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TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions


Spankytoes

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On 7/3/2018 at 11:55 PM, RD3 said:

But.... I'm surprised SWA hasn't tried to create a more expensive version to sort of compete with the AMEX.  $250 but you get free wifi, A-list, and more drink tickets?  That's marginal costs to them and they can create stickier credit card customers.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just as I was saying... Southwest is rolling out a newer higher end credit card.  $150 instead of $99 but you get more benefits just like I was pitching.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/chase-and-southwest-have-a-new-travel-credit-card-but-is-it-a-good-deal-2018-07-19

Gives you some upgrading boarding, discount on drinks and wifi,...

Quote

Chase developed the card after Southwest cardholders told the bank they wanted faster boarding and in-flight benefits, Leslie Gillin, Chase’s co-brand cards president, said in a statement.

To that end, the card comes with several perks:

• A $75 annual Southwest travel credit

• 20% back on inflight purchases including drinks, Wi-Fi, messages and movies

• Up to four upgraded boardings per year

 

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Don’t know why I hadn’t done this yet, but broke down and opened a BAEC account. With BA being a transfer partner for UR, it just made more sense. Wish I would have done this sooner, but oh well. With upcoming trips I’ll hit almost 900 TP, and silver, instead of ending up missing plat on AA by 8k EQM and about $700 EQD.

With normal flying, even domestically, should be able to keep it. Although i may have to take 1 trip a year out of a different airport to pick up a BA codeshare trip. 

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On 7/16/2018 at 10:35 AM, midtown said:

I spent some time on the phone with Marriott over a missing stay.   As part of the merger of the reward programs anyone who is elite is being given platinum status for the remainder of 2018 and all of 2019.

Disappointing when companies give away status on the cheap.  Don't they realize it lessens the value for those who earn it (and no, I'm not currently Marriott Platinum)

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38 minutes ago, wild_turkey said:

I'm confused. Why didn't you wait the 10 extra days?

Because I called Citi and they told me my previous closing date was May 12, 2016, when it was actually June 1. I applied 10 days too early to meet the eligibility based on what I was told. I escalated it up twice and will have a decision in the next 5-7 business days. (Wonder how THAT is going to turn out...) But, as a parting gift for being such a loyal customer, I'm getting 5,000 bonus miles as a nice "FU".

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1 hour ago, gecko said:

Disappointing when companies give away status on the cheap.  Don't they realize it lessens the value for those who earn it (and no, I'm not currently Marriott Platinum)

I used to staunchly think that but I have softened. I have never earned top Elite status with any chain the "hard way". I either get a boost to mid-Tier with a credit card, get a status match with another chain and build on that or take a Elite challenge when I have a lot of business travel upcoming. I have held top status with Marriott, Hyatt, Radisson, Hilton and IHG over the years. Radisson and IHG are a complete waste of time. IHG is so easy to get that it's laughable as points earned through credit card spending also go towards your qualification. I had a 1 night stay in Buffalo where I had to book 4 rooms on my IHG credit card. Boom, I re-qualified for Spire. What does that get me? Some marginal upgrades in rooms...and no free breakfast. Hyatt is my favorite chain from a pure property standpoint, but they just don't have enough properties to make it worthwhile. Diamond status was great in Paris and Milan where we got an upgrade and free breakfast every morning instead of paying $80.00. Marriott and Hilton have the most value for their status. (Or at least how I remember Marriott to be. It's been a while) I almost exclusively book my hotels through Hilton these days. I automatically start at Gold through my AMEX Ascend and have to work my way up, which is still 40 nights to maintain. I get a lot of benefits in return, including a guaranteed room within 48 hours if I need it.

Lounge status, however, I'm against. It's too crowded in there these days. 

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That sucks spanky. If it makes you feel any better, my ink preferred 80k bonus is pending on next months statement and all of your lecturing got me to that point.

 

I applied in branch during small business week so it should have been 100k but whatever.

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The big non-business citi card for AA just went from 70k to 75k, if that would be available to you. I haven’t looked at citi stuff, so not sure how their business/personal bonuses count for the 24 month deal. Just saw it when I hit the AA site this morning to see if they mentioned anything with weather since their call center keeps hanging up on me. 

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I have generally booked trans-Atlantic flights with AA miles early or late in the travel season and havent had trouble finding direct flights.

My wife and I are headed to Spain next year for our anniversary (late June) and I am checking out our flight options for DFW-MAD. Were looking to leave on Thursday and come back the following Saturday or Sunday.

I am not seeing any direct outbound or inbound at the moment. Is this bound to change? Is there any sweet spot I should wait for or are we destined for a connecting flight?

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17 minutes ago, DAG said:

I have generally booked trans-Atlantic flights with AA miles early or late in the travel season and havent had trouble finding direct flights.

My wife and I are headed to Spain next year for our anniversary (late June) and I am checking out our flight options for DFW-MAD. Were looking to leave on Thursday and come back the following Saturday or Sunday.

I am not seeing any direct outbound or inbound at the moment. Is this bound to change? Is there any sweet spot I should wait for or are we destined for a connecting flight?

It's 330 days from today's date. However, more flights are added all the time. throughout the year. Generally, not direct at the saver redemption though.

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I'm starting to cool down a bit on the travel thing for now. Next year is my busy work year and my youngest is graduating HS and moving back to Texas to attend college. So the time it takes to do a proper trip, plus my availability in 2019, doesn't look promising. Sadly, I've run out places that I really want to go. I'd like to eventually make my way into Asia at some point in these next few years. But I'm just not interested in the culture and don't care for the cuisine. It would be more ticking a box with a long flight. Thailand and China would be on the short list. 

Since July 1, 2017, I've been to: Munich, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Rome, London (2X), Pamplona, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Paris, Iceland, Lima, Cusco, Machu Picchu, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. That doesn't count domestic trips to San Francisco, LA, Boston, etc. for fun. I've tacked on Havana to a work trip in Miami a few weeks from now to check that out. I forgot about it until yesterday because it was just booking flights, getting the Visa and booking an AirBNB. Nice and simple. We're going to Ocho Rios in January for 5 nights, but that doesn't really count.

Frankly, I'm spent. I love having something to plan and look forward to but I don't have the energy, or time, to actually take the trip. Instead of relaxing and recharging my batteries, it gets to be a 2nd job with all the planning and research. It feels like the fat kid after a day at Golden Corral.

#2%problems

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Damn Spanky, that’s a ton of travel! And you’re right, planning/tracking can be like a second job for sure. On that note, and seeing your interests, what about Easter Island once your schedule cools down a bit?

I’m really leaning towards adding a trip there myself, but that will be probably 2 years out. 

 

On a completely unrelated note, is AMEX customer service always top notch? I’m on my mobile now, so will have to fill in the details later, but had a couple calls woth them this morning and they were fucking fantastic. 

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5 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Damn Spanky, that’s a ton of travel! And you’re right, planning/tracking can be like a second job for sure. On that note, and seeing your interests, what about Easter Island once your schedule cools down a bit?

I’m really leaning towards adding a trip there myself, but that will be probably 2 years out. 

 

On a completely unrelated note, is AMEX customer service always top notch? I’m on my mobile now, so will have to fill in the details later, but had a couple calls woth them this morning and they were fucking fantastic. 

I've thought about Easter Island but the general consensus on it has been "meh". It's a PITA to get to and beyond the Moai statues there's not much to see. I considered the Galapagos Islands too, but it's another money pit. I've got plenty of miles on JetBlue to fly down to Quito and then use BA Avios for LATAM for a land vacation, but there are no hotel chains there. That's a place I'd like to go with the Mrs., whose vacation time is even more stretched than mine. Our 20th anniversary is June 12 and that's my busiest work month and a few weeks before graduation/moving for college. That's why we're doing Ochos Rio in January, which is a few days after I turn 40. Might as well kill two birds and escape the NY winter. That's about the time the Nor'easters come in, so we'll see. We're using MLK Day to save a vacation day. Rio is also on my list, as is a few places in Columbia, so I'm saving my next South America trip for when we can both go. Maybe an empty-nester celebration next fall?

My son kind of wants to go camping in CO after he graduates. I may just be happy with Jamaica and a domestic adventure. (Though, we are tossing around Alaska which is a PITA for me to get to) I doubt it though. I'll start to get that adrenaline again in the next 9 months when I know the gaps in my schedule and where I can steer around.

AMEX is the tits. Especially for any kind of insurance thing. They are without a doubt my favorite credit card provided, albeit, my least favorite to churn from because I can't remember if I held particular cards back in the day when you actually could churn. I've been burned on that twice due to my own fault. (Hilton and SPG)

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Spanky you have an impressive travel resume, but I can also see how it would be exhausting visiting that many places in a year. Do you always feel the need to go somewhere new and check new boxes, or have you developed any places that you are particularly fond of that you can return multiple visits and simply enjoy being there?

My wife and I have basically settled on St. Barth, Telluride, and Italy as our go-to spots. After a few trips, it becomes incredibly easy to visit again because we already know what we like and don't like, what to expect, how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, etc. We still try to mix in new things occasionally, but for us, the joy of travel is about the experience of being somewhere we love and we've essentially found those spots. Going other places means sacrificing and not being where we are typically happiest.

Obviously different people have different travel styles and tastes, and there is certainly something exciting about the planning and the adventure of going somewhere new. Just curious how you see yourself in this regard.

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1 hour ago, wild_turkey said:

Spanky you have an impressive travel resume, but I can also see how it would be exhausting visiting that many places in a year. Do you always feel the need to go somewhere new and check new boxes, or have you developed any places that you are particularly fond of that you can return multiple visits and simply enjoy being there?

My wife and I have basically settled on St. Barth, Telluride, and Italy as our go-to spots. After a few trips, it becomes incredibly easy to visit again because we already know what we like and don't like, what to expect, how to get there, where to stay, where to eat, etc. We still try to mix in new things occasionally, but for us, the joy of travel is about the experience of being somewhere we love and we've essentially found those spots. Going other places means sacrificing and not being where we are typically happiest.

Obviously different people have different travel styles and tastes, and there is certainly something exciting about the planning and the adventure of going somewhere new. Just curious how you see yourself in this regard.

I have a mixture of both. Since 2012, when I started the whole International Man of Mystery thing, London and Berlin are by far my most visited cities with 5X and 6X respectively. That is mostly due to their status as hubs for Oneworld partners/former partner. I have friends in London and Berlin is just a cool city full of history. But I try to mix in a few new places to keep it exciting. I was thinking about this earlier, and this is my international list:

Since April 2012: London (5X) Berlin + Potsdam (6X), Paris (2X), Bruges (Drove here from London and took the ferry at Dover, then through France to reach it, which was awesome), Amsterdam, Madrid, Pamplona (Running of the Bulls), Barcelona, Ibiza, Venice, Rome (3X), Florence, Milan/Lake Como, Frankfurt, Munich (3X; 2 for Oktoberfest), Budapest, Krakow/Auschwitz, Prague, Sydney, North Island New Zealand (Auckland, Matamata- Hobbiton, etc.), South Island New Zealand (Queenstown, Lake Tekapo, Milford Sound, Franz Josef Glacier, Christchurch, etc.), Lima, Cusco/Machu Picchu, Iceland, Moscow, Montreal, Niagara Falls (3X, It counts!) and now Havana next month with Montego Bay/Ocho Rios on the books.

I may be forgetting a few in there. I was supposed to go to Istanbul and Athens in 2016 but was scheduled to be there a few weeks after the airport was bombed and a week before the military coup took place. I ended up extending my time in England on a boating trip and went to an F1 race at Silverstone instead. Istanbul is still on the list, but now it’s not as easy with our current political climate. I can hold off on Greece until the wife wants to do an islands tour. I’ve never spent significant time in Switzerland and would like to see Norway and Finland at some point. I’ve thought about doing a Bucharest to Budapest road trip stopping in Bran for Dracula’s Castle, but I feel that I’ve adequately seen Prague, Bratislava and Budapest on earlier trips and there isn’t enough that I feel I’m missing in the area to justify the high cost of the car rental. I went to St. Petersburg, Frankfurt, Bratislava, Poprad (Slovakia) and Vienna as a teen in 1996 and 1997 and lived in London in 1998, so it may be cool to revisit a few of those sites since it’s been 20+ years.

In some ways, I really enjoy revisiting cities because I can knock out the “tourist stuff” and find something else. I was in Paris a few weeks ago with my 17 year old who has the attention span of a well-fed duck. We did The ET, The outside of the Louvre (Neither of us are museum lovers), Notre Dame, Sacre Cour, Pere Lachaise, a cruise on the Seine…everything we could fit in a day and a half. We spent our last day at Disneyland Paris rather than go out to Versailles and see yet another historical site. It was one of the best days on the trip.

Part of it is exhaustion and part of it is the thrill isn’t there as much anymore. I was the dork watching Rick Steve’s telethons of all these magical European places and studying train schedules through travel guides before the internet made it much easier. It’s almost funny. If I don’t get to something historic this time I convince myself “Well, I’ll do it next time”. Most people don’t get to travel 1/10 of what I’ve done in the last 6 years in their lifetime and I treat Rome like it’s Des Moines with a better “Olive Garden” and view.

Maybe it’s a reverse mid-life crisis thing. I’ve already seen the world and now it’s time for the 21 year old women and a sports car. I think that I just need a break to recharge.

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1 hour ago, Spankytoes said:

Maybe an empty-nester celebration next fall? 


Amen to that! This will sound bad, but when you're still young enough to live and enjoy, having the kids up and out isn't a bad thing by any means.

True that the Moai are the only thing on Easter Island. That's kind of the point, at least for me anyway. LATAM from SCL, so at least sticking to oneworld. 

 

1 hour ago, Spankytoes said:

AMEX is the tits. Especially for any kind of insurance thing. They are without a doubt my favorite credit card provided, albeit, my least favorite to churn from because I can't remember if I held particular cards back in the day when you actually could churn. I've been burned on that twice due to my own fault. (Hilton and SPG) 


See, this is all your fault, mister. I'll try to keep it to the readers digest version.

I haven't been much on AMEX. Mainly from preconceived impressions of acceptance, etc. Whether right or wrong, that's for another time. Anyway, your recent discussion of Hilton and their card got me to do a little thinking, and then combined with the realization that 3 of my upcoming 7 stays in the next 45 days are in the Hilton group, I looked into their stuff.

After some research, I decided the Ascend would do the trick, and the 100k bonus was a plus. So knowing I'm leaving this weekend, I looked into expediting the card. It checked out that you could select that as an option during the application, so I went for it. Maybe a hair too quickly, as I first clicked the link for the Aspire. Thankfully I caught it prior to submission, as I wasn't really looking for a $450 AF hotel card. Back on track. Instant approval, and a 20k initial limit. Fine. More than plenty. Screen says "3-5 business days". However, I never did see anywhere to request an expedited delivery (overnight, UPS.) Even still, it's shipped from not too far away, and priority would be 3 days tops. I'm alright with that.

I then move into the account creation. Pretty easy. Nice backend, really. Between that and Chase, I'm actually rather impressed with what they have going on under the hood. Anyway, I'm looking through as this and that when I notice that it says 7-10 business days. Oh shit. No bueno. Not only because I'm leaving, but 7-10 days is also through the post office and I just happened to have my mail on hold starting Friday.

So I called the main customer service number. They were friendly and helpful, but explained that since I just got the card, I would have to talk to the new card department. OK, not a problem. They transfer me. I get what sounded like an outsourced representative (no racist), and he was absolutely unhelpful. He insisted that under no circumstance could I have the new card expedited, and it would be at least 10 days. No bueno, and he was kind of a dick. (Note, I was in uber nice mode.) At this point, I was suspicious and the thought of cancelling the card before the AF hits went through my mind. I then did the HUCA dance. Except I went through google and found a different number. It was actually for applying by phone, but the automated menu gave an option for checking application status, so didn't think anything of it.

I spoke to a very nice lady, and although she mentioned that she really only handled phone applications, that she would see what she could do. So I'm on hold, and she comes back a few minutes later. Nothing yet, but she had another department to try and call. She came back, same thing. We went through this maybe 5 different times. She was really working her tail off to try and help find me something. She finally came back with a suggestion from someone to wait 24-48 hours, and then call in for a replacement card (which they could overnight.)

That's all well and good, so I thanked her for her time. She was very, very nice and helped above and beyond her normal job scope. Even though she couldn't fully resolve the issue, I was still well impressed by the effort and attitude.

But wait, there's more...

 

While I was on hold with the previous rep, I did some googling. I came across an "article" from one of the minor travel blogs that mentioned being able to add yourself as an AU, and they could overnight that card. Hmmmm. Interdasting. So I gave it a rest for a few minutes, then tried their online chat. It was confirmed in the online chat that I certainly could add an AU, and that it was available to do online. I was a bit nervous of doing that, just in case there wasn't an option to expedite and I didn't want to shoot my wad. So I asked if there was a number I could call to handle that. Yep. Number provided. Unfortunately, it was just the general account number. The same number I had started off calling that had to transfer me to "new accounts." Great. Oh, well, this is maybe different, so I give it a shot.

So I call. Unlike earlier when I'd called this number it recognized my phone number, and asked me to confirm my identity. Maybe this was a good thing?

I get on with a very nice lady, who again went that extra mile to make things happen. I first mentioned that I was headed out of the country for a month, and would like to be able to use the card while I was away and staying at several Hilton properties. Then I asked if I could add an AU, and to keep the tone light asked if she wouldn't laugh at me when I asked. Well, she'd been down this road before and knew her shit. She said absolutely, I'll just need their name, etc. I said OK, but then she asked, are you wanting to add yourself? I confirmed that was my exact intention. She confirmed my details to access my account, and then said just a second.

A minute later, she came back and said that she had spoken with her manager, but the system wouldn't let him override the current delivery as the card was just opened today. But she said they could absolutely overnight it tomorrow, and it would be here Wednesday morning. She was also setting it up so that I wouldn't have to call back in, and that she worked tomorrow and would call me personally. This was all without adding myself as an AU (which I could have done, technically), and they just did an override on whatever it is in their system to make it ship overnight instead. Excellent. No idea where the guy in the "new card" call center got his info, but the actual customer service team made it happen.

So the short of it is that even though I initially hit a roadblock, it all worked out in the end with a little persistence, being polite, and calling around.

 

OK, I should have looked into it a bit sooner (well, no shit thunder) and applied weeks ago. However I was busy with other things and never really put 2 and 2 together until now.

That being the case, if AMEX is really that good with their customer support, I may be encouraged to move more business to them in the future.

 

Edited by thunderlounge
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I am lifetime platinum at Marriott and guess Starwood now. I earned it the hard way. I switched airlines too many times to have lifetime status but frequently travel int'l business or 1st so usually earn it in a few flights. 

Paying for status for the off times that I do not qualify is worth it at this point in my life so I have the exec plat AA and United card. I expense all my flights through my own credit card for work so it can net out in my favor as last year I probably spent $30K+ in flights. 

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11 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:


Amen to that! This will sound bad, but when you're still young enough to live and enjoy, having the kids up and out isn't a bad thing by any means.

True that the Moai are the only thing on Easter Island. That's kind of the point, at least for me anyway. LATAM from SCL, so at least sticking to oneworld. 

 


See, this is all your fault, mister. I'll try to keep it to the readers digest version.

I haven't been much on AMEX. Mainly from preconceived impressions of acceptance, etc. Whether right or wrong, that's for another time. Anyway, your recent discussion of Hilton and their card got me to do a little thinking, and then combined with the realization that 3 of my upcoming 7 stays in the next 45 days are in the Hilton group, I looked into their stuff.

After some research, I decided the Ascend would do the trick, and the 100k bonus was a plus. So knowing I'm leaving this weekend, I looked into expediting the card. It checked out that you could select that as an option during the application, so I went for it. Maybe a hair too quickly, as I first clicked the link for the Aspire. Thankfully I caught it prior to submission, as I wasn't really looking for a $450 AF hotel card. Back on track. Instant approval, and a 20k initial limit. Fine. More than plenty. Screen says "3-5 business days". However, I never did see anywhere to request an expedited delivery (overnight, UPS.) Even still, it's shipped from not too far away, and priority would be 3 days tops. I'm alright with that.

I then move into the account creation. Pretty easy. Nice backend, really. Between that and Chase, I'm actually rather impressed with what they have going on under the hood. Anyway, I'm looking through as this and that when I notice that it says 7-10 business days. Oh shit. No bueno. Not only because I'm leaving, but 7-10 days is also through the post office and I just happened to have my mail on hold starting Friday.

So I called the main customer service number. They were friendly and helpful, but explained that since I just got the card, I would have to talk to the new card department. OK, not a problem. They transfer me. I get what sounded like an outsourced representative (no racist), and he was absolutely unhelpful. He insisted that under no circumstance could I have the new card expedited, and it would be at least 10 days. No bueno, and he was kind of a dick. (Note, I was in uber nice mode.) At this point, I was suspicious and the thought of cancelling the card before the AF hits went through my mind. I then did the HUCA dance. Except I went through google and found a different number. It was actually for applying by phone, but the automated menu gave an option for checking application status, so didn't think anything of it.

I spoke to a very nice lady, and although she mentioned that she really only handled phone applications, that she would see what she could do. So I'm on hold, and she comes back a few minutes later. Nothing yet, but she had another department to try and call. She came back, same thing. We went through this maybe 5 different times. She was really working her tail off to try and help find me something. She finally came back with a suggestion from someone to wait 24-48 hours, and then call in for a replacement card (which they could overnight.)

That's all well and good, so I thanked her for her time. She was very, very nice and helped above and beyond her normal job scope. Even though she couldn't fully resolve the issue, I was still well impressed by the effort and attitude.

But wait, there's more...

 

While I was on hold with the previous rep, I did some googling. I came across an "article" from one of the minor travel blogs that mentioned being able to add yourself as an AU, and they could overnight that card. Hmmmm. Interdasting. So I gave it a rest for a few minutes, then tried their online chat. It was confirmed in the online chat that I certainly could add an AU, and that it was available to do online. I was a bit nervous of doing that, just in case there wasn't an option to expedite and I didn't want to shoot my wad. So I asked if there was a number I could call to handle that. Yep. Number provided. Unfortunately, it was just the general account number. The same number I had started off calling that had to transfer me to "new accounts." Great. Oh, well, this is maybe different, so I give it a shot.

So I call. Unlike earlier when I'd called this number it recognized my phone number, and asked me to confirm my identity. Maybe this was a good thing?

I get on with a very nice lady, who again went that extra mile to make things happen. I first mentioned that I was headed out of the country for a month, and would like to be able to use the card while I was away and staying at several Hilton properties. Then I asked if I could add an AU, and to keep the tone light asked if she wouldn't laugh at me when I asked. Well, she'd been down this road before and knew her shit. She said absolutely, I'll just need their name, etc. I said OK, but then she asked, are you wanting to add yourself? I confirmed that was my exact intention. She confirmed my details to access my account, and then said just a second.

A minute later, she came back and said that she had spoken with her manager, but the system wouldn't let him override the current delivery as the card was just opened today. But she said they could absolutely overnight it tomorrow, and it would be here Wednesday morning. She was also setting it up so that I wouldn't have to call back in, and that she worked tomorrow and would call me personally. This was all without adding myself as an AU (which I could have done, technically), and they just did an override on whatever it is in their system to make it ship overnight instead. Excellent. No idea where the guy in the "new card" call center got his info, but the actual customer service team made it happen.

So the short of it is that even though I initially hit a roadblock, it all worked out in the end with a little persistence, being polite, and calling around.

 

OK, I should have looked into it a bit sooner (well, no shit thunder) and applied weeks ago. However I was busy with other things and never really put 2 and 2 together until now.

That being the case, if AMEX is really that good with their customer support, I may be encouraged to move more business to them in the future.

 

Haha. That's awesome! They really are #1 for Customer Service and working for you. I get why Citi is going to deny me by 70,000 AA miles. I screwed up ultimately because I should have tracked it better. But, I have been using Citi cards for years and have pretty much held every travel version offered. But, to their defense, what good am I when I get the annual fee waived, pay off my balance weekly and close the card before I get hit with the following year's fee? I'm just pissed because I really don't need the miles per my other posts. But got-damnit, I spend $4,000 in 3 weeks booking things through work. I didn't need no stinking "4 months". Had I known, I would have booked a few items on other cards and netted a higher yield due to categories. 

Part of why I started these kind of threads on the other board was hubris. But mostly to hopefully nudge other people to see the world without having to break the bank. If my lower back is killing me at 39, I don't think that I'm going to hike to Machu Picchu at 65 when I retire and do things the conventional way. (Plus, I want to actually have money to retire on!) Once the travel hacking hits your lips...

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16 minutes ago, thunderlounge said:

Oh, and as I was typing all that shit, Hilton Honors sent me an email notifying me of the changes with the new card, and my HH account now shows the benefits. So just shy of 5 hours later and it's all good to go.

 

As I posted above, I love Hilton. I am hoping that I can sweet talk my way into retaining Diamond as it looks like I may end up a few stays short. Their CS is shit though.

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19 minutes ago, Washpark said:

I am lifetime platinum at Marriott and guess Starwood now. I earned it the hard way. I switched airlines too many times to have lifetime status but frequently travel int'l business or 1st so usually earn it in a few flights. 

Paying for status for the off times that I do not qualify is worth it at this point in my life so I have the exec plat AA and United card. I expense all my flights through my own credit card for work so it can net out in my favor as last year I probably spent $30K+ in flights. 

Could not agree more. I wish that I could get to Exec Platinum with AA but Southwest is too enticing for my frequent trips to Dallas. I'll be lucky to retain Gold this year...which is kind of like not having status at all. (Well, I do get a free extra space Coach seat) Airline Lounges are just getting too crowded these days and I've lightened up on my airport arrival time. But I enjoy me a good Executive Lounge to get free booze, drinks for the day of exploring and snacks. 

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Wife and I did both Galapagos and Easter Island last year.  I thought they were both worth it and neither take a lot of time.  You can do Easter Island in basically three days, we got in on Thursday around noon did a half day tour, did an all day tour on Friday and a sunrise tour on Sat before flying out.  If you don't want to be so rushed you can add a day.  Pretty much the only flight is LATAM from Santiago.  I hate LATAM now...my status is with Star Alliance so we just paid for upgrades.  Coach was like $600 and business was only like $800 so we said what the hell.  On the return, my wife's seat was busted and could not lay flat, which means I got the busted seat and they gave me a $200 voucher.  Trying to cash in that voucher was damn near impossible.  LATAM has no actually offices anywhere in the US, everything has to be done over the phone or via email, not even any of the desks at any major US airport can handle turning voucher into cash.  And they liked to play the "no habla" game when things got heated.  Bitches.

Galapagos same deal, you only need a few days.  You're right, finding somewhere in either location to take advantage of your hotel status will be challenging if not impossible.  But you're going to want to stay in a major city before jumping off to either location, we stayed in Quito for a couple days and Santiago for a couple days, both are very cool cities to visit and definitely have options for American chains.  I think SA in general is under-rated as a travel destination.  Didnt' run into many norte americanos there.  Be prepared, it's a 9.5 hour flight from Santiago to Houston.

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6 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

Could not agree more. I wish that I could get to Exec Platinum with AA but Southwest is too enticing for my frequent trips to Dallas. I'll be lucky to retain Gold this year...which is kind of like not having status at all. (Well, I do get a free extra space Coach seat) Airline Lounges are just getting too crowded these days and I've lightened up on my airport arrival time. But I enjoy me a good Executive Lounge to get free booze, drinks for the day of exploring and snacks. 

Those are some of the reasons I switched to crediting to BAEC. Had I done it sooner, I would be pushing gold for the year. Silver will work though. I won’t get upgrade instruments on AA, but I don’t really need them. If I want a better cabin, I’ll buy it. Plus I’ll get lounge access on domestic itineraries, which AA denies their elietes. 

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20 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

 I'll be lucky to retain Gold this year...which is kind of like not having status at all. 

For upgrades, lounge, etc. this is right. But Gold gets you access to so many more seats, especially seats up front and aisle seats.  For me (I need an aisle seat), Gold is not only nice, it's necessary.  I get to Platinum too but never Platinum Pro.  Except for free seats in Main Cabin Extra, there is almost no difference between Gold and Platinum.  With so many EPs, I never get upgraded.

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Is there a point modifier increase from the other Southwest cards? I’ve already got a Premiere and I’m already A-list preferred. What’s the benefit to me to switch cards? I’m sure there is a breakdown on this somewhere.
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2 hours ago, ERhine said:

 


Is there a point modifier increase from the other Southwest cards? I’ve already got a Premiere and I’m already A-list preferred. What’s the benefit to me to switch cards? I’m sure there is a breakdown on this somewhere.

 

If you're A-List Preferred it likely isn't worth it.

My wife has "A-List" and Companion Pass. I forget what A-List preferred gets you over A-List though I just know it's better...

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On 7/23/2018 at 5:21 PM, shakahorn said:

Wife and I did both Galapagos and Easter Island last year.  I thought they were both worth it and neither take a lot of time.  You can do Easter Island in basically three days, we got in on Thursday around noon did a half day tour, did an all day tour on Friday and a sunrise tour on Sat before flying out.  If you don't want to be so rushed you can add a day.  Pretty much the only flight is LATAM from Santiago.  I hate LATAM now...my status is with Star Alliance so we just paid for upgrades.  Coach was like $600 and business was only like $800 so we said what the hell.  On the return, my wife's seat was busted and could not lay flat, which means I got the busted seat and they gave me a $200 voucher.  Trying to cash in that voucher was damn near impossible.  LATAM has no actually offices anywhere in the US, everything has to be done over the phone or via email, not even any of the desks at any major US airport can handle turning voucher into cash.  And they liked to play the "no habla" game when things got heated.  Bitches.

Galapagos same deal, you only need a few days.  You're right, finding somewhere in either location to take advantage of your hotel status will be challenging if not impossible.  But you're going to want to stay in a major city before jumping off to either location, we stayed in Quito for a couple days and Santiago for a couple days, both are very cool cities to visit and definitely have options for American chains.  I think SA in general is under-rated as a travel destination.  Didnt' run into many norte americanos there.  Be prepared, it's a 9.5 hour flight from Santiago to Houston.

I’m thinking a little more along these lines. The problem is that there isn’t an efficient way for me to do this with the Mrs. with my current mileage war chest. We were supposed to go to Carnival in Rio and Cartagena, Columbia in February but decided that even with free hotels, and a favorable exchange rate, it would be too costly that time of year and we will have 2 college tuitions to deal with. I was thinking about doing it over Labor Day weekend next year instead as both kids will have started college and gotten settled in at that point. But, that’s not as ideal weather-wise as it’s winter and the rainy season. (Not to mention hurricane season for the Caribbean, which affects flights) I’d want to hit Rio and Galapagos Islands for sure. But, getting from Rio to Quito is a bit of an adventure. All obtainable roads lead through Lima, which isn’t the worst thing, but will cost more time, money and miles than I want to use. Doing JFK-GIG on AA and UIO-JFK on JetBlue is simple enough. I’m at LATAM’s mercy using BA Avios. Inter-SA flights are notoriously expensive, so utilizing the Chase or Citi points routes don’t sound appealing.

So that trip will be on hold until at least 2020. I can’t foresee any less than 4 nights in Rio, 1 night in Lima, 3 nights in GI and at least 1 night in Quito as a baseline. With the overnight flight, that’s 10 nights already, which I’d probably need to add 1-2 additional nights to not have it be so compact due to travel. Then we’re getting into the 2 week vacation territory, which is too long.

I don’t really want to do another European trip, but geographically it makes the most sense for us. Maybe fly JFK-FRA, rent a car and do the Romantic Road/Austrian Lake District? While ideal for my timeline, I’m not breaking any new ground there. (Although she would be) It would be cheap though as flying in/out of FRA on miles is plentiful and inexpensive and I have enough points with Hertz to cover most of the car rental. Maybe Athens and the Santorini, which would be perfect in September and areas neither of us have explored. But I’d have to buy inter-Island flights and I’m virtually guaranteed to fly BA on the TA route, which adds about $600.00 to the mileage redemption. We’d be trading in in expenses in SA for a secondary option to save a few days.

If I go solo, I’d probably look to South America. But, all of the places that I really want to go are areas I’d shy away from to keep them fresh for our trip as a couple. Santiago and Buenos Aires don’t appeal to me much as I already live in a big city and I’ve already done the Machu Picchu thing. I may look at Lisbon and other areas of Spain since that would be new for me. I’d love a road trip but those aren’t fun solo.

Nothing really moves the needle. As my schedule starts to fall into place, I’ll have a better grasp. Then again, not knowing makes me anxious since I am almost in the wheelhouse of a summer trip for next year with mileage redemption. I won’t be as flexible and I hate having charts dictate where/if I go at a specific time. I have some business travel coming up and it sucks not knowing how to direct it to benefit the most.

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It's hard for me to keep up with a lot of this - You fuckers are smart being able to game this stuff as efficiently as you do.

I've got about 300k of Amex points, 85k of Marriott points, and 85k United miles (not flying much anymore)

What do I do with them?  How do you best leverage those to get the most pop on vacation travel?

I understand Amex pay with points and usually do that once or twice a year for a random flight, but other than that I don't do much with the other stuff.

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6 hours ago, Reagan1k said:

It's hard for me to keep up with a lot of this - You fuckers are smart being able to game this stuff as efficiently as you do.

I've got about 300k of Amex points, 85k of Marriott points, and 85k United miles (not flying much anymore)

What do I do with them?  How do you best leverage those to get the most pop on vacation travel?

I understand Amex pay with points and usually do that once or twice a year for a random flight, but other than that I don't do much with the other stuff.

Depends on where you want to go and how many people would be going with you. For example, you can book a Coach ticket to Europe using your United miles one way. You can book the other way through AMEX travel or transfer points to a travel partner to redeem using their Award chart. Or, you can transfer 100,000 AMEX points to BA and book 5 RT tickets from Dallas to NYC on AA. 85K Marriott Points will only get you a couple nights at a decent property. But, it’s something.

You've essentially said “I want to buy a car and this is my budget” Need some more details to narrow down the scope.

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Can you give me some ideas of how I can use points for upgrades, either most efficiently or most flexibly? I have a pile of points/miles, but poorly distributed, and I fly random airlines in economy on what usually aren't full fare tickets, which maybe kills all chance of upgrade. My goal is to get upgraded to Business Class on international flights between West Coast (LAX, SFO, SEA) to Bangkok. I've flown the route on Asiana, United, Delta, AA/Cathay, JAL, Eva, China, and China Southern.

Points are at:

  • Amex MR 250k
  • Citi Thankyou 220k
  • Aegean 77k
  • AA 120k - default Oneworld accrual because I got a ton of AA points on a credit card. No good reason; I rarely fly Oneworld.
  • Asiana 50k - default Star Alliance accrual due to 2yr eligibility/renewal and easy qualification for Star Gold
  • Delta 93k - default Skyteam accrual due to rollover miles and Silver being enough for Skyteam priority check in and boarding

If there's no good use on upgrades, what's the best "value" for using them to fly out of Bangkok to anywhere? Economy class is fine.

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Depends on where you want to go and how many people would be going with you. For example, you can book a Coach ticket to Europe using your United miles one way. You can book the other way through AMEX travel or transfer points to a travel partner to redeem using their Award chart. Or, you can transfer 100,000 AMEX points to BA and book 5 RT tickets from Dallas to NYC on AA. 85K Marriott Points will only get you a couple nights at a decent property. But, it’s something.

You've essentially said “I want to buy a car and this is my budget” Need some more details to narrow down the scope.

Thanks - That gets me started.  I'd never really looked into using partners and transfer.

What I'm actually saying is that my wife said "Take me somewhere and use these points that are just sitting there."

This gets me in the right frame of mind to start looking.  Gracias!

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36 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

Thanks - That gets me started.  I'd never really looked into using partners and transfer.

What I'm actually saying is that my wife said "Take me somewhere and use these points that are just sitting there."

This gets me in the right frame of mind to start looking.  Gracias!

I won't go through the entire sermon since it varies on the partner and the destination, but I'll give you an example of what to look for. Let's say that you and your wife want to go from Dallas to NYC. With your haul, I can tell you that United is probably out because their hub is IAH. It doesn't make a ton of sense to change planes for this route unless it's an emergency. But, United also has a hub at EWR. If you lived in Houston, it's viable as Newark is probably the closest airport to Manhattan.

On AMEX, you would need to compare pricing on using your points vs. transferring them to a travel partner. Let's say a roundtrip flight is priced at $400.00. Membership Reward values top out at $0.01 per point, so we can assume that the redemption would be approx. 40,000 points. 

AMEX also has British Airways as a travel partner. While BA doesn't fly that route, their Oneworld Alliance partner American Airlines does. So your next step is to check AA's site to search Award travel flights for your dates. Let's say you wanted to depart 7/27 and come back 7/29. Per the current availability, there are multiple direct flights available. (Key in on the word "direct" here) That means that they will also be available to redeem using Avios on BA's site. BA notoriously has a limited showing of available partner flights, so you may have to make a call to book where they will waive the fee. BA is a distance based Award program. A roundtrip from DFW-LGA would be 20,000 BA Avios + $5.60 per ticket. Unfortunately, AMEX doesn't yield a 1:1 ratio on the transfer. So it would cost you 25,000 MR points to obtain 20,000 BA Avios. However, you are saving 15,000 MR points for a cost of $5.60 instead of booking through AMEX directly for the same net result.

The most important things to keep in mind are to:

1. Ensure that the flights are available, even if you have to call to verify, before transferring points. Also make sure that you are happy with the choice as you cannot reverse the decision.

2. The AA flight has to be direct and at the saver redemption level, which is 12.5K miles each way for a Coach ticket for this route. If there is a connection, you will have to book the itinerary piecemeal. (I.E. One flight from DFW-PHL; One flight from PHL-LGA which will cost you more points and $)

The strategy changes if you want to go international. Depending on where you go, you may stick with BA or need to switch to another partner due to fuel surcharges. The beauty of BA is that you can completely cancel your plans, be reimbursed 100% of your Avios back and only lose what you paid in taxes. I consistently book flights that I may want to take because I am only risking a little bit of $ if I can't make the plans work. But, I've grabbed availability, which is the most important thing.

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One thing is certain... you never want to book BA for the longhaul over the atlantic. Their surcharges are ridiculous. We’re not talking  a couple hundred, we’re talking ~$1000 give or take. You want AA or Iberia (for oneworld) for those. I think Finnair has high surcharges as well. 

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16 minutes ago, Mojo Hand said:

What do y'all use to get good hotel prices these days? 

In the US.  Hotwire.   But it definitely has its nuances.  eg.  If you want to stay in a certain area of a city and you see a gerrymandering line going out of the area you want to stay in.  Prepare to get that property. 

Edited by midtown
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I used to use https://www.betterbidding.com/ to help pinpoint the hotels on Hotwire, and it was pretty accurate. Not sure if it's still being updated.

(Scroll down to the States in the forum, choose the Priceline / Hotwire Hotel Lists for xxxx link, choose the Hotwire or Priceline link. You'll need to click on the link that opens up a hotwire or priceline window in order display it. All it does is give them a clickthrough credit.)

 

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5 minutes ago, skipperj said:

I used to use https://www.betterbidding.com/ to help pinpoint the hotels on Hotwire, and it was pretty accurate. Not sure if it's still being updated.

Not like it used to be.  I find it right about half the time but its still worth checking.  Recently I noticed that when you actually click through to actually book the property hotwire you will get a message that says  "you are guaranteed one of these four hotels"

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Slightly off topic perhaps.  I have to go on a business trip in late September. I will need to book 14 nights in hotels in India and the Philippines. I need to use the corporate credit card, but I can book any way I want.  Is there a hotel booking engine that provides better rewards, assuming the pricing will all be similar.  Should I use something like Hotels.com and get a free night for every 10 nights or booking.com that gets me Aadvtange miles or something else?

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