The Status of Status

As we enter the new year, it’s also the end of the status earning year.  Here’s where things stand going into 2014:

• United Premier Gold (50,000+ PQM)
• Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum (25 stays)
• Hilton Gold (Citi Hilton Reserve Credit Card)
• Marriott Gold (Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card)
• Hyatt Platinum (Chase Hyatt Credit Card)

United and Starwood are my main programs so things are well setup next year.  While certainly a downgrade from 1K, United Gold still allows Economy Plus access at booking, CPUs, Star Gold, free checked bags, same day changes, etc...While I didn’t hit 50 nights to receive the ten suite awards, (will end the year with 44 stays) I’m satisfied with Platinum.  I usually take the breakfast if traveling with Emily or the points if traveling alone.  We were pretty lucky in terms of both treatment and upgrades in 2013.  Let’s hope that continues into 2014.

New Year, New Blog

It's almost 2014 and I've been meaning to post this since the beginning of the year.  I have learned a tremendous amount over the past couple of years earning and burning miles for some unreal adventures.  I've been meaning to start writing about the process a bit more so here's my attempt at just that. 

Emily and I kicked off 2013 in Bangkok on our honeymoon where we also traveled to Khao Lak, Hong Kong and Macau.  We spent Memorial Day in Singapore, went to Hawaii for Labor Day, Istanbul and Dubai for Thanksgiving and tomorrow we're headed to London to kick off 2014 right. 

Looking forward to sharing more about points accumulation, planning, booking, and travel during 2014.