Tag Archives: Marriott Hotels

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I Paid $5,341 in Credit Card Annual Fees in 2024 – Was it Worth it?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your holiday season is going well.  With the end of the year right around the corner, I decided to publish my 2024 version of credit card annual fees I paid this year.  For comparison, here are my previous credit card annual fee posts:

For this year’s post, I decided to break up the list of credit cards into 5 sections:

  • Credit cards with sign up bonuses
  • Credit cards with retention offers
  • Credit cards with product changes
  • Credit cards that were closed this year
  • All other credit cards

For simplicity, I did not include the value of miles or points earned from credit card spend, but I did include the value of miles and points earned from sign up bonuses, referral bonuses, anniversary points, discounted points, and rebated points.  I counted all credits, reimbursements, and retention offers at face value.  I list the value of all tangible and intangible benefits below too.

I went through all of my credit card statements and online accounts to see which Credit Card Benefits I used in 2024 and those values are in the CCB $ column. If I received a retention offer, that is listed in the RO $ column. I listed the credit card annual fees in the AF $ column. Lastly, I used this formula to calculate the Profit or Loss (P/L column) for each credit card: CCB $ + RO $ – AF $ = P/L.  Laura’s card are included as well. Continue reading

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Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Alaska Airlines (60%), Marriott Hotels (45%) & Many More in December

Good morning everyone, I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. While updating my Buy Miles & Points Page, I discovered 2 offers that expire this week and several others that end in December (a complete list can be found at the bottom of this post). Remember to crunch the numbers to ensure purchasing miles and points is beneficial for your needs. It’s best to avoid buying miles and points speculatively unless you have a specific purpose in mind. With that in mind, here are 2 offers that are ending soon.

Up first, Alaska Airlines is offering up to a 60% bonus, depending on the number of Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Miles you purchase. This offer expires on December 23.

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Around the World in 24 Days: Preparing for Takeoff

Buenos dias everyone, I’m getting ready to take off on my 24 day round-the-world trip for the SAS EuroBonus Millionaire promotion so I thought I’d share a few updates on the final planning stages.

Hotels

At this point, I have all of my hotels booked except for the very end of my trip (Taipei, Denver, and Boston). Since many of the destinations I’m traveling to are fairly inexpensive, I ended up doing a lot of cash bookings, but I do have points redemptions with three different hotel programs scattered throughout.

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Switching Marriott Bonvoy Business Credit Card from Chase to American Express Paid Off with 5 Marriott 50K Free Night Certificates

Updated at 8:30am on 10/9/24: I updated this post after the sign up bonus posted a few days ago.


Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. This post has been a work in progress for several months since March 2024.  Let me explain.  Back in March 2024, American Express had an increased sign up bonus on the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Business Credit Card that offered 3 Marriott 50K Free Night Certificates (FNC) after spending $6,000 in 3 months.  That was a great offer, but due to Marriott’s Eligibility Matrix (see Frequent Miler’s awesome chart), I wasn’t eligible for the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Business Credit Card because I currently had the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Credit Card. I would need to close my old Chase card, wait 30 days, and then apply for the new AMEX card.

This was a big gamble because there was no guarantee that the AMEX card would have a decent sign up bonus again in the future and because my Chase card was no longer available, so once I closed that card, I could never get it back.  I strongly prefer to hold onto cards that are no longer available, like my Chase Ink Plus and my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton.

The increased sign up bonus on the AMEX card ended on March 20, 2024, and my Marriott 35K FNC from the Chase card would post the following month in April 2024.  As expected, the FNC posted to my Marriott account on April 15, 2024, and now was the time to proceed with my plan.

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Recent Timeshare Vacation Package Offers: Hyatt Lake Tahoe Northstar Lodge for $349, Sheraton Kauai Resort Villas for $699 & Hilton 3 Night Stay for $149

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I received a few timeshare vacation package offers lately and I wanted to share them with readers in case you are looking for a discounted vacation to any of these timeshare locations.  Even if you are not targeted for the offer, you might be able to call the phone numbers listed below and see if you are eligible.  As a reminder, you will need to attend a 2 hour timeshare presentation during your stay, but it is easy enough to sit through the presentation, learn a few things, say no a few times, and go back to enjoying your vacation.

The first offer I received was for the Hyatt Vacation Club at Northstar Lodge (north side of Lake Tahoe in Truckee, CA).  This offer is $349 for 3 nights at the Northstar Lodge plus your choice of a $100 Visa Gift Card or 7,500 Hyatt Points (go with the points).

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