Tag Archives: Hotel Loyalty Points

I Cancelled My Trip to Ireland

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Good afternoon everyone.  Yesterday, after hearing about the Europe travel ban, we decided to cancel our trip to Ireland.  It’s disappointing but life is unpredictable right now.  Thankfully, most of the trip was booked with miles and points, so cancelling was easy.  I was able to cancel my Hyatt award stay and all 5 Radisson Blu award stays since I was outside the cancellation period and the hotel points were immediately redeposited to my accounts.   I cancelled my rental car reservation booked through Priceline.  I had purchased a few activities through Expedia and was able to cancel those as well.  I should receive the credit card refund in a few days.

Lastly, I needed to cancel my round trip SFO-DUB Aer Lingus award ticket booked with British Airways Avios.  Online, it shows a $55 cancellation fee per passenger.  I called BA and asked if they could waive the cancellation fee but was told that the flight is still operating as scheduled and that if the phone agent cancelled the reservation, there would be an additional $25 fee.  I decided to cancel the award ticket online and the BA Avios were immediately redeposited to my BA account.  The cash refund should arrive in the next 1-2 weeks.

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Changes to $250 Resort Credit & Point Transfers for American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card (Effective May 1, 2020)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was just going through my recent American Express credit card statements and stumbled upon this upcoming change to the $250 Hilton Resort Credit and point transfers for the American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card.  Effective May 1, 2020, American Express may reverse statement credits earned if your eligible purchase is returned / cancelled (aka, if you book a refundable hotel reservation to earn the credit, then later cancel the hotel reservation).  American Express may also reverse the statement credit for “abuse” or “misuse” of the benefit and if you do not maintain the eligible card for the entire year (aka, if you downgrade or close your card before the year is over).  These are some pretty specific warnings from American Express.

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Preview: My 5 Radisson Blu Hotels in Ireland / Northern Ireland (202K Radisson Rewards Points Redeemed)

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  In a few weeks, Laura and I will head to Ireland for her spring break (she is an assistant principal, so we can only travel during school breaks).  As I wrote about a few days ago, there are 8 Radisson Blu properties in Ireland and 1 property in Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom).  We plan on staying at 5 different Radisson Blu properties on our roadtrip, including Belfast, Sligo, Limerick, Cork, and then Dublin Airport.  In this post, I will show you the point redemptions and share a photo of the hotels from the Radisson Blu website.

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8 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Hilton (100%), American (55%), Avianca (125%), United (85%), IHG (75%), Radisson (25%), Hyatt (25%) & Etihad (20%)

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Good afternoon everyone.  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found a few offers ending soon.  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 8 offers that end this month.  Up first, Hilton is offering a 100% bonus, when you purchase at least 10,000 Hilton Honors Points.  This offer expires today – February 19.

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How to Spend a Long Weekend in Carmel / Monterey, CA

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Good morning everyone.  This past weekend, Laura and I did a mini road trip from the San Francisco Bay Area down to Carmel / Monterey.  If you fly into San Francisco (SFO), Oakland (OAK), or San Jose (SJC), it is a 1.5 to 2 hour drive, depending on traffic.  Alternatively, you can fly directly into Monterey (MRY), but that airport has a smaller route network and more expensive flights.  I have been visiting Carmel / Monterey for 25+ years.  Every year for Thanksgiving week, my extended family would drive up from Southern California to Carmel / Monterey and I would spend time with my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.  As far as I can tell, not much has changed during that time in Carmel / Monterey.  Here are some of my favorite places to stay, eat and visit.

Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course

Laura and I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel twice in the last 3 years.  This hotel is a category 4 Hyatt which costs 15,000 World of Hyatt Points or you can use your Free Night Certificate from the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card.  As of January 2020, there is minor construction on the main entrance road and outside the hotel lobby.  They are also refreshing the hotel rooms and we stayed in one of the refreshed rooms.  The hotel has plenty of parking (all free) and no resort charges.  It is very easy to get to various parts of Carmel / Monterey within a 10-15 minute drive.  I highly recommend this hotel and plan to come back next year after the construction and room renovations are complete.

Image source: https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/california/hyatt-regency-monterey-hotel-and-spa-on-del-monte-golf-course/mrydm

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