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Hotel Review: Hilton Beijing Capital Airport (Beautiful Hotel Close to PEK)

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Good morning everyone.  As part of my 10 Day Asia Trip, I spent my first night at the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport.  This hotel is 5 minutes away from Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) and I took the complimentary airport shuttle to the hotel.  Before I arrived in Beijing, the front desk sent me a helpful email with directions on where to meet the airport shuttle.  When I originally booked this hotel a few months ago, I believe the price was roughly $190 USD, but I opted to use 40,000 Hilton Honors Points instead.  A few days before my trip, I checked the hotel prices and the price was down to around $120 USD or 36,000 Hilton Honors Points.  I ended up cancelling my points reservation and rebooking the paid rate.  Between paying with my American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card, my Hilton Diamond Elite Status, and various Hilton promos, I ended up earning 9,450 Hilton Honors Points, which is worth $47.25 to me (I value Hilton Honors Points at 0.5 cents per point).

I’ve stayed at a handful of airport hotels, but this hotel was different… it was really nice!  The check in area was beautiful, my room was great, the lounge was refreshing, and the breakfast spread had many options.

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Image source: https://www.hilton.com.cn/file/images/20170908/20170908114846521EcmVbcJ.jpg

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4 Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: IHG (100%), American (35%), British Airways (30%) & Avianca (145%)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers ending soon.  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 4 offers that end this week.  Up first, IHG Hotels is offering a 100% bonus, when you purchase more than 7,000 IHG Rewards Club Points.  This offer expires today – September 24. 

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10 Day Asia Trip Report Summary (China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan & Nepal)

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Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well.  By the time you read this post, I will be flying Cathay Pacific business class back to San Francisco.  At the beginning of the trip, I flew Air China business class from San Francisco to Beijing.  For the last 10 days, I have been hopping around Asia and I visited these cities:

  • Beijing, China (1 night)
  • Yangon, Myanmar (3 nights)
  • Dhaka, Bangladesh (1 night)
  • Paro & Thimphu, Bhutan (2 nights)
  • Kathmandu, Nepal (2 nights)
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Great Circle Mapper: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=PEK-RGN-DAC-PBH-KTM

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Google Fi Introduces New Unlimited Plan

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For those of you who haven’t already switched to my favorite phone service of all time, now might be your perfect chance. Google Fi (formerly Project Fi) is Google’s flagship mobile service that offers coverage in 200+ countries and territories, flat data rates, no contracts, and unlimited domestic calls and texts within the US.

Over the past several years, Google Fi has evolved from its beginnings with the Nexus and Pixel phones to present day, where members have the opportunity to bring their own phone to Fi. Most Android and iPhone models work with the Google Fi SIM card, so users aren’t required to buy a Pixel anymore. (I still would suggest buying a Pixel if you don’t have one, but that’s another story.)

Recently, Google Fi put a $60 cap on the cost of data for each cycle. Before then, data cost a flat $10 per gig but there wasn’t any relevant volume discount, so free data after 6GB was certainly a welcome change. Now, however, Google is upping their game with new unlimited plans that especially benefit families and groups.

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Easy Conversion / Product Change from Citi Premier to Citi Rewards+ Credit Card (10% Rebate Feature Available Immediately)

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Good morning everyone.  As a result of my recent July Credit Card App-O-Rama, I now had 2 Citi Premier Credit Cards.  The plan all along was to product change the first / oldest Citi Premier Credit Card into a new Citi Rewards+ Credit Card.  I will keep the second / newest Citi Premier Credit Card as is because I need access to the Citi Thank You Point airline transfer partners.  I called Citi and asked the rep to convert my Citi Premier Credit Card into a Citi Rewards+ Credit Card.  The rep processed the conversion and stated the following:

  • The conversion process would take a total of 51 days, starting on September 5, 2019.
  • The conversion process would be completed on October 26, 2019 (if I wanted to stop the conversion process, I needed to call back before this date).
  • My credit card account number would not change (but the credit card expiration date and CVV code would most likely change).
  • It would take up to 11 days for benefits to kick in (I’m not sure if that is true, by credit card benefits seemed to kick in right away).
  • My new Citi Rewards+ Credit Card would arrive in 10-14 days (but I could continue to use my existing Citi Premier Credit Card until the new credit card arrived).

After the call, I logged into my Citi online account and spotted my new Citi Rewards+ Credit Card beneath my Citi Premier Credit Card.

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