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

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I don’t gamble. I’m so glad I saw it just no huge desire to go back. Felt the same way about NOLA.

Oh and Philadelphia - no offense @SouthFayetteFan
I'll give you a pass :)
I personally feel Philly is one of those cities everyone should see once but it's not something you have come back to. I know some people love it, but I feel aside from the history there's nothing that says "here's something completely unique you won't find anywhere else". If there is, I haven't found it yet and someone feel free to enlighten me :)

I'm out in the 'burbs and except for rare occasions do I venture into the city proper. There's stuff I like to do there, but the hassle of traffic and/or parking (and sometimes the people) usually overshadows, so we try to do "day trips" where we can do a bunch of stuff together to make it worthwhile. There is great food, and theatre and museums, and there's still a good music scene, but while I might not get the same exact chefs or entertainment out here, it's close enough. I personally feel it's ok to check it off the list to BTDT :)
 
Los Angeles. Once was enough. Hollywood was a dump.

I agree completely. Once was definitely enough.

I’d add Vegas since we just spent 3 nights there and really that was enough. The cirque show was amazing and I could be talked into returning for something like that but I still wouldn’t want to spend much time there.

I don’t have much interest in another western Caribbean cruise. It’s not that I hated the ports, since we always found great day use resorts, I’m just not a huge beach person (love the views but get bored easily). I will make an exception for Mr. Sanchos in Cozumel. It’s always so much fun. I enjoyed our Mexican riviera cruise so much more (except Cabo). The ports had a more European feel and offered more than just beaches.

Adding Miami as well since it’s just not my kind of town.
 


Dh usually checks us in for our flights but I found this picture that might be helpful. It looks like it’s from someone using the app:
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She’s within 24 hours?


Thank y’all! Yes she was inside 24 hours. First time with Frontier. I couldn’t get the website to work for checking at all. Messed with it a long time. I did finally download the app and that worked fine. Now I know!

She just finished her Tokyo character audition. Said there 261 people there and she made it to the final 30 or so. This was her first auditions so we are super excited she made it so far. Now she is planning to travel all over to many auditions in the future. She needs to get another job for all that! Ha!
 
I agree on Jamaica. It's dirty and VERY dangerous for female travelers.
I was in a group at all times and was pretty young like 13 or 14. There was a stretch of beach in between our hotel and the next and that stretch of beach had jungle. There were cars sitting in the jungle with people trying to sell stuff. It was very sketchy. My brother and some of his friends got asked by a guy at the hotel if they wanted a tour of the city. My brother’s an idiot and said yes. They came back after having some lovely green plants if you know what I mean. I literally sat in the pool pretty much the whole time.
 


Thank y’all! Yes she was inside 24 hours. First time with Frontier. I couldn’t get the website to work for checking at all. Messed with it a long time. I did finally download the app and that worked fine. Now I know!

She just finished her Tokyo character audition. Said there 261 people there and she made it to the final 30 or so. This was her first auditions so we are super excited she made it so far. Now she is planning to travel all over to many auditions in the future. She needs to get another job for all that! Ha!
Wow that’s awesome!
 
Thank y’all! Yes she was inside 24 hours. First time with Frontier. I couldn’t get the website to work for checking at all. Messed with it a long time. I did finally download the app and that worked fine. Now I know!

She just finished her Tokyo character audition. Said there 261 people there and she made it to the final 30 or so. This was her first auditions so we are super excited she made it so far. Now she is planning to travel all over to many auditions in the future. She needs to get another job for all that! Ha!
Where was the audition? Made to final 30 and then cut or she moves on?? Congrats to her for making it that far! She should pursue her dreams 😃
 
That’s not normal is it? I’ve flown into SNA only once and I’m fairly certain we were put on the LAX-type ocean flight path...

Here’s our flight path: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL809

I’m not sure if it’s normal for UAL. Back when SW was flying to SNA out of SFO, we followed the coastline pretty much all the way down and I remember even seeing the Channel Islands. For both SW and UAL, I know their planes usually veer inland south of Long Beach around Huntington Beach, but our flight today kept flying until we were over Anaheim before turning back around to land at SNA.
 
Caution using Amex Offers with Apple Pay.

The fine print on these offers typically include the following warnings:

In addition, in most cases, you may not receive the statement credit if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party or if the merchant uses a mobile or wireless card reader to process it.

In addition, in most cases, you may not receive the additional Membership Rewards points if your transaction is made with an electronic wallet or through a third party.


YMMV whether a purchase using DD’s card on Apple Pay will trigger the offer.

If you’re referring to the Spend $150, Get $30/3,000 MR back Vineyard Vines offer, I purchased a $150 physical gift card and had it delivered to me, and that triggered the offer. Perhaps you can get DD to order you a $150 gift card before the offer expires?

This would maximize the deal too, since you only get 20% off by spending exactly $150. Spend anything more, and you’re lowering the discount, as well as putting spend on a Platinum card that earns only 1 MR/$1. You can have DD order you a $150 gift card to maximize the deal, then use that gift card and put whatever balance on a card that you’re working on MSR or earns you a better reward.

You had me worried there, but we got the 3000MRs from the transaction. :) I'll keep this info in mind for next time though.
 
I didn’t know Chase was 1099ing people for the 75k UR mortgage bonus and other mortgage related incentives. In case anyone missed it there was some discussion of it on Reddit today.

to me, this is something we already know. any kind of bank bonus will be given out a 1099.
Referrals i believe has always been a grey line, not to mention this is the first year both amex and chase has given 1099s out for them.
 
Helps validate that we only need one day to see the wall and the forbidden city. Probably end up flying in late evening and then out late evening simply because of luggage but I haven't decided. Got plenty of time to figure it out though.

Forbidden City is excellent, the Wall near Beijing not so much. I agree with Lain and Calypso -- once and done.
 
I do a HDP because I want an HSA. My deductible is $6500 or so. An HSA is triple-tax advantaged and acts as a stealth IRA. Honestly I mainly use the HSA for the kids (ADHD meds, braces, etc.). I'm 42 and do my annual check up and get a mammogram but most years spend next to nothing OOP thankfully.

Can you explain the triple-tax advantaged? I understand that contributions aren't taxed, which for me is the main appeal. And that withdrawals for covered expenses aren't taxed (which is I think what you mean by a stealth IRA?) But what's the third tax advantage?
 
Can you explain the triple-tax advantaged? I understand that contributions aren't taxed, which for me is the main appeal. And that withdrawals for covered expenses aren't taxed (which is I think what you mean by a stealth IRA?) But what's the third tax advantage?
Tax free growth

Also another benefit is if you contribute directly through your employer, you avoid FICA taxes and I’m all about that!
 
Tax free growth

Also another benefit is if you contribute directly through your employer, you avoid FICA taxes and I’m all about that!

The HSA plan that my employer has is really bad about the growth part -- you have to pay a fee to invest. I should really figure out what my options are regarding moving the funds. And I didn't know about avoiding the FICA taxes.
 
The HSA plan that my employer has is really bad about the growth part -- you have to pay a fee to invest. I should really figure out what my options are regarding moving the funds. And I didn't know about avoiding the FICA taxes.
There’s actually a way to “have your cake and eat it too.”

I just do an annual rollover from my employer plan to my HealthEquity plan which has the awesome Vanguard funds that I prefer.

EDIT: the sad part is that my HSA is with my employer (the bank) and we have terrible (read: costly) investment options. Oh well, I happily move my money where I want it once a year.
 
Forbidden City is excellent, the Wall near Beijing not so much. I agree with Lain and Calypso -- once and done.

It'll be one and done. It's mostly we'll aleady be in shanghai, it's so close we can't go that far and not go. China will probably be one and done too. We wouldn't be going there at all if it wasn't for SDL.
 
Anyone here attending the upcoming Halloween parties?
DH and I will most likely be attending on our Labor Day trip.

Just a quick mini review on Wild Africa Trek at Animal Kingdom. It was awesome!!!!

We had the 11:45am slot yesterday. Arrived at the park at 10 and jumped on FOP with a FP (my all time favorite ride). A quick stop at Creature Comforts for an iced coffee and then we walked back to the safari area. There’s a separate check in area between standby and FP queues for the trek.

Some basic check-in paperwork, they weighed DD to make sure she was over 45 pounds and then we got into our gear (similar to zip lining harnesses). They had bug spray and sunscreen available to apply before heading out (we put on bug spray but didn’t really have a problem). There are also free lockers to store anything you can’t take with you. They handed out straps to put on cell phones and sunglasses if you wanted to keep them on the Trek.

The first 1/3 of the Trek is walking. We started out through Gorilla Falls trail and then cut over on a dirt path into the safari. There were several stations where we clipped in to allow us to walk right up to the edge of a habitat (hippos and crocs) and a set of rope bridges over the crocs. It was so much fun.

After the Trek you board a special safari vehicle and do a modified version of the regular safari. We pulled off over to a small hut for a snack and more wildlife viewing. What they call a snack kept me full until well past dinner. Lots of good finger food prepared at Tusker House. Hummus, curried chicken salad, pita, dried meats, fruit, and a few other things. All delicious. They gave my daughter a kids meal with cheese cubes, a ham roll up, fruit, trail mix, carrots and dip and a few other kid friendly foods. All served with an amazing juice blend similar to what they have at Boma.

Up until this point it was crazy humid hot but in the shade. After lunch the skies opened up and the rain and wind were so strong they put the canvas flaps down on the hut. We waited it out a bit and then they handed out free ponchos and we boarded the truck. We drove through the safari to see some additional animals and then ended a bit further down than the regular safari trucks do. We had a short walk through the park to get back to the entrance where we picked up the items from our locker and they handed out a postcard with the link to the photos they took (included).

All in all it was one of the very best adventures we’ve had at Disney so far. We all absolutely loved it, heat, humidity, rain and all. It was worth every penny of the ~$444 we paid for the 3 of us. If anyone has any questions or would like more info just let me know.

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Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I considered doing this tour for our upcoming trip, but then I realized DS could do this one with us, so we will wait until are Easter trip when he will be with us. I'm very much looking forward to this!!

I do a HDP because I want an HSA. My deductible is $6500 or so. An HSA is triple-tax advantaged and acts as a stealth IRA. Honestly I mainly use the HSA for the kids (ADHD meds, braces, etc.). I'm 42 and do my annual check up and get a mammogram but most years spend next to nothing OOP thankfully.
I love having my HSA. It's mostly used for DS, as he generally has more medical expenses than DH and I. It was especially nice a few years back when he had to have tubes put in his ears super early in the year. Met deductible on our high deductible plan easily and the entire amount came out of the HSA.
 
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