Tag Archives: Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

a close up of a sign

Hotel Review: Hotel Indigo Paris (Located near Opera & Vendome)

Posted on by . 29 Replies

Good evening everyone, greetings from Nice, France (Nice is pronounced “niece”).  I always seem to be a day late and a city behind in my trip reporting.  Before reviewing the Radisson Blu Nice and my day trip to Monaco, I want to share my thoughts on my recent 2 night stay at the Hotel Indigo Paris.  I used 2 anniversary night certificates from my Chase IHG Credit Card to book the stay.  In essence, I “paid” $49 for each night since that is what the annual fee is for the Chase IHG Credit Card.

Getting from CDG Airport to Paris is easy.  For €10 per person, you can go from CDG Airport to Châtelet Les Halles station (I have no idea how to properly pronounce this station) on the RER B (blue line) and connect to Opéra/Auber on the RER A (red line).  From Opéra/Auber station, the hotel is a short 5 minute walk.  Just make sure you know which street to turn on to so you don’t wheel your suitcase around Paris aimlessly like I did.

Getting around Paris can be kind of tricky since there are 2 overlapping train networks (RER and Metro) that share most of the stations. When in doubt, ask the information booth for assistance and they will be happy to help.

Paris Metro Map CDG to Opera Station

Continue reading →

a hand pointing at a sign

Hotel & Flight Bookings for LHR, CDG, NCE, MUC, VCE, and DUB

Posted on by . 14 Replies

Good morning everyone, happy TGI Friday!  First, I wanted to thank everyone for voting in my poll (Reader Feedback Needed: Which Blog Posts Should I Write First?).  I was busy this week with 2 free movie screenings in SF (13 Hours and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies) and the SF Travel Hackers Meetup, but I’m finally getting around to writing about my upcoming trip to Europe.  That was the overwhelming winner and since my trip starts tomorrow (1/16), I better write about it before I fly out of town.

Blog Topic Poll 1-14-2016

I will share my thought process and booking experience with my flights and then about my hotels.  Since I planned most of this trip back in March/April/May 2015, I was able to find award space to/from SFO very easily.  Here is an overview of my paid and award flights:

  • SFO-LAX (AA First) and LAX-LHR (AA Business) = 50,000 AA miles + $5.60 in taxes/fees
  • LHR-CDG (British Airways economy) = 2,500 BA Avios + $57.50 in taxes/fees
  • CDG-NCE (Air France economy) = $56.76
  • NCE-MUC / MUC-VCE (Lufthansa economy) = $99.99
  • VCE-LGW-DUB (British Airways / Aer Lingus economy) = $138.60
  • DUB-SFO (Aer Lingus economy) = 25,000 BA Avios + $106.76 in taxes/fees

GCM Eurotrip 2016

Continue reading →

a blue credit card with white text

Chase Freedom Q1 Transportation for Uber/Lyft/Bart, Chime Card Offers & BankAmeriDeals

Posted on by . Leave a reply

Good morning everyone, hopefully you had a fun and safe New Years Eve.  January 1 marks the beginning of Q1 and the new Chase Freedom categories are now live (gas stations and local commuter transportation).  According to Travel Codex: “Local commuter transportation includes the following ride share services and nearly any public transit agency: Uber, Lyft, Sidecar, Taxis, Local and suburban passenger commuter train and subway fares (excl. Amtrak), Local commuter tickets, and Local commuter ferry tickets.”

Chase Freedom Q1 2016 Home Page

Continue reading →

a woman holding her hands up with a man in front of him

Travel Predictions for 2016 Part 2: Credit Cards and MS

Posted on by . 25 Replies

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you enjoyed my insightful/crazy ramblings in Travel Predictions for 2016 Part 1: Airlines and Hotels.  If you liked that post, you will surely love my crazy predictions about credit cards and MS.  Full disclosure, I wrote most of this post on my iPhone standing in front of a dryer at my local laundromat, so the train of thought might be kind of strange.  I apologize.  Without any further ado, let’s get started!

Credit Cards

Chase – with the loss of Amtrak and the addition of Singapore Airlines in 2015, I think we will see some more changes to Chase’s transfer partners in 2016.  I think we will see some more international airlines added (like the Citi Thank You Points program).  A few guesses?  Air Canada, Qantas, Air China, and Lufthansa (insert your favorite international airline).  Chase Ultimate Rewards will continue to transfer 1:1 to all programs and there will be no transfer bonuses.  I think there will be a newsworthy announcement for the Chase Sapphire Preferred, maybe adding free Gogo WiFi like the US Bank FlexPerks Credit Card or perhaps a new 3x category to compete with Citi Premier/Prestige Credit Cards.  What about our beloved Chase Ink Bold/Plus Business Cards?  I am worries that the 5x category might change to something less lucrative or the yearly cap might be lowered.  I also predict Chase will launch a completely new travel rewards credit card in 2016.  Maybe the Airbnb/Uber Credit Card?  Lastly, I hope Chase loosens up on the 5/24 rule or completely eliminates the rule altogether.   Continue reading →

a woman holding her hands up with a man in front of him

Reviewing my Travel Predictions from December 30, 2013

Posted on by . 7 Replies

A few years ago, I wrote My Travel Predictions (Both Good and Bad) for 2014 on December 30, 2013.  I thought I wrote a similar post at the end of 2014 for 2015 predictions, but I guess I did not.  Anyway, I thought it would be fun to review that original post and see how close I came to predicting the truth.  For the most part, I think my predictions were about a year too early.

My original predictions are in black and my thoughts/reactions are in red.

Airlines:

  • British Airways – I think the 4,500 and 7,500 (maybe even 10,000) Avios award prices will go away or the entire award chart will be revamped.  The current prices are just too good.  I was partially right about the 4,500 BA Avios award band.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the 4,500 BA Avios band completely disappears in 2016.
  • Alaska Airlines and Delta Airlines – since there has been a lot of fighting over routes to/from SEA and SLC, I think Alaska will no longer allow you to earn or redeem miles with Delta.  This is an ongoing issue, but I think the fighting will continue in 2016.
  • American Airlines and US Airways – after the merger, we will see some new “enhancements” (aka devaluations) to the new award chart.  Maybe off-peak awards will be changed or removed.  You could see this coming from a mile away.  I’m sad that off-peak awards are changing.
  • Southwest Airlines and AirTran – hopefully the merger goes through smoothly and quickly.  I look forward to using Southwest Rapid Reward Points for flights to Hawaii, Mexico City, and other tropical destinations south of the border.  I also think the 50,000 Southwest Rapid Reward sign up bonus will no longer count for companion pass status, it is just too easy to get Companion Pass.  I hope Southwest continues to add new routes.  I’m especially excited about the newly announced LAX-LIR (Liberia, Costa Rica) route starting in mid 2016.
  • Hawaiian Airlines – merge with another airline, maybe JetBlue or Alaska Airlines.  This seems unlikely, but it could still happen.
  • Lufthansa  – revamp their award chart after everyone signs up for their credit card.  I wasn’t approved for the Barlcays Lufthansa credit card (or any Barclays credit card, ever), so I don’t care what happens to the Lufthansa award chart.
  • Virgin Atlantic – miles will be transferable 1:1 with Virgin America and Virgin Australia.  This seems unlikely, but Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines allow transferring miles between their award programs (just not at a 1:1 ratio).

Continue reading →