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

[amcc]

Are you snorkeling silfra? I am on the fence about doing it! Snorkeling between two techtonic plates seems cool. I watched YouTubers Tim and Fin do it and they seemed into it, for sure.

I know Silfra is also offered on the Chase portal and AirBNB experiences.

Yup that's it! We saw it on Amazing Race and it seems like the perfect, unique experience. The cold water freaks me out a little bit, as does the wetsuit (MIA natives here) but such a cool and unique experience. I worry a little about my youngest so I'm going to "train" him in snorkeling this summer at the beach and pool.

 

[Princess Michele]

We connected through LHR to Munich on AA as one trip. We had to go through customs at LHR and it took about 2 hours. All those airports are huge so an hour, even if you don't have to go through Customs, is cutting it close especially if you are transferring from an int'l arrival to a domestic departure.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I did not think 1 hour would be enough time.

 

[iujen94]

Hi (again), Dis-ies!

I have a(nother) newbie question. My Chase Ink card didn't arrive in time for me to get in on the zero-fee staples visa deal. <sob> So, if the normal fee is $7.95, but it is 5x rewards... Would I still come out $2.05 ahead in points even without a sale?

I’m too lazy to do the math, but Staples has been running the no-fee deal about every other week (literally). So just wait for the next sale to come around!

 

[IFlossU]

@IFlossU when you've been researching flights from PHX to Maui, are you looking for Maui hotels as well, or merely flying into Maui but then going to the other islands for hotels?

We stay on Maui. Hyatt has some amazing condos on Maui that work perfectly for my family. We’re going to Puunoa Beach Estates for 8 nights at the end of June. The only thing we end up paying for on Maui is a car and food. And yes, I could use points for the car too, but choose to save them for flights/Hyatt.

I’m too lazy to do the math, but Staples has been running the no-fee deal about every other week (literally). So just wait for the next sale to come around!

I 2nd this. Staples fee free sales happen almost weekly. Don’t pay the fees. Just wait a couple of weeks for the next sale.

 

[ten6mom]

We stay on Maui. Hyatt has some amazing condos on Maui that work perfectly for my family. We’re going to Puunoa Beach Estates for 8 nights at the end of June. The only thing we end up paying for on Maui is a car and food. And yes, I could use points for the car too, but choose to save them for flights/Hyatt.

I think I was not prepared for the sticker shock of Hawaii hotels (not that I've looked broadly... just a quick glance this morning).

Thanks!

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I think I was not prepared for the sticker shock of Hawaii hotels (not that I've looked broadly... just a quick glance this morning).

Thanks!

Hawaii hotel prices are no joke. We went in 2018, and used a combination of points and cash to stay at hotels/airbnbs. DH wanted to go back this year, so I looked into it and quickly realized it would just be way too much to do that on top of Japan this year, so we settled on Costa Rica which kinda reminds me of a budget version of Hawaii, lol. It seems like Hawaii hotel prices since 5 years ago have skyrocketed!

 

[wanderlust7]

I think I was not prepared for the sticker shock of Hawaii hotels (not that I've looked broadly... just a quick glance this morning).

Thanks!

Some of the Hyatts on Maui are going up a category. Book before March 28 to lock in the current points rate.

Hawaii	Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa	6	7	25,000	30,000
Hawaii	Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, a Destination by Hyatt Residence	4	5	15,000	20,000
Hawaii	Wailea Ekahi Village, a Destination by Hyatt Residence	5	6	20,000	25,000

 

[MouseOfCards]

I think I was not prepared for the sticker shock of Hawaii hotels (not that I've looked broadly... just a quick glance this morning).

Thanks!

Yes, the prices have risen significantly when we checked last week!

 

[havaneselover]

I had the weirdest experience today at a Home 2 Suites on my way home from SW Florida. I put the dogs in the car and wanted to fill up my water bottle for the road. I had already filled it with ice from the ice maker on my floor. There was a sign saying you couldn't fill up water bottles. I figured it was for hygenic reasons (DCL has this rule), so I used the tiny plastic orange juice cup to get water out of the juice machine. No one else was around or waiting. After my third tiny cup, when my water bottle was full, the staff approached me and told me I needed to go to the gym to fill my water bottle. I was pretty dumbfounded because I wasn't inconvenience anyone and it was water from a machine (so not like I was taking a huge amount of juice).

I did stop at my first Buc-ees in Florence, SC today. It overwhelmed me. Crossed it off my bucket list.

My trip was okay--loved seeing my parents and spending time with my daughter. My dad's health has definitely deteriorated and he won't acknowledge that. And the second day I was there my 16-year old dog got sick. I ended up taking her to the vet because her paw was a disaster and she wasn't eating and it's clear the poor thing won't make it much longer. I just can't keep weight on her (she used to be ginormous). I was supposed to be there for three weeks but one week sort of did me in.

 

[MouseOfCards]

Just a DP for anyone interested. I'm at Chase 7/24, but heard of others having luck getting this, so decided to give it a try. Applied for my 3rd Chase Ink and was instantly approved. The system said my new card should arrive in a few days. Woohoo! (Looks like they did do a hard credit pull.)

 

[djmeredith]

Anybody have a recommendation for getting Eiffel Tower tickets through a secondary source? I missed the 60 day mark and now all of our dates are sold out. I see a couple of options through the Chase portal, but I hate to roll the dice on a random option.

 

[ten6mom]

Hawaii hotel prices are no joke. We went in 2018, and used a combination of points and cash to stay at hotels/airbnbs. DH wanted to go back this year, so I looked into it and quickly realized it would just be way too much to do that on top of Japan this year, so we settled on Costa Rica which kinda reminds me of a budget version of Hawaii, lol. It seems like Hawaii hotel prices since 5 years ago have skyrocketed!

Hmm maybe I need to look into CR instead... my gosh.

 

[mmmears]

I am continuing my research into flights for a Greek Isles cruise and and have a couple more questions.

If we are on a flight from the US to Athens with a connection in London, Paris, or Rome etc, and we are flying on the same airline for both flights how much time is recommended for the connection? Do we need to go through customs after the first flight or only in Athens? A lot of the flights I am seeing only have 1 hour for the connection and that does not seem long enough. We will have checked bags and want to make sure that we allow enough time.

If the connecting flights are on 2 different airlines such as TAP Portugal from the US to Lisbon and Aegean from Lisbon to Athens do we need to allow more time for the connection than if both flights were with the same airline?

Is there an advantage to having connecting fights with the same airline versus 2 different airlines when booked together?

If there is a website or reference on the basics for international travel that you would suggest instead that would be fine. Thank you.

I've connected in LHR and CDG. Both took quite a bit of time to get from one flight to the other. When I have a choice between 2 hours and 5 I have chosen 5 (and even though I hate waiting at the airport I have not regretted it). If you are going from a Shengen country to CDG (Paris) you won't need to go through customs but it can still be a long walk even if you are on the same airline. If you are going through CDG from the US, you do have to go through customs and that can take a long time.

Last trip we were flying from Oslo home, connecting at CDG and the jetway broke, so it took extra long to get off the plane (which was already late). We had to race to catch our flight since we were nowhere near the 2nd leg. On the way in customs took forever even though there was pretty much no line in front of us. There were people carrying things (like the guy with 6 or more brand new iPhones in boxes) that they didn't like, so we had to wait for them to open everything, check everything, etc. It was not fun.

At LHR we had to travel by bus from one terminal to the other (time consuming and also not fun). Just make sure to give yourself a bit of a cushion in terms of those connections.

Hmm maybe I need to look into CR instead... my gosh.

We've been using points for our Hawaii hotel plans lately (2022, 2023, and 2024 I hope) because the hotel prices are just insane. Mostly Chase > Hyatt, some Hilton and Hilton FNCs. Oh, and the FHR credit, too, for a paid night.

 

[Ngwira]

Anybody have a recommendation for getting Eiffel Tower tickets through a secondary source? I missed the 60 day mark and now all of our dates are sold out. I see a couple of options through the Chase portal, but I hate to roll the dice on a random option.

Check with your Paris hotel concierge.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

@calypso726 or anyone else who has done the Celebrity Amex offer: how do you get Celebrity to take the exact amount you want to put down on each card for the cruise? We finally decided to go for it and book something in 2025, have 3 cards with the 30K offer. So I need them to take $1K on each. Ugh, do I need to call? We don't have a TA we work with (except for non-DVC Disney trips) so maybe it's time to get one?

 

[djmeredith]

Check with your Paris hotel concierge.

Good idea, thanks.

 

[mmmears]

@calypso726 or anyone else who has done the Celebrity Amex offer: how do you get Celebrity to take the exact amount you want to put down on each card for the cruise? We finally decided to go for it and book something in 2025, have 3 cards with the 30K offer. So I need them to take $1K on each. Ugh, do I need to call? We don't have a TA we work with (except for non-DVC Disney trips) so maybe it's time to get one?

No need to call. We booked yesterday. The cruise wanted a $500 deposit (and there didn't seem to be a way to put more on it at that point). After that was paid, DH went into our cruise and added payments from all the other cards that we had offers on. It was pretty easy, really. We ended up not using a TA so that we didn't have to go through one for all these payments. My friend's TA kept telling her she wouldn't get the deal on the second card, and didn't want to bother with making a payment from it, but she persisted and it credited. I didn't want to have to deal with that so we booked directly with Celebrity online.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

No need to call. We booked yesterday. The cruise wanted a $500 deposit (and there didn't seem to be a way to put more on it at that point). After that was paid, DH went into our cruise and added payments from all the other cards that we had offers on. It was pretty easy, really. We ended up not using a TA so that we didn't have to go through one for all these payments. My friend's TA kept telling her she wouldn't get the deal on the second card, and didn't want to bother with making a payment from it, but she persisted and it credited. I didn't want to have to deal with that so we booked directly with Celebrity online.

That's perfect, thanks! I don't like the idea of leaving that money in there for so long, lol, but 90K MRs are just too good to pass.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I also hope that choosing the more expensive refundable option doesn't lock us in to having to select that option when we rebook the actual cruise we take.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Anybody have a recommendation for getting Eiffel Tower tickets through a secondary source? I missed the 60 day mark and now all of our dates are sold out. I see a couple of options through the Chase portal, but I hate to roll the dice on a random option.

Don’t take my word for it- but I believe that you can buy tickets at the gate as well. You just have to wait in the line for tickets. But google that first. If for some reason you can’t get either, the park across the way is amazing for pics. and also just being under the Eiffel Tower is amazing (no tickets required, but you will have to go through security).