What's in My Wallet - March 2015 Edition

It's been awhile since I've posted about what's 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?  October 2014

What's in My Wallet?  April 2014

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

1)  Amex Simply Cash Business Credit Card

I usually prefer to earn points and miles vs. cash back, but this offer is pretty hard to pass up given the strong bonus ($250 on $5,000 in spend so 5x cash back all with no annual fee) and bonus categories (5x on office supplies and cell/cable bills, 3x on a category of your choice - in my case restaurants).  This card is a keeper given the lack of an annual fee although I probably won't put a ton of spend on the card once receiving the signup bonus.

2)  Barclays US Airways Dividend Miles MasterCard

Given the merger with American and the fact that this card is going away (likely in April) as the merger progresses, I figured I'd pick up this card again (I've had it before a couple years back).  The sign-up bonus is really strong - 50,000 USAir miles after first purchase for an $89 annual fee.  These miles will become AA miles in April so you should definitely get this card before it goes away.  The card is still in my wallet due to a promotion Barclays is running offering 1.5x miles for the next few months.  After that, I'll stick it in a drawer.

3)  Chase Sapphire Preferred

All of my travel spend goes on the CSP.  Once I've hit the sign-up bonus on my Simply Cash Business card, I'll move back to the CSP for restaurant spend.

4)  Amex Starwood Preferred Guest

This card is perpetually in my wallet.  In fact, I just paid my taxes with the card.  Even though there is a ~2% fee to pay taxes with a credit card, it's a no brainer for me.  I would buy Starwood points all day long at 2%.  I am staying at The Phoenician Resort in May for 12,000 points a night.  The cash rate is >$500 per night.  If I was to "buy points" at $.02 that would be $240 per night...a huge discount versus the $500 cash rate.

Long Weekend in Vancouver: Introduction

Introduction
Planning & Booking
Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class New York (JFK) to Vancouver
Fairmont Pacific Rim
Shangri-La Vancouver

I'll admit I've been slacking on the blog.  I hope to pick it up over the next couple of weeks as I have a bit more free time and our travel is picking up big time...so lots of trip reports to write.

It's been 8 years since we were in Vancouver.  It was an awesome trip and we are both pumped to be going back to celebrate my birthday.  This time, we're going in style.

Cathay Pacific flies a pretty awesome fifth freedom route from New York (JFK) to Vancouver.  The aircraft then continues on to Hong Kong.  The flight is a reverse redeye leaving New York at 10PM and getting to Vancouver around 1AM (4AM NYC time).  There is typically pretty good first and business class availability on this flight.  I was able to snag a couple of first class seats using British Airways Avios several months in advance.  I actually have to be at a conference in Chicago the week of our trip so will meet Emily at JFK before we board the 6 hour flight to Vancouver.  Yes...we are flying to Vancouver via New York.  Don't judge me.

In Vancouver, we're staying at two hotels I've been eyeing for a long time.  For the first two nights, we'll be at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in a suite with comped breakfast thanks to the Chase Fairmont Visa card.  W'e're staying the third night at the Shangri-La Vancouver (their only North American property) which I have heard great things about.  We are paying cash on an American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts rate.  We'll get free breakfast, $100 on-property credit, early check-in, late check-out, free wifi, etc...

We leave in early April so follow the blog for more updates around Planning & Booking and the actual trip report segments.  This should be a great weekend!

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.

Real Value in the Chase Fairmont Visa Signature Card

A few months ago, I picked up the Chase Fairmont Visa Signature Card.  It's been a very long time since I stayed in a Fairmont property (~10 years) but I wanted to leverage the card for a couple of free nights in Vancouver.  I have read that the Fairmont Pacific Rim is a phenomenal hotel and really wanted to try it out when we're there.

I completed the minimum spend requirement ($3,000 in three months a couple of weeks ago.  The complimentary nights posted to my account last week and I called Fairmont (the only option - they cannot be redeemed online) this weekend to redeem them.  After that experience, I wanted to post about the value this card provides as it's a card that isn't written about that often.

First, the details:

• $95 annual fee, not waived for the first year
• Spend $3,000 in there months to earn two complimentary nights with breakfast
• Complimentary upgrade to Premier status
• No foreign transaction fees

I logged in to my account to check the status of my free nights.  My free night certificates had posted...with about half a dozen other surprises as part of my "upgrade" to Premier status!

Certs on certs on certs

I figured the card was good for the free nights with breakfast.  If it stopped there - that would still make it an excellent card.  The breakfast coupons are actually cash vouches - four vouchers for $25 each.  The upgrade to Premier status provided even more value.  $50 good for dinner/lunch to be used at a Fairmont property restaurant.  And a suite upgrade.  Amazing.

I wasn't sure if I could apply the suite upgrade to an award stay but when I called in to make my reservation, that wasn't a problem at all.  We ended up in a suite retailing for over $600USD/night AI.  For comparison purposes, the standard room would have been around $300/night.  While we wouldn't pay the incremental $300/night for a suite, it's a great luxury to have the extra space while on vacation.  Especially when there's zero out of pocket cost.

There are some amazing Fairmont properties around the world.  This is a great card to get you a couple of nights in a suite for basically $95.  If there are two of you in your household, you could end up with four nights in a suite with $200 for breakfast and $100 for lunch/dinner for just $190 in annual fees.  

This wasn't a card on my radar until recently.  Definitely one to have on your list especially if you're interested in Vancouver as a destination or any other Fairmont property around the world.

Bonus Points from Waldorf Astoria and Conrad

Last year, Hilton HHonors ran a pretty lucrative promotion where you could earn 2,000 bonus points for each eligible night at a Conrad or Waldorf Astoria property.

Well it looks like the promotion is back for 2015.

There is also another (stackable) promotion where you can earn 2,000 points for your first stay, 3,000 for your second stay, and 5,000 for your third stay.

Click here to register for promo one:

Click here to register for promo two:

I already have two stays booked this year at the Conrad (Hong Kong) and Waldorf Astoria (Amsterdam) properties.  Two stays and a total of five nights all booked with HHonors points.  That should yield a total of 15,000 bonus points.  I value the bonus points around $100 - pretty good for about three minutes of time registering for both promos.

Back to Basics: What's the Point?

I've been writing this blog for about 15 months (slacking lately but promise to pick it up) and I often get questions from friends and colleagues regarding "the best credit card" and "how does this whole thing work?"

I wrote a handful of introductory posts last year (getting started page) but figured I'd reprise the series a bit in the hopes that I can answer some of your questions (Doug - read this).

The whole concept of "travel hacking" is relatively new to me.  Maybe three years.  I've always been interested in travel, aviation, and loyalty programs.  But it takes a bit of research, experience, and trial and error to really put it all together.

At this point in my life, I want to see new places and experience new things.  And I don't really want to stay in a Holiday Inn Express.  I don't really want to sit in the back of the plane (but I will) and I've found that my travels/vacations are WAY better if I a) enjoy the journey and b) arrive rested and ready to go.  And I've found that by being strategic in managing my credit card spend, applying for new credit cards, learning the airline and hotel loyalty program award chart and redemption options that I can do exactly what I want.

I could put all of my spending on one 2% cash back credit card.  They are readily available.  But there's no "leverage" in that.  Even if I put $3,000 in spend on a card per month...that's only $720 in cash back PER YEAR.  That's really only going to pay for a couple of domestic flights.

So I take advantage of the sign-up bonuses that the card issues are offering.  Emily does the same thing.  We buy stuff online (that we need) through shopping portals.  We both use the "right" cards for the "right" purchases based on the bonus categories those cards offer (i.e. 2x points for travel and dining on Chase Sapphire Preferred).  Doing this, we easily rack up one million points and miles per year.

Now we could leverage those points and miles for domestic coach travel.  And that would totally be cool.  But we're still young and have (generally speaking) very little obligation and we want to see the rest of the world.  And let's be honest, sitting in the back of a metal tube next to a stranger for 15 hours isn't anyone's idea of fun.

This is much more fun:

Singapore Airlines A380 Suites "Double Bed"

With a little organization and knowledge (which hopefully you can gain from this blog) we're able to turn those points and miles into premium cabin flights and stay in hotels that we would never pay for with cash.  So I'll gladly give up 2% cash back on my everyday spend so that I can experience new places and things with my wife (and my brother this summer).  135,000 miles would get me 5+ domestic coach roundtrips on United or American.  That is a lot.  Or I could fly Cathay Pacific First Class roundtrip between the US and Asia.  Since it's not that hard to earn 135,000 miles, I prefer to see the other side of the world.  No judgement to anyone that just wants to leverage their points and miles to go home, see family, or some new part of our beautiful country.  If I can help you do that...awesome.

Before I got into this hobby, we traveled a fair amount but it was to New York, Vegas, LA, Phoenix, Mexico, etc... In the last three years, we've been to 14 countries on 3 Continents.  This year we'll go to at least 5 although several our repeats...we're going back to our favorite places to see more of them.  We're creating memories that will last forever.

The point is that you can do this (whatever "this" is) as well.  Part of figuring out how to make things work for you is to figure out what your goal is.  I'm going to dedicate an entire post to this but that's really the first step.  Do you want to see another part of the world in a premium cabin or do you want to fly home to see your childhood friends?  Do you want to stay a week in a super nice resort or do you want to stay a month in a perfectly acceptable but not luxurious hotel?

Here's to a great year of travel - whatever that means for you.

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!