Archive for the ‘Hilton’ Category

NOTE: Not to alarm anybody. Not to sell more card referrals. Just the facts. I was asked to add the term “Limited Time Offer” to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card ads as of the 12th of January. You know it now.

NOTE: AA Virus. George sent me a note saying he got an email from AA with an attachment that was deleted by his computer as a virus. A warning here to be careful for AA emails the next coup,e days.

JetBlue has fares from $29 each way

Registration for Starwood’s Better by the Night Q1 promotion is now open!

You can get 10 days of parking with free shuttle service to PHL for only $35. There are also cheaper options for 4 or 7 days of parking as well.

Hilton has another promotion going on for its resort properties. When you stay 5 nights at a resort, you get a free night! Via Deals We Like

Gary has a great post that summarizes the best rental car rewards such as 1,000 Virgin Atlantic miles for a 1-day rental at Avis!

Priority Club also has a promotion going where you will earn double points starting with your second stay at qualifying properties.

You can still get $5 for every person you invite to TripAlertz! You can use my link or one of the links in the comments to join.

We hit the resort on the 13th and stayed through the 17th of December. Occupancy was about 30%. I love Hawaii before Christmas rush. No crowds.

The advertised rate was at $159 per night plus resort fee or 10,000 points per night. I paid the $$$ rate as I value my points considerably higher than 1.6 cents each. Valet parking was $6 per night plus the resort fee. As a Gold member of the Starwood program, high speed Internet was free (although NOT very high speed).

The views from the common areas were nice, the rooms were clean and spacious. We were upgraded to a partial ocean-view room (Gold Status and low occupancy) with a balcony. The room was a good size but nothing special.

Overall the hotel layout was the most confusing I have ever seen. I never got my bearings with our room on the third floor, lobby on second, and pool and restaurants on the first. Seems simple to say but wasn’t in practicality.

There were two large pools and slides and ample places to sit, sun, or enjoy the shade. I love the contrast of the blue water with the black volcanic rocky shoreline. There was no place for ocean swimming on site. In the evening several boats would pull up in front of the resort to view the manta rays feeding on plankton. The resort has two lights directed into the water until 11 p.m., which attracts the plankton and, behind them, the huge manta rays. There were kayaking and snorkeling with the rays excursions as well. The rays on the Big Island are much larger than the stingrays in the Caymans.

The food was resort expensive but good. The morning breakfast buffet was $23 and the lunch menu had sufficient choices at $17 each plus drinks. You are some distances from other eateries so a car is a must if you want to eat offsite. We laid by the pool day one (too cold for me), went to the Greenlawn Coffee Plantation tour, (10 minutes south) on the second day, and went deep sea fishing on day three for marlin, tuna, or whatever. NO fish. It was about $600 for the boat ride including tip for four of us, which included lunch, bait, and tackle for a three-quarter-day trip.

My overall impression of the resort was a B-, but at $159 per night, a good value, I think, and the weather was fantastic. I wonder what I could have gotten it for by using Priceline?

Citi Thank You Premier Card, 50,000 Thank You Points!

The battle raged on last week between the practical and the absurd. Mommy Points and Darius defended the use of miles for domestic tickets and the other side insisted that International Premium Cabin provides the best return on investment. I’ll continue to take the middle road and, hopefully, the side of reason.

International First Class redemption is a waste of miles, in my mind. I am being held captive in an aluminum tube for eight to 14 hours and just want to get to my destination after sleeping as much as possible. A typical international flight for me consists of waiting too long for the pre-dinner drink (Diet Coke), waiting too long for the an airline meal, and then finally getting some sleep. A comfortable night’s sleep is what I’m after. I don’t know or care about meeting “Dom” or any of his fancy drinking buddies. Caviar taste like too fishy to me and the meal, no matter how you cut it, is still going to be just airline food.

Turning the ultimate left at the nose of the plane may make some people feel important, but the attendants certainly don’t think you are. They know you just spent a few extra miles, is all. An arrival airport first class lounge is a waste of time to me. I’m going to my hotel and get a shower. If I smell like I’ve been on a plane all night, yep, I have.

Business class international is good enough for me. With the new lay-flat seats, I need nothing more and just don’t see the sense in the extra miles expenditure to go first class.

Our last trip to China involved a redemption of 55K frequent flier miles for business over and 67.5K miles for first class on the return, as that was all that was available. That is the second time I booked a segment of international first class. The first time I did it was Sydney to Los Angeles and I did not see the added value. When we decided to come home early from China, we were thrilled that they found us seats back in business class. That was all we needed. We didn’t need to meet “Dom” and his buddies. Just get us home in comfort.

Let’s be honest here: Most of us can’t and won’t pay for first class seats with CASH. In all reality, most of us can’t and won’t pay CASH for business class international, either. It is just too expensive and makes no sense. But if you can get business class for miles (which is way out of our price range anyway), why pay the extra miles for first class?

As for using miles for domestic itineraries, Hell Yes I Do. I am accumulating miles on credit card sign-ups for under .2 cents each. That is less than one quarter of one cent each. If I can use 25K miles and fly from Savannah to Sioux Falls and save $600+ Hell Yes, count me in for redeeming for domestic coach. I’m not trying to impress anybody. Just get me from point A to point B. I didn’t buy a new car until I was 60 and the suntan I got on my used sailboat felt just a good as the guy’s with the new boat. I just didn’t have a boat payment. 

I love my wife, the Katybug. She has set some pretty reasonable guidelines for our travel. If the trip is over three hours, try for domestic first class and if international long haul, get business class redemptions. My guidelines for domestic paid tickets is to get at least two cents per mile and always leave enough miles in each airline account for at least one international business class award.

Hotel redemptions: I redeem for regular rooms and mostly at three or four star hotels. No suites for me unless I receive them for free based on my status with a hotel program. If I find curly hairs behind the bathroom door or toothpaste spit on the sink drain, I’m outta there. If it’s clean, quiet, and safe, I’m a happy camper. The St. Regis and Conrads make me feel like I need to wear shoes. I’m a flip flop and Waffle House kinda guy.

Here’s my summary of travel suggestions for the extreme ends of the scale:

If you are forcing your partner to endure coach travel for extended hours of time on international itineraries, consider moving up to business class. You are just using miles anyway.

And if you’re flying first class, consider backing down to business class and donating those extra miles to the DreamFoundation.org.

I think both sides of the argument will end up getting a better night’s sleep.

Chase Ink Bold Card  50,000 Ultimate Reward Points , 1st Year Fee Waived!

Last week I was looking through my scheduled travel plans and thought to myself, “Are you crazy, Howie?” Here’s why:

• This past Wednesday through Friday in the office
• Friday through Sunday in Boston for a wedding
• Sunday through Friday back in the office (right now)
• This Saturday through next Wednesday in London with customers
• Thursday through Sunday in New York visiting my brother
• Next Monday through Thursday conference & customer visit in San Francisco Bay area

Lots of air time. If only I could be paid like a pro basketball player. That said, at the end of every one of these trips I get to go home, sleep in my bed, and be with my family.

Imagine if your home was on the road — if you lived in someone else’s house or an apartment that you rented. Imagine changing that home every 91 days! Enter Jürgen Horn and Michael Powell and a crazy adventure known as their life.

Sara and I had the pleasure of befriending Jürgen and Mike on their 91 days in Savannah. They live like locals, and do their best to immerse themselves in everything, calling themselves “eternal newcomers.” You can follow along with their adventures at for91days.com. Be prepared for some excellent stories and amazing photos. We’re trying to figure out how we can visit them while they’re in Palermo, Italy — for 91 days.

I wanted to share their story with you, not to promote what they do, but rather to give you some inspiration on where to travel and what to do while you’re there. All too often I think we go to a place with an agenda, a schedule, and three or four packed days of “things to do.” What if you spent two weeks somewhere and did what Jürgen and Mike do: immerse yourself into a community and really experience where you’re visiting? They inspire me. I hope they do the same for you and you enjoy their story.

Travel Tip: Don’t break your routine

If you’re at all like me, you have a routine when you travel. For my trip up to Boston this past weekend, I broke my routine. I packed a suit in a garment bag, which I never do, then forgot it on the plane. Lucky for me, my wife Sara was with me and scooped it up on her way off the plane. Had I been by myself I probably would have been suit shopping before the wedding.

Packing Tip: If you can fit it, take it!

Sara did just that this weekend with her Wellies (boots). Two nights is a piece of cake in a carry-on. She had some extra space so, with expected rain, the Wellies came along. We’re always thinking about what we can cut out of our suitcases, but with extra space you might as well fit it in. Considering the rain in Boston and the walking we did, she definitely made the right decision.

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Hey there, Frugal Travelers!

As Rick said, I’m a bit of a geek (you’ll soon see) and yesterday for my birthday — what did I do?  I flew from my home airport in Savannah (SAV) on Delta to Atlanta (ATL), spent the night at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel Atlanta Airport, and I’m headed to Houston (HOU), Austin (AUS), and finally Los Angeles (LAX) before I head home on Friday for three and a half days — only to head out for another three days.  If it sounds tiring, believe me, it is. But it’s worth it!

With help from Rick, who guides us all with leisure travel, and Shannon, who breaks in our rookies, and Andrew, who shares all the cool / exotic locations he’s been to (and will go to), I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share my experiences. I travel for business almost every week. And over the weekend, I do what most business travelers dread: fill out expense reports!

I know I can learn a lot from everyone here, and hopefully I can offer some insight and help to all of you road warriors out there so that you can get the most out of your time on the road. Time away from home and loved ones is always difficult. But if we do this right, all of us (and our families) can share in fruits of our travel labor.

My primary airline is Delta, with whom I hold Diamond Medallion status. My primary hotel loyalty program is Starwood, where I’m a Platinum Preferred Guest. After this week I’ll have 106 Medallion Qualifying Segments (MQS) and 192,644 MQM with Delta, and 47 stays / 81 nights (I did a lot of hopping with SPG’s second quarter promotion).

My “earnings” for this week will be:  
Delta – 6401 Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) and 14403 Redeemable miles (RDM)
Starwood – 1 stay/night credit (and associated points).

I’ll also get a small cash-back bonus through ebates.com for clicking through their link to book both my flight and hotel, and, of course, all the credit card spend with their associated bonuses. Two of my hotel nights were booked on Priceline and two others were booked on a special discount rate that doesn’t earn stay credit. Not my typical week, but it is what it is.

I’ll lay out a pretty penny for the week and will get reimbursed 100 percent. My out of pocket expense: $0.

Five nights, five airports, three hotels, 200 miles in a rental car with some co-workers, and hopefully a decent meal or two (oh yeah, I’m also a foodie, so expect a picture or two of something I find delicious).

One tip previously mentioned that I made use of this week was the US Airways Dividend Miles Shopping Mall.  I have a small balance with US Airways but needed to extend my mileage expiration.  Install the toolbar (+500 miles) … perform 3 Internet searches through the toolbar (+1 mile), and the miles posted 14 days afterwards.  I’ve since removed the toolbar but still use the site to get miles on my Amazon.com purchases (the only way I know to get anything extra when purchasing through Amazon); don’t miss out on the free miles, even if you just use it for a magazine subscription.

If you have any suggestions, feedback, or post recommendations for me I can be reached at howie@frugaltravelguy.com.

Yours Frugally,
Howie

P.S. Get your own FAA Airport Diagrams.