Tag Archives: Travel

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Holiday Inn Resort Los Cabos – Spoiler Alert – Don’t Waste Your Time

I received an email several weeks ago about 20,000 points per night redemptions at the Holiday Inn Resort Los Cabos All Inclusive. I began thinking of the great weather, the sun, the beach, and booked 6 nights. Unfortunately, the rest of this trip report is the failures I experienced until I finally decided I had enough and left for the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos.  Prior to my arrival, I was in contact with a manager by email, and he let me know I was entitled to an upgrade due to my IHG Platinum Elite Status (I was not expecting this), and for $45 / night additional, I could again upgrade to an ocean view room with a terrace and hammock. I upgraded as the limited photos available showed what I thought was a nice room.

CHECK-IN

Upon arrival, the check-in process was the first problem; we were told to go do “something” for an hour while our room was cleaned. This was odd since we arrived around 1:30pm and the manager was aware of my arrival time. We went to the one restaurant on property that was open and had a good meal. After an hour had passed, we returned to the lobby to find complete chaos. There was a line from the desk half way through the lobby, and only some of the computers were staffed for check-in. It appeared there may have been internet or connection problems because nobody was moving it seemed. I was given a key to my room and thought I had dodged a bullet – I didn’t have to wait in that line. My hopes were short lived as I tried to get in my room and the key didn’t work, the dreaded red light. I returned to the lobby and the same faces were standing in line, not on the beach or enjoying their free alcohol. I asked an employee what was going on and was told to come back in 45 minutes. I asked to see a manager.  A manager arrived about 5 minutes later and had keys to our room, and we were finally starting to settle in.

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Flights to Cuba & El Salvador: Thinking Outside the Box

I’m well versed in flight options from the US, but when it comes time to plan trips between different regions, I have to think about my options a little more.  My boyfriend and I decided to plan a trip to El Salvador for the end of May, but I was going to Cuba right before as part of the last class for my MBA.  He was able to snag great flights on Delta for only 14,500 miles roundtrip during one of their sales. Unfortunately, I was locked in to flying to Cuba with my class – which, thankfully was a cheap $90 flight that I wouldn’t have used miles for anyway.  I decided it would make way more sense to fly directly from Cuba to El Salvador than to come back to the US first. As usual, I checked cash prices first. I was looking at around $300 for the one-way flight… ouch.

That’s when I turned to using miles. Flyermiler, one of my favorite tools, showed that I could book with Avianca LifeMiles for only 10,000 miles! It also showed that United would cost only 10,000 miles, but that’s not actually correct. United charges 12,500 or 17,500 miles for an economy class flight, depending on routing.  Luckily for me, I had some LifeMiles, so I was able to get a killer deal on my flight to El Salvador!

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending May 31 to June 7: American, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, Choice, Hilton, IHG & SPG

Good afternoon everyone.  I recently updated my Buy Miles/Points Page and I wanted to let everyone know that there are several buy miles/points promos ending in the next few days (May 31 through June 7).  If you are short on miles and points for your next award, now might be the best time to buy some miles and points.  Here are the deals, sorted by the end date of the promo:

If you need any other miles and points, check out the Buy Miles/Points Page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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My Air Canada Aeroplan Award Booking Mistake

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend.  I had a great time in San Diego, walking around the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, drinking at Stone Brewery, and visiting the USS Midway.  Over the weekend, I also started planning my Eurotrip around southeastern Europe.  I made a really silly / stupid award booking mistake, and I want to share it with my readers so you can learn from my mistake and not make the same mistake.

After doing some award searching, I found this award ticket on Air Canada for 37,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles.  The price was higher than the 30,000 United Airlines miles, but I am trying to save my Chase Ultimate Reward Points and I had a stash of Air Canada Aeroplan miles that I wanted to redeem.

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United Airlines Buy Miles Mystery Offer: Up to 100% Bonus Miles (Ends Today – May 24)

Updated at 10pm PT on 5/10: It looks like some readers are getting up to 100% bonus offers from United Airlines.


Good afternoon everyone.  United Airlines has a great buy miles promo currently running through May 24.  It is a mystery offer, so depending on your account, you may see an offer for up to 75% bonus, or you might see a higher or lower offer.  I checked my family’s United Airlines account and 75% bonus was the highest offer I saw, but it is possible that there are higher bonuses too.  If you are a few hundred / thousand United Airlines miles away from redeeming for an award ticket, it might be a great idea to buy the remaining United Airlines miles.  This promo runs for 2 more weeks and ends on May 24, so you have 2 weeks to decide.  If you want to see other buy miles and hotel points promos, click here.

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