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

[IFlossU]

Thanks for sharing! How far in advance did you book the Hyatt? Do you mind sharing the Airbnb you stayed at? I’ve done no research yet lol. We just started looking at places to go and decided Costa Rica would be a nice week long trip that’s not too far away

Los Altos was booked about 8 months in advance. Sadly I would not recommend our Airbnb it was adequate, but left a lot to be desired.

For Los Altos there is an additional charge above 2 people. The way they explained it to me at check in was this, the condo has 3 bedrooms. Your points booking allows you to use the master bedroom. Each additional bedroom was $150/night. We knew there was an additional charge when we booked, but didn’t realize it was per bedroom. Anyway, we opted for 1 additional bedroom with two twin beds. However, during our tour of the condo she offered to give us the 3rd bedroom for no additional charge. I realize you guys won’t need all that extra space, but wanted to explain how it worked for us.

 

[Haley R]

Los Altos was booked about 8 months in advance. Sadly I would not recommend our Airbnb it was adequate, but left a lot to be desired.

For Los Altos there is an additional charge above 2 people. The way they explained it to me at check in was this, the condo has 3 bedrooms. Your points booking allows you to use the master bedroom. Each additional bedroom was $150/night. We knew there was an additional charge when we booked, but didn’t realize it was per bedroom. Anyway, we opted for 1 additional bedroom with two twin beds. However, during our tour of the condo she offered to give us the 3rd bedroom for no additional charge. I realize you guys won’t need all that extra space, but wanted to explain how it worked for us.

Hmm that’s interesting lol. We would probably want two of the bedrooms but wouldn’t need a third. Did you write a trip report on here? I wanted to go back and look at it if you did

 

[havaneselover]

Chase really made me work to fund my savings account. They rejected transfers from both Capital One and Wells Fargo. I finally wrote a check.

 

[IFlossU]

Hmm that’s interesting lol. We would probably want two of the bedrooms but wouldn’t need a third. Did you write a trip report on here? I wanted to go back and look at it if you did

I did a very brief write up of some of the things we did, but nothing in depth. But I’m happy to try and answer any questions as you get into planning your trip. If you decide to rent a car I recommend having a CSR for the 3rd party waiver insurance. It worked perfectly for us, and saved us about $300.


Post in thread 'I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3905155/post-64684999

Post in thread 'I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3905155/post-64686775

 

[orangecuse]

I'm kind of annoyed with usps informed delivery... they do this a lot around here where it appears I'm going to get an important piece of mail today, but it doesn't show up. I'm hoping it shows tomorrow - anyone else have this happen?

Yea for awhile our route didn't have a designated carrier so our mail came sporadically, but digest would say what SHOULD have come each day. Its better now but still happens sometimes.

One of the reasons I dont do bank bonuses is because my work requires a paycheck of a mailed paper check anytime you change banks and I cant handle the stress of the paper check just lingering for days.

 

[elgerber]

Just got snail mail on P2 CIP. Exactly one week from applicatioon (with a holiday in there). They want him to sign the w9 they sent. Simple enough.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I moved a large chunk of my money out of Discover and into Wealthfront. Discover just offered me $200 bonus if I put $25k back into my acct by 9/29 and leave it there till 10/30. So letting it sit there for 1 month, they'll give me $200. Seems like a no brainer....

Does Amex claw back when it comes to $15k Hilton FNC? I charged my daughter's college (over $3k) but we ended up dropping her down to only 2 classes. So I got $1800 back. Will the tracker update to show that?

 

[elgerber]

I moved a large chunk of my money out of Discover and into Wealthfront. Discover just offered me $200 bonus if I put $25k back into my acct by 9/29 and leave it there till 10/30. So letting it sit there for 1 month, they'll give me $200. Seems like a no brainer....

Does Amex claw back when it comes to $15k Hilton FNC? I charged my daughter's college (over $3k) but we ended up dropping her down to only 2 classes. So I got $1800 back. Will the tracker update to show that?

I just got the same offer from Discover, moved my money right over. Till the end of October? To earn $200 and still earn good interest? Yes please!

 

[Haley R]

I did a very brief write up of some of the things we did, but nothing in depth. But I’m happy to try and answer any questions as you get into planning your trip. If you decide to rent a car I recommend having a CSR for the 3rd party waiver insurance. It worked perfectly for us, and saved us about $300.


Post in thread 'I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3905155/post-64684999

Post in thread 'I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)'
https://www.disboards.com/threads/i...t-page-for-addl-details.3905155/post-64686775

Do you think there’s enough for an almost 5 year old to do in Costa Rica? A lot of the tours I see people mentioning seen to be for older kids like horse back riding, atvs, etc. Ds will be just about to turn 5 when we plan to go. I’m worried he won’t be able to do much

 

[IFlossU]

Do you think there’s enough for an almost 5 year old to do in Costa Rica? A lot of the tours I see people mentioning seen to be for older kids like horse back riding, atvs, etc. Ds will be just about to turn 5 when we plan to go. I’m worried he won’t be able to do much

From my limited experience it seems like you guys would be doing things like nature walks, waterfalls etc. He might like Manuel Antonio National Park (lots of monkeys). I Googled CR with kids for ideas before we went. The beaches are beautiful if you are beach people. If your son likes animals there’s many hikes/hanging bridges where you can see birds, sloths, and other wildlife. It’s definitely more of an outdoors/nature vacation.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Made the mistake of taking dd's Hilton personal card to the dealership to pay for part of ds's new car and oops, somehow forgot to activate it . Ended up using my personal Hilton no fee card and my new CIP. Came home and paid the first installment of dd's tuition and res on same CIP; the MSR has been met by a longshot. Will wait for the URs to post.

Needed to get the spend on dd's personal HH no fee card, so activated it and paid the invoice for our utilities (due the 18th). MSR met. Will wait for the FNCs to post to our accounts and decide where and how to spend them. Have a few ideas kicking around my trip to Bali next September, will see if / how they play out.

I took an upgrade offer on one of my Cdn AmEx cards, spend $3k for 50k MRs. Was also able to meet that over the past week.

Next up will be the Chase AP card and / or the Hyatt biz card and / or the Citi AA biz card. Next big spend will be in January for the 2nd installment of dd's res and tuition. For the Chase AP card is it 24 months from receiving the bonus or application? I am not sure when I met MSR. May leave that card until the spring when property tax installments start up again. Which would leave me with the Hyatt biz card and Citi AA biz. Both good options for me, though I do love Hyatt points.

 

[orangecuse]

Made the mistake of taking dd's Hilton personal card to the dealership to pay for part of ds's new car and oops, somehow forgot to activate it . Ended up using my personal Hilton no fee card and my new CIP. Came home and paid the first installment of dd's tuition and res on same CIP; the MSR has been met by a longshot. Will wait for the URs to post.

Needed to get the spend on dd's personal HH no fee card, so activated it and paid the invoice for our utilities (due the 18th). MSR met. Will wait for the FNCs to post to our accounts and decide where and how to spend them. Have a few ideas kicking around my trip to Bali next September, will see if / how they play out.

I took an upgrade offer on one of my Cdn AmEx cards, spend $3k for 50k MRs. Was also able to meet that over the past week.

Next up will be the Chase AP card and / or the Hyatt biz card and / or the Citi AA biz card. Next big spend will be in January for the 2nd installment of dd's res and tuition. For the Chase AP card is it 24 months from receiving the bonus or application? I am not sure when I met MSR. May leave that card until the spring when property tax installments start up again. Which would leave me with the Hyatt biz card and Citi AA biz. Both good options for me, though I do love Hyatt points.

We are also debating our next card. Hit the Cap1 bonus way too quickly. Still have one more medical bill pending but it should be <$500 and I don't want to get anything with a huge spend requirement.

Debating P2 getting the CIU vs him upgrading an existing card. We have been stock piling MR but the biz MR cards all seem like meh deals right now. Also debating an AA card but I saw that offer just went down recently as well.

 

[Haley R]

From my limited experience it seems like you guys would be doing things like nature walks, waterfalls etc. He might like Manuel Antonio National Park (lots of monkeys). I Googled CR with kids for ideas before we went. The beaches are beautiful if you are beach people. If your son likes animals there’s many hikes/hanging bridges where you can see birds, sloths, and other wildlife. It’s definitely more of an outdoors/nature vacation.

We aren’t really beach people even though we live right by the beach lol. I do think he’d enjoy seeing the monkeys. Were the bugs really bad when you went?

I think we’re most worried about things being spread out. We would only go for a week and wouldn’t want to spend a lot of it driving. I’m wondering which area would be best to spend the majority of the trip.

 

[orangecuse]

We aren’t really beach people even though we live right by the beach lol. I do think he’d enjoy seeing the monkeys. Were the bugs really bad when you went?

Havent been ourselves but I have read trip reports from this blog for national parks visits with young kids and I remember they went to costa rica. Maybe their report will be helpful! https://www.bigbravenomad.com/blog/top-five-family-activities-la-fortuna-arenal-costa-rica

 

[IFlossU]

We aren’t really beach people even though we live right by the beach lol. I do think he’d enjoy seeing the monkeys. Were the bugs really bad when you went?

I think we’re most worried about things being spread out. We would only go for a week and wouldn’t want to spend a lot of it driving. I’m wondering which area would be best to spend the majority of the trip.

Mosquitoes are definitely present. We always applied bug repellent, and DS still ended up getting some mosquito bites. We were prepared with Calamine lotion. I think we each got a couple of bites, but I wouldn’t consider it a deterrent. The driving is something to be considered for sure. After making the 5hr drive from La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio DH didn’t want to drive for a couple of days. Once we got to Los Altos we kind of scrapped our plans that involved a ton of driving just because we wanted to relax. If we did it again we would just pick one area to explore for the week. I’m glad we did a divided trip last time so we could experience both locations, but driving 5hrs wasn’t our favorite day. We were grateful Los Altos was so walkable, but we did miss out of some things in that area simply because we weren’t interested in driving anymore.

 

[Haley R]

Mosquitoes are definitely present. We always applied bug repellent, and DS still ended up getting some mosquito bites. We were prepared with Calamine lotion. I think we each got a couple of bites, but I wouldn’t consider it a deterrent. The driving is something to be considered for sure. After making the 5hr drive from La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio DH didn’t want to drive for a couple of days. Once we got to Los Altos we kind of scrapped our plans that involved a ton of driving just because we wanted to relax. If we did it again we would just pick one area to explore for the week. I’m glad we did a divided trip last time so we could experience both locations, but driving 5hrs wasn’t our favorite day. We were grateful Los Altos was so walkable, but we did miss out of some things in that area simply because we weren’t interested in driving anymore.

Which area do you think is better to spend a week in? I’m leaning towards La Fortuna. I found a website that compares the two when traveling with kids and thought it was really helpful: https://letsjetkids.com/la-fortuna-vs-manuel-antonio-best-destination/

 

[hsmamato2]

Made the mistake of taking dd's Hilton personal card to the dealership to pay for part of ds's new car and oops, somehow forgot to activate it .

I had thought most cc's don't even require that "activation" thing anymore..... I sometimes forget to do it and just use the card,is it an amex thing?

 

[spacerangerqueen]

Interesting, so it's not actually voluntary. If you sign up, it's now mandatory. In IL, there is nothing like that. All preschool is private unless your child receives services like PT, OT or Speech therapy.

It's voluntary in that it's not a requirement to have completed it before enrolling in kindergarten. We decided to skip it for my son as the costs didn't make sense. It was offered at his daycare, but since it's a half day program that didn't align with his pickup and drop off times I would have had to still pay for a full day of care wrapped around the free VPK. And we only had him enrolled 2 days a week so we would have had to switch from 2 days to 5 days in order for him to have "free" schooling. No regrets in skipping it, especially since it ended abruptly due to the Pandemic.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Los Altos was booked about 8 months in advance. Sadly I would not recommend our Airbnb it was adequate, but left a lot to be desired.

For Los Altos there is an additional charge above 2 people. The way they explained it to me at check in was this, the condo has 3 bedrooms. Your points booking allows you to use the master bedroom. Each additional bedroom was $150/night. We knew there was an additional charge when we booked, but didn’t realize it was per bedroom. Anyway, we opted for 1 additional bedroom with two twin beds. However, during our tour of the condo she offered to give us the 3rd bedroom for no additional charge. I realize you guys won’t need all that extra space, but wanted to explain how it worked for us.

Our stay at Los Altos we were charged for an extra person/bedroom but they opened all 3 bedrooms. The man who checked us in was like 'if you book through Hyatt, you get all 3'

Hmm that’s interesting lol. We would probably want two of the bedrooms but wouldn’t need a third. Did you write a trip report on here? I wanted to go back and look at it if you did

We gave DS his choice. Lol. The master is huge with en-suite bathroom. There is a bathroom for the other 2 bedrooms to share and a powder room. The place is huge and includes a full kitchen. They sell as condos, you can buy one for $700k.

Do you think there’s enough for an almost 5 year old to do in Costa Rica? A lot of the tours I see people mentioning seen to be for older kids like horse back riding, atvs, etc. Ds will be just about to turn 5 when we plan to go. I’m worried he won’t be able to do much

DS has been to CR at ages 3 and 14. Plenty to do. We have never rented a car, on vacation neither of us wants the stress of driving. Last March we stayed part of the week in Guanacaste at Hyatt Andaz Papagayo and the other part in Manuel Antonio. Both are on the west coast. The only areas of CR I wouldn't spend much time in are Limon (very touristy and some crime due to being a cruise ship stop) and San Jose (very urban, lots to do but also higher crime but not the CR vibe we prefer) The international airports are in Liberia (more northern) and San Jose and both will require a drive to any resort areas.
In Guanacaste there are lots of tours involving animal sightings, short hikes, boat tours. Many resorts in the area are high end, some all inclusive. The Andaz was beautiful, nice beach and pool but nothing nearby so unless you drive or hire a driver you eat on property for all meals which was quite expensive. Guanacaste to me is very 'resorty.' Manuel Antonio has a huge national park which has more wildlife than you are likely to see elsewhere. We hiked the park, did a sunset sailboat cruise and toured a small plantation that grew coffee & vanilla. There are loads of tours on Viator and the Chase portal, maybe look to see what things you think you might enjoy and narrow down where to stay based on what there is to do. We booked all activities through the Chase portal. Los Altos is in a small town, so you can walk to shops or restaurant. The beach at the resort is small and quite a walk (the resort in built on a hill/cliff with the beach at the bottom) or they will drive you. There is one restaurant, with free breakfast, that also gives a cooking lesson on empanadas. There is a small grocery near by where you can buy a few things.
You are used to FL, so weather probably not an issue, but March is dry season in CR and we had weather in mid 80s to low 90s the last week of March.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

It's voluntary in that it's not a requirement to have completed it before enrolling in kindergarten. We decided to skip it for my son as the costs didn't make sense. It was offered at his daycare, but since it's a half day program that didn't align with his pickup and drop off times I would have had to still pay for a full day of care wrapped around the free VPK. And we only had him enrolled 2 days a week so we would have had to switch from 2 days to 5 days in order for him to have "free" schooling. No regrets in skipping it, especially since it ended abruptly due to the Pandemic.

That was a bit of sarcasm on my part. Lol. But I get it. My son did preschool 3 days a week ages 2-4 and the irony is that it was 3 hours per day and kindergarten was only 2.5 hours when he went.