Most hotel programs assign individual hotels to ‘categories’ with a fixed number of points required to redeem the hotels in each category. And chains more or less adjust the hotels assigned to each category once a year. Starwood announced their hotel reward category changes several days ago. About the same number of hotels are getting more expensive as are getting less expensive, with increases concentrated in the U.S. Hyatt announced their changes in December with more hotels going down in price than going up. (Hilton of course no longer makes announcements about annual changes, they just post changes to a web page throughout the year. This is in the name of ‘transparency’. Hilton is also an anomaly in that there are huge point ranges for several of the categories, which makes category assignments almost meaningful…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for February 2015.
When You Can — and When You Can’t — Earn Starpoints for Uber
I receive compensation for many links on this blog. You don’t have to use these links, but I am grateful to you if you do. American Express, Citibank, Chase, and other banks are advertising partners of this site. I do not write about all credit cards that are available — instead focusing on miles, points, and cash back (and currencies that can be converted into the same). Starwood and Uber announced a new partnership that lets you earn Starpoints for Uber rides. You earn 1 point per dollar spent; more (based on your status with SPG) when you using Uber on days you’re staying at a Starwood property. This earning is entirely separate from the points you earn from your credit card for the spend itself. That means you can earn 1 Starpoint per dollar…
Delta Does the Right Thing, Will Refund Overcharged Award Tickets
A couple of days ago I reported that Delta appears to be charging more miles for elites booking economy awards than general members. Logged in elites would see a one-way flight for 17,500 miles that general members would see priced at 12,500 miles. While there was a great deal of teeth gnashing over this, I did not believe it was intentional. Delta’s narrative is that they want to reward their most profitable customers more than others. Charging more miles for elites sends the exact opposite message. I don’t doubt that there have been plenty of programming changes to the way Delta prices awards, some of them in the background, and some that may be ready to go live but aren’t yet fully tested. Nonetheless, I don’t think this specific result, where General Members can book…
The Target REDcard Song
It takes a certain kind, the sort of folks who refer to the Target – American Express product REDcard as ‘Redbird’, to really appreciate this. Does your area Target sell REDcard? Have you been using it? Are you worried they’ll stop allowing funds to be loaded at the register with a credit card?
Double Your Club Carlson Points Earning, All Year Long Without a Promotion
@ckramer tweets, Club Carlson has a business program that will let a separate business account earn up to 10 points per dollar for eligible stays, in addition to the points earned by the guest into their own account. The guest and the company account administrator can be the same person (so they would effectively earn an extra 10 points per dollar for their stay). And the company administrator can earn points for others’ stays as well — earning Club Carlson points even when they aren’t traveling. Here’s the program.
Register (Just in Case!) for Hilton Double Points or Miles
This isn’t an exciting promotion, but you should register anyway. Even if you don’t regularly stay at HIlton properties. Double points are better than single points, if only marginally so. You never know when you’ll wind up staying at a Hilton, there are lots of them, so even if they aren’t in your plans it’s better for you to have registered and earned the points when it was on your radar than have to remember later and most likely forget. Here’s the promotion. Register and become a very happy mother and child, I think the kid is happy because he’s drinking his ‘milk’ from a wine glass. The mother is happy because she’s inspecting for something in her son’s hair — dandruff? lice? — and not finding anything. Promotion details You choose between earning double…
Rock Singer Arrested in Denver for Riding Baggage Carousel
Puddle of Mudd lead singer Wes Scantlin was arrested after riding a baggage carousel in Denver into the secure area of the airport. [TSA] told him to get off, and he refused. They didn’t arrest him immediately; they warned him: ‘Hey, if you don’t get off the luggage rack, we’re going to arrest you.’ He refused to get off, so they arrested him…. After his ride on the baggage carousel in Denver, Scantlin was taken to a downtown Denver jail, while Daniels and his staff tried to figure out a way to bail him out so that he could perform that night. “He wasn’t supposed to get out until Tuesday because he had warrants in four other states,” says Daniels. “So they had to clear each warrant to make sure they weren’t extraditable. And they…
The World’s Worst Business Class, Free Lounge Access, and Kurt Cobain’s Credit Card
News and notes from around the interweb: Kurt Cobain’s credit card is up for auction (HT: Doctor of Credit) How bad is Kuwait Airways business class? Many people don’t realize they fly New York – London. And they’re cheap. (HT: Point Me to the Plane) Don’t get burned using flint. Some suggestions and cautions for folks using this service to generate credit card spend. PointHacks suggests a New Zealand post office box you can sign up for online as a way to leverage the Qantas offer of a status match for New Zealand residents (which would get you free American Airlines lounge access, including on domestic itineraries). Chase is closing 300 branches. That will make it harder to get credit card offers that are available only in-branch. Greek carriers gain open access to 3 Russian…
In 2 Weeks Starwood Will Introduce New Benefit Choices for Platinum Elites. Here’s What They Are.
Last month I broke the news that Starwood would be introducing choices for Platinum members in lieu of ‘Suite Night Awards’ for those members who prefer a different rewards upon reaching 50 nights. I speculated that those new choices would include bonus points and award redemption discounts. But Starwood’s Senior Vice President for SPG and Digital Chris Holdren let me know that those weren’t the direction they were going. So last week I had the chance to talk to Chris about what the new choices are going to be for Platinum members who spend at least 50 nights a year with Starwood. What Are Suite Night Awards? For the past 3 years Starwood has offered (10) ‘Suite Night Awards’ — an opportunity to confirm an upgrade up to 5 nights prior to arrival, rather than…
New Starwood-Uber Partnership: Earn Starpoints for Uber Rides!
Starwood is bringing out a new global partnership with Uber that allows members to link their Starwood and Uber accounts and earn Starpoints for the Uber rides they take (last name and email addresses on both accounts must match). Starwood adds Uber to its stable of points-earning partners which includes Crossover Rewards (Delta), Your World Rewards (Emirates), and Caesars. Sadly the Uber partnership doesn’t come with upgrades or elite qualfying benefits. But it means more points and without taking anything away from members so positive all around. All members earn at least 1 Starpoint per dollar spent on Uber. If you’re staying with Starwood when you Uber you’ll earn based on your program tier: 2 points for general members, 3 for Golds and Platinums, 4 for 75 night Platinums and above. Unlike some of the…
