News and notes from around the interweb:
- $300 of a Westin Heavenly Bed. Comparing like-to-like the W Hotels bed is a bit cheaper, discounts are larger and much more frequent. And shipping on the Westin bed isn’t free. But some prefer it..
- Loyalty Lobby summarizes free signup offers for Regus Gold membership which gets you free access to cubicles at their office locations worldwide.
- Australian merchants widely add fees to credit card charges, and consumers there pay more for their cards, receive less in return, and haven’t seen lower cash prices as a result.
Now new rules allow credit card companies to limit the fees charged by Australian merchants, and Visa plans to cap the fees at 1%. Fascinating that Australia is learning from experience, while the U.S. has been willfully blind to their example.
- Starwood lets you design your own member card. Since I never actually use my card (and I’m just Gold so I don’t even use it as part of a throw down) I opted to just download it to the SPG app for my Android phone.
- Amtrak is offering double points on all routes through May 18, registration required. (HT: Wandering Aramean)
Gary – where are you seeing the W beds for much cheaper than the Westin heavenly bed? I am in the market for a nice king. Just checked both sites and the W looks about the same price. Is there something I’m missing? Thanks!
In larger cities you can buy new or nearly new high-end mattresses on Craigslist for 2/3 less than you’d pay at a discount store. $500 to $800 will get you something you’ll be very, very happy with. The depreciation on a mattress the instant it leaves the store is more than 50%.
@nsx…I wouldf GLADLY pay a substantial premium to not buy a mattress off of craigslist. That is just gross. Sounds like a massive invitation to bed bugs.
@scott….kinda like buying used underwear…..
If you stay in hotels, you are sleeping on “used” mattresses all the time. 😀
@Robert Hanson – I don’t know about you, but since I’m a blogger they give me a brand new mattress every time! (rimshot)
Is this a good discount for the Westin bed? I tried to Google the date of the last % off deal but it was just a sea of W bed results.
@Arcanum there are very rarely discounts on Westin beds that I’ve seen. That’s why I found this one notable
We love the westin heavenly beds and bought a Simmons beauty rest with the pad on top. It’s identical to the heavenly bed. Was told that Simmons actually makes the westin beds but don’t know if that’s really true.
So in Australia the credit card companies have the power to prevent retailers from passing along the full cost of the cards to consumers. What exactly is that a solution to again?
The above should say “So in Australia the credit card companies have the power to prevent retailers from passing along the full cost of the cards ONLY to those who actually use them. What exactly is that a solution to again?”
Re the SPG DESIGN YOUR OWN MEMBER CARD.
I would not bother with the above for the following
reason :
Being a gold member , over the last 2 years I have
requested 4 times (and been promissed 4 times)to be sent
a new SPG card.
Every time at check-in I am embarassed to have to show
my 2007 expired card.
So although being a loyal member , I don’t trust them.
Michael
Why do you need to show your card at checkin at all?
GARY,
I just show my (no status) card to present myself.
I assume that it is easier/faster for them to find my
reservation this way.
Michael in YUL