I love credit cards so much!

[eeyoresmom]

We booked the Castle Inn and Suites. Yes we're going to the Sept 20th Halloween party. My birthday is the next day so DD bought tickets as a gift

 

[eeyoresmom]

Just wondering what hotel did you end up booking through UR? and will you be going to one of the Halloween parties? Excited for your family!

We booked the Castle Inn And Suites. I booked it because it is refundable but i honestly stopped looking. I'm not sure of the area and this one has good reviews so I booked it. I should check for better deals though. And Yes, we are attending the Sept 20 Halloween party. My birthday is the next day and DD bought tickets as a gift.

 

[Lain]

We booked the Castle Inn And Suites. I booked it because it is refundable but i honestly stopped looking. I'm not sure of the area and this one has good reviews so I booked it. I should check for better deals though. And Yes, we are attending the Sept 20 Halloween party. My birthday is the next day and DD bought tickets as a gift.

Awesome! And what a happy birthday! Castle Inn & Suites is a fine choice. I've never stayed, but it's supposed to have had a remodel recently and we've walked past it every time we stayed at the Hilton Anaheim or Candy Cane Inn. It's on the opposite side of the street of both those hotels and Disneyland Resort, but very walkable and closer to the gate (less than 10 minutes to bag check). If you're considering anything else, I'm sure you'll get a lot of good feedback if you ask here or the DLR boards.

We're going to the 10/27 Halloween Party and staying at the Hilton on points (DW racks up a lot of HH points from traveling for work). We went to MHP for the first time last year, loved it so much that we added the holiday to our annual visits. I'm in the midst of planning our Thanksgiving trip, and looking at booking through Chase UR -- the Hilton for 9,000 UR or the Disneyland Hotel for 36,000 UR per night?

 

[calypso726]

↑

Rent is my second favorite musical behind School of Rock. Hamilton is definitely in the Top 5 as well. School of Rock is great because you can usually get good prices on tickets in NYC...its coming to Milwaukee this fall so I'm going to check it out again

I just saw it is coming here to south Florida in December so I will get to see it. I still want to travel hack my way back to NY for a long weekend of shows!

Just wanted to pop in and say this thread has been extremely helpful in planning vacations, especially for a newbie. I have been lurking for sometime.

Hi Feel free to come out of lurkdom. Everyone here is always happy to help each other out with vacation planning.

For those interested in a trip to see Hamilton, I just got the following email:

@calypso726, I hope you had a wonderful time last weekend. My regrets the weather was foggy, chilly and windy on Saturday, but that's San Francisco summers for you.

I really did! San Francisco is a super cool city! The sun did peek out for a little while and we had a blast. I am hoping to go back for a longer stay at some point. I think I will likely use some IHG night certificates and maybe pick up a Hyatt card for the trip down the line. Hamilton is coming to South Fl. in the 2018/19 show season, but I still want to see it in NY, Chicago and London. DH didn't even blink when I told him that. I think we've normalized the idea of flying off somewhere just to see a show

Can someone check my thinking on this - DH is staying at a Hilton property later this week for work and I'm trying to decide whether he should pay with the AmEx Hilton or the CSR. For simplicity, I'm assuming he'll spend $1000. AmEx would award 7000 points (we have the lower-tier, no-fee AmEx Hilton) and CSR 3000 points. We are planning to stay at a Hilton hotel in December, which is 26,000 pts/nt on the Hilton website and 8000 UR pt/nt on the Chase UR website. So that makes CSR the winner, correct? Not only does 3000 pts get us closer to a free night than 7000 pts but I can more easily earn additional UR points compared to earning more Hilton points.

Anything I'm mis-analyzing or not considering?

I'd be going the CSR route too.

 

[AmyAnne]

I'd be going the CSR route too.

Thanks - I think we will get some Hilton points just from the stay, through the Hilton Honors program, but it doesn't seem to make sense to use the Hilton AmEx compared to the CSR.

 

[peel]

Thanks - I think we will get some Hilton points just from the stay, through the Hilton Honors program, but it doesn't seem to make sense to use the Hilton AmEx compared to the CSR.

Make sure to sign up for any current Hilton promotions. I think there is currently a promo for 2x Honors on any stay and 500 bonus Honors for booking through the mobile app.

 

[Alexle2007]

Does anyone know if the Walmart deal is targeted? I didn't get the email and wondering if it might work for me!

No idea but DH did receive an email about it and I didn't. He has shopped with his CSR on Walmart though. I have not.

 

[Lain]

Can someone check my thinking on this - DH is staying at a Hilton property later this week for work and I'm trying to decide whether he should pay with the AmEx Hilton or the CSR. For simplicity, I'm assuming he'll spend $1000. AmEx would award 7000 points (we have the lower-tier, no-fee AmEx Hilton) and CSR 3000 points. We are planning to stay at a Hilton hotel in December, which is 26,000 pts/nt on the Hilton website and 8000 UR pt/nt on the Chase UR website. So that makes CSR the winner, correct? Not only does 3000 pts get us closer to a free night than 7000 pts but I can more easily earn additional UR points compared to earning more Hilton points.

Anything I'm mis-analyzing or not considering?

I'd prefer the UR points to HH points too, because HH points aren't worth much and it takes a lot of them for a free night at a decent hotel.

However, I did notice a new Amex Offer on my cards this morning: Spend $300+ at Hilton properties by 9/30/17, booked directly with Hilton, get an additional 3,500 Membership Rewards points. If you have this offer on one or multiple Amex cards, it might be worth it to charge the room to the(se) card(s), but you still might come out ahead with the CSR assuming the current transfer rate of 1000 MR to 1000 HH.

ETA: Here's DoC's blog post about the offer - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/targ...d-300-receive-3500-membership-rewards-points/

 

[Tikitoi]

I just got an email to use Chase Pay at Walmart.com using my CSR and I can get 10X points in August for up to $250 in online purchases. I've not set up Chase Pay, but sounds straight forward. We've recently started doing some of our weekly shopping on Walmart.com (free shipping on orders over $35), so this is great and easy to get 10x points on our normal weekly purchases. Has anybody used Chase Pay on Walmart.com? Anything special I should know about it.

I got the same offer for my CFU and was thinking if I did do this, I would spend on gift cards...But I would also have to sign up for the Chase Pay as well...

 

[gottalovepluto]

We booked the Castle Inn And Suites. I booked it because it is refundable but i honestly stopped looking. I'm not sure of the area and this one has good reviews so I booked it. I should check for better deals though. And Yes, we are attending the Sept 20 Halloween party. My birthday is the next day and DD bought tickets as a gift.

I've stayed there, last minute one trip we decided to stay extra late in the parks but could not afford another night on-site so we booked that motel. It was just fine for us, a decent motel, a place to sleep. Wouldn't want it for a long trip but for short when you're in the parks most of the time it's just fine

 

[Ava]

What is the best way to use points toward a (non-DCL) cruise?

My mom really wants to go on a cruise together as a family. I am definitely open to it, but obviously would like to use points towards it if possible, or at least get a good % cash back. I briefly looked at the cruise section of the UR portal but it seems like you have to call to really see what they have available. We'd be looking to sail out of NYC to the Caribbean next July or August, which somewhat limits our options. I'm considering Royal Caribbean, Carnival, or Norwegian but am open to suggestions. DW & I have never been on a cruise; my mom has been once on RCI & enjoyed it but she's open to other lines. Our kids will be 5 & 9 if we go next summer so a good kids club/activities is a must.

 

[AmyAnne]

Make sure to sign up for any current Hilton promotions. I think there is currently a promo for 2x Honors on any stay and 500 bonus Honors for booking through the mobile app.

I'd prefer the UR points to HH points too, because HH points aren't worth much and it takes a lot of them for a free night at a decent hotel.

However, I did notice a new Amex Offer on my cards this morning: Spend $300+ at Hilton properties by 9/30/17, booked directly with Hilton, get an additional 3,500 Membership Rewards points. If you have this offer on one or multiple Amex cards, it might be worth it to charge the room to the(se) card(s), but you still might come out ahead with the CSR assuming the current transfer rate of 1000 MR to 1000 HH.

ETA: Here's DoC's blog post about the offer - https://www.doctorofcredit.com/targ...d-300-receive-3500-membership-rewards-points/

Thanks for the reminders - I signed up for the 2x HH points but unfortunately the hotel had to be booked through the conference website so no bonus for booking directly with Hilton. I also had to laugh about the prospect of telling DH I wanted him to charge the room to two different credit cards. He hates to deal with hotel staff about anything, and while he does in general understand that credit card rewards are a valuable thing, he's not really excited by the minutia of it all.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Does anyone know if the Walmart deal is targeted? I didn't get the email and wondering if it might work for me!

DH got it for his Sapphire but he has CSR & CSP, so not sure which one. Just can't bring myself to shop there.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Awesome! And what a happy birthday! Castle Inn & Suites is a fine choice. I've never stayed, but it's supposed to have had a remodel recently and we've walked past it every time we stayed at the Hilton Anaheim or Candy Cane Inn. It's on the opposite side of the street of both those hotels and Disneyland Resort, but very walkable and closer to the gate (less than 10 minutes to bag check). If you're considering anything else, I'm sure you'll get a lot of good feedback if you ask here or the DLR boards.

We're going to the 10/27 Halloween Party and staying at the Hilton on points (DW racks up a lot of HH points from traveling for work). We went to MHP for the first time last year, loved it so much that we added the holiday to our annual visits. I'm in the midst of planning our Thanksgiving trip, and looking at booking through Chase UR -- the Hilton for 9,000 UR or the Disneyland Hotel for 36,000 UR per night?

Hi fellow DLer! I'm going to my first MHP this year & hearing from people who returned makes me that much more excited!

 

[Budzooka]

Here's an oddball question that I've never considered before. I'm self-employed and have to pay quarterly estimated tax payments, and there is a service that allows you to make those payments by credit card for a 2% fee. I could see doing this to meet a minimum spend, but would any of you think about charging this on a regular basis to rack up UR points? I guess it is similar to using Plastiq for mortgage payments, but I've never looked into it and don't know what their fee is. 2% seems pretty close to a break-even point. Thoughts?

 

[gottalovepluto]

Here's an oddball question that I've never considered before. I'm self-employed and have to pay quarterly estimated tax payments, and there is a service that allows you to make those payments by credit card for a 2% fee. I could see doing this to meet a minimum spend, but would any of you think about charging this on a regular basis to rack up UR points? I guess it is similar to using Plastiq for mortgage payments, but I've never looked into it and don't know what their fee is. 2% seems pretty close to a break-even point. Thoughts?

On a cash basis you loose 1%, but if you transfer them to something like the CSR and use for travel you'll redeem for 1.5x so you'll only loose 0.5%. Not a great long term plan imho unless you have a specific plan (transferring to hotel or airline to get more value out of the points) where the math works because you're getting more than $.02 of value per point

 

[Albort]

On a cash basis you loose 1%, but if you transfer them to something like the CSR and use for travel you'll redeem for 1.5x so you'll only loose 0.5%. Not a great long term plan imho unless you have a specific plan (transferring to hotel or airline to get more value out of the points) where the math works because you're getting more than $.02 of value per point

i guess using cfu... you be losing 0%... :]

DH got it for his Sapphire but he has CSR & CSP, so not sure which one. Just can't bring myself to shop there.

keep in mind, its walmart.com via chasepay though. Im probably gonna find a gift card or something...

 

[gottalovepluto]

i guess using cfu... you be losing 0%... :]

Oh duh! My brain was in 100% CSR mode!

 

[Lain]

Hi fellow DLer! I'm going to my first MHP this year & hearing from people who returned makes me that much more excited!

I know you've been posting in the DLR Halloween thread, but I haven't really been following along. When's your party? You're going to love it! I love that time from Halloweentime to Christmas at the parks. Special events make the holidays even more magical!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I know you've been posting in the DLR Halloween thread, but I haven't really been following along. When's your party? You're going to love it! I love that time from Halloweentime to Christmas at the parks. Special events make the holidays even more magical!

Sept 22, I'm taking my best friend with me for her birthday gift! Ack, so excited!!