Tag Archives: Marriott Hotels

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My Wildly Ambitious 2020 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

Good afternoon everyone.  Generally, at the end of the year, I like to review my travel predictions for the past year and make new predictions for the coming year.  After a long streak of poor prediction performance (2018 prediction results, 2017 prediction results, and 2016 prediction results), I decided not to make any travel predictions for 2019.  But my predictions are coming our of retirement / hibernation today.  I really recommend reading the travel predictions that Stephen at Frequent Miler made, especially his top 5 predictions:

  1. Capital One To Add Virgin Atlantic As Travel Partner
  2. Amex Membership Rewards To Transfer To JetBlue On A 1:1 Basis
  3. Free Breakfast For IHG Spire Elite Members
  4. Citi To Allow Card Referrals
  5. Chase And/Or Amex To Increase Referral Limits

I am going to piggy back on his predictions and add a few of my own.  So without further ado, here are my travel predictions for 2020

My 2020 Airline Predictions

  • Alaska, American, Delta, or United will introduce a “Cash and Miles” payment option for award tickets.  Clarification: This is not to be confused with Delta’s “Pay with Points” option where you get 1 CPP for each Delta SkyMiles for paid flights.  I’m thinking more along the lines of the way British Airways and Avianca do it for award tickets.
  • Allegiant Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and Sun Country will announce a merger, but I’m not sure who will merge with who.

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6 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Marriott (30%), Alaska (50%), Etihad (30%), Hilton (100%), IHG (80%) & Hyatt (40%)

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 6 offers that end in December.  Up first, Marriott Bonvoy is offering a 30% discount, when you purchase at least 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points.  This offer expires on December 22.

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I Paid $4,588 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2019 – Was it Worth it?

Good morning everyone.  As we approach the end of the year, I decided to take a look at my credit card spreadsheet and see how much my wife and I paid in annual fees this year.  I removed all the no annual fee credit cards and here are the 26 credit cards that have annual fees (sorted alphabetically).  I will break down this list into cards that I am 99% sure that I will cancel, 99% sure that I will keep, and the 50/50 cards that I might keep or cancel.  Read through this post and let me know if you agree or disagree with my thinking.

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Upgraded JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card $300 Annual Travel Credit for 2019 Still Available

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and any other holiday in between that I missed.  A few weeks ago, I wrote Why Did I Upgrade my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature to JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite?  In that post, I went through all the card benefits and explained why this card was interesting to me.  One of the key features of this card is the $300 annual travel credit.  Accord to the terms and condition, the $300 Annual Travel Credit can be used for the following purchases, “airline lounge day pass, or towards a yearly lounge membership of your choice; airline seat upgrades; airline baggage fees; in-flight Internet/entertainment; in-flight meals.”

Since I still had a few weeks left in the year, I called JPMorgan Chase and asked if the $300 annual travel credit was available to me since I recently upgraded from the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card.  The rep said yes and listed the same qualifying purchases as above.  I started thinking about my upcoming trips to see if I could pay for airline seat upgrades on any of my flights…

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Unboxing my Upgraded JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card: Card Art & Welcome Letter

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  Last week, I Upgraded my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa Signature to JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite.  A few days later, I received a small UPS Next Day Air package containing my new JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card.  I will show you what came in the welcome package.  But first, let’s start with the card art.  This credit card has gone through a few different redesigns and this is the most current version.  I have pictures of the 2 earlier card designs at the bottom of this post that I took from my original JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Visa Infinite Credit Card unboxing in 2016.

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