Starwood Grows Presence In Denver

The hotel scene in Denver is blowing up.  Sorry if this will be of limited use to some.

Starwood just announced a new Tribute property in Denver...actually located pretty close to where we live in the Lower Highland (LoHi) neighborhood.  This project has been in the works for awhile and I'm very excited to have another hotel close to home.  Even better, to have a Starwood property where we can earn/burn points.

The 164 room "upper upscale" hotel will be developed by Denver's own St. Charles Town Co.  No name yet but they hope to announce one later in 2016.

Rendering courtesy of St. Charles Town Co.

Neighborhood hotels are awesome.  If done right (and I'm confident they will do this one right) they can provide a neighborhood living room for both locals and visitors.  The fact that they won't be bound by Sheraton/W brand standards means they should be able to do more to fit the hotel in with the neighborhood.  And that is a good thing.

It will be interesting to see how the hotel progresses from a branding standppoint given that completion is scheduled for 2018.  Marriott will likely have completed their purchase of Starwood by then.

2015 Year in Review: Hotels

I recently posted about my 2015 year in flight.  You can also read about my hotel stays in 2014 (45 nights) and 2013 (55 nights) for comparison purposes.

In 2015, We stayed in really great hotels although didn't receive as many "upgrades" as in prior years.  I ended the year with 46 total nights.  Virtually identical to 2014.  Starwood (15 nights) and Hyatt (11 nights) brands made up the bulk of my stays.  Interesting to note that 15 of the 46 nights were related to business travel...vs. 0 in 2014.  5 of the 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.

Here's the full breakdown:

• 15 Starwood nights across 8 properties and 5 brands
• 11 Hyatt nights across 4 properties and 3 brands
• 7 Marriott nights across 3 properties and 3 brands
• 5 Hilton nights across 2 properties and 2 brands
• 5 Independent nights across 3 properties and 3 brands
• 2 Fairmont nights
• 1 Shangri-La night

I think 2016 will look pretty similar - large concentration on both Starwood and Hyatt with Marriott/Hilton as backups.  I don't expect the Starwood/Marriott merger to impact my stay habits at this point but we'll see how the merger/loyalty program integration goes.  That said, both of us are becoming very fond of Hyatt - especially the Park Hyatt and Andaz brands.  For the most part, Park Hyatt blows St. Regis out of the water and Andaz beats W hotels in terms of substance so I think we'll continue to ramp Hyatt stays when possible.  

We had some amazing stays across the year.  My favorite by far was the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.  Close second (same trip) would be Al Maha outside of Dubai.  Third would be the Waldorf Astoria in Amsterdam.

It was another great year in travel - we're both excited for a new year exploring new places!

Review: Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai (2015)

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

After a phenomenal flight on Emirates we were first off the A380 and through immigration in a matter of minutes.  We hit the ATM and duty free to grab a bottle of scotch given that liquor is about the only thing not included at Al Maha.

Since we didn't check bags we were outside of customs 30 minutes after exiting the plane.  It was a sunny and warm day in Dubai as we met our driver in the arrivals hall.  I had pre-booked transportation (our driver was waiting for us with a name placard) through the hotel which I would highly recommend.  Round trip transport cost around $150.  The resort is a 45 minute drive from the airport.  The last 15 minutes you're driving through conservation park over dirt roads with little light.  Our return trip was going to be very early in the morning so we were glad to have someone that was used to navigating the route.

Welcome to Al Maha

Before I get into the review, a little background on Al Maha.  The resort is situated in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve which is essentially a protected park owned by the government.  While others can use the park, Al Maha is the only hotel located within the boundaries.  The park is pretty massive - encompassing 225 square kilometers which is nearly 5% of Dubai.  The resort plays a pivotal role in managing the park's ecosystem and sharing all that the park has to offer with others.

Quick Thoughts on Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa

I'll have a full trip report forthcoming but wanted to provide a few initial thoughts on Al Maha.  The place was perfect.  Like all around perfect.  I can't think of a single thing wrong with the the resort.  In fact, I think it's the finest resort property I've stayed in.  Thanks to Starwood, it's far more accessible through March of 2016.

Al Maha Resort & Spa entrance

Two nights was great although three would have been ideal.  More than that and I think we would have been bored.  The room rate (whether on points on paid) includes three meals and two activities per day.  You can take your meals in the restaurant or in your suite.  Everything we ate was outstanding.  Alcoholic beverages are the only thing not included.  No kids are allowed.  This is not your average all-inclusive resort in Cancun.

Camel ride sundowner

We participated in three activities - a drive through the park, camel riding, and dune bashing.  I would highly recommend all three.  The location is truly special (more on this in the full trip report) and like nothing else I've seen before.

Unique view from the lobby

Because I'm such a well known blogger we're lucky, we were upgraded to a royal suite which at nearly 2,000 square feet, was certainly more than we needed.  But it was great to have more space to relax, a bigger pool, and two bathrooms.

Our "royal" suite

The service was a 10/10.  They nailed Emily's gluten allergy like few places have.  Transport to/from DXB was well coordinated, all of our activities were set and confirmed prior to our arrival by our awesome field guide (Niko).

Taking a break from dune bashing

I would highly recommend Al Maha and I'm confident we'll be back soon.  Stay tuned for a full trip report.

Starwood & Marriott Make it Official

By now you've all read about the merger between Starwood Hotels and Marriott International.  Starwood's been for sale all year and it's been a pretty crazy time with plenty (IHG, Wyndham, Hyatt, etc...) of suitors mentioned in the news.  Interestingly enough, I never once read about Marriott being a potentially acquirer.

Everyone's speculating about what will happen to Starwood's brands, SPG program, and the current American Express credit card relationship.  While it's great to speculate, this is a $12B+ merger and it's going to take years to fully integrate both companies.  Marriott's been coy about their plans for all of the above and I expect it will take quite some time before we learn more.  The merger isn't expected to close for 6-9 months and if the airline integrations of the past few years are any indication, it's going to take awhile to even come up with a plan.

Marriott is a giant company with nearly 3x the hotels, 20 brands with many in the limited service category.  Starwood has the better loyalty program, credit card, and is focused on the higher end market.  So the merger makes a ton of sense in that both companies are complimentary to each other.

It's highly likely that the Marriott loyalty program survives and the Starwood American Express relationship (another blow for Amex) is shuttered given that Marriott is the acquirer and will essentially be the surviving entity.

If that happens, I'll be sad to see the program (wonder what will happen to my lifetime gold status?) and the longest tenured credit card in my wallet go.

But this is business and we knew it was coming all year.  I hope Marriott decides to keep Starwood as a brand but not sure that's the best long term business move.  At this point, all that we can do is speculate on what will happen and continue to earn/burn as normal.  I'm doing just that at the moment - wrapping up a phenomenal stay at Al Maha (more on this later) outside of Dubai.  What I wouldn't do is panic and blow all of your points.

Al Maha Dubai bedroom

I'm not going to change my loyalty or credit card approach in light of the merger.  Starwood will still be my primary program and the Starwood Amex remains in my wallet until further notice.

Points and Miles on Sale

It seems like every major loyalty program is selling miles at a discount this month.

SPG points up to 25% off

• American is offering a monster bonus on purchased mils through 11/30/15
• Starwood is offering SPG points at (up to) a 25% discount through 12/31/15
• Hyatt is offering a 30% bonus on Gold Passport points through 11/30/15

While I wouldn't speculatively purchase miles/points here (especially given the recent rash of mergers/devaluations) it's worth a look if you are a few miles (or a few thousand) short of an award.  Availability is often tight and buying miles in a pinch can help you lock in an airline or hotel award without waiting as most purchased points post instantly.

SLS Las Vegas Joins Starwood

A pretty big announcement from Starwood yesterday.  The SLS Las Vegas (currently affiliated with Hilton's Curio Collection) will be joining the Starwood family as a Tribute Portfolio property.  One of the current SLS towers will be re branded as the W Las Vegas.  Even more impressive, the property (with 1,600+ rooms) will expand Starwood's global footprint by .50%.

SLS Las Vegas

I'm pretty excited about this announcement.  Emily and I checked out the hotel last fall (although we stayed elsewhere) and really liked the place.  It is a bit far removed (a few blocks North of Wynn) but if you are able to earn/burn points there and enjoy the amenities onsite, it could be really cool.

We've been staying at the Venetian/Palazzo given the IHG affiliation and the fact that we've been able to stay for free.  The hotel is getting a bit dated so am excited to give the W Las Vegas a shot in the future.

What's in My Wallet November 2015

Here's an update on what's in my wallet (and why) as we go into November.

1) Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom card offers "rotating" 5x spend categories by quarter.  For this quarter (ending 12/31/15) Freedom is offering 5x at Amazon and Zappos.com on $1,500 worth of spend during the quarter.  Given the holidays and everyday spend, I'll probably get pretty close to maxing the $1,500 earning me 7,500 Chase Ultimate Rewards points!

2) Chase Sapphire Preferred

All of my extra (not contributing to sign-up bonuses) travel and dining spend goes on the CSP.  I've had the card for over 3 years and gladly pay the $95 annual fee given my credit history, limit, and the earning power of the card.  Don't forget to leverage the CSP for 3x points on dining on the first Friday of each month.

3) Amex Platinum

I actually don't put spend on the card at all (other than to earn the sign-up bonus) but have kept it in my wallet strictly for the benefits.  Specifically Centurion lounge access in cities where I have upcoming travel (New York, San Francisco, and Dallas).

4) Citi Hilton HHonors Visa

I'm working on the minimum spend for this card ($2,000 in 90 days) which I picked up for the increased 75,000 point sign-up bonus.  I had depleted my stash of HHonors points over the last year and 75,000 will go a long way in boosting my balance.  This card is "churnable" in that you can get it over and over - with no annual fee it's great to take advantage when the bonus is increased.

Round the World in 11 Days: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

They say the best part about a vacation is the anticipation.  This trip is no exception.  Emily and I have had The Maldives on our bucket list for years.  For us flying halfway around the world to get to a beach is part of the fun.  When the opportunity to spend time in The Maldives and Al Maha, (outside Dubai) I started to work on flights.  Here's an overview of the booking process and what everything cost.

Hotels:

We've already covered our first couple of nights in Dubai at Al Maha.  This cost me 78,000 SPG points (normally 120,000) thanks to Starwood's recent promotion.  Given the fact that the resort is all inclusive (3 meals per day and 2 activities) and room rates go for more than $1,500 USD/night, I consider this a great deal.

Cash rates at Al Maha Dubai

All in, I'm getting about 5 cents worth of value from my SPG points.  Not that I would ever pay $2K for a night in a hotel but this regardless, this is one of the best redemptions of my life.

We'll then head to the Park Hyatt Maldives for 4 nights using Hyatt Gold Passport points.  The hotel used to be a category 6 then went to 7 and now is back to 6.  So 25,000 points per night for a total of 100,000 for our stay.  I used a combination of Hyatt points earned from stays and transferred in the rest from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account.  I did pay cash to upgrade us to an overwater bungalow for the last night of our but I'll leave that out of the booking process since that was totally optional.

Park Hyatt Maldives beach

Double Starpoints with Uber

I was in NYC last week for a few days and used my fair share of Uber's to get around the city.  Earlier in the year, Uber and Starwood rolled out a partnership where SPG members would earn 1 point/dollar spent on Uber's and 2 points/dollar spent on Uber's during a Starwood stay.  That bumps up 3 pints/dollar spent for elite members.

While I would use Uber to get around the city anyway, an extra ~300 Starpoints is a nice bonus.

The points (standard and bonus) post in a couple of days and I've never had a problem with the points posting accurately.  My Uber account is linked to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card where I also earn 2x points on my Uber spend.  Earning 5x points on Uber rides is pretty awesome.

Round the World in 11 Days: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300 First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200 Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

After a summer break due to our new family member, Emily and I are 30 days away from our most anticipated trip yet.  Both of us have had the Maldives at the top of our bucket list and we actually had a trip booked in late 2014.  Life got in the way and we ended up canceling the trip...and I'm glad we did because a year later, our itinerary is even better.

The Maldives is far.  Really far.  Almost 11,000 miles far.  For those keeping score, that is nearly halfway around the world.  So we decided to break up the trip on both ends with stops in Dubai and Singapore.  Flying through Singapore on the way home enabled us to make this a true round the world trip (RTW) which has been another bucket list item of ours.  In total, we'll fly nearly 23,000 miles as we make our way around the world.

Round the World in 11 Days:  ~23,000 miles of flying

After an early morning flight from Denver to Dallas, we'll spend a few hours in the American Express Centurion lounge relaxing before the 14+ hour Emirates A380 flight to Dubai.  This will be our first time flying Emirates and we're both pretty excited for the onboard bar, shower, and overall experience.  We were in Dubai a couple of years ago and enjoyed our time in the city.  For this trip, we're headed to the Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa thanks to Starwood's generous 35% off promotion.  Al Maha is supposed to be an incredible resort and at nearly $2,000 a night would be completely unattainable without a large stash of SPG points.

After a four hour flight on Emirates first class to Male, we'll transfer via domestic prop plane and speed boat to the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa.  While there are dozens of reviews of the property online, we're both super excited to experience it for ourselves.  With just 50 villas (14 overwater and 36 on land) and a staff to guest ratio of nearly 2:1, it is supposed to be a very special place.  We'll spend three nights in the standard park villa and our last night in an overwater bungalow/villa.  Another bucket list item checked off.

We'll spend four nights at the Park Hyatt before transferring back to Male for a five hour redeye on Singapore Airlines.  Not looking forward to that but we'll be tired and use the flight to rest up for Thanksgiving in Singapore.

We've been to Singapore a couple of times and stayed at the same property (Conrad) during both trips.  We decided to check something new out and stay at the Grand Hyatt near Orchard Road.  It will be cool to stay in a different neighborhood and spend more time in a different part of the city.

Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class

While I would have loved to fly Singapore Suites again, availability was challenging post Thanksgiving.  So I "settled" for Singapore's 777-300ER first class which isn't fully enclosed but still an excellent way to fly.  We'll be flying Singapore to Hong Kong to San Francisco and then overnighting at SFO before catching an early flight back to Denver.

This is the best itinerary I've put together thus far.  We were able to cover all of the flights (with the exception of the connecting flights to Dallas and from SFO) and hotels with miles and points.  The Maldives is expensive and the fact that we were able to do so leaves us with a bit more cash to splurge on activities.  I'll cover the booking specifics in costs more in the next installment. Stay tuned!

SPG Dashboard - How Do You Rank?

Starwood recently launched a new website feature that provides a ton of stats on your previous stays (in some cases only from 1/1/2012 forward).  The SPG dashboard displays YTD stats, lifetime stats, progress towards elite qualification, and metrics about stays by brand and location.

Lifetime SPG stats

I qualified for SPG Lifetime Gold last year after 5 years edit and 250 nights.  I still have a long way to go to Lifetime Platinum (10 years elite and 500 nights) but I imagine I'll get there at some point.

I wish the data went back further (I've been an SPG member since 2003) on the stays by brand but looking at the past 3+ years is still pretty interesting.

Over the last three and half years, I've had at least 2 stays at all of the SPG brands in the portfolio with the exception of the newest addition, Tribute hotels.  I've had stays in 4 regions, 8 countries, and 15 states.

What does your SPG dashboard look like?

35% Off at SPG Resorts

Starwood has a pretty easy to understand award chart with 7 categories ranging from 3,000 to 35,000 SPG points for a free night.  Beyond that, you can redeem five nights for the price of four (25% discount) and there's also a cash & points option.

But...Starwood has properties in the system where the "standard" room is a villa, suite, bungalow, etc...so essentially the standard room doesn't exist.  Redeeming SPG points for free nights at these properties is typically 2x the category 7 price making them out of reach for most people.

Starwood launched a promotion a couple weeks ago offering 35% off the standard redemption rate for seven seemingly out of reach resort properties through 3/8/16.  We explored staying at one of the resorts (Naka Island) included in the promotion before realizing that we'd need hundreds of thousands of Starwood points for a few nights.

35% off at 7 SPG resorts

This promotion also stacks with the fifth night free meaning you could conceivably stay at the St. Regis Bora Bora for under 47,000 SPG points per night.  Still pricey but given that it's normally 90,000 SPG points per night, you'd be saving nearly 50%.  To take advantage of the promotion, you'll need to call the number on the landing page and may have to educate the customer service rep about the promotion details (I did).

Given the promotion, Emily and I are headed to one of these resorts in November.  Can you guess which one?  More on our trip details over the coming weeks!

SPG Amex Rebranded

As part of the ongoing Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) rebrand, American Express started sending out rebranded credit cards.  They've been going out for a month or so and I received mine a couple weeks ago.  The card is also EMV (chip) enabled.

New SPG (EMV capable) with Citi Prestige overlay

I'm a big fan of the purple and really like the look of the card.  I've held this one for 11+ years and don't see it disappearing from my wallet anytime soon.  So glad the card has finally been updated to match the look and feel of the website, print material, and on property branding.

The annual fee of the card is now $95 (up from $65) but still worth paying from my perspective.  There are a few new benefits for the extra $30 most notably the fact that the card no longer charges foreign transaction fees.  That's a big change as I've historically left this card at home when traveling internationally to avoid the 2.7% foreign transaction fee.  Kudos to Amex for updating the product (both look and feel and benefits).

SPG Amex Bonus Match - 5,000 SPG Points!

I recently applied for the business version of the Starwood American Express card.  The offer I received was for 25,000 total SPG points after $5,000 in spend in 6 months.

Starwood and Amex recently increased (they did this the last couple of years as well) the bonus offer to 30,000 total SPG points after $5,000 in spend in 3 months.  I'm nearly at the $5,000 spend threshold so called Amex to see what they could do for me.  I've read reports online that they've been very liberal in matching the old bonus offer to the new one.

The hold time for Amex was unbelievably long - almost 8 minutes.  But once I connected with an agent, the process of getting the bonus matched took <3 minutes.  The agent promised that 5,000 SPG points would be credited to my account within a couple of days.  So it was less of a "offer match" and more of a courtesy.

Seems like the right thing for them to do and totally worth 10 minutes of my time. 

Review: Le Meridien Bangkok

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Qantas First Class Lounge LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Pier Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana First Class Lounge Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles

After a few amazing hours in Cathay Pacific's new First Class Lounge (The Pier) we made our way down to the gate for our quick hop to Bangkok.  A bus gate meant an awesome ride across the tarmac to our waiting A330 - so many planes to check out!  We boarded and waited for a large tour group to arrive.  And waited.  And then it started to pour.  We ended up sitting on the tarmac for about an hour before we finally got going.  Not a huge deal - it just made a long travel day even longer.

Le Meridien Bangkok lobby

We arrived in Bangkok around 10:30 PM local time.  We cleared immigration in about 5 minutes thanks to fast track passes and our bags were waiting on the carousel when we arrived.  I hit the ATM and were quickly in a cab heading towards Bangkok.  Our nearly 40 minute (thanks to Bangkok traffic) ride cost less than $13 USD.  Pretty amazing.

Brothers in Asia: Planning & Booking

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Sheraton Gateway LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Wing Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles

Booking this trip was actually more difficult than expected.  Finding availability from the west coast to Asia over the weekend proved to be difficult.  I was able to find availability on Monday so we decided to spend the weekend in San Diego and Los Angeles visiting family before taking off for Hong Kong Monday morning.

Hotels:

We needed an overnight at LAX and I originally booked the Hilton LAX for around $150 AI.  I checked last week and found the Sheraton Gateway LAX (stayed here in 2013) was selling for $130 AI.  We'll spend Sunday night there before heading to LAX early Monday morning.

Bangkok is a challenging hotel city given the extremely low cost (comparatively speaking) of luxury hotels.  It typically doesn't make sense to redeem points given the price and this trip was no exception.  I booked an Executive Deluxe room at the Le Meridien (also stayed here in 2012) for $150 USD per night.  The rate includes breakfast and evening cocktails/appetizers which made the rate even better.  

Le Meridien Bangkok Lobby

In Hong Kong, I booked the Conrad for 80,000 points per night.  As a HHonors Gold member, we should receive access to the executive lounge (with complimentary breakfast) which is supposed to be one of the best in the system.  Given that cash rates were selling for $500USD+ I got a great value for the last of my Hilton Honors points (at one point last year, I had over 700,000).

Total Hotel Costs:  240,000 HHonors Points and $430

Flights:

I've become a huge Cathay Pacific fan so I was excited to grab two first class seats on Cathay's morning service from LAX to Hong Kong.  We'll then continue on Cathay's regional business class service to Bangkok after a few hours relaxing in one of Cathay's first class lounges.  At 67,500 American Advantage miles and $68 in taxes and fees for each ticket, this is one of the best mileage redemptions out there.  I was able to find space using the British Airways website.  Once I found space, I called AA to book the ticket.

Cathay All Day

While not the best redemption in the world, I'm sitting on a ton of United miles so decided to redeem 35,000 United miles (and $21) each to fly Thai's 747 first class service to Hong Kong.  Cash tickets go for about $650 (on Thai, Cathay, and Emirates) which is a great deal but still would have cost us a lot of money for a really short flight.  Booking online was really simple and I had plenty of miles in my account for both of us.

I'm really excited about our flights home.  For 130,000 United miles each (and $42 in taxes) we confirmed Air India's 787 Dreamliner service from Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon.  I don't know anyone that's flown Air India so I'm looking forward to what should be a unique experience.  In Seoul, we'll connect to Asiana's flagship A380 first class service to LAX.  The product is similar to the 777 which we flew last year.  I was able to book both of us online using a combination of miles from my account and Emily's.

I booked my positioning flights (to San Diego and home from LAX) on United for $350 in cash.

Total Fight Costs:  465,000 American/United miles and $612 in taxes and fees

Summary:

For about $1,000 and 700,000 points and miles, I was able to put together a week long trip to Bangkok and Hong Kong.  That's 6 total hotel nights, 30 hours of first class flying, and another 8 hours of business class flying for two people.  We're off on Monday - follow along as we head to Asia!

Brothers in Asia: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Sheraton Gateway LAX
Cathay Pacific 777-300 ER First Class Los Angeles to Hong Kong
The Wing Cathay Pacific First Class Lounge
Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class Hong Kong to Bangkok
Le Meridien Bangkok
Thai Airways First Class Lounge & Spa
Thai Airways 747-400 First Class Bangkok to Hong Kong
Conrad Hong Kong
Air India 787-8 Business Class Hong Kong to Seoul
Asiana A380 First Class Seoul to Los Angeles

I have one more post to write about our trip to Europe which I will try to complete this week.  Next weekend, I'm mixing it up travel companion wise and taking my brother Jonathan (who lives in San Diego) to Asia for the week.  He turned 30 late last year and has never flow international first class or been to Asia and we both figured this would be a good time to check both of his list.  Emily and I have now flown 11 international first class segments together - it is going to be fun to show someone else the ropes.

There are so many places to see in Asia it is sometimes hard to decide where to go.  I wanted to head to cities that I had been to previously but also places that I considered my favorites.  So naturally Bangkok and Hong Kong fir the bill.  Once we had destinations picked out, I set about finding award flights for both of us.  With enough miles to go roundtrip on either Star Alliance or OneWorld carriers, we had plenty of flexibility.  But it was actually tricky to find an outbound flight leaving on Sunday from LAX to Asia so we settled on a Monday morning outbound.  That will give us a couple of days in Bangkok and 3 days in Hong Kong.

Our routing courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper

This actually worked out great as I will get a couple of days in San Diego and LA visiting family before overnighting in LA and leaving the next morning.  I was able to secure a couple of first class seats on Cathay Pacific's direct service from LAX to Hong Kong.  A great first experience for my brother as Cathay's first class is one of my favorite products.  We'll also make sure to check out the Qantas OneWorld First Class lounge at LAX which is supposed to be spectacular.

After our flight from LAX, we have a few hours to clean up and chill at The Wing.  Cathay's new first class lounge (The Pier) is slated to open prior to our departure so I hope to check that out as well.  After a quick hop to Bangkok, we'll start our adventure at the Le Meridien Bangkok.  Emily and I stayed here during our honeymoon and loved the hotel.  I'm excited to see what's changed over the past few years.

The bar at The Wing Hong Kong

Getting back to Hong Kong was hard.  Well it was easy but there are lots of fun ways to fly.  We could have paid cash (~$650 each) to fly Emirates first class and shower at 35,000 feet.  But I decided to forego the cash, use miles, and fly Thai's 747 first class service which will get us an hour long massage in the Royal Orchid Spa prior to departure.

In Hong Kong, I've previously stayed at the W and Grand Hyatt and wanted to check out something different.  So we have three nights booked at the Conrad Hong Kong.

After exploring all that Hong Kong has to offer, we'll head home on Air India (can't wait for this one) to Seoul followed by Asiana's A380 suites service to LAX.  I'm really excited to fly Asiana again - our last trip was awesome.  It will be Jonathan's first time on the A380 (also first time on the 747) which should be fun for both of us.

I am really looking forward to this trip - will post the Planning & Booking segment prior to our departure.  Thanks for following along!!

What's in My Wallet - June 2015 Edition

It's been awhile since I've posted about the credit cards currently in my wallet.  I'm going to try and keep this up quarterly.  You can check out other posts here:

What's in My Wallet?  March 2015

What's in My Wallet?  October 2014

What's in My Wallet?  April 2014

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.

1)  Citi Prestige

I've yet to write about this card but have it on my list to do so.  I am almost done with the $3,000 minimum spend to earn the 50,000 Thank You point bonus.  While the card comes with a hefty $450 annual fee, you can easily make that up (and then some) as there's a $250 annual travel credit that credits automatically and can credit against air fare. So but a $250 ticket, get $250 credited back to your account.  I've already redeemed my credit for 2015 and will look forward to another $250 credit in January of 2016.

2)  Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom card offers "rotating" 5x spend categories by quarter.  For this quarter (ending 6/30/15) Freedom is offering 5x at restaurants.  This is a pretty easy 7,500 points as it's not hard to spend $500 per month at restaurants when you include coffee, lunches, dinners, bars, etc...I'm pretty close to completing my 7,500 points and we're working on getting Emily there by 6//30 for a total of 15,000 bonus UR points this month.

3)  Chase Sapphire Preferred

All of my extra (not contributing to signup bonuses) travel and dining spend goes on the CSP.  I've had the card for over 3 years and gladly pay the $95 annual fee given my credit history, limit, and the earning power of the card.

4)  Amex Starwood Preferred Guest

This card is perpetually in my wallet and the card I leverage for all non-bonused spend.  So if I still have spend to hit a sign-up bonus (as I do above) I'll wait to put additional spend on this card until that's been complete.

Starwood on the Block?

I've been a huge fan of Starwood for a long time.  In 2003, I worked at the W San Diego for a summer.  In 2004, I picked up my first Starwood Preferred Guest Amex card.  I've been an SPG Platinum for 5 out of the last 10 years and I became a lifetime Gold SPG member last year after 250 nights in Starwood properties.  I've also been a "HOT" (Starwood's ticket symbol) investor a handful of times over the last 10 years.

One year "HOT" chart

In their earnings release last week, Starwood announced that they're "exploring strategic alternatives" which is code for "maybe we'll sell the company or buy someone else."  IHG has long been mentioned as a good merger fit.  The stock rose nearly 8% on the news.  There's been a lot going on at the company this year.  Earlier in the year, the company replaced their CEO over growth concerns and announced a spinoff of the timeshare business.

SPG is the best loyalty program in the business and on one hand, it would be a shame for the program to be diluted when combined with another program.  On the other hand, expanding the footprint and providing members more access to global properties could make the program even more valuable.

Since I tend to redeem my SPG points for higher end properties, the best outcome is likely for Starwood to stay independent and continue to build out their luxury property pipeline.  But from an investor perspective the best outcome is likely a sale.