I love credit cards so much!

Status
Not open for further replies.
What's your opinion on just owning Aulani? I've really gone back and forth on this... on the DVC board here there's a lot of negative attitudes toward OWNING Aulani which seem misplaced to me, but maybe not... I feel like owning at a reduced point/price and getting free flights with CC rewards = frugal trips for years and years but I must be missing something.

If I thought I would be going at least once every 3 years I would absolutely own there. I still contemplate buying there. But, I have to weigh in the fact that we already have 1300 points so my dues are already $8,000 give or take a year. In addition, we have a pretty big bucket list and do something different each year. I’m not sure I’d commit to visiting Aulani every 3 years. Given a different set of circumstances I think I’d be an Aulani owner. If I ever come across a subsidized dues contract sometime after our Antarctica trip next year I may go for it.
 
What's your opinion on just owning Aulani? I've really gone back and forth on this... on the DVC board here there's a lot of negative attitudes toward OWNING Aulani which seem misplaced to me, but maybe not... I feel like owning at a reduced point/price and getting free flights with CC rewards = frugal trips for years and years but I must be missing something.
I've had DVC since 2002 with the majority of our points (475) at BCV but we did add on some Aulani (200). I think the negative your talking about is the"buy where you want to stay" train of thought. With DVC growing so much, it becomes harder to book your non-home resort after the 7 month mark. We've had luck with making reservations right at 7 mos but there are no guarantees. If you're flexible about where you stay, it might work OK for you.
I'd say definitely look at the resale market.
 
What's your opinion on just owning Aulani? I've really gone back and forth on this... on the DVC board here there's a lot of negative attitudes toward OWNING Aulani which seem misplaced to me, but maybe not... I feel like owning at a reduced point/price and getting free flights with CC rewards = frugal trips for years and years but I must be missing something.

Going to give my opinion - I think owning is an individual decision again based on how you vacation and what is most important to you. And sometimes just where you are located.

I have no desire to own Aulani because I know I'm not going to make multiple trips there. That's probably the situation with most DVC owners. They bought to go to Disney World. It wouldn't make sense for me to buy in at Aulani.

I own 4 DVC resorts - BWV, BCV, VB and HH.

When I bought BWV I was discouraged by the Disboard members and my Disney friends. OKW was the first and extremely popular. The rooms were bigger. You could park in front of the Villas. Now, there is no question in my mind that what I felt back then - proximity to other parks - is what keeps BWV and BCV at 100 per cent occupancy almost year round. And, many of the people who discouraged me have sold some or all of their OKW and have bought BCV and BWV.

Now, HH is more a case like Aulani. I love HH and own there and go almost every year. But the average DVC member has never been to HH and may never go. It doesn't have parks and it's not even on the beach. So it doesn't necessarily appeal to the Disney enthusiast.

For me, I am always considering another HH purchase, just haven't pulled the trigger because I can usually get what I want with my existing points at 7 months. Also, my stays are kind of like Lain's Aulani stays - 3-5 nights at a time.

Now this summer coming of 2018, I needed a 2 bedroom for 4 nights - 164 points. I don't have 164 HH points. I was able to book July 3rd and 4th with my existing points and then at the 7 month window, I was able to get July 5th. But, I missed the mark on July 2nd - I have a studio for that night and a waitlist in. I couldn't even get 2 studios so someone will have to sleep down the road that night if my waitlist doesn't come through. This makes me want to run out and buy points even though my waitlist will probably come through! But - with my existing points I can easily get a studio for a week, or a one bedroom for 4-5 days, so this year is just different.

So, it depends on what's important to you - not to everybody else. I could spend my whole year's allotment at HH and be pretty happy - not so for people whose focus is more Florida and the parks.

There are also many other timeshare spots on HH that are much less expensive. But, that's where the Disney feel comes in - it's pretty hard to top Disney magic, which is probably what attracts Lain to Aulani.
 
The flight is so scary for me because our youngest will be just turning 3. She has flown a lot though, so I am just going to suck it up.
We flew Beijing to Chicago with a 13 month old. It was not that bad, we survived. We did upgrade to Economy plus or whatever had more leg room for a 12 hour flight. Plus we brought DSs car seat & he slept at least half the flight.
 


Going to give my opinion - I think owning is an individual decision again based on how you vacation and what is most important to you. And sometimes just where you are located.

I have no desire to own Aulani because I know I'm not going to make multiple trips there. That's probably the situation with most DVC owners. They bought to go to Disney World. It wouldn't make sense for me to buy in at Aulani.

I own 4 DVC resorts - BWV, BCV, VB and HH.

When I bought BWV I was discouraged by the Disboard members and my Disney friends. OKW was the first and extremely popular. The rooms were bigger. You could park in front of the Villas. Now, there is no question in my mind that what I felt back then - proximity to other parks - is what keeps BWV and BCV at 100 per cent occupancy almost year round. And, many of the people who discouraged me have sold some or all of their OKW and have bought BCV and BWV.

Now, HH is more a case like Aulani. I love HH and own there and go almost every year. But the average DVC member has never been to HH and may never go. It doesn't have parks and it's not even on the beach. So it doesn't necessarily appeal to the Disney enthusiast.

For me, I am always considering another HH purchase, just haven't pulled the trigger because I can usually get what I want with my existing points at 7 months. Also, my stays are kind of like Lain's Aulani stays - 3-5 nights at a time.

Now this summer coming of 2018, I needed a 2 bedroom for 4 nights - 164 points. I don't have 164 HH points. I was able to book July 3rd and 4th with my existing points and then at the 7 month window, I was able to get July 5th. But, I missed the mark on July 2nd - I have a studio for that night and a waitlist in. I couldn't even get 2 studios so someone will have to sleep down the road that night if my waitlist doesn't come through. This makes me want to run out and buy points even though my waitlist will probably come through! But - with my existing points I can easily get a studio for a week, or a one bedroom for 4-5 days, so this year is just different.

So, it depends on what's important to you - not to everybody else. I could spend my whole year's allotment at HH and be pretty happy - not so for people whose focus is more Florida and the parks.

There are also many other timeshare spots on HH that are much less expensive. But, that's where the Disney feel comes in - it's pretty hard to top Disney magic, which is probably what attracts Lain to Aulani.

Exactly! DVC isn't for everyone and the decisions need to be based on one's travel habits and what makes sense. For a time we were able to get in at BCV during F&W at 7 months. When that became near impossible we decided to purchase three 100 point contracts on the resale market. This is what we needed to go to F&W every weekend. I book at 11 months and have no problems. We go to WDW a lot so there is no problem using all of our points. We do use them outside of WDW too though, like Aulani, Key Stone Colorado, DLR Paris and I currently have the Ambassador hotel in Tokyo booked as a back up if I can't get into Miracosta. So no matter what were doing, even outside of WDW it is working for the way we travel even when you throw in the travel hacking destinations. But that won't be the same for everyone.
 
Last edited:
Thank you all so much for the detailed replies about owning and renting DVC for Aulani! Please keep posting for others who might also be interested, but for the time being, the following posts could've been written by me.

My issue is that it's a lot of money tied up... so we keep going back and forth on it.

This is me exactly.

On several occasions over the years, I have spent a ton of time researching DVC but concluded with my family's unpredictable vacation plans, DVC was not a good option. If it turns out that you really will be going to Aulani every year, or every other year, then it might be a good choice.

My wife and I have talked about buying DVC several times over the years, and if we had jumped on it five years ago we'd probably have broken even by now with all the Disney vacations we've taken with our DD. But it is a lot of money tied up and takes a commitment to Disney vacations for years to come that we can't foresee, because aside from Disneyland for Thanksgiving and Hawaii every year a lot of our trips are planned (and modified) ad hoc right now, Aulani has just recently become a "thing" for who knows how long, and we really do have a lot of other non-Disney destinations on our bucket list that we want to visit as DD gets older.

Thank you for the detailed info! I have been trying to read online about planning this trip and it can be so overwhelming! I’d love to make Hawaii a tradition for us...maybe every 3 years or so...so I want this first trip to go well. DH has been a couple times as a kid/teen but I haven’t.
My in laws will travel with us next year, and the weather was one of MILs concerns, so a I will share this with her.

I’m going to look into the Hawaiian Village now...thanks for the suggestion. I know it has popped up in my searches but I haven’t looked at it in detail. We have a little one who will be just turning 3 at the time of our trip, so we plan to spend most of our time at our resort. This sounds like a great option for that!
I think another one I was looking at was Hilton waikaloa...it something like that. It is on Hawaii I think. My MIL keeps suggesting island hopping at least once, but of course us doing that with 6 people is a big undertaking compared to her and FIL only. I am leaning towards staying all on one island myself.

Yes, the Hilton Waikoloa is on the Kona coast of the Big Island. It's an absolutely beautiful resort. My wife stayed there once as a kid and still talks about that trip to this day. If this is your first trip to Hawaii, there's enough on Oahu to keep you busy for ~10 days without island hopping, especially if you plan to spend about 4 of those days at Aulani. If this might be your only trip to Hawaii, definitely make the hop to the Big Island to visit the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, try to catch a lava flow, walk on a black or green sand beach (but don't take any sand with you), visit a coffee farm, or a macadamia nut farm, tour old Hilo town, drive up to the summit of Mauna Kea (there might be snow in between November and January!). If you want to make Hawaii a tradition, there's still the Big Island, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Kauai left to see after you've finished with Oahu.
 
Last edited:


Here are some farewell shots of Oahu:

W1Gl10A.jpg

rK4xSEL.jpg

JAkXucc.jpg


You can see what I'm referring to when I write "scattered rain or showers." It can be entirely sunny in one spot, and gray and wet if you happen to be under a passing rain cloud. Most times, the mountains you see in the background (the Ko'olau) catches most of the rain as the clouds make their way south past the windward side. In the second picture, you see most of Waikiki and Waikiki Beach at center and the hotels along Kalakaua Avenue. The bottom picture is of Diamond Head Crater. As a general recommendation, I always suggest sitting at a window seat on the port (left) side of the plane to catch these views when departing HNL. Most aircraft take this path back to the mainland.

Aloha, Hawaii. Until next year.
 
Too late to use an Amex offer that expires tomorrow?

Pretty sure all Amex Offer terms state that the transaction must post on or before the offer's expiration date. Sometimes, a charge that remains pending on the expiration date will eventually post with a date prior to the expiration date and I'll get the statement credit or points as a matter of course. If the transaction doesn't post with a date prior to the expiration date, I've had success contacting Amex through chat and fighting for the credit.
 
Pretty sure all Amex Offer terms state that the transaction must post on or before the offer's expiration date. Sometimes, a charge that remains pending on the expiration date will eventually post with a date prior to the expiration date and I'll get the statement credit or points as a matter of course. If the transaction doesn't post with a date prior to the expiration date, I've had success contacting Amex through chat and fighting for the credit.

to add @wendow it also matters on instores or online. i find in stores will code quickly but online will take awhile to code. If its in stores, i wouldnt worry about it not coding in time... heck i bought gas 2 hours once before deadline and it coded down with the correct day.

online... is another mess i probably wouldnt touch. Im still waiting for my ebags purchases to complete.
 
Speaking of AmEx offers, did anyone here do the $50 off $50 in Hulu charges and get credited for it yet? I got the “You just used your AmEx offer” email for it back on 11/11 but still haven’t gotten the $50 credit. I forgot about it for a while so haven’t messaged them yet. The offer period runs all the way through next May so I guess technically I could have to wait until then for the credit, but all of the other offers I’ve done recently have credited pretty much right after the charge posts. My wife had the offer too so once I hit $50 in charges I switched our Hulu payments over to her card. I even upgraded us to the “no commercials” plan so we’d both be able to hit $50 within the allotted time. I hope they give me the credit & I don’t have to fight for my 5 months of free Hulu!
 
Speaking of AmEx offers, did anyone here do the $50 off $50 in Hulu charges and get credited for it yet? I got the “You just used your AmEx offer” email for it back on 11/11 but still haven’t gotten the $50 credit. I forgot about it for a while so haven’t messaged them yet. The offer period runs all the way through next May so I guess technically I could have to wait until then for the credit, but all of the other offers I’ve done recently have credited pretty much right after the charge posts. My wife had the offer too so once I hit $50 in charges I switched our Hulu payments over to her card. I even upgraded us to the “no commercials” plan so we’d both be able to hit $50 within the allotted time. I hope they give me the credit & I don’t have to fight for my 5 months of free Hulu!

I did this. The Hulu charge that put me over the $50 point posted on October 29 and the $50 statement credit posted on October 31.
 
Thank you for the detailed info! I have been trying to read online about planning this trip and it can be so overwhelming! I’d love to make Hawaii a tradition for us...maybe every 3 years or so...so I want this first trip to go well. DH has been a couple times as a kid/teen but I haven’t.
My in laws will travel with us next year, and the weather was one of MILs concerns, so a I will share this with her.

I’m going to look into the Hawaiian Village now...thanks for the suggestion. I know it has popped up in my searches but I haven’t looked at it in detail. We have a little one who will be just turning 3 at the time of our trip, so we plan to spend most of our time at our resort. This sounds like a great option for that!
I think another one I was looking at was Hilton waikaloa...it something like that. It is on Hawaii I think. My MIL keeps suggesting island hopping at least once, but of course us doing that with 6 people is a big undertaking compared to her and FIL only. I am leaning towards staying all on one island myself.



Ok, thank you! They seem to be suggested a lot for Hawaii flights, which is why I was looking at it. I think the CP would def save me money there!
A companion pass must be used with a paid ticket. We did Hawaii last year on ur points. But did open new Alaska credit cards to get my parents and us to Florida last January on points.
 
Too late to use an Amex offer that expires tomorrow?

Hope not! We had a 'spend $75 get $50' credit at Clyde's on our cards. I had it twice, oldest daughter had it once. We went with 8 people for Saturday brunch before Xmas and split the bill between 2 of the cards - both of us got a $50 credit.

So I still had a remaining credit burning a hole in my purse so we went for lunch today over to Mark Center - I got the 'Great news' email already so we should be good to go.

Still have a lot of offers expiring tomorrow - Petco, 5 Guys in particular I should drop in and buy a gift card as they are right in my neighborhood. Should do it right now but it's cold out there!
 
Speaking of AmEx offers, did anyone here do the $50 off $50 in Hulu charges and get credited for it yet? I got the “You just used your AmEx offer” email for it back on 11/11 but still haven’t gotten the $50 credit. I forgot about it for a while so haven’t messaged them yet. The offer period runs all the way through next May so I guess technically I could have to wait until then for the credit, but all of the other offers I’ve done recently have credited pretty much right after the charge posts. My wife had the offer too so once I hit $50 in charges I switched our Hulu payments over to her card. I even upgraded us to the “no commercials” plan so we’d both be able to hit $50 within the allotted time. I hope they give me the credit & I don’t have to fight for my 5 months of free Hulu!
Yes I got my credit and now moved the monthly payments to another card with the offer.
 
My wife and I talked about buying DVC years ago, but we were doing a lot more varied traveling back then and didn’t want to be locked into Disney, as much as we love Disney. With a kid and the extra expenses that come with her, we’re not in as good of a position to buy as we might’ve been a few years ago. And who knows how long our DD will still love our Disney vacations? It broke my wife’s heart earlier this year when we went to Disneyland, and for the first time DD didn’t want to meet any characters (she used to love hugging all the characters!) and just wanted to ride all the attractions. Anyway, my wife and I have a long non-Disney wanderlist we’ve been holding off on until DD is old enough handle all the walking and really appreciate how lucky she is to get to see the world.

Something to keep in mind is that once your LO enters school there is the whole school calendar to deal with. It can add a bit of complication to travel plans since a lot of families travel during school breaks. It's probably not a huge deal in elementary school, but can be stressful for them to miss classes and do makeup work when they get older (if you decide to pull her out of school for travel). Schools have differing policies on this too, so it can depend on the school she goes to as well.
 
So... I thought it was about time I read up on how best to utilize credit cards, frequent flyer plans, etc. to get the max value for travel. I'd seen this thread and always meant to give it a look.

But I can't read 574 pages! And it turns out I can barely read most of the posts anyway, since we don't seem to be speaking the same language. I've never seen so many acronyms!

Anybody have some pointers on how I can start learning about all this?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top