I love credit cards so much!

[afan]

Labor day weekend in San Francisco! Miles, points and a free anniversary night = 2 nights at the Hyatt at the wharf https://fishermanswharf.centric.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html, a trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum, dinner at In-N-Out and the Mariners vs A's with friends. Excited to go and not have to crash in someone's guest room/rent a car/rely on them to get me around. The Hyatt I picked was because it's a cat 4 and the one in the financial district is a 5 but more importantly, the one by the wharf is also by an In-N-Out So far I've only paid 11 bucks for the flights

ETA - Forgot to mention that the rooms at this place are going for $500 a night that weekend, crazy!

 

[Lain]

Apparently someone asked him how he got his priority pass... he told them his wife

I'd kind of be offended by the question. "What do you mean? Am I not fancy enough to have my own Priority Pass?!" LOL

 

[mefordis]

How far in advance should I book my rental car through Chase using URs? I see a mini van on Costco for $1100 for 2 weeks, what we need, and the same price on Chase for also 80k points. Is this a good use of my points, in your opinion? I am trying to use points for every part of my vacation that I can, especially since I cannot use them at DLR since I want to stay at the Villas at Grand Californian and rent points.

Should I book the rental car now? If we cancel the trip, do I get those miles redeposited (I'm guessing I do, but want to be sure).

TIA!

 

[Judique]

That's so funny, because I actually checked the Disney website right after I booked and they were still showing availability for the Studio at BWV for $481! We have some play in both dates and where we're willing to change, so I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for all available discounts. Looking at the historical dates I knew I wouldn't be able to get the free dining discount applied so I'm just going to take whatever I can get for a room discount. I think the 8th-9th will be my best bet for having a room discount applied, but we could also stay the 12-13 too.

It's funny, the only reason I actually booked BWV is because the rack rate for the studio was cheaper than just booking a room at BWI! If anything comes up cheaper at BWI, Yacht Club, or Beach Club though, I will be changing to that. I am (very!) willing to stay at any of those hotels and just want to be close to HS. I'm jealous that you own there!

There are definitely cash rooms available now. It's DVC points rooms that are now all booked. Its a very popular time for members to visit! Cash rooms result from people trading out their points to go other places such as cruises or ABD, etc. But shortly, getting a cash studio won't be that easy.

 

[jhoannam]

How far in advance should I book my rental car through Chase using URs? I see a mini van on Costco for $1100 for 2 weeks, what we need, and the same price on Chase for also 80k points. Is this a good use of my points, in your opinion? I am trying to use points for every part of my vacation that I can, especially since I cannot use them at DLR since I want to stay at the Villas at Grand Californian and rent points.

Should I book the rental car now? If we cancel the trip, do I get those miles redeposited (I'm guessing I do, but want to be sure).

TIA!

As long as it says refundable yes, I've booked and cancelled rental cars using URs. They get redeposited in minutes.

 

[Lain]

I saw it on Doctor of Credit a little bit ago but he said it was targeted?!? I tried to get it to work but it seems to be freezing up. For 300 points though I will persevere...

I found the Starbucks deal on both DW's and my Chase Pay accounts.

 

[DisneyMandC]

There are definitely cash rooms available now. It's DVC points rooms that are now all booked. Its a very popular time for members to visit! Cash rooms result from people trading out their points to go other places such as cruises or ABD, etc. But shortly, getting a cash studio won't be that easy.

I'm glad I did it then. I almost didn't book it because I didn't really feel like paying $500 this month for a hotel I'll use in November, but I knew the Food and Wine dates were just announced and that hotel rooms would be hard to come by soon.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I did my first GYFT purchase this morning via Paypal->CIP. Next is to try Plastiq. I’ve used it once before, so I do have an account. I want to try to pay my condo/HOA fees. It doesn’t seem to already be in the system. Also, when I typed in the address which includes c/o xox Bank, PO BOX 123 and a zip+4 zip code, Plastiq says its an undeliverable address. Any suggestions?

\

GYFT is going to be the death of me. I don't know why I have such issues. Was at Walmart today and tried to buy a gift card while I was shopping. Got the message about it being delayed, yada yada. Kept shopping awhile and it never came through so I used the SPG Biz. Now I have a gift card sitting in my gyft account...finally showed up 4 hours later. Will save it for groceries later this week. Am I the only one who has issues like this with GYFT?

Wow, was this card even on your radar?

I was thinking the same...what about the SPG Biz. But then I saw where you said you may do that one too. yay!

I found the Starbucks deal on both DW's and my Chase Pay accounts.

I have it too. Tx for sharing!

 

[amalone1013]

Labor day weekend in San Francisco! Miles, points and a free anniversary night = 2 nights at the Hyatt at the wharf https://fishermanswharf.centric.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html, a trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum, dinner at In-N-Out and the Mariners vs A's with friends. Excited to go and not have to crash in someone's guest room/rent a car/rely on them to get me around. The Hyatt I picked was because it's a cat 4 and the one in the financial district is a 5 but more importantly, the one by the wharf is also by an In-N-Out So far I've only paid 11 bucks for the flights

ETA - Forgot to mention that the rooms at this place are going for $500 a night that weekend, crazy!

I want to steal your trip plans lol

I'd kind of be offended by the question. "What do you mean? Am I not fancy enough to have my own Priority Pass?!" LOL

Most of the time when he tells someone about a deal we got, it starts "because amalone is awesome..."

 

[Albort]

\

GYFT is going to be the death of me. I don't know why I have such issues. Was at Walmart today and tried to buy a gift card while I was shopping. Got the message about it being delayed, yada yada. Kept shopping awhile and it never came through so I used the SPG Biz. Now I have a gift card sitting in my gyft account...finally showed up 4 hours later. Will save it for groceries later this week. Am I the only one who has issues like this with GYFT?

you need to make a complaint about it with gyft support. that should trigger the verification process... after that, you should be in the clear.

 

[Psychodisney]

I love Starbucks deals. Got it activated on my Chase pay. Don’t forget it expires by March 19

I’m intrigued by Gyft but I also use a Gift card app called Shopping Boss. You get a % back depending on the merchant...but what I love is that you can buy the exact dollar amount that you need when you check out.

 

[SmallMama]

How far in advance should I book my rental car through Chase using URs? I see a mini van on Costco for $1100 for 2 weeks, what we need, and the same price on Chase for also 80k points. Is this a good use of my points, in your opinion? I am trying to use points for every part of my vacation that I can, especially since I cannot use them at DLR since I want to stay at the Villas at Grand Californian and rent points.

Should I book the rental car now? If we cancel the trip, do I get those miles redeposited (I'm guessing I do, but want to be sure).

TIA!

I book a car rental through chase, but i paid cash for I am saving my points. I compare cost through the car rental company, AA, costco travel, etc. Chase came out on top for more than $60 saving through Alamo. I have cancel the rental three times due to flight times changing and to avoid prices going up. You can get your points back as long as the cancel follows the guideline of the car rental which is 3 days before the rental date I believe. I have cancel a hotel reservation that was book with points and receive it all back I believe in 3-5 business days. I would book now if the price is right.

 

[calypso726]

Thanks @Albort for the article,I'm gonna read that now- what I'm wondering is if I can book that Iberia flight I see available,but it's not showing on the BA site..... just shows some flights with stopovers,and the Iberia flight is direct. Thanks for any advice Maybe @calypso726 knows BA? I can't remember what points they've used to fly all over the world.....

@hsmamato2 - In order to book a partner award, the airline you will be physically flying on would have to have saver or off peak award availability. It is possible that the dates you are searching have no partner award availability. I saw you mention earlier that it is too late to open an Iberia account and wait 90 days so you can transfer Avios over to book your flight directly on Iberia, so your travel must be coming up. It is possible that any partner award availability Iberia released was already booked.

Yes, we have flown on BA using Avios to visit many international destinations. I only fly BA up front for European trips due to the taxes and fees. I know I'm going to connect through London and pay out the ying yang in taxes and fees. So I view my BA flights in terms of paying less than an economy ticket price in fees and using my Avios points to upgrade myself to first class. Avios is a distance based program so for most people, the points are best used in domestic short haul flights or short flights within Asia.

We are also booking our award flights the day they become available, thus increasing our chances of securing award flights. This is why I have always recommended on this thread to plan 2 years in advance. One year to secure points so that they are in place to book flights one year before you travel. However, even 330 + days out an airline may not release partner availability if it is a peak travel time. This happened to us for booking the Antarctica trip. But I knew it likely would. At the 2 years out mark, I had checked flights for the time frame we'd be traveling. There were no saver awards so I knew I would not be able to use Avios to book a partner award and I'd need to have 345,000 AA miles per person in place at a year out.

You can always call BA and see if they are able to find you an award flight. Can't hurt to try.

 

[afan]

I want to steal your trip plans lol

You should! I think you're close enough to SF to make a weekend of it if I'm remembering correctly. The advantage for me is I went to college there and live in the bay area for over 7 years so the museum is the only thing I haven't done because it wasn't there when I was. Plus being by the wharf I can run along the water/embarcadero Sunday morning and take BART to the A's game without concern since I've done it before. I did just research uber to/from SFO and I'll probably be using my old friend SuperShuttle because it's at least 10 bucks cheaper and I doubt there will be many stops. I loved using them in college because our campus was always the last pick up and first drop off.

 

[wendow]

I was thinking the same...what about the SPG Biz. But then I saw where you said you may do that one too. yay!

I got interested after @SouthFayetteFan posted about this card a few weeks ago. Just decided the 2k spend wouldn't stress me out and I still have time to do the SPG biz if I want to. While I want the spg points, we don't have a trip planned anytime soon to use them. I can get $250 worth of Disney with the delta card and since we will be there in a couple months, that feels more usable

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

Support Link Comment: If you're like me you may be sharing your links on DISchurners, r/churning, DoctorOfCredit, Facebook, with family, friends and coworkers. SO in the rare event you actually max out on a link please make sure to remove that link from DISchurners. Maximums vary by issuer and card...some examples: MOST AMEX 'points' cards are 55k; AMEX BCE/BCP = $550; AMEX Hilton cards vary I believe, Chase also varies...SW = 50k; Marriott = 100k; Disney = $500; CSR/CSP/CF/CFU = 50k; CIP = 100k. These "maxes" are tracked by calendar year I believe so they just reset on 1/1/18...you'd only want to track "support" points earned since then.

Also a huge thank you to somebody if you clicked my freedom link! As I said before...I have links in like a dozen places soooo it may not have been here, but if it was, hugely appreciated!!

 

[afan]

Haven't noticed any other Washingtonian's in here but just in case from King 5, the basics -

Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill Tuesday aimed at saving residents from having to pay a fee to freeze their credit reports. The bill is set to go into effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which was last Thursday. That would make the effective date June 6.

 

[Lain]

I did just research uber to/from SFO and I'll probably be using my old friend SuperShuttle because it's at least 10 bucks cheaper and I doubt there will be many stops.

You could also take BART from SFO to Embarcadero station for less than $10, transfer to the Muni F-line streetcar right on Market Street that’ll take you all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf for $2.75.

 

[wendow]

I saw it on Doctor of Credit a little bit ago but he said it was targeted?!? I tried to get it to work but it seems to be freezing up. For 300 points though I will persevere...

Four of us in this house have Chase Pay and we all got the offer so hopefully you got yours working!

Great timing as I was already planning to meet a friend in the morning for coffee at Starbucks

 

[pillow]

Thanks to everyone for the kitty condolences. This is the first time in 28 years that we haven't had a cat in the house. We had 6 at one point (yes, I'm one of THOSE) many years ago. This particular cat began visiting us back in 2007 - and usually on the coldest of nights. He would wander onto our deck and gaze through the french doors into our warm cozy house. The kids would go out and pet him and give him food (he was a sweet boy, and it was obvious he owned humans at one time). He would go away and come back to visit every few weeks. This went on for months (I forget how many). Finally, on a cold night in February, when DH was away on business, I awoke at 4:00am to a faint scratching sound. I peeked outside and saw this cat sitting on 2 inches of sleet on our deck with puss filled eyes while scratching the door to come inside. After a trip to the vet, we learned he had feline HIV, plus what appeared to be BB's or bird shot underneath his skin, PLUS an eye infection. This cat was one tough dude! After half heartedly trying to find him another home, he became a fixture in ours. He adored DH and would run to greet him at the door. Best. Cat. Ever.

Sniff sniff, now back to the regularly scheduled programming . . .