Tag Archives: Hilton Hotels

New American Express Offers and Citi Thank You Point Redemptions

AMEX Offers

New American Express Offers and Citi Thank You Point Redemptions

Good evening everyone!  I am still alive after my 16 mile hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back on Sunday.  My feet and legs are still killing me, but my hands and fingers are doing good enough to type this blog post.  I promise I will get a trip report up soon with several pics of my time at Flagstaff Extreme Obstacle Course, Bedrock City, Bearizona Wildlife Park, and the Grand Canyon.

Anyways, here are some of the new (and exciting) American Express Offers For You.  As always, check all of your American Express cards, even the one’s you hardly use (I’m looking at you Delta Gold card).

5 AMEX Cards

Here are the offers that interest me (your offers might differ):

Bloomingdales on AMEX

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(Massive Trip Report) Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome in 2 Weeks

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(Massive Trip Report) Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, and Rome in 2 Weeks

Good morning everyone!  Thanks to jet lag and time zones, I’m bringing you this massive trip report at 5AM PST.  Are you ready?  Let’s go!

  • US Airways: SFO-PHL-AMS-PHL-LAX (30,000 US Airways miles + taxes)
  • KLM: AMS-TXL, FCO-AMS (paid around $220 for both flights)
  • Air Berlin and Niki: TXL-VIE, VIE-FCO (4,500 Avios + taxes for each flight)

GC Map Euro Trip 2014

Read the entire trip report here.

Virgin Atlantic Transfers to Hilton HHonors Ratio Changing from 1:2 to 2:3, use AMEX Membership Reward Points to Liquidate Balance

UPDATE 3/1/14 @ 5:30PM PST: my transfer from Virgin Atlantic to Hilton HHonors took 22 days to complete (see photo below).

HH Honors

Virgin Atlantic Transfers to Hilton HHonors Ratio Changing from 1:2 to 2:3, use AMEX Membership Reward Points to Liquidate Balance

(Hat Tip to Mommy Points for breaking the story)

Good morning from Rome! That title is a mouthful, I know, but here is the breaking news of the morning:

  • Please note from 6 February 2014 the exchange miles to points rate is changing. Flying Club members will be able to exchange miles at the following rate: 2 Flying Club miles for 3 Hilton HHonors points.
  • You can currently exchange miles at a rate of (up until 5 February 2014): 1 Flying Club mile for 2 HHonors point.
  • Minimum Level: 10,000 miles and then in increments of 5,000. Just call the Flying Club Helpline (1-800-365-9500) with your HHonors account number.

Now that the cat (news) is out of the bag, it pays to be proactive. I have a small balance of Virgin Atlantic miles (only 11,260).  I want to get my balance up to 15,000 so I can transfer them out to my Hilton HHonors account.

Virgin Atlantic Balances

Here is my Virgin Atlantic account.  Copy your account number and head over to your American Express Membership Rewards Account.  I’m skipping a lot of steps below, but you can see the entire step-by-step guide here.  The guide shows you how to transfer to British Airways, but the process is exactly the same.   Continue reading →

(Hotel Review) Hilton Vienna and Executive Lounge (Great Breakfast and Appetizers)

Hilton Vienna Hotel Sign

(Hotel Review) Hilton Vienna and Executive Lounge (Great Breakfast and Appetizers)

Good morning/evening from Vienna, Austria!  I am finally glad to be here since these 2 nights are my 2 free weekend nights from my Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve credit card.  I got the 2 certificates last year and they were going to expire in a few weeks.  I’m not staying at some high end tropical beach-front paradise hotel (Vienna is quite the opposite), but a free night is a free night. Here is what each night would have cost.

The Hilton HHonors Points rates are very good.  The Hilton HHonors Points + Money rate results in 1.325 cents per point and the 40,000 Hilton HHonors Points rate results in 0.7 cents per point.

The twin room with city facing windows would result in even higher cent per point returns.  Ideally, I would have used the Points + Money rate, but these certificates were going to expire, so you gotta do what you gotta do.  I’m not a very good planner, obviously. Hilton Vienna Nightly Price HH Points

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PSA: Don’t use your Priority Pass Select Card from your American Express Hilton HHonors Surpass Credit Card

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This parent teacher association transportation security administration public service announcement is important if you have one or more Priority Pass Select cards.  Can you tell the difference between these two cards?

2 Priority Pass Cards

These cards may look almost the same, but one of them will charge you a $27 fee every time you (yes, the cardholder) enter a Priority Pass lounge.  Here is the email I received a few minutes ago.  If you do not get emails from American Express about “card not present” transactions, you can turn on the alerts from your American Express account.

AMEX Card Not Present Email

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