Tag Archives: Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar in the Bahamas (Category 4) and Holiday Inn Express Solvang (Into the Nights Promo Drama)

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Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar in the Bahamas (Category 4) and Holiday Inn Express Solvang (Into the Nights Promo Drama)

I received an email yesterday afternoon from Hyatt and noticed a new Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar hotel opening in the Bahamas.  It looks like a very nice hotel/resort (hotel link).

Grand Hyatt Bahamas

Clicking through, it appears to be a category 4 hotel, requiring only 15,000 Hyatt Points per night.  The best part of this, is that if you have a Chase Hyatt Credit Card, you get a free night certificate every year you pay the annual fee good for any category 1-4 Hyatt hotel in the world.  This new hotel/resort qualifies!  Reservations cannot be made until June 2015.

Hyatt Points Reservation

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Hidden Gems of Visa Savings Edge: National Rental Cars, Alamo Rental Cars, Park Whiz, and GO Airport Shuttles

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Hidden Gems of Visa Savings Edge: National Rental Cars, Alamo Rental Cars, Park Whiz, and GO Airport Shuttles

If you have a Visa Business Credit Card (probably a Chase Ink Bold or Chase Ink Plus Credit Card), you probably already know about Visa Savings Edge, if not, please read this post.  Staples is probably the only partner you use on Visa Savings Edge.  The concept is simple: use you Visa Business Credit Card at Staples or on Staples.com and receive a 1% statement credit on all orders of $200 or more.

Staples on Visa Savings Edge

After you enroll in Visa Savings Edge and add your Visa Business Credit Cards, you do not need to do anything else.  The statement credits automatically post to your Visa Business Credit Card account within a few days.  The process couldn’t be any easier or simpler.

Ink Bold Cash Back with Visa Savings Edge

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Trains and Buses from Orange County to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Diego International Airport (SAN)

Train Bus Airplane Public Transportation

Trains and Buses from Orange County to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and San Diego International Airport (SAN)

This post was inspired by my recent Amtrak trip from Seattle to Los Angeles on the Coast Starlight (link).  I was curious if/how it were possible to get from Los Angeles Union Station to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  After doing some research, I found out how to get to LAX from Orange County.  Then I figured out how to get to San Diego International Airport (SAN) from Orange County.  There are several airports in SoCal, but I did not look into flights out of Long Beach (LGB), Burbank (BUR), Santa Barbara (SBA), Ontario (ONT), San Diego McClellan-Palomar (CLD), or Palm Springs (PSP).  This particular post is probably only useful for SoCal readers, but the thinking process can probably be applied to many other regions of the country.

To start, I looked at the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak train route.  Since the train travels between San Diego and San Luis Obispo several times per day, you can probably use this train to get to and from LAX and SAN.

LAX Union Station to Irvine to San Diego

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Quick Deal: 11 Reams of Paper for $10 at Staples (Expires November 1)

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Quick Deal: 11 Reams of Paper for $10 at Staples (Expires November 1)

Good afternoon everyone, I have a quick deal for you if you are in the market for some paper.  Every Sunday morning, Staples updates their coupons page (link) with the weekly deals.  For the last few weeks, paper has been promoted because it is a loss leader for Staples and get’s people into the store.  Without these deals, I would just buy my $200 Visa gift cards from Staples.com and never enter the store.  Remember, you must tell the checkout cashier the coupon codes, otherwise you will not get the prices below.

Staples Paper Discounts 10-26-2014

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

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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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