I love credit cards so much! v3.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[ten6mom]

Well this is interesting.

I was perusing, in an incognito window, the Amex (personal) Plat page.. trying to decide if the "special offer" of 70,000 MRs (I believe the "regular" offer is 60,000) was worth it... researching how many HH points they convert to, etc. I'm waffling because it is a LOT of money and I'm trying to see if I would get enough value out of it, if I can afford the AF, etc. I left the window open and got distracted by something else. When I came back to it, there was a message that said "sorry, you've been inactive for 20 minutes; these offers may not be available." I clicked "OK" and the screen updated to a 75,000 MR offer!

But I still can't commit!

 

[punkin]

Well this is interesting.

I was perusing, in an incognito window, the Amex (personal) Plat page.. trying to decide if the "special offer" of 70,000 MRs (I believe the "regular" offer is 60,000) was worth it... researching how many HH points they convert to, etc. I'm waffling because it is a LOT of money and I'm trying to see if I would get enough value out of it, if I can afford the AF, etc. I left the window open and got distracted by something else. When I came back to it, there was a message that said "sorry, you've been inactive for 20 minutes; these offers may not be available." I clicked "OK" and the screen updated to a 75,000 MR offer!

But I still can't commit!

Maybe the next offer will be the platicorn. Lol.

 

[ten6mom]

Maybe the next offer will be the platicorn. Lol.

I had hoped... sadly (it just happened again), still only 75K

But I'll leave the window open a bit longer!

 

[ten6mom]

Sadly, after the next refresh, it dropped way down to 60K. If I decide to apply I'll try again later from home.

 

[GlamMistress]

It feels like Monday, again. Ugh.

 

[have2getaway]

I ended up being able to book Yacht Club. I’m nervous to tell DH the cost, though. We’re used to going in January and getting the Poly for $390-$450, but YC is 524. Is that reasonable for President’s week? BWI was showing available at $486. I’m the worst with decisions. DH what’s to use points and stay off site, but I think we’ll regret not being on site and close to DHS, especially since we only are planning on a couple days there. Plus, I want to use them for a return trip. We can always cash them out to help with the cost. If we don’t go back to Disney for a couple years, will our UR points expire? Do they ever expire?

My 2020 goal is to come up with a better approach to saving/earning points & rewards to help with the cost of a return trip to Disney. Chase UR works great for Universal, but not as well for Disney. I’m trying to be better about using the Shop Through Chase portal, but it seems so hit or miss.

 

[amalone1013]

So I played this game with my wife and daughter this evening:
https://www.target.com/p/ravensburger-disney-villainous-the-worst-takes-it-all-game/-/A-53355096
We got it for her for Christmas. They had been playing it a lot but forced me to play tonight. I'll be honest, I did NOT like it at first because there's a TON of reading/rules/nuance. But by the end, it was pretty neat! I'd totally recommend it as a fun game to play!! We've been doing a lot of board games over holiday break. I guess I'm just here reminiscing before bed tonight because I don't want to work tomorrow, lol!

We also have been enjoying Disney Codenames!

I have this and need to play. Maybe this weekend or next! We went to play a game on christmas and I had this but thought oh lots of rules, it's kinda late already so I'll go with monopoly everyone knows how to play. Next thing I know its midnight and weve been playing monopoly for 5 hours...

 

[amalone1013]

Check your AO (I had it on my BBP)-
Get 10% back, up to $100
Lowe's
Expires 6/30/20

ETA- There’s also one for Grubhub (sadly, not on my Rose Gold though.)

Get 10% back, up to $75
Grubhub.com / Seamless.com
Expires 6/30/20

Thanks! Dh and I each have these on our Bonvoy bizs.

Now if only my go to pizza place would come back to grubhub! It's an individual pizza place so I was so excited to get to double dip credits there between me and dh

 

[DisneyMandC]

Not sure it helps but I don't think you missed it. Even direct availability on both JAL & ANA has more or less sucked on Friday/Saturday/Sunday since JAL started routing more flights to Haneda & adding bizarre overnight departures that nobody wants.

.

 

[Judique]

More Amex thoughts: IF I decide I do, after all, want to apply for the Amex Platinum card,

• It has a $200 airline incidental credit that we DO think can be used for those Southwest flights under $102? (Same as I've read about the Aspire airline credit)?
• I don't use Uber much so I can't count on getting use out of that.
• It has an $85 credit for TSA precheck but I don't generally travel alone so in order for both of us to use it I'd have to pay separately for precheck for my husband... still potentially useful
• I don't know if the lounge thing would be useful or not- I rarely fly. It might be funny to hang out in a fancy lounge while going to my el-cheapo Southwest wanna get away flight....

Should I go to cardmatch (I think that's it) before applying? I doubt I'll be matched for the Platicorn since I already have an Amex card. Does it hurt to try?

I'm sorry I'm rambling. Now that the flights are out of the way I'm scrambling to make hotel plans.

Someone may have mentioned this already and if so, so be it. My daughter flies a lot so she makes great use of a Platinum card. She's had it for years.

But, one use for the Uber credit is food. Near her work, walking distance, she has lunch at a small deli where she somehow uses the credit for her food(edit I now hear this is uber eats). And, when she had 2 platinum cards last year, the regular and the Mercedes Benz one, and she was in hospital in Colorado, she gave me use of it to order lunch delivered several times, Dec = 2 x $35 for her, and had me order something using the Saks credits - I found something for me and a pair of shoes for the girls online clearance. She would normally get the gift card at one of our Saks stores if she were in town. (And then spend the cards on handbags or makeup or whatever.)

 

[happysavermp]

We were so blessed on our last WDW trip (Dec 2019) to have a lady approach me in Epcot and say they had leftover credits and that she would like to buy our meals Um, thank you!!! Turns out, she wanted to buy 4 adult meals for us which is plenty of food for my fam as we are used to sharing. I hugged her. She probably thought I was crazy lol!

That’s awesome!!! I love pixie dust stories!! Last trip I met a super nice lady who had a paper fast pass for 5 people and she only had a party of 2 so she invited me and my 2 daughters to join them. After the ride I offered to buy her and her nephew snacks but she said that’s ok. I wish she would have said yes!

 

[Judique]

2020 Goals
Collect ALL the URs!! That is all

Also need to decide if I want to splurge and book Wilderness Lodge for a long weekend, or just go bargain and retire early like @SouthFayetteFan.

First world problems

Oooh!! @SouthFayetteFan doesn't let his FIRE plan interfere with staying at the best resorts. He only says he's cheap! He stays at the Deluxes and if you haven't read about his UO trip, check it out!

 

[calypso726]

Thank you to all for the birthday wishes

 

[Judique]

We are still homeless for part of our stay taking dd down to Orlando. Hoping for some magic like yours!!!

What dates are you homeless?

 

[Judique]

Is there anybody going to WDW on the dining plan anytime soon? Or do I need to go find ::gasp:: another thread for real life DPs on if this is truly being enforced??

Us. But it's just for a one night dining plan so I doubt I'll have a dp as we will be using as intended due to it only being the one night, although I like the idea of cashing out the kid counter service for 3 snack credits.

 

[calypso726]

Thank you for the heads up on the AOs. We had the Lowe’s on a few cards! That will come in handy!

 

[Judique]

Check your AO (I had it on my BBP)-
Get 10% back, up to $100
Lowe's
Expires 6/30/20

ETA- There’s also one for Grubhub (sadly, not on my Rose Gold though.)

Get 10% back, up to $75
Grubhub.com / Seamless.com
Expires 6/30/20

Thank you so much! I don't always remember to check offers really early so may have missed this one.
I found it on my SPG Biz. (I still call it SPG to avoid confusing it with my Chase Marriott Biz in my own head.)

I had enough gift cards to pay all my DVC dues, but stopped short on the last thousand to have extra gift cards for my January and February trips. This offer fixes that nicely plus it's good until June so I can budget it over a couple of months. Perfect!

 

[Judique]

Thank you to all for the birthday wishes

Happy Birthday! Mine is later this month and I can't wait as I'll be on vacation! Actually, I'll be at Hilton Head on my way back from Disney.

 

[first*toright]

Finally back on the boards. Got a new computer and lost my Dis login - no idea what email I used to set up my original account because I couldn't retrieve my login. That, plus usual holiday madness and an exceptionally busy December at work kept me from posting (although I did do a little lurking just to stay in the loop).

We did a trip to USO on URs just before Christmas - paid points for a club level room at Portofino Bay for 2 nights and a suite at Sapphire Falls for 2 nights. Was a nice way to do it - we liked Portofino (and the express pass was key during the weekend before Christmas). Not sure we got much value out of the lounge. I had planned to do dinner there one night, in addition to our breakfasts, but we wanted to be in the park, so that didn't happen. Breakfast was pretty good, and we did PB&J there for lunch one day too. We did get a very convenient room location, though, with a nice view. The pool was really nice there too.

We liked Sapphire Falls a lot - the staff was super nice, and drinks at Strong Water were very tasty. We enjoyed the pool there - it was a rainy day (but no thunder/lightening) but my LO really really wanted to swim. We got a cabana, which worked out really well. Came with drinks and a small food credit (which covered a light lunch for all of us). Lifeguards were really on the ball there, and the pool staff was great. LO got to swim and do the waterslide to her heart's content, and DH and I alternated between sitting out on a deck chair in front of the cabana and going in the cabana to get out of the rain (with a long stint in the hot tub!) We intentionally did a non-park day so we would have some more relaxing vacation time, so not having the express pass didn't matter. I would definitely do the split stay thing again!

We bought our park tickets with URs - I got passes with a value pretty close to the cost of an annual pass (the kind with blackout dates, so not top tier), and was able to convert them at the hotel to annual passes for about $25 per person. BUT I couldn't do the upgrade until after we were done going to the parks - the APs I wound up with would have been blacked out during that weekend.

We did get to ride Hagrid's Motorbike - and it completely lived up to the hype. So fun! DH and LO are not big rollercoaster people, so it was just me and my older DD. I tried to get her out the door early, or at least to take her breakfast to go, but she was being teenager-y and moving slowly, so we didn't get to the tapstiles until about 8:20 for a 9am open. We were further back than I wanted to be (about 2/3rds of the way back to the ticket booths). They opened the gates at about 8:45, and we hustled to the beginning of the Hagrid's line. Line started near the fountain, but we didn't stop walking until just before the bridge to the castle. Were in line for probably 45 minutes. If we had been there 10 minutes earlier, I swear we would have had half the wait. Was still worth it!

 

[Judique]

Welcome back! At least you've got a name that is somewhat recognizable! Glad you had a great trip!

The names are so funny! When I signed up for Dischurners, I had to add letters to Judique. It only occurred to me later that just maybe I had logged in/signed up over there many years back, as I think my screen name is fairly unique. I don't remember and really don't care, but did spend a few minutes trying to search without success for the individual who shared my Dis name!