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

[reliev]

still stalking daily for j in oct 24 !! still over 900l pp each way

ouch it opens up around 8-9pm est (it varies ) i was able to book mine about 350 days out but i noticed its hit or miss was about 120k pp

 

[leeniewdw]

Oh -- we definitely plan on Italy but my DH really wants to go to Switzerland and since our first int'l trip (this June) was my choice, Ireland, I definitely want to get to Switzerland. I can't quite figure out how to structure Italy/Switz. We've never been to Italy so it seems like we have to do a few days in Rome, but I think it would be easier to do N. Italy + Switz (not that we couldn't fly to Zurich).

So was thinking Germany/Switzerland this go 'round then 2 weeks in Italy next.

But boy that direct to FRA is sooooo tempting. So currently we're thinking a loop from Frankfurt down into Switzerland to the jungfrau region then perhaps back to Frankfurt via Salzburg and Munich. OR we'd just fly home from Zurich. Admittedly I hadn't thought of the RDU-FRA flight as the positioning one, lol!

A wrinkle. I just searched the RDU-FCO route again on point.me and now the flights connecting thru FRA are showing. Same amount of pts (70k J on Lufthansa via Aeroplan) as going to FRA. Good lord, I just returned the Lonely Planet book on Italy to the library about an hour ago, LOL.

This new route must have just started to hit the searches because for sure it wasn't there when I was steady searching for Italy originally.

 

[randumb0]

I just received a Chase ink business card and I already have a sapphire. What is the trick so that I can combine them both but keep the sapphire rewards points? Do I keep to chase accounts separate or do I need to also combine the login accounts?

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

I just received a Chase ink business card and I already have a sapphire. What is the trick so that I can combine them both but keep the sapphire rewards points? Do I keep to chase accounts separate or do I need to also combine the login accounts?

Create a business log in, then link your business and personal accounts (https://www.chase.com/digital/custo.../business-banking/general/cbo-account-linking)

Once linked, you'll be able to see all of the cards in your business account log in and you can combine points as well. (Personal log in will continue to show only personal cards)

 

[randumb0]

Create a business log in, then link your business and personal accounts (https://www.chase.com/digital/custo.../business-banking/general/cbo-account-linking)

Once linked, you'll be able to see all of the cards in your business account log in and you can combine points as well. (Personal log in will continue to show only personal cards)

Does it matter whether I combine my business points into my sapphire or vice versa?

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Does it matter whether I combine my business points into my sapphire or vice versa?

Sapphire (CSP or CSR?) has better transfer partners and higher rate for using points through the portal than INKs.

 

[djmeredith]

just to rant I might have posted it before here (I'm pretty sure I did) my county here in Florida used to waive cc fees and give 4% early bird discount, now they are charging 2.25% fee (they have a new payment processor surprise) for cc payments, (still giving you 4% discount) I went ahead and did it this time because it still beats 4% and I'm chasing aa status, but other then that I don't know if ill do it next year, also Costa Rica was awesome regardless of the four seasons resort being closed we had a blast was a good 4 day escape that I wish was a little longer.

I just paid my property taxes today and ate the 3% fees so I could have the pts. I also paid my parents' taxes with my Plat because they gave me a 25K for $3K spend retention offer over the weekend. I met it with that one charge.

Another stupid international question. I have only flown nonstop, and dh is at work, so can't ask him how he did it last time.
If he connects in Toronto or Amsterdam, for his final destination in Munich, where does he go through customs?

You go through customs at your final destination.

 

[randumb0]

Sapphire (CSP or CSR?) has better transfer partners and higher rate for using points through the portal than INKs.

CSP

 

[AmyAnne]

So I used my 9 Chase cards to do a pick up Saturday night for my GoPuff credits! I'm so happy someone shared the hack to do this. For Nov, I'm going to refer my BF, and add in his 3 cards and my mom's 2 cards, LOL. The pick up location is about 30 min away. But for multiple orders, it's worth it.

Can you provide a few details about this? I feel like I looked into it a while ago and it wouldn't work out in my area, but it's possible I'm thinking of the Instacart credits.

 

[calypso726]

Does it matter whether I combine my business points into my sapphire or vice versa?

This depends on which Ink you have. The no fee Ink cards are not able to transfer to airline and hotel partners. Purchasing travel with those through the UR portal will only yield .01 cpp value. The CIP and CSP both can transfer to airline and hotel partners and yield .0125 cpp for purchases through the UR travel portal. With that said, if purchasing travel through the UR travel portal, I'd go with the points through CSP for the insurance benefits over the CIP.

 

[hsmamato2]

Me too... In the meantime, just got another INK. Always have to have a SUB I am chasing...

I may be able to stretch an app from 12/11 to early Feb...... always gotta plan lol

 

[reliev]

I just paid my property taxes today and ate the 3% fees so I could have the pts. I also paid my parents' taxes with my Plat because they gave me a 25K for $3K spend retention offer over the weekend. I met it with that one charge.

You go through customs at your final destination.

yeah i didn't do the DCA but its probably worth it overall, I've just been skating on no fees for the past few years
I do pay taxes quarterly on my cc I feel that is worth it but I guess I miss easy street
dca I'm at about break even for the points without bonus, I feel most of us can get 2 cents a point still rather not pay the 2.25%, also the big thing is that cuts a lot of my loyalty bonus track down something to consider for someone who only flies 10-12 times a year.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Trip Report: Maldives
Travel group: DH and I for 25th Wedding Anniversary

This was our first visit to the Maldives and the furthest we've traveled from the US. I have been quite skeptical of this trip, having researched it several times, and ultimately always asking myself why I would want to travel so far for a "beach vacation" when there are plenty of good options nearer to home. We were planning to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Portugal, but about 2 months prior to the trip we decided that destination was best for the family and pivoted to the Maldives. I found biz/first availability on Qatar after positioning to Europe and return biz on Etihad. Was on the fence between two Hilton properties Rangali and Amingiri, but ultimately selected Amingiri because of the new hard product and large deck/pool, as well as the convenience of the speedboat transfer for our short 5 day trip.

Flights

Transportation
Flights- ORD-AMS business class	56,500​	FB/pp/one way	$ 204	transferred during 30% MR promo
Flights- AMS-FRA	5,625​	FBs/pp/one way	$ 68	transferred during 30% MR promo
Flights- FRA-DOH-MLE biz/first	65,000​	Avios/pp/one way	$ 250	Qatar 787-8 biz, 777-300ER first
Flights- MLE-AUH-ORD biz	70,000​	AA/pp/one way	$ 148	Etihad biz
	182,788​		$ 670

Thanks to @*WDW*Groupie* for suggesting to position to Europe for these flights. They were tricky to get so close in, but once I scored Qatar flights in biz and first from Europe, I was able to work backwards to get to Europe from the US. This was our first time (maybe only time) flying first class and while the hard product was a bit beat up, the service and food was exceptional. There were only 6 seats in first class and we were the only two up there. My husband's seat had 4 windows. 4! That's like 12 economy seats. They put a leaf in my tray table so that we could dine together and even had candlelight. We both fell asleep on this flight for a few hours, and when we awoke we found that they had closed every window in the cabin so we could get proper rest. Just very thoughtful service. There was a shared bus for biz/first class and the Al Safwa first class lounge was closed for renos during our visit. Of all our flights, Qatar had the best food and service. Etihad's service was very cold, but their seats were nice. We especially liked the quirkiness of the KLM flights and loved our little delft houses. We went online and looked up the number on the back of each and it gives you the location of that house and its history. Pretty cool. One of the best things about flying in biz was the priority lines- that made the numerous airports bearable.



Hilton Maldives Amingiri
Opted to upgrade to the OWV Suite for $119++ and had planned to switch to a beach villa, but after the first day, we liked the OWV suite so much, we opted to stay put. Requested a north facing villa, so as not to have the light polution or Male view, and received suite villa 103. Was quoted $95++ for OWV w pool and we felt the extra difference was worth it. Our pool deck was much larger and I believe the pool was larger as well. The extra space for in-room dining was perfect and it was a nice place to corral items when you walked in the door. If returning, I would opt for a villa in the 500 section, as the snorkeling was more accessible here, with a great sunset view and good overall views of open sea or looking towards the resort.

• 45 mins from stepping foot on the airplane air stairs, we had arrived at Amingiri. You can't ask for better than that.
• The villas are really well done, great aesthetic and space.
• Our villa 103 had a mostly open ocean view, with a few islands off in the distance and a neighboring resort's OWV in the view to the right. We liked that it added some perspective.

continued...

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

Maldives part 2

• Being first timers, we found the marine and wildlife life to be very good. Lots of fish shows to be seen from our in-floor viewing window. We saw a pod of 5 stingrays just off the pier as we approached our villa. So many small white birds along the decks and tons of little crabs
• Snorkeling. We found the snorkeling to be good and think in a several years it will be excellent.
  • Villa: Just off our villa to the north wasn't a dedicated snorkeling area, but we swam to the south to the area designated "expert" snorkeling. We snorkeled nearer to the villas there and saw some marine life including a decently sized black tip reef shark.
  • Watersports area, in front of Habitat: visibility too milky. Saw baby reef sharks
  • 500 section: biked here and took the ladder down. Great snorkeling area. Saw tons of marine life including this crazy shoal of fish, or bait ball.
• Dining. Definitely the resort's weak spot. We ended up doing in villa dining quite a bit and found that to be better than the few meals we had in the restaurants. The breakfast buffet was good and had plenty to choose from, but not foodie level, if you're looking for that. We were quite full from breakfast and generally didn't need to eat until dinner. We attended Happy Hour at sip several times and found the drinks to be good. Drinks at Eden/Origin were excellent. Nice that they offer house water in villa and at breakfast.
• Landscaping. The resort has really invested significantly in mature landscaping throughout the resort. I wouldn't have believed it had been open only a year. We talked with our GEM quite a bit about how much was invested. Very lush landscaping with tons of shade while biking.
• Family friendly- I'd estimate half the resort or more was families, so if that's not your thing, opt for another resort.
• Spa treatments- during our short visit, we did spa treatments on two days. We opted for the 60 min muscle release massages with complimentary 30 minute addition. This benefit can only be used once. The next time we had treatments we did 60 min muscle release and tonic massages. Treatment times were well booked up, so I'd recommend booking these well in advance, weeks even. I've never had a therapist climb on my back during a treatment and that was a special treat. I can't recommend these therapists enough and found the pricing to be quite good- better than my local pricing.
• Excursions. After reviewing the watersports activities pricelist extensively before arriving, we thought we would book our desired excursions on demand. It seems group excursions are only offered per their weekly calendar and both of the activities we really wanted to do were the same day. We opted for evening handline fishing ($253 including tax and service/2 persons), which departed just before sunset. I really recommend doing this, as it feels very authentic to the Maldivian culture. The traditional Dhoni is used, and you leave about 15 mins before sunset and head straight into the setting sun. Beer, soda and water are offered. After arriving, they bait your line and you throw it overboard, absolutely no casting or pole, just a hook, bait and fishing line. P2 and I caught 6 fish in about 45 mins, all red snapper and humpback snapper. We opted to have the fish prepared for us the next evening for $35pp. Served with vegetables and rice.
• While I had several FNCs to use, I chose to book using points at 110k/nt, with fifth night free, so essentially 88k/nt. We visit the WA Los Cabos Pedregal fairly often but never for 5 nts, so we opted to save our FNCs for use there. Between the Hilton 2x promo and the Aspire points, we'll receive 120k points back on our spend (74k from loyalty points already posted, 46k from cc spend).

So, did we travel halfway across the world for a beach vacation and was it worth it? It was undoubtedly worth it and we would do it again in a heartbeat. I totally underestimated the island experience. We loved biking around the resort. We really enjoyed our villa suite and there's nothing like an infinity pool in the ocean (not just oceanfront). The wildlife and marine life were a real treat. We'd wondered, will we be bored? We felt busy with meals, spa treatments, excursions and exploring the island. We actually found Amingiri to be economical. Providing a breakdown below, all prices inclusive of service and taxes for 2 people:

Room upgrade: $152/nt
Speedboat transport: $766
Dining: $622 (mostly in villa dining, Origin 1 nt, Habitat 1 nt, a handful of cocktails)
Spa and excursions: $1119

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I haven't taken down my sun sails or put away our patio furniture. It's snowing, with accumulation. Ooops.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

I just added this Hilton offer from the Amex generic offer page to my Aspire. Good through 2/15, so should pair nicely with the new $200 resort credit for Q1/Q2.

Hilton - Mexico, Caribbean, & Latin America​

Spend $750 or more, get $150 back​

Valid until 02/15/2024

Get a one-time $150 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to spend a minimum of $750 USD in one or more purchases on room rate and room charges at participating Hilton properties in Mexico, Caribbean, and Latin America from 10/16/2023 to 2/15/2024. Book at hilton.com. See terms.

 

[wanderlust7]

@FreeDiningFanatic Great trip report, as usual!

I was just thinking Maldives in 2025 for a milestone anniversary. Thinking Singapore Airlines and stopping a couple days in Singapore, mostly to eat lol. Hoping to get the WA Maldives, but that will probably take some luck. The Amingiri looks really nice!

Our timing would be similar. How did you find the weather and crowd level?

 

[havaneselover]

My new counters went in today and I love them but I also want my house back in order! Next up is a tile backsplash then the cabinets are getting painted. I will not miss my brown quartz in the least (it was so ugly). In other good news, my landscaping was done 10 days ago and I'm seeing grass. I could cry. I hated my backyard for 10 years and it's starting to look the way I want it.

And last week I had someone out to look at my heat pump because it sounded awful. Of course I was told the compressor is going and it's not worth fixing. Then of course if I replace the heat pump, I might as well replace the gas furnace. So, my next Hilton FNC and my Ink MSR are taken care of. Yippee!

 

[elgerber]

I haven't taken down my sun sails or put away our patio furniture. It's snowing, with accumulation. Ooops.

my furniture is in the screen porch, but we have a few inches on our deck this morning. not happy!

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

@FreeDiningFanatic Great trip report, as usual!

I was just thinking Maldives in 2025 for a milestone anniversary. Thinking Singapore Airlines and stopping a couple days in Singapore, mostly to eat lol. Hoping to get the WA Maldives, but that will probably take some luck. The Amingiri looks really nice!

Our timing would be similar. How did you find the weather and crowd level?

I think you can get WA if you stalk availability in advance and set up some alerts. That would be a pretty special milestone anniversary.

IDK if you're thinking Singapore Airlines RT, but if any interest in Qatar Airways in one direction, know they are playing some games with releasing flights. Right now they are releasing the US-Doha flight, but the onwards flight doesn't get released until the next day, by which time the US-Doha flight has already been grabbed. So these need to be booked separately, so the total points is more than it was previously, but still a great deal, especially if you want Qsuites.

October is considered the end of rainy season, but our weather was great. Rained some overnight, which we never noticed. An occasional rain shower during the day, but would last 5 mins maybe and be gone. I could tell it was busy at the airports, especially the economy lines, but we never noticed any crowds anywhere in biz and of course, the resort wasn't crowded whatsoever, probably a combination of being a newer resort as well as most people hunker down in their villas. We were never in any actual cities, so I'm probably not the best to speak to crowd levels there.