Update 3 - replaced Hilton Sibiu (went up to 20k), Hampton Inn Medellin (now 20k), and DoubleTree Queenstown (now 40k) with Hilton Garden Inn Bali Airport, DoubleTree Agra, and Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi. Also got rid of some devaluated honorable mentions. Update 2 - replaced DoubleTree Melaka (which went up to 10k) and Hampton Inn Fall River (went up to 20k) with … [Read more...]
The Great Paradox of My Travel Aspirations
I have two fundamental travel aspirations: See the world. Get good value out of miles & points. The 2 goals were in unison in my early days of the hobby. Seeing the world meant flying premium cabin to a major destination, staying in a high-value points hotel, and sightseeing in the vicinity. I did this in Hong Kong, Sydney, Bangkok, Paris, Banff - to … [Read more...]
$10 for a Flat Bed in Chicago? I’ll Take It
Technically it's in the suburbs, and admission costs extra, but I was going there anyway so my extra cost was just $10. I was in Chicago for 2 nights a few weekends ago. I had one Hyatt category 4 free night from the Chase Hyatt card, so I stayed at Hyatt Recency Chicago River on Saturday. But I needed a place to stay on Friday. None of my Chicago friends … [Read more...]
Get 5+ Expensive Nights from One Obscure Hotel Card Signup
Update - Several readers report being denied for the card. I double checked my credit report and can confirm I had 4-5 inquiries on Experian from the prior 6 months, when I applied and got approved for this card (about a year ago; they did call to confirm identity). YMMV. Note, I say 4-5 because I applied for multiple cards on the same day and can't remember … [Read more...]