Category Archives: Hotels + Points

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Hyatt 40% Bonus on Purchased Points (Expires May 23)

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Whether or not you buy hotel points when promotions are running, it’s good to know your options. We all like to travel more for less! Topping up accounts for an upcoming stay can serve us well when we can get more value from the cost of the stays then we spend on buying those points. I use up my Hyatt points way faster than I drink my flat whites, so I keep a list of hotel point promos handy to see if they’ll work for me.

Currently, Hyatt is running their buy points promotions. Depending on your travel plans this might be worth checking out.

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I Just Discovered Another Travel Agent Super Power

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I recently read about a Super Power that some travel agents possess! Don’t you hate it that some airlines make it difficult and near impossible to get preassigned seats? I know many travelers simply won’t fly these airlines, preferring instead to choose airlines where you can (even for a fee) have a preassigned seat.

Ah yes, that superpower. I read that when it is difficult to get preassigned seats, some travel agents and agencies, particularly Virtuoso agents, have access to seat assignments on these airlines that are not available to ordinary travelers. Good deal all around for both the travelers and agents. Continue reading →

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Chase Honored 20,000 Point Offer on Upgraded Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your day is going well.  2 days ago, I wrote My New Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card Arrived & Upgrade Offer Discrepancy.  In that post, I told you that I accepted a 20,000 point upgrade offer to upgrade from my old Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card to the new Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card.  But when I got the credit card and confirmed with the rep that my upgrade offer was 20,000 points, the rep told me that my account only showed a 10,000 point upgrade offer.

After that call, I sent Chase a Secure Message (SM) with the screenshots of the 20,000 point upgrade offer.  Shortly after that, I received a response.  My 20,000 point upgrade offer “will be honored” (I would hope so, since that is why I upgraded), after my first purchase.  To get the 20,000 point upgrade offer, I had to make 1 purchase.  After that purchase posted, I was told to reply to the Secure Message “to claim the offer.”

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Does Citi Really Know Where and When I am Traveling?

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Looks like all the credit card companies are jumping on the bandwagon. A while ago, American Express told me I don’t need to alert them when I travel. Now I’m getting similar notices from Citi. The weird thing about this notice is that it says it’s based on my airline ticket purchases, but I don’t put airlines tickets on this card. I do put hotel charges on this card and save a big bundle each year  using the Citi Prestige 4th night free benefit. But I also cancel those and sometimes rearrange the dates on my hotel stays.

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TWG Update: Credit Card & Buy Miles/Points Pages

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Mother’s Day Weekend.  I wanted to give a quick thank you to TWG readers who attended my OC Travel Hackers Meetup on Saturday and to all the TWG readers who left comments about how wonderful their mom is on my Amazon Gift Card Giveaway post (I will pick winners later today).  Let’s keep the thank yous coming.

This post is about credit card affiliate links, credit card referral links, and buy miles/points affiliate links.  I know there are some readers that hate using affiliate links and supporting bloggers by using those links.  That makes me sad.  Blogging is lots of fun, but it definitely requires work and lots of time.  Advertising revenue is nice, but credit card affiliate links is where the big money is.  I am a big proponent of credit card sign up bonuses and supporting my favorite travel bloggers, and credit card affiliate links are the perfect combination.  I hate talking about credit card affiliate links because I don’t want to sound greedy.  With all that said, I recently switched credit card affiliate networks (actually, they decided I was not producing enough sales and removed me from the program), so now I am with a new (smaller) credit card affiliate network.  I recently redesigned my credit card page and wanted to let my readers know (click the Credit Card link in the top navigation).

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At the top of the page, I have a list of credit card affiliate categories.  Sorry, I don’t have direct links to credit card offers, but click on the credit card category that best matches which credit card you are interested in.  This credit card affiliate network is smaller and newer than the previous network, so the website might not have every credit card you are interested in.  As the network continues to grow, they will increase the number of credit cards they offer.  If you do apply for a credit card through one of the category links, I really appreciate your support!

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