Aruba with TripAlertz and AA Miles

May 5, 2012 - Rick

I like free and this trip we’ll get close to it. My Citi ThankYou points account has jumped to 128,000 points and Katy has 55,000 in hers, mostly from the Premier card signup. I’m loading up with the 5 points per dollar on dining with the Forward card, 50K from the Premier card sign up and another 25K from the first half of the Preferred card sign up. Our TripAlertz Trip Cash came from reader referrals at $5 to $10 each and we appreciate using our referral link. But the TripAlertz Trip Cash expires in December of this year. We need to book something.

I’ve been waiting for the Aruba Renaissance Hotel in Aruba or a fishing camp trip out west to reappear. Aruba showed up first at $139 per night for two and included a daily breakfast. We’ve got enough Trip Cash to cover most of the five night minimum and will have to pay the 22% taxes out of pocket. Can you imagine 22%?

Airfare offers tons of opportunities with our diversified portfolio of miles and points. The options included US Airways, American either with cash or miles, or we have Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Citi ThankYou points. The ThankYou points seem like the best option at this point. Katy has the Premier card which lets her pay at a rate of 1.33 cents of value per point. I have the Preferred card and the Forward card and would only receive 1 cent per point in redemption, BUT I can transfer my ThankYou points to her account and get the higher value. The only caveat is that the points I transfer must be used in 90 days or they are lost forever. When we get the dates nailed down, we’ll act with the best option available at that moment. As we all know the best option can change from day to day.

Update: I got antsy and booked award tickets with AA miles. We picked time right after Thanksgiving after looking at mid December. I had a revenue ticket on the free AA 24 hour hold but when I looked at it the second time, it included an unneeded overnight in Miami. We did better in late Novemberwith the award and I’ve got plenty of AA miles to cover the 35K each ticket. We booked the exit rows and will enjoy our time on this virtually free adventure.

We’ve been to Aruba about 3 times and have stayed out in the Palm Beach area. The Renaissance is located downtown and has a ferry to their private island that I’d like to check out. We are undecided between November or December at this point. The island is far enough south (off the coast of Venezuela) that hurricanes are remote. The clothing and dress is more Latino and South American than other Caribbean Islands. We’ll spend our time on the beach, snorkeling, and laying in a hammock. At night, I may just give the casinos are run for their money.

Anybody else have Tripalertz Trip Cash and plans to be in Aruba with it?

Melvin

Can TripAlertz Cash be used toward the 22% taxes?

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

Unfortunately not; our only expense on both the hotel and flight are taxes.

Jethro

Lovely wife and I have reservations for 2nd week in January for Aruba (first time). US Air award flights in front of the plane 100k (better availability), 5 nights Radisson resort, 250k CC points. Looking forward to a great time.

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/ Frugal Travel Guy

Great time to visit, you’ll have a blast.

Sid

I did Aruba Renaissance through TripAlertz:
1) Obviously you do not earn Marriot points – in case you did not know
2) The hotel rooms were disappointing. Old, outdated.
3) The island is great. Seriously. I was there everyday for a couple of hours at the least.
4) Aruba is fun – minimize the time in your room and all is well. The hotel itself was very disappointing.
Sharon

We recently came back from Aruba and enjoyed a fabulous snorkel tour with Aruba Bob Snorkeling. Kent and Stuart have these great underwater handheld scooters and the snorkel we did at Mangel Halto was fabulous. Pretty sure they don’t take points , but you’ll enjoy the time you spend with them!

Aruba with TripAlertz and AA Miles

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