Tag Archives: Travel

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Miles & Points Mantra #1: “Use Hotel Free Night Certificates ASAP”

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. I’m kicking off a new series on the blog called Miles & Points Mantra, where I’ll be sharing the personal “rules” I follow when it comes to using airline miles, hotel points, credit card rewards, and all things travel.  I try to follow these rules 100% of the time, but I have been known to break the rules from time to time.  Whether you’re brand new to travel hacking or a seasoned pro, I’d love to hear if you agree or disagree with these “rules.”  I have a long list of mantras to share, but if you have one you swear by (or want me to cover), please share it in the comments section below.  Let’s get started…

Miles & Points Mantra #1: “Use Hotel Free Night Certificates ASAP”

If you are just starting out and only have 1 or 2 hotel Free Night Certificates (FNCs), it might not be too difficult to remember to use them before they expire.  Fortunately / unfortunately, between Laura and myself, we have earned / received 15 FNCs in the last 12 months from various credit card sign up bonuses, paying renewal annual fees on our hotel credit cards, and from completing a Hyatt Brand Explorer challenge.  15 FNCs means we have to spend at least 15 nights in hotels throughout the year in 4 different hotel brands (Hilton, Hyatt. IHG, and Marriott) within certain categories and point limitations.  The only way I can manage these FNCs is in a spreadsheet.

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When Does the Free Night Certificate from the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card Post and Expire?

Good afternoon everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.  Yesterday, my dad asked me about his Hyatt Free Night Certificate (FNC).  He told me he just booked a Hyatt stay using the FNC but wasn’t sure if he got a good deal on the hotel stay.  I asked him when the FNC expired, but he didn’t know or remember.  I told him how to figure out when the Hyatt FNC posted to his account and how to find out when the FNC expired.  I figured this post would be helpful to others who are in the same situation.  It is really easy to find out, here is how.

Figure out when your $95 annual fee is charged to your Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card.  For Laura’s card, her $95 annual fee posted on February 1, 2025.  You can find this charge using the Chase website, Chase app, or by looking at your credit card statements.

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PSA: Finnair Avios Refund Took 6-7 Weeks After Award Ticket Cancellation

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well.  Long story short, I booked a Finnair Avios award ticket on October 22, 2024, for travel in Summer 2025, but I needed to cancel the trip.  I’ve cancelled British Airways Avios award tickets in the past and the process to get the refunded Avios was almost instant.  Unfortunately, that is not the case with Finnair.  Finnair’s website quoted 1-3 weeks, but in my case, it took 6-7 weeks for the Finnair Avios to be refunded and for me to receive a refund of the taxes / fees (minus the 50 Euro cancellation fee).  In this post, I will document the cancellation process and timeline.

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PSA: IHG Points Sharing / Transferring Between Accounts IS NOT Instant (Mine Took 2 Days)

Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday!  Last weekend, I needed to book a last minute IHG hotel stay that cost 47,000 IHG Points.  Laura had a 40K Free Night Certificate and 3,000 IHG Points in her account.  Since we are both IHG Business Rewards Members (free membership), I decided the *easiest* and *quickest* option would be to transfer 4,000 IHG Points from my account to her account.  I submitted the points transfer request and planned on booking the hotel stay right away.  Unfortunately, IHG had other plans.  After submitting the request, the confirmation message said “Your order has been received and will be processed in the next 72 hours.”  72 hours?!  I was planning on checking into the hotel tomorrow afternoon…

Long story short, instead of transferring valuable Chase Ultimate Rewards Points or Bilt Rewards Points to Laura’s IHG account, she bought 5,000 IHG Points since IHG was running a 100% bonus on IHG Points.  In case you are wondering, the IHG Points sharing / transfer took about 2 days (~46 hours to be precise).

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After 12 Years, I Finally Earned My First Hyatt Brand Explorer Award!

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to pop the champagne bottles!  After 12 years, I finally earned my first Hyatt Brand Explorer Award! If you are not familiar with the Hyatt Brand Explorer, you earn a category 1-4 free night certificate after every 5 different Hyatt brands that you stay at.  As of now, Hyatt has 32 different brands, so you could earn up to 6 Brand Explorer Awards.  Scroll down to see the current list of brands.

On Friday, February 21, I went to a Warriors @ Kings NBA game in Sacramento and stayed at the nearby Hyatt Centric Downtown Sacramento.  Fast forward to today (Monday, February 24), I received an email from Hyatt congratulating me earning a Brand Explorer Award.

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