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

[wanderlust7]

I will highly recommend Allo Pizza in Cook's Bay if you feel the need. It was recommended to me by a friend that visited before we did and it was excellent advice!

Allo Pizza was right down the hill from our Airbnb. We got take out from there several times.

 

[calypso726]

Thanks! My kids can always eat pizza, so we'll definitely check it out!

It's really good pizza.

Allo Pizza was right down the hill from our Airbnb. We got take out from there several times.

I might be craving some of their pizza right about now. I loved all the interesting choices.

 

[AmyAnne]

I’m not sure ds would let us put those in his ears. Did your kids fight it at all?

Sometimes they did but not strenuously. The earplanes are pretty easy to slip in; a bit of distraction (start handing them their books and toys and snacks) and they usually didn’t notice.

 

[KPK02090]

I have booked The Edit hotels using the CSR with points. Just did so for a trip this past March.

I do believe sometimes they sell or allocate blocks/batches of rooms to third parties, so I think that's why you might see availability directly but not with the third party.

ETA: When I choose some random dates in Nov and Dec, it allows me to book Los Altos on points.

Good to know! I’ll keep checking!

 

[Haley R]

If anyone is interested, I’ve started posting on my Japan trip report thread. I’m putting links on the first post to where I’ve typed about each day.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/japan-trip-report-may-2024.3941234/

 

[reliev]

We tried using CLEAR at MCO yesterday because it was a shorter line than TSA precheck. They were only using 2 out of the 8 machines available with only one person working. People had no idea how to use it and I think some were registering right then. We ended up leaving the line and went to TSA precheck which went much faster. After we got through we looked back at Clear and the line hadn’t moved at all.

this is 50% of the time for me at MCO.

 

[wdwpluto]

this is 50% of the time for me at MCO.

Completely agree! I'd be annoyed if I actually paid for CLEAR, but since it's "free" as a credit card benefit, it is what it is!

 

[becauseimnew]

Completely agree! I'd be annoyed if I actually paid for CLEAR, but since it's "free" as a credit card benefit, it is what it is!

That's why I wasn't sad to let go of my Biz Plat card, my friends went through the regular MCO line and finished before me (using clear and tsa).

 

[AmyAnne]

Completely agree! I'd be annoyed if I actually paid for CLEAR, but since it's "free" as a credit card benefit, it is what it is!

When I used Clear for the first time, it wouldn't "read" any of my biometrics, so the person had to enter all of the info from my driver's license. The whole thing was both annoying and time consuming. Have not used Clear again so I don't know if the problem was me, the equipment, or the Clear employee.

 

[DogCat]

Has anyone run into a contractor who uses quickbooks and offers customers the option of payment via Venmo and specifies no fee for using a credit card? Apparently the contractor pays the cc fee. We recently had this option and used it to meet our Chase MSR. I hope that's not a problem. It seems like it should be fine but I had never heard of it before.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

With flying blue dropping tons of award availability yesterday, I was able to rebook our 8th passenger that I'd had to pay a premium price for originally. Got 91k FB points back, just had to pay $75 rebook fee.

So 8 peak season biz class seats chicago-lisbon for about 42k UR each +taxes on FB. That's crazy!

 

[leeniewdw]

I know someone here recommended NOT flying into a specific Italy airport due to winds that sometimes/often require landing elsewhere and bussing. I can't recall which one...was it Venice? Bologna.

I'm seeing 50k AF Biz seats from RDU to Bologna (via CDG) for next April and I'm trying to decide if we should pull the trigger. The date is still a smidge earlier than we want to go (I think) but the seats are very tempting.

EDIT: For the RDUers here. It looks to me like several Euro cities have 50k Biz seats on AF for these dates: 4/6, 4/12, 4/22. I've checked Bologna, Zurich, Rome, all originating at RDU and going thru CDG.

 

[mmmears]

I know someone here recommended NOT flying into a specific Italy airport due to winds that sometimes/often require landing elsewhere and bussing. I can't recall which one...was it Venice? Bologna.

I'm seeing 50k AF Biz seats from RDU to Bologna (via CDG) for next April and I'm trying to decide if we should pull the trigger. The date is still a smidge earlier than we want to go (I think) but the seats are very tempting.

EDIT: For the RDUers here. It looks to me like several Euro cities have 50k Biz seats on AF for these dates: 4/6, 4/12, 4/22. I've checked Bologna, Zurich, Rome, all originating at RDU and going thru CDG.

IIRC it's Florence/Firenze, but wait for someone else to confirm.

 

[mmmears]

With flying blue dropping tons of award availability yesterday, I was able to rebook our 8th passenger that I'd had to pay a premium price for originally. Got 91k FB points back, just had to pay $75 rebook fee.

So 8 peak season biz class seats chicago-lisbon for about 42k UR each +taxes on FB. That's crazy!

That's a great deal!

 

[mmmears]

I know there has been a lot of chatter here about Tokyo hotels, but I'm now all confused about which ones people actually recommend. I read the hotel threads and I'm still a bit confused. A friend recommended the Conrad, but I'm curious about the Grand Hyatt since we have Globalist status. I'm not sure what a good location is there. (Also looking at the Andaz).

Anyone have an opinion they'd like to share?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

IIRC it's Florence/Firenze, but wait for someone else to confirm.

It’s Florence and should be avoided at all costs, esp on a large plane. BA is only able to land there a few days a week and when they can’t they re-route to Pisa and bus passengers to Florence. But I was super unlucky and after the worst ever attempted landing in a storm (in Pisa) and we had to land in Rome. We sat on the tarmac in Rome for several hours unable to leave the plane. It was a horrible experience and one that I won’t ever repeat. Bologna is a much better airport from what the staff at my hotel related to me. I’m leaving from Bologna in the fall and will be able to report back.

 

[mmmears]

It’s Florence and should be avoided at all costs, esp on a large plane. BA is only able to land there a few days a week and when they can’t they re-route to Pisa and bus passengers to Florence. But I was super unlucky and after the worst ever attempted landing in a storm (in Pisa) and we had to land in Rome. We sat on the tarmac in Rome for several hours unable to leave the plane. It was a horrible experience and one that I won’t ever repeat. Bologna is a much better airport from what the staff at my hotel related to me. I’m leaving from Bologna in the fall and will be able to report back.

I hope that works better for you. Last summer we ported in Livorno (very close to Pisa) and took a car to Florence - it's not even all that far (maybe an hour). Definitely better to skip trying to fly in there.

 

[hsmamato2]

I tried to use the CSR and the Hilton biz PP for an extra person before and was told no. Hilton biz is 10 visits per calendar year, so it'll reset next year and you can use it again before March 31 when the benefit goes away (assuming you registered between July 2023 and June 2024).

I believe Terminal 2 and G are connected past security, so you wouldn't need to go through security for your connection. So to go to Terminal A and then back you'd have to go through security twice. They'll probably tell you you're at the wrong terminal, but you can tell them you're going to a lounge. There's a chance that they won't let you, but I don't know how common that is. We've done it before at SFO with no issue, but were denied at one terminal at JFK yet let though another.

so from what you're asying, both CSR and HH pp wouldn't allow you to use your passes to get your extra peeps in? .it sounds more complicated than I might want.....thanks tho

 

[hsmamato2]

Yep AMEX recently made big changes to the Hilton Biz card, including ending the 10 PP visits. Also, no FNC after $15k spend. Plus they doubled the annual fee.

One positive change - all spend earns 5x HH.

wait, so it does or doesn't have the PP visits now? I got mine last July, so it's not even one year

 

[Christina Mouse]

Hello! I've been here and there on the boards for a while - mainly for Disney trip planning, but my family is wanting to go on their first cruise. I'd love to do Disney, but realistically I think it's going to be more affordable to go Carnival or Royal Caribbean. I've finally gotten my credit score up to a good place, so I've been reading through this and am intrigued with churning!

Last 2 years:
06/22 - Best Buy - CBNA
09/22 - Capital One Quicksilver
04/23 - Discover It
03/24 - State Farm - US Bank

I do have other accounts though. I'm guessing I should close some of these, but am unsure how that affects credit:
Apple-Goldman Sachs: Pay off in full monthly
Old Navy-Barclays: Zero Balance
Victoria Secret-Comenity: Zero Balance
Maurices-Comenity: Zero Balance
Menards-Capital One: Zero Interest. Making payments
American Airlines - Citi: Zero Balance
Costco - Citi Visa Signature: Pay off in full monthly
Firestone-Credit First: Zero Balance
Kohls-Capital One: Zero Balance
Merrick Bank: Zero Balance
Amazon-Synchrony: Pay off in full monthly
Sams Club-Synchrony: Zero Balance
Target-TD Bank: Pay off in full monthly
Wells Fargo Bank: Zero Balance
Wells Fargo Bank: Zero Balance

I pay interest bearing credit cards off monthly, but I have a zero interest promo on the Best Buy, Menards, and State Farm cards that will be paid off before interest is tacked on

Our expenses we pay with our main credit card and pay off monthly are around $3,000

We fly out of OMA. The last couple times we've flown, we've used American Airlines, but Southwest does fly out of our airport. I have 32,115 AA reward miles and 1,128 Southwest points

I have Hilton Honors with 4,475 points, but we don't really have a hotel preference

We are wanting to go on a cruise. It's our first, so I was thinking 4 or 5 nights. We're open to any US ports

We are also open to travel times. My kids are in middle school and high school, so they prefer not to miss school, so that leaves June/July/early Aug/Week between Christmas and New Years

So I guess I'm just looking for a jumping off point!