Tag Archives: Hotels

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4 Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska (50%), Choice (30%), JetBlue (50%) & Southwest (40%)

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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 4 offers that end this week.  Up first, Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 50% bonus, depending on the number of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles you purchase.  This offer expires today – September 14. 

There is also an Alaska Airlines 2-for-1 promo going on today with the San Francisco Giants.

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Keep, Cancel or Convert? Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card ($95 Annual Fee)

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  As part of my “Keep, Cancel or Convert?” series, I like to evaluate and reevaluate credit cards to make sure they still deserve a spot in my wallet (or credit card drawer). For today’s post, I was reviewing my Chase credit cards and noticed that the $95 annual fee posted to my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.  I have had this credit card in various forms over the last few years, starting with the $395 JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card, then to the $85 Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card, then to the $95 Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card, and now the $95 Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.  Hopefully that all made sense to you.

Even though I do not love Marriott Bonvoy (even more so after the upcoming Peak and Off-Peak pricing goes into effect), I have continued to keep this credit card for the free night certificate.  I can usually get $150-$200 of value from the Marriott Bonvoy 35K Free Night Certificate.  I always call when an annual fee posts and ask the credit card company to waive the annual fee (a really long shot), provide a partial statement credit (occasionally), or provide a targeted retention offer (sometimes).  If you do not ask, you have a 0% chance of success – the worst they can say is no.  So, what did I get offered and what I learn from the call?

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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.

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

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5 Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending Soon: United (85%), Hyatt (40%), Alaska (50%), American (10%) & 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 5 offers that end this week.  Up first, United Airlines is offering up to an 85% bonus, depending on the number of United Airlines MileagePlus Miles you purchase.  This offer expires tomorrow – August 27.

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Should you Mattress Run to Complete IHG Accelerate Promo?

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Updated at 6:30am PT on 8/22: The new IHG Accelerate promo is announced and will run from September 1 through December 31.

Good afternoon everyone.  The current IHG Accelerate promo ends on August 31, 2019 so there are only 9 days left to complete the requirements to earn your bonus IHG Points.  Everyone’s requirements and bonus will be different, but my Accelerate offer was for up to 34,200 IHG Points.  Let’s look closer at the requirements and see how close I am to earning the full bonus.

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