I love credit cards so much! v4.0 - 2021 (see first page for add'l details)

[LB002]

I am starting to worry this trip is cursed, and we haven't even left yet!

I have been trying to register on the Hertz website for 3 days (as a Gold member - they don;t recognize my membership number, which is admittedly quite old and unused). I have received an error message EVERY SINGLE attempt. My husband is in web development and it seems to be an error, regardless of the browser or computer we use.

You may remember Hawaiian cancelled our flights from BOS and then charged us more to fly from JFK (less convenient for us). Well, NOW Hawaiian changed my seat so I am not sitting with my family (we had 2 and 2 seating). I paid for seat assignments and have my ticketing confirmation, but they won;t put me back in the seat that I booked and paid for. I spent 4 hours on hold or speaking to various reps today. So now we have to leave even earlier to get to the airport as early as possible so I can throw myself at the mercy of the gate agents and see if they will do anything. Aside from COVID, my daughter has celiac. They do not offer gluten free meals on domestic flights, so I have an entire day of food packed (its 17-18 hours of travel). I don;t want her sitting next to a stranger (she's only 10!) and possibly getting glutened. This is our first trip since her diagnosis, and that is stressful enough. Our other option is to have the kids sit together but apart from my husband and I (we are in different rows).

I really hope tomorrow is a better day.

 

[IFlossU]

I am starting to worry this trip is cursed, and we haven't even left yet!

I have been trying to register on the Hertz website for 3 days (as a Gold member - they don;t recognize my membership number, which is admittedly quite old and unused). I have received an error message EVERY SINGLE attempt. My husband is in web development and it seems to be an error, regardless of the browser or computer we use.

You may remember Hawaiian cancelled our flights from BOS and then charged us more to fly from JFK (less convenient for us). Well, NOW Hawaiian changed my seat so I am not sitting with my family (we had 2 and 2 seating). I paid for seat assignments and have my ticketing confirmation, but they won;t put me back in the seat that I booked and paid for. I spent 4 hours on hold or speaking to various reps today. So now we have to leave even earlier to get to the airport as early as possible so I can throw myself at the mercy of the gate agents and see if they will do anything. Aside from COVID, my daughter has celiac. They do not offer gluten free meals on domestic flights, so I have an entire day of food packed (its 17-18 hours of travel). I don;t want her sitting next to a stranger (she's only 10!) and possibly getting glutened. This is our first trip since her diagnosis, and that is stressful enough. Our other option is to have the kids sit together but apart from my husband and I (we are in different rows).

I really hope tomorrow is a better day.

What a horrible way to start your trip. I’m truly sorry for the headaches this trip has given you. I’d be a mess. I’m hopeful this seat assignment problem will be resolved. I can’t believe they would separate you from your daughter. That’s absurd. I wish you the best and safe travels. Let us know what happens.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I am starting to worry this trip is cursed, and we haven't even left yet!

I have been trying to register on the Hertz website for 3 days (as a Gold member - they don;t recognize my membership number, which is admittedly quite old and unused). I have received an error message EVERY SINGLE attempt. My husband is in web development and it seems to be an error, regardless of the browser or computer we use.

You may remember Hawaiian cancelled our flights from BOS and then charged us more to fly from JFK (less convenient for us). Well, NOW Hawaiian changed my seat so I am not sitting with my family (we had 2 and 2 seating). I paid for seat assignments and have my ticketing confirmation, but they won;t put me back in the seat that I booked and paid for. I spent 4 hours on hold or speaking to various reps today. So now we have to leave even earlier to get to the airport as early as possible so I can throw myself at the mercy of the gate agents and see if they will do anything. Aside from COVID, my daughter has celiac. They do not offer gluten free meals on domestic flights, so I have an entire day of food packed (its 17-18 hours of travel). I don;t want her sitting next to a stranger (she's only 10!) and possibly getting glutened. This is our first trip since her diagnosis, and that is stressful enough. Our other option is to have the kids sit together but apart from my husband and I (we are in different rows).

I really hope tomorrow is a better day.

Hertz- I too tried to register my thrifty loyalty number AFTER I made the reservation, and it is looked at as a change to the ressie. I even called and they said the same. And with the crazy prices now, you don’t want that. Sorry that won’t work out.

Shuffled seats. Um, HARD NO. What they’ve done is making the angry mama bear in me wanna come out. It is absolutely not okay to separate you from your children, one of whom has medical needs. My recommendation is to be kind but firm when you check in. If they have no problem bumping you out of your seat, they should be perfectly fine bumping this random person who is now in your seat. I am dumbfounded they will not resolve this for you in advance. I am so sorry.

 

[LB002]

Hertz- I too tried to register my thrifty loyalty number AFTER I made the reservation, and it is looked at as a change to the ressie. I even called and they said the same. And with the crazy prices now, you don’t want that. Sorry that won’t work out.

Shuffled seats. Um, HARD NO. What they’ve done is making the angry mama bear in me wanna come out. It is absolutely not okay to separate you from your children, one of whom has medical needs. My recommendation is to be kind but firm when you check in. If they have no problem bumping you out of your seat, they should be perfectly fine bumping this random person who is now in your seat. I am dumbfounded they will not resolve this for you in advance. I am so sorry.

Yes, I called Hertz to try to set up an account. Once I had an account I asked if I could like the reservation nand it would have been $2k instead of $500. m, I guess I will wait in line!

I ran the gamut of emotions with Hawaiian today. My husband and I even played the good cop, bad cop routine with me angry (but respectful) and him calm. Fun times!

 

[LB002]

What a horrible way to start your trip. I’m truly sorry for the headaches this trip has given you. I’d be a mess. I’m hopeful this seat assignment problem will be resolved. I can’t believe they would separate you from your daughter. That’s absurd. I wish you the best and safe travels. Let us know what happens.

Thanks! I am hoping they can do something at the desk tomorrow a.m., or I will have to be that annoying parent asking the person in H to switch to A further up the plane.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Thanks so much for the detailed trip report! we have a Maui/Oahu trio this July! We're also staying at GW for the first time. I'm really questioning whether we should postpone until next year though. My DH and kids aren't really excited about going (what is wrong with them?!?) and the covid restrictions/tests make me nervous that something could go wrong with that last minute. But, it just feels overwhelming to try reschedule everything since it's all on points/miles. it was great to read your experience though and know it's still possible to have a great time!

You really do have to weigh your comfort level with your desire to travel. Like everyone, so many of our trips were cancelled, that I almost needed this trip to put my head back into a space of normalcy. My guess is that travel is going to be booming by July and COVID numbers much lower due to wide-spread vaccinations and time of year. But that’s just a guess, of course.

 

[wanderlust7]

Hi folks,

Quick introduction post and question or two. I was big into churning some time ago and ramping back up in support of what we hope will be an insane 2022-2023 of Disney travel. After a year+ of balancing a full time job with volunteering with Public Health on COVID test/vaccine sites, we're ready to invest in some fun next year I'm 0/24 at this point and P2 (who is much more active on disboards) is 1/24. I had her get the CSP for the 80,000 point bonus last year, thinking it was too good to last (ha!). P2 has mandated layovers are not viable due to our kids issues with airsickness. We will be travelling out of a AA hub with direct Orlando flights from SW and Frontier, I'll be focusing on SW due to the few choices for transferring points to Frontier. We'd be staying onsite. Our normal monthly spend is about $2,000. We don't own a business or have any side-hustles that could be converted into a business.

My current plan is to maximize UR points and transfer to RR. Disney GCs will figure heavily into this. I did get the 5x points offer on the Disney Chase card and we'll be maximizing that. I'm thinking it would be best to get the CSR late this year (under my name) to maximize the time we get the travel benefits before cancelling prior to the second AF. P2 obviously is not going to be able to get another bonus due to the CSP. In the beginning of 2022 we hope for a good promo on the Chase SW RR card and will try for a companion pass using some combination of advanced methods, though that is a really tough spend number for us without the business card points. I'll likely do the CapitalOne Venture card promo for discounted tickets sometime before the end of year, which we'll convert into APs. That would put me at 3/24 and her at 2/24, so we have some wiggle room for good bonuses that come up. The Frontier card is also a (not great) option.

My primary question is regarding AMEX Platinum. I'm getting the 100,000 MR points offer with 10x groceries and the $200 furniture offer (disney GC at HD/Lowes), which seems bonkers good. However, I don't see a way to get the points transferred into something worthwhile to defray the remaining $350. i can't transfer to RR or Frontier, and the cash/GC rates are pretty abysmal. The remaining card benefits are not of any value to us, I'll find a way to use the two fee reimbursements but its not going to be something essential. I'm 50/50 on getting the card purely for the points cashout, but remembering to cancel the card is a frustration. Are there any angles here I'm missing? Is there a better way to use these points than the cashout given our chosen carriers?

Thanks!

Welcome!

MR can be cashed out at 1.25 cents per point if you have a Schwab platinum card. It has the same benefits and annual fee as the regular platinum. Sign up bonus is 60k and you’ll need a Schwab brokerage account.

You can check the Flyertalk threads for each airline to see what works for the airline credit. The credit is by calendar year, usually you can use it twice on one annual fee. There are rumors that changes are coming, though my guess is they won’t get rid of the credit yet in 2022.

The annual fee is refundable within 30 days of it posting. That always reminds me to cancel if I don’t notice it coming up on my spreadsheet.

 

[havaneselover]

BoA Checking Bonus DP: my $500 bonus hit about 8 days after my fifth $2,000 direct deposit hit my account satisfying the bonus requirement. Easy peasy!

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Hey Southwest regulars, I’m flying to MCO on Southwest next week with DH, DD13, DS12 and DS9. The flight is sold out. I purchased early bird check-in since I really want to be able to sit together, but I did it on the later side.
I have a few questions.
-I’ve never done early bird before. Will my boarding group just show up at 36 hours before flight? Do I have to do check in at some point?
- If we still end up getting a B-group even with early bird, will my newly acquired A-list status let us board before families? And if so who can board with me - I booked my 2 DSs on my reservation and DD is my companion. DH has a separate reservation number. I’m thinking a sold out flight to MCO at the start of school Vacation week here is going to have a lot of families in family boarding. And I’d hate to be behind them after paying for EB.

Your boarding number will not show up at 36 hrs...yes you need to check in at 24 hrs or less...then you will see the number they assigned you at the 36 hr mark

On the SW website it says A list people who have B or C boarding groups can board after the A group...I have no experience doing this so have no idea if it’s just whoever has that status in your group

 

[570traveler]

Question for those who recently traveled to Hawaii or will be in the near future....
We are flying AA from MDT to HON in early June. We live in a rural area and I’m trying to wrap my head around the testing requirements. Are the only acceptable tests from those on the Hawaii website? We have a major hospital (Geisinger) that we thought we could use, but after reading I’m not so sure. My BIGGEST concern is that the test results will not come back before we leave. Any tips/recommendations????

 

[LB002]

Question for those who recently traveled to Hawaii or will be in the near future....
We are flying AA from MDT to HON in early June. We live in a rural area and I’m trying to wrap my head around the testing requirements. Are the only acceptable tests from those on the Hawaii website? We have a major hospital (Geisinger) that we thought we could use, but after reading I’m not so sure. My BIGGEST concern is that the test results will not come back before we leave. Any tips/recommendations????

Yes, they will ONLY accept tests from their list of providers. Do you have Walgreens? We did the ID Now tests there, super easy. Scheduling opens up 3 days ahead (actually evening before 3 days). I had to make 4 appointments, but they took us all at once. We had results in under 2hr.

 

[LB002]

Well, we got to JFK bright and early and the Hawaiian Air desk was able to move our seats so we will all be together. Phew!

Now, fingers crossed for our rental car.

I was reflecting on why I'm worrying so much about these details - I'm usually a pretty laid back traveler. I think it's because this is our first trip since my daughter's diagnosis.

 

[Haley R]

I called the pass holder line this morning to follow up and was told they are 30 days behind on requests for renewing/buying passes. I told her we have a trip in less than a month and she mentioned that to the other cm but was told they can’t move us further up in line which is fair. I’m just slightly worried about getting park reservations for our trip

 

[570traveler]

Yes, they will ONLY accept tests from their list of providers. Do you have Walgreens? We did the ID Now tests there, super easy. Scheduling opens up 3 days ahead (actually evening before 3 days). I had to make 4 appointments, but they took us all at once. We had results in under 2hr.

I saw your post about Walgreens. The closet one is just over an hour away. I’m thinking at this point that is our best option. The closet CVS that shows when I click on the link is about 35 minutes away but I’m worried we won’t get the results back.

Yes, they will ONLY accept tests from their list of providers. Do you have Walgreens? We did the ID Now tests there, super easy. Scheduling opens up 3 days ahead (actually evening before 3 days). I had to make 4 appointments, but they took us all at once. We had results in under 2hr.

The closet Walgreens is over an hour away and the closet one that has that test is just over 90 minutes. We have a CVS that comes up when I click on the link but that one is 35 minutes away and I’m concerned about test results coming back. Hoping they start to allow vaccine cards before our trip but for now I’ll plan on the rapid test at Walgreens. 90 minutes (each way) is a small price to pay for a view of paradise! On a side note, my DH loves White Castle and we will be near one lol

 

[sinnika]

Do business cards count towards your 5/24? I have:
CSP: 7/19
CF: 10/19
Cap one biz Spark: 01/20
CIP: 01/21

I want to apply for a CIC now. Can I use my own support link? I don’t have a participating P2. Also, new United Quest with 100,000 United miles is now available. Can I apply for this soon after applying for the CIC? Or will I be over my 5/24? Also, should I lower my CL on my CIP first. It’s 44,000. I rarely go over 10,000 on biz expenses. Thanks for all the experts out there who have been so helpful!

 

[LB002]

I saw your post about Walgreens. The closet one is just over an hour away. I’m thinking at this point that is our best option. The closet CVS that shows when I click on the link is about 35 minutes away but I’m worried we won’t get the results back.

The closet Walgreens is over an hour away and the closet one that has that test is just over 90 minutes. We have a CVS that comes up when I click on the link but that one is 35 minutes away and I’m concerned about test results coming back. Hoping they start to allow vaccine cards before our trip but for now I’ll plan on the rapid test at Walgreens. 90 minutes (each way) is a small price to pay for a view of paradise! On a side note, my DH loves White Castle and we will be near one lol

I heard May 1 for vaccine exemption, but I don't know if that's an official date

 

[palhockeymomof2]

Do business cards count towards your 5/24? I have:
CSP: 7/19
CF: 10/19
Cap one biz Spark: 01/20
CIP: 01/21

I want to apply for a CIC now. Can I use my own support link? I don’t have a participating P2. Also, new United Quest with 100,000 United miles is now available. Can I apply for this soon after applying for the CIC? Or will I be over my 5/24? Also, should I lower my CL on my CIP first. It’s 44,000. I rarely go over 10,000 on biz expenses. Thanks for all the experts out there who have been so helpful!

Unfortunately no you can’t use your own support link....

the business cards don’t count towards 5/24

Time wise you are almost 3 months from your last Chase application so that should be fine to apply for 1 business card now....for another business card you’d need to wait at least 30 days

I would definitely reduce the CL on your CIP...Chase usually likes you to be under 50% of household income or around 75k max between all Chase cards personal and business

 

[hsmamato2]

If you are staying at Grand Wailea right now, check out Tripadvisor reviews. It’s really getting terrible reviews due to their limited pool hours, seat reservation system and understaffing. My opinion holds, as they were always able to accommodate us, but if you are paying cash $1000/nt for LUXURY, I understand people’s frustration.

They just changed Haleakala sunrise ressies to 60 days out, which is great news! Keep an eye out for your dates.

If you have must-do dining like Mama’s Fish House, I’d reserve on open table as early out as you possible can.

I hope the car rental situation gets better for everyone. I’d originally booked an 8 seater Escalade for our party of 8. Some of our group canceled- so glad I didn’t need an 8 seater because I bet it wouldn’t actually have been held for us.

If anyone is hoping points availability will open up for GW, I did use openhotelalert and got several notifications. Also, about 3 days prior some standard award availability opened up, one night at a time.

I haven;t stayed GW....but when we stayed at the nearby MArriott,we spent a lot of time wandering the beautiful grounds and gardens. I dream of staying there someday...

 

[hsmamato2]

.....

 

[Alexle2007]

@Judique Have you stayed at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach? It looks nice. It is on the bayside but has a small beach and is supposed to be not a bad walk to the ocean.