I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 (see first page for add'l details)

I figure someone here will have advice! I am planning a trip to the Winterguard International Championships in Dayton, OH in April.

I will have to rent a car, and the venue is the University of Dayton, which is where I will want to stay just to be close I imagine I will be near the campus most of the day on all the days of the event. I think I have enough IHG points to almost cover a hotel not terribly far from the University.

I have some Avios, and I found flights on American in business class that I could book on points, through British Airways. I don't love the times but FREE is good.

Both the outbound and the return connect in O'Hare, which is an airport I've never been to. The Chicago- Dayton and the Dayton-Chicago are "Air Wisconsin as American Eagle on Behalf of American Airlines".

It does say that the booking is cancelable, minus a service fee of $55 (I don't usually worry about cancelling a flight as I don't fly often, but this one is sort of iffy).

The PHX to Chicago leg unfortunately leaves at midnight but it's the only flight available on points.

Is there anything in particular that you feel I need to think about or know before I make these plane reservations?
It's not going to be business class. The PHX-ORD leg will be on a mainline probably narrow body that will have domestic first. Not uncomfortable but not business class as most think of it. The ORD-DAY leg will most be on a CR2 that has no first class and is the smallest plane flown by any of the major airlines, some call it the "torture tube." AA at ORD operates out of Terminal 3, easy transfer. I've made 35 minute connections there multiple times.
 
Booking through BA, you would just lose the taxes/fees if it's less than $55.
Fees are about $12. Good to know; thank you.
It's not going to be business class. The PHX-ORD leg will be on a mainline probably narrow body that will have domestic first. Not uncomfortable but not business class as most think of it. The ORD-DAY leg will most be on a CR2 that has no first class and is the smallest plane flown by any of the major airlines, some call it the "torture tube." AA at ORD operates out of Terminal 3, easy transfer. I've made 35 minute connections there multiple times.
Ah I wondered as there is no "business class" listed on the AA site for that flight.

Do you think it would be the "main cabin extra" they have listed?

And yes I was looking at the smaller plane.. a Bombardier that I have been on before in Canada.

Well as I said... FREE is good so I shan't complain too much!
 
Ah I wondered as there is no "business class" listed on the AA site for that flight.

Do you think it would be the "main cabin extra" they have listed?

And yes I was looking at the smaller plane.. a Bombardier that I have been on before in Canada.

Well as I said... FREE is good so I shan't complain too much!
They will offer it to you if it's available. I believe AA only considers row 1 MCE, which means it's only the bulkhead. I actually prefer row 2 the half dozen times a year I have to fly on a CR2. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but want to make sure you know what you're getting into flying on one of them.
Main Cabin Extra on AA is the same as Delta's Comfort Plus or United's Economy Plus, slightly more legroom and somewhat better snacks.
 
They will offer it to you if it's available. I believe AA only considers row 1 MCE, which means it's only the bulkhead. I actually prefer row 2 the half dozen times a year I have to fly on a CR2. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but want to make sure you know what you're getting into flying on one of them.
Main Cabin Extra on AA is the same as Delta's Comfort Plus or United's Economy Plus, slightly more legroom and somewhat better snacks.
Thank you for this.

I"m surprised BA is able to 'sell' it as "business class"!
 


Well thanks to all of you on this thread, I managed to get my flights paid for on points and a hotel paid for on points. I just need to pay for a rental car but I booked that through Costco travel for what I feel is quite reasonable.

Even though it's not aspirational travel, it is still coming in very handy and I am so grateful to all of you!
 


I need a little input for our 2025 Europe trip. Our initial plan was to fly Orlando to London booking BA through Cathay Pacific to avoid the insane taxes and fees. Now it’s looking like that may not be an option because they are showing no availability anymore. So the only way we could fly biz from Orlando would be paying the taxes and fees with BA. Dh said he would be willing to do it on the way back but not both ways.

Our other options would be driving 2 1/2 hours to Miami. We could either fly Air France to Paris then train to London or fly KLM to Amsterdam and just do Amsterdam and maybe Belgium. We’re leaning towards flying to Paris. Any suggestions?
 
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Well thanks to all of you on this thread, I managed to get my flights paid for on points and a hotel paid for on points. I just need to pay for a rental car but I booked that through Costco travel for what I feel is quite reasonable.

Even though it's not aspirational travel, it is still coming in very handy and I am so grateful to all of you!
No input on your redemption but my brother is a pilot with Air Wisconsin and he flies that ORD-DAY route all the time. My DIL works for UD. Got lots of family there in Dayton. Hope you have a great trip!
 
I know some of you all are iPhone/Apple experts--what would you do with an iPhone 8? I think the Apple store might give me $55 in credit--is that the best option?
 
I saw on DoC that once you hit your maximum ($500?), then neither supporter nor supportee will get the bonus. Link

Terms:
"(4) your Referrer must not have exceeded their referral-based Shopping Reward payout maximum in the current referral period;"

That's basically 2 supports, so can you let us know (or remove the link) when you hit it?

UGH! I clicked on a link on FB to sign up. It was for $200 but there is no mention of it in my account now and my link is for $100. Does your account say if you have a bonus for signing up? Or do you just place and order and see.
 
Oh I also wanted to ask...today OD was being jerks and wouldn't let me do mulitple transactions for all my Chase offers. So I walked out.

That said, I saw they have Carnival GCs. I have a balance to pay on my Carnival cruise. Can I buy the GCs and use that towards my remaining balance? The GCs says you can use to book a cruise, but I want to be sure.
 
No input on your redemption but my brother is a pilot with Air Wisconsin and he flies that ORD-DAY route all the time. My DIL works for UD. Got lots of family there in Dayton. Hope you have a great trip!
Oh nice! I've never been. Thank you!
Oh I also wanted to ask...today OD was being jerks and wouldn't let me do mulitple transactions for all my Chase offers. So I walked out.

That said, I saw they have Carnival GCs. I have a balance to pay on my Carnival cruise. Can I buy the GCs and use that towards my remaining balance? The GCs says you can use to book a cruise, but I want to be sure.
Yes, you should be able to (I have done that). I think Carnival makes it very easy to use their gift cards unlike some other lines. When you log in to make a payment there is a tab for gift cards.
 
Well thanks to all of you on this thread, I managed to get my flights paid for on points and a hotel paid for on points. I just need to pay for a rental car but I booked that through Costco travel for what I feel is quite reasonable.

Even though it's not aspirational travel, it is still coming in very handy and I am so grateful to all of you!
I also don’t do any aspirational travel unfortunately but love reading about everyone’s trips …but before I found this thread …was traveling once a year to see my son in Orlando..fast forward almost 5 years and we are able to visit his family and our grandchildren 4-6 times a year due to a SW companion pass and UR points
 
UGH! I clicked on a link on FB to sign up. It was for $200 but there is no mention of it in my account now and my link is for $100. Does your account say if you have a bonus for signing up? Or do you just place and order and see.

I haven't done it yet, so I don't know. From DoC comments, it doesn't sound like there's any confirmation until the purchase tracks.
 
Sounds like you have it. Worked for me in less than 2 weeks. You can redeem for gift cards.(no Disney) No cash options. I usually do Lowe’s but there are plenty of decent options
How do you know that it worked. The support dollars just show up as rewards in your account? Do you get any notice before that, that your supportee signed up LOL?
 
Oh I also wanted to ask...today OD was being jerks and wouldn't let me do mulitple transactions for all my Chase offers. So I walked out.

That said, I saw they have Carnival GCs. I have a balance to pay on my Carnival cruise. Can I buy the GCs and use that towards my remaining balance? The GCs says you can use to book a cruise, but I want to be sure.
Carnival cards are very easy to use - if you have other gift cards you want to get at 10% off at OD, you can join AARP (don't have to be 55+) and buy as many as you want at 10% off - actually I think the limit is 25 per month, but they sell in $100 and $500 amounts, so you could get lots of $$ worth. I think it's like $12 a year and often there's a CC offer for $8 back, so it's very cheap. They have other gift cards you can purchase as well.
 
I need a little input for our 2025 Europe trip. Our initial plan was to fly Orlando to London booking BA through Cathay Pacific to avoid the insane taxes and fees. Now it’s looking like that may not be an option because they are showing no availability anymore. So the only way we could fly biz from Orlando would be paying the taxes and fees with BA. Dh said he would be willing to do it on the way back but not both ways.

Our other options would be driving 2 1/2 hours to Miami. We could either fly Air France to Paris then train to London or fly KLM to Amsterdam and just do Amsterdam and maybe Belgium. We’re leaning towards flying to Paris. Any suggestions?
Both area good ideas. We tend to fly AF to Europe and BA back because it just seems to work out that way. The train from Paris to London is quick and quite nice. You can also take the Eurostar from AMS to London.
 
How do you know that it worked. The support dollars just show up as rewards in your account? Do you get any notice before that, that your supportee signed up LOL?
I supported DS two weeks ago when my support was elevated to $50. His bonus showed up before his purchase was even shipped. When I checked my account, the $50 was there also. A few days later I got an email from CapOne saying I'd earned it. I'm not telling DS that my support is now elevated to $150. I guess we should have waited, but he's happy with $50.
 
Well thanks to all of you on this thread, I managed to get my flights paid for on points and a hotel paid for on points. I just need to pay for a rental car but I booked that through Costco travel for what I feel is quite reasonable.

Even though it's not aspirational travel, it is still coming in very handy and I am so grateful to all of you!
Have www.autoslash.com track the rental, they will let you know if they find something cheaper. I've had rentals start at over $600 for a week that I ended up only paying $215 for. It works with Costco also.
 

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