Tag Archives: Hotels

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Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card 100,000 Points Sign Up Bonus Posted (Matched via Secure Message)

Good morning everyone.  As part of my Mini July App-O-Rama, I was approved for the Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card.  The sign up bonus was for 80,000 IHG Points after spending $2,000 in 3 months + $50 statement credit after your first purchase.  A few days before my new credit card arrived, Chase increased the sign up bonus to 100,000 IHG Points after spending $3,000 in 3 months, so I sent Chase a Secure Message (SM) to get matched to that offer.  A few days later, I shared my welcome letter & card art; and a few days after that, I shared details of the $50 statement credit.

Chase responded to my Secure Message stating that after I spend $3,000 in 3 months on my new Chase IHG Rewards Premier Credit Card, I should respond to the Secure Message and let them know when the $3,000 spending was complete.  Chase would then manually add 20,000 IHG Points to my account.  I am happy to share the details of Chase’s Secure Message response.  The Chase rep verified that I spent more than $3,000 on my new credit card and stated that the 20,000 IHG Points would post to my IHG account on my next credit card statement.  Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long…

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The FERRY Best of Staten Island

I’m not much into cruises but I do have one that’s my all-time favorite, and it just might surprise you. Even better than it being my favorite, one thing about this cruise seems to be something most people don’t know……it’s FREE! And you’ll almost cruise close enough to be able to shake hands with a very famous lady! Okay, enough with the hints. I’m talking about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise.

The Staten Island Ferry – A Free New York Harbor Cruise

You’d think there wouldn’t be much to know about the Staten Island Ferry Harbor Cruise except you get on, you cruise and see incredible New York Harbor sites, you get off. But as I recently found out, just knowing about the cruise and that it’s free is only the beginning of what you need to know to make this outing a great memorable adventure.

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Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staten_Island_Ferry

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How to Combine SPG & Marriott Accounts (Points, Lifetime Status & Free Night Certificates)

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I’m not a huge fan of SPG or Marriott and didn’t give too much thought to choosing a reward package, so I’m far from an expert when it comes to the SPG / Marriott merger.  But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night…  But I did just combine my old SPG / new Marriott account with my existing Marriott account, so I wanted to show you the steps and share some of the interesting things about the combination process.  First thing first, I signed into my new Marriott account (old SPG account) and it shows that I have 3,495 Marriott Rewards Points, which sounds right, since I did have 1,165 SPG Points in my account.  It also shows 2 “Standard Redemption Rate” awards – I’m not sure what those are, but I think they are related to my 2 SPG award stays booked on July 11.

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Buy Points Promos: 40% Hyatt Bonus & 100% IHG Bonus Ending Next 24-48 Hours

Good afternoon everyone.  I have 2 buy points promos that are ending in the next 24-48 hours.  The first is with Hyatt.  Hyatt is running a mystery offer where you can buy Hyatt points and get up to a 40% bonus.  This offer ends tomorrow (August 21), so if you need Hyatt points, you need to act fast!  You might be targeted for a higher or lower buy points promo, so check the math to see if it makes sense.

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Chase IHG Premier Credit Card $50 Statement Credit Posted (1 Week After First Purchase)

Good afternoon everyone, I have a quick update to my recent post: Get Matched to the New Chase IHG Rewards Premier 100,000 Point Sign Up Bonus.  In that post, I sent Chase a Secure Message (SM) and got matched from the 80,000 IHG Points sign up bonus to the 100,000 IHG Points sign up bonus.  In the comments section of that post, readers wanted to know if I would still get the $50 statement credit after my first purchase if I accepted the higher sign up bonus offer.  I’m happy to report that the $50 statement credit posted a few days ago.  My first purchase posted on August 7 and the $50 statement credit posted on August 13, roughly 1 week later.  My $89 annual fee posted on August 1, which is roughly 2 weeks before the $50 statement credit posted.

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