Tag Archives: Marriott Hotels

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My 2 Unsuccessful Retention Offer Calls for Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business & AMEX Gold

Good morning everyone, I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I called Chase and American Express about 2 credit cards that had annual fees that just posted. When I called Chase about my Chase Marriott Bonvoy Premier Plus Business Credit Card (no longer available for sign up or product change), I told the rep that the $99 annual fee just posted to my account and that I wasn’t using this credit card very much since I use my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card (no longer available for sign up, but can be product changed into) for my Marriott purchases.  I asked the rep if they were able to waive the annual fee. The rep looked for retention offers and said there were no offers available.  For reference, in past years, I have received retention offers of $50 or $100.

Generally, I prefer to keep credit cards that are no longer available, unless there is a very good reason to close or product change them to another credit card, so I decided to keep the card open.  With that said, I can easily get more than $99 of value with the 35K Marriott Free Night Certificate that comes with this credit card each year. In fact, I already redeemed my 35K FNC for a stay later this month that costs more than $200.

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4 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: IHG (100%), Marriott (40%), JetBlue (50%) & Wyndham (40%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 4 offers that end in the next 2 weeks.  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 4 offers that end soon.

Up first, IHG Hotels is offering up to a 100% bonus, depending on the number of IHG One Rewards Points you purchase. This offer expires on April 11.

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5 Buy Miles / Points Promos Ending Soon: Virgin Atlantic (70%), Marriott (40%), Frontier (75%), Southwest (50%) & Choice Hotels (50%)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Thursday!  I was working on my Buy Miles & Points Page and found 5 offers that end in the next week.  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 5 offers that end soon.

Up first, Virgin Atlantic is offering up to a 70% bonus, depending on the number of Virgin Atlantic Points you purchase.  This offer expires tomorrow – March 31.

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[Targeted] Westin Princeville, Kauai Timeshare Vacation Package: $799 for 5 Nights + 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  Yesterday, I wrote Hilton Timeshare Vacation Package Deals: $299 for 4 Night Stay + 150,000 HH Points (7 Destinations Available) [Expires January 10].  Today, I have a targeted timeshare vacation package offer at the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas on the north shore of Kauai.  The cost is $799 for a 5 Night / 6 Day stay, plus you have your choice of 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points or a $75 resort credit.  15K points is worth $100 to me, so that brings the cost to ~$140 / night.  You do need to attend a 2 hour timeshare sales presentation, but that seems like a pretty good deal for a great property in Hawaii.  I have experience with timeshare sales presentations and they are not too bad.  I will go through the booking process to show you what it is like, what is included, and how much it costs.

Here is the letter I received and here is the link to the landing page.  Unfortunately, this offer is only available if you received a targeted email or letter with a personalize code.  You might be able to call in and see if you are eligible at 1-855-762-0111.

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My Wild & Crazy 2023 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day! One of my yearly traditions is to write my predictions for the coming year and you can check out how I did in 2022 here: Let’s Review my 2022 Airline, Hotel & Credit Card Predictions.  I plan on doing a mid-year review in July to see if I am on track, but without further ado, here are my predictions for 2023…

My 2023 Airline Predictions

  • American Airlines or Alaska Airlines will be added as a transfer partner from a transferable points currency.
  • British Airways will change their award chart to calculate the number of Avios needed on a combined distance flown, not on a segment by segment basis.
  • Delta Airlines or United Airlines will introduce a “Miles and Cash” payment option for award tickets (pay 10,000 miles or pay 8,000 miles + $40).
  • Southwest Airlines will work very hard to make up for their December 2022 travel nightmare by offering a transfer bonus from Chase and spending offers on their credit cards in January 2023.

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