I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[wanderlust7]

We are planning Hawaii next summer too... I've got 2 time frames to work with:
Right after school ends Memorial day weekend May 28-June 13 (17 days) or
June 18-July 5th (18 days) including travel dates.
Plans so far:
Fly into KOA - 2 nights - just want to visit Volcano NP - something close to the NP
KOA to OGG - 5 nights - Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
OGG to HNL - 8 nights (3 nights at AUL). Thinking Hyatt then move to AUL - if we did end of June we would spend Fourth of July at Aulani.

Man this trip is getting expensive really fast - might have to reduce AUL to 2 nights.

What dates would be best?

There's also an airport in Hilo (ITO) if you want to save some driving. There are direct flights from HNL. Only if it doesn't come out more expensive though since the drive from KOA isn't bad.

If you want to use points, there's a Hilton Doubletree in Hilo. We did a vacation rental in Volcano Village to be closer. If you have time, Hilo Farmer's Market has great fruit. We got the biggest longan there. Also really enjoyed the mochi at Two Ladies Kitchen.

 

[afan]

Note that the Hyatts In Honolulu are not directly on the beach, if that matters to you. We enjoyed our 2 nights at the Royal Hawaiian this past week compared to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I can’t believe this is our final day already and we head back tomorrow with an overnight in San Diego.

I stayed at the hyatt recency many years ago when I worked for apple vacations. We had a fam trip to HNL and OGG and stayed at the hyatt. It's a nice location and a short walk to the beach. We still had an ocean view. If you're looking to use hyatt points I wouldn't hesitate to stay there. Most Waikiki properties are across the street or more from the beach but it's all flat and they aren't long city blocks. We also rarely suggested places on the beach, especially when you are island hopping or now splitting it with aulani. My thought would be, you aren't staying in Waikiki to go to the beach everyday so there's not as much need to be on the beach like it might be if you were spending thr entire week there and only there.

We also stayed at whatever is next to the grand wailea, it had been an outrigger but maybe it's a Marriott now. It was nice too.

 

[becauseimnew]

We did a vacation rental in Volcano Village to be closer. If you have time, Hilo Farmer's Market has great fruit. We got the biggest longan there. Also really enjoyed the mochi at Two Ladies Kitchen.

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try to find a rental on the Chase portal.

And just google longan, will definitely give them a try.

 

[punkin]

I wonder which ones. My agency has no policy that we can’t go there. Maybe DoD?

I don't know. My federal employee DH and I went to Russia to visit DD (Russian major who is currently searching for a job ) who was studying abroad there. No problems. I think my visa is still valid through next March... maybe that's an idea (but I really don't want to go back actually).

 

[MarBee]

Please take pity on this Bonvoy noob. I never really worried about status before because we always used our points solely to stay at the Swan/Dolphin every couple of years.
Now my husband is at 43 nights, which is 7 away from hitting 50 and Platinum Elite status. Here is my plan for achieving that status. Would anyone mind taking a look at it and telling me if you see any faults with it?
He has 3 free night certificates we will be using in 2 weeks to stay at Gaylord Palms. After that, he will be four nights away from 50.
I plan on booking a cheapy hotel near us ($59/night) and not actually staying in it. Just checking in and out. Since there is a promotion now where you earn double the points and double the nights towards elite status (until April 26), will this get me/him to Platinum?

 

[LB002]

Maybe that's what they did. I just don't want to go to Russia (I won't tell my Russian SIL that)!

I thought about Merrytime, but honestly I can't see spending $10k to go to the Caribbean just because it's Christmas. So I'm leaning toward going back to AK next summer and saving the rest of my gift cards for a spring break trip on one of the new ships or DD's college graduation.

I actually lived/worked in Russia for a year. But not somewhere as exciting as St. Petersburg or Moscow (although we visited). St. Peterberg is especially beautiful.

 

[EM Lawrence]

DP for HA Barclays Business card. I applied 3/8, called them to check status 3/15 and subsequently faxed in all of the documents they requested that same day (copy of front and back of DL, copy of SS card or 1040 form, copy of either a utility bill or bank statement in my name.) I called today 3/18 to check the status and they told me it takes 10-12 business days after they receive the documents to move out of their security process and into their credit consideration process. Sheesh. You have to really want a Barclay’s card to get one apparently.

Also, I have a brand new Amex Plat and charges are just starting to show up on my account. When I check transactions from grocery stores, which are supposed to earn 10X points, they only show 1X points. Do the extra points not post until the end of the statement period or something like that?

 

[wanderlust7]

New elevated Amex Bonvoy SUBs. Brilliant is 125k with $200 restaurant credit. Biz is 100k with $150 credit on "eligible purchases". I think that's anything just not cash equivalent or GC.

https://frequentmiler.com/nice-new-...x-figure-points-and-statement-credits-on-top/

 

[Disneyonmymind]

DP for HA Barclays Business card. I applied 3/8, called them to check status 3/15 and subsequently faxed in all of the documents they requested that same day (copy of front and back of DL, copy of SS card or 1040 form, copy of either a utility bill or bank statement in my name.) I called today 3/18 to check the status and they told me it takes 10-12 business days after they receive the documents to move out of their security process and into their credit consideration process. Sheesh. You have to really want a Barclay’s card to get one apparently.

Also, I have a brand new Amex Plat and charges are just starting to show up on my account. When I check transactions from grocery stores, which are supposed to earn 10X points, they only show 1X points. Do the extra points not post until the end of the statement period or something like that?

So they did not require any business related documents?

 

[afan]

I don't know. My federal employee DH and I went to Russia to visit DD (Russian major who is currently searching for a job ) who was studying abroad there. No problems. I think my visa is still valid through next March... maybe that's an idea (but I really don't want to go back actually).

It probably relates to the level of clearance they have and what their job is. I have a friend with low level clearance and she has to notify them when she travels and there's a site she can look at to see what color it is for them and if she's allowed. When we were looking at Asia and her going too I had her look up hong Kong and China to see what it said, hk because of all the protests that had been happening last year. She works for a private company but on government funded work.

 

[becauseimnew]

Please take pity on this Bonvoy noob. I never really worried about status before because we always used our points solely to stay at the Swan/Dolphin every couple of years.
Now my husband is at 43 nights, which is 7 away from hitting 50 and Platinum Elite status. Here is my plan for achieving that status. Would anyone mind taking a look at it and telling me if you see any faults with it?
He has 3 free night certificates we will be using in 2 weeks to stay at Gaylord Palms. After that, he will be four nights away from 50.
I plan on booking a cheapy hotel near us ($59/night) and not actually staying in it. Just checking in and out. Since there is a promotion now where you earn double the points and double the nights towards elite status (until April 26), will this get me/him to Platinum?

yup! just make sure he in enrolled in the promotion. Looks like you'll need to book a cheap hotel for 2 nights which will get you to 47 nights, plus your 3 from your free night certificates you'll get to 50!

 

[iujen94]

We are planning Hawaii next summer too... I've got 2 time frames to work with:
Right after school ends Memorial day weekend May 28-June 13 (17 days) or
June 18-July 5th (18 days) including travel dates.
Plans so far:
Fly into KOA - 2 nights - just want to visit Volcano NP - something close to the NP
KOA to OGG - 5 nights - Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
OGG to HNL - 8 nights (3 nights at AUL). Thinking Hyatt then move to AUL - if we did end of June we would spend Fourth of July at Aulani.

Man this trip is getting expensive really fast - might have to reduce AUL to 2 nights.

What dates would be best?

If you want something super unique near VNP, we stayed in a treehouse very close to the park when we went 4 years ago. It was such a cool experience!!
https://hawaiitreehousewedding.wordpress.com/

 

[atxbound]

Please take pity on this Bonvoy noob. I never really worried about status before because we always used our points solely to stay at the Swan/Dolphin every couple of years.
Now my husband is at 43 nights, which is 7 away from hitting 50 and Platinum Elite status. Here is my plan for achieving that status. Would anyone mind taking a look at it and telling me if you see any faults with it?
He has 3 free night certificates we will be using in 2 weeks to stay at Gaylord Palms. After that, he will be four nights away from 50.
I plan on booking a cheapy hotel near us ($59/night) and not actually staying in it. Just checking in and out. Since there is a promotion now where you earn double the points and double the nights towards elite status (until April 26), will this get me/him to Platinum?

According to the Marriott lurkers on flyertalk, if you pay for one night of your stay, the nights from the free night certificate will also double. Depending on the cost of another free night at the Gaylord, you can simply add a paid night to your stay there and receive 8 nights stay credit which will get him to Platinum (8 nights= 3 free night certificates +1 night paid stay doubled). In this case, I don't know what the Plat. status will do for you at the Swolphin hotels. The Marriott program is a lot more complicated with status and brand benefits.

 

[EM Lawrence]

So they did not require any business related documents?

Nope.

 

[Alexle2007]

Does anyone know if we’ll be able to get to the PP lounge in HNL from the SW gates? Our plan is to hang out there for a bit before our flight to SAN.

 

[EM Lawrence]

Would someone with access to the Chase travel portal be willing to look something up for me? I am interested in knowing how many UR would be required to book a flight on Hawaiian Airlines, Tuesday Jan 25th from MCO to HNL nonstop, First Class.

I don’t have any of the Sapphire cards yet, but thinking about getting one.

Many thanks!

 

[wanderlust7]

Congrats!!

Regarding Amex, I would love to work out a long term plan for how to maximize MRs for myself, DH, and possibly even DD (P3). I feel I understand the basic plan for Chase cards but, when it comes to working out a long term plan for MRs, I am at a loss. Right now, I have 2 amex biz hotel cards and DH has 1 so we have used a few slots already with non-MR cards. Is there a recommended order to start getting MR earning cards with 2 or 3 persons?

Most of the MR cards are charge cards, so no worries about your 4/5 Amex credit card slot. All of the SUBs are elevated now. You could go for a plat for 100k with 10% grocery. There's a 125k version too that seems easier for new customers to pull up. Or a gold for 75k (I think that's the highest? It keeps going up I'm losing track lol). Or if you have high spend, you might be able to pull up 110k for $15k spend on the biz plat. If you go through support on a personal card, there's also extra $200 credit on home furnishing stores.

 

[wanderlust7]

Would someone with access to the Chase travel portal be willing to look something up for me? I am interested in knowing how many UR would be required to book a flight on Hawaiian Airlines, Tuesday Jan 25th from MCO to HNL nonstop, First Class.

I don’t have any of the Sapphire cards yet, but thinking about getting one.

Many thanks!

It will be whatever the cash price is that you see, with the multiplier. With a CSP points are worth 1.25 cent per point, CSR is 1.5. So if it's $1000, with the CSP is 80k UR, CSR is 66,667 UR.

 

[Lain]

Please take pity on this Bonvoy noob. I never really worried about status before because we always used our points solely to stay at the Swan/Dolphin every couple of years.
Now my husband is at 43 nights, which is 7 away from hitting 50 and Platinum Elite status. Here is my plan for achieving that status. Would anyone mind taking a look at it and telling me if you see any faults with it?
He has 3 free night certificates we will be using in 2 weeks to stay at Gaylord Palms. After that, he will be four nights away from 50.
I plan on booking a cheapy hotel near us ($59/night) and not actually staying in it. Just checking in and out. Since there is a promotion now where you earn double the points and double the nights towards elite status (until April 26), will this get me/him to Platinum?

DH needs 7 elite nights. As you know, Marriott is running a double elite night/double points promo right now through 4/27. Be sure DH is registered for this promotion.

You plan on using 3 FNCs at the Gaylord. You could book an extra cash night at the Gaylord in conjunction with the 3 FNCs (as part of a single "stay"), and thereby earn double elite nights on the 4 nights of your stay (8 elite nights). The double elite nights promo requires a stay of two nights or more, and at least one of those nights must be paid. You can combine a paid night with points or FNCs: Combining Marriott awards, certificates, and paid nights in a single booking.

I don't know how the math works out to book 1 extra night at the Gaylord, versus 2 throwaway nights at a cheap hotel, but I'm generally not a fan of throwing away money.

 

[amcc]

I had an offer on my CSR for $25 off $25 at The Real Real. If you sign up, you get another $25, so $50 of clothes free. I'm going to buy stuff to resell . Lots of their wool pants are on sale.