Tag Archives: Travel

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Buy United Miles with 70% Bonus (Ends May 2)

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My friend Rich is a long-time United flyer. He does monthly commutes from Hawaii to California so he can never have enough United miles. When I saw this sale I let him know about it, and then I took a look at it for myself. I don’t fly United metal very often, though last year I did have a great trip home from Europe in First Class in their now retired plane. I do book a lot of flights through United using Star Alliance partners, though. I’m partial to Star Alliance airlines when I go to Europe or Asia. Continue reading →

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My IHG Rewards Club Account was Hacked, Here’s what I Did Next…

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Good morning everyone, I hope you had a great weekend. I am happy to report that I avoided a potentially very bad weekend because I found out that my IHG Rewards Club account was hacked on Friday! This is not the first time IHG accounts were hacked. Travel Codex covered a similar story where 2/3 of his IHG points were stolen from his account and IHG would not help him. I will show you how I found out that my IHG account was hacked and what I did next to protect my account. It all started on Friday afternoon around 2:30pm PT when I received these 2 emails from IHG.  Wait a second… I didn’t cancel an IHG hotel reservation or update my email address.  Uhh oh…

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15 Elite Nights Credit from Ritz Carlton Conversion & 15 Elite Nights from Marriott Business Credit Card

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Updated 9pm PT on 5/1: The reader who asked me this question sent me the following email.  It looks like the 15 Elite Nights Credit posts very quickly (in just a few days)!

Hey Grant! Just checked my Marriott account and I now have the additional 15 nights. Not sure if it just takes a few business days, or if they update on a certain day of the week, etc. That said, downgrading for the elite nights looks to work just fine!

Updated 5pm PT on 5/8: I just received a response from Marriott regarding my email that I sent on 4/29:

Dear Grant Thomas, Thank you for contacting Marriott Rewards. It appears the 30 Elite nights were credited for your two Marriott Rewards credit cards from Chase. You received 15 Elite nights for your Marriott Rewards Premier credit card from Chase on January 8, 2018, and 15 Elite nights for your Marriott Rewards Premier Business credit card from Chase on April 18, 2018. If I can be of further assistance, I invite you to reply to this email. Thank you for choosing Marriott.

Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  I received an email from a reader asking about Marriott Rewards Elite Nights Credit.  I am not sure if this is useful or helpful to others, but thought I would share anyways.  Here is his question:

My question is simply whether or not you received the 15 elite night credits that the Marriott card provides, at or near the time that you did the downgrade. Right now I am at a point where those credits would push me up a tier of status in Marriott once the new loyalty program is implemented, but I have gotten conflicting answers from Chase when asking them if a product change would give me the night credits in the same way that a new application would.

This reader is referring to my post in early January regarding converting my JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card to a Chase Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.  I downgraded / converted / product changed to the Chase Marriott Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card in January.  I also received my new Chase Marriott Rewards Business Credit Card a few weeks ago.  I haven’t stayed at Marriott this year, but when I logged into my Marriott account, it shows 30 Elite Night Credits.  I tried to dig a little deeper to see when the Elite Night Credits posted, but that is not easy to find out.

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A Million Thanks to Million Mile Secrets

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Back in 2013, Daraius posted an interview on Million Mile Secrets with a new-on-the-scene young blogger. Having read the interview again, so much about Grant’s enthusiasm is still going strong, even though he now has “a real job and doesn’t travel as much”. But this post isn’t about Grant. It’s about expressing our appreciation to Daraius for all he has given to the points/miles community and wishing him well as his journey continues.

Grant met Daraius many times at Frequent Traveler University (FTU) and Chicago Seminars. I’ve never met Daraius in person……yet. However, in early 2012 I did start an email friendship with him when he answered a question I had about British Airways Avios. Then in 2013 I actually wrote a blog post for MMS, and I said to him, “I can’t believe you do this everyday. Wow, it’s hard!” It amuses me that fast forward five years later, and yes, I do this everyday :)

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Daraius (Million Mile Secrets), Drew (Travel is Free) & Grant at the Chicago Seminars

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Westin Rancho Mirage Timeshare Deal Upgrade & Wyndham Timeshare Deals for $149-$199

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  A few days ago, I wrote Westin Mission Hills Resort & Villas Palm Springs Timeshare Vacation Package ($389 for 5 Days / 4 Nights + Freebies).  In the comments section of that post, reader PJ mentioned that if you pay the $200 down payment, and wait a few weeks or months to lock down your vacation package dates, you may get a discounted offer.  PJ said that he received an offer for $29 to confirm his travel package dates.  A few days after paying the $200 down payment, I received this email from Westin Vacations.  For only $99, I can lock down my vacation package dates between June 1 and September 30.  Let me remind you, that this property is in Palm Springs, and it will easily be 100+ degrees during those days.  I decided to pass on this deal since I wanted to go in the fall when it would be less than 100 degrees.  If you were offered this option, would you stay during those scorching summer months?

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