Tag Archives: Hyatt Hotels

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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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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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Why I Love My Chase Sapphire Reserve

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If you’ve been in the market for a new credit card, chances are you’ve stumbled across some information about the famed Chase Sapphire Reserve (CSR). In fact, this credit card has lately been catching a little more attention than usual due to a few changes in its benefit structure, but we’ll get to that a little later. 

I manage a collection of 30+ credit cards and they’re all beneficial to me in some way (otherwise there’s no point in keeping them) but I never leave home without my trusty CSR in tow. I’ve always liked the overall Chase awards structure, but that combined with the CSR earning potential and slew of benefits really bumps this card up to the next level. Here are some of the reasons why I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Earning Potential

The CSR functions as a basic 3X card for the categories that CSR is built for: travel and dining. Every other purchase will earn 1X points. Are there other credit cards that are better suited for earning points? Definitely. However, my largest purchases generally fall into the travel and dining categories anyway, and Chase is pretty lenient with their definitions of “travel” and “dining” purchases. 

For example, travel purchases include anything that could possibly fall under the umbrella of travel. This includes several different modes of transportation and accommodations including hotels, hostels, homestays, and Airbnbs.  Continue reading →

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Where is the No Annual Fee Hyatt Credit Card?

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Good afternoon everyone.  In the conclusion of my recent post, I stated that if I had to keep only 5 credit cards with annual fees, I would sadly have to close my hotel credit cards.  After I wrote that post, I decided that I would rather downgrade my hotel credit cards to no annual fee credit cards like the Marriott Bold or American Express Hilton.  I was curious if every hotel chain had a no annual fee credit card, so I decided to create this table showing the hotel brand, no annual fee credit card and the annual fee credit card.  Some hotel brands have several credit cards with different annual fees, so I chose to show credit cards with annual fees in the $75-$95 range.  A few things stood out to me… Hyatt was missing a no annual fee credit card.

Hotel Brand No Annual Fee Credit Card Annual Fee Credit Card
Choice Barclays Choice Privileges Visa Signature Credit Card N/A
Hilton American Express Hilton Honors Credit Card American Express Hilton Honors Surpass Credit Card ($95)
Hyatt N/A Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card ($95)
IHG Chase IHG Rewards Club Traveler Credit Card Chase IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card ($89)
Marriott Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card ($95)
Radisson US Bank Radisson Rewards Visa Credit Card US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Credit Card ($75)
Wyndham Barclays Wyndham Rewards Visa Credit Card Barclays Wyndham Rewards Visa Credit Card ($75)

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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.

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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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