Showing posts with label IHG. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IHG. Show all posts

April 16, 2017

A Week in Japan: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United Polaris Business Class 787-8 San Francisco to Osaka (KIX)
Intercontinental Osaka
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (HND) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

I'm still working on a couple of segments from our latest trip to Al Maha in November of last year.   I plan to finish those trip reports in April but given that our next trip is coming up next month, I wanted to get the introductory post on the blog.

 Hotels:

At the moment, we have 10 hotel nights planned.  We fly out early to San Francisco, catch the direct United flight to Osaka and land early afternoon.  I booked the Intercontinental Osaka for 40,000 IHG points for the overnight.  We have nearly 150,000 IHG points so seemed like the right thing to do given we'll only be in town for one night and convenience is key.  The hotel is located next to the train station so will be convenient to get from the airport and to Kyoto.

In Kyoto, I booked the Ritz-Carlton for a total of 210,000 Marriott Rewards points using a combination of Marriott Rewards points and SPG points.  This was an incredible redemption given cash rates of $1,700 per night!  The property looks gorgeous and we're really excited about visiting Kyoto.


April 1, 2017

A Week in Japan: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
United Polaris Business Class 787-8 San Francisco to Osaka (KIX)
Intercontinental Osaka
The Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (HND) to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Hong Kong to San Francisco
Hyatt Regency SFO

I'm still working on a couple of segments from our latest trip to Al Maha in November of last year.   I plan to finish those trip reports in April but given that our next trip is coming up next month, I wanted to get the introductory post on the blog.

We were in Tokyo last August and loved it.  We decided to go back on the flight home and started thinking about when and where.  We wanted to spend some additional time in Tokyo along with a visit to Kyoto.  We were able to snag flights on United's direct service from San Francisco to Osaka (closest international airport to Kyoto) and began planning from there.

I do want to give United's Polaris soft (hard product won't be installed on these planes for years) product so leaning towards keeping the direct flight.  For another 40,000 miles a piece we could fly Asiana first class through Seoul which would be more comfortable and more fun but take longer.

16,000+ miles of flying

November 19, 2016

Review: Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Sheraton JFK Airport
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge JFK
Turkish Airlines Business Class 777-300ER New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Business Class A330-300 Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives Part One
Conrad Maldives Part Two
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-200ER Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (NRT) to San Francisco

After an easy flight from Male, we grabbed our bags from baggage claim and made a left to find the Crowne Plaza.  The hotel is attached to the terminal (terminal 3) and was super easy to find.  There was a bit of a line to check-in but once we were helped, we were checked-in by a friendly associate in a matter of minutes.  We made or way to up to the room which took a bit of brain power to find.  The hotel isn't fully enclosed so you're actually walking outside in the Singapore heat/humidity each tie you leave your room.  Not sure who thought that would be a good idea.
Crowne Plaza SIN bed
Once in the room, we were pleasantly surprised.  For a quick (12 hours) overnight, this hotel was perfect.  The room featured a comfortable bed, good size bathroom, and desk.

July 31, 2016

Introduction Part Two: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Renaissance Newark Airport Hotel
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston (IAH)

I've updated the post below based on changes made to our itinerary.  I'll post the Planning & Booking section in the next week or so.

I've eluded to our upcoming RTW adventures in posts about the brand new Houston Centurion lounge as well as getting the most out of Hyatt Gold Passport points.  We're leaving next month and the trip is almost complete so figured I'd provide a bit more of a teaser in the form of an introductory post.

We were in the Maldives last year and just loved it.  There is something completely magical about the remoteness of it all.  There's no denying the fact that it's an incredibly challenging to get there.  Especially from the US.  But once you are there, it's the most beautiful place on earth (at least that I've seen).  So we set out to return later this summer.  While we loved the Park Hyattgetting there is more of a challenge than other resorts.
Our 23,000+ mile RTW itinerary (courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper)

July 3, 2016

Introduction: I'm Going Going, Back Back to Maldives, Maldives

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge Houston IAH
Turkish Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Houston to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines A330-300 Business Class Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER Business Class Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA 777-300ER First Class Tokyo (NRT) to Houston

I've eluded to our upcoming RTW adventures in posts about the brand new Houston Centurion lounge as well as getting the most out of Hyatt Gold Passport points.  We're leaving next month and the trip is almost complete so figured I'd provide a bit more of a teaser in the form of an introductory post.

We were in the Maldives last year and just loved it.  There is something completely magical about the remoteness of it all.  There's no denying the fact that it's an incredibly challenging to get there.  Especially from the US.  But once you are there, it's the most beautiful place on earth (at least that I've seen).  So we set out to return later this summer.  While we loved the Park Hyatt, getting there is more of a challenge than other resorts.

24,000 miles RTW - map courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper

June 11, 2016

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!

March 19, 2016

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:

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.

March 10, 2015

IHG Vegas Flash Sale Live Early

The IHG Las Vegas flash sale I posted about last week seems to be live early.  Originally, the sale was slated to begin at 10AM MDT today.


I was able to make two weekend bookings at the Venetian for October for 25,000 points per night.  Rates were going for $300+ AI so 25,000 points is an absolute steal.  You can access the flash sale here.

Keep in mind these rates are cancel-able so if you think you might "need" a Vegas trip in 2015 and you have the IHG points, you might as well book a weekend.  We are were sitting on 170,000 IHG points so it made sense to lock in a couple of options during football season.

March 2, 2015

50% off Award Stays in Vegas

IHG announced a pretty sweet promotion that cuts the price of a Las Vegas weekend in half.  For one day only (3/10) IHG is discounting award stays at the Ventian and Palazzo in Las Vegas by 50%.

There are some blackout dates but the promotion is good through the end of 2015 - so you have plenty of weekends to choose from.


50,000 IHG points (which can be straight up purchased for $.70 each) for 2 nights is a really outstanding deal.  There are a ton of ways to use points in Vegas for hotel rooms nowadays, but the combination of the great hotels (Venetian/Palazzo) and 50% discount make this a no-brainer for your next trip to Las Vegas.

I will DEFINITELY be taking advantage of this promotion - now to find a weekend!

January 12, 2015

IHG Comes Through Again

Emily has to be in San Francisco for work in a couple of weeks.  She was scheduled to come home on a Friday so we figured we'd make a weekend out of it.  For some reason (there are a couple of big conferences in town) hotels are either sold out or outrageous.  The St. Regis was pricing at almost $800, the W at $600+.  The Le Meridien was sold out.  So were both Hyatt properties.

Ridiculous San Francisco hotel prices

Cash and points availability and points availability at the SPG properties were both zeroed out.  So I started looking at other options.  The last few trips, we've either stayed at the W or St. Regis.  The InterContinental San Francisco is just a few blocks away in the SoMa area.

InterContinental San Francisco

Paid rates were also going for $800+ AI but there was award availability!  Both Emily and I were sitting on balances of 100,000 IHG points so this was a no-brainer and I booked it.


That's nearly 1.93 cents per point.  Pretty much unheard of for IHG points.  This is a perfect example of how this hobby can pay off big time.  Diversify your point balances and you'll have options when you need them - whether that be a last minute flight or a tough (meaning really expensive) hotel market like San Francisco.

December 16, 2014

2014 Year in Review: Hotels

I recently posted about my 2014 year in flight.  You can also read about my 2013 hotel stays here.

In 2014, We stayed in really great hotels although didn't receive as many "upgrades" as in prior years.  I'll end the year with ended the year with 57 total nights (I was at 55 last year) across Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, and independent brands.  Interesting to note that 5 of our stays and 13 of our nights were at independent properties where we were unable to earn/burn points.

None of the nights were business travel although 10 of the "nights" were credit from the Starwood American Express cards and two additional nights were "mistakes" credits.  So I actually stayed in hotels 45 nights during 2014.  I will be dropping from Starwood Platinum to Gold (lifetime) which I'm okay with.


November 8, 2014

IHG 10% Rebate Posted

Last month we went to Las Vegas for the weekend.  We stayed at the Venetian and our hotel was free thanks to the Chase IHG credit card.  For the first night, I used the annual free night that I get for keeping the IHG credit card.  Clearly worth the annual fee of $49.

For the second night, I used 50,000 IHG points that I had earned by signing up for the card and various other promotions. I didn't think of it at the time but IHG provides a 10% rebate (up to 100,000 points per year) on award stays if you hold the IHG credit card.

I checked my AwardWallet account this week and saw the 5,000 point bump in my balance.  I wasn't sure where it came from so I logged into my IHG account to check it out.  I value IHG points at around .7 cents each so on the redemption, it's like getting $35 back.

10% rebate posted

I will definitely be keeping this card and plan to leverage the free night coupled with an award night for a weekend getaway.  Well worth $49!

June 16, 2014

Redeeming Points for Free Hotels in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is one of our favorite weekend destinations.  We were looking at a trip in the fall but hotels were all really pricey ($250++) so I wanted to use points if possible.  We've stayed at most of the better hotels in town so usually look for the best deals among our favorites (Wynn, Venetian, Bellagio, Aria) when we go.

Yes, there are many loyalty program partnerships in Las Vegas.  Hyatt has hooked up with MGM Grand enabling you to earn/burn points at their properties.  Starwood and Caesar's have synced up as well.  Hilton has a couple of properties (Tropicana, LVH) and the Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection resort.

But none of these relationships provide especially good value since they require outsize points for free nights.  For example, Mandalay Bay is a category 6 Hyatt Gold Passport property requiring 25,000 points for a free night.  I'm not especially fond of Mandalay Bay since it is far from the "center" of the strip and the design seems a bit odd to me.  And it's really not that expensive - you can often snag a room there for <$200 AI.  So you could either use your 25,000 points at Mandalay Bay or use them at the Park Hyatt Maldives (also a category 6) where room rates often go for over $1,500!!!  

The best loyalty program affiliation in Vegas has got to be the Venetian/Palazzo with IHG.  Last year, I picked up the Chase IHG credit card which offered 80,000 points as a sign-up bonus.  It also provides a free night at any IHG property around the world upon each account anniversary (there is a $49 annual fee after the first year).

I logged into my account yesterday and saw that I did have a free night available:


And the Venetian (going for $300+ AI) was available!


It was really simple to book an award using my free night online.  I did have to book separate reservations for each night (I booked the other night with points from the sign-up bonus) but they were able to join the two nights together on one reservation after the fact.  There are some really great Intercontinental hotels around the world (especially in Europe, Asia, Bora Bora also comes to mind) where you could use your free annual night.  But getting a free night in Vegas for the $49 annual fee is a pretty solid deal as well.

I am definitely going to be keeping this card!

April 19, 2014

Chase IHG MasterCard Activation Bonus

Emily and I both have the Chase IHG MasterCard (formerly Visa).  This is another solid Chase card given that the annual fee is waived for the first year, $49 thereafter but you receive an annual free night to use anywhere in the world.  So basically $49 will get you a night at the Intercontinental Hong Kong which regularly goes for $400 USD+.

Intercontinental Hong Kong

Chase recently switched from issuing this card as a Visa to a MasterCard.  That's a pretty big coup for MasterCard considering Visa issues the majority of Chase cards.  We both received our new cards this week with an offer for 1,000 points after first purchase on the new cards.  You can buy IHG points online for .7 cents each so this is a $7 offer.  Still free points are free points.  I will reload my Starbucks card on each of our cards to earn a total of 2,000 points.

If you don't already have this card, it's worth considering.  There is a link out there that offers 80,000 IHG points after spending $1,000 in the first 90 days.  Couple that with the free annual night and at your one year anniversary you will have enough points for three (3) nights at a high-end Intercontinental.

The standard offer is 60,000 bonus points but you can do better

January 5, 2014

2013 Year in Review - Hotels

I spent some time over the holidays compiling a few stats from 2013.  We stayed in some awesome hotels (and had some great flights) all over the world.  There was less business and more personal travel  I ended the year with 55 total nights across Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton, and IHG.  About 8 of the nights were business travel and I earned 10 total "night credits" with my Starwood American Express credit cards.  I closed out the year with four "mattress runs" to re-qualify for Starwood Platinum for 2014.

The four incremental stays brought me to 25 nights and cost about $250.  I'll have more on on the value of Starwood Platinum in a future post but for me...the combination of the renewal gift, free internet, upgrades, and free breakfast during each stay for the next 14 months far outweighs the $250 spent to re-qualify at the end of this year.

Here are a few of the highlights and pictures from 2013: