November 10, 2015

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.

Earn 5,000 American AAdvantage Miles

American's shopping portal is now out with a lucrative holiday bonus offer.  Not as good as the United offer but still pretty good if you're into AA miles.  You get a couple of extra days with this offer (through 11/26 vs. 11/24) and the bonus thresholds differ slightly.

Earn AA bonus miles by shopping through 11/26
If you shop through AA's online shopping portal through 11/26, you'll earn:

  • 450 miles after $150 in spend (3x)
  • 2,000 miles after $450 in spend (4.4x)
  • 5,000 miles after $1,200 in spend (4.2x)

The $450 spend threshold is the sweet spot on this offer at 4.4x.  I've already started working towards the 3,000 miles United bonus so will continue to focus there as a I get a head start on my holiday shopping.

November 7, 2015

Big Holiday Bonus from United Shopping

United's MileagePlus Shopping portal is out with a pretty lucrative bonus for the holidays.  As a reminder, all the large airlines and US hotel programs offers online shopping portals where they award miles/points for shopping through their portal.  It's pretty simple - go to the portal, search for the store (i.e. Nordstrom, Best Buy, etc...) and click-through.  Shop as normal.

The bonus (which runs through 11/24) is in addition to the miles you'd earn through the portal.  Here's the earnings structure:

  • 500 bonus miles for $150 in spend (3.33x)
  • 3000 bonus miles for $650 in spend (4.62x)
  • 6000 bonus miles for $1250 in spend (4.8x)



That is a pretty strong bonus.  $1,250 is a lot of spend in a few weeks but I think $650 seems doable especially if you're getting a head start on holiday shopping.  Let's look at a hypothetical example at the $650 spend level:

  • Spend $650 at Nordstrom (currently 6x) and earn 3,900 miles
  • Earn another 650 miles for the spend on your credit card
  • Earn 3,000 bonus award miles

That's a total of 7,550 miles on $650 in spend.  I've seen stores (like Nordstrom) go 12x+ in November to entice people to shop early.  So be patient - possible that you could earn more than 18 miles per dollar spent at some point in the next few weeks.  Keep an eye on your email as I'm sure the other portals will be putting out competing holiday offers soon.

Checking Your (Bucket) List

We're only a couple weeks away from our next big trip.  We'll be flying 23,000 miles in a round the world adventure.  Stopping in Dubai, The Maldives, and Singapore.  While we've taken a lot of great trips over the past few years, I'm most excited about this trip.  While I'm certainly excited about ALL the flying, there are several "bucket list" items we're going to check on this trip:

1)  Flying round the world going east
2)  Staying in an overwater bungalow
3)  Showering on a plane
4)  Sitting at a bar on a plane
5)  Dune bashing

Round the world going east

I've never actually taken the time to write down a list - I've mostly just been keeping a mental checklist of sorts.  Perhaps I'll use some of the time during our 46 hours in the air to write a more comprehensive list and share on the blog.

What's on your bucket list?

October 31, 2015

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.

Top Posts of All Time

I've been writing All the Right Points for nearly 2 years.  Nearly 300 posts in and it's still fun to share tips, strategy, and a summary of my travels.  I especially enjoy looking back on the top posts of all time as it's interesting to see what people consume on the blog.

In order, here are the top 5 posts of all time:

1)  Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class from San Francisco to Hong Kong

A snow storm in Denver and a medical diversion made for a pretty epic Christmas night adventure.  We had to run to make the flight which made it an even better story.

2)  Chase Sapphire Preferred Overview

An overview of my favorite credit card sits firmly in the number two slot.  I've probably sent this post to 50+ family and friends over the past couple of years.

3)  Using EVreward to earn miles and points when shopping online

A great tool to streamline the process of finding the "best" shopping portal when making an online purchase.

4)  Cathay Pacific 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to LAX

Our first flight on Cathay Pacific was a great one.  We actually changed our plans during our trip to take this flight.  And we were glad we did.

5)  Managing Credit Cards with Annual Fees

This is especially key for beginners who are nervous about juggling multiple cards with annual fees.

Enjoy the top posts of the last couple of years and thanks for reading!

Lufthansa's Denver to Munich Service is Back!

Denver International Airport (my home airport) has been on a tear of late.  United's service to Panama City was announced last year although has since been scaled back to a seasonal route.  British Airways upgraded their service from a 3 class 777 to a 4 class 747.  We had an opportunity to fly the route in May and it was pretty awesome to take a long haul flight from our home airport.

Lufthansa A330 First Class

And now Lufthansa is set to bring back direct service (previously cancelled in 2008) from Denver to Munich (in addition to current service to Frankfurt) on a 4 class A330.  We flew the aircraft in first to Frankfurt in 2013 and were wowed by the entire Lufthansa experience.  The service will start in May of 2016 - I look forward to a long weekend in Munich at somepoint in the future.

DIA's been working hard to expand international service for both tourism and business purposes.  This is pretty phenomenal route in that it opens up direct service to Munich and yet another option for 2-stop service to a number of locations in Europe.