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

[punkin]

Bookmarked this because we always have the hardest time figuring out food while in DC. Last time we ended up at Oyamel. It was good, I guess. Cheap *** me wasn't overly fond of the prices. I believe we paid $70 for a pitcher of margaritas. That is wayyyyy too much in my books. lol I could tell it was a trendy place, and I am not into that, or the small plate/big price thing. Twice we ended up at Capitol City Brewing, which is more my speed. So I am not sure if these recommendations are for me, but I will look at them. Usually we stand around desperately looking at yelp to see if we can agree on anything.

Now to figure out how I see my bookmarks.

Inexpensive and delicious in DC, you must try Ethiopian (or as advised Eritrean). DC has the best selection of Ethiopian restaurants in the USA (in my opinion).

 

[Psychodisney]

I succumbed to the ebags peer pressure. Interesting pricing. I wanted to order the wheeled Motherlode 21”. ( I got the JR. a month ago, I like it but the roller will give my back a break). Anyway, I went through top cash back and the price showed up as about $30 more than if I went through Chase or AA! They tease you with 22% cash back but through their link the identical product was significantly more expensive!

 

[calypso726]

Lunchtime, so it's a good time to look at food.

As previously mentioned, Old Ebbitt Grill and The Hamilton are across the street from your hotel and are both very good.

About a month ago we tried Olivia Restaurant for the first time, which is a short stroll east on F Street NW from the hotel. It's just south of the National Portrait Gallery, in fact. Mediterranean and mostly small plates so it can add up, but everything we had was really tasty. A little further east and south at 7th and D NW is Rasika. Foodie friends of ours have described Rasika as the best Indian cuisine on the East Coast and were offended we hadn't been yet.

A little further east and north at 6th and H NW is Daikaya, a trendy noodle bar. I haven't been there yet because there's always a line. I don't stand in line for food. Go around the corner to Bantam King for cheap, delicious ramen. BK is busy, noisy, and quick. It's so good and hits the spot. Leave BK and go right around the corner down the stairs to Free State, a great cocktail bar. Get whatever they have on the menu that night. Guaranteed to leave speaking in tongues.

Do you like beer? It's a walk, but straight up 14th Street NW from the hotel into Logan Circle you'll find ChurchKey, one of the very best beer bars in the entire city. Huge selection of great beers, everything from domestic to imported to local crafts. Good Old Fashioned too if you like cocktails. The food is pretty good too, I've heard the fried chicken sandwich is surprisingly great but I never eat there, that's an inefficient use of stomach space at such a great bar.

Keep walking up 14th and you'll be in the middle of more good restaurants than you can even imagine. These are all wildly varying price points and cuisines but Le Diplomat and Great Wall Szechuan House are two I know of in the next block. Even further up at 14th and T NW are classics like Ted's Bulletin and Amsterdam Falafelshop. On the other side of T St is Colada Shop, which has the best Cuban sandwich I've ever had.

And while you're here, even better if you can convince slightly adventurous coworkers, you must have Ethiopian food. My favorite spot is Chercher at 9th and O NW, which our own @calypso726 can attest to the quality. Habesha Market at 9th and T NW is a counter service-style place but cheaper and just as good. Almost any Ethiopian restaurant is worth your time, but including those two I've also eaten at Quara (H St NE), Addis (H St NE), and Selam (16th and U NW - bring cash, the credit card reader has been out of order for 3+ years). No matter where you go, get a veggie platter and either beef or lamb tibs, or kitfo. I've often heard doro wat recommended for first timers because it's chicken (doro is chicken, wat with anything is stew), but it's very messy and not super flavorful. Tibs and kitfo are a better representation.

How about Eritrean instead of Ethiopian? I'll forgive you if you go this route instead of Ethiopian, but only if you visit Adams Morgan for Keren (intersection of 18th/Florida/U NW) or Asmara (18th and Kalorama NW). Eritrean is very similar to Ethiopian but is a bit more saucy and uses more seafood since Eritrea is a coastal country.

If you have any other specific questions let me know, there's so much good food here I'm not even scratching the surface.

Old Ebbitt Grill was amazing. We really enjoyed Chercher as well. I will also happily recommend the Occidental on Pennsylvania Ave next to the Willard. We were actually seated at the table where ABC TV correspondent John Scali met with the Soviet Embassy Counselor who passed him the papers indicating Russia was willing to make a deal regarding the Cuban missile crisis. The threat of nuclear war was avoided at that lunch meeting. It was pretty surreal.

 

[afan]

This might be a very basic flight reward redemption question but since I've never done it before, here it is.

I am flying ANA from LAX>NRT, but flying home from KIX>LAX (at least that was the plan). However, ANA does not have direct flights from KIX... I'd have to stop at HND and go on to LAX from there.

I'm not near ready to book YET but when I do, does adding that stop still count as all one ticket, or will that be two separate tickets? I mean, can I still get home from KIX to LAX, even accounting for the stop, one one reward ticket?

Am I even making sense?

It would be the same but you need to figure out if the flights can be in one city and out another. @calypso726 can you do open jaw on ana via virgin?

If not you'd need to book rt to/from japan and then do a positioning flight to that airport.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Just got out of Downton Abbey and I LOVED IT!! Very cute story and very true to the series. Everyone in it had their own cute little plot point and several laugh out loud moments throughout. Definitely recommend for fans of the series!

Also, I’m not sure if they just did it for this special showing or not, but they did a nice series recap before the movie.

 

[calypso726]

It would be the same but you need to figure out if the flights can be in one city and out another. @calypso726 can you do open jaw on ana via virgin?

If not you'd need to book rt to/from japan and then do a positioning flight to that airport.

Yes. Apparently when VS says RT they mean not a one way flight. When I was searching originally I was looking at flying in or out of NRT and HND. As a matter of fact my current flight is IAD-NRT which I will be flying on and then NRT-JFK which I don't plan to fly on since the return is the 15th and I need to fly back the 13th. So I still have a fake return because I never did find a return for my actual date. I'm hoping they will release more award space closer to the date and I can switch to my real return. So for the moment my actual return is on JAL and slumming it in business class. If I don;t get a return on ANA for the 13th I'm ok with that. I still consider the price in points a great value for my points even at one way since we used a transfer bonus via Amex MR to VS.

 

[Judique]

I succumbed to the ebags peer pressure. Interesting pricing. I wanted to order the wheeled Motherlode 21”. ( I got the JR. a month ago, I like it but the roller will give my back a break). Anyway, I went through top cash back and the price showed up as about $30 more than if I went through Chase or AA! They tease you with 22% cash back but through their link the identical product was significantly more expensive!

And I beat the price of the Travelon bag I was looking at on Amazon by almost half. I can't pull the trigger on Ebags. Ebags had it 25% off for $116. Amazon was $62. The amex offer and top cash back wouldn't have brought the items down that far. The black was the color I wanted, the other colors were more but still not ebags more.

 

[afan]

Yes. Apparently when VS says RT they mean not a one way flight. When I was searching originally I was looking at flying in or out of NRT and HND. As a matter of fact my current flight is IAD-NRT which I will be flying on and then NRT-JFK which I don't plan to fly on since the return is the 15th and I need to fly back the 13th. So I still have a fake return because I never did find a return for my actual date. I'm hoping they will release more award space closer to the date and I can switch to my real return. So for the moment my actual return is on JAL and slumming it in business class. If I don;t get a return on ANA for the 13th I'm ok with that. I still consider the price in points a great value for my points even at one way since we used a transfer bonus via Amex MR to VS.

So @ten6mom can fly into nrt and out of kix on an award booking?

 

[afan]

I have the tracker on my cip and it's not reflecting the refunds so it looks like I have less spend less than I do.

It also says I have until Oct 12 to do it when I have an SM saying the offer is there and I have until Nov 3. I got the card July 12. My first payment wasn't due until last week. I'll probably have the spend met by the 12th but it's interesting the differences between what it used to be and the new 90.

 

[calypso726]

This might be a very basic flight reward redemption question but since I've never done it before, here it is.

I am flying ANA from LAX>NRT, but flying home from KIX>LAX (at least that was the plan). However, ANA does not have direct flights from KIX... I'd have to stop at HND and go on to LAX from there.

I'm not near ready to book YET but when I do, does adding that stop still count as all one ticket, or will that be two separate tickets? I mean, can I still get home from KIX to LAX, even accounting for the stop, one one reward ticket?

Am I even making sense?

It is just a connection so will be one ticket but you will still need to make sure that you find the right flight. All of the segments have to be on ANA metal and when you search the United site you are looking for business at 80K one way or first at 110K one way. This narrows down searching. There are still a handful that won't be on ANA metal. If it's a mixed cabin make sure your slumming it on the short flight and not the long haul. Also make sure you aren't dealing with an airport change. There are several flights will have you fly into one airport and then you have to switch airports. I'm posting some examples below.


This first one has ANA on the long haul but your flight from KIX is not with ANA so you can't book that with VS.




This next flight has you flying from KIX to HND and the you have to get to another airport NRT for your connection to LAX. That's a pain in the butt and a colossal waste of time.




This one below is what you'd be looking for. It's all on ANA metal and you aren't switching airports for your connection. You'd call VS and give them these flight numbers.




You will need to be on top of this as awards go quickly. Even I managed to miss out on my real return flight, which is a first. I had been practicing searching for them for weeks before release and somehow still didn't get a return flight. When the departure flight became available I booked it with a fake return for the same day since you can only book RT flights. I timed the loading of the return flights wrong somehow and never saw them for my real return date. I did find one for 2 days after my real return date and changed it the return form the same day as my arrival to that date. Now, all I can do is hope they release more award space a few days before my actual return and then switch again. In the meantime, I'm booked on JAL for my real return date in case that doesn't pan out. Always have a back up plan.

 

[afan]

@amalone1013 did you SM chase to get the PP card? Mine already shows activated but when I login to the app they say my card is expired.

And I'm guessing it'll take a couple days for it to all flow through because even though it's changed to a csr in the pic I still only have the option to combine points on the two cards to my csp.

 

[ten6mom]

It is just a connection so will be one ticket but you will still need to make sure that you find the right flight. All of the segments have to be on ANA metal and when you search the United site you are looking for business at 80K one way or first at 110K one way. This narrows down searching. There are still a handful that won't be on ANA metal. If it's a mixed cabin make sure your slumming it on the short flight and not the long haul. Also make sure you aren't dealing with an airport change. There are several flights will have you fly into one airport and then you have to switch airports. I'm posting some examples below.


This first one has ANA on the long haul but your flight from KIX is not with ANA so you can't book that with VS.

View attachment 435264


This next flight has you flying from KIX to HND and the you have to get to another airport NRT for your connection to LAX. That's a pain in the butt and a colossal waste of time.


View attachment 435265

This one below is what you'd be looking for. It's all on ANA metal and you aren't switching airports for your connection. You'd call VS and give them these flight numbers.

View attachment 435266


You will need to be on top of this as awards go quickly. Even I managed to miss out on my real return flight, which is a first. I had been practicing searching for them for weeks before release and somehow still didn't get a return flight. When the departure flight became available I booked it with a fake return for the same day since you can only book RT flights. I timed the loading of the return flights wrong somehow and never saw them for my real return date. I did find one for 2 days after my real return date and changed it the return form the same day as my arrival to that date. Now, all I can do is hope they release more award space a few days before my actual return and then switch again. In the meantime, I'm booked on JAL for my real return date in case that doesn't pan out. Always have a back up plan.

I am not sure whether to this or this or this. Let's go with them all!

I was actually thinking about taking the Shinkansen back up to Tokyo after we are done in Kyoto since I'll have one day left on the JR pass. That would negate the airport issue!!!

Thank you for the tips. If I have all my points in hand by the end of next month and I am looking to travel November 2020, I assume flight will be out THIS November... so I need to be ready to go!

 

[stitchfan18]

I booked thru the Chase portal for 2 excursions and booked a 3rd separately but on my CSR then used URs as a statement credit. Booked Chilkoot Charters privately, booked Juneau Whale watch (Mendenhall Glacier Tour & Whale Watch) and a floatplane excursion thru the UR portal. I think I booked about 6 months before for 2 of them, 4 months for the last one. Ended up canceling the floatplane due to multiple crashes last May but loved the 2 other excursions.

Thanks for sharing! I think we are looking at the same whale watching excursion in Juneau for next summer!

 

[calypso726]

So @ten6mom can fly into nrt and out of kix on an award booking?

The open jaw is fine booking with ANA using VS.

Where I am seeing mixed DPs is when there is a connection like KIX-HND-LAX. Some reports show DPs with additional miles required and some weren't. I figure, when the time comes @ten6mom can call in with the info and if they want to charge significantly more for the connection then just book the open jaw and book the connection separately. Tix from KIX-TYO can be found for under $100. I booked a separate flight from for our ABD later this month with 5,000 UA miles on ANA since we are doing 2 nights in Tokyo before heading to Osaka for the ABD.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks for sharing! I think we are looking at the same whale watching excursion in Juneau for next summer!

We did it this past end of May/beginning of June which is not the best weather usually but we were blessed with mostly great days. It did rain on our whale watching day, but just for part of the boat ride. Then we were dropped off to make a short hike to Mendenhall glacier which was awesome. The trip says it includes a snack, but we didn’t get any snacks and were ravenous by the time we got back to the ship. Bring snacks. Otherwise, it was incredible .

 

[PolyRob]

It would only be for one night, as we would start DVC next day but I am weighing out if it is worth it to blow the 107,000 miles for one night at Grand Floridian or if I should just cash out my AA points.

For those that are familiar with Grand Floridian: do all the rooms at GF have a pull down/trundle bed? If I book for 5 will I get one with that anyway or should I pay another 1000 points to have it? Basically 2 queens theme park view is 1000 points less than a 2 queens plus trundle garden view. Not sure which to book.

Given the new possible information that I have not read on Reddit yet (a little intimidated from last night LOL) how many AA points would you have left? Is it worth depleting? I think that redemption to a room is higher than the GC valuation.

The day bed is most common and it is a red couch that folds forward. Not a real murphy bed or full sofa sleeper, but large enough for a child. If you have a room with 5 people I would hope GF would honor the occupancy for sleep surfaces. I have stayed at the GF the most out of any MK resort and have always had the couch with as many as 4 and a little as 2 adults in a room. Theme park view rooms has the same "issue" with room configuration so I am curious the portal it is guaranteeing the extra sleep surface?

 

[LB002]

Probably extremely limited scope DP for anyone who booked a Delta Vacation they did not completely pay off AND have an Arrival Plus: the charge I made on it did code as travel. Initially it did not (and I posted that it did not), but I happened to check today and it was on there (and promptly erased).

I also got the Plastiq promotion of spend $2000. My mortgage is $1850 but I guess it is not the worst thing in the world to pay a little more. I will have it paid off June 2028 but every little bit helps. DH also got the same promotion on his account. So now I guess I will be super good and pay another $2000 on our equity loan.

I might actually end up keeping our Arrivals another year. The ability to use with mortgages and Plastiq and then erase charges is tempting. Decisions...

The part I paid for with my CSR used up the last of my $300 travel credit too.

 

[LB002]

I succumbed to the ebags peer pressure. Interesting pricing. I wanted to order the wheeled Motherlode 21”. ( I got the JR. a month ago, I like it but the roller will give my back a break). Anyway, I went through top cash back and the price showed up as about $30 more than if I went through Chase or AA! They tease you with 22% cash back but through their link the identical product was significantly more expensive!

I've had the same experience with ebags pricing and ebates.

 

[LB002]

Just got out of Downton Abbey and I LOVED IT!! Very cute story and very true to the series. Everyone in it had their own cute little plot point and several laugh out loud moments throughout. Definitely recommend for fans of the series!

Also, I’m not sure if they just did it for this special showing or not, but they did a nice series recap before the movie.

I *think* the series recap is airing on PBS the day before the full opening (19th?). Can't wait to see the movie!

 

[PolyRob]

Does anyone have issues with cash back portals and ad blockers? Ebates put this giant banner across my screen that my ad blocker is preventing cash back. I could disable it for Ebates, but I am just curious.