April 17, 2015

Here is How to Save 20% at Every Marriott & Ritz Carlton Hotel

There haven’t been many great Daily Getaways deals this year (I promise this is my last post about them for 2015) but today’s deal will appeal to most people as you can save 20% on all Marriott and Ritz Carlton stays by purchasing discounted Marriott eGiftcards at 20% off. Unlike the past Hyatt or Hertz deals which had limited quantities, there are several packages available with much more availability. That said, these will still go quick today as 20% any Marriott/Ritz Carlton hotel is a good deal. Here is what will be available tomorrow at 1pm EST:

$100 Marriott eGiftCard for $80 (410 eGiftCards available)
$500 Marriott eGiftCard for $400 (308 eGiftCards available)
$1,000 Marriott eGiftCard for $800 (75 eGiftCards available)

This deal is much more straightforward than buying points and having to figure out the different cost per points depending on the package. This is simply a way to guarantee a 20% savings on all hotels within the Marriott chain (JW Marriott, EDITION, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Courtyard are just a few of the chains) and also on participating Ritz Carlton hotels.

If you have an upcoming stay at a Marriott family hotel or even a Ritz Carlton, I would strongly consider buying a card to lock in a 20% discount. These eGiftcards do not expire and even if you are on an award stay, you can use these cards to pay for incidentals on your final checkout bill. I’m not a Marriott guy so I’ll be passing on this offer – good luck to everyone going for one!

April 10, 2015

Good Deal Alert: The Only Daily Getaways Deal Worth Buying Is Today

If you’ve read almost any other points & miles blog for the past few weeks, you’ve probably noticed a steady stream of posts on daily deals via Daily Getaways. I haven’t posted anything about it as I haven’t found any exceptional deals until today. Even though the packages are advertised as buying hotel nights, you are actually buying Hyatt points for around a penny each which is actually a great deal for many luxury hotels as I’ll show you below.

There are 4 distinct packages for sale:

24,000 Hyatt points for $260 (95 packages available) which is ~1.08 cents per point.
30,000 Hyatt points for $330 (35 packages available) which is 1.1 cents per point.
40,000 Hyatt points for $415 (15 packages available) which is ~1.04 cents per point.
72,000 Hyatt points for $775 (15 packages available) which is ~1.07 cents per point.

I’m an avid fan of Hyatt hotels and I find they have a great collection of luxurious yet affordable (on points) hotels around the world that match my travel style. Last year I stayed at the new Andaz Maui and I am returning there in two weeks. A free night costs 25,000 Hyatt points which if purchased in this deal via one of the packages would actually end up costing me ~$270 a night. Not free in this case but look at the rates for a random weekday in July – almost $500! And other luxury hotels in Wailea are even more expensive so $270 would be a great price to pay for this hotel if it fit your travel style and travel goals.

Andaz Maui Suite

Let’s try another location – Costa Rica. There is a relatively new Andaz property there, the Andaz Pensisula Papagayo Resort, which only costs 15,000 Hyatt points a night. A bunch of us are staying here in August so I’m excited to try this property out. By purchasing points in this deal via one of the packages a night would actually end up costing me ~$162 a night which is a steal and more than half off compared to the retail rates.

Andaz Papgayo

I could go on and literally find dozens of examples but basically buying points today is a great way to save on future Hyatt stays if you were ever going to pay the retail rates for these types of hotels. These packages will go in a split second at 1pm EST today – it is essentially a lottery to determine whose mouse click will get the chance to buy the points – so be ready. I would have the website open and ready to click once the clock strikes 1pm EST. Good luck!

February 10, 2015

Good Deal Alert: Take $100-$200 off Most Hotels on Expedia with No Minimum Amount!

Update: Dead! As I mentioned, when a deal like this sounds too good to be true, it will get pulled way earlier than the stated end date. Congrats to those who took advantage!

Expedia is running a promotion in which you can instantly save $100-$200 on most hotels with NO minimum dollar amount for the hotel. However you do have to stay at least 3-5 nights at the hotel for the discount code to be applied. That means if you were able to find a cheap hotel (say $100/night), on a 3 night stay, it is like buying two nights and getting one free! This will also work best for hotels in SE Asia, Las Vegas and other parts of the world where hotels are generally cheap to begin with. You must book by March 15th and travel must be by August 31st but I sincerely doubt this code will last that long!

Here are the offers with coupon code:

Save $100 on any stay of 3+ nights using coupon code: DISCVR105

Save $150 on any stay of 4+ nights using coupon code: DISCVR151

Save $200 on any stay of 5+ nights using coupon code: DISCVR201

One Example for a Cheap Vegas Hotel

The great thing about this promotion is most hotel chains are included (except Accor hotels) which is generally not the case with these type of promotions. As a reminder, you won’t earn hotel points and may not have elite benefits recognized if you book a chain hotel this way but the savings should outweigh the hotel points earned, especially if you are an infrequent traveler or not chasing elite status.

Here are the full terms and conditions.

(HT to BRG)

January 24, 2015

It’s Back: 30,000 American AAdvantage Miles for Opening up a Citibank Checking Account

I’ve seen this offer come and go with some regularity but I just got an email with the latest code for this offer which is valid through March 31, 2015. If you are a Citi AAdvantage cardmember you can earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for opening a Citigold account and meeting the debit card & bill pay requirements, which are very reasonable. Here is the offer below:

In order to signup, you must use code DWBXLFT7VF. The terms and conditions state you must be a Citi AAdvantage cardmember and receive the email directly – I think as long as you are a Citi AAdvantage cardmember, you will be eligible for the offer. Per Citibank, here are the requirements:

1. Open a new checking account in an eligible account package by 3/31/2015.

2. Within 60 days after account opening, complete both of the following qualifying activities:
• Spend $750 on purchases using your Citibank® Debit Card AND

• One qualifying bill payment from the new checking account for 2 consecutive calendar months

3. The miles will be posted within 90 days from the statement close date of the month that all the qualifying activity is met. This will be important (read below).

In the past I’ve seen offers for earning AA miles in other types of Citibank checking accounts but this promotion is only for Citigold accounts. Here is a snapshot of the requirements and fees of the Citigold account.

Additionally, here is a summary of the various accounts on Citibank’s website.

Citibank states the miles should be awarded within 90 days of the month the qualifying activity posts so at minimum it will take 2 months (since you need 2 months of bill pay) plus up to 3 additional months though it could definitely happen sooner. My thinking is the AA miles are worth $450 to me so even if I have to pay 5 monthly fees of $30, I still net $300 on this offer. And I would be willing to bet the miles get posted in month 3 or 4 instead, so I could potentially only pay $90-$120 in fees instead of $150 (secure message them asking them to post the miles for you once you meet the requirements of the offer). All of this analysis is of course assuming you cannot get the fee waived with a $50,000 deposit – if you can get it waived, this offer is a no brainer to me. (Edit: Per ThePointsTraveler in the comments, Citibank actually waives the fee for the first 2 months automatically, making this an even better deal!)

Once the miles post, I would call Citi and ask to downgrade to the account in which I could safely meet the requirement to get any fees waived. There is nothing in the fine print that states how long an account has to be open so I interpret this that once the miles post, they will not be taken back if I downgrade or even close the account. If I can’t downgrade the account, I would simply close it once I see the miles post.

If you are not interested in AAdvantage miles, there is also a similar offer for 40,000 Thank You Rewards points. While I prefer the AA miles over Thank You Rewards points, Doctor of Credit has a good writeup of that offer here and that offer might make more sense for some of you.

For those wondering about Citibank issuing a 1099 for the value of the miles, I thought Citibank stopped issuing them in 2013 so this shouldn’t be an issue. Maybe others in the comments can verify their experience.

January 13, 2015

Deal Alert: $99 One Way Flights to Iceland and London Are Back from Wow Air!

This is just a quick post to let readers know the awesome deal I posted a few months ago about extremely cheap flights to Iceland and London has returned! You can fly to Iceland for as little as $99 one way and $200 to London on Wow Air! They are an Icelandic based low cost carrier that is launching routes to Boston and Baltimore in March and June respectively. Availability is much more limited this time around but there are still $99 fares valid as of this posting. To search for flights, go directly to their website at wowair.us and search different days to find the cheapest flights.

The return flights to the US seem to be pricing higher due to European taxes but anything under $400 roundtrip is a steal! As a low cost carrier, you can expect to pay for everything else – including food, carry-on baggage, checked baggage and more. Even factoring in these fees (which I discuss more about here), this is still probably the cheapest flight you can book with cash to Europe this summer.

(H/T The Flight Deal)

PointsCentric

Points & Miles Travel Consulting

Good Deal Alert