Bogleheads.org

It's been a while but we loved our stay at the Doubletree Centraal Station. Directly next to the Centraal train station, and easy walking distance to 90% of what we ended up doing in Amsterdam.

Just be sure to run any transfers by your mortgage person. They don't like to see large sums of money moving around right before closing.

Obviously, this is a simple transfer and nothing nefarious, but they usually like to see money sitting in an account for a bit before you wire the funds. If it comes from an account they don't expect (and confirmed during underwriting), questions can arise. They can be simply explained, but usually easier to do ahead of time rather than have an x-factor on closing day.

I transfer to airlines for business class lie-flat transcontinental flights I'd never otherwise be able to experience.

Been to Europe and back twice with points. I never realized how much of a difference it makes to arrive for your vacation well-rested after sleeping in an actual "bed" on the way to Europe, and being able to enjoy the end of a vacation in a super comfortable seat, take a nap, etc on the way back before going to work.

Japan is next now that they've finally opened up.

Lucerne, Switzerland

Most beautiful city I've visited and easy access to the swiss mountains as well.

Thanks for posting that; I had never heard of that. I can see a number of things potentially going wrong but it's a possibility. Worst case you just go through the regular immigration lines I would guess that in the worst case you'd lose the application fee, which if you then revert to PreCheck and have only one card providing benefits, would cost you $85. I mean, you can just reschedule the interview Maybe; I haven't looked into how long the window is for rescheduling. I guess I think worst-case now in a different way post-pandemic, given that I'd made a lot of travel arrangements that got just completely destroyed by the pandemic. So now I'm kind of expecting the same thing to happen frequently in the future - years of delays becoming ju...

You can have the zillow ones removed by emailing them. I assume other sites may be the same.

Going to obviously be brand and model specific.

My truck shows both average mileage since last reset and average mileage since last fuel fill up.

Maybe I've missed it but I haven't seen anyone ask this recently. I have an Apple iPhone currently using AT&T. I see on my phone that I can convert the SIM to an eSim (Settings->Cellular->Convert to eSIM). Any major issues with doing this? My main reason to do this is to use the free 3 month T mobile trial and see if its network is sufficient in my area. I did some googling and most of the "cons" seemed minimal to me but maybe I'm missing something. I saw someone mentioning the conversion can take a couple of hours which seemed strange to me. I am currently doing the 3 month free trial with T-Mobile using the e-sim, but I didn't have to convert to anything. I just added the T-Mobile e-sim. Kept using the Verizon physical sim....

delamer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 10:59 pm

stan1 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:58 pm

delamer wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:48 pm Success!

I got the 24-hour pre-flight notice that I could check-in online via text. Using that link, I was able to check-in and purchase upgrades to business class. Two seats together, no less.

If you don't mind sharing, how much was the upgrade for each passenger and how many hours is the domestic flight?

Paying nuisance fees is the way to take some of the pain out of air travel, whether it is aisle/window seat assignment fees or early boarding.

About $1 per minute per passenger.

Funny, that's almost my exact cut off for whether its worth to buy up or not on domestic trips.

nisiprius wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 8:42 am
A particular gripe of mine is that Apple FaceTime works beautifully on my desktop Mac, but most medical offices don't know that, believe it only works on iPads and iPhones... and don't know how to connect FaceTime when it isn't associated with a phone number.

You can set your desktop Mac to receive facetime calls to your phone number. No need to tell the provider you are picking up on a computer rather than a tablet/phone.

On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices, then turn on Allow Calls on Other Devices.

On your Mac, open the FaceTime app, choose FaceTime > Settings (or Preferences), then select Calls From iPhone.

beardsicles wrote: ↑Mon Jan 09, 2023 6:58 am

UpperNwGuy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 7:41 pm

Seal the Deal wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 6:59 pm

UpperNwGuy wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 1:21 pm

guyfromct wrote: ↑Sun Jan 08, 2023 10:21 am Just use the NWS, many commercial providers are using their data anyway.

Do they have an app?

mobile.weather.gov

That's not an app. That's a website.

https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/add-a- ... hone-ipad/

I wonder how many people know the “apps” they’re using are basically just a website with an icon on the desktop of an iPhone.

There are very, very few apps which that is true anymore.

I wouldn't say it's amazing. If you value airline miles at 1.5 cents/mile, it's the equivalent of a 60,000 mile bonus, which is good, but not amazing and something that you should feel the need to jump on immediately. These types of bonus are quite readily available throughout the year. No, it's $900 for sure https://creditcards.chase.com/business-credit-cards/ink/cash I've never seen a bonus this big. There have been several Chase cards with a 100,000 bonus before. Equivilent to $1,500 at the 1.5 c/m valuation. That valuation only applies "when redeemed for travel." I don't want to travel - I want cash. Such valuations don't matter in this case. 100,000 chase points can still be redeemed for $1000 cash if you don't want to travel.

sunny_socal wrote: ↑Tue Dec 06, 2022 12:13 pm

gt4715b wrote: ↑Tue Dec 06, 2022 12:03 pm I wouldn't say it's amazing. If you value airline miles at 1.5 cents/mile, it's the equivalent of a 60,000 mile bonus, which is good, but not amazing and something that you should feel the need to jump on immediately. These types of bonus are quite readily available throughout the year.

No, it's $900 for sure
https://creditcards.chase.com/business- ... s/ink/cash

I've never seen a bonus this big.

There have been several Chase cards with a 100,000 bonus before. Equivilent to $1,500 at the 1.5 c/m valuation.

At the rate they are delaying this thing (now til 2025), it will never actually go into effect.

My state mandated it when it was first announced so I've had the "star" on my Drivers license for a while now.

I have never looked at the Great Schools rankings before now, but I can tell you the scores for our area seem completely arbitrary and do not match either our experience nor the general opinion of parents in our area. The range of scores in our area is from 1 to 7. Our children were in one of the schools with a 7 ranking until last year. The school they are in now (same district) gets a 3. If you were looking at this ranking only, and had no real world experience, you'd think this must be a huge difference. In our case both schools are fine - above average public schools. There is no plausible reason why the one school should be a 7 and the other a 3. Our experience in fact has been quite a bit better in the new school with the lower ranki...

czaj wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:01 pm

deecee wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 7:07 pm It is common practice to purchase air fare that is free to cancel using your CSR, let the travel credit post, then cancel the air fare. You will end up with a $300 credit balance in your CSR. Southwest airlines is commonly cited as being easy to use for this purpose. Makes sure to check the terms of the airline to ensure the fare is refundable to the original method payment versus a credit with the airline.

For Southwest, you will likely only be offered travel credit if you cancel so no benefit over gift cards. Also a bit more annoying since you would ideally find a flight that is exactly $300.

This is true for a Wanna Get Away fare, but not a Anytime or Business Select fare.

We almost always pay local restaurants in cash. I’d prefer they get the extra money rather than the credit card company. I think people need to realize that the cash back and bonuses aren’t being willingly paid by the credit card companies; they are being unwillingly paid by the merchants. There is an argument that the cost of cash could be higher than credit card fees when accounting for loss, transportation, labor hours for deposits, storage methods, etc. For businesses, paper money has to be managed: it must be stored, guarded, and accounted for. It can be difficult to transport and is inherently insecure. U.S. retail businesses lose about $40 billion annually because of the theft of cash alone. This cost is also disproportionately born...

Since you mentioned iPad, if the phones are iPhones, you can block all of those straight from the device. You can also set up time limits for each of them, or hours that they can be accessed.

I'm assuming you've tried the built in workout app on the iPhone. If you want something more fully featured, Strava is my go to for running and they also have a cycling mode.

anon_investor wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:13 pm

TexasPE wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:05 pm

anon_investor wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:02 pm

TexasPE wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 7:00 pm

bradinsky wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 6:31 pm In the end, the shredder is the fastest, most efficient & safest way to destroy them. It won’t harm the shredder at all.

...unless you have a metal credit card...

Don't you have to mail them in?

they send me prepaid mailers, but I don't recall a requirement to return the old cards...

I meant to destroy them.

I grabbed my power drill with a bit designed for metal and put a hole thru the chip, and a few more through the magstripe and numbers. But this was more for the fun of it, I'm not too worried about someone going through my trash and finding an expired credit card and putting all the information together.

snackdog wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 9:18 am

retiredjg wrote: ↑Wed Nov 09, 2022 8:50 am I had tree work done earlier this year. The arborist said it would be a 1 day job. A crew of 3 showed up. They finished (to my satisfaction) about 6 hours later and left. The arborist showed up about quitting time and asked when they left. The bill was adjusted down from the estimate for the shorter hours.

Win win.

That is exactly how they should work.

If it takes them longer than 3 days, are you ok with paying them extra? Otherwise, it seems very hypocritical.

snackdog wrote: ↑Tue Nov 08, 2022 8:06 am

JoeNJ28 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 07, 2022 8:41 pm You are being completely unreasonable here. You agreed to a price to have X done. They completed X they get paid. Doesn’t matter if it took twenty minutes or 20 days you agreed to the final price.

The way I read the quote is I get three guys for three full days work.

But if the work is finished, what do you want them to do? Should they just hang out at your house until you get your money's worth?

Clearly you were happy with the agreed upon price and scope of work. If the scope of work is completed, who cares how long it takes. In fact, I'd be thrilled to have them out of my hair and yard earlier than I expected.

The HomePod that was recently discontinued or the HomePod Mini? The biggest thing you need to consider with the HomePod vs Sonos is expandability. If you get the HomePod and like it and want to add HomePod to your TV, want a big speaker or pair of speakers for a big room, small speakers for bedrooms, speakers for outside, etc. you won’t be able to achieve that with Apple’s product. As a stand alone product it is just dandy. I had zero clue you could connect a HomePod to your TV. I am thinking of getting a HomePod Mini. You can’t connect a HomePod to a TV as far as I know. But you can integrate your TV into a Sonos system. Just food for thought. For a $99 — HomePod Mini is just fine. If you have an AppleTV, you can set the homepod mini as t...

Apple Watch.

I use mine all the time for tracking runs up to 10-12 miles. It syncs great with my preferred training app (Strava). Keeps track of heart rate and pace, basically the only two things I'm concerned about when running.

Everything else it does is a nice bonus. I use it to track sleep, resting heart rate, and of course receive notifications and texts without having to look at my phone.

A dispute wasn't appropriate because a. you agreed to charges and b. you received the goods/service appropriately.

A refund from expedient would be more likely, since you had to purchase additional insurance, but even that is certainly not a guaranteed.

Regarding vaccines, is your understanding also that one needs to have received a booster shot between 14 and 270 days before arrival in Spain? That is, that is has to be at least 14 days since getting one but not longer than 270? Yes, that's my understanding, as you listed above. In addition: you need to complete the Spanish ministry of health questionnaire and obtain a QR code. This will be needed to board the plane in the US and again after arrival at the airport in Spain (or at least this was a requirement in early Sept) This is no longer required as of October. OnceARunner, were you referring specifically to the QR code no longer being required? Just trying to clarify that you weren't referring to the vaccines further up the post. Than...

Going to Barcelona soon. KInd of weird ... you have to wear a mask flying into Spain ... but as soon as you get off the plane in the terminal, you can take the mask off. As mentioned, public transportation, including airlines require masks, along with pharmacies & hospitals. Regarding vaccines, is your understanding also that one needs to have received a booster shot between 14 and 270 days before arrival in Spain? That is, that is has to be at least 14 days since getting one but not longer than 270? Yes, that's my understanding, as you listed above. In addition: you need to complete the Spanish ministry of health questionnaire and obtain a QR code. This will be needed to board the plane in the US and again after arrival at the airport...

saver7007 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 17, 2022 7:07 am

jebmke wrote: ↑Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:37 am In contrast, the face recognition on my iPhone has never failed to work [although it doesn't seem to work with eyes closed - I asked my wife to test it in case someone stumbled upon my body].

FaceID uses the front-facing camera to be sure you are looking directly at the phone before it unlocks.

This is a setting that can be changed too. You can turn the "attention" feature off so it will unlock just by seeing your face, without you looking at the camera. Whichever people prefer.

Going to Barcelona soon. KInd of weird ... you have to wear a mask flying into Spain ... but as soon as you get off the plane in the terminal, you can take the mask off. As mentioned, public transportation, including airlines require masks, along with pharmacies & hospitals. Regarding vaccines, is your understanding also that one needs to have received a booster shot between 14 and 270 days before arrival in Spain? That is, that is has to be at least 14 days since getting one but not longer than 270? Yes, that's my understanding, as you listed above. You can also have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of arrival. According to the Spanish site, it is either/or. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR SPAIN (updated September 19, 2022): Beginning on Se...

Looking for help with Social Security. My wife is trying to apply for spousal benefits after having collected benefits on her own record since FRA. She has been told that she can’t apply on-line and must do a telephone appointment where Social Security will call. For 3 times over the last several days they have scheduled a telephone appointment and my wife sat by the phone (mobile phone) waiting for their call. The phone never rang (though it will ring if I call her number). Each time Social Security says they have called but the call went directly to voice mail. We’ve set up another appointment for tomorrow. Has anyone had an experience with this type of problem and how was it resolved? Make sure your wife doesn't have spam protection ena...

pizzy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:18 am OP is obviously a troll

Yes.

Conveniently ignoring every person who informs them it is crowd sourced and check when they were last updated. Also, refuses to say whether they actually contribute by fixing the prices when they stop and see they are wrong.

andyandyandy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:03 am
What type of proof Chase Sapphire Reserve asks for medical?

I had to use the CSR when my 2 year old kid got an ear infection 2 days before our trip. It was a pretty painless experience and they paid out with a letter from the Dr stating that it was medically inadvisable for my kid to travel via plane with an active ear infection. They paid out for all 3 of our tickets since we couldn't leave without them.

Going to be tougher because Turo explicitly doesn't consider themselves a car rental agency.

Both Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve usually offer primary car rental insurance complimentary, but Turo is excluded due to the above.

Yes. Sometimes it sees me face and unlocks, but many (most?) times it required me to push the right button. I honestly don’t understand the above posts about the ease of face recognition unlock. Sometimes mine IS easy, sometimes not. You might want to scan again and see if that improves things. I have unlock enabled with my Apple Watch so it will use that if face scan is unsuccessful. That’s not the issue. The issue is that when I pick up the phone, it says in the always on dim mode. It’s not recognizing that I picked it up to begin the face scan. When it does look for my face, it opens easily/quickly/seamlessly. Can you explain what you mean by push the right button? Typical usage does not involve pushing a button. Also, if you go to sett...

Mine is set to immediately. With both FaceID and unlock with Apple Watch turned on, I see no reason to delay it.

retired@50 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:50 pm

finallyinvesting wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:42 pm

retired@50 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:10 pm
Someone deceived your grandma.

Regards,

After her death, I've discovered this more times that I expected. It's another reason why I want to educate myself.

Financial literacy is so important, and no one seems to mention it in K-12 school.

Personal Finance and Economics is a required class to graduate high school in my state.

In my opinion, SMS 2FA isn’t ideal but good enough if there are no other options. Good computing hygiene is important. Your cell service may offer the ability to lock down your number — Verizon does, for example. Another option is to change your 2FA number to a Google voice number if the institution supports it. What do you mean about locking down your number? I have Verizon cell service and didn't know this was an option. How do I set up Number Lock to protect my number from being moved without my permission? You can set up Number Lock by dialing *611 or on the Number Lock page in My Verizon: My Verizon app: Tap Settings > Number Lock > Choose number My Verizon website: Go to the Number Lock page. Select On next to the mobile number(s) th...

alpenglow wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 12:28 pm

gatorking wrote: ↑Mon Sep 12, 2022 11:52 am

alpenglow wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 3:02 pm They are 10 and are enrolled in a decent, but certainly not great, district in a HCOL area.
FWIW, I'm currently a middle school teacher in a very highly rated district in a VHCOL area.

Have you looked into having your children enroll in the same school district you teach in?

There is no school choice where I live in NY. We would have to move. The district where I teach is great and the teachers do a great job, but the area is undesirable for us (too built up/busy).

I'm surprised to hear this. In our area, there isn't school choice either, but there is an exemption for teachers kids to go to school where their parents teach for commute purposes.

Hi, I have an Amazon Prime account and my wife has a regular non Prime Amazon Account. We don't use Amazon that much so she usually just emails me the items she wants and I order them on my account. But I'm wondering if there is way to link her account to mine so that she can do her own ordering and also get free shipping piggybacking on my Prime account ? There seems to be something called Amazon Household but not sure if that is the best way or if there is something else I would need to do. Or maybe it's not possible at all and I have to just continue doing what I am doing or give her my login and password. Just wondering if anyone has successfully done this and what they did. Thanks for your help. You can share prime benefits with her a...

Possibly a potential lead? They have a list of customers that use their payment system.

https://tbsit360.com/products/category/ ... solutions/

I'm surprised your locality uses a private appraisal for assessment purposes. Ours only uses their own, unless it was a new purchase and then the purchase price plays a role for that year.

sport wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:25 am It's interesting seeing all the posts about shopping at Sam's. In my area we had a Sam's and a Costco. About 10 years ago, the Sam's closed. The reasons they gave were "competition and lack of business". The Costco continues to thrive.

In my city, they are on opposite street corners. You could hit a golf shot from one roof to the other.

Both seem to still be doing well after 3 years like that.

Random Poster wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 5:05 pm their checkout lanes are a complete mess

I can't remember the last time I used a checkout lane at Sam's Club. Their scan-and-go function in their app is amazing. Just scan each item as I put it in the cart, pay in the app, and walk straight to my car.

I like the neighbors. I like the neighborhood. Don't need the equity right now. The difference in repair and power bills between this place and another isn't significant enough to make a big difference in the big picture. The process of moving stinks.

galawdawg wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:53 am
1. If you haven't yet booked a room, staying in the immediate Athens area will cost you a fortune. There are about 2,500 hotel rooms in Athens. Sanford Stadium seats nearly 93,000. Do the math! Oh, sorry, I forgot. Auburn fan, so math and reading skills...well....

I'm going to guess he is a Michigan fan.

OP: I've been to 12 of the 14 SEC stadiums for away football games and the worst I was ever treated was in Athens. Go and enjoy the game...but I would recommend wearing neutral colors.

I was treated well by LSU fans, by contrast, who have a worse reputation historically, but they were incredibly welcoming. Success seems to have gone to their head in Athens.

seawolf21 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:10 am Basic economy fares are not changeable. If you can’t make your flight you lose all value; cannot be used for another itinerary.

Careful with the blanket statements. Delta does allow e-credits for Basic Economy tickets minus a $99 change fee for domestic flights as of now. Purchasers really need to read the fine print because every airline is so different in what is allowed vs not allowed, especially with basic economy fares.

From Delta:
Basic Economy tickets are non-changeable* and non-refundable. You may cancel your ticket before departure to receive an eCredit minus a cancellation charge** and apply the remaining value towards a future Delta ticket.*

Non-refundable and free changes: Airline has your money, but you can use it towards the purchase of any flight within a year from purchase date generally (fare difference will apply if you choose a more expensive flight)

non-refundable and change fees: airline has your money, but you can use it towards the purchase of any other flight within a year minus your change fee (and fare difference, if more expensive)

refundable: you can get your cash back from the airline.

This is a general rule, but each airline has nuances, particularly with basic economy tickets.

You get one free credit report from each bureau per year at annualcreditreport.com. I would request one from each of them (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) and look to see when it showed up, what type of account, etc.

Similar to another poster, the train ticket kiosk was the only place that asked for a PIN, but I found that by using my sapphire reserve through ApplePay, it didn't ask for one.

Consult your manual.

Mine is 10,000 miles or 12 months....so if you had my vehicle it would be once a year.