dianajo67

I’m hesitant to answer about the airport lounges as my hubby is the EXPERT and he is out of town. We’ve used the reserve card for lounge access for both of us in the past, but terms and conditions do change over time. I’m having a very vague memory of my hubby saying that the terms were changing and guests would no longer be allowed in the lounge with the reserve card. Please don’t hold me to this as we have so many cards with lounge access that I could be mixing up cards. I’m great educating folks on the macro benefits of playing the points game, but defer to my hobbyist hubby for the latest deals. I excel at “spending” the points!! On another note…we use our Freedom Unlimited as our everyday card if we don’t have a card with a great incentive. Use it for groceries, gas etc as the 1.5% is not terrible….and I can move those point to my Reserve card when I redeem them. Use the Reserve for dining out as it’s always 3 percent! The annual fee is not a big deal as you get a $300 credit as soon spend $X ($300-500 on travel —can’t remember exactly as we have zero problem doing this within a year…usually first month!). More than make up the rest with the 50% increase in value of points when purchasing hotels. Hubby is very enthusiastic at playing the points game. I was VERY cautious getting involved and resisted for several YEARS. The results have convinced me it’s worth it! Hubby is very generous with his expertise and has helped many of our neighbors and his coworkers get set up with the right cards etc based on their individual circumstances. We don’t push it on anyone and really only get into it with family/friends who express interest.

You have to consolidate all your points onto the Sapphire card to get the 1.25 or 1.5 redemption ability. When you log into ultimate rewards and hit the three lines up in the upper left hand corner and scroll to the bottom of the pop up list, you’ll see the option to “combine points”. Hit that and move the points from card A to card B. I KNOW this works if you have the RESERVE card. We don’t have the PREFERRED card anymore so I don’t know 100% if you can move points to that card. My gut and very sketchy memory tell me that you have to have the RESERVE card in order to get the benefit of moving the points from other Freedom cards. Hope this helps you!

The only way I would consider an additional $1K for the grand is if the free drinks in the suite lounge appeal enough to cancel my deluxe beverage package and I think I might actually use the free room service for meals from the MDR.

Don’t know the answer to that. Sorry! Hubby got Covid on that cruise. My parents and I didn’t get it!

One more thing. The 1.25 and 1.5 are for specific cards (Preferred or Reserve) and have to be used through the portal (which can have higher rates than booking direct). Regular chase points are only worth 1.0 through the portal, but those points can be moved online to go against the “higher redemption value” cards. We also cancel cards that have annual fees if we aren’t going to use them regularly. We’ll get them for the sign up bonus points, keep for a year, and then cancel. Used to think that would hurt our credit rating, but haven’t found that to be the case at all. We had to get rid of our preferred card to make room for the reserve for example. Chase monitors how many chase cards you have.

We have airline specific points for Southwest and American that we use. Those flights are easy to cancel up until the day of the flight if needed and the points are put back in our account. If we use the Chase points for air, you either need to purchase the equivalent of refundable tickets which is way more expensive and wastes points or there are other restrictions. Especially since Covid, I’m hesitant to book air through third parties (Chase uses expedia) because of the hassle getting customer service if needed. You also can’t transfer points from chase to American. (AMEX points can be transferred to Delta and used as Delta points!). I do look at fares occasionally, but they are generally higher on the chase portal than booking direct for some reason. Same issue with cruises through third party. We normally book refundable deposit these days and I cancel and book different cruises if I find better deals or we just decide to do something different. Love flexibility to change my mind. As far as hotels go, Chase portal often has sales on varying hotels (dollar rates) that really make our points go a long way. Hotel prices are more dynamic than cruise or air fares and there are many hotels in the places we travel. This enables us to grab super great deals, especially if we book ahead. For example, we’re going to Italy in September and paying the equivalent of $200 per night in points for a $300 per night hotel room. Nothing against using for cruises or air, but it’s worth it to us to get airline specific cards (we also have hotel cards for the free annual nights!) for the free bags etc.

We also use the Chase Sapphire Reserve for travel and have the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited for the rotating categories to get 5% each quarter. Nice thing is that we can pool all those points under the Chase Reserve Card in order to get 150% value during redemption for travel. Preferred is 125%. In fact, points from chase cards in my husbands name can be transferred to my reserve account as well. I don’t think you can do that with any cards other than the Reserve (possible Preferred as well, but not sure). We play the same game with a few other cards (AMEX platinum gave us 10% rewards for first 6 months on groceries/gas last year!). Points from the AMEX card work well for those who fly Delta. My hubby does this as a hobby and routinely gathers our cards each month and puts stickies on them so I know which card to use for what. According to hubby’s spreadsheets, we about $50,000 in points value right now from doing this and basically paying for everything with cards. Looking forward to hubby’s retirement in a couple years so we can use them more regularly. We closely coordinate what cards we each have as well for max benefit. The points game works, but it is also work to work it! One thing we do not use our points for is booking cruises. It hasn’t shown itself to be the best value for the points. Where it really shines is in hotel booking…so if you like to have land-based trips in conjunction with cruises, it’s wonderful.

Please start writing NOW!! You’re a talented writer and we all get great info! Going on Odyssey Sept 19. Was on in March with my son as a delayed graduation present. Will be interested in comparing my notes to yours!

Just my GUESS…..Would not surprise me if Royal makes testing changes in Europe quickly as most countries no longer require testing or even proof of vaccination. The Caribbean is another story. Several locations require proof of vaccination and a few still require negative covid tests. Until that changes, I don’t think the testing will go away for U.S. ported cruises. Expect there to be pressure on those island to “get with the program” and ease requirements. My GUESS is 1 October for the Caribbean and 15 August for Europe. No guesses regarding Asia and Cruises that hit Canada (sorry as I know you’re sailing out of there) as I don’t cruise there and haven’t been following.

Appreciate the input. I think I’l just “borrow” hubby’s access when I need to have simultaneous access. Tom is pretty easy going. In any case, we’re on Explorer which has the worst internet access of any ship I’ve ever been on. I’ll be lucky if I get any access at all! Was just wondering if anyone had ever done this before. Was hoping I would just get the equivalent of a 2 device access with a single log on.

I need to have 2 devices logged on simultaneously at times and hubby likes to have his log on active all the time. Since the key was the same price as a single device internet, that was a pretty easy decision for me. We have a tender port and will feel better with the priority departure. I usually get the 3 device package for hubby and me. I’m not usually a fan of getting the Key, so this’ll be the first time.

If I have the key that comes with internet access for one device and then I buy a “regular” one device internet access, how will that work? Will Royal consolidate the two different purchases into a single account onboard or will I have different access codes for each purchase?

Formal Nights are Days 3 and 8 on the 9 Night Odyssey. We’re going to be on the 19 September Cruise. I had already researched this!

I just received an invite for my Odyssey cruise departing 19 September. Considering that it is heavily booked, I’m kinda surprised! Several categories I can bid on are showing completely sold out.

I actually travel with compressed, disposable washcloths to use in hotels in Europe. Super inexpensive. They work great to keep the luggage weight down but aren’t quite as nice as cloth. I use them to wash my face when I’m not able to jump in the shower. Glad I don’t have to pack real ones for the cruise. Trying to stay with one suitcase and backpack.

Guess the title gave away the question! I’m asking the question as I know many, if not most, European hotels do not provide washcloths! Since Royal provides kettles in some stateroom categories for European cruises, but not for US based cruises, I thought they might also follow the washcloth “rule” as well. Please advise to help us with packing for our first European cruise…Odyssey from Rome! Thank you!