Author Archives: Grant

About Grant

Grant is an expert in frequent flyer miles, hotel loyalty points, credit card rewards, and cash back deals. He also has a pretty cool travel blog. Find him on Twitter @travelwithgrant.

My Experience Booking Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham Rewards Points

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  A few weeks ago, Greg the Frequent Miler wrote 2 great articles about using Wyndham Rewards Points to book Vacasa vacation rentals (article 1 and article 2).  I wanted to provide my experience booking 2 Vacasa vacation rentals, so I followed the 4 steps that Greg laid out in the second article:

How to book Vacasa Vacation Rentals with Wyndham points

Here’s the step by step process that I recommend:

    1. Start your search here: www.vacasa.com/search?maxbeds=1&place=/usa/
      This link filters to a maximum of 1 bedroom. If you want more than 1 bedroom, change the filter, but keep in mind that 2 bedroom units cost twice as many points.
    2. Use the Vacasa website to find properties that are available for cash rates for your dates of interest. I recommend finding at least three options that would work for you, if possible.
    3. Email Wyndham to inquire about those properties and dates, here: triprewards.fulfillment@wyndham.com OR call: (506) 646-2943
    4. Put a reminder on your calendar 31 days or more before your stay to remind you to cancel if it doesn’t look like the stay will work out. Bookings are non-refundable within 30 days.

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I Converted my Chase Sapphire Reserve to Freedom Flex – Here’s Why & What Happened Next

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I had a fun time watching the latest FTU Virtual Seminar on Saturday (April 10) and am looking forward to attending the next FTU Virtual Seminar on May 22.  In other news, I officially redeemed all my Chase Ultimate Rewards Points last week.  Yes, you read that correctly, I now have 0 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points across all my Chase credit cards.  Every month when our credit card statements would close, I would transfer the points from my Chase Ink Plus, Chase Ink Bold, and Laura’s Chase Freedom to my Chase Sapphire Reserve.  I would then redeem the points via Pay Yourself Back toward recent grocery and restaurant purchases.

Since it has been more than 4 years since I last got a sign up bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card, I plan on applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred soon to get the increased sign up bonus.  Before I apply for the CSP, I redeemed all my points and converted my CSR to a Chase Freedom Flex Credit Card.  In this post, I will show you what happened next.

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Hyatt Free Night Certificate Posted 2 Months After Annual Fee Posted (YMMV?)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I’m not sure if this was a fluke, but my most recent Hyatt free night certificate posted 2 weeks before the annual fee posted, but my wife’s Hyatt free night certificate posted 2 months after the annual fee posted.  In this post, I will share the details about both of our situations and show the new terms of the Hyatt free night certificate.

I used to have the old Chase Hyatt Credit Card that had a $75 annual fee, but on January 11, 2021, Chase converted all cardholders from the old Chase Hyatt Credit Card to the new Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card which has a $95 annual fee.  I decided to close my old card before the conversion took place so that I could apply for the new card down the road.  Long story short, the old card annual fee posted on December 1, 2020, but the free night certificate posted to my Hyatt account 2 weeks prior.

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Attend FTU Virtual Seminar on Saturday April 10 ($25) or Free with FTU Online Annual Membership

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  If you have no plans this coming Saturday (April 10), I highly recommend attending the FTU Virtual Seminar (tickets available for $25).  The seminar starts on Saturday at 11am ET / 8am PT.  I really enjoyed attending the first FTU Virtual Seminar back on December 12 and I’m sure this seminar will be just as entertaining and educational.  If you have the FTU Online Annual Membership, you can attend the seminar for free.

If you registered for the seminar on Saturday, but are unable to watch the live stream, you can access the recording of the seminar and watch later on.  This is also a great way to re-watch your favorite presentations and catch any details that you originally missed.

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Stay at this Cool College-Themed Hilton Hotel in San Luis Obispo

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Easter and Passover.  A few days ago, Laura and I did a roadtrip around California and stayed at The Kinney San Luis Obispo, Tapestry Collection by Hilton.  The Kinney is a few blocks from downtown San Luis Obispo (SLO) and a short drive / bike ride to the campus of Cal Poly SLO.  Since the hotel is close to the university, the hotel has a college theme.  Basic rooms are called Campus Rooms and the suites are called Grad Suite, Dean Suite, and Professor Suite (see all pics and room descriptions here).  I used points to book a Campus Room and was upgraded (thanks to my Hilton Diamond Elite Status) to a Grad Suite.  I enjoyed staying at this hotel and the location was great for exploring downtown SLO and the surrounding area.  I would definitely stay here again the next time I visit SLO.  Here are some pics of my room and of the hotel.

Image source: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/oakerup-the-kinney-san-luis-obispo/

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