:
**Clinical trial pays for 1 person in economy…
Southwest 35,779
United 21,750
Delta 12,044
American 6,445
Here is a breakdown of my frequent hotels & points:
**Clinical trial pays $240/nt
Marriott 8,496 (have used 11 free nights (for vacays) from points this year)
Radisson 11,922
IHG 9,967
Hilton 6,719
Credit card spend varies, but I will estimate $3,000/m for both of us (each of the last 2 months have been over $6k..). We could have more household bills/insurance charged to cc's, as he only charges the cable bill currently. Cards are paid in full monthly, and we never carry a balance.
I'm hoping to learn this process to assist with a trip out West in 5/24 and possibly a trip to France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland. The travel party would likely be myself, hubby, daughter-22 and possibly her boyfriend-22 (not sure since he's in grad school and will head towards pharm. school after that).
Typically, my trips consist of two 7-10 night stays at Disney & a week at the beach. I haven't been to Europe since our honeymoon, and I don't even know where to start planning that!
These are the cards we've applied for in the last 24 months:
My Cards:
5/23-Barclay Carnival
10/21-Citi Costco
3/23-BOA Royal Caribbean (closed 6/23)
04/22-Wells Fargo Active Cash (user)
P2 Cards:
04/22-Wells Fargo Active Cash
08/22-Tractor Supply
05/22-Lowe's for Pros (comm. Account)
5/23-Barclay Carnival (user)
10/21-Citi Costco (user)
3/23-BOA Royal Caribbean (closed 6/23...user)
I hope I haven't missed anything, and I apologize for the lengthy post! Feel free to ask any questions. I am so excited to get started with this. I am all about saving money for travel! Reading all of your posts have been so inspiring. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge with others!