Author Archives: Shelli

About Shelli

Shelli Stein is a health and fitness entrepreneur who travels the world in search of culture, food, and fun! Besides contributing to Travel with Grant, you can find her at Joy in Movement.

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Which Password Do You Use to Sign Into Your New Marriott Account?

Over the weekend I received a bunch of calls and emails from friends and family members telling me they couldn’t sign in to their newly combined Marriott account. If it had only been one or two people I might not have thought much about it. But with this much confusion going on I wanted to dig deeper and see what the issue was.

I hadn’t logged into my own account for a few days, and sure enough when logging into my account after a few failed attempts I realized what the issue was. I’m sharing this just in case you or someone you know is having trouble or is confused. You may want to grab a shot of espresso because this is confusing.

Marriott/SPG linking accounts instructions

Is anyone else confused by this??

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New York City Limits Ride-Hailing Services

Did you know that New York City just became the first major U.S. city to limit ride-hailing services? This news grabbed my attention because of something that happened the last time I was in NYC. As I was walking by City Hall I noticed that it was sealed off. On the front steps a protest was in progress. I saw press coverage and someone was making a speech. I walked around the park for a bit and then as I was leaving the area I saw one of the protestors with a man I assumed was a politician. They were being interviewed by a television station. It was the tail end of the interview so I didn’t catch much. The protest signs said something about taxi drivers committing suicide, but not living in New York City I had no idea what this meant or what story it was referencing. I meant to do some research but forgot about it.

Uber/Lyft car in NYC

Image source: https://www.npr.org/2018/08/09/637008474/new-york-city-temporarily-halts-more-uber-and-lyft-cars-on-the-road

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The FERRY Best of Staten Island

I’m not much into cruises but I do have one that’s my all-time favorite, and it just might surprise you. Even better than it being my favorite, one thing about this cruise seems to be something most people don’t know……it’s FREE! And you’ll almost cruise close enough to be able to shake hands with a very famous lady! Okay, enough with the hints. I’m talking about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise.

The Staten Island Ferry – A Free New York Harbor Cruise

You’d think there wouldn’t be much to know about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise except you get on, you cruise and see incredible New York Harbor sites, you get off. But as I recently found out, just knowing about the cruise and that it’s free is only the beginning of what you need to know to make this outing a great memorable adventure.

a ferry boat in the water with Staten Island Ferry in the background

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island_Ferry

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Why I’m Giving the New SPG Luxury Card a Pass

I’ve been on the fence about whether or not to apply for the new Amex SPG Luxury card and I’ve finally decided to pass. I’ve been a long time Amex customer and have had both the SPG personal and business cards for many years. I used them both, and put as much spend on them as I could. For years all my non-bonused spend went on the personal SPG card and the business card saw heavy use, too.

I really appreciated the Sheraton lounge access that came with the business card. SPG was for many years my number one hotel chain and until the SPG/Marriott merger, SPG was always in my top two. I’ve had multiple amazing SPG hotel stays on four continents.

I never got to Platinum status but did maintain Gold year after year and always felt my Gold status was acknowledged in many generous ways. The merger with Marriott was not one I would have voted for, but then my vote didn’t count :) My SPG cards came out of my wallet and my last Sheraton stay was 8 months ago. Continue reading

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Marriott Fans, I Need Help!

Ready for a rant? And this isn’t even about the Marriott/SPG merger, either. I’m not a Marriott loyalist, but I’m no hotel newbie either. It’s a simple task I should be able to do that I can’t. And I’m frustrated. I challenged Grant, as well, and he couldn’t figure it out. I can’t find an email address for a Marriott property so I can email the hotel directly. Surely this has to be doable?? I can do it with Hyatt hotels, and Hilton, too. And used to be able to easily find email addresses at SPG properties. So I’m asking you TWG readers and Marriott loyalists……how the heck do you find an email address for a Marriott property?? It’s not on Google nor on the hotel website. Oh yeah, it’s the Copenhagen Marriott! But I’m hoping someone will be able to tell us in general how to find email addresses for Marriott hotels. Thanks, everyone, for hopefully putting an end to this rant :)