Starwood Preferred Guest’s top status level is Platinum. You can earn Platinum status with 25 stays, with 50 nights, or with $100,000 in meeting spend in a year. The folks at SPG were brilliant when they added benefits two years ago that required staying additional nights to earn those benefits. 50 night Platinums get suite upgrade awards 75 night Platinums earn more points and get 24 hour check-in/out on a space-available basis 100 night Platinums get a dedicated concierge. They didn’t create a ‘level’ above Platinum, and in the process didn’t alienate their 25 stay members as much as they might otherwise have. Below Platinum is Gold which requires 10 stays or 25 nights in a year and gets you a 50% bonus on points earned, guaranteed 4pm late checkout (except at resorts and convention…
Video of a Man Walking Backwards Through Tokyo, Played in Reverse
For your Saturday evening tripping wanderlust. This is the video of a guy who walked around Tokyo backwards.. only is shown in reverse. Of course, walking through Tokyo will always bring up Lost in Translation which – for me – is all about How the Jesus and Mary Chain Influence My Hotel Choices. Not quite the Munich Airport ‘lip dub’ but still more than a bit surreal. You can join the 40,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Tips To Avoid Gate Checking Your Bag and a Scary Video of What Happens When You Do
This video of Air Canada baggage handlers tossing gate checked bags was uploaded on Thursday. It was taken before a flight from Toronto to Vancouver. Air Canada is investigating. “The gate check, unfortunately, turned into a gate toss,” Stewart said. The video runs a little over a minute and shows a baggage handler dropping items from the top of a movable staircase into a bin, which a second handler then moves into a nearby vehicle. I never want to have to gate check bags. I also hate to board first. I don’t want to spend 20 minutes on the plane more than necessary, especially in a coach seat. I’d rather work a few more minutes in the lounge or spend the time picking up a bottle of water or snack near the gate. The key…
Monday is the Last Day to Buy IHG Rewards Club Points at Up to 100% Bonus
IHG Rewards Club is offering a targeted purchased points bonus (the bonus amount varies by member) on a sliding scale (the more points you buy the lower the price per point). When you go to the purchase page you have to identify yourself in order to determine the bonus you’re going to be offered. Does this look familiar, like what US Airways Dividend Miles does sometimes – both the targeting, and the occasionally varying of bonus amounts? Interestingly the IHG Rewards Club manager is himself late of Dividend Miles. I’m only offered a 25% bonus, however most reports are of people being offered 100% (and even people who were earlier offered 25% now seeing the 100% offer). Here’s IHG’s points pricing: You may purchase points in 1,000 increments: 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per…
How to Use Bluebird in a Post-Vanilla Reload World
You can no longer buy Vanilla Reload cards with a credit card at CVS. That was the simple way to load Bluebird. Buy the Vanilla Reloads with a credit card, put the funds on Bluebird, transfer the funds back to your bank account. It was the lazy way to earn miles with a single trip to the store, with the rest of the work done at the computer, sitting on your couch. Vanilla Reload cards cost $3.95 per $500. But you can still accomplish the same thing, with the same $1000 per day load limit, with two store trips and a cost of $4.95 per $500. Buy a $500 OneVanilla Prepaid Visa for $4.95. CVS still lets you pay for these with a credit card (you can also substitute a $200 PIN-enabled card from an…
Citibank Hilton 50,000 Point Offer: New Link Found, Alive Until May 31
While the link that I had for Citibank’s 50,000 point bonus for the Hilton Visa Signature card expired yesterday, reader Phil emails to let me know that there’s another link that will not expire until May 31. It can be found at the top (in the Wiki) of this Flyertalk.com post. One person on the thread reports that Citibank initially didn’t have an indication that they were entitled not just to 50,000 points after spending $1,000 in the first four months but also to a $50 statement credit after you spend $50 or more on your first hotel stay within the Hilton HHonors Portfolio during the first six months of cardmembership. Although it appears that’s gotten straightened out. For the folks in the comments yesterday disappointed because the link I had for this offer was…
American Really Took Away Main Cabin Extra From Bottom-Tier Elites This Time
A month ago I reported that American planned to eliminate confirmed-at-booking access to extra legroom economy seats for first-tier elites effective March 17. Only March 17 came and went and several American AAdvantage Gold members and similar tier elites shared with me that they were still able to book Main Cabin Extra seats. American it seems actually took away the benefit as of April 16th. As an Executive Platinum I continue to have access to these extra legroom seats at booking, so I don’t have an easy way to confirm that the change has been implemented, but it’s what they’re telling travel agents. American launched extra legroom seats in coach two years ago. (Of course 10 years ago they offered ‘More Room Throughout Coach’ – extra legroom throughout the whole cabin.) United removed the ability…
50% Off IHG Rewards Club Redemptions in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
Starting this Sunday and for bookings made by May 3, for travel between May 1 and June 12, 11 hotels in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean will be available to redeem for half the usual number of points. Here are the properties that are supposed to offer 50% off redemptions: InterContinental® Presidente Ixtapa Resort, Mexico InterContinental® Playa Bonita Resort & Spa, Panama InterContinental® Presidente Cozumel Resort Spa, Mexico Crowne Plaza® hotel Acapulco, Mexico Holiday Inn Resort® Aruba Holiday Inn Resort® Grand Cayman Holiday Inn Resort® Acapulco, Mexico Holiday Inn Resort® Los Cabos All Inclusive, Mexico Holiday Inn Resort® Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Holiday Inn® hotel Cancun Arenas, Mexico Holiday Inn Express® hotel Playa del Carmen, Mexico This is, of course, low season — when most people don’t want to be there. But I’ve always been…
My Confession, Last Chance for Bonuses, Airbnb Illegal, & Hilton Discounts (Bits ‘n Pieces for April 18, 2014)
News and notes from around the interweb: Today is the last day for the 50,000 Hilton HHonors point signup bonus plus $50 statement credit offer for a Hilton HHonors Visa Signature. More details here. The AAA breakfast rate can get you a full breakfast at Hyatt while at hotels with a Regency Club Diamond members only get the club’s offerings. Of course, you can do better still often times at higher-end properties with American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts (for Platinum and Centurion cardholders), Virtuoso rates, and even Visa Signature Hotels bookings. Belgium bans airbnb. This after banning Uber. Brussels is not a friend of travel, or of innovation, it seems. If there’s an American Express card you’ve had before but are considering picking back up again, do it this month because there are new…
How Is It Even POSSIBLE That I Don’t Have Hilton Gold Status?
In 2013 (and in prior years) I was a Hilton HHonors Diamond member by virtue of spending $40,000 on their premium co-brand credit card. I had somehow internalized that Hilton offers their elites soft landings. I figured I would be a Gold in 2014 without any spending or credit card membership. I was recently downgraded to Silver. Here’s why I care. In general the smaller hotel chains are more rewarding. I love Hyatt Gold Passport and I think that Starwood Preferred Guest is pretty good too (albeit somewhat ungenerous with earning for in-hotel spend). But they aren’t everywhere and so I need another program — like Marriott, Hilton, or IHG Rewards Club. Of those, Hilton offers the most generous and easy to reach mid-tier status level as a ‘backup’ to receive decent treatment on those…
