I love credit cards so much!

[Disneyonmymind]

All the discussion of actually using points makes me realize I need a tutorial on how to redeem UR and SPG. Anyone know of helpful sites?

 

[DisneyMandC]

Does the Marriott offer a shuttle to Universal? Parking for the day costs $22, so if the Marriott doesn't have a shuttle then you need to figure in the cost to park at Universal too. It's also quite a walk to get from the parking garage to the front gates of either IOF or USF, about 10-15 of brisk walking IIRC, plus the time you're waiting in the line to just get into the parking garage.

Staying on-site does give you the flexibility of taking a break in the middle of the day, like @Alexle2007 points out. I've done both on-site and off-site, and I greatly prefer on-site.

The Marriott does have a free shuttle, so we can use that. If the timing is inconvenient on it (haven't looked yet), it looks like an Uber is less than $10, so we would still come out ahead. I can definitely see the draw of being onsite to take a break in the middle of the day, especially since we are dedicated to staying onsite at WDW! However, we never, ever take a break in the middle of the day. It's just not our touring style.

I like staying on property, and really like the Royal Pacific. I do have a young child with me though and like the convenience of walking. However, I have never stayed at the Marriott nearby. My DS19 is spoiled and likes having the express pass. I guess it also might depend on what time you are going and whether or not the express pass is needed. If you don't mind single rider lines then I can see your point about it not being worth the extra cost to you.

Really the only attraction of staying at Royal Pacific is the express pass. But we're two adults so we have no issues with single rider. The other problem is that I can't get Royal Pacific for the exact dates I want. It's not a total dealbreaker, but we are planning to stay HS until close and then would have to drive over to Royal Pacific and check in that night to stay and go to Universal the next two days. Then we'd have to check out and get another nearby (cheaper) hotel for our last night there. So we'd end up going from one night at WDW, to two nights at Universal, to one night at another random hotel. I'd rather stay at WDW two nights and then drive over to Universal the next morning and stay at the Marriott the next two nights. Maybe not everyone's preferred way to tour, just how we like to do things

 

[afan]

i think i have the travel curse. Ive been hoarding points for a solid 2.5 years, trying to find things to blow it on... last year, was suppose to use some points to go to Japan. Family passed away so trip got cancelled. Winter break time, i found Hyatt @ Lake Tahoe a nice redemption. cancelled again due to other member cancellation. Tried the same attempted again for spring break to Lake Tahoe. 8 of the 10 days were either 90% snow or rain. Next thought was, hey parents in Asia, i can go visit family and be with parents... well they are going finals week and returning that sunday when finals are over... Next... Now i got my Hawaii Trip coming with my parents since it was their friend that let us use their timeshare, turns out, there is a cruise they been wanting to go and it just so happens to overlap the hawaii time share time. So hey, they told me to go the cruise with them. i said yes, well it turns out the 3 ppl rooms were all sold out... either pay $6000+ more or get a 2nd room for +$3000 more... so now no cruise trip for me...
now what...
end rant. thanks for listening...

Could you go somewhere by yourself? It's fun to go with people but I sometimes enjoy doing stuff by myself. I'm an only child though, so I got used to doing stuff alone when I was little. I don't let not having someone to do something with keep me from doing it if it's really something I want to do. Granted cost plays into that, like with the cruise, eek.

 

[WVMomof3]

Is there a reason I can not sign into my husbands employee account on SPG amex? Like, can I not use the same browser or computer as my login? This is the only the 3rd time I have attempted to login. The first is when I created the account, no problem. The 2nd time it kept telling me my username or password was wrong. I knew it was not, but after about 10 attempts, I gave up and made a new password. At first I tried reusing the password since it said it was wrong, but it told me I could not use the same password, so aha, damn it I was using the right password! lol So I totally changed the password and that worked, but now I am trying to login again, and again it is saying username or password is wrong. I am 1000% sure I am putting in the right info. I even tried using a different browser thinking it was getting confused with my login, even though it is not saved. Am I just going to have to change the dang password every time?

 

[vanjust14]

Really the only attraction of staying at Royal Pacific is the express pass. But we're two adults so we have no issues with single rider. The other problem is that I can't get Royal Pacific for the exact dates I want. It's not a total dealbreaker, but we are planning to stay HS until close and then would have to drive over to Royal Pacific and check in that night to stay and go to Universal the next two days. Then we'd have to check out and get another nearby (cheaper) hotel for our last night there. So we'd end up going from one night at WDW, to two nights at Universal, to one night at another random hotel. I'd rather stay at WDW two nights and then drive over to Universal the next morning and stay at the Marriott the next two nights. Maybe not everyone's preferred way to tour, just how we like to do things

Two adults definitely changes things! Sounds like you have a great plan, have fun!!

 

[speedyfishy]

All the discussion of actually using points makes me realize I need a tutorial on how to redeem UR and SPG. Anyone know of helpful sites?

How do you want to use them?

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Has anyone else seen that offer on the Home Imp. Retails?? I couldn't get it to pull up on any of our other cards (3 other SPG) and DH has 2 Amex Lowe's cards. Nothing on any others.

We had it on 1 of our 4 cards.

 

[Albort]

So did you go to the Tahoe Hyatt or cancel because you saw the weather? I am looking at that one too...maybe for summer, maybe for a ski trip. Leaning summer and doing a ski trip at a ski-in/out place.
Sorry things haven't gone as planned. It can only improve, right?

i did not end up going to Lake Tahoe for spring break. they were suppose to get like 3-5 inches a day for 8 days. We feared we probably couldnt even get up the moutain in our 2 wheeled drive car. It was deemed dangerous.

Could you get a friend to go on a trip with you? Or even take one by yourself. It's awesome to just do what you want to do.

heh, my my friends just want to stay home. I dont have any friends that play this credit card game so they cant take nice trips themselves...

Could you go somewhere by yourself? It's fun to go with people but I sometimes enjoy doing stuff by myself. I'm an only child though, so I got used to doing stuff alone when I was little. I don't let not having someone to do something with keep me from doing it if it's really something I want to do. Granted cost plays into that, like with the cruise, eek.

im actually considering it at this point. i probably go visit London when my parents board the cruise, then do a European tour.

Also thanks to everyone who replied.

@SouthFayetteFan did u read the most recent shutdown? thats probably the most scariest one ive seen... although i feel like the poster isnt telling us the full truth.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

head currently spinning just trying to max out my value on this batch of points.
Any help would be appreciated!

I'm right there with ya friend. I have spend a ridiculous amount of hours on this.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

All the discussion of actually using points makes me realize I need a tutorial on how to redeem UR and SPG. Anyone know of helpful sites?

I google whatever it is I want to do and it links to an article. Then I get further confused after reading said article and come here to be guided by my disers.

In all seriousness though...google transfer SPG to United...or whatever it is you need.

 

[disneybirds]

Did anyone take a screen shot of the "home improvement retails" amex offer? Am I just looking for an offer with the AmEx logo? I have checked my accounts and didn't see anything. Thanks!

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

@SouthFayetteFan did u read the most recent shutdown? thats probably the most scariest one ive seen... although i feel like the poster isnt telling us the full truth.

I'm right there with you I had the same feeling - something seems to be missing. The potential things to be careful with here:

• Fraud Alerts trigger eyes on your account and can cause a review
• Fraud Alerts that are specifically tied to an Apple Pay transaction
• Accessing your accounts online when you are out of the country
• A Reason cited as "rapid increase in revolving balances" although this one seems very mystical to me

Again - this is a strange one.

 

[pillow]

Two (out of 4) of my most recent mortgage payments were "declined" on Plastiq. We're pushing our credit limit a bit, and its possible my cc payment didn't post before the pending charge came through - so possibly the decline was due to the card declining the transaction. Or it could be Plastiq declining. Does anyone know exactly what it means if Plastiq says "Declined?"

Not sure whats up. Figured I'd wait a few days and try again.

 

[wendow]

Has anyone else seen that offer on the Home Imp. Retails?? I couldn't get it to pull up on any of our other cards (3 other SPG) and DH has 2 Amex Lowe's cards. Nothing on any others.

Nice that you got it! We could actually use it for home improvement but we were 0/7.

 

[Albort]

Two (out of 4) of my most recent mortgage payments were "declined" on Plastiq. We're pushing our credit limit a bit, and its possible my cc payment didn't post before the pending charge came through - so possibly the decline was due to the card declining the transaction. Or it could be Plastiq declining. Does anyone know exactly what it means if Plastiq says "Declined?"

Not sure whats up. Figured I'd wait a few days and try again.

does the charge get through to your card? If it doesnt, its most likely Plastiq denying...

 

[jhoannam]

I'm considering switching up my HI plans based on this....tell me if this makes sense. Right now I have 5 nights at Sheraton Maui=80k spg. I could cancel that,and put back into my acct have that 80+another 25k spg which = 315 Marriot points. ( I can possibly add another 30k buying them on sale and using UR credit to pay myself back) so total Marriott points would be 405k. (still with me?) This is for Dec 8-13 2018 if that makes a difference.
That would get me a 7 night cert plus flights for 360k,and I'd still have 45kMarriott left after this.
*NOW* here's my questions....
1) I hesitate to cancel my current booking, b/c I'm afraid there won;'t be availability by the time I get this all set up. Is this a valid concern?
2) How do I use the flights part of this, is it required that I use the flights for this trip,or right away? How long do I have to keep them(if possible) and use them elsewhere?
3) what is booking like? do they run out of rooms with this cert? Would I book the sheraton thru the Marriott site?
4) I'd likely only be able to stay the 5 nights anyway due to award flight availability (I think the saavers are gone for my dates.
head currently spinning just trying to max out my value on this batch of points.
Any help would be appreciated!

1) You can check to see the availability and make the reservation - you don't need all the points to hold the reservation.
2) the points get transferred to your United account - or whatever airline you pick.
3) I don't know if it's possible to apply the certificate to a Sheraton
4) From what I've read you don't have to stay the 7 nights - you can only book the 5 you need. But yes, the value of transferring 132K united miles is awesome.

 

[wendow]

Two (out of 4) of my most recent mortgage payments were "declined" on Plastiq. We're pushing our credit limit a bit, and its possible my cc payment didn't post before the pending charge came through - so possibly the decline was due to the card declining the transaction. Or it could be Plastiq declining. Does anyone know exactly what it means if Plastiq says "Declined?"

Not sure whats up. Figured I'd wait a few days and try again.

Wondering if it is a CC issue. I think if plastiq 'declines' it, as in they aren't sure if it's legit, they just ask for a copy of the invoice.

 

[DrFacilier]

@SouthFayetteFan Just applied for the CIP using your link but they told me they would decide within 30 days. Is there any thing I should do to?

 

[Albort]

@SouthFayetteFan Just applied for the CIP using your link but they told me they would decide within 30 days. Is there any thing I should do to?

nothing. just follow the flow chart.

 

[Calfan]

@SouthFayetteFan did u read the most recent shutdown? thats probably the most scariest one ive seen... although i feel like the poster isnt telling us the full truth.

I'm right there with you I had the same feeling - something seems to be missing. The potential things to be careful with here:

• Fraud Alerts trigger eyes on your account and can cause a review
• Fraud Alerts that are specifically tied to an Apple Pay transaction
• Accessing your accounts online when you are out of the country
• A Reason cited as "rapid increase in revolving balances" although this one seems very mystical to me

Again - this is a strange one.

Can you give a quick synopsis of the shut-down scenario here? It's definitely on my mind as I try to ramp DH up with Chase cards.

1) You can check to see the availability and make the reservation - you don't need all the points to hold the reservation.
2) the points get transferred to your United account - or whatever airline you pick.
3) I don't know if it's possible to apply the certificate to a Sheraton
4) From what I've read you don't have to stay the 7 nights - you can only book the 5 you need. But yes, the value of transferring 132K united miles is awesome.

Are others able to confirm that you can use the Marriott 7-night certificate for a stay of less than 7 nights? That would give us a much better shot at using it.