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

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

A Southwest CC question: my SW Business CC is just over a year old at this point. The annual fee posted on December 1. I have not yet received the 9000 anniversary points. I've been holding off on paying the annual fee or canceling the card until those points post, but now my payment is due tomorrow. If I pay the annual fee, I'll be able to have that refunded as long as I close the card by January 1st, correct? Any ideas when my anniversary points are likely to post?

From the fine print in my SW card, "Anniversary year means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary, and the 12 monthly billing cycles after that each year. "

So, do you know your account open date? If the AF hit 12/1 and it subsequently statemented after that date, I believe the points should have posted with that statement. Yes, they will refund the AF up to 30 days, so I think that's actually 12/31, not 1/1, but it's still weird that your AF hit, the statement closed, and you haven't seen the points yet.

 

[PrincessGidget]

Did you have to pay the resort fee, since you stayed on points?

Thanks so much for the other info... definitely sounds like a bargain to stay here, especially for the amount of space you get!

No we did not pay a resort fee. We stayed on my SIL Hilton points but I arrived first and checked us in. They took my CC but it was never charged.

Edit to add, maybe my SIL paid a resort fee when she made the reservation? I will ask.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

No we did not pay a resort fee. We stayed on my SIL Hilton points but I arrived first and checked us in. They took my CC but it was never charged.

Edit to add, maybe my SIL paid a resort fee when she made the reservation? I will ask.

If she booked on points, I don't think she paid the resort fee when she made the reservation. It didn't make me pay it when using points to book. If it needs to be paid, I'm assuming they'll ask for when I check in, but it's a good sign that you didn't pay it at check in... gives me hope for no resort fee!

 

[catsinawindow]

From the fine print in my SW card, "Anniversary year means the year beginning with your account open date through the first statement date after your account open date anniversary, and the 12 monthly billing cycles after that each year. "

So, do you know your account open date? If the AF hit 12/1 and it subsequently statemented after that date, I believe the points should have posted with that statement. Yes, they will refund the AF up to 30 days, so I think that's actually 12/31, not 1/1, but it's still weird that your AF hit, the statement closed, and you haven't seen the points yet.

Your response prompted me to look more into this and I realized what happened. I was credited the anniversary points, but they aren't showing up in my Chase app. When I look on Southwest's website, I see them! So I called today to cancel the card. Thanks for the prompt to look harder for them.

 

[djmeredith]

I recently opened the Barclays AA Aviator and then a few days later the Citi Aadvantage card. I thought I would get an American Aadvantage account number assigned to me. However, I have never received communications about that and there is not an AA acct number listed on either card or in the cards' apps. I'm hoping to earn the Barclays SUB quickly because I need the points. Any idea how to find out whether I have an AA acct now or not? Should I call American?

 

[eticketplease]

I would just open an AA account and then call Barclays and Citi and state you left it off the application.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I was recently in London with my ds for an Arsenal match (tied 0-0). I flew on AA on a daytime flight out of JFK; it left and arrived on time. The flight was uneventful -- can't remember what I ate, but it must have been okay. Upon landing I went to the M&S food hall and bought a small carton of milk to eat with the PB&J and granola sandwich that I bought at JFK for my dinner. The sandwich was surprisingly good -- who knew that a bit of granola in with PB was so yummy!

I stayed at the HGI at T2 at Heathrow for the night since the flight landed around 10pm. Interesting location -- you have to walk across a parking garage to gain access (I had seen pics on FT so it wasn't an issue). I did mobile check-in alas my key didn't work in the elevator so I couldn't even try it on the room (couldn't get to my floor). Went to reception where they told me that the control tower tends to deactivate mobile keys (??). Got to my room and settled down to watch The Bear when the power went out and stayed out for 5 mins. I suppose these things happen, but there is no emergency lighting in the room so the room was pitch black except for the light on my screen. Had power for maybe 15 mins before it happened again, again, again, again and again. I had to call the front desk from my cell phone and they blamed it on Heathrow, saying that the airport was cutting power and they had no control over it. I found this incredibly annoying and dangerous since I was in the bathroom once when it went out and nearly tripped over my carry-on. Room was fine, mattress was super soft, like so soft that if I was too close to the edge I would've fallen out. Breakfast was okay -- not winning any awards, but cereal, yogurt and a fresh orange were enough for me. I stopped by the front desk on my way out and expressed my (extreme) displeasure with the power interruptions -- nothing was done / offered. They blamed it once again on the airport -- be that as it may, the hotel could still have emergency lighting in the rooms, a flashlight for guests or a generator. I probably wouldn't stay here again -- I'd take the tube to T5 and stay at the lovely Sofitel.

In London ds and I stayed at the BoTree (2 rooms), which is a new boutique hotel with 137 rooms that opened within the last year. The location was clutch -- 30 second walk from the Bond St station (Lizzy, Central and Victoria lines). Tube to and from the airport is around 40 mins and cost 13.30 quid each way. Rooms were spotless and very modern -- so modern that I never quite figured out the lights / curtains after 6 nights. Sometimes I wanted to open the curtains and the lights would all come on. Windows were triple-glazed so the room was very quiet (yay!). The hotel put ds and I on the same floor, which I really appreciated. The restaurant was......interesting. We had breakfast there most mornings and the service and food were inconsistent -- not a dealbreaker though. Marlyborne Village was a 3 min walk from the hotel and it was really nice -- much, much quieter than Bond & Oxford Streets, yet it had many of the same stores. I'd definitely stay here again if the price was right, but for our trip next year I'm going to book the HR Churchill since it's only an 8 min walk from the Bond St station.

Ds and I took the tube everywhere and I that's probably where I caught a terrible cold. I'm just starting to feel somewhat normal now.

Taken from the Bond St tube station

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

The crowds in London, especially on the weekends, were insane. A 15 min walk would take more than 20 because it was so hard to navigate through all the people on the sidewalks.


Luckily I finished my holiday shopping in London !


Day trip to Windsor Castle (easy train ride from Paddington) -- no pics allowed inside. It was decorated so beautifully for the holidays -- really enjoyed it. Also saw QEII's final resting place (there was a small line to walk by).


A new, trendy and popular donut store on Carnaby Street




Fortnum & Mason


Fortnum & Mason windows



To give an idea of the crowds inside the stores (this was taken at Fortnum & Mason and it was probably worse than it looks because you could barely move inside).

 

[georgina]

I was recently in London with my ds for an Arsenal match (tied 0-0). I flew on AA on a daytime flight out of JFK; it left and arrived on time. The flight was uneventful -- can't remember what I ate, but it must have been okay. Upon landing I went to the M&S food hall and bought a small carton of milk to eat with the PB&J and granola sandwich that I bought at JFK for my dinner. The sandwich was surprisingly good -- who knew that a bit of granola in with PB was so yummy!

I stayed at the HGI at T2 at Heathrow for the night since the flight landed around 10pm. Interesting location -- you have to walk across a parking garage to gain access (I had seen pics on FT so it wasn't an issue). I did mobile check-in alas my key didn't work in the elevator so I couldn't even try it on the room (couldn't get to my floor). Went to reception where they told me that the control tower tends to deactivate mobile keys (??). Got to my room and settled down to watch The Bear when the power went out and stayed out for 5 mins. I suppose these things happen, but there is no emergency lighting in the room so the room was pitch black except for the light on my screen. Had power for maybe 15 mins before it happened again, again, again, again and again. I had to call the front desk from my cell phone and they blamed it on Heathrow, saying that the airport was cutting power and they had no control over it. I found this incredibly annoying and dangerous since I was in the bathroom once when it went out and nearly tripped over my carry-on. Room was fine, mattress was super soft, like so soft that if I was too close to the edge I would've fallen out. Breakfast was okay -- not winning any awards, but cereal, yogurt and a fresh orange were enough for me. I stopped by the front desk on my way out and expressed my (extreme) displeasure with the power interruptions -- nothing was done / offered. They blamed it once again on the airport -- be that as it may, the hotel could still have emergency lighting in the rooms, a flashlight for guests or a generator. I probably wouldn't stay here again -- I'd take the tube to T5 and stay at the lovely Sofitel.

We spent a night at that HGI in Heathrow before flying home a few years ago. We were eating dinner in the restaurant when I saw someone running out of the kitchen and through the dining room, then we all were evacuated for a kitchen fire. Luckily it was summer, and we were finished eating, as we spent about an hour outside.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Warning - I just need to vent.

My DD1's boyfriend is on my naughty list. I'm really PO'd at him.

We visited Orlando to see my DD1 and DD2 for Christmas. They both live there. Before driving up from Miami (where we winter) I needed to decide about flying home to NY to continue getting our house there ready to list for sale this coming spring. We would either fly directly from MIA/FLL or could drive up to Orlando and fly out of MCO. DD1's 26th birthday is coming up in mid-January. I asked her if she had plans with friends, etc. Obviously, she would rather celebrate with them most times.

She said she had no plans, so we planned to drive up 2 weeks after returning from Orlando to celebrate her birthday with her before flying back to NY from MCO. We would leave our vehicle at her house and she would drive us to the airport.

Just before I purchased non-refundable tickets on JetBlue, I called to double check with her again. She was happy we were coming. As the flight was about 3 weeks away, I purchased the Basic Blue for $89/pp ow + $15 for advance seating because I was feeling flush. I think regular Blue was like $50? more per person? We had no luggage as we were flying home. I got to use my new Barclay JB MC.

Her BF had the entire week off for Christmas and was staying at the house. He lives and works in Tampa. We found out recently. Too crowded at the house for our liking. No biggie. We used my parents' MX timeshare and did an exchange with Interval International into Orlando. There are always some availability in Orlando. We normally prefer to stay at one of the Marriott Vacation Club resorts but there were only studios and one bedrooms available or the dates were off, like the week after Christmas.

We picked a 2 bedroom at the Westgate Blue Tree Resort in Lake Buena Vista to exchange into. That way DD2 can stay with us some nights. The unit was old but clean. It was perfectly fine for our needs. The LOCATION WAS PERFECT. It was a block away from the intersection of Palm Parkway and 535. Convenient to the Daryl Carter area for food options. We just slept there. We didn't use any of the facilities or amenities.

We celebrated Christmas early including the BF on Sunday and Monday because DD1 had off. We had dinner at La Luce at the Hilton Signa. One of the best meals we have had at Disney in a long while.

DD1 had to work on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. She drove to BF's parents house (about 45 mins from Disney) after work on Christmas Eve (after 10pm) and stayed over and then drove back to get to work at 12:30pm on Christmas Day. BF's family opens Christmas gifts on Christmas morning.

At his family's gift opening event, DD1's BF gifted her a Birthday Cruise for Christmas!! It's actually a wonderful and extravagant gift. But he kept that gift a secret the entire time and told NO ONE. He planned it months ago and thought he was a mastermind in keeping it a total secret. but he didn't consider ALL the variables! I am NOT a fan of travel surprises. Lol.

The cruise is for a full week and sails out of FLL. She leaves before we get to Orlando and will be gone the entire week. He arranged to car pool from Tampa with another couple traveling and so, she can't come down early to see us in Miami and even if we drive up earlier, she will be going to Tampa to car pool from there.

DD1 had to beg her manager for time off last minute (cruise is in 2 weeks). Good thing he thought it was "romantic."

Now we have to drive 4+ hours to Orlando, only to have to Uber to the airport from her empty house! The cancellation fee for the flight is more $ than the ticket, so we are just going to suck it up. We could have just flown out of MIA/FLL for less money!! I am soooooo salty about it all.

I mean if it didn't involve non-refundable tickets, it wouldn't be a big deal and I wouldn't care and would be happy for her. I waited almost to the last minute to even purchase these tickets and now I'm kicking myself.

DH says not to make a big deal out of it TO THEM and rain on their parade. DD1 feels bad but it truly isn't her fault because she didn't know when she okayed me to buy our tickets. If I vent too much, it will put a damper on her trip and I don't want to do that to her.

If I vent to family and friends, it will influence what they think of the BF who maybe one day will be part of the family. DH has heard enough venting from me and doesn't want to hear more because he is upset at the upcoming waste of a drive, especially since he will be doing all the driving!

I am still upset and still need to VENT!!!! So, here I am venting to my Dis friends who I hope will understand my upset and disappointment when perfect travel plans get derailed by unforeseen and unexpected forces that are beyond our control!!!! And since that "force" is the BF, I can't help but put all the blame on him and be kind of angry at him. He stayed in my home when we all went to the Taylor Swift concert in Miami, just 2 months ago. He couldn't have pulled me aside and told me and asked me to keep it a secret and not to plan anything myself! DH says that in the future when we make any plans involving our DD, we may need to ask her to specifically ask her BF to okay them before we commit.


ARGHHHHHH!!!!! He has NOT earned any brownie points from me!!! His only saving grace right now is that he treats her well and she seems happy. Momma's not liking the boyfriend ruining her plans and costing her $$$ and wasting her time and energy!!!!!!!

 

[afan]

Warning - I just need to vent.

My DD1's boyfriend is on my naughty list. I'm really PO'd at him.

We visited Orlando to see my DD1 and DD2 for Christmas. They both live there. Before driving up from Miami (where we winter) I needed to decide about flying home to NY to continue getting our house there ready to list for sale this coming spring. We would either fly directly from MIA/FLL or could drive up to Orlando and fly out of MCO. DD1's 26th birthday is coming up in mid-January. I asked her if she had plans with friends, etc. Obviously, she would rather celebrate with them most times.

She said she had no plans, so we planned to drive up 2 weeks after returning from Orlando to celebrate her birthday with her before flying back to NY from MCO. We would leave our vehicle at her house and she would drive us to the airport.

Just before I purchased non-refundable tickets on JetBlue, I called to double check with her again. She was happy we were coming. As the flight was about 3 weeks away, I purchased the Basic Blue for $89/pp ow + $15 for advance seating because I was feeling flush. I think regular Blue was like $50? more per person? We had no luggage as we were flying home. I got to use my new Barclay JB MC.

Her BF had the entire week off for Christmas and was staying at the house. He lives and works in Tampa. We found out recently. Too crowded at the house for our liking. No biggie. We used my parents' MX timeshare and did an exchange with Interval International into Orlando. There are always some availability in Orlando. We normally prefer to stay at one of the Marriott Vacation Club resorts but there were only studios and one bedrooms available or the dates were off, like the week after Christmas.

We picked a 2 bedroom at the Westgate Blue Tree Resort in Lake Buena Vista to exchange into. That way DD2 can stay with us some nights. The unit was old but clean. It was perfectly fine for our needs. The LOCATION WAS PERFECT. It was a block away from the intersection of Palm Parkway and 535. Convenient to the Daryl Carter area for food options. We just slept there. We didn't use any of the facilities or amenities.

We celebrated Christmas early including the BF on Sunday and Monday because DD1 had off. We had dinner at La Luce at the Hilton Signa. One of the best meals we have had at Disney in a long while.

DD1 had to work on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. She drove to BF's parents house (about 45 mins from Disney) after work on Christmas Eve (after 10pm) and stayed over and then drove back to get to work at 12:30pm on Christmas Day. BF's family opens Christmas gifts on Christmas morning.

At his family's gift opening event, DD1's BF gifted her a Birthday Cruise for Christmas!! It's actually a wonderful and extravagant gift. But he kept that gift a secret the entire time and told NO ONE. He planned it months ago and thought he was a mastermind in keeping it a total secret. but he didn't consider ALL the variables! I am NOT a fan of travel surprises. Lol.

The cruise is for a full week and sails out of FLL. She leaves before we get to Orlando and will be gone the entire week. He arranged to car pool from Tampa with another couple traveling and so, she can't come down early to see us in Miami and even if we drive up earlier, she will be going to Tampa to car pool from there.

DD1 had to beg her manager for time off last minute (cruise is in 2 weeks). Good thing he thought it was "romantic."

Now we have to drive 4+ hours to Orlando, only to have to Uber to the airport from her empty house! The cancellation fee for the flight is more $ than the ticket, so we are just going to suck it up. We could have just flown out of MIA/FLL for less money!! I am soooooo salty about it all.

I mean if it didn't involve non-refundable tickets, it wouldn't be a big deal and I wouldn't care and would be happy for her. I waited almost to the last minute to even purchase these tickets and now I'm kicking myself.

DH says not to make a big deal out of it TO THEM and rain on their parade. DD1 feels bad but it truly isn't her fault because she didn't know when she okayed me to buy our tickets. If I vent too much, it will put a damper on her trip and I don't want to do that to her.

If I vent to family and friends, it will influence what they think of the BF who maybe one day will be part of the family. DH has heard enough venting from me and doesn't want to hear more because he is upset at the upcoming waste of a drive, especially since he will be doing all the driving!

I am still upset and still need to VENT!!!! So, here I am venting to my Dis friends who I hope will understand my upset and disappointment when perfect travel plans get derailed by unforeseen and unexpected forces that are beyond our control!!!! And since that "force" is the BF, I can't help but put all the blame on him and be kind of angry at him. He stayed in my home when we all went to the Taylor Swift concert in Miami, just 2 months ago. He couldn't have pulled me aside and told me and asked me to keep it a secret and not to plan anything myself! DH says that in the future when we make any plans involving our DD, we may need to ask her to specifically ask her BF to okay them before we commit.


ARGHHHHHH!!!!! He has NOT earned any brownie points from me!!! His only saving grace right now is that he treats her well and she seems happy. Momma's not liking the boyfriend ruining her plans and costing her $$$ and wasting her time and energy!!!!!!!

Happy that she can roll with it and was able to get the time off. I think even at that age I'd have been pissed though since I had to plan out my precious vacation days.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

Happy that she can roll with it and was able to get the time off. I think even at that age I'd have been pissed though since I had to plan out my precious vacation days.

I can't believe she's turning 26!

Both our girls are really close to us.

DD1 has traveled without us recently but I usually know all about it.

In fact, I had to help her buy her plane ticket to Japan in May 2025. She is going with a group of friends including the boyfriend. He booked his ticket on AA reward points without waiting for her. She didn't have any AA points yet and by the time she applied for the Barclay AA card and received the AA miles in her account, the flight he was on was not available on reward points. It was a difference of about 2 weeks.

She obviously didn't want to fly alone. He didn't seem inclined to change his flight to a different flight that had 2 reward tickets. Maybe they required more points?

Mom to the rescue. I didn't want her to be stressed about the situation. Traveling alone (without the parents) can be scary when you start out. I had helped her accumulate a lot of Chase URs, over 200k by helping her meet the MSR, in the last 2 years. She got the CIU and the CSP.

Therefore, I helped her buy her ticket through the Chase Sapphire Preferred travel portal and match up with her BF's itinerary exactly and she got the 1.25 points savings paying with her URs. So, she paid more than if she was able to book the ticket using AA miles but she didn't have to pay any money OOP.

So, I guess that was strike one already in my mind. This surprise gift that derailed my plans is strike two....