Napa 2012

I'm still playing with the construction of this site.  Having said that you'll notice the recent addition of a Trip Reports header, I plan to post  comment and pics from my trips and link to those pages. This is my attempt to do just that...

Diamonds ARE a girls best friend...

Actually I am talking about, Hyatt Diamond status.  You are all getting a taste of  how using your good credit can help you realize the dream of travelling the world, but what if you could up the ante just a bit more?  I fall into the category of "get me to my destination and have a decent place for me to sleep and I'm happy" but others need their status fix.  We all have experienced the unexpected thrill of a hotel room upgrade or a free drink coupon, but what if you could have the red carpet rolled out for you for an upcoming trip?  My first taste of  the benefits of status came during my stay at the Hyatt Vendome in Paris in April, 2012.

Working Hyatt

I'm trying to work Hyatt to my advantage for my upcoming West Hollywood stay.  In my post about the upcoming California trip detailed here I say how my Hyatt stay is not 100% pre-booked since two of the intended three nights reserved are paid for with reward points while the third night is currently reserved as a paid stay at a rate of $265.  When I reserved the room I had no intention of paying $265 for my stay, I just wanted to hold the room in my name.

Thinking beyond what's on the surface

In a previous post I touched on the "how to" of acquiring a Southwest Companion Pass.  Briefly: the need to apply for 2 Chase Southwest credit cards (1 personal, 1 business) at the current 50K bonus per card offer got you 100K points closer to the goal of 110K needed for the pass.  Today, we put in real terms how you can easily acquire the remaining 8K. You only need 8K because 2K will be used as part of your spend to be awarded the 100K bonus points for getting both cards.

The Fine Print

We've all seen it and most likely ignored it, its the fine print that instills fear. Anything 'bad" is written small, so small in fact that either very young eyes or magnifiers must be used to heed the warnings.  I've encountered some fine print that is most likely going to have me ill all weekend.  With only about three weeks until departure for my Asia Adventure its time to start taking one of the oral vaccines I was prescribed.

50,000 Point Southwest credit card now available!

In my post about the Southwest Companion pass detailed here. I talk about the need for acquiring two Southwest credit cards to accumulate 100K points toward the required 110K needed to be awarded the companion pass.  At the time of the post I advised readers not to sign up for the cards since the sign on bonus was only 25K per card.  That has now changed!  The offer has been bumped up to 50K points for each of the four cards offered, two personal and two business. The link to the personal card is available simply by clicking the Southwest ad appearing on this blog (look in the margin to your right).

The ease of Ultimate Rewards

This is part II of my mini series on the Anatomy of a trip to LA where I detail how I use my points knowlegde to book a trip for two for only $268.  Today we will look more closely at Ultimate rewards points.  Many Chase products come with points known as Ultimate Rewards, you earn these UR's as they are called by using your Chase branded credit cards for your everyday purchases or by signing up for new Chase branded credit cards offering large sign up bonuses.  Ultimate rewards can be used to buy gift cards or travel through a Chase maintained website or the points can be transferred to one of their valuable travel partners shown here...

Daily Getaway Time

For us travel points groupies June means Daily Getaways.  Every year in the May/June time frame Daily Getaways are revealed for about 4 weeks.  Daily Getaways are offered in conjunction with the US Travel Association and advertising support from American Express. At a pre-selected time the offer goes "live" and folks try for one of the deals over the internet.

If you use an American Express card to pay for your purchase you receive an extra 10% off  the already discounted price, the catch is you are competing with an unknown quantity of travel junkies trying for the same very limited number of packages.  As this promotion gains more and more followers actually acquiring the daily offer is a feat within itself.  I have scored some of these deals in the past.

Southwest Airlines Companion Pass

I believe the single greatest reward in this travel points game is the acquisition of the Southwest Companion Pass.  When we are talking about Southwest Airlines you fall into one of two places, love it or hate it.  However even the naysayers can’t deny the benefit of having a companion travel along with them for free.  There are many different companion products offered by various airlines but Southwest’s version is simply the best.  To acquire the card you need to accumulate 110,000 qualifying points or 100 one way flight segments.  I’m not even going to address the flight segment aspect because unless Southwest is your regular carrier and you fly them with regular frequency you’ll spend a lifetime acquiring the required number of segments to obtain the pass.  However, in a matter of months you can have the companion pass without ever having flown on a Southwest flight.

Anatomy of a Trip to L.A.

This past week, I have been firming up my California trip scheduled for early August. I’ll be taking the daughter to Hollywood (her request, although she doesn't actually know she is going yet).  The trip will occur shortly after my return from Thailand so I am curious how my mental and physical state will be with two long haul trips in such close proximity to one another. It will be equally painful to fly in coach to California as I still will be reeling in the afterglow of first class pampering received from my return flight on Cathay Pacific.  I know, poor me.

This Hollywood trip will include 2 round trip,direct flights on Southwest, 3 nights at the popular Hyatt Andaz, West Hollywood  and a Hertz rental car for the duration.  Total cost of trip for two so far: $288.  I expect this price to go down as departure draws near.  In the next few upcoming posts I plan to detail this trip thru a mini series of posts to explain the logistics.