Booking IHG Free Nights

The IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card from Chase is one of the best hotel cards on the market.  The initial signup bonus is good enough (currently 80,000 points - post coming soon) for multiple nights in a higher end IHG property.

But the best perk is the free night certificate good for a free night at any IHG property around the world.  Emily and I have rotated having this card and each year, the feee night has easily paid for the $49 annual fee.

We're in the process of booking another RTW trip and we're going to have a 12 hour layover in Singapore.  We've been to the city a few times and really enjoy visiting.  But we land at 8:30PM and depart the next morning around 8AM so we wanted to stay close to the airport in the event we just want to sleep and then wakeup early to explore Changi.

So when thinking about hotels, the Crowne Plaza attached to the terminal was the easy choice.  If we want to go into the city, a taxi will be ~$25USD.

Rates (prepaid rates were lower but generally we try and stay away from those rates just in case we have to cancel a trip) were going for ~$246USD!  We certainly didn't want to spend that on a quick overnight.  While we could have used IHG points (40,000) we opted to redeem an expiring free night certificate.  Again, paying the $49 annual fee to get a hotel worth $246 in a pretty awesome deal.

Here's how to book an IHG Anniversary Free Night.  First, login to your IHG account and on the left hand nav, click on "Free Night Status."

If you have a free night available, you'll see the screen above.  Click on continue to search for a property.  Once you click on a property, you'll see "Rooms from FREE."  Click on "Check Rates."

Chase Anniversary Free Night will be selected.  Scroll down to your desired room type (in our case King, Nonsmoking) and click "Book This Room."

That is it.  Finish the booking and you're on your way to a free hotel night.

Nothing beats a free (or $49) hotel room

It's pretty awesome that you can book the IHG free night online.  Hyatt allows you to do so with their Chase card, Hilton does not (you have to call) with their Hilton Reserve card free weekend nights.

I am getting closer to finalizing the trip and will have more details soon!

Review: Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to New York

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Washington Dulles (IAD) Lounge Hopping
United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London
United Arrivals Lounge London
Andaz London Liverpool Street
Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge London
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment Abu Dhabi to New York
American Express Centurion Lounge LGA

After a quick visit to the pre-clearance lounge, it was soon time for boarding.  At this point, it was 3AM local time and 11PM London time and we were both ready to relax onboard, have a great meal, and then get some much needed sleep.

Etihad A380 First Class Apartment 3K

We both woke up a bit as we made our way down the jetway to the upper deck of the A380.  This wasn't our first time flying Etihad's First Class Apartment and it certainly won't be our last.  We arrived at our seats (3K/4K) with me taking the rear facing 3K and Emily in forward facing 4K.  This would allow us to eat together (in my apartment) and sleep together as the divider is lowered and the two beds essentially become one.

How Long Does it Take for Singapore Airlines Miles to Refund After an Award Cancellation?

Singapore Airlines offers some of the most lowest cost award redemption change/cancellation fees of any airline.  For a complete overview, Lucky has a great post on change/cancel fees for all airlines.

Cancelling an award booking costs $30 USD and changing one costs $20.  That compares very favorably to United which will charge (without status) $200 to get your hard earned miles back in your account in the event of a cancellation!

Singapore Airlines First Class IFE

I recently had to make a change to an award that required a redeposit of miles.  Unfortunately you can't do this online and have to call.  Singapore Airlines has great customer service (24 hours) in the US and it only took 10 minutes to process the cancellation for the $30 fee.

Dom or Krug on SQ

The agent informed me that the taxes would be refunded to my credit card in 6-8 weeks and the miles refunded back to my account within 5-7 business days.

What?  That is an eternity to wait when award availability is limited.  Well good news - I can report that the miles posted back to my account in ~36 hours.

Singapore Airlines BMW designed First Class (777-300ER)

I did process the cancellation on a Sunday so perhaps that slowed things down.  Either way, being able to rebook within a couple of days was no big deal and the new award was still available once the miles were safely back in my KrisFlyer account.

Award Availability on Lufthansa's Denver to Munich Service

I've written several posts on Lufthansa's brand new (started this week) service from Denver to Munich.  While the route won't have first class forever, availability is quite good at the moment.  

New routes are often great places to look for award availability especially "lower tier" routes like this one.  For those of us living in Denver, having another nonstop option to Europe is awesome.

Keep in mind that Lufthansa only makes first class award seats through partners (i.e. United) available 15 days in advance.  So if you want to fly first class (before it goes away) on this route, you'll have to wait until the last minute.

Here is what first class looks like this month:

As you can see, 8 of the next 15 days have a seat available in first class on the nonstop flight.  This will cost you 110,000 United MileagePlus miles and $55.60 in taxes and fees (one-way).  Close-in business class availability is also quite good at 70,000 miles and $55.60 each way.  

Beyond that, there are only a handful of days this summer with availability in economy or business class.  Hopefully that opens up over time.  I am looking forward to trying the new service out in first class before it's removed next year!

Review: Parker Palm Springs

By the time April rolls around in Denver, there is always a bit of Spring fever since it's not uncommon for us to get snow (as was the case during this weekend) while the rest of the country gets 70+ degree temps.  So we like to get out of Colorado for a long weekend and have historically gone to the Phoenix area of somewhere in Mexico.

This year we wanted to try something a bit different and Palm Springs fit the bill.  I grew up in San Diego and spent a fair amount of time in Palm Springs as a kid.  Emily had never been so we were both excited for different reasons.  The Parker has been on my list of domestic hotels to check out and despite extremely high cash rates, award availability wasn't an issue.

We met at Denver's Union Station a little before 9AM on Friday morning for the 37 minutes train to the plane.  A little breakfast (pro tip:  ModMarket and then Lounge 5280 in Terminal B are the go-to's for a quick breakfast and a relaxing cocktail) and some work and we were on our way for the ~2 hour United mainline flight to PSP.  Economy Plus on a refurbished A319 meant working (kind of) wifi and power but not much anything else.

On approach to PSP

 Soon enough we were wheels down in Palm Springs.  Seven minutes (seriously) later we were on the curb and in a taxi.  Note that Uber cannot pickup at the airport (yet) but they can drop off.

Welcome to The Parker

How to Book Singapore Airlines Award Tickets

Last week I posted on how to book Cathay Pacific First Class award tickets.  Today we're going to focus on booking award tickets on another of my favorite Asian carries.

As I eluded to this morning, I'm going to Asia later in the year.  While I had a couple of days to play with, my schedule isn't that flexible.  I generally want to fly home on Saturday or Sunday and for my specific dates, that left with only a couple of options.

Singapore Airlines offers non-stop service from Tokyo to Los Angeles as a continuation of their flight from Singapore.  This would give me another opportunity to fly the flagship Suites Class on the A380.  You can read more about previous Suites Class flights here and here.

Singapore Airlines Lobster Thermidor

The best place to search and book Singapore Airlines awards is on their own website.  For purposes of this post, I'm going to assume you have a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer account.  If you don't already have an account, sign-up for one here.

Great Value in Hyatt Cash + Points

In looking at hotels for my stay in Tokyo, I was trying to decide between three properties.  The Andaz, Park Hyatt, and Conrad are all on my list to check out.  The Park Hyatt is prohibitively expensive using points (30,000/night) and cash (north of $650/night AI) so I decided to stay at both the Andaz and the Conrad.  Booking the Conrad was easy thanks to a Hilton free night certificate and a giant stash of Hilton HHonors points.

The Andaz situation left me with three options:

1)  Pay cash at a nightly rate of $668 including near 25% tax (refundable rate)
2)  Redeem 25,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points/night
3)  Redeem 12,500 Hyatt Gold Passport points and pay $200 per night AI

One critical part of the equation is factoring in the HGP points earned in each situation.  As a Platinum member, I earn 5.75 points per dollar spent.  Add in the 3 points per dollar spent on the Hyatt Visa card and I'm earning 8.75 points per dollar spent.  I value Hyatt points at roughly 2 cents and consistently get greater value out of them.  For my two night stay, here's how the earnings break down:

1)  9,340 points earned for a total value of $187
2)  0 points earned
3)  2,800 points earned for a total value of $56

Cash + Points stays also count for elite credit with Hyatt but since I'm not making Diamond anytime soon, that's not something I care that much about.

While I wouldn't pay the cash rate (EVER) let's use that as the baseline to value the other point redemption options.

1)  Total cost (cash - point value rebate) for a two night stay would be $1,149
2)  At 50,000 points that is a redemption value of 2.30 cents/point
3)  At 25,000 points (subtracting the cash outlay in this scenario from the total cash cost and then adding back in the rebate from points earned) that is a redemption value of 3.29 cents/point

I was excited about staying at the Andaz but the value received for the cash + points redemption made the decision even easier.  

How to Book Cathay Pacific First Class Award Tickets

Here at ATRP, we spend considerable time writing abut how to earn miles and points.  Using those miles and points to actually book award tickets and hotel nights with points is where the real fun begins.  I get a lot of questions about booking Cathay Pacific first and business class award tickets using American AAdvantage miles.  This post is a step-by-step guide to search for award availability using British Airways' search engine.  Since American doesn't actually show Cathay's availability online, this is the easiest way to find flights with open seats.

Cathay Pacific 777-300ER at LAX

Once you find availability, you'll need to call American Airlines to actually book the flight.  Having the availability on hand will make the transaction MUCH easier.

Review: Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Washington Dulles (IAD) Lounge Hopping
United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London
United Arrivals Lounge London
Andaz London Liverpool Street
Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge London
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment Abu Dhabi to New York
American Express Centurion Lounge LGA

The drive from the airport to the Park Hyatt took about 25 minutes.  There was no one on the road given the combination of the late hour and the weather in Abu Dhabi.  We picked Abu Dhabi because a) we wanted to see it b) we wanted to relax on the beach and b) Etihad First Class Apartments.  Abu Dhabi was expected to see some torrential rainfall.  We're talking 11 inches of rain in 4 days, high winds, thunderstorms, and even hail.  In the middle of the desert.  And they say global warming isn't a real thing?

Everything predicted turned out to be true as we experienced very little sun, low temperatures  and near constant wind and painful during our stay.  So we didn't get to relax on the gorgeous beach or see much of Abu Dhabi.  At least we got 1 out of 3.  That said, it was certainly a unique experience to be there for such a crazy weather event.  We loved the hotel and will most certainly be back...now back to the review.

How to Value Starwood SPG Points

One of the most challenging concepts in travel is how to value loyalty points.  Each time you opt to use miles/points earning credit card over a cash back card, you're "giving up" around 2%.  That's because there are several cash back cards on the market offering 2% back on all spend.  So at a minimum, you should be getting at least 2 cents in value for each mile/point acquired.

If you are using your Chase Sapphire Preferred and redeeming those points for merchandise, that is a bad deal no matter what.  If you are using your United miles to fly domestic economy, that isn't a "bad deal" per se but you're certainly giving up the opportunity to receive an outsized return on your everyday spend.

As I'll explain in a moment, that is why I use my miles and points for international first class and luxury hotels.

Watching the sunset

Review: Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Washington Dulles (IAD) Lounge Hopping
United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London
United Arrivals Lounge London
Andaz London Liverpool Street
Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge London
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment Abu Dhabi to New York
American Express Centurion Lounge LGA

Let me get this out of the way before I start the review.  We've had the pleasure of flying international first class on some of the best carriers in the world.  We've flown north of 20 segments in long haul international first class over the past few years.  

We've had some amazing flights on Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, and Emirates.  But honestly, all of those flights pale in comparison to what Etihad offers in their First Class Apartment.  The biggest commodity on a commercial aircraft is space.  And with this product, Etihad delivers - plane and simple.

Etihad Airways A380

Outstanding Business Class Availability on Turkish Airlines

Via VFTW, there is outstanding award availability for the entire family on Turkish Airlines from the US to Istanbul and beyond.  We flew Turkish several times in late 2013 from Istanbul to Dubai and back home through Houston.

Turkish IST lounge putting green

We greatly enjoyed the entire experience from the lounge in Istanbul to food and service on board.

Turkish Istanbul IST lounge pool table

With fully flat seats (unfortunately in a 2-3-2 layout on the 777) you'll arrived rested and ready to explore Turkey, Europe, or wherever your final destination takes you.

Turkish 777-300ER

A quick search using the United.com search engine (where a one-way ticket will cost 70,000 miles with no fuel surcharges) yields availability virtually everyday through the summer months and beyond.

Denver to Istanbul this summer for 2

There is business class availability everyday you see blue or green.  Sample routing (from Denver) routes through Atlanta where the long haul segment is operated by Turkish's 777-300ER.

280,000 miles for two roundtrips is easily obtainable since United is a Chase Ultimate Rewards partner.

Free Nights in Las Vegas

Over the last few years, so many national hotel chain partnerships have been struck with Las Vegas properties.  Here are the highlights:

• MGM and Hyatt
• SLS joining Starwood (and before that with Hilton Curio Collection)
• Caesar's and Starwood
• IHG and Venetian/Palazzo
• Tropicana and Hilton

I hate paying for hotel rooms in Las Vegas since there are so many major chain partnerships.  That said, using Starwood/Hyatt/Hilton points for any hotel in Vegas usually amounts to a bad deal.  The one exception seems to be the IHG partnership with the Venetian/Palazzo.

I'm headed to Vegas next weekend with my brother and while we could have paid for a number of different hotels (Bellagio, Wynn, and Encore were all <$225 per night) why would we when we could stay for free?  With tax, that would amount to $500 in cash for a couple of nights.  We both have better things to do in Vegas with $500.

As I've done in the past, I redeemed a free night from the IHG credit card ($49 annual fee) and redeemed 50,000 points for the second night (unfortunately it's now 60,000 a night) at the Palazzo.  A quick call to IHG to link the reservations (both made online) and we were all set.

I quite like staying at the Venetian/Palazzo complex.  It is huge (can be good or bad) with tons of restaurant options.  It's close to Encore/Wynn and easy to walk over to Bellagio or Mirage for a change of scenery.  Plus all the rooms are 700+ SF suites.  It's hard to beat that especially when the cash rate for the hotel is $0.

Review: Andaz London Liverpool Street

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Washington Dulles (IAD) Lounge Hopping
United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London
United Arrivals Lounge London
Andaz London Liverpool Street
Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge London
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment Abu Dhabi to New York
American Express Centurion Lounge LGA

After a smooth 20 minute ride on the Heathrow Express, we arrived at Paddington Station and made our way into the train hall and up the escalators to the taxi rank.  The queue was short and we were in a London black (okay it was grey) cab on our way to the Andaz.  The driver didn't know where the hotel was which I still find shocking given the high bar for London taxi cab drivers.  I think an Uber actually would have been cheaper and easier but this would be our only cab ride in London and it's a special part of being in the city.

With some back and forth, we eventually made it to our hotel.  The Heathrow Express (with a discount coupon) cost 30 pounds and with tip, so did the cab.  All in, that's about $85 USD to get into the city.  Not terrible especially considering we had a free ride back to Heathrow.

We arrived at the Andaz around 1PM and we were hopeful that they'd be able to get us into a room a bit early.  The hotel is located on Liverpool Street in East London.  Close to Shoreditch and the financial district.  We found the location perfect for what we wanted to do (eat, drink, walk around).  You are far enough away from the main tourist areas but they are easily accessible via Liverpool Station which is essentially connected to the hotel.  

We've stayed at Andaz properties in New York and Amsterdam and based on those experiences, looking forward to our stay.  We walked in to the lobby where a "host" greeted us and started the check-in process.  The hotel decor is pretty but modern and minimalist which we both very much enjoyed.  After a bit of hunting and pecking, our host found us a room with a view and we were soon on our way up to the 2nd floor (room 260).

The room featured a small bathroom with some great tilework.

Andaz London bathroom

Review: United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
Washington Dulles (IAD) Lounge Hopping
United Airlines 777-200 Global First Washington to London
United Arrivals Lounge London
Andaz London Liverpool Street
Etihad Airways First & Business Class Lounge London
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment London to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways A380 First Class Apartment Abu Dhabi to New York
American Express Centurion Lounge LGA

Boarding was called promptly at 9:15 and we were greeted at the door of the 777 and shown to our seats.  We were seated in 2C/2H in the so called "honeymoon" seats in the center of the cabin.  Waiting at our seats were two medium sized pillows and a super comfortable (and light) duvet.  

We were highly excited for the flight as it would be our first time flying United Global First.  After more than 20 international first class flights on some of the best airlines in the world, we were both eager to see how United would stack up.  Expectations were low but we both went in with an open mind.

United 777 Global First Seat 2C

Another Etihad First Class Apartment Seat Booked!

Just returned from an awesome day in London.  I opened my laptop, fired up Etihad Guest, and quickly searched (as I've done daily for the past week) for another open seat on our flight to Abu Dhabi.  To my surprise, not 1 but 3 seats were open for booking (first column under "GuestSeat").

Etihad First Class Apartment Availability LHR - AUH

Since Etihad premium awards are somewhat challenging to book via the US call center, I Skyped American's Australian line and within 25 minutes, had my (golden) ticket rebooked in Etihad's First Class Apartments.  I did have to pay the $75 close in booking fee but the taxes were actually $12 less than when originally booked...thanks to the strong dollar over the past 2 months.

So stoked.  Follow along on the blog and Instagram for updates over the next week!

First Class Birthday: Planning & Booking II

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
United Airlines Global First Lounge IAD
United Airlines 777-200 Global First IAD to LHR 
Andaz Liverpool
Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge London
Etihad A380 Business Class London (LHR) to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad A380 First Class Apartments Abu Dhabi to New York (JFK)
The New York EDITION

Update:  I was able to make a few changes (noted below) to our trip over the weekend.  First, a single Etihad First Class Apartment award seat opened up between London and Abu Dhabi.  Like a good husband, I promptly booked the seat and put Emily up front.  I'm still hoping another seat opens up...if not, you'll get my review from the business class cabin and a few comments from Emily about her First Class Apartments experience.  I was also able to change our routing to London.  Two seats opened up in United Global First (777-200) from Washington Dulles to London.  The change cost us 20,000 miles $150 in change fees which perfectly offset the cost for a hotel in Toronto.  I've updated the post below with the changes.  Stay tuned for the trip report segments coming in March!
________ 

I've been grounded since November when we returned from our round the world adventure.  So I am really excited to get back in the air and travel somewhere.  Once we had our Etihad First Class Apartment booked from Abu Dhabi to New York, we just needed to build a trip around it.  We decided on London for a few days prior to Abu Dhabi and New York.  It's been a few years since we were in London and it's one of our favorite cities in the world.  So it was an easy choice.  Here's how I booked everything.

Hotels:

In London, we decided to stay at the Andaz which cost 75,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

In Abu Dhabi, we settled on the Park Hyatt.  We arrive early in the morning (1AMish) and depart early the next morning (3AMish) so I booked two nights to guarantee we can be in the room the entire team.  Not the best use of points/cash but we'll be comfortable and given the overall cost of the trip, made sense.  I booked one prepaid night at a rate of $220 USD.  The second night cost 10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and $125.

In New York, we'll be staying at the New York EDITION for a total of 80,000 Marriott Points.

In total, I used 85,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and 80,000 Marriott points.  The cash outlay will be $345 for 7 total nights.


Flights:

The flight from Denver to London cost us 160,000 United miles and $11.  London to Abu Dhabi in a combination of Etihad business/first class cost 70,000 American AAdantage miles and $520 in taxes thanks to the dreaded UK premium departure tax.  We received 7,000 miles back for holding the AA Platinum Visa card.

The Etihad first class apartment flight cost us 170,000 AAdvantage miles after the 10,000 mile rebate.  We also paid $73 in taxes.

To get home, we paid cash for a United flight from LGA to DEN.  While the flight actually cost $410 for both of us, I paid with my Citi Prestige card which rebated $250.  So the total cash outlay was $160.

In total, I redeemed 160,000 United miles and 233,000 American miles.  We also paid $764 in taxes, fees, and airfare.

Summary:

Despite the heavy departure tax in London, I still put together a pretty sweet trip for less than $1,109.  I redeemed a total of 558,000 points and miles for all of the flights and hotel nights.    That compares favorably to our previous trip where we spent 654,000 points and miles and more than $2,100 in cash for a 9 night trip.  Stay tuned for the individual trip report segments coming next month!

First Class Birthday: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Sheraton Gateway Hotel Toronto
Air Canada 767-300 Business Class Toronto To London (LHR)
Andaz Liverpool
Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge London
Etihad A380 Business Class London (LHR) to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad A380 First Class Apartments Abu Dhabi to New York (JFK)
The New York EDITION

I've been grounded since November when we returned from our round the world adventure.  So I am really excited to get back in the air and travel somewhere.  Once we had our Etihad First Class Apartment booked from Abu Dhabi to New York, we just needed to build a trip around it.  We decided on London for a few days prior to Abu Dhabi and New York.  It's been a few years since we were in London and it's one of our favorite cities in the world.  So it was an easy choice.  Here's how I booked everything.

Hotels:

Given our day flight from Toronto, we needed to get there the night before.  There's a Sheraton attached to Toronto's Pearson airport which couldn't be more convenient.  I was able to book a AAA rate for $122 USD which seemed like a deal to me...thanks to the strong USD.

We'll see if we can make a change to Lufthansa first class within 15 days of departure.  That would certainly be more fun the Air Canada business class.  Either way, we'll be happy.

In London, we decided to stay at the Andaz which cost 75,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

In Abu Dhabi, we settled on the Park Hyatt.  We arrive early in the morning (1AMish) and depart early the next morning (3AMish) so I booked two nights to guarantee we can be in the room the entire team.  Not the best use of points/cash but we'll be comfortable and given the overall cost of the trip, made sense.  I booked one prepaid night at a rate of $220 USD.  The second night cost 10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and $125.

In New York, we'll be staying at the New York EDITION for a total of 80,000 Marriott Points.

In total, I used 85,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and 80,000 Marriott points.  The cash outlay will be $467 for 8 total nights.


Flights:

The flight from Denver to London cost us 140,000 United miles and $18.  London to Abu Dhabi on Etihad business class cost 60,000 American AAdantage miles and $530 in taxes and the dreaded UK premium departure tax.  We received 6,000 miles back for holding the AA Platinum Visa card.

The Etihad first class apartment flight cost us 170,000 AAdvantage miles after the 10,000 mile rebate.  We also paid $73 in taxes.

To get home, we paid cash for a United flight from LGA to DEN.  While the flight actually cost $410 for both of us, I paid with my Citi Prestige card which rebated $250.  So the total cash outlay was $160.

In total, I redeemed 140,000 United miles and 226,000 American miles.  We also paid $781 in taxes, fees, and airfare.

Summary:

Despite the heavy departure tax in London, I still put together a pretty sweet 8 night trip for less than $1,250.  I redeemed a total of 531,000 points and miles for all of the flights and hotel nights.    That compares favorably to our previous trip where we spent 654,000 points and miles and more than $2,100 in cash for a 9 night trip.  Stay tuned for the individual trip report segments coming next month!