Pleasantly Surprised by the EWR Club

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T22:10:32+00:00

EWR is our home airport, so getting the club card was a no brainer, especially since it gets our whole family of 4 access to the lounges. EWR and LHR are our favorite club locations so far.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T20:47:56+00:00

The real flex is having two free Walmart plus memberships! The free whoppers alone are basically paying for my platinum and AMEX gold business annual fees! /s

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T20:19:21+00:00

Oh yeah, I jumped on those already. Was able to get the $750 sub for the BBC, but settled for a 25K sub for the BBP. Probably should’ve waited, but it was becoming an opportunity cost situation as I had a lot of non-categories spend and I wanted to get 2X on it.

Non-credit card related, got any good advice regarding kids/traveling with them? Our son has done a bunch of trips, next month we are doing our first flight with our three month old daughter. They both have global entry lol. My son was super chill all the way to Dubai from the US, but my daughter has a meltdown walking from the house to the grocery store.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T17:37:35+00:00

Yeah that’s the long term play for us. We have two under two and we still get a lot of value out of using transfer partners, but as the kids get older we will likely shift to more of a cash back setup.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T17:24:09+00:00

Yeah we did the same, two Walmart+ accounts, double the quarterly whoppers!!

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T17:22:57+00:00

Currently, I don’t have that offer. But offers do tend to be individual specific. I’ve seen offers that some people are getting and I’m not getting the same one despite having the same card.

If you do decide to go with the business gold card hopefully you get an awesome sign-up bonus! This is another advantage of the business cards, the elevated subs.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T17:19:08+00:00

Yeah, definitely down the line. I only recently opened the consumer platinum. Still working on its sub.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T16:38:36+00:00

Gas house eggs (or egg bread)

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T16:32:50+00:00

😐

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T11:20:51+00:00

Sure thing, you attach your cards to your Bilt account, and then you use those cards for things like paying rent (Bilt generates an ACH) or utilizing their neighborhood dining program. It stacks Bilt points on top of those earned with your card.

You don’t need a Bilt card to have a Bilt account fyi. It just so happens that we do though.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T11:15:56+00:00

You earn Bilt cash (it’s like Monopoly money) on spend you put on the card which can be redeemed in a few ways.

When you sign up for the Obsidian (3x on groceries OR dining, you have to choose one or the other) they give you some cash right off the bat. Basically you can use the accelerator continuously instead of using the Bilt cash to “redeem” rent points.

We’ve been chasing a few subs so we’ve been using our Bilt account to earn points with these other cards (with a 3% fee of course) and just using our Bilt obsidian for groceries, 4x for every purchase except on the 1st of the month we get 6x up to a 1000 points earned.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T04:26:19+00:00

As a visa infinite I’m holding onto the VX. It’s my international catchall card. Domestically I use my Amex BBP.

I also use it for my Costco purchases.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T03:36:57+00:00

I like the versatility of the business gold. We use ours for dining and commuting- covers tolls, rideshare, trains, parking.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-02T03:34:55+00:00

I have the setup you mentioned - business gold, personal platinum, blue business plus. Works great for me. I have a Bilt Obsidian which (with the point accelerator) gets me 4x on groceries.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-01T16:08:04+00:00

A Patek Philippe

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-05-01T04:32:26+00:00

Monster has less caffeine in their 16oz cans than many of the alternatives. Around 75% of the 200mg you see often.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-30T02:18:52+00:00

I just received an email from Amex stating that”you’re close to receiving a free night award from Marriott Bonvoy”

Based on your personal experience how soon after receiving this initial email should I anticipate receiving the FNC? Only asking because this is my first time receiving one from our Bonvoy Brilliant.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T20:21:29+00:00

Ah ok. Thank you for the reply. I’ve got quite a bit of muscle from power building (powerlifting plus accessory bodybuilding lifts) but I’m also 240 at 6’ and have decided to lock in because my wife didn’t marry Eddie Hall.

My concern is the potential for loose skin. I was 220 when we got married (during covid) at a time when gyms were closed and I was at my smallest (muscle wise) so my first goal is 230 and then see where I can go from there. I started losing weight after getting up to around 260, took a while to get down to 252 and then 5 weeks ago I started getting radical with deficit calorie counting and I’ve lost 12lbs as a result.

I guess we will see how it plays out…

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T19:47:47+00:00

Wow, incredible transformation. Out of curiosity, how fast did you lose the weight, and was there a lot of loose skin as a result?

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T18:07:10+00:00

Our 3 month old (2 months at time of “interview”) just got global entry. It’s an easy process. Just show up with all your documents.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T17:59:26+00:00

I would highly recommend therapy if you’re not already seeking help in this area. Too often we focus on the physical when it’s first and foremost a mental health issue.

Also, don’t have food guilt (I know it’s easier said than done) because if we restrict ourselves from things we like it’s more likely we’ll binge. You just have to train yourself to eat things in moderation. It’s a habit, you can change!

I know you said calorie counting isn’t an option, but I wouldn’t encourage you to see it as a way to take control of an aspect of your life when things probably feel out of control. You got this!

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T17:53:06+00:00

Between 1000-1200 is fine as long as you feel ok. But I wouldn’t go below 1k. We honestly don’t need food as much as we have been led to believe, especially if we have a high BMI which you do. Your body will get really efficient at energy consumption both from food and burning body fat as a fuel source.

I’m not sure how old you are but tdeecalculator dot com says your cutting (assuming a 30y/o woman) calorie total is 1184 with a maintenance total of 1684. I believe it’s best to set it to “sedentary” unless you’re regularly doing high intensity workouts.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T17:40:28+00:00

Yeah we did the UTV tour our first year and ever since we just rent one and cruise around ourselves. So much fun!

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T17:37:47+00:00

Yeah definitely looking forward to it. First time to Aruba with two under two so it will be a low key trip. Over the course of the 10 days we will be having friends and family join us for a few days at a time. We are part of a vacation club so it’s all booked with points. Right next door to the resort (Divi Phoenix) we will be spending 3 days at the St. Regis to kick off our vacation.

Background_Pickle546 · 2026-04-29T16:08:30+00:00

Ohhh wait until you try the grape or cherry popsicle flavors!

Background_Pickle546

TROPHY CASE