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Miles & Points Mantra #1: “Use Hotel Free Night Certificates ASAP”

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. I’m kicking off a new series on the blog called Miles & Points Mantra, where I’ll be sharing the personal “rules” I follow when it comes to using airline miles, hotel points, credit card rewards, and all things travel.  I try to follow these rules 100% of the time, but I have been known to break the rules from time to time.  Whether you’re brand new to travel hacking or a seasoned pro, I’d love to hear if you agree or disagree with these “rules.”  I have a long list of mantras to share, but if you have one you swear by (or want me to cover), please share it in the comments section below.  Let’s get started…

Miles & Points Mantra #1: “Use Hotel Free Night Certificates ASAP”

If you are just starting out and only have 1 or 2 hotel Free Night Certificates (FNCs), it might not be too difficult to remember to use them before they expire.  Fortunately / unfortunately, between Laura and myself, we have earned / received 15 FNCs in the last 12 months from various credit card sign up bonuses, paying renewal annual fees on our hotel credit cards, and from completing a Hyatt Brand Explorer challenge.  15 FNCs means we have to spend at least 15 nights in hotels throughout the year in 4 different hotel brands (Hilton, Hyatt. IHG, and Marriott) within certain categories and point limitations.  The only way I can manage these FNCs is in a spreadsheet.

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When Does the Free Night Certificate from the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card Post and Expire?

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Yesterday, my dad asked me about his Hyatt Free Night Certificate (FNC).  He told me he just booked a Hyatt stay using the FNC but wasn’t sure if he got a good deal on the hotel stay.  I asked him when the FNC expired, but he didn’t know or remember.  I told him how to figure out when the Hyatt FNC posted to his account and how to find out when the FNC expired.  I figured this post would be helpful to others who are in the same situation.  It is really easy to find out, here is how.

Figure out when your $95 annual fee is charged to your Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card.  For Laura’s card, her $95 annual fee posted on February 1, 2025.  You can find this charge using the Chase website, Chase app, or by looking at your credit card statements.

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PSA: Finnair Avios Refund Took 6-7 Weeks After Award Ticket Cancellation

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Long story short, I booked a Finnair Avios award ticket on October 22, 2024, for travel in Summer 2025, but I needed to cancel the trip.  I’ve cancelled British Airways Avios award tickets in the past and the process to get the refunded Avios was almost instant.  Unfortunately, that is not the case with Finnair.  Finnair’s website quoted 1-3 weeks, but in my case, it took 6-7 weeks for the Finnair Avios to be refunded and for me to receive a refund of the taxes / fees (minus the 50 Euro cancellation fee).  In this post, I will document the cancellation process and timeline.

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PSA: IHG Points Sharing / Transferring Between Accounts IS NOT Instant (Mine Took 2 Days)

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Last weekend, I needed to book a last minute IHG hotel stay that cost 47,000 IHG Points.  Laura had a 40K Free Night Certificate and 3,000 IHG Points in her account.  Since we are both IHG Business Rewards Members (free membership), I decided the *easiest* and *quickest* option would be to transfer 4,000 IHG Points from my account to her account.  I submitted the points transfer request and planned on booking the hotel stay right away.  Unfortunately, IHG had other plans.  After submitting the request, the confirmation message said “Your order has been received and will be processed in the next 72 hours.”  72 hours?!  I was planning on checking into the hotel tomorrow afternoon…

Long story short, instead of transferring valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards Points or Bilt Rewards Points to Laura’s IHG account, she bought 5,000 IHG Points since IHG was running a 100% bonus on IHG Points.  In case you are wondering, the IHG Points sharing / transfer took about 2 days (~46 hours to be precise).

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Easy $50 Retention Offer on Bank of America Business Credit Card

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Updated 3/19/25 at 4pm PT: I received the $50 check from Bank of America on March 19 and the check was made out to the name of the business.  See the photo at the bottom of this post.

Good afternoon everyone.  In 2022, I applied for the Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Credit Card.  At the time, there was a $500 sign up bonus after spending $5,000 in 3 months.  Unfortunately, the current sign up bonus is only $300 after spending $3,000 in 3 months (link).  After receiving the bonus, I didn’t put any spend on the credit card since it only earns 1.5% cash back (I am using my US Bank Smartly Credit Card for 4% cash back everyone).

One of my unofficial New Year’s Resolutions is to reduce the number of credit cards I have (both with annual fees and without annual fees), so this credit card was on the chopping block.  I called Bank of America on March 7 and asked to close the card.  Without prompting, the rep said there were some retention offers available, including a $50 retention offer if I kept the credit card open.  Sure, let’s keep the credit card open and I will gladly accept the $50 retention offer.  There is no annual fee on the credit card and there was no spending requirement either.  It doesn’t get much easier than that!

A few days later, the $50 retention offer posted to my account.  Unfortunately, the retention offer posted in the Available Rewards section and not as a statement credit.  I will show you how to find it and how to redeem the rewards for a statement credit or for a check in the mail.

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