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

[DisneyMandC]

@calypso726 has done this on Maui. Lots of people on r/churning too.

Thought about posting over there but figured somebody would probably downvote me into oblivion talking about what a loser I am for thinking about paying cash for a trip

 

[Lain]

More DPs of delayed SUBs (still not pending) affecting CIP, Hyatt, and SW cards that met MSR on 3/31, 3/30, and 3/27, respectively.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/bbyjh2/data_points_central_thread_week_of_april_11_2019/ekmhvqa/

 

[calypso726]

Has anyone ever done a Sheraton timeshare stay/presentation? I got an emailed offer this morning for a 4 night/5 day stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando (right behind the outlets) for $199 total, plus they'll give us 15,000 Marriott points. Obviously you do have to sit through the presentation, but I have no problem saying "no" repeatedly. Am I crazy, or does that actually seem like a pretty good deal?

@calypso726 has done this on Maui. Lots of people on r/churning too.

I think it’s a good deal. It’s accommodations for $50 per night. We did the Maui one because it was a good deal too. I’d do it again if offered.

 

[amalone1013]

Ahhh got so excited because I saw an envelope in informed delivery with 100,000 points on it... It's for a Hilton card.

 

[wendow]

Speaking of these timeshare offers, has anyone received one for the Westin Ka’anapali? I got an offer from them for a 5 night stay with6 days of car for $798. Looks like some of the previous offers we’ve gotten for timeshares but I can’t find anything in the verbage about that. And price seems maybe a bit higher.

 

[amalone1013]

Has anyone ever done a Sheraton timeshare stay/presentation? I got an emailed offer this morning for a 4 night/5 day stay at the Sheraton Vistana Villages in Orlando (right behind the outlets) for $199 total, plus they'll give us 15,000 Marriott points. Obviously you do have to sit through the presentation, but I have no problem saying "no" repeatedly. Am I crazy, or does that actually seem like a pretty good deal?

I would give it serious consideration. I keep getting the Hilton ones lately, probably because I turned down the timeshare lady at the Universal Studios DT and her 'special offer that was only available then and there' but magically that's the same offer they keep emailing me 4 days/3 nights plus 15k points for $199, either Orlando or Vegas... in person the lady said that DT was an option, and I think mentioned one of the DS Hiltons too. My first thought was, Universal trip weekend...

 

[apollodi]

There was no signage for the discount on Visa gift cards, Panera gift cards, and the others, at my Staples yesterday. I nicely asked the clerk to check for me. She was able to scan the $50 Panera gift cards and confirm that the discount was active, so I bought oodles. (My family eats a ton of Panera). She couldn't check the $200 Visa gift cards without removing the protective cardboard strip, so I had her run one, confirmed the $5 discount was active, then bought three more.

Nope, as soon as he scanned them they automatically dropped from $25 to $20 each. I didn't try anything but the Petco cards since that's all I wanted.

Thanks! I think I’ll try again since my family eats a lot of Panera. My 2 year old (who is tiny, will be 3 next month and is under 25 lbs) loves their Mac cheese and has eaten entire adult servings before. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just get more $5 off VGCs, so the trip won’t go to waste.

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Thanks! I think I’ll try again since my family eats a lot of Panera. My 2 year old (who is tiny, will be 3 next month and is under 25 lbs) loves their Mac cheese and has eaten entire adult servings before. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just get more $5 off VGCs, so the trip won’t go to waste.

My DD9 is obsessed with Panera Mac and cheese too. Calls it “my delight”! It is pretty tasty. I love that strawberry chicken salad now back for spring/summer!!

 

[DisneyMandC]

I think it’s a good deal. It’s accommodations for $50 per night. We did the Maui one because it was a good deal too. I’d do it again if offered.

I would give it serious consideration. I keep getting the Hilton ones lately, probably because I turned down the timeshare lady at the Universal Studios DT and her 'special offer that was only available then and there' but magically that's the same offer they keep emailing me 4 days/3 nights plus 15k points for $199, either Orlando or Vegas... in person the lady said that DT was an option, and I think mentioned one of the DS Hiltons too. My first thought was, Universal trip weekend...

I sent it to DH and I'm going to see what he says. We've been talking about going back to WWOHP with some friends, so this would be great to use for that and we could just either drive down again or Uber. It says I must purchase by 4/17, but then it doesn't expire for another year. I'm going to seriously consider it- especially since I could put it towards Bonvoy Biz MSR! I've gotten one offer from them before. I can't remember the details, but I know it wasn't this good because I wasn't very interested in it.

 

[Brian4891]

More DPs of delayed SUBs (still not pending) affecting CIP, Hyatt, and SW cards that met MSR on 3/31, 3/30, and 3/27, respectively.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/comments/bbyjh2/data_points_central_thread_week_of_april_11_2019/ekmhvqa/

P2 hit the MSR on both her CIP #1 and CSR yesterday (Yes the same exact day). So I will be looking for the SUBs to post soon. When people say the points show up as pending, what does that mean exactly. Does this just mean it shows up in the "Earning on Next Statement" total but not in the "Points Available" total?

 

[havaneselover]

My DD9 is obsessed with Panera Mac and cheese too. Calls it “my delight”! It is pretty tasty. I love that strawberry chicken salad now back for spring/summer!!

My 15 year old thinks it's the best thing ever.

 

[speedyfishy]

My area near my apartment has like 3/4 reliable places I can go to get MOs and i think my Walmart is on its last leg. Today I drove out to the suburbs of Virginia and managed to get 6 MOs in an hour and a half. Also, stopped at staples. They only had Panera at that one no subway Buffalo Wild Wings or Petco. TBH I get so anxious driving new places here by myself. In NY even if I didn’t know where a place was if I knew the street I’d be able to figure out how to go. You can drop me off anywhere in the NY metro area and I’d be able to get back home with no directions. Here, I have like no clue of any general sense of direction. It’s scary, but I did it lol.

 

[speedyfishy]

Does this just mean it shows up in the "Earning on Next Statement" total but not in the "Points Available" tota

Yeah

 

[amalone1013]

Think we've solidified trip details now.

Flight down: DEN-MCO for 9k RRs + CP

Night 1: Pop via Hotels.com $211 - GC stash = $30ish OOP (plus portals, plus free night credit, etc gets me ~$30 back)
Still considering: I think I found Coronado Springs on Priceline for $166 total (cover with Arrival Plus?)

Nights 2-3: Dolphin, $500 room + $89 annual fee from upgrade - $380 AMEX credits = $209 net

Nights 4-6 options: Pop, $566 rack rate (will cover with Arrival Plus)

Flight home: Early morning flight United through UR portal 26k URs total - the price went up a bit and I realized that was basic economy so I booked regular economy so DH doesn't get anxious about not having seats together

I need to call and add DME for each way still. And I'll probably keep looking at Priceline to see if anything interesting comes up, and also checking to see if a discount comes up from Disney for the nights at Pop. If we end up staying booked through Disney I want to put X amount on DHs Arrival Plus to use up the remaining credit, then the rest on mine.

We also ended up buying tickets for the Orlando Informer Meetup at Universal It went towards my Brilliant upgrade MSR? I'm excited now (I balked at the price, I won't lie) because I've heard good things and I think it would be interesting to consider instead of normal park tickets for Universal in the future... It was $372 for both of us with tax, it gets you into the parks at 5pm and runs until 1:30am, and they close to the public at 7pm or 9pm depending on the park. I know one day Uni tickets are killer, but as a comparison 1 day Park to Park tickets for the same day would run us $405 with tax, for park hours being 9am to 7pm (Islands) or 9pm (Studios). Unlimited food and beverage after regular park close, and they are giving everyone a QS dining plan card to use before the parks close, which is a QS meal & beverage, a snack, and an additional beverage.

So $405 for 1 day P2P tickets, 10/12hrs in the parks, no food/EPs/etc... or $372 for 8.5hrs in the park, special event with supposedly extremely low lines, includes unlimited food/drink (including snacks like Butterbeer and the ice cream parlor in WWoHP), and 2 QS dining plans which would cost $51 if purchased separately... I can report back on this if anyone is interested. Depending on what we think I could see considering a future event for a trip with the ILs vs doing 1-2 day tickets and an EP hotel.

Ok... working out trip details

Flight down: DEN-MCO for 9k RRs + CP

Night 1 options:
Pop AP rate $176 (cover with Arrival Plus?)
Pop via Hotels.com $211 - GC stash = $30ish (plus portals, plus free night credit, etc)
Airport Hyatt 12k URs
DS Hilton 50k Hilton pts
I think I found Coronado Springs on Priceline for $166 total (cover with Arrival Plus?)

Nights 2-3: Dolphin, $500 room + $89 annual fee from upgrade - $380 AMEX credits = $209 net

Nights 4-6 options: (cover with Arrival Plus?)
5 night trip = 2 nights at Pop, $415 rack rate
6 night trip = 3 nights at Pop, $566 rack rate

Flight home options:
Late flight on SW 11k RRs
Early flight next morning either

• United 9k URs pp
• Frontier $175 incl seat selections, just backpacks, $35 if we add a carry on (cover with Arrival Plus?)
• SW 7.5k RRs for connecting flight

We've got plenty of URs... Especially with 2 new CIPs Have $225 in Arrival credit on DHs, and if I charge any of these options to my Arrival that will push me past MSR and I will have $800+ in credit. Also have $600ish in Disney GCs currently because I just blew some of them on something... Decisions, decisions...

After laying it out like this, I'm leaning towards Hotels.com for the first night... being able to use DME that night probably saves $50-$60 in ubers; we'd have to get to the hotel, then to the Dolphin to drop bags the next morning, vs Pop will transfer them to the Dolphin for us. We will most likely uber back to MCO no matter what. I'm thinking about trying to apply suite night credits for the Dolphin nights because, why not? I don't have any other use in mind for them right now and they're not guaranteed anyways.

 

[amalone1013]

Thanks! I think I’ll try again since my family eats a lot of Panera. My 2 year old (who is tiny, will be 3 next month and is under 25 lbs) loves their Mac cheese and has eaten entire adult servings before. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just get more $5 off VGCs, so the trip won’t go to waste.

My DD9 is obsessed with Panera Mac and cheese too. Calls it “my delight”! It is pretty tasty. I love that strawberry chicken salad now back for spring/summer!!

I am also obsessed with the Panera mac and cheese... #fiveatheart That's where we went for our work meeting 2 weeks ago and I did the half and half combo thing, with bacon mac and cheese and the fancy grilled cheese sandwich...

My area near my apartment has like 3/4 reliable places I can go to get MOs and i think my Walmart is on its last leg. Today I drove out to the suburbs of Virginia and managed to get 6 MOs in an hour and a half. Also, stopped at staples. They only had Panera at that one no subway Buffalo Wild Wings or Petco. TBH I get so anxious driving new places here by myself. In NY even if I didn’t know where a place was if I knew the street I’d be able to figure out how to go. You can drop me off anywhere in the NY metro area and I’d be able to get back home with no directions. Here, I have like no clue of any general sense of direction. It’s scary, but I did it lol.

DH can't get anywhere new around here despite living here his whole life, unless you tell him if he needs to drive towards or away from the mountains

 

[speedyfishy]

DH can't get anywhere new around here despite living here his whole life, unless you tell him if he needs to drive towards or away from the mountains

Some people are just bad with directions lol that’s me lol

 

[platamama]

Speaking of these timeshare offers, has anyone received one for the Westin Ka’anapali? I got an offer from them for a 5 night stay with6 days of car for $798. Looks like some of the previous offers we’ve gotten for timeshares but I can’t find anything in the verbage about that. And price seems maybe a bit higher.

I think I received that one within the past year, and that price of $798 sounds close to the same as the one I got for the Westin (although I also got one for the Sheraton so I might be getting those confused). I think one was $599 and one was $799.

There are hidden details in these timeshare offers that are not immediately apparent. I'll list them IME:

• You pay the nonrefundable $798 upfront and they try to get you to commit to travel dates then.
• You can change travel dates afterwards, but there may be a penalty fee for doing so.
• You may not be able to get the travel dates you want (probably depends on popularity of the season you want to visit).
• It's possible you aren't staying in the condo section of the property; you may be in the hotel section (subject to occupancy limits - I mention since you have a >4 family size) but they'll show you the really nice condo section for the timeshare presentation [I'm sure this is on purpose so that you feel like who wants to stay in the hotel section like a peasant when you can buy into this timeshare and stay in this awesome space.]

I did one about 5 years ago to the Big Island at the Hilton Waikoloa (5 nights/6 days $599 with car rental). I thought it was a good deal, especially since I snagged airfare on points. I had to pull DD out of school to get those flights (since you homeschool that's not an issue! ) and her teacher was not happy since she missed some standardized testing, but it was in elementary school so I didn't care. [OT- she took the PSAT yesterday since the 9th graders are required to take that, and said it was crazy easy she could've done the math section in 5th grade, especially compared to the SAT she took last month through an academic talent search.]

ETA: You have 3 days to rescind a timeshare purchase. I really should stay away from these timeshare presentations, because I have rescinded several purchases over the years (I don't like being a peasant! but then reality sets in).

 

[vanjust14]

Anyone ever take advantage of an offer like this from "Southwest Getaways?" If so, is it worth the time?

My mom received the same thing. She asked me if it was worth it and I didn't know so I'm curious also!

 

[platamama]

Some people are just bad with directions lol that’s me lol

OMG that's my mom, DH and DD. Very book smart but totally fail at sense of direction.

My mom, having lived in CO for 35 years, got lost coming to Boulder from Aurora. She ended up in the mountains instead.

 

[miztressuz]

My area near my apartment has like 3/4 reliable places I can go to get MOs and i think my Walmart is on its last leg. Today I drove out to the suburbs of Virginia and managed to get 6 MOs in an hour and a half. Also, stopped at staples. They only had Panera at that one no subway Buffalo Wild Wings or Petco. TBH I get so anxious driving new places here by myself. In NY even if I didn’t know where a place was if I knew the street I’d be able to figure out how to go. You can drop me off anywhere in the NY metro area and I’d be able to get back home with no directions. Here, I have like no clue of any general sense of direction. It’s scary, but I did it lol.

GPS is your friend now. Pretty sure GPS popularity with general consumers came from the suburbs. There are just so many roads and they all look alike!