Tag Archives: Hyatt Hotels

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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.

a building with a fountain in front of it

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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What is the Best Hotel Credit Card Free Night Certificate?

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I was listening to the Frequent Miler On The Air podcast recently and they were discussing free night certificates.  As I mentioned in my Ask Me Anything (AMA): Hotel Edition post, I have quite a few hotel credit cards that come with free night certificates.  I wanted to compare the free night certificates and separate the standouts from the duds.  I used Frequent Miler’s Reasonable Redemption Values (RRV) for the hotel point values.  Some of these credit cards are available for new members, while some are no longer available (NLA), but you may be able to convert to them if you have the correct credit card.

I looked at the credit card’s annual fee and the category cap that the free night certificate is good for.  I also included Radisson Rewards anniversary points, even though they are points and not free night certificates.  I did not take into account any addition benefits other than the free night certificate (like elite status or the ability to earn an extra free night certificate).

This is how I read the chart: the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Credit Card (NLA) has an $85 annual fee and comes with a free night certificate worth up to 25,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.  Each Marriott Bonvoy Point is worth 0.72 cents per point (CPP), so the free night certificate has a value of $180.  When I subtract the $95 annual fee, the credit card provides $95 in value on top of the annual fee.

Hotel Credit Card Name
(NLA = No Longer Available)		 Annual
Fee		 Category
Cap		 RRV
CPP		 Free Night Value True Value
(FNV – AF)
Marriott Credit Cards
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier (NLA) $85.00 25,000 0.72 $180.00 $95.00
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless $99.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $153.00
Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Biz (NLA) $99.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $153.00
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Biz $125.00 35,000 0.72 $252.00 $127.00
American Express Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant $450.00 50,000 0.72 $360.00 -$90.00
JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton (NLA) $450.00 50,000 0.72 $360.00 -$90.00
Radisson Rewards Credit Cards
US Bank Radisson Rewards (NLA) $50.00 25,000 0.38 $95.00 $45.00
US Bank Radisson Rewards Biz (NLA) $60.00 40,000 0.38 $152.00 $92.00
US Bank Radisson Rewards Premier $75.00 40,000 0.38 $152.00 $77.00
Hyatt Credit Cards
Chase Hyatt Hotels (NLA) $75.00 15,000 1.50 $225.00 $150.00
Chase World of Hyatt $95.00 15,000 1.50 $225.00 $130.00
IHG Credit Cards
Chase IHG Rewards Select (NLA) $49.00 40,000 0.57 $228.00 $179.00
Chase IHG Rewards Premier $89.00 40,000 0.57 $228.00 $139.00
Hilton Credit Cards
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire $450.00 95,000 0.45 $427.50 -$22.50
American Express Hilton Honors Aspire $450.00 120,000 0.45 $540.00 $90.00

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Ask Me Anything (AMA): Hotel Edition

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  A few days ago, I wrote Ask Me Anything (AMA): Credit Card Edition.  I had some great reader questions and I am doing the second AMA, this time on hotels.  I like to describe myself as loyal to hotel loyalty programs, but not loyal to a specific hotel chain.  Here is a screenshot from AwardWallet of the hotel loyalty programs I belong to and their elite status:

a screenshot of a computer

Here is a quick rundown of how I have these hotel elite statuses:

  • Best Western Diamond Select – status match from Hilton Diamond (status match link)
  • Caesars Rewards Diamond – status match from Wyndham Rewards (Middle Ade Miles blog post)
  • Choice Hotels Member – I think I have only spent 2-3 nights at Choice hotels in the last 2-3 years
  • Hilton Diamond – free thanks to my American Express Hilton Aspire Credit Card (my blog post)
  • World of Hyatt Discoverist – free thanks to my old Chase Hyatt Hotel Credit Card
  • IHG Rewards Spire Elite – I spent a few thousand dollars at IHG in 2019 (mainly at the InterContinental Moorea for my pre-honeymoon)
  • Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite – I had a few different Marriott / SPG credit card elite nights stack in 2019
  • MGM Resorts Pearl – status match from World of Hyatt Discoverist (Doctor of Credit’s post)
  • Radisson Rewards Gold / Silver – I have 3 different US Bank Radisson Rewards Credit Cards that come with Gold or Silver elite status
  • Wyndham Rewards Diamond – status matched from Caesars Rewards Diamond (Middle Ade Miles blog post)

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