Tag Archives: Hilton Hotels

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Hotel Review: Best Western Chinatown Hotel in Yangon, Myanmar (Great Price & Meals)

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Good morning everyone.  After leaving Beijing, I spent 3 nights in Yangon, Myanmar on my 10 Day Asia Trip.  Myanmar does not have many chain hotels, so I checked on TripAdvisor and the Best Western Chinatown was a top pick and was only ~$50 USD / night.  A few weeks before checking in, I status matched from Hilton Diamond Elite Status to Best Western Diamond Select Elite Status.  This hotel is nothing fancy, but the breakfast and dinner were excellent.  The hotel also had a spa that offered 20% off massages in the afternoon and a sauna attached to the gym.  I wasn’t planning on writing a hotel review about this hotel, but after I checked out, I regretted not taking more pictures of the hotel.  Therefore, I am borrowing images from the Best Western website.

a tall building with many cars parked in front of it

Image source: https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/book/hotels-in-yangon/best-western-chinatown-hotel/propertyCode.99702.html

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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.

a building with a large entrance

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

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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)
a map of the world with numbers and a red line

Great Circle Mapper: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=PEK-RGN-DAC-PBH-KTM

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Hotel Hack: Book Award Night When Only Cash Rates Available (YMMV)

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Good morning everyone.  This is a hotel hack that I have used a few times to various degrees of success.  It is definitely in the “gray area” of travel hacking (read Frequent Miler’s Blogging the Line post), but all’s fair in love, war, and award redemptions, right?  I don’t want to state any specific hotel chains or specific hotels that have worked for me, but this should technically be possible everywhere, but your mileage may vary (YMMV).  For this hotel hack, let me paint you a picture…

You are in the middle of planning your trip, the award flights are booked, the discounted rental car is booked, your activities are all planned out, but the hotel you have your eye on is not available on points.  Bummer!  Not to worry, there may be a way to book the hotel on points for the night you want.

a neon sign with letters

Image source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0795957/mediaviewer/rm3400816384

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My July App-O-Rama Credit Card Results (Spoiler: 4 out of 5 Approved)

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Updated on 7/20/2019 at 8am: I added the Barclays rejection letter to the bottom of this post.

Good morning everyone, I hope your 2 day Prime Day shopping spree is going well.  Even though I didn’t buy much on the first day of Prime Day, I did pick up a few new credit cards.  My last App-O-Rama was in March, so I patiently waited 3+ months until my July App-O-Rama.  As a reminder, I was approved for 3 out of 4 credit cards in my March App-O-Rama, including the American Express Gold Card, the US Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Signature Credit Card, and the Wells Fargo Business Platinum Credit Card.  With those minimum spending requirements completed and the sign up bonuses redeemed, it was time to focus on these 5 credit cards.  Here is a quick summary of my July App-O-Rama:

  • Citi Premier Credit Card – instantly approved
  • American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Credit Card – pending, then approved (I called AMEX and had to close an old card to open up a credit card slot)
  • Barclay AAdvantage Aviator Business Credit Card – pending, then declined (too many recent inquiries)
  • Banco Popular Avianca Vuela Credit Card – instantly approved
  • Wells Fargo Propel World Credit Card – instantly approved (I called Wells Fargo to apply for this credit card over the phone)

Citi Premier Credit Card

I currently have a Citi Premier Credit Card that I have had for 4+ years, but I wanted to get another one since the sign up bonus is currently 60,000 Citi Thank You Points after spending $4,000 in 3 months.  If I was approved for a second Citi Premier Credit Card, my plan was to downgrade/convert my old Citi Premier Credit Card into a Citi Rewards+ Credit Card.

a screenshot of a credit card

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