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

[calypso726]

Garnet Hill has 25% off right now if anyone is considering a cashmere wrap

Thank you and done! @SouthFayetteFan I did get the blue one so make sure you stick to that light oatmeal one ok

 

[disfanforlife]

I'm not sure the TKTS booth is what it used to be. In recent years, I've done a lot better by using broadway box or playbill discount codes, easily found using google. TKTS might have saved me an extra $10 per ticket, but they were invariably worse seats, and the time investment just isn't worth it.

I've also used Chase UR to purchase broadway tix from their travel portal at 1.5 cents/point with CSR, but only for shows that don't have discounts available online. Got great seats for Hadestown and Dear Evan Hansen this way.

Good to know, the last time I used TKTS was about 3 years ago.

 

[speedyfishy]

It's sad for my kids to have friends whose grandparents travel from out-of-state for their big performances and yet neither of their grandparents really care. It is what it is though. I will not be that type of grandparent!!

My grandfather took me to all my Softball games and practices from like age 7-11. My parents barley went but that’s a story for another day. I’m so lucky I had my grandfather there he would bring me dinner too.

 

[Ngwira]

Not Calypso but if I have any sort of idea where I want to go, assuming I don't know who flies there...I first go to skyscanner to determine which airlines fly to the desired destination.

Those airlines fall into an alliance (usually).

The alliance determines which miles currency is needed.

Then accumulate currencies, stay flexible (aka perhaps consider a back up carrier/flight if plan A doesn't pan out) and proceed.

Once you have the currency, prior to the flight dates coming up (a couple of weeks-months depending on how much you stalk the airline), you can get an idea of the flights/amounts needed.

Seat guru helps you understand the airplane/seats/seats to book.

Also, feel free to ask, there are several of us here who enjoy looking and booking and will help you if you have a departure airport(s) and desired destination(s).

Also check awardhacker.com. It’ll tell you which miles, how many you need and which point currency transfers to the airline.

 

[Lain]

View attachment 436495

Oooooh they know I've been looking! This one doesn't have all the Diamond goodies though!

I really have a feeling AMEX is going to eventually get me.

But the Surpass does earn 6x Hilton points at US supermarkets vs. the base rate of 3x Hilton points (no bonus category) at supermarkets on the Biz or Aspire.

The Surpass and Biz earns 6x Hilton points at US gas stations vs. the base rate of 3x Hilton points (no bonus category) on the Aspire.

The Aspire does earn 7x Hilton points at US restaurants vs. 6x Hilton points at US restaurants on the Biz and Surpass.

 

[Alexle2007]

I must be the only person who doesn't like pickles. I think I ate too many when I was in jr hight and can't stand the taste of dill any more

Nope, I am completely with you. If I know they come with a meal I ask for no pickles. And if I don't know and they are on my plate, I toss them off as quickly as possible and then wipe the pickle juice from the plate and if the pickle juice touched any of the food, it does not get eaten.

 

[Communicore1991]

Semi card related so I'll give it a shot. I know I will need to call in to use my JetBlue TrueBlue points for booking a flight on Hawaiian. I'm looking to book 4 F seats for my family. With that I have a couple questions:

Are there any particular fare buckets that need to be available to book with points or if there are 4 seats open in F I can book all 4 on points?
When booking with points, can I pay fees/taxes with my JetBlue Plus card to get 10% of the points back or is that only applicable to points used to book JetBlue operated flights?

Thanks!

 

[Alexle2007]

Garnet Hill has 25% off right now if anyone is considering a cashmere wrap

Why did I have to look! Typed in wrap and found a cute swimsuit also.

 

[havaneselover]

Why did I have to look! Typed in wrap and found a cute swimsuit also.

Their Asian wrap pajamas are wonderful too.

 

[Limes96]

My Serve transfer posted officially finally! I can see it both places now (Serve and bank) instead of neither. I was fine until it dropped off the Serve ledger yesterday.

I enjoy pickles in moderation. My favorite way to eat pickles is on top of grilled cheese or grilled cream cheese sandwiches. I’ve seen the pinwheels at family gatherings and eaten a few myself but haven’t made them.

I love going to my kids’ stuff. Just yesterday I got a text from my mom asking for a ride to my daughter’s away volleyball game. An almost 1-1/2 hour drive. Mom and Grandma, sitting there in the stands, watching an awesome game! What I hate is, now my son is in college over six hours away, I can’t make it to his piano performances every time! He thinks he’s playing on a Friday in a couple weeks, but I can’t make it! Boo!

 

[brownhaired_girl]

This will be me too! My kids better like me in my old age cause I'll be around My mom lived close to us for 12 years and didn't go to her grandkids performances or games either. Now she lives back in TX. She did go to stuff when she was visiting last week but that is cause she had no choice. Either tag along or be left at home alone lol....My dh's parents live in TX and have only visited a handful of times in the 20 years we've lived in CO. And they've really only come out at Christmas, when there is nothing like that going on so they've never seen anything. It's sad for my kids to have friends whose grandparents travel from out-of-state for their big performances and yet neither of their grandparents really care. It is what it is though. I will not be that type of grandparent!!

My mother came along with us to almost EVERY horse show for almost 10 years. She videotaped almost every class DD was in. Mom is starting to show some cognitive deficits these days and we use a wheelchair when we are looking at traveling any long distances but she sooo looks forward to every trip. The stable I built has a small apartment in the front area that will be finished if mom ever needs it.

 

[GlamMistress]

New offer of DHs chase account this morning - $5 off WalMart grocery purchase after spending $50 or more.

Also, 5% back on Hotel Tonight.

 

[Alexle2007]

All of this chatter with this kid sport/activity, now that DS is playing for his middle school team, I miss driving him to and from practices. They have their activities before or immediately after school so all I have left are attending his games when they start on Thurs. Some of the away games will be an adventure to get to during the work week with our awful beltway traffic.

 

[disneybirds]

I think it was here we had the discussion about how much better it was to fly into SNA than LAX for Disneyland. However, I need some opinions. We're going next year for a milestone bday for my husband. From EWR (Newark). Looks like United is our best option.

I was pricing out using URs to book through the portal (1.5x CSR), but we don't like the regular seats on United and would want to upgrade to the premium economy. So I started thinking well I may as well look at how much business costs. And apparently you can get business saver fares for 25-35k points. Which I could transfer from UR. So now I'm set on doing that.

Now my conundrum. Looks like there's only 1-2 nonstop flights into SNA each day, and they're on the "old" style first class type seats, 737-700 I believe. Not that we need lie flat seats for a flight during the day, but the options into LAX look much nicer. Now, it's 25k points to SNA and 35k to LAX. Either way we'd be flying home from LAX since we're ending the trip in LA.

So we could fly into SNA on the older style, then have the nicer seats coming home from LAX. At least it wouldn't be going the other way around, I'm sure that'd be a letdown. But my husband knows nothing of any of these options, so any of them he'd think we're amazing I'm sure. I would be hoping I could hold out and surprise him. Not sure I could though, he knows we have to pay for checked bags on United. Although maybe I could fib a little and tell him I booked some fare that allows 2 checked bags each, but he may get suspicious.

Anyway, long story short, worth it to fly into LAX for the better biz class options, or save some points and take the ease of SNA? This is all assuming there's availability for saver fares when I need to book later this week. Today there were options for Aug 16 (my understanding is release is 11 months to the day? Just like DVC!), I'll keep an eye on the next few days to try to get a feel for it.

My DH avoids LAX at all costs! I would fly into SNA and then out of LAX. You may want to check the car rental prices since they can sometimes be higher for dropping off at a different location.

 

[elgerber]

Crazy at work yesterday so I had no time to comment. Midwest here, and those pickle things are at all pot locks and family gatherings. I HATE pickles, LOL, so they are a big nope for me!!
My dd took dance when she was younger, we went to every recital, but it was only one per year. She also took piano, and of course we never missed a recital for that either, that was only twice a year. She also did musical theater. We both always went to at least one performance, I sometimes went to more. But one of the community theaters had 10-12 performances, over two weeks, so no, I did not go to all of those. I would work one or two of them, and brought food for the last show potluck.
When she was in highschool I was the president of the theater booster club, so I was at every show. I only sat usually for two (of the 4), but I was always there and watched what I could from the edges.
My mother in law always came, my father in law (they were divorced) came usually. My mother however, in all her years, came to ONE piano recital, and I think she came to one musical performance, out of everything she ever did. And the farthest away she ever lived was 45 minutes. It was always "it might snow", or "I have a migraine". It was always something. And because of that, we pretty much don't speak anymore.

 

[marsh0013]

My DH avoids LAX at all costs! I would fly into SNA and then out of LAX. You may want to check the car rental prices since they can sometimes be higher for dropping off at a different location.

Thanks! As of now, we aren't planning on renting a car. Definitely not for while we're at Disneyland. And we have friends that live in LA who have driven us around when we've been there before, so we may not even rent a car while we're in that area either. We've got plenty of time to figure that out.

 

[marsh0013]

Looking at this again, I think the cheapest price would be 35,000 points and the regular price would be 60,000 points for New York to LAX. The actual flight price would only come into play if booking directly with URs through the Chase portal. It seems like this is an example of when it is most likely better to transfer to United even if you have a CSR for the 1.5x because some of those flights are priced outrageously with cash!

View attachment 436533

Oh yeah, I just meant maybe since all the cash prices were over $1000, it meant they hadn't released al the seats yet. But I honestly have no idea. And I have no idea what time United releases the next day either. Looking now, Aug 17 is not available yet.

 

[marsh0013]

Nope, I am completely with you. If I know they come with a meal I ask for no pickles. And if I don't know and they are on my plate, I toss them off as quickly as possible and then wipe the pickle juice from the plate and if the pickle juice touched any of the food, it does not get eaten.

Same. Exactly the same. Haaaaate pickles. So so much!

 

[Judique]

Hyatt Free Night has posted to my account. I did not have it on September 9th which is probably the last time I looked at my Hyatt account - I booked a couple of nights next July using points. It shows an expiration date of September 3, 2020. I'm expecting the annual fee to post on Oct 1. My anniversary date is early September - I thought the 6th, but it may be the 3rd.

This post is in reference to some saying their Hyatt night had not posted and wondering if Chase was following Amex in not giving out free nights for 10-12 weeks.

And, I received a survey from Hyatt regarding my recent 'phone' experience. I haven't called them. My account looks okay, reservations intact - I have 4 nights booked in total. Points are now minimal - enough for 1 night, plus my free night, which I'm going to book in a few minutes.

 

[DisneyMandC]

My Serve transfer posted officially finally! I can see it both places now (Serve and bank) instead of neither. I was fine until it dropped off the Serve ledger yesterday.

I enjoy pickles in moderation. My favorite way to eat pickles is on top of grilled cheese or grilled cream cheese sandwiches. I’ve seen the pinwheels at family gatherings and eaten a few myself but haven’t made them.

I love going to my kids’ stuff. Just yesterday I got a text from my mom asking for a ride to my daughter’s away volleyball game. An almost 1-1/2 hour drive. Mom and Grandma, sitting there in the stands, watching an awesome game! What I hate is, now my son is in college over six hours away, I can’t make it to his piano performances every time! He thinks he’s playing on a Friday in a couple weeks, but I can’t make it! Boo!

My serve transfer posted this morning as well