Best choice for long-term accomodations?

[TyroneSchulase]

I'm assuming people want to sleep safely at night. In my large city in the deep south, new 1-br apts go for $700-1100/mo in nice parts of town. Pool, gym, Scrabble, whatever. SPG, Marriot, and HH offer brand new rooms for $22-36/night via sustained MS, not signup offers, depending on the card. That's $660-1080/mo.

Subtract the 4th or 5th night free, and it's significantly cheaper. As Platinum, Diamond or Gold Elite, you get upgraded to a suite. Free breakfast at 6, lunch at 10, free cable, internet, all utilities, daily maid service with partial laundry, microwave, refrigerator, all furniture, security, parking, nighttime snack, and liberal newspaper if you desire. An assisted living facility costs $2500/mo, and only adds free transportation locally and one more meal/day.

So, just rack up enough points to carry you for several months in case the MS deals run out, and enjoy, right?

 

[MikeT]

Or you could Airbnb and save some money...

 

[TyroneSchulase]

Or you could Airbnb and save some money...

I already checked. Airbnb can match price, not beat (I'm talking $25/night) in semi-decent parts of town. I can find no place in my city at that price which offers a room with check-in snacks, bottled water, a gym, pool, hot tub, business center with free printing, and 2 meals/day.

Maybe splurge a little now and then and go for a Hilton at 30k pts ($40) and also get the manager's reception. Free drinks and hors d'ouvres. That's 3 meals. Might meet some interesting people doing that or Airbnb.

 

[AlaskanTraveler]

I've thought about this before. I think that it would be difficult to maintain the needed amount of MS in the long run. What kind of MS would you need to do in 30 days to sustain yourself for 30 days of hotel stays? A 30k Hilton hotel would require. $5k grocery spend per day. That is $150k per month. That is a lot of MOs for me to deposit in a month even if you do alternate between different banks.

Also, this could work for someone who isn't employed in a traditional job, but if I had a regular day job, I might find myself working an extra 15-20 hrs per week doing MS. Then there is the checking in/check out to maximize promotions.

Another thought after DOC had a guest post about timeshares. Interval International has "getaway deals" where you can pay cash to stay in Timeshares. I have access to an account as a result of a family member having a timeshare. I found lots of weeks for $250 and up. That is pretty decent and considered that when I retire I could sell my house and just live wherever I want, jumping from timeshare to timeshare. It is possible to line up multiple weeks in a row. Just as an example. I found timeshares in Acapulco for $250/week. It was possible to make multiple bookings back to back. So you could stay at a nice timeshare resort for $1k/month. That is pretty cheap living.

 

[TyroneSchulase]

I've thought about this before. I think that it would be difficult to maintain the needed amount of MS in the long run. What kind of MS would you need to do in 30 days to sustain yourself for 30 days of hotel stays? A 30k Hilton hotel would require. $5k grocery spend per day. That is $150k per month. That is a lot of MOs for me to deposit in a month even if you do alternate between different banks.

Also, this could work for someone who isn't employed in a traditional job, but if I had a regular day job, I might find myself working an extra 15-20 hrs per week doing MS. Then there is the checking in/check out to maximize promotions.

Another thought after DOC had a guest post about timeshares. Interval International has "getaway deals" where you can pay cash to stay in Timeshares. I have access to an account as a result of a family member having a timeshare. I found lots of weeks for $250 and up. That is pretty decent and considered that when I retire I could sell my house and just live wherever I want, jumping from timeshare to timeshare. It is possible to line up multiple weeks in a row. Just as an example. I found timeshares in Acapulco for $250/week. It was possible to make multiple bookings back to back. So you could stay at a nice timeshare resort for $1k/month. That is pretty cheap living.

Time-share idea is great! It's a perfect back-up for when MS runs out, and the idea of a resort instead of a normal hotel adds allure. As for sustainability of MSing a room, I was staying at 20k Hampton (HH), which is only $3300/day. Definitely doable. But tonight I'm in a Marriot courtyard for 6k pts, which is only 2k spend on SPG. Fifth night free yields 5 nights for 8k, so that's only48k/mo. I already do 100-150k.

The thought of selling the house and not paying property tax, insurance, utilities, and repairs/maintenance is very tempting. My cousin rented out his house, bought a fifth wheel and lives out of that just traveling the country, but he has to park it somewhere... Some people want to be more grounded. I met some national park and state park hosts who reside for free as long as they perform certain duties. They live the summer up north, and do 6 months winter in the south.

So I think there are a lot of options for us, especially with the time-share idea. Thanks for the input.