u/internalmonologue01

Looking for some advice from people who know award travel a lot better than I do.

I have about 349k Ultimate Rewards that I'm planning to transfer to a travel partner, and once I transfer them, there's no going back. I'm hoping to get some opinions before I make a permanent decision.

I also currently have:

My priority is getting the highest long-term travel value—not cash back.

If you were in my position, where would you transfer the UR points?

Would you:

• Double down on Marriott?
• Move everything to Hyatt?
• Build up an airline balance instead?
• Split them between partners?

I'm also curious if there are any "sweet spot" redemptions, transfer partners that consistently outperform the others, or transfer bonuses that people try to wait for.

If you had these balances, what would you do?

EDIT - hopefully this doesn’t get my post removed, but wanted to add more info. My original post got auto removed because I mentioned that the reason I need to transfer out in the next couple of days is due to enrolling in a debt management plan. This requires me to close my credit cards. I’ll need to transfer my points to avoid losing them altogether. (I think the post removal had to do with the auto mod thinking I was asking how to get awards points) TIA!

My partner and I are taking a 3 day/2 night camping trip to Sequoia next week, and it'll be my first time there. Here is a rough itinerary we have, and I wanted some feedback. Anything that doesn't make sense as far as distance/time or for this time of year? Obviously these are loose plans, the idea is to unplug, relax & reset, but we both love hiking so we'll want to fit a couple in. I just also don't want to be miserably tired if it's going to be pretty hot out either. We are staying at the Azalea campground.

Day 1 — Arrival + Giant Sequoias + Sunset

- leave LA around 5:30-6AM (or honestly even the night before and sleep in the car)

- General Grant Tree

- Fallen Monarch

- Gamlin Cabin

- Sunset at Panoramic Point

- Dinner at campsite

Day 2 — Sequoia National Park

- Drive to Giant Forest

- Moro Rock

- General Sherman Tree

- Congress Trail

- Lunch

- Crescent Meadow

- Dinner

Day 3 — Kings Canyon

- Drive into Kings Canyon before heading home

- Zumwalt Meadow

- Roaring River Falls

Then head home whenever we're done with those things.

Is this too much, or are these all close enough/easy enough to fit in?

TIA, I'm looking forward to this trip!

I’m looking for some perspective and advice from people who’ve successfully paid off credit card debt.

Current situation:

Card 1: $13,600 balance at 27% APR

Card 2: $6,300 balance at 27% APR

Shared card I’m helping pay off: $2,500 balance at 25% APR

Total debt: approximately $22,400

I have basically stopped using my credit cards altogether for the past several months. I’m not adding meaningful new debt and I’m consistently paying more than the minimums every month (usually at least $100-$200 above minimum on each card).

The problem is that it feels like the balances barely move.

My estimated monthly income is around $6,000-$8,000 and my living expenses are around $5,000, although I need to sit down and calculate the exact numbers.

My credit score has fallen from around 750 to around 690 due to utilization.

At this point I’m trying to figure out:

Should I continue paying aggressively as-is?

Should I focus on one card and only make minimums on the others?

Should I look into a balance transfer?

Should I consider a personal loan for consolidation?

For anyone who’s been in a similar situation, what made the biggest difference for you?

I’m deep in the smart ring research rabbit hole and would love some real-world opinions because I feel like every source says something different. 😅
At first I was leaning heavily toward the Oura Ring since it seems like the “industry standard” and most widely trusted option. Then I started hearing a lot of people say the upcoming Ultrahuman Ring Pro could potentially be the better option — especially for fitness/recovery tracking and avoiding subscriptions. A lot of YouTube reviews (including ones that seem unsponsored) speak really positively about Ultrahuman overall.

BUT… the more Reddit threads I read, the more I see people complaining about Ultrahuman reliability, bugs, customer service, inaccurate tracking, etc. Meanwhile some people swear by it and say Oura is overrated or too subscription-heavy.

To clarify: I was never really interested in the Ultrahuman Ring Air itself. If I went the Ultrahuman route, it would specifically be for the upcoming Ring Pro on preorder.

Then there are other options like RingConn and some newer brands, but I’ll admit I’m a little hesitant with lesser-known companies just because it’s hard to tell what’s genuinely good versus what’s marketing hype.

One important thing for me specifically: I’m actually very interested in the fitness tracking side of things, not just sleep/wellness tracking. I strength train regularly, play pickleball, stay active overall, and care a lot about recovery/readiness data, HRV, activity tracking accuracy, etc. So fitness performance and accuracy matter quite a bit to me.

So I guess my questions are:

- What’s the actual current consensus on the best smart ring overall?
- Which one is best specifically for fitness tracking and recovery?
- Is Oura still considered the safest/best choice?
- Is Ultrahuman Pro looking genuinely promising or mostly hype?
- Are RingConn or any other brands actually worth considering?
- How important is the subscription issue in real-world use?
- Which ring has been the most reliable/accurate for you long-term?

Main things I care about:

- fitness tracking accuracy
- sleep tracking
- recovery/readiness
- heart rate/HRV
- comfort/wearability
- app quality
- reliability over time
- battery life
- overall ecosystem/value

Would especially love opinions from people who’ve used more than one brand for a decent amount of time.

As the title says, I am looking for actual dedicated pickleball courts, preferably close to DTLA. I know there are membership based locations like Pickle Alley & PIKL, but those are a bit out of my price range especially since I am brand new, so I was hoping to just find a park to play at.

I used this link https://recreation.parks.lacity.gov/pickleball and went to Griffith Park since it says there are 12 pickleball courts, but there actually were not any, they were all tennis courts. I know tennis courts can be used, but as I'm a beginner, I don't want to have to "imagine" where the centerline & kitchen lines are.

Are there any actual courts outside of a paid membership at a gym? I'm surprised that it's been a little difficult to find them at a park, so if you know of any, please let me know!