Starwood Selling Points at a Discount

Through May 31st, Starwood is selling SPG points at (up to) a 25% discount.  If you haven't read my getting started post on buying points and miles, start here.

While not the best deal in the world, the 20,000+ purchase block brings the total cost down to ~2.6 cents.  Although SPG points are tough to acquire, they do run this promotion a handful of times each year (I have taken advantage of it in the past).

It is pretty easy to get more value out of SPG points than that.  For example, we're headed to The Phoenician in Scottsdale in a couple of weeks.  Our room (booked prior to SPG category change) cost 12,000 SPG points and at the time of booking, was selling for over $500 AI.  That's well over 4 cents a point.

I wouldn't speculatively buy these points but if you are headed on a trip and have enough points for 3 nights and want to go for 5, purchasing enough points to get the 4th for free would also get you the 5th.  Remember - Starwood gives the 5th night free on award redemptions.  So from that perspective, you would get a lot for your money.

Introduction: A Week (Euro) in Amsterdam and Paris

Introduction
Planning & Booking
British Airways 747-400 First Class Denver to London
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways A320 Club World London to Amsterdam
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
Andaz Amsterdam
Thalys Comfort 1 Amsterdam to Paris
Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class Frankfurt to JFK

While I am still working on the trip report for our Long Weekend in Vancouver, I figured I might as well mix it up and post the Introduction to our May trip to Europe.  We're inside a month from departure and starting to piece together the final components to make the trip as awesome as possible.  Over the past 2.5 years, we've taken 6 long-haul trips.  Of those trips, four have been to Asia, one to Europe, and one in the middle (Dubai & Istanbul).  So we have really neglected Europe for no reason other than it is easier to get to from Denver and we'll probably be more likely to go with a kid.  But with the Euro basically crashing (thus the clever trip report series title) against the dollar and the addition of British Airways First Class service direct from Denver we decided a week in Europe would be pretty fun.

Euro to USD 5 year chart

We wanted to start the trip somewhere relatively close to London so we could get in at a decent hour. I've yet to visit Amsterdam and Emily hasn't been for many years.  We both love walking around cities and Amsterdam is a VERY walkable city.  Add in the mix of water (boat trips yay!) and history and it was an easy choice.  We'll start our week with a few nights in Amsterdam at the Waldorf-Astoria and then Andaz which are only a few blocks away from each other.

Originally we were going to fly over to Vienna from Amsterdam but decided that 3 cities in 7 days was just too much.  So we're going to take the train from Amsterdam to Paris which is only a 3.5 hour  ride.  Given the Euro, tickets were really quite reasonable.  Only $85 each for Comfort One (Thalys' equivalent of first class).  It will certainly be a different experience and should enable us to maximize our time on the ground in both cities.

Routing courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper - almost 11,000 miles

We'll then spend four nights at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome which is something we rarely do.  From everything I have read and heard from people, this is a very special property and one that we want to enjoy for as long as possible.  Paid rates were north of $1,000 USD so I was very glad to be able to get all four nights with a combination of points and free nights from the Chase Hyatt Visa.  We plan to enjoy Spring in Paris and do a day trip out to Reims for some Champagne tours and tasting.

Singapore Suites beverage service

We'll then take a quick hop on Lufthansa (in Economy!) to Frankfurt where we'll spend the night at the Sheraton at the airport.  Our flight the next morning departs at 8AM to New York.  We'll be taking Singapore Airlines' fifth freedom service from Frankfurt to JFK in Singapore Suites!!  This is a hard redemption to get especially for two seats so we were both excited to be able to fly across the pond in real style.

I'll try to post the Planning & Booking segment prior to departure.  Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and the blog as we spend a week in Europe in May!

Review: Cathay Pacific First Class 777-300ER New York to Vancouver

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

Due to weather in Chicago, my flight to New York was delayed about 2.5 hours.  I had built in plenty of time so it wasn't a big deal.  I landed in Terminal 8 and took the AirTrain over to Terminal 7 for our flight to Vancouver.  Emily had flown in to La Guardia about an hour earlier and was waiting for me as I entered the terminal.

Our timing was actually perfect as the Cathay desk was just opening up for check-in to Vancouver as we arrived.  Check-in formalities were processed in a couple of minutes and we were handed lounge invitations and shown to fast track security.  Ten minutes later we were in the British Airways First Class Galleries Lounge.  The lounge was nothing special (we actually preferred the lighter, larger business class section) but was perfectly acceptable for a shower, fast wifi, and some decent food and drink. 

Around 9PM we made our way down to gate 6.  It is a pretty cool feeling to be at JFK around this time.  It is transatlantic "rush hour" and there are over half a dozen flights leaving within an hour to cross the pond.

JFK rush hour

Earn 3x AA Miles with Citi Executive AAdvantage Card

Update:  Looks like the email is targeted as several readers have reported not receiving the offer.  Perhaps you will receive tomorrow.

Last year, I was able to take advantage of not one but three 100,000 mile offers from the Citi Executive AAdvantage Card.  Those bonuses enabled us to fly First Class on Cathay Pacific back from Hong Kong and to Hong Kong with my brother in June.  I'm finding a ton of value in AA miles so will continue to rack them up whenever possible.

While two of the three cards are cancelled, I have kept one card for Admirals club access.  Yesterday, I received an email from Citi offering 3x AA miles during Q2 in a handful of categories:

• Restaurants
• Gas Stations
• Department Stores
• Grocery Stores

I certainly won't put any restaurant spend on this card (I'd rather earn 5x Ultimate Rewards points) but will for sure put gas and grocery spend on the card for 3x AA miles...which I value at around $.02.  That's a 6% rebate on everyday purchases - not bad!  

You could also use this bonus to triple dip with a shopping portal at department stores.  For example, Macy's is offering 6x miles through the American Airlines Advantage Shopping Mall.  In addition, they are offering a tiered bonus for spend through the mall which would earn you another 2x miles on $125 in spend.  

Add it all up and you're looking at 11x when shopping through the mall and leveraging your Citi Executive card.  It took about seven seconds to register - just click the link in the email if you received.  The bonus is limited to 2,500 bonus miles ($1,250 in spend) so should be pretty easy to max out during the quarter.

Earning Starpoints with Uber

I've been meaning to write a post about Starwood's partnership with Uber but just haven't gotten around to it.  If you're not familiar with the details, you can check them out here.  The partnership enables SPG members to earn 1 Starpoint per dollar spent with Uber.  Double that if you ride during a Starwood stay.  Triple it if you are staying with Starwood and are an elite member (I am).  You'll see your Uber bonus points post on your SPG account within 1-2 days.

Remember - to earn the SPG points, you'll need to have at least one SPG stay.  This is an awesome way to earn extra Starwood points which are both extremely valuable and difficult to obtain.

On the Way to JFK

Hey that title rhymes.  I'm sitting comfortably at the American Airlines Admirals Club at ORD (thanks to the Citi Executive Card) waiting for my flight to JFK after a great conference in Chicao.

The weather is absolutely terrible - with strong thunderstorms impacting a wide swatch of middle America.  Somehow my flight is on time (T-55 at the moment).  However there are scores of flight cancellations and a lot of upset people in the lounge.  But we're all lucky to be inside safe from damaging winds, hail, and tornadoes.

ORD storms

Hopefully we'll get some clearing soon and we can all make it to the our destinations safely.

1,000 Free Honors Points for Changing Your Password

Hilton's loyalty program (HHonors) is offering each member 1,000 points for changing your password by 4/22/2015.  Hilton is moving away from their PIN based system (4 digits) for security purposes.

This will literally take 1 minute of your time.  I value HHonors points at half a cent each so this is like getting $5 for free.  I've changed my account and Emily's and both of our points have already posted.