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

[MrPTato]

Not that you need another positive review, but Yak & Yeti is very yummy! I also recommend the pot stickers as an appetizer and fried wontons as a dessert (Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey-vanilla drizzle)

Dessert sounds amazing but I have done a complete diet change...down just over 41lbs in 2 months. I guess maybe one won't hurt. I have heard calories don't count at Disney.

 

[havaneselover]

Dessert sounds amazing but I have done a complete diet change...down just over 41lbs in 2 months. I guess maybe one won't hurt. I have heard calories don't count at Disney.

Holy smokes! Congratulations!

 

[PolyRob]

Isn’t that inside?

Part, there is an outdoor eating area... look at the ledge

 

[Lain]

Just curious about these resort kinds of hotels--is your trip centered around the hotel, or are you doing other things?

Sorry to sound clueless but I have never planned a trip that hasn't been picking a destination first and then finding a hotel. Tagging @wanderlust7

I was pondering your question today and I think for us:

We would never plan an entire trip just to stay at any particular hotel or resort, no matter how aspirational it may be.

But when we pick a destination, where we're going to stay is always high up the list on my mind.

The hotel or resort and the destination are part of the same experience, and I have a hard time separating the two.

Churning has allowed us to build big enough stashes of points that we can think about incorporating aspirational properties into our trips.

Take for example the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area of the California central coast that we're gushing over today. It's close to the Bay Area (about a 2.5 hour drive), and doesn't require too much planning (and the point is for it to be relaxing). Before the kiddo, my wife and I used to make a lot of weekend trips down there to experience the attractions in Monterey, visit the galleries and shops and dine at the many fine restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea, visit the wineries and farms in Carmel Valley, hike coastal trails in Big Sur, and just de-stress at some of the many nice and uncrowded beaches. So this is a destination we've been to, and don't mind going back to again and again. We've been back twice since the kiddo came along.

Before churning, we stayed at many of the B&Bs and motels in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, and I remember always looking for deals on OTAs, Groupon and Living Social. We've stayed in some really crummy places. I was aware of places like the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and the Ventana Inn, but they were just too expensive out-of-pocket to justify for a weekend and therefore aspirational if at all. I booked the Hyatt Carmel Highlands for an upcoming weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday (and hopefully relax a little). The award rate was 30k Hyatt points/night, which I transferred from UR. For comparison, I looked up a decent inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea that we've stayed at several times, and their average nightly rate for the same weekend is $372. For roughly the same cash value in UR, we're staying at a much nicer resort that I could never bring myself to pay for in cash. That's a win. And I'm really looking forward to a weekend of doing all of the things above and coming back to a nice resort to unwind.

I guess by contrast, is the new JW Marriott Maldives that I've posted about. I think 85k Marriott points/night for an overwater bungalow at a brand new resort is a really good deal, and with Marriott's 5th night free the redemption is even sweeter. My wife has staying in an overwater bungalow on her "wander list," and I could've totally obliged, but she's never had any desire to visit the Maldives, and wouldn't have any idea what to do there for five days. So that went nowhere.

I'm a little sad that the Ventana Inn is probably still out of reach for us. No grandparents nearby to babysit. It's right in the heart of Big Sur and a place we've passed by and put on, maybe not our wander list, but definitely our "it'd be nice to stay there" list. (Glamping could be fun! And now I can't stop thinking of Napster founder Sean Parker's $4 million Lord of the Rings-themed outdoor wedding at the Ventana.) I'll just keep telling myself that the Hyatt Carmel Highlands is more closely situated to Monterey and Carmel.

I'll add one last thing. My DD has become quite a hotel snob and remembers the trips we take her on as much for the hotels we stay at as the things we do.

 

[PolyRob]

Dessert sounds amazing but I have done a complete diet change...down just over 41lbs in 2 months. I guess maybe one won't hurt. I have heard calories don't count at Disney.

Wow, that is amazing! Congratulations!! I definitely understand. I had lost a large sum of weight about 7 years ago and have thankfully kept it off. I really try to eat very well all but one day of the week where I let myself indulge in something outside of the norm. Disney tho... I go crazy I refuse to weigh myself for at least two weeks after returning home. I do think some of the walking burns calories when I have 12+ mile days, but there is no way for me to resist all the snacks and food!

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Aside from the crying was it good? I wasn't sure from the trailer when I saw it, seemed it would be but could go either way.

Yes I thought it was good.

I want to see that movie! I love Cole sprouse

Just have tissues

Anyone here own a pool cleaner? Ours keeps getting stuck on the stairs and it's so annoying. It literally sits there all day cleaning the same spot. I moved it once already today and it ended up back in the same spot

We have a Polaris 380 I think. It’s great. Had it for 4 years so far and working great. Just replace the black tail scrubber every few weeks. I do run it 2-8 hours every day. Try to run it 2 hours every day so it gets the entire pool walls, bottom and stairs. Sometimes I forget to move the timer so it only runs 2 hours and instead it will run the whole time the pool is on. Doesn’t hurt it to run but really only needs to run an hour a day according to the pool company. I don’t like brushing the pool so I let the cleaner scrub it.

 

[Haley R]

I have been looking multiple times a day since booking our adult August trip. I want the castle and he wants Pirates. I can't get both to be showing at the same time. Driving me nuts.


As far as the birds. I am really truly scared of birds touching me. I like them from afar but freak out if they are close. There have been a few times at Disney Ive had to walk away from where we were sitting because I was so freaked out!

I still want the snack one but they don’t even have it in stock on the store online

 

[Haley R]

We've sailed on FL resident rates on DCL twice and both times the rates were amazing. Florida resident rates are now posted for cruises from July 29 - August 9. Definitely worth considering!

Are they always about two months out?

 

[disfanforlife]

My husband set up his online account for his new CIP today. First thing I did was send my brother an invite for a card through his account. He is very skeptical when I explained to him what I was doing with credit cards now. He couldnt believe that you could get multiple biz cards and is hesitant to open too many cards because he said that he thinks it will effect his credit score and also he said it could effect your rating when you renew your car insurance too. I have no idea since I just started but I don’t remember reading anything on here about that. Thoughts?

 

[Haley R]

My husband set up his online account for his new CIP today. First thing I did was send my brother an invite for a card through his account. He is very skeptical when I explained to him what I was doing with credit cards now. He couldnt believe that you could get multiple biz cards and is hesitant to open too many cards because he said that he thinks it will effect his credit score and also he said it could effect your rating when you renew your car insurance too. I have no idea since I just started but I don’t remember reading anything on here about that. Thoughts?

You can tell him mine has only gone up since I started this last year lol

 

[Alexle2007]

I was pondering your question today and I think for us:

We would never plan an entire trip just to stay at any particular hotel or resort, no matter how aspirational it may be.

But when we pick a destination, where we're going to stay is always high up the list on my mind.

The hotel or resort and the destination are part of the same experience, and I have a hard time separating the two.

Churning has allowed us to build big enough stashes of points that we can think about incorporating aspirational properties into our trips.

Take for example the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area of the California central coast that we're gushing over today. It's close to the Bay Area (about a 2.5 hour drive), and doesn't require too much planning (and the point is for it to be relaxing). Before the kiddo, my wife and I used to make a lot of weekend trips down there to experience the attractions in Monterey, visit the galleries and shops and dine at the many fine restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea, visit the wineries and farms in Carmel Valley, hike coastal trails in Big Sur, and just de-stress at some of the many nice and uncrowded beaches. So this is a destination we've been to, and don't mind going back to again and again. We've been back twice since the kiddo came along.

Before churning, we stayed at many of the B&Bs and motels in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, and I remember always looking for deals on OTAs, Groupon and Living Social. We've stayed in some really crummy places. I was aware of places like the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and the Ventana Inn, but they were just too expensive out-of-pocket to justify for a weekend and therefore aspirational if at all. I booked the Hyatt Carmel Highlands for an upcoming weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday (and hopefully relax a little). The award rate was 30k Hyatt points/night, which I transferred from UR. For comparison, I looked up a decent inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea that we've stayed at several times, and their average nightly rate for the same weekend is $372. For roughly the same cash value in UR, we're staying at a much nicer resort that I could never bring myself to pay for in cash. That's a win. And I'm really looking forward to a weekend of doing all of the things above and coming back to a nice resort to unwind.

I guess by contrast, is the new JW Marriott Maldives that I've posted about. I think 85k Marriott points/night for an overwater bungalow at a brand new resort is a really good deal, and with Marriott's 5th night free the redemption is even sweeter. My wife has staying in an overwater bungalow on her "wander list," and I could've totally obliged, but she's never had any desire to visit the Maldives, and wouldn't have any idea what to do there for five days. So that went nowhere.

I'm a little sad that the Ventana Inn is probably still out of reach for us. It's right in the heart of Big Sur and a place we've passed by and put on, maybe not our wander list, but definitely our "it'd be nice to stay there" list. (And now I can't stop thinking of Napster founder Sean Parker's $4 million Lord of the Rings-themed wedding at the Ventana.) I'll just keep telling myself that the Hyatt Carmel Highlands is more closely situated to Monterey and Carmel.

I'll add one last thing. My DD has become quite a hotel snob and remembers the trips we take her on as much for the hotels we stay at as the things we do.

My DS is totally the same! He refuses to go to Universal and not have EP. His childhood has been a totally different experience than mine. I think he forgets how lucky he is sometimes.

 

[Lain]

Oh, oui, oui. The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay 1 night anniversary trip in October (Bonbon points) will be the first time grandma has both kids overnight. Then Ventana 2 nights in March. See - I'm working up to it, lol. Maybe then we can go to Bora Bora for a week.



Haven't worked it out yet, but think we'll spend most of our time at the resort. We're only 2 1/2 hours away, so it's really a very hotel focused weekend trip (especially at that sticker price!).

More about the Ventana. I recently learned from reading Frequent Miler that you can book suites with Hyatt by calling in. He recommended using Twitter to ask the Hyatt Concierge which suites are bookable. They tell me that Vista Hot Tub Suite, Big Sur Spa Suite, and Big Sur Forest Suite are the Premium Suites, bookable for 60k Hyatt points. The Vista Hot Tub Suite was surprising to me because that's the most expensive at about $3000/night (!!!). So now I'm torn. Do I YOLO and blow 120k URs for 2 nights??

I've never stayed to the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, but we often pass by it on our way down the coast. (Strawberry picking in the summers and pumpkin patches in the fall are a ritual for us.) I'm sure the resort is lovely, but I've always found the immediate surrounding area to be far from luxurious, and the traffic backup on the weekends can be brutal.

As for the Ventana, it's a splurge in itself and I don't think I'd spend any more for a suite. Those extra 30k points are nights elsewhere at some of Hyatt's most luxurious properties.

 

[bernina]

@Haley R

A little view of sunrise at Wilderness Lodge to get you excited.

 

[mmmears]

I was pondering your question today and I think for us:

We would never plan an entire trip just to stay at any particular hotel or resort, no matter how aspirational it may be.

But when we pick a destination, where we're going to stay is always high up the list on my mind.

The hotel or resort and the destination are part of the same experience, and I have a hard time separating the two.

Churning has allowed us to build big enough stashes of points that we can think about incorporating aspirational properties into our trips.

Take for example the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area of the California central coast that we're gushing over today. It's close to the Bay Area (about a 2.5 hour drive), and doesn't require too much planning (and the point is for it to be relaxing). Before the kiddo, my wife and I used to make a lot of weekend trips down there to experience the attractions in Monterey, visit the galleries and shops and dine at the many fine restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea, visit the wineries and farms in Carmel Valley, hike coastal trails in Big Sur, and just de-stress at some of the many nice and uncrowded beaches. So this is a destination we've been to, and don't mind going back to again and again. We've been back twice since the kiddo came along.

Before churning, we stayed at many of the B&Bs and motels in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Monterey, and I remember always looking for deals on OTAs, Groupon and Living Social. We've stayed in some really crummy places. I was aware of places like the Hyatt Carmel Highlands and the Ventana Inn, but they were just too expensive out-of-pocket to justify for a weekend and therefore aspirational if at all. I booked the Hyatt Carmel Highlands for an upcoming weekend to celebrate my wife's birthday (and hopefully relax a little). The award rate was 30k Hyatt points/night, which I transferred from UR. For comparison, I looked up a decent inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea that we've stayed at several times, and their average nightly rate for the same weekend is $372. For roughly the same cash value in UR, we're staying at a much nicer resort that I could never bring myself to pay for in cash. That's a win. And I'm really looking forward to a weekend of doing all of the things above and coming back to a nice resort to unwind.

I guess by contrast, is the new JW Marriott Maldives that I've posted about. I think 85k Marriott points/night for an overwater bungalow at a brand new resort is a really good deal, and with Marriott's 5th night free the redemption is even sweeter. My wife has staying in an overwater bungalow on her "wander list," and I could've totally obliged, but she's never had any desire to visit the Maldives, and wouldn't have any idea what to do there for five days. So that went nowhere.

I'm a little sad that the Ventana Inn is probably still out of reach for us. No grandparents nearby to babysit. It's right in the heart of Big Sur and a place we've passed by and put on, maybe not our wander list, but definitely our "it'd be nice to stay there" list. (Glamping could be fun! And now I can't stop thinking of Napster founder Sean Parker's $4 million Lord of the Rings-themed outdoor wedding at the Ventana.) I'll just keep telling myself that the Hyatt Carmel Highlands is more closely situated to Monterey and Carmel.

I'll add one last thing. My DD has become quite a hotel snob and remembers the trips we take her on as much for the hotels we stay at as the things we do.

Ventana states on its website that it's for adults only, but the Hyatt Carmel Highlands looks lovely. It's where I was trying to stay to get away from the smoke last year, but DH had meeting he said he couldn't miss and I didn't want to go alone. The Ventana will be there when you are ready. Plus I think if I booked it I would not leave the property since it's not a place I'd return to all the time. Carmel & Monterey is a frequent weekend trip for us, too, although we rarely stay overnight. We have family members who own a few of those nice restaurants in Carmel... I wonder if you tried any of them!

I've never stayed to the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, but we often pass by it on our way down the coast. (Strawberry picking in the summers and pumpkin patches in the fall are a ritual for us.) I'm sure the resort is lovely, but I've always found the immediate surrounding area to be far from luxurious, and the traffic backup on the weekends can be brutal.

As for the Ventana, it's a splurge in itself and I don't think I'd spend any more for a suite. Those extra 30k points are nights elsewhere at some of Hyatt's most luxurious properties.

I've been to the RC there, but haven't stayed overnight. The hotel itself looks really lovely, but I haven't splurged on the $$$$ rooms there and we have places we want to use our points. Also I find Half Moon Bay freezing on any day that it's not over 100 degrees on the peninsula. We've been invited to a July 4th party there (not at the RC) and I'm already worried I might be freezing. Still, I think it's a beautiful part of our coastline. If you think your DD would like it, check out the tide pools there on a low tide day - I can't remember the name of that beach/cove but it's farther north than the RC, but not too far. We went with friends when DD was little on the lowest tide of the year and we could walk out so far I couldn't believe it. They had docents showing the kids all sorts of creatures.

 

[Lain]

Ventana states on its website that it's for adults only, but the Hyatt Carmel Highlands looks lovely. It's where I was trying to stay to get away from the smoke last year, but DH had meeting he said he couldn't miss and I didn't want to go alone. The Ventana will be there when you are ready. Plus I think if I booked it I would not leave the property since it's not a place I'd return to all the time. Carmel & Monterey is a frequent weekend trip for us, too, although we rarely stay overnight. We have family members who own a few of those nice restaurants in Carmel... I wonder if you tried any of them!

Yes, I saw that when I pulled up Ventana's website. I didn't notice it on the Hyatt app, and I've never given much consideration to staying at the Ventana if I had to pay cash. We've eaten at a lot of the restaurants in Carmel, so very likely! I hope they stick around, because it seems Carmel gets a little more commercialized every time we visit.

I've been to the RC there, but haven't stayed overnight. The hotel itself looks really lovely, but I haven't splurged on the $$$$ rooms there and we have places we want to use our points. Also I find Half Moon Bay freezing on any day that it's not over 100 degrees on the peninsula. We've been invited to a July 4th party there (not at the RC) and I'm already worried I might be freezing. Still, I think it's a beautiful part of our coastline. If you think your DD would like it, check out the tide pools there on a low tide day - I can't remember the name of that beach/cove but it's farther north than the RC, but not too far. We went with friends when DD was little on the lowest tide of the year and we could walk out so far I couldn't believe it. They had docents showing the kids all sorts of creatures.

Moss Beach? We've been tide pooling there and its great. Also planning to do some tide pooling around the Monterey Peninsula in a few weeks.

 

[elgerber]

Dessert sounds amazing but I have done a complete diet change...down just over 41lbs in 2 months. I guess maybe one won't hurt. I have heard calories don't count at Disney.

That is amazing!!!! I have lost some as well, not that much and not that quickly, and am suddenly having a hard time keeping it off. Not sure if my body suddenly realized it's going to be 50 next month, and said, HA, jokes on you or what LOL. But at Disney all bets are off. No way I can not eat all the yummy stuff, and with so much walking, I cannot be hungry, or I will get shaky and hangry

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Are they always about two months out?

Honestly I don't recall the exact dates they post the FL resident rates. I want to say 6 - 10 weeks before sailing, but I could be way off (it's been years since we've booked a DCL cruise).

They ask for some form of proof of residency (I showed my driver's license) when you check in. Just be prepared to have a qualified form of proof with you if you book (they will tell you what's acceptable to show).

 

[kidsfirsttrip]

Dessert sounds amazing but I have done a complete diet change...down just over 41lbs in 2 months. I guess maybe one won't hurt. I have heard calories don't count at Disney.

Wow congrats that’s a lot of weight in a short time. What’s your secret? Inquiring minds want to know!! And yes calories absolutely don’t count in Disney!!

 

[Lain]

My husband set up his online account for his new CIP today. First thing I did was send my brother an invite for a card through his account. He is very skeptical when I explained to him what I was doing with credit cards now. He couldnt believe that you could get multiple biz cards and is hesitant to open too many cards because he said that he thinks it will effect his credit score and also he said it could effect your rating when you renew your car insurance too. I have no idea since I just started but I don’t remember reading anything on here about that. Thoughts?

It's hard to convince people who have grown up or bought into the myths about credit cards, e.g., that they're evil, you'll ruin your credit, go into debt, etc. As long as you treat credit like cash, spend only what you would on credit cards as you would buy in cash, pay off the statement in full at the end of every month (some even go in to pay off every week), you can use credit to your advantage. Cash doesn't earn you anything on the money you're spending anyway so you're leaving a lot of value on the table, whereas credit cards come with signup bonuses and rewards for that spend.

When you apply for a credit card, almost all issuers will conduct a hard pull or inquiry of your credit report(s). Personally, a hard pull causes my credit score to drop 2-5 points temporarily. That's negligible! My credit scores fluctuate that much month-to-month just from changes in my balances from regular spending. And if your score is excellent (over 800+) or even very good (~750+), a 2-5 point drop will not affect the rates you get for loans or anything else. (I've never heard credit scores affecting car insurance rates.) A hard pull remains on a credit report for 2 years, but the effect of a hard pull dissipates in a few months.

Credit scores go up and down for a number of reasons, from changes in your credit card balances, to credit utilization ratio (how much balance you have vs. amount of available credit on your card accounts), to the average age of your accounts (the higher AAoA, the better). If you're opening a new personal credit card, you'll take a small hit from the hard pull and your AAoA will drop a little, but you're opening a new account that will increase your available credit lines, and assuming you don't spend any more than you usually do, that would have the effect of lowering your credit utilization ratio, which tends to increase your credit scores. A business card like the CIP will not appear on personal credit reports, so you won't get the benefit of having that biz card's credit line increasing your available credit, but it also won't lower your AAoA, and any balance you put on that biz card also won't count against your credit utilization ratio. For example, when I was paying most of our expenses through Plastiq (when it was still coding 3x) on the CIP, I was barely using my personal cards and the credit utilization ratio on those personal cards was like 1-2%. My score slowly went up from ~800-810 to ~830-840. My scores still hover around the high-810s to mid-820s now.

 

[miztressuz]

My husband set up his online account for his new CIP today. First thing I did was send my brother an invite for a card through his account. He is very skeptical when I explained to him what I was doing with credit cards now. He couldnt believe that you could get multiple biz cards and is hesitant to open too many cards because he said that he thinks it will effect his credit score and also he said it could effect your rating when you renew your car insurance too. I have no idea since I just started but I don’t remember reading anything on here about that. Thoughts?

Some car insurance does use your credit rating as part of their rating process (well, probably most, especially the big national guys) but a change a few points either way won't make much of a difference in the premiums.

Yes, opening a bunch of credit cards will effect your score BUT only affects your score negatively if you drastically increase your utilization percentage, or forget to make timely payments (the same as if you had one card). Generally many people's score increases as their overall credit available increases but utilization stays the same, so the percentage used is lowered, and/or they get biz cards that don't report to your personal report so your spending shifts there which also would reduce your utilization rate. Inquiries will give you a temporary hit, but depending on your profile when you begin it should be 10 points or less and rebound within a couple months. My score long term hasn't changed since starting this game. It takes a dip a few points here and there but always rebounds in 2 months or so. Offhand I don't recall being below 820 and hover near 840 most months - same as before I opened 10 cards in the last 2 years ( mix of biz and personal). I know I'm tame comparatively speaking, but the heavy hitters have chimed in here with the same as I recall.

If you are a responsible credit user now, becoming a churner has little to no negative effects. For many people it has a positive effect. If the temptation to spend extra to meet MSR exists, or having multiple cards is too confusing and payments are missed, then becoming a churner could negatively effect your score and should rethink trying the game.