When you have 20+ credit cards, you want to use them like a swiss army knife. Co-branded hotel credit cards can often provide lucrative spending bonuses so it makes sense to pay attention to which card you're using to pay for hotel stays and incidentals. Throw in an international stay and you've got an even more complicated situation due to foreign transaction fees (you'll want to avoid these at all costs).
If I'm working on minimum spend towards a credit card sign-up bonuses, I'll use the card for a hotel stay regardless of the return. Assume you're working towards a 50,000 point bonus (average these days) for $3,000 in spent. You're effectively receding a bonus of nearly 20 points per dollar so unless you have massive spending ability, it makes sense to knock the minimum spend out first.
Beyond that, I'll look to the co-branded card (assuming I have one) of the hotel chain I'm staying with. If it's an international stay, the card must also have no foreign transaction fees.
February 28, 2016
February 27, 2016
All the Right Points on Instagram
Instagram has made it so much easier to mange multiple accounts. So I've created a new Instagram account (@alltherightpoints) for you to follow. I'll be posting pictures of planes, lounges, hotels, and places.
I'll be posting a bit more often when we're traveling - look for posts around London, Abu Dhabi, and the Etihad First Class Apartment over the next few weeks.
Follow me!
-Evan
I'll be posting a bit more often when we're traveling - look for posts around London, Abu Dhabi, and the Etihad First Class Apartment over the next few weeks.
Follow me!
-Evan
American Express Changes Rules Around Business Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
If you read other miles and points blogs, it would seem the sky is falling.
In 2014, American Express changed their terms to limit sign-up bonuses on most personal credit/charge cards to once per lifetime. Well it seems that change has been extended to business cards as well.
One Mile at a Time's Coverage
The Points Guy's Coverage
Travel Codex's Coverage
Prior to the change, the language allowed for another sign-up bonus on the same card product as long as the applicant didn't have the card for the previous 12 months. So it was possible to get the card, meet the minimum spend, receive the bonus, cancel the card, and get it again a year later.
On the surface, this might seem to be a drastic change for our little game. I have probably had each Amex OPEN product 2-3 times over the past four years. I promise the sky is not falling. The more restrictive policy will most certainly impact business owners who rely on American Express for credit and who couldn't care less about rules, sign-up bonuses, or travel rewards. It makes a ton of sense that a business would start with a card, cancel it, and then think about using the product again in the future. That may be due to a business change, an increase in need for travel, insurance, etc... So I think the use case of a business wanting to get a card again (and receive the bonus) is very real.
Amex is in a very tough spot as a business at the moment and it makes sense to me that they would do everything possible to try and reduce their marketing spend to acquire new customers.
Once they realize (and they will get their eventually) that they are impacting their customer experience, retention, etc... they will likely unwind the change. In terms of the impact to us, this is all part of the process. One door may shut but there are still dozens open.
A key note here is that the change likely doesn't impact targeted bonuses. I've had luck receiving the sign-up bonus on personal cards that I've had before (post 2014 terms change) via targeted email/mail offers. So keep an eye on your mailbox(es) as that is the most likely avenue for receiving multiple bonuses for the same card.
In 2014, American Express changed their terms to limit sign-up bonuses on most personal credit/charge cards to once per lifetime. Well it seems that change has been extended to business cards as well.
One Mile at a Time's Coverage
The Points Guy's Coverage
Travel Codex's Coverage
Prior to the change, the language allowed for another sign-up bonus on the same card product as long as the applicant didn't have the card for the previous 12 months. So it was possible to get the card, meet the minimum spend, receive the bonus, cancel the card, and get it again a year later.
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| Amex Business Card Terms Changes |
On the surface, this might seem to be a drastic change for our little game. I have probably had each Amex OPEN product 2-3 times over the past four years. I promise the sky is not falling. The more restrictive policy will most certainly impact business owners who rely on American Express for credit and who couldn't care less about rules, sign-up bonuses, or travel rewards. It makes a ton of sense that a business would start with a card, cancel it, and then think about using the product again in the future. That may be due to a business change, an increase in need for travel, insurance, etc... So I think the use case of a business wanting to get a card again (and receive the bonus) is very real.
Amex is in a very tough spot as a business at the moment and it makes sense to me that they would do everything possible to try and reduce their marketing spend to acquire new customers.
Once they realize (and they will get their eventually) that they are impacting their customer experience, retention, etc... they will likely unwind the change. In terms of the impact to us, this is all part of the process. One door may shut but there are still dozens open.
A key note here is that the change likely doesn't impact targeted bonuses. I've had luck receiving the sign-up bonus on personal cards that I've had before (post 2014 terms change) via targeted email/mail offers. So keep an eye on your mailbox(es) as that is the most likely avenue for receiving multiple bonuses for the same card.
February 22, 2016
First Class Birthday: Planning & Booking II
Introduction
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
United Airlines Global First Lounge IAD
United Airlines 777-200 Global First IAD to LHR
Andaz Liverpool
Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge London
Etihad A380 Business Class London (LHR) to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad A380 First Class Apartments Abu Dhabi to New York (JFK)
The New York EDITION
Update: I was able to make a few changes (noted below) to our trip over the weekend. First, a single Etihad First Class Apartment award seat opened up between London and Abu Dhabi. Like a good husband, I promptly booked the seat and put Emily up front. I'm still hoping another seat opens up...if not, you'll get my review from the business class cabin and a few comments from Emily about her First Class Apartments experience. I was also able to change our routing to London. Two seats opened up in United Global First (777-200) from Washington Dulles to London. The change cost us 20,000 miles $150 in change fees which perfectly offset the cost for a hotel in Toronto. I've updated the post below with the changes. Stay tuned for the trip report segments coming in March!
________
I've been grounded since November when we returned from our round the world adventure. So I am really excited to get back in the air and travel somewhere. Once we had our Etihad First Class Apartment booked from Abu Dhabi to New York, we just needed to build a trip around it. We decided on London for a few days prior to Abu Dhabi and New York. It's been a few years since we were in London and it's one of our favorite cities in the world. So it was an easy choice. Here's how I booked everything.
Hotels:
In London, we decided to stay at the Andaz which cost 75,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
In Abu Dhabi, we settled on the Park Hyatt. We arrive early in the morning (1AMish) and depart early the next morning (3AMish) so I booked two nights to guarantee we can be in the room the entire team. Not the best use of points/cash but we'll be comfortable and given the overall cost of the trip, made sense. I booked one prepaid night at a rate of $220 USD. The second night cost 10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and $125.
In New York, we'll be staying at the New York EDITION for a total of 80,000 Marriott Points.
In total, I used 85,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and 80,000 Marriott points. The cash outlay will be $345 for 7 total nights.
Flights:
The flight from Denver to London cost us 160,000 United miles and $11. London to Abu Dhabi in a combination of Etihad business/first class cost 70,000 American AAdantage miles and $520 in taxes thanks to the dreaded UK premium departure tax. We received 7,000 miles back for holding the AA Platinum Visa card.
The Etihad first class apartment flight cost us 170,000 AAdvantage miles after the 10,000 mile rebate. We also paid $73 in taxes.
To get home, we paid cash for a United flight from LGA to DEN. While the flight actually cost $410 for both of us, I paid with my Citi Prestige card which rebated $250. So the total cash outlay was $160.
In total, I redeemed 160,000 United miles and 233,000 American miles. We also paid $764 in taxes, fees, and airfare.
Summary:
Despite the heavy departure tax in London, I still put together a pretty sweet trip for less than $1,109. I redeemed a total of 558,000 points and miles for all of the flights and hotel nights. That compares favorably to our previous trip where we spent 654,000 points and miles and more than $2,100 in cash for a 9 night trip. Stay tuned for the individual trip report segments coming next month!
Planning & Booking
Planning & Booking II
United Airlines Global First Lounge IAD
United Airlines 777-200 Global First IAD to LHR
Andaz Liverpool
Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge London
Etihad A380 Business Class London (LHR) to Abu Dhabi
Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
Etihad Airways Premium Lounge Abu Dhabi
Etihad A380 First Class Apartments Abu Dhabi to New York (JFK)
The New York EDITION
Update: I was able to make a few changes (noted below) to our trip over the weekend. First, a single Etihad First Class Apartment award seat opened up between London and Abu Dhabi. Like a good husband, I promptly booked the seat and put Emily up front. I'm still hoping another seat opens up...if not, you'll get my review from the business class cabin and a few comments from Emily about her First Class Apartments experience. I was also able to change our routing to London. Two seats opened up in United Global First (777-200) from Washington Dulles to London. The change cost us 20,000 miles $150 in change fees which perfectly offset the cost for a hotel in Toronto. I've updated the post below with the changes. Stay tuned for the trip report segments coming in March!
________
I've been grounded since November when we returned from our round the world adventure. So I am really excited to get back in the air and travel somewhere. Once we had our Etihad First Class Apartment booked from Abu Dhabi to New York, we just needed to build a trip around it. We decided on London for a few days prior to Abu Dhabi and New York. It's been a few years since we were in London and it's one of our favorite cities in the world. So it was an easy choice. Here's how I booked everything.
Hotels:
In London, we decided to stay at the Andaz which cost 75,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, transferred in from Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
In Abu Dhabi, we settled on the Park Hyatt. We arrive early in the morning (1AMish) and depart early the next morning (3AMish) so I booked two nights to guarantee we can be in the room the entire team. Not the best use of points/cash but we'll be comfortable and given the overall cost of the trip, made sense. I booked one prepaid night at a rate of $220 USD. The second night cost 10,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and $125.
In New York, we'll be staying at the New York EDITION for a total of 80,000 Marriott Points.
In total, I used 85,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points and 80,000 Marriott points. The cash outlay will be $345 for 7 total nights.
Flights:
The flight from Denver to London cost us 160,000 United miles and $11. London to Abu Dhabi in a combination of Etihad business/first class cost 70,000 American AAdantage miles and $520 in taxes thanks to the dreaded UK premium departure tax. We received 7,000 miles back for holding the AA Platinum Visa card.
The Etihad first class apartment flight cost us 170,000 AAdvantage miles after the 10,000 mile rebate. We also paid $73 in taxes.
To get home, we paid cash for a United flight from LGA to DEN. While the flight actually cost $410 for both of us, I paid with my Citi Prestige card which rebated $250. So the total cash outlay was $160.
In total, I redeemed 160,000 United miles and 233,000 American miles. We also paid $764 in taxes, fees, and airfare.
Summary:
Despite the heavy departure tax in London, I still put together a pretty sweet trip for less than $1,109. I redeemed a total of 558,000 points and miles for all of the flights and hotel nights. That compares favorably to our previous trip where we spent 654,000 points and miles and more than $2,100 in cash for a 9 night trip. Stay tuned for the individual trip report segments coming next month!
February 20, 2016
Why I Travel
I've been thinking a lot about the "why" around travel for the past couple of weeks. Scott from Travel Codex wrote an extremely emotional post about travel, life, and losing his father which really struck a chord with me. I really enjoy his writing and was so sad to hear about his dad.
I started writing this blog to share my experiences around travel with family and friends. Over the past couple of years, it's become more than that - more and more strangers are reading everyday. While I purposefully write about the journey and not the destination, I wanted to share a bit of my thoughts around why I travel.
It is so easy to get caught up planning the next trip, trying to score an upgrade, or find the perfect award that sometimes we miss the purpose of travel...which is ultimately the destination. Exploring a new place, culture, and meeting new people.
I started writing this blog to share my experiences around travel with family and friends. Over the past couple of years, it's become more than that - more and more strangers are reading everyday. While I purposefully write about the journey and not the destination, I wanted to share a bit of my thoughts around why I travel.
It is so easy to get caught up planning the next trip, trying to score an upgrade, or find the perfect award that sometimes we miss the purpose of travel...which is ultimately the destination. Exploring a new place, culture, and meeting new people.
 |
| Eating street food in Taipei |
Starwood Announces Award Category Changes
Starwood announced award category changes earlier in the week. In total, there are 282 hotels changing categories with 168 going up and 114 going down at least one category. The changes will take effect March 1, 2016 so you have 10 days or so to book at the lower rate.
As a reminder, Starwood has 7 categories ranging from 2,000 to 35,000 SPG points for a free night. To get a sense of the impact, you'll have to look at the list and map the changes to your particular travel patterns.
I tend to redeem my SPG points for higher end international hotels and unfortunately a few favorites are moving up.
Specifically, Le Meridien Bangkok is going from a category 3 to a category 4 property. Perhaps the good news is that the St. Regis Bangkok is moving down a category which makes it a bit cheaper on points. Perhaps we'll give it a try during our next visit.
The biggest impact to our travel is the Westin Riverfront in Avon going up a category (8 - 9,000 points). I will be making a couple speculative bookings prior to the 3/1 change for the summer. This is one of our favorite mountain properties and it was only a matter of time before it moved up.
Both the St. Regis and W in Istanbul are moving down a category. Not shocking given the geo political climate in Turkey of late. I was also surprised to see Le Meridien Bora Bora move down from a category 7 to a category 6. The 10,000 point difference is significant and opens up Bora Bora to a lot more people.
How do these category changes impact your 2016 travel patterns? Anyone else making speculative bookings?
 |
| 2016 SPG Category Changes |
As a reminder, Starwood has 7 categories ranging from 2,000 to 35,000 SPG points for a free night. To get a sense of the impact, you'll have to look at the list and map the changes to your particular travel patterns.
I tend to redeem my SPG points for higher end international hotels and unfortunately a few favorites are moving up.
Specifically, Le Meridien Bangkok is going from a category 3 to a category 4 property. Perhaps the good news is that the St. Regis Bangkok is moving down a category which makes it a bit cheaper on points. Perhaps we'll give it a try during our next visit.
 |
| 2016 SPG Bangkok properties changing categories |
The biggest impact to our travel is the Westin Riverfront in Avon going up a category (8 - 9,000 points). I will be making a couple speculative bookings prior to the 3/1 change for the summer. This is one of our favorite mountain properties and it was only a matter of time before it moved up.
Both the St. Regis and W in Istanbul are moving down a category. Not shocking given the geo political climate in Turkey of late. I was also surprised to see Le Meridien Bora Bora move down from a category 7 to a category 6. The 10,000 point difference is significant and opens up Bora Bora to a lot more people.
How do these category changes impact your 2016 travel patterns? Anyone else making speculative bookings?
February 17, 2016
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.
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.
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.
February 14, 2016
Finding a Star Alliance Partner Confirmation Number
For my upcoming trip to Tokyo, I used United miles to book my trip home on ANA. Obtaining the ANA confirmation number allows me to select seats and make sure that the award ticketed properly. Typically, this would require a phone call to United or ANA to retrieve the partner (in this case ANA) confirmation number. Sometimes, United will make the confirmation number available within the booking on their own website. I've found this to work for ANA, Air Canada, Turkish, and Air India. I haven't had luck with Thai or Lufthansa.
To view the partner confirmation number, view your reservation and click on the "view additional confirmation numbers" link. If an additional confirmation number is available, it will be shown within the modal. Write down the confirmation number. You can then enter the confirmation number (often called a booking reference number with international airlines) along with some combination of your name to retrieve the reservation on the partner airline's website. This should enable you to validate the award ticketed properly, select seats, meals, etc...and save you a phone call!
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| United makes it easy to view (some) partner confirmation numbers |
To view the partner confirmation number, view your reservation and click on the "view additional confirmation numbers" link. If an additional confirmation number is available, it will be shown within the modal. Write down the confirmation number. You can then enter the confirmation number (often called a booking reference number with international airlines) along with some combination of your name to retrieve the reservation on the partner airline's website. This should enable you to validate the award ticketed properly, select seats, meals, etc...and save you a phone call!
Huge Improvements to United Award Search
Continuing on the theme of United customer experience enhancements...United overhauled their website last year and the changes were mostly negative. While the UI has been improved, functionality seemed to go backwards. Expert mode was removed, (now back) logging in was made more difficult, and searching for awards was made more challenging for a variety of reasons. Notably, the ability to search for nonstop flights was removed.
Click search and you'll see the 2 month calendar.
Well good news...United has now added back the ability to search for a nonstop award and applied the feature to their "calendar" page where you can search for nonstop awards two months at a time. This is a great enhancement.
Here's how to take advantage. Go to United.com and login if you have status to see even more award space (United makes additional award inventory available for elite members).
On the "book travel" screen, you'll want to click the "Search for award travel" and "Nonstop" checkboxes.
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| Searching for nonstop awards on United's new website |
Click search and you'll see the 2 month calendar.
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| 2 months of award availability between LAX and NRT |
You can see all of the days across a 2 months window where United has nonstop award availability between two cities. In this case, LAX and Tokyo's Narita airport. A white box means no saver (low level) availability, yellow means there is economy saver availability, blue means premium availability, and green means both economy and premium availability at the saver level.
It's now SO much easier to piece together a complicated award. By searching nonstop availability between two cities and then piecing multiple segments together, you can much more effectively find award space to make that dream itinerary a reality.
Thanks United for making our lives easier!
Gogo Internet on United CRJ
I'm headed back to Denver from a quick visit to San Diego this morning. 6:45AM flight on a CRJ 700. Typically not the most desirable of flights. But United is doing a lot to improve the customer experience of late. I was pumped when I was able to grab exit row 18 (21 on most mainline flights) with a ton of leg room and recline. I stepped on the plane to find brand new slimline seats. Even better, the RJ has working (on the plane now) Gogo wifi!!
I'm not crazy about the pricing structure especially with only 90 minutes of real useable flying time.
Seems like they should adjust pricing based on how long you can actually use the service. But I'm certainly not complaining. Great job United getting wifi on the entire (including regional) fleet!
I'm not crazy about the pricing structure especially with only 90 minutes of real useable flying time.
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| Gogo pricing SAN - DEN |
Seems like they should adjust pricing based on how long you can actually use the service. But I'm certainly not complaining. Great job United getting wifi on the entire (including regional) fleet!
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