I love credit cards so much!

[calypso726]

The 4th night free only twice a year is not a deal breaker for me. I mean I can’t take that many 4+ day vacations anyway. If I did take multiple vacations, I would be paying for most with points not cash.
Not sure the rest is that exciting either for $495

Me neither since I don't do many paid extended hotel vacations anyhow. The deal breaker for me would be the points only being worth 1 cent. I balked when I had the card a while ago and they devalued it from 1.6 when paying for AA flights with TYP down to 1.25. If TYPs will only be worth 1 cent then it's not one I'm going to keep or put spend on. I can see myself getting it strategically for a planned stay down the line and making use of the 4th night free. I'd like to go back to Ashford Castle again someday. With rooms starting at $750 per night in the summer and no easy way to travel hack a stay, I can see getting the card before booking and using the 4th night free benefit as a good value. I'd go after a Citi Gold bank bonus to mitigate the fee down to $350 like I had before as well. Staying at Ashford Castle again is no where in my immediate planning stages and just an idea for down the distant horizon. Even so, I'd check with Amex FHR first. They often have 4th night free offers. Therefore, I've got no FOMO with the new Prestige for now. The only way that would change is if TYP transferred to AA.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I think I may bail on doing MVMCP precruise in Dec. and do Uni instead. DS10 has been wanting to go and the parties have gotten soooo crowded.

I know nothing about uni, so please advise if you have been. We'd be there 12/13pm-12/15am. Park day 12/14 all day. I'd get the 2 park pass for DH, DD19, DS10, DS8. I think I'd probably stay at the resort with DD2. (thoughts on that...whats there for her in the parks?)
We can do a 2 bedroom cabana bay suite and forego the EP. Or we can do 2 rooms at RPR so we get EP. For some reason they count the 2 year old in occupancy, unlike disney. RPR rooms is a bit more expensive, obviously, but if it is worth it for EP, we will do it anyways. Which of these would be a better resort for me and DD2 to hang at all day? Is there transport to the parks from either or both? I feel so lost.

 

[Artygal90]

While staring at the 2019 calendar in the copy room today (zoning out after hour 3 of scanning old documents), I realized that it would be totally feasible for us to have a long weekend getaway the week of my birthday in early May. My first thought was to take DH to see my old stomping grounds in Maine. And then I had the bright idea of visiting Disneyland/LA for the first time ever!

Now I'm all excited and am trying to see how we can make it work with the points I'll have available after getting the CSR and booking USO for September. I'm thinking I can use the CSR credit on tickets through Undercover Tourist. Has anyone stayed at the Hyatt at the convention center in Anaheim? Or are there any other good hotels to book with UR in that area? Thoughts on how to split Disneyland with the other great attractions in LA when we'll only have three full days and a half-day on our arrival/departure days? Do we need to budget for a rental car? I've never been to California and would love some advice!

 

[miztressuz]

are freedom links not working?

Support links? Yes, the Freedom links went dead a couple weeks ago, a little before the CSR's did.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Support links? Yes, the Freedom links went dead a couple weeks ago, a little before the CSR's did.

ok thanks thought I was doing something wrong. the page looks different and I can't get it to do the old style. well off to apply without a link :-(

 

[Artygal90]

I think I may bail on doing MVMCP precruise in Dec. and do Uni instead. DS10 has been wanting to go and the parties have gotten soooo crowded.

I know nothing about uni, so please advise if you have been. We'd be there 12/13pm-12/15am. Park day 12/14 all day. I'd get the 2 park pass for DH, DD19, DS10, DS8. I think I'd probably stay at the resort with DD2. (thoughts on that...whats there for her in the parks?)
We can do a 2 bedroom cabana bay suite and forego the EP. Or we can do 2 rooms at RPR so we get EP. For some reason they count the 2 year old in occupancy, unlike disney. RPR rooms is a bit more expensive, obviously, but if it is worth it for EP, we will do it anyways. Which of these would be a better resort for me and DD2 to hang at all day? Is there transport to the parks from either or both? I feel so lost.

Universal is so, so easy compared to Disney. For example, my 16-page Disney/Universal planning guide for my family's recent trip had about 13 pages devoted to Disney and only about 3 for our Universal days. It's much smaller and more compact. Having the EP makes it even easier.

We stayed at RPR and my dad and sister have stayed at Cabana Bay in the past. Both are great places to stay. RPR is a beautiful hotel and you can take the boat to the parks or walk 10 minutes to the front gate of Islands of Adventure or 15 minutes to the front gate of Universal Studios. Cabana Bay only has buses to the other two parks but they are apparently very frequent, quick, and clean.

I think if you can swing it in your budget RPR would be the better choice with only one full day in the parks and four members of your party who can take full advantage of the included unlimited EP (which I believe is about $70/pp/per day as an add-on). Crowds might be a concern since you'll be there at the beginning of the holiday season, and EP would ensure you could ride most of the rides with minimal waits.

For your little one, I don't know that there's a ton in the parks for her to do, but there's more than you might expect. In Islands of Adventure, there is a whole Dr. Seuss section that is darling and has about 3-4 rides she might enjoy. You can also just walk around with her and enjoy the atmosphere and magic together, especially in the HP areas. The Ollivander's show might be good for her if she's not easily scared (it does get kind of dark in there). There are also a few play areas specifically for children: one in the Jurassic Park sections themed to an amber mine and another in Toon Lagoon themed to Popeye the Sailor Man. Pteranodon Flyers in the Jurassic Park section is also only for people with small children. Maybe a good option if she's not scared of heights. In Universal Studios there's the Woody Woodpecker playzone, and I thiiink a stage show with Barney? Besides that, I think the only rides she could do would be a couple of the 4D shows - Shrek, for example, maybe. And of course there are characters like Hello Kitty and the Simpsons roaming around - it's really easy to just go up and interact with them.

The great thing about Universal's hotels is that you can pool-hop between any of them if you are an on-site guest. So even if you stay at RPR, you and your DD2 can go relax at Cabana Bay's lazy river. There is also a Minion character breakfast at RPR, I think. I will report back if I think of anything else!

 

[GlamMistress]

Half the thread last week *I’m Disney’d out*

Us this week *Citi has a new card that could pay for Disney?!*

Ha it's true. Heck I was at WDW all last week, posted in the middle of my trip that I was Disney'd out and I spent most of today on Disney Facebook groups and trying to figure out when I can go back. It's a sickness, I swear. But I swear I'm not going during the heat again. Done with that.

 

[afan]

Support links? Yes, the Freedom links went dead a couple weeks ago, a little before the CSR's did.

ok thanks thought I was doing something wrong. the page looks different and I can't get it to do the old style. well off to apply without a link :-(

CFU still has referrals, the other doesn't. So it totally depends on which Freedom card you want.

 

[GlamMistress]

I am have a buddy who has been working credit cards for 5 years and, I am ready for a new challenge. I mainly fly out of the south to the north east, and out West, however I want to to earn the points to have the opportunity to fly to Europe, Hawaii, and the Caribbean as well. I understand the 5/24 rule. but I am wiling to fly delta, spirit, jetblue, frontier, and American to have more chances to earn more points with different cards all around. I Know chase is best. I just want to make its not worth it to work all the other cards over chase, it may be more work, and the points will not be as flexible like UL points, but it might be more points overall, and less money I have to spend to get more points.

My advice is to pick one destination to start and work toward that trip. Hawaii is pretty easy to hack.

Grab a CSR or CSP and you can move points over to Hyatt and stay on Maui, Kauai (Grand Hyatt Kauai is amazing) or Oahu.

A united card can easily get you RT flights, especially in coach. You can transfer Ultimate Rewards (UR) to United too. And Southwest, and they are flying to Hawaii soon.

Later on after you've exhausted other cards you can get a Barclays Arrival+ - you can use that bonus to pay for rented DVC points and stay at Aulani on Oahu if you like.

 

[Judique]

I think I may bail on doing MVMCP precruise in Dec. and do Uni instead. DS10 has been wanting to go and the parties have gotten soooo crowded.

I know nothing about uni, so please advise if you have been. We'd be there 12/13pm-12/15am. Park day 12/14 all day. I'd get the 2 park pass for DH, DD19, DS10, DS8. I think I'd probably stay at the resort with DD2. (thoughts on that...whats there for her in the parks?)
We can do a 2 bedroom cabana bay suite and forego the EP. Or we can do 2 rooms at RPR so we get EP. For some reason they count the 2 year old in occupancy, unlike disney. RPR rooms is a bit more expensive, obviously, but if it is worth it for EP, we will do it anyways. Which of these would be a better resort for me and DD2 to hang at all day? Is there transport to the parks from either or both? I feel so lost.

You can walk to the park from Royal Pacific which is the one we stayed at. There is also a boat but we didn't use it. On the way back to the resort, I noticed a pedicab for hire and we rode back in that. That day it was worth it as I was all walked out. I'm not sure of where Cabana Bay is located in relation to the other hotels so can't comment.

I did enjoy the atmosphere at Universal and the theming for the Harry Potter attractions, but since I don't do thrill rides, there wasn't much for me to do attraction wise. I didn't see a lot for little kids.

 

[3 DD love princesses]

Well it asked if I wanted to apply using my log in. guess I shouldn't have done that since I don't know what the status is and I didn't get an email. Hopefully tomorrow I can log in and see whats going on

 

[miztressuz]

ok thanks thought I was doing something wrong. the page looks different and I can't get it to do the old style. well off to apply without a link :-(

Yeah I noticed that earlier when I was looking through the CC pages, they must have done an update recently.

 

[elgerber]

Ha it's true. Heck I was at WDW all last week, posted in the middle of my trip that I was Disney'd out and I spent most of today on Disney Facebook groups and trying to figure out when I can go back. It's a sickness, I swear. But I swear I'm not going during the heat again. Done with that.

Yeah I said that, 4 hot weather trips ago!

 

[Haley R]

Need some quick last minute advice please!! Our flight leaves at 5:30 am tomorrow and we are flying southwest out of midway Chicago. Our hotel shuttle leaves at 4 and it takes 30 minutes to get there. We have luggage to check. Should we just pay for a Lyft instead so we can leave at 3:30?

ETA: nevermind we went ahead and booked a Lyft. I’m not risking being late for our flight.

 

[GZanta77]

If it were me - I would want to be at the airport for 4am with luggage to check - so yeah, I would take the Lyft or whatever.

 

[mmmears]

I think I may bail on doing MVMCP precruise in Dec. and do Uni instead. DS10 has been wanting to go and the parties have gotten soooo crowded.

I know nothing about uni, so please advise if you have been. We'd be there 12/13pm-12/15am. Park day 12/14 all day. I'd get the 2 park pass for DH, DD19, DS10, DS8. I think I'd probably stay at the resort with DD2. (thoughts on that...whats there for her in the parks?)
We can do a 2 bedroom cabana bay suite and forego the EP. Or we can do 2 rooms at RPR so we get EP. For some reason they count the 2 year old in occupancy, unlike disney. RPR rooms is a bit more expensive, obviously, but if it is worth it for EP, we will do it anyways. Which of these would be a better resort for me and DD2 to hang at all day? Is there transport to the parks from either or both? I feel so lost.

I'm not a UO expert - we've only been there once. We stayed RPR because the theming appealed to us the most and we were very happy with that choice. There are quite a few restaurants there and a nice tropical swimming pool area. We were able to walk to the parks. Having that front of the line pass was essential IMHO. It made it so we could see and do everything we wanted to in less than a full day (I'm not into thrill rides, so that helps of course, but my DD rode quite a few). The HP areas are very nicely themed. It's fun to walk around there, look in the shops, etc. You can buy a magic wand and use it in certain areas to make things "magically happen." For little ones, honestly the only area that seemed made for them would be the Dr. Seuss area. It's cute and has a couple of rides. Also you can take your 2 yo on the HP train that runs between the parks if you do decide to check them out (but it's pretty expensive to get that 2 park one day pass IMHO, and you might have more fun at the pool). Oh, from RPR you can also walk to City Walk (UO's version of DTD).

 

[mmmears]

The travel planner in me has a question. If there is a way to use points or something for a Celebrity Cruise, can someone please point me in the right direction?

 

[miztressuz]

The travel planner in me has a question. If there is a way to use points or something for a Celebrity Cruise, can someone please point me in the right direction?

Can use both UR or MR towards a cruise. I haven't used MR myself yet so I don't know the value totally, the one I was looking up had some technical issues so I couldn't see what my points would knock off the cash price.

For UR you call into the cruise and tour dept and they can book anything you see on the cruise line. They don't really do any other specials or discounts, but you'd get the increased value for redeeming UR for travel. So if you are looking at a 2k cruise on the cruise line website, you can use 133,334 points from your CSR to cover it (the 1.5 redemption rate). If you don't have enough points you use a UR earning card to pay the balance. You can only use UR points once and at the time of first payment. (Well, anything with the exception of DCL now Celebrity is listed)

MR looks like you may be able to book right through the AmEx travel portal without having to call but I only looked the one time so not sure how good a deal that may be. But at least you can play on the portal first.

 

[mmmears]

Can use both UR or MR towards a cruise. I haven't used MR myself yet so I don't know the value totally, the one I was looking up had some technical issues so I couldn't see what my points would knock off the cash price.

For UR you call into the cruise and tour dept and they can book anything you see on the cruise line. They don't really do any other specials or discounts, but you'd get the increased value for redeeming UR for travel. So if you are looking at a 2k cruise on the cruise line website, you can use 133,334 points from your CSR to cover it (the 1.5 redemption rate). If you don't have enough points you use a UR earning card to pay the balance. You can only use UR points once and at the time of first payment. (Well, anything with the exception of DCL now Celebrity is listed)

MR looks like you may be able to book right through the AmEx travel portal without having to call but I only looked the one time so not sure how good a deal that may be. But at least you can play on the portal first.

Thanks. I will check them both out. If we can only use URs once, and there is a deposit due now and the balance not until some time next year, does that mean we can only use it for the deposit? (I can't pay it in full right now)

 

[miztressuz]

Thanks. I will check them both out. If we can only use URs once, and there is a deposit due now and the balance not until some time next year, does that mean we can only use it for the deposit? (I can't pay it in full right now)

You can use all the UR you want at deposit and then you should be able to pay the cash at final payment. So if you have a 4k cruise that only needs a 500 deposit, you can still use the 133,334 UR for the deposit and you'd only owe 2k at final payment.
There is the option to try to transfer the cruise to Chase. This means you'd pay the deposit to the cruise line and then when you transfer to Chase you should not owe a payment until PIF. This is a YMMV at the moment as not all agent's allow it and with the uncertainty of the Chase travel changes, I'm planning on the bird in hand and making UR payment before end of year even though my PIF is in May.