I love credit cards so much!

[Ngwira]

That is awesome! So far, I’m disappointed in trying to book Hyatt. Got it mostly to try for Vancouver. Neither my pre or post cruise dates accept points/free nights thus far and I’ve checked every day since they opened booking. I did manage to book the pre-cruise dates adding an extra day at the beginning. I will try to call and adjust the booking in a week or two but if they won’t change it, I’m not sure if I should cancel or have DS skip school and fly in a day earlier (it’s the last day of school, so awards assembly and all)

Hmm...that’s unusual that there is no points availability at all. Sometimes when you call Hyatt customer service they can reach out to the hotel directly to have them open up a night or two. I’ve seen other bloggers do this.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You guys talk alot! I was over 100 pages behind, I read back a few pages but no way am I reading all 100+! Trip was great, first time I can say a vacation was long but it was super enjoyable. However I must say I am really disappointed in these room checks. I need to find the Disney guest services email and send a letter. They woke my 5yo up during nap time several times and that made for a very rough evening, so I stopped by the front desk and they said they would move the times... Next day they insisted on entering waking my wife while my DD slept and I was in the shower... That made me uncomfortable that they insisted they had to enter... Again stopped by the front desk, again they stopped by the next day so I returned to the front desk... The next day Mousekeeping stopped by saying I requested room service. I stopped by the front desk to verify I was not going to now get charged to sending them away and talked to a supervisor or manager and they pretty much just told me they dislike this too and to follow up with my thoughts on the survey but that has yet to come. Finally on Day 10 we had a successful uninterrupted nap. Now considering moving our Oct trip off site for the first time....

*Off Topic** There is no excuse for them to insist on entering while you are in the shower and your child is sleeping. I would eviscerate them in your guest services complaint. Post on Trip Advisor as well. I would use words such as “disturbing” & “stranger danger” and hopefully some better ones I can’t come up with right now (mention how the hell will a child take the importance of Stranger Danger seriously when Disney insists I allow strangers into the room to look at my child while they are IN BED). And don’t forget to mention how the manger and front desk repeatedly lied to your face about your requests to room check another time of day.

And fwiw (I suspect your wife was trying to get the kid back to sleep & didn’t want them back so just wanted them out asap) but like hell Mousekeeping is entering my room while someone is sleeping. Call security, I’ll let them enter. Each day? Sure, try me. I’m not scared of security, I have nothing to hide. (Security is who should be doing this job anyway, not Mousekeeping!* Disney is just being cheap.) My theory wonders how dedicated is Mousekeeping to not having to come back later, enough to stand there & call security every day? I think not, but if Disney sees security being called in their hotels all the time for room checks because housekeeping won’t come back later they’ll make a change.

ETA *doesn’t take an expert to see that if something bad was happening and the housekeeper insists on entering the bad people will do what bad people do and the housekeeper will pay the price. Housekeepers are not trained or paid enough for that type of risk!

...stepping down from soapbox. I think I better stay far away from that other thread on this topic.

 

[gottalovepluto]

@DaveL I checked out the thread they have going on the Resorts board and it looks like you were a victim of bad housekeeping and bad hotel management. Most all the recent reports are people who didn’t notice it or had people willing to return at another time. Only one in the last couple pages who insisted on entering while people were sleeping. (And one report who said security did the check! And that point I’d be stuck and have to let them in, I’m willing to tell housekeeping to take a hike but I’m not doing that to Security.)

 

[Judique]

So does anyone know if a person, say one's mom, can redeem a flight and hotel travel package and credit the flights part to someone else's, say her daughter's, frequent flier account? Asking for a friend.

If you find out elsewhere, please post here. I would like to do exactly that with my flight package.

 

[hsmamato2]

Took me a while to catch up on the thread this morning, but I had checked my Amex offers this morning before catching up on the thread and had the Starbucks 15% off up to $5 on all 4 of my Amex cards! Woo hoo Lain is correct that I was successful in redeeming the offer last go round with an app reload. And this offer definitely includes language that app reloads qualify. I reloaded $35 using each of my 4 Amex cards with the offer, and got 4 emails congratulating me on using my offers. I now have a ridiculous balance on my SB app, lol, but no worries since it doesn't expire. I also had the $60 off $300 SPG stay on both my SPG and Delta Amexes, so added both of those, although we are unlikely to use them given other plans this summer.

I can't remember if this has been answered, but SB does allow ApplePay to be used in the stores. My daughter's high school is across the street from a SB, and she has been using ApplePay to buy her SB (although now I have her using the app with my login).



Safeway is one of many grocery store banners under Albertsons Companies, and all of the banners sell gift cards. Where are you located?

CT.... I've never seen any of these names on stores...just read about them online lol

 

[Judique]

@DaveL I checked out the thread they have going on the Resorts board and it looks like you were a victim of bad housekeeping and bad hotel management. Most all the recent reports are people who didn’t notice it or had people willing to return at another time. Only one in the last couple pages who insisted on entering while people were sleeping. (And one report who said security did the check! And that point I’d be stuck and have to let them in, I’m willing to tell housekeeping to take a hike but I’m not doing that to Security.)

I barely noted them when we were there in January of this year. Being a DVC room, they were coming in under the guise of providing trash service. That meant they came to the kitchenette area only, emptied the trash and left. I think I actually was in the room twice during the week we were there when they came in.

 

[Judique]

CT.... I've never seen any of these names on stores...just read about them online lol

Do you have ACME or Shaw's near you in CT? I think they are linked to Safeway somehow. If I go to the Safeway website, they bring up these two.

 

[hsmamato2]

Awesome!

CONGRATULATIONS @Judique!



I think you made a really savvy move. Like you said, you’re still over 5/24, so ineligible for a lot of Chase’s business cards, but not the Marriott Biz, and it won’t add against your card count as you’re trying to get back under 5/24. There’s no telling if the new Marriott Biz that’s supposed to come out 8/26 will not be subject to 5/24, so a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush. And we can hope that Chase will offer points to upgrade the Marriott Biz that you just got to the new Marriott Biz (like they did with the Marriott Premier to Premier Plus). There’s some question over whether the current Marriott Biz includes 15 elite nights if you’re trying for new Platinum status, but I’m going to bet the new Marriott Biz won’t come with elite nights, so that may be something to consider about upgrading. All that aside, it’s a great deal! 75k Marriott Rewards points and an anniversary night certificate for just $3k of spend and $0 first year AF!

how 'tough' is it to ge the marriott biz? in contrast to to the other biz options from chase?

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm going top have DH call and reactivate his defunct acct today...I wonder if we need to wait 14 days after this buy? it's not really new, just sort of unused for a while...... AND just confirming, I already bought the 30 in JAn on my acct, they'll allow DH to transfer or gift me another 30 this year?

 

[bernina]

damn, my redbird got shut down... :\ oh well, was fun when it lasted.

Does anyone know if Bluebird is still around and working at Walmart for (Visa GC) Debit reloads? Mine was shut down years ago but I feel like I’ve seen recent reports of bluebird use here and there. Wonder if I could reapply...

Just posted on the gift cards thread (but not at all Disney related) . . . For anyone out there who does Kroger and MIGHT need Lowe's gift cards. They are doing $100 for $90 (limit 3) and you get 4x right now with the digital coupon. Heres the thing though - I bought 3 x $100 for $270 and I got 3,240 fuel points!! Thats a whopping 12x. The same thing happened the last time they ran one of these promos. For some reason, they are awarding a ridiculous number of points. The math:

3,240 points = $3.24 off of 35 gallons = $113.4
So, $300 worth of Lowe's for $156.60

I suspect the "bonus" points will be YMMV depending on where you live, but its still a good deal stacking the 10% discount with the 4x coupon.

Note: Even though you buy from Kroger, the cards are sold by Gift Card Mall, so no 5% back on Discover/Freedom.

https://giftcards.kroger.com/deal/kroger/lowes-egift-30

Does Lowes allow purchase of other gift cards using their gift cards?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

No, the website shows no standard rooms for my dates. I also called to check and they said the same. There are balcony rooms, high floor rooms, city view rooms, etc., no standard rooms. I just can’t believe no standard rooms since opening those dates. What are there, 3 std rooms in the whole place?

Sounds like they are gaming the system.

 

[Ngwira]

Wow, so the concierge just emailed me and asked for the names and ages of the kids and confirmed we are on the 10th floor. I'll let you guys know if it amounts to anything. Hyatt seems to be stepping up their game, though.

Visiting lounges is also in our plans. We have plans to hit the Centurion Lounge in Philly and the Club at MCO (PP) on this trip, as well.

As a follow up, I received two online check in requests this morning (only booked one room) so emailed the concierge to make sure I wasn’t charged for a double booking. He responded that the hotel had given us a FREE second room on the house! He also said I would be “very happy” when I arrived. Wow, I’m just blown away at the gesture. I am paying 6,000 points plus $75 for 2 rooms upgraded to the 10th floor to view the planes.. plus a few surprises they have in store. So awesome.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

@DaveL I checked out the thread they have going on the Resorts board and it looks like you were a victim of bad housekeeping and bad hotel management. Most all the recent reports are people who didn’t notice it or had people willing to return at another time. Only one in the last couple pages who insisted on entering while people were sleeping. (And one report who said security did the check! And that point I’d be stuck and have to let them in, I’m willing to tell housekeeping to take a hike but I’m not doing that to Security.)

I think they just need to come at a time where people are less likely to be sleeping. They have to consider naps and late sleepers....so maybe come at 11. Generally, most people are not back for a nap and late sleepers are up and dressed.
And if someone has a sign up to not disturb then they should adhere to it and try again in a few hours. If it is still up, then go ahead and knock at that point. But they have to be more considerate.

 

[Judique]

how 'tough' is it to ge the marriott biz? in contrast to to the other biz options from chase?

I would say not too tough. But - it depends on our individual situation so until we are actually denied or shut down, we probably think we are looking good.

But, you do not need to be under 5/24 for the Marriott Business card at this time. @Lain had recommended it to me a while back but I was hesitant to go for it as I was trying to get under 5/24 and didn't want to risk any consequences, but I waited 6 months since my last ap, lowered some credit lines, and figured the worst they could do was say no and take away all my free night cards, lol, since I have no UR earning cards yet and just have the IHG, Hyatt, Marriott's for the free nights.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Does Lowes allow purchase of other gift cards using their gift cards?

nope

 

[Judique]

As a follow up, I received two online check in requests this morning (only booked one room) so emailed the concierge to make sure I wasn’t charged for a double booking. He responded that the hotel had given us a FREE second room on the house! He also said I would be “very happy” when I arrived. Wow, I’m just blown away at the gesture. I am paying 6,000 points plus $75 for 2 rooms upgraded to the 10th floor to view the planes.. plus a few surprises they have in store. So awesome.

Is this at MCO? You travel so fast I've lost track!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

since I have no UR earning cards yet

Thats brutal. Hope you can get some soon! How long til you are under 5/24?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

As a follow up, I received two online check in requests this morning (only booked one room) so emailed the concierge to make sure I wasn’t charged for a double booking. He responded that the hotel had given us a FREE second room on the house! He also said I would be “very happy” when I arrived. Wow, I’m just blown away at the gesture. I am paying 6,000 points plus $75 for 2 rooms upgraded to the 10th floor to view the planes.. plus a few surprises they have in store. So awesome.

Awesome! Do you have status?

 

[Lain]

As a follow up, I received two online check in requests this morning (only booked one room) so emailed the concierge to make sure I wasn’t charged for a double booking. He responded that the hotel had given us a FREE second room on the house! He also said I would be “very happy” when I arrived. Wow, I’m just blown away at the gesture. I am paying 6,000 points plus $75 for 2 rooms upgraded to the 10th floor to view the planes.. plus a few surprises they have in store. So awesome.

Wow! Do you share a name with a celebrity? Or win a sweepstakes? Sounds like you’re getting the VIP treatment!

 

[Judique]

Thats brutal. Hope you can get some soon! How long til you are under 5/24?

I should be under 5/24 this month.

As far as UR's, it's sort of 'if you've never had something you don't miss it'.

I will be happy to start collecting them and we will use them for something.

I'll also probably travel more next year. This year was already mapped out when I decided to retire. Also, my DVC rooms are now moving to the need for 2 bedroom units when family can come, which is enjoyable for me, so I will have fewer DVC vacations. That leaves space to be filled by free rooms and credit card points.