Tag Archives: Hotel Loyalty Points

a woman with blonde hair and a green shirt

I Paid $5,341 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2024 – Was it Worth it?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2024 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • Credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards with product changes
  • Credit cards that were closed this year
  • All other credit cards

For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, but I did include the value of miles and points earned from sign up bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, discounted points, and rebated points.  I counted all credits, reimbursements, and retention offers at face value.  I list the value of all tangible and intangible benefits below too.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2024 and those values are in the CCB $ column. If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column. I listed the credit card annual fees in the AF $ column. Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P/L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P/L.  Laura’s card are included as well. Continue reading

a black and white logo

Sortable Table of Eligible Properties for $200 Semi Annual Hilton Resort Credit (40 More Properties Added)

Updated 8pm PT on 12/21/24: The table below has been updated with 40 new properties.  15 of the properties are in the Curio Collection and 15 of the properties are in Hilton Hotels & Resorts.  3 properties were removed.  Please go to the bottom of this post to see all the changes.


Good evening everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  Recently, American Express and Hilton updated their list of properties that are eligible for the $200 semi annual Hilton resort credit on the American Express Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card.  The current list (found here) contains 294 properties (as of 12/21/24), but they are grouped by Brand Name, not sorted alphabetically by property name or country.  This makes it difficult to find a property or see which properties are available in certain cities or countries around the world.  I decided to take a crack at the list and add the city and country for each property and make the list sortable and searchable.

For some international properties, I was not sure which part of the property address was the city vs province / state / territory, so I need your help.  Please review the list and let me know if the city listed next to a specific property is incorrect and I will update the table.

a screenshot of a credit card

Continue reading

a blue text on a white background

Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska Airlines (60%), Marriott Hotels (45%) & Many More in December

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. While updating my Buy Miles & Points Page, I discovered 2 offers that expire this week and several others that end in December (a complete list can be found at the bottom of this post). Remember to crunch the numbers to ensure purchasing miles and points is beneficial for your needs. It’s best to avoid buying miles and points speculatively unless you have a specific purpose in mind. With that in mind, here are 2 offers that are ending soon.

Up first, Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 60% bonus, depending on the number of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles you purchase. This offer expires on December 23.

a man sitting in a boat with mountains in the background

Continue reading

a red text on a white background

Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Air Canada (80%), IHG (100%), Leading Hotels of the World (100%), Choice (60%), Spirit (40%) & Many More in December

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 5 offers that end this week and many more end in December (see the list at the bottom of this post).  Always check the math to make sure that buying miles & points makes sense for you.  Do not buy miles & points speculatively unless you have a use in mind.  With that said, here are 5 offers that end soon.

Up first, Air Canada is offering up to an 80% bonus, depending on the number of Air Canada Aeroplan Miles you purchase. This offer expires tomorrow – December 10.

a screenshot of a website

Continue reading

a woman with blonde hair and a green shirt

Chase 5/24 Rule Is Overrated: 6 Credit Cards & Bonuses I Scored After I Stopped Worrying

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is off to a great start.  Every time a new credit card is announced or the sign up bonus increases to an all-time high, bloggers and readers debate endlessly about whether the card is “worthy of a Chase 5/24 slot.”  Back in the day (before the Chase 5/24 Rule existed), I think Chase had the best credit cards and the best sign up bonuses, but those days are long gone.  Many credit cards from American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Capital One, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo have bigger sign up bonuses and more transferable points than similar Chase credit cards. I like to think of myself as a free agent when it comes to credit cards, miles, and points, so I Chase chase the credit card sign up bonus, regardless of the credit card issuer.

I currently have 8 Chase credit cards, and based on my Chase 5/24 score, I won’t be able to pick up any new Chase credit cards for more than a 12-18 months.  The last Chase credit card I applied for was the Chase Ink Cash Credit Card and I was happy to pick up 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.  Here is my current Chase credit card roster:

Grant’s Chase Credit Cards Opened Notes
Chase Freedom Flex 1 11/1/2013 Opened Chase Freedom (2013), converted to Chase Sapphire Reserve (2017), & converted to Chase Freedom Flex (2021).
Chase IHG Rewards Select 11/18/2013
JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton 12/15/2014 Opened JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (2014), converted to Chase Marriott Premier Plus (2017), & converted to JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (2019).
Chase Ink Plus 3/21/2016
Chase IHG Rewards Premier 7/25/2018
Chase Freedom Flex 2 7/13/2021 Opened Chase Sapphire Preferred (2021) & converted to Chase Freedom Flex (2023).
Chase IHG Rewards Business 6/17/2022
Chase Ink Cash 10/13/2023

Continue reading