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

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I recall reading here something about not being allowed to select seats with British Airways. I’m going to be booking business class flights on BA metal using Cathay Pacific Asia miles. Does anyone know if I’ll be able to choose our seats? Just curious.

You can select seats, but you will have to pay. I have paid previously, but didn't for flights next March. I figure I don't mind if I get stuck in a middle seat on the way home -- I'd pay to select them heading over to the UK since I'd want a window seat a few seats away from the galley / restrooms / premium economy.

 

[MsOnceUponATime]

For those of you that have been to the Neuschwanstein castle and the Marienbrücke bridge, how early did you get there? Was it extremely busy?

This was in 2016, but I doubt that the process has changed much...

We stayed in Schwangau overnight the night before (in a room that accomodated all four of us easily!!) and drove up to the parking lot first thing in the morning. We parked and walked all of the way up to the castle. We did the castle tour (first) as well as Marienbrucke bridge ... we took about 2 hours doing this all -- simply taking it all in and then walked back down. It wasn't very busy, but there were a good amount of people out and about. It was amazing and one of the things that I love most about that European vacation that year. I'd say it's a don't miss!

 

[Psychodisney]

It looks like the CSP and CSR would allow me to redeem reward points for gift cards but I don't see Disney gift cards available through Chase Ultimate Rewards. We don't need to fly or get a hotel because we live in FL, use DVC points for hotel stays etc. So I'm thinking these wouldn't be the right card for me? Do you agree?

Capital One Venture also looks like they let you earn miles- since we don't fly often, that probably wouldn't be a good choice for us? Can you redeem rewards for anything besides flights?

We would put common expenses like bills, groceries, restaurants, gas, the Disney Cruise $4000 remaining balance on the card. I think I'm looking for the best cashback card if not a Disney rewards card so that we can use the cashback towards Disney directly since we don't need flights/ hotels. The Discover card is in my name with my husband as an authorized user... I wonder if I can sign him up for his own card and get the cashback match after 1 year to get double cashback like I did when I first signed up a few years ago.

True, there are no Disney gift cards. Gift cards are generally a poor value for redeeming points. The Chase portfolio does allow you to get cash back for your UR points like you do with the CFU that you have. alternatively, the CSR offers "pay yourself back" in some categories at a rate of 1.25 points. Not great but better than gift cards. Currently that would allow grocery pay back.

The reason I recommended looking at Capital one is because their "miles" are good towards any travel expenses. YOu earn 2x points(miles) on all charges. When you have a travel charge, you are able to redeem your miles to offset those charges. For example, a $500 charge would need 50,000 miles to erase.

The Disney card only earns 1 point per dollar and has a lower sign up bonus. Discover doesn't have a great bonus either.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Back from a long trip to Europe. I put up a bunch of hotel reviews. Finding room to fit 4 is a challenge in Europe. I'm glad all my connecting room requests worked out. We stayed at really nice places thanks to this hobby!

Itinerary was:
- Reposition to Los Angeles (Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills review)
- Amsterdam (Hyatt Regency Amsterdam review)
- Munich (Andaz Munich review)
- Nuremberg (Adina Nuremberg)
- Berlin (Grand Hyatt Berlin review)
- London (Andaz London Liverpool Street review)
- NCL Prima cruise
- Reykjavik (Airbnb)

@miztressuz Thanks again for putting my mind at ease about the NCL Prima. Nothing I worried about was much of an issue. It actually felt the least crowded of any post-pandemic cruise we've been on. My biggest gripe though is that the buffet is way too small. Geiranger was my favorite port. So gorgeous!

Some of my favorite photos from the trip -

View from the gondola going up to the alpine coaster at Oberammergau
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Neuschwanstein Castle
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Geiranger
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Geiranger sail out
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Snaefellsnes Peninsula, most photographed mountain in Iceland (or so I'm told)
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Snaefellsnes Peninsula
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Just beautiful. How did you and the kids do on a month long trip? Is that the longest you've traveled for?

My kids are a year younger than yours. Any revelations about traveling with the kids now that one is a teenager and the other a preteen?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Jury duty pays like $8 for a half day around here, so $16 for a day. You made a haul!

Spent 5 days listening to testimony in a boring civil trial only to be picked as an alternate juror and allowed to go home this afternoon. Not complaining about being able to leave, but we the jury sat around most of the day doing nothing as the lawyers and judge discussed the list of charges, jury instructions, etc. I will probably never learn what the final outcome was, but I made $250 tax-free. (The city classifies it as expense reimbursement not pay)

 

[wanderlust7]

Just beautiful. How did you and the kids do on a month long trip? Is that the longest you've traveled for?

My kids are a year younger than yours. Any revelations about traveling with the kids now that one is a teenager and the other a preteen?

It was the longest trip we've done. Our other long one was shorter by a week. The teenager says he didn't like the trip, though the day to day complaints weren't too bad. The preteen complained about no internet on the cruise ship.

Our next long trip will be 3 weeks in Japan and South Korea next summer. They love Japan, so no problems there. I have Costa Rica planned, but the teenager says he doesn't want to go. I might have to leave him with the grandparents.

I try to fit in things that would interest them. The teenager likes to shop vintage, so we would stop in the second hand stores when we came across them. There were some interesting ones! Like the one by weight in Amsterdam and the one in Reykjavik that was individual racks people rent out.

No real revelations, other than to treasure the time they're willing to travel with us while we still can!

 

[hsmamato2]

How do you all value MR vs. cashback Amex cc? I have 2 different offers, one on a Blue cash everyday- upgrade/$150 cashback/$0 AF 1st year/6% grocery etc/1k MSR...seems like a no brainer right?
Also on Amex everyday,upgrade/$25k MR$95 AF/3x MR on grocery/$2k MSR...... any reason I shouldn't just do both? I guess I'm asking b/c I wonder about 'value' for daily use at grocery store. I like MR but I don't do much with them except a transfer if a good bonus comes around....

So I decided to go for the no brainer upgrade for the moment...Blue cash preferred for groceries,no AF. Inthe meanwhile I got denied for wyndham biz,and must wait for my letter to arrive to tell me why....which is making me want to app for a Hh card before it's too late,since I'd like to get that $3-4k bill paid off with a MSR. (I REALLLLLY want another Ink app but I feel like that 8k is too big a reach for me right now) I'm no MS'er..... but I'm almost willing to do the Ink for the 100k,and prespend on electricity and gc at staples but then again I like to talk myself out of things

 

[GZanta77]

Kinda off topic - but was reflecting on our travels and point usage over the past year. We have had an amazing weeklong vacation in 5 star accommodation in Costa Rica - out of pocket spend was about $400 plus meals, a cruise to Israel and the Greek islands with flights in Business/Prem Economy. Trips to Nashville, the Smoky Mountains, the White mountains and Lake George. All substantially paid for with points as DW and I take advantage of not having the kids at home.

But it is also highly satisfying to be able to help family - and have helped my sister in the UK come to the US for a vacation with hotel and flights using my points, as well as my son with his travels that has really impressed me. At age 22 when all his friends are mostly interested in beach holidays with lots of drinking etc, our son has decided he wants to spend his vacation time seeing the world. At his age, I would never have had the confidence to travel solo as he has. In the last year he has visited Jordan, Poland, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Armenia and Georgia(The Country). He will be adding Czech Republic to that list next month. It gives us a warm glow inside to think we have contributed to his hunger for travel and new experiences. He has largely embraced the hostel culture, but we have been happy to help him with a couple of points flights and the odd Hyatt night.

Our daughter, 19, also loves to travel but I fear we have led her down the path of luxury accommodations and cruise vacations. I can't see her ever embracing the hostel culture, but to her credit, she has just returned from a semester studying abroad in Kenya. She loved the experience so maybe all is not lost.

Anyway, it is worth reflecting every now and then on what this hobby has allowed us to do. I have played the points game for many years, but joining this group really accelerated my earnings and enabled so many wonderful experiences. So my thanks to everyone here, and also to those who may not be here so frequently these days - You make the best forum on the internet.

 

[leeniewdw]

Anyway, it is worth reflecting every now and then on what this hobby has allowed us to do. I have played the points game for many years, but joining this group really accelerated my earnings and enabled so many wonderful experiences. So my thanks to everyone here, and also to those who may not be here so frequently these days - You make the best forum on the internet.

Yes indeed!

I posted in May about being able to use points to go help my sister/family out when she had a very big surgery that was done an hour from her home. I obviously would have paid to fly down out of pocket, but it was nice to be able to tell her I used points so they didn't feel compelled to pay me back. I even used pts to stay at the hospital adjacent hotel for 2 nights towards the end of her week in the hospital.

We gifted our DS 2 nights at a Brooklyn hotel for his birthday recently as well. He's getting married next year and I suspect we'll gift them some other accommodations before it's all over. (and we'll definitely open a new card to cover and meet a MSR due to the Rehearsal Dinner, lol)

 

[leeniewdw]

Oh this is a very specific offer, but if you are in NC and plan to use Amtrak (specifically the Carolinian and Piedmont routes I think) before the end of July, there is a promo code: V854 that will give your 50% off a standard fare.

We just happened to book a train from Raleigh to Charlotte for a concert next week and then found the promo code like 2 hours later (it's to 'celebrate' Amtrak's expansion in NC). I just decided to chat with Amtrak and ask if they can apply the promo code and they did! So, 5 mins of work and got $52 back.

 

[Haley R]

This was in 2016, but I doubt that the process has changed much...

We stayed in Hohenschwangau overnight the night before (in a room that accomodated all four of us easily!!) and drove up to the parking lot first thing in the morning. We parked and walked all of the way up to the castle. We did the castle tour (first) as well as Marienbrucke bridge ... we took about 2 hours doing this all -- simply taking it all in and then walked back down. It wasn't very busy, but there were a good amount of people out and about. It was amazing and one of the things that I love most about that European vacation that year. I'd say it's a don't miss!

We’ll be staying in Fussen so pretty close by. We plan to drive over early (maybe 7:30) and park, then take the bus up. We thought pushing the stroller up the hill might be a little too much.

 

[justme0729]

Is there a way to find out if my local Walmart supercenter counts as a "grocery store" for the Disney Visa? Would Walmart pick up grocery orders count to get the 2% back?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I recall reading here something about not being allowed to select seats with British Airways. I’m going to be booking business class flights on BA metal using Cathay Pacific Asia miles. Does anyone know if I’ll be able to choose our seats? Just curious.

In general, you either need to pay to pick your seat or have BA status.

 

[disneyfan551]

Would anyone be willing to review my personal info., to help me decide which cards are best to apply for? I know most of you have been posting on this thread for years, and I truly enjoy reading the posts and learning from them. However, I don't feel confident enough to make the correct decisions re: new cards, and would appreciate some guidance if anyone is willing to help.

 

[NewbieMom]

I just saw this - although I am far more familiar with flying in the other direction (live in Singapore and fly to the USA every now and again)!

From SFO there are a few options:

Direct, non-stop:
- Singapore Airlines
- United
Between the two airlines I will go with Singapore Airlines unless there is a massive difference in cost.

Singapore Airlines also has non-stop flights between Singapore and Seattle, and Singapore and LAX. They also have a one-stop flight that goes Singapore-Tokyo-LAX.

With stopovers - I am not entirely familiar with all of these airlines and don't know what their current schedules are like (post COVID especially a lot of things have changed), but these are some airlines I'd at least have a look at:
- ANA via Tokyo
- JAL via Tokyo
- EVA via Taipei
- Asiana via Seoul
- Korean via Seoul
- Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong

There are also some other airlines that are possibilities. Starlux is a new airline that I've been reading rave reviews about that flies between Singapore and Taipei and Taipei and Los Angeles. There are also quite a lot of other Asian airlines that would likely fly Singapore-(transit destination)-SFO. And Delta interestingly enough no longer flies to Singapore but has a partnership with Singapore Airlines to connect onwards from Tokyo or Seoul when I last looked up flights with them. Zipair seems to have some sort of budget business class that seems pretty popular, and seems like they also fly to LAX/SFO/SJC.

There are also options where you fly in the other direction, but probably less useful if you're on the West coast. (These would be airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Emirates - which are viable options for me if I want to get from Singapore to MCO.)

I am sadly less familiar with award tickets (very very new to the miles game) so can't help with that. And so far I've done all of my long haul trips in Y...

Will add that 2025 is 2 years away, and a lot of things can change between now and then. A lot of airline schedules changed between 2019 and COVID, and COVID and now, and I think they're still ramping up flights to various destinations. So hopefully options and availability will get even better?

We just completed a wonderful SE Asia trip a couple of weeks ago. We would have been fine with economy on Singapore Air, but at 9 months out they didn't have enough Award availability for our group, and the cash price was too high. We did find a Singapore Air red eye flight that only had premium economy seating and up, with enough award seats still available, and transferred points over and booked. It was 75,000 points one-way per person, not great, but the cash price was ridiculously expensive. (This was the only flight we've taken recently with a noticeable number of empty seats.) If you plan far enough in advance, you should have a decent shot at multiple award seat availability.

By the way, you can also book Singapore Air using Aeroplan award points that can provide good value. We've done this a few times by transferring Capital One points over to Aeroplan.

For the other leg of the round trip, we waited for alerts for price drops and when a significant drop came, we jumped on it, booking United using CSR points via the Chase portal. We then upgraded the seats using some Amex airline credits. That was a significant savings.

Wishing you a great trip!

Thank you both for the details! DH and I talked about it and will continue the same course we've been following and see what points / plans we have in late 2024 when booking windows start to open. Many of the extended family are on the fence about going, given the long expensive flight (they do not play the points game, despite me trying to introduce it). We appreciate the long lead time DH's cousin is giving everyone to save up, but might end up deciding not to go anyway.

In other news, I got my first Chase denial since covid. My credit limits are about 20% and my last chase app is January. Only thing I can think of is I'm leveraging a lot on 0% interest so maybe that increases my risk profile?

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Would anyone be willing to review my personal info., to help me decide which cards are best to apply for? I know most of you have been posting on this thread for years, and I truly enjoy reading the posts and learning from them. However, I don't feel confident enough to make the correct decisions re: new cards, and would appreciate some guidance if anyone is willing to help.

We'd be happy to help. Please refer to this post which has a list of questions which will help us best tailor our suggestions to your travel and earning style. Also, if you have another household member who is interested in the hobby, that info is helpful as well.

 

[wweazel]

justme0729 said:
It looks like the CSP and CSR would allow me to redeem reward points for gift cards but I don't see Disney gift cards available through Chase Ultimate Rewards. We don't need to fly or get a hotel because we live in FL, use DVC points for hotel stays etc. So I'm thinking these wouldn't be the right card for me? Do you agree?

Capital One Venture also looks like they let you earn miles- since we don't fly often, that probably wouldn't be a good choice for us? Can you redeem rewards for anything besides flights?

True, there are no Disney gift cards. Gift cards are generally a poor value for redeeming points. The Chase portfolio does allow you to get cash back for your UR points like you do with the CFU that you have. alternatively, the CSR offers "pay yourself back" in some categories at a rate of 1.25 points. Not great but better than gift cards. Currently that would allow grocery pay back.

The reason I recommended looking at Capital one is because their "miles" are good towards any travel expenses. YOu earn 2x points(miles) on all charges. When you have a travel charge, you are able to redeem your miles to offset those charges. For example, a $500 charge would need 50,000 miles to erase.

adding on to what @Psychodisney says - I have used Cap1 miles to "erase" Lime scooters, Uber/Lyft, Lake Michigan ferry crossing, and Disney/Universal tickets purchased from UT (code as travel).

 

[IFlossU]

got denied for wyndham biz,and must wait for my letter to arrive to tell me why.

Was it a flat out denial? I thought I was denied as well, but when the letter came they just wanted ID verification. Mailed it in and was approved.

Is there a way to find out if my local Walmart supercenter counts as a "grocery store" for the Disney Visa? Would Walmart pick up grocery orders count to get the 2% back?

You would have to use the card for a small purchase and see how it codes. But as a rule most supercenters don’t code as grocery.

It looks like the CSP and CSR would allow me to redeem reward points for gift cards but I don't see Disney gift cards available through Chase Ultimate Rewards.

The CSR has PYB at grocery stores through the end of the year. You can buy your Disney gift cards at the grocery store and use PYB using your points at 1.25cpp to “erase” the purchase.

 

[IFlossU]

You can select seats, but you will have to pay. I have paid previously, but didn't for flights next March. I figure I don't mind if I get stuck in a middle seat on the way home -- I'd pay to select them heading over to the UK since I'd want a window seat a few seats away from the galley / restrooms / premium economy.

In general, you either need to pay to pick your seat or have BA status.

Any idea what it costs to select a business class seat? Obviously I want my family to sit together, but wondering how much I’m looking at

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

Any idea what it costs to select a business class seat? Obviously I want my family to sit together, but wondering how much I’m looking at

I can't remember exactly, but I want to say around $80 a person? You might try googling. Once you book, you will need your BA itinerary number and from there you will be able to go into manage my booking and find out exactly. One world status should also get you free seat selection (if you happen to have that).