Tag Archives: Chase Bank

Southwest Airlines Companion Pass – Part 2: Hyatt and Chase Ultimate Reward Points Game Plan

Southwest Airlines Companion Pass Logo

Southwest Airlines Companion Pass – Part 2: Hyatt and Chase Ultimate Reward Points Game Plan

Before reading Part 2, please read Part 1.  As a refresher, to get a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass, you need to earn 110,000 Southwest Airlines miles in a calendar year.  Southwest Airlines has a handy page to track your current Companion Pass status (link).  As of today (October 23, 2014), I need to earn 41,522 more Southwest Airlines miles to obtain a Southwest Airlines Companion Pass good through the rest of 2014 and all of 2015.

Grant Thomas Current Companion Pass Status

Last year, I converted 50,000 Hyatt points into 30,000 Southwest Airlines miles.  I plan to do the same thing this year (image is from last year).

New Hyatt Account Balance

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Set up Apple Pay in Passbook on your iPhone 6/Plus

Apple Passbook App

Set up Apple Pay in Passbook on your iPhone 6/Plus

(Hat tip to Mac World for the info)

As of today (October 20, 2014), you can add these credit and debit cards to your Passbook (other banks will be supported over the coming weeks/months, including gift cards):

  • American Express
  • Bank of America
  • Capital One
  • Chase
  • Citi
  • MasterCard
  • Visa
  • Wells Fargo

If you have an iPhone 6/Plus that is on 8.1 or newer, you can set up Apple Pay.  Click the Passbook icon on your iPhone and then scroll to the very top and click the ‘+’ button to add a credit or debit card to your Passbook.

Add Credit Debit Card to Passbook App

To read the full article, please click here.

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Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip Summary and my Train Traveling Thoughts

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a man sitting on a couch and looking at a model train

Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip Summary and my Train Traveling Thoughts

For those of you not following along at home, here are the 5 parts of my Amtrak Coast Starlight journey:

I promise this is my last Amtrak post for a while.  While on the train, I had a lot of free time so I passed the time looking out the windows, taking pictures, and writing blog posts.  The journey took me from Seattle down to Los Angeles and stopped several times (sometimes for 2 minutes, sometimes for 45+ minutes), it just depends on the train traffic and if we are ahead of schedule or not.  Train travel is not for everyone, but it is worth considering a trip across this great country.  Here is a map of the journey:

Amtrak Coast Starlight Train Stops Map

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Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip – Part 5: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner in the Dining Car and Parlour Car

Parlour Car Logo

Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip – Part 5: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner in the Dining Car and Parlour Car

If you like looking at pictures of food, this post is just for you.  First things first, you need a reservation for lunch and dinner in the dining car and the parlour car.  Both restaurants are in adjoining cars and serve different meals.  You need to make a reservation otherwise you will not be able to eat at either restaurant.  The Amtrak attendant will walk through the parlour and sleeping cars and make reservations for everyone.

Lunch Reservation

The dining car has 16-18 tables while the parlour car has only 8 tables (so the parlour car reservations fill up faster).

Parlour Car Table Parlour Car Table 2

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Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip – Part 4: Bedrooms at Night, Showers, Parlour Car, and Movie Theater

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By popular request, here is is what the Amtrak bedrooms look like when the beds are all folded down into what I like to call “sleep mode.”  Prepare yourself for some slumber party pictures…

The upper bunk…

Grant in Bunk

My friend Victor in the lower bunk…

Victor in Bunk

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