This week there have been airline deals flooding Twitter and the blogs. $600 to Morocco, $650 to Shanghai on a Dreamliner from DFW, and $89 Detroit to Chicago.
If you’re trying to gain airline status, something that I do not have on any airline, then taking advantage of these deals may be worthwhile. But this post is geared at those who get so wrapped up in the points game they begin to believe that spending $ equals cheating.
Why would I pay $600 to go to Europe when I could fly business and pay $35 in taxes? While I see your point, I say why not use your points to go somewhere that may be more inconvenient, further away, and more aspirational? Where that place is depends on your tastes and preferences.
For example, I would rather spend a few hundred flying to Iceland with a WOWair sale than use my AAdvantage points and have to make multiple connections just to get to Reykjavik for free.
At the same time, don’t be the oaf that my friend is and book an $800 ticket to Iceland because you couldn’t find points availability and missed out on the fare sale.
So the next time a great fare appears, forget calculating how much cheaper it is via points and take out the old credit card. After all, you have some minimum spends to hit.
Don’t hoard your ponts. Don’t hoard your dinar either!
A week ago I wrote about my Q2 Churn Results which yielded 378k points. The biggest player in the churn was the Amex Business Platinum that offered 150k Membership Rewards after 20k spend in 3 months. In the post I explained that part of the benefit of being approved for the Amex was restoring the balance of my MR account which was suspended because I had an old Amex Blue that doesn’t have the option of transferring points to affiliated partners.
An astute reader wrote, “Membership Rewards do the whole zombie thing, coming back from the dead when you get a new card? I thought when you cancelled a card they were gone forever.”
After activating the platinum card, I checked my MR balance and it still read zero. Was the reader correct? Frantic, I called Amex and they informed me that when I cancelled my Amex Gold in 2014, my MR account was not linked with the Amex Blue.
Had this been a different financial provider, I would’ve began my rant and demanded my points be restored immediately and an additional 1 billion points for the inconvenience. Since this was Amex, I remained calm and waited for the agent to explain what could be done.
“I see what happened here. This was our fault. I see that your Amex Blue remained open and current. Please hold while I restore your points.”
How do you get to Tahiti? That’s a question for another day. Unlike my planning for most award bookings, I’m going to start by securing the hotels then moving onto flights. If difficult is the word used to describe finding award availability at the Hilton Bora Bora Nui then impossible is the appropriate word for consecutive free nights at the InterContinental Hotel Bora Bora Resort Thalasso Spa.
On paper a night at the InterContinental would cost 50k IHG Rewards Club points but take a look at February 2016 and March 2016 award availability:
One free night at $700 may be worth it, but where do you stay the other nights!
So how do you book more than one night? A few weeks ago, I scrolled to April 2016 and noticed that no bookings paid or otherwise are available more than 50 weeks out. Even that far in advance, there was only reward availability for a single night. The next day I saw availability for the following day so I booked that as well. As each day passed, I added one night at a time until I had four separate but consecutive reservations.
With an award booking, I can cancel the day prior and avoid a cancellation penalty. That’s amazing considering that the rooms go for over $1000 if you book the refundable rate.
$1100 a night for a refundable booking.
Also, unlike the Conrad Maldives or Hilton Bora Bora there is no additional cost for a overwater villa. That is substantial given that it was $600 extra a night for the Maldives bungalow, a cost that was rationalized as ‘once in a lifetime’.
Conrad Maldives Upgrade Costs
By booking one night at a time 50 weeks in advance (as ridiculous as that is), Step 1 of another once in a lifetime has been completed. The next will be to book rooms when they come available using my Hilton Award Certificates. From there, if I am successful, I will reveal the greatest airlines points redemption ever.
I received a message in my spam folder claiming that Global Entry members could sign up for a similar program for ‘Global Entry for Mexico’.
The Programa Viajero Confiable Mexico shouldn’t have gone to the junk folder and may be useful for those of you who travel to Mexico frequently and already have Global Entry. The cost to register is around $90 and the three locations available for registration are Mexico City, Cancun, and Los Cabos airports. Like the US program, the pass is valid for 5 years.
I’m not going to sign up since I haven’t been to Mexico since 2009 and rather enjoy playing the red light, green light game at CUN airport to determine whether or not I will be searched.
This was an interesting answer from the FAQ section:
If my application is denied, will I be refused entry into Mexico? Entry into Mexico is independent from the Viajero Confiable Program, and so travelers not approved for membership may still enter the country normally.
The days of TopCashBack making the rubber duck cheaper to come by than Vanilla Reloads are over. Currently, I receive a meager .5% cashback from SimplyBestCoupons. That’s better than nothing if a purchase actually went through on GiftCardMall.
Declined by the bank, declined by the site, or declined by aliens are the explanations I’ve received for why the rubber ducky isn’t heading to mi casa.
I’ve tried different credit cards but the result has been the same. The banks say my cards are fine. Now GiftCardMall is opening a ticket to see why the transactions aren’t going through.
WOWair had prices way too cheap from the US to Iceland at $99 for a one-way. Now the prices are inflated at three to five times that amount for this summer. At the same time, the Club Carlson deadline is looming. So what is a budget/points conscious person supposed to do? The answer is kick the can down the road and hope that the random booking dates in June 2016 matches up with my life schedule and another WOWair sale.
My speculative booking has worked out in the past as I booked Conrad Maldives for 4 nights eight months in advance before Hilton ruined it for us with their devaluation. Locking in Christmas on Rangali Island before I had a flight booked turned out to be a great decision.
Hopefully the same will be true of the 2016 Iceland trip. A big reason why I paid the annual fee to US Bank is to stay for free in Reykjavik. The devaluation wouldn’t be such a big deal if there were other affordable options in Iceland. Since there aren’t any and since I will never be able to rationalize up to $500 for what I’m sure is an underwhelming Radisson Blu, I have no choice but to hope that my plan works out in my favor.
If it becomes available, I plan on immediately booking my WOWair ticket using my Prestige statement credit of $250. That way the entire trip is absolutely free.
Of course, there is a risk that I won’t be able to go which would cost me 2 nights and the airline statement credit if I cancel the flight. But I guess that’s what makes this hobby fun.
At this point I’m going to Iceland for spite. Junior suite? I’m sure it’s still a shoe box.
Miles to Memories posted his churn results so it’s time to post mine. Keep versus cancel, points valuation posts, and churn results are among my favorite posts. Knowing that everyone is cancelling their Citi Exec AA makes me feel good about my decision to do the same. Knowing that I got 3 cents per Hyatt point when the standard is 1.6 also makes me feel good. Finally, knowing that I’m not the only one getting rejected gives me comfort. Of course the whole thing is arbitrary and personal to each person.
I didn’t follow ‘the rules’ and apply for 50 cards on the 90th day, all on the same day like the good Lord advised but still came away with good results:
1. Amex Platinum: 150k after 20k spend: Where did you go RedBird? $450 annual fee.
2. Citi Prestige: 50k after 3k spend. $450 annual fee.
3. Citi ThankYou: 50k after 3k spend. No annual fee for the first year.
4. Alaska Airlines * 2: I haven’t even received the cards and already got 25k sign-up bonus per card. If I spend 1k I receive a $100 credit that offsets the annual fee.
$900 for annual fees is ridiculous. Challenge accepted as to how I’m going to make those annual fees worthwhile. A simple way would be to transfer all the MR’s and ThankYou’s to SQ and fly around the world on an A380 but that novelty has worn off.
I need to go to new places to make progress on the Country Count List and get back to travel adventures not prototypical nice flight, nice hotel blog posts.
Portugal anyone?
*Note: The 378k total comes from being able to use my MR’s again because they were locked away since cancelling my previous Amex Gold years ago.
If you feel unnoticed when you stay at the W Scottsdale then you’ll certainly feel unheard at the W Hollywood. Unsurprisingly, the lousy service attributable to the W brand is on full display at the W Hollywood.
Twas three years to date that I made the great decision to celebrate my 30th at the W Hollywood. What better way to mark the age of maturity than by blacking out in the city of glitz and glamour? And so begins the W Hollywood review.
You’re going to Hollywood!
Before arriving at the W, I received an email which listed the names of everyone staying at the hotel for the weekend. This mass message sent in error did not contain the name of any recognizable celebrities. Upon checking in, I told the manager that negligently disclosing this information could be problematic if I was someone important, a concept they couldn’t seem to grasp.
In a mood to celebrate not complain, I headed to my upgraded room, the Marvelous Suite, and arranged the countless bottles of champagne. The room was indeed marvelous. There was a television in the living room for NBA playoff basketball and another in the bedroom for post partying passing out.
ChampagneChampagne for my friendsThe Marvelous Suite or what was left
The next day we went to the pool party at Drai’s on the roof of the hotel. The pool is technically part of the hotel but Drai’s is not. Therefore, when Drai’s is having an event at the pool guests of the W aren’t necessarily given access. Guests have to wait in line and hope that the douchey doorman allows them to use an amenity that otherwise would be included. To be fair, the doormen do their best to accommodate guests of the hotel.
The pool isn’t as nice as the W Scottsdale but is a hidden gem compared to the surrounding areas of West Hollywood.
The Hollywood Tower! Click pic for review of Hollywood Tower Orlando, the most terrifying hotel ever!View from the room. West Hollywood is no Hills of Beverly
At this point, you may be asking, why shouldn’t I stay here? The room is nice, the pool is cool, and the douche-baggery is implied, i.e., people stay at the W and people visit Hollywood for this very reason. Here’s where the story takes an interesting turn. After two too many birthday toasts, I recognized that it may be time to take a break and call it an afternoon. When I went to retrieve my shirt, I found that it had gone missing. I informed security that my shirt was gone and headed down the elevator to get back to my room. The exit from the elevator opens to a public sidewalk which is technically in LA County and not part of the hotel. When I attempted to enter the hotel, the security said the dress code of the hotel requires a shirt. I informed him that I had already told Drai’s security that someone had stolen my shirt. He insisted that this was hotel policy and that I could not enter.
This stooge couldn’t find his same same shirt.
Irate, I showed him my room key and again explained the situation. They not care for my explanation and threatened to call the police accusing me of attempting to trespass on private property. Finally, someone with common sense verified that I was staying at the hotel, escorted me to my room, and let me get back to my celebration. In case you’re wondering where my friends were at this point, they had left to see the worthless Lakers game.
The next day with a few bumps and bruises, I checked out of the W Hollywood. Perhaps things didn’t go exactly as planned or perhaps things went exactly as planned. Nonetheless, in the context of Hollywood, 30th birthdays, and parties at the W, I’m sure my stumbling and bumbling doesn’t rank in the Lindsay Lohan top 50 of drunken debauchery moments. In conclusion, the hotel could’ve been a bit more helpful.
This is an installment from the Trip Report The Southwest Companion Pass: Round 3which began in April of 2015 and is continuing on till the companion pass expires.
I’ve stayed at the W in Hollywood, Midtown Atlanta, Seattle, and Doha. Besides the royal treatment in Qatar, I find myself questioning why I stay at the W branded hotels. While I love the SPG collection which includes two of the best hotels I have had the pleasure of visiting, the St. Regis New York and the St. Regis Mauritius, the W hotel pales in comparison in terms of service and quality.
Having lived in Scottsdale off and on for ten yen years, I am intimately familiar with the W Scottsdale both as a guest and as a pool/bar visitor. The staff is cold, rude, standoffish, arrogant, and unhelpful. Platinum status or peasant status, you too will head home outraged, by the pathetic level of service you will receive. I’m not sure why the employees are the way they are but if I had to guess then I’d venture to say that they play down to the level of their patrons. Friendliness and an openness to meet new people aren’t attributes of people residing in Scottsdale, present writer excluded.
The bad treatment starts with the valet who must think that the Rolls Royce and Lamborghinis in the parking lobby belong to him. The indifference continues as you make your way into the hotel with nobody bothering to open the door for you. Upon checking in, don’t expect eye contact from the front-desk staff. Upon arriving at your room, take note of the ugly color scheme of purple and teal and plainness of the room that inexplicably goes for $500 a night. If you do have a problem during your stay, skip calling the gimmicky ‘Wherever, Whenever,’ service as the staff will not care to help.
The only reason to stay at the W is to lounge at the beautiful rooftop pool, have some drinks, and make fun of the underemployed douche bags who go there to be seen and act cool. Even though the wait staff at the pool are attractive, don’t expect that to translate into charm as ordering a drink becomes an exercise in patience.
I used a platinum suite-upgrade award and received confirmation of the spa suite. The spas suite is exactly like the standard room except it is bigger and has a bath tub in the middle. The tub would’ve been a nice touch had it not been worn down and had the temperature handle not been broken. A convenient feature of the room is that it is located right next to the pool via a slide-door exit. The problem with this is there isn’t a way to lock the door rendering the feature useless. Finally, the A/C in the room did not work which constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in Arizona. Of course, when I told the front-desk the next day, they assured me that they would follow-up. I’m still waiting for that to happen.
All in all, I must enjoy being treated poorly because I continue to go back to the W. There’s just something about that pool that makes me feel like I’m home.
The Spa Suite
Pretty big roomView from the roomCourtyard by poolOn the patioMore of the courtyard
The Pool
The staffNot the warmest dayEnd of a pool daySunsetNight at the pool
