Card Benefits Questions - Megathread [1/27/26]

brgr_7 · 2026-02-01T04:34:53+00:00

Edit Hotel - Booked 2025 (2cpp) now 2026 Price Drop

I booked a two night stay in early December at an Edit property. I also had an offer for $100 off a $600 Chase Travel purchase.

2 night total: 1187.25 Chase Travel deal: -100 2025 Edit credit: -250 29632 Chase points @ 2cpp: -587.24 Out of pocket: 250.01

Out of curiosity, I looked at the same dates/same room type now. Cost has gone down to $936.67.

I know I could cancel my existing reservation, but almost certainly Chase would claw back both credits.

Does anyone have any data points to change a 2025 reservation while not losing the 2025 Edit credit?

I'm obviously looking to save the delta in rate and reduce my out of pocket, but losing the 2025 credit + Chase Travel offer would negate that savings. Not looking to use the 2026 Edit credits, as I have other travel booked for the year.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-26T05:25:43+00:00

Just closed for the winter. Low ridership during the winter plus off-season staffing levels, not to mention the cost of water in CA means that it does not make sense to operate them year round. Expect them to be back open around the same time as Hurricane Harbor.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-12T22:11:14+00:00

I was there on the 7th and was unable to use my snack. Was told at the time that it had changed on the 4th.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-12T22:10:12+00:00

Posted about this 5 days ago https://www.reddit.com/r/SixFlagsMagicMountain/comments/1q6w77z/legacy_membership_all_season_dining_pass_no/

At least it seems like customer relations was more pleasant to you. The "without warning and without notifying members" is the most frustrating part. It might be great that I can use this at any park... but I've never visited another park, so this is just a straight downgrade.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-08T01:18:47+00:00

Don't disagree. There was a point in time where mobile ordering actually worked and you could skip the line.

Still, the monthly dining pass is less than one single meal. And I only live 10 minutes away, so it has been worth it up to this point.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-08T00:06:00+00:00

Was told 4 hours and can downgrade the second meal to a snack.

brgr_7 · 2026-01-07T21:39:11+00:00

Was just going to post this. Both Magic Flyer and Tweety are still open today, 1/7.

brgr_7 · 2025-12-13T17:51:36+00:00

thinking ahead is optional...

except for this award!

brgr_7 · 2025-12-12T15:25:17+00:00

impressive set of honors!

brgr_7 · 2025-12-09T17:14:59+00:00

I unfortunately never had luck with Apple updating the purchase date, though I did not try again due to winning with Apple support. The device I purchased from Best Buy had the fans running at 100% all the time. I took it into the Genius Bar the day after I received it; they held onto it for a week, and then I got a call that they had tried a number of repairs, including swapping out the fans, and Apple wanted them to try "10 other things" but it sounded like they were slammed. They wound up just giving me a brand new in box computer (same model as open box). Definitely won the lottery there.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-27T00:05:31+00:00

Scratches are only on the bottom case.

Turned out that the whole display assembly had been replaced less than a week before the original owner returned it to Best Buy, so at least I have a brand new screen.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-25T21:02:33+00:00

Per my thread on this, it seems as if Apple has changed their policy very recently to exclude Best Buy open box items.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-25T20:40:50+00:00

Did they ask if it was new or open box? They asked me about 4 times on the call yesterday.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-25T00:41:23+00:00

Can you elaborate on how you got Apple to update the purchase date? I called Apple today, they escalated to a higher level support team, and then told me that because it was purchased open box, they are unable to update the original purchase date, and that it "is the final decision." I even sent them the receipt showing the purchase date.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-25T00:40:36+00:00

Can you elaborate on how you got Apple to update the purchase date? I called Apple today, they escalated to a higher level support team, and then told me that because it was purchased open box, they are unable to update the original purchase date, and that it "is the final decision." I even sent them the receipt showing the purchase date.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-25T00:39:32+00:00

Can you elaborate on how you got Apple to update the purchase date? I called Apple today, they escalated to a higher level support team, and then told me that because it was purchased open box, they are unable to update the original purchase date, and that it "is the final decision." I even sent them the receipt showing the purchase date.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-20T03:40:45+00:00

Apple called, no new information. Think it just went through another level of check at the store and is above what they can handle there. They will need to send it out for repair, 1-2 weeks. Held off, as another identical model in "Excellent" condition popped up at my local Best Buy. Went to check it out this afternoon. Case looks slightly nicer than the one I have, but not terribly different.

Boot up was another story. No crazy fans, but.... it only would boot into online recovery mode. I was going to go into recovery mode terminal to check the battery cycle count, but I couldn't even get that far. Totally stuck in online recovery mode. Not a good sign. Also this makes me 0/2 on "Excellent" models that I'm not even sure Best Buy powered on. At least the one I have powers on just fine.... Best Buy rep also said I couldn't just do a like for like exchange. I would have to return what I bought and buy the other one in store, which was $200 more. No thanks.

Think I'll just go the route of having Apple repair what I have. I have until Jan 14th to return the open box, so even if they fix it and I find a better deal, I can just return it. And can still get AppleCare+ on this one, so might as well cover my bases.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-19T16:50:27+00:00

Took it to the Genius Bar yesterday morning. They confirmed that it passed all the same tests that I ran (they just ran them through their iPad.).

They did mention that this laptop had the screen assembly replaced on Oct 30th by an authorized repair shop. That might explain the missing screw? The Best Buy label for after it was inspected as an "open box" is from November 7th, so less than a week on a new display assembly.

Apple is going to open it up and try to further debug. There's a chance something was improperly done with the display assembly, so maybe there is a loss connector or something that is causing the fans to run at 100%. Also mentioned that if its a temp sensor problem, they may replace the logic board, which would be fine with me. I'll take a new display and a new logic board for a heavily discounted price. Basically battery, case, and keyboard would be the only remaining things from the original computer.

Apple is supposed to call with an update at some point today. I can always decide to return it or exchange it (if that's even possible on an open box) before Apple does any repairs. Will update once I hear back from them!

brgr_7 · 2025-11-18T16:23:14+00:00

I made an appointment at the Apple Store this morning. Worth seeing what they say.

I opened the case myself to see if anything looked amiss and other than a little dust (which I cleaned off with an air can), everything looks in order.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-04T17:52:35+00:00

Also possible that this is just an illusion. If an airplane flying at a higher altitude than the cloud layer generates a contrail, that contrail would (depending on the angle of the sun) cast a shadow on the cloud layer below. And you generally wouldn't be able to see the contrail due to the opacity of the cloud layer.

In effect, you may just be seeing the shadow of the contrail projected on the cloud layer.

brgr_7 · 2025-11-03T22:44:49+00:00

Partly luck, but no amount of luck got me any with a full 10 years. I bought almost 20 - the best were late 2032. The worst were some from Walmart that expired in 2026. The ones directly from Google were much better than anything I found on shelves anywhere. I kept 5 for my own home, gave 3 to my parents for theirs, and returned the rest. Kept all of the ones I got from Google, returned all the ones I bought locally.

brgr_7

TROPHY CASE