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

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@Judique thank you for your encouragement to finally join in here. So here goes

Me (44)
DH (48)
DS (12)
DD (10)

Obviously a family of Disney lovers. And I’m the financial person in the house. So I love all the bargains. However, as we all know Disney doesn’t typically equal bargain. Which led me to you guys. Who, by the way, blow me away with your creativity in the financial realm.

CC Stats- 2 player mode

P1 (Me)
Southwest Card 8/13
Barclay AA Aviator Red 9/19
Citi AA Biz 9/19
*1/24 (newbie feels)

P2
Southwest 8/13
CSP 8/19
Barclay Aviator AA 9/19
Citi Aa Biz 9/19
*2/24

We live in the Phoenix area so all of our flying with the kids has been on SW. And probably will be in the foreseeable future.

I’m accumulating AA points as DH and I are going to Italy October 2020 for our 25th anniversary. After looking at the available flights AA is our best option, and so far AA miles have been easy to come by. I think I might be the only person here using their miles for flights and not Disney. Haha!

After we have enough AA miles for our flights I’ll start working on Chase UR.

We plan to only get cards we can afford MSR with organic spend. So we’ll go slowly, but thanks to you all it should still cover most of our typical vacation expenses in a year.

And yes, I’m a Dental Hygienist :teeth:


This is a riot. I didn't pay close enough attention to your name before.

I also only take on cards when a natural spend will meet MSR. My life is complicated enough, I just can't do MS.
 
Finally figured out how to login to Incredible Bank and downloaded the app. Will start pushing money on 11/1 (since you have to have a dd within 45 days).
 
The Hyatt Ziva Cancun gets good reviews. It’s 25k a night on the Hyatt site.

The Hyatt would be my pick as well. I’ve done Cancun a few times. We stayed at the Gran Melia but that was over 15 years ago and then we stayed at the Gran Caribe in 2017 but it recently switched to a Panama Jack resort. It was an awesome resort and right next to the adult only Hyatt which looked amazing I’m just not sure how it is now that it switched ownership.
 
Or you can apply for the Amex Gold if you can get a good SUB (50k MR/$2k MSR) + support bonus (10k MR from your DH’s Gold, 15k MR from the Plats), and whenever that card fits into your strategy.

Then when Amex offers the Rose Gold version again, request a replacement to that color via chat. Several DPs of folks successfully requesting the Rose Gold from their Gold the last time Amex offered that “limited edition” color.
That would be a good idea, but that would put me at 5/24 until late June! I'm going to wait as long as I can to get a (Rose) Gold---because I am still thirsty :drinking1;)
Totally OT but did you guys see Enchanted Rose has soft opened?! https://www.wdwinfo.com/news-storie...se-at-disneys-grand-floridian-resort-and-spa/ As a Beauty and the Beast fan over the age of 21 I am SO EXCITED!!!
Older dd and I freaked out over the pictures yesterday--so excited!
It looks pretty! Mizners was kind of generic, so this is a step up. Its a lot more space, too. Looking forward to checking this out.
We loved Mizners but not for the decor :eek:
Thank you!

Thank you! In a moment of 3 glasses of wine I took the upgrade that had been sitting there for weeks. Now we have the CIP $5k and this MSR ($5k). Ugh... at least I know I can do most of the CIP via MS.
And the holidays season is here so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to easily hit the Amex MSR.
Oh, the things I have done in that moment... :laughing:
 


Also wanted to add our SUB for Citi AA Biz is 60K/3K spend. Someone on here pointed out it’s now gone up to 75K/5K. I contacted Citi yesterday via chat and asked for a match. The CSR on my husband’s account said he would forward my request to marketing and I should have a response in 3-5 days. The CSR on my account said she couldn’t help me and gave me a phone # to call 🙄

Figure I’ll see what happens with DH account and try another chat for mine before I make the dreaded phone call. Ha!
How long ago did you open Citi biz?
 


I have no need or intentions of using it, since it's unlikely I'll be staying for any length of time at the resorts it serves. I don't like gondolas in general as I don't care for heights and I'm prone to motion sickness.

Public accountability - if this happened any other place there would be shutdowns, inquiries and political heads rolling. Disney makes a lot of its own rules. And gets away with it. They hush most of their mishaps and when they settle, it's all nondisclosure. I think the more you get into Disney, the more you 'beware the mouse', even though you can still enjoy the product. You have to take 'magic' for what it is, and in a community where people go 2-3 times a year or more, there are more informed individuals. News in Orlando is very pro Disney - after all you don't bite the big hand that feeds you.
If your on a Disney cruise the send you a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. These strawberries make you forget that your ac went out in the middle of the night or you toilet won’t flush. The power of Disney.
 
So I did a thing. SIL and family have a small house in Reddington Shores, FL (Tampa) a block from the beach. They go every year for Christmas break and then spend part of the time in Orlando. We celebrate Christmas with family and have a standing NYE party with friends so can only get there the evening of the 1st and need to be home by the 5th for school/work the next day.
 
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Awesome! So much easier than a call. I always book all of our flights separate in case I need to make changes. Or the points needed decreases and it is only for one seat, at least I get something back.
Yeah, it might be easier to book different reservations if I wasn’t booking at 530 am. :surfweb: I always book one way. Now I’ll only have to book 4 separate reservations since DS will be the CP. Can you book DS by himself?
you can use the miles to get Disney gift cards, then use those to buy the tickets
But that’s a really bad return, right?
 
Product changes don’t USUALLY count as a new CC as long as the # stays the same. I’d call and ask if they can change it and keep your same #! I changed my BOA and kept the same acct# so it wouldn’t count as a new card.
Ah, it's probably going to count as a new card then because I don't think they have a $0 AF for an AMEX card.
 
I would keep checking back to see if they AP rates. I see they are already out for 1/6 but depending on availability they may add dates to help fill the rooms. HRH was $254 for 1/6.

I was looking at Grand Cypress for part of Christmas trip. It looks really nice with a lot of activities included.

Thanks, will do. I remember we had some discussion around Universal AP rates. Do you actually need an AP to check in (I know you can book without one)? I’d have no problem upgrading but our dates would require the top level AP due to blackouts.
 
Yeah, it might be easier to book different reservations if I wasn’t booking at 530 am. :surfweb: I always book one way. Now I’ll only have to book 4 separate reservations since DS will be the CP. Can you book DS by himself?
Since he is now a CP, he’ll be attached to a reservation.

But yes you can. DS12 currently has his own reservation for our March Spring Break cruise so that I cancel and attach to DH once he gets CP for 20-21. There was some question that came up during the check-out that I just replied yes to.
 
Thanks, will do. I remember we had some discussion around Universal AP rates. Do you actually need an AP to check in (I know you can book without one)? I’d have no problem upgrading but our dates would require the top level AP due to blackouts.
I don’t think the level of AP matters for the hotel. It is just for the park access. I think the preferred has no black-out and that is the 2nd to the top.

I used an AP rate last Thanksgiving and only had a voucher for the AP at the time. They never asked to see it though.
 
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