Marriott's Unexpected Bonus is Unexpectedly Popular

Marriott has a promotion at the moment called Unexpected Bonus. Under this promotion, one earns a free night after second paid stays.

One needs to register here on July 31st and stay twice, September 2, 2013.

I am not a Marriott guy. My Marriott Rewards account has zero points in it. However, I signed up for this promotion, because one of my goals for 2013 is to sign-up for more promotions regardless of the likely I will participate. 

What was unexpected about this promotion was that twice this week, someone brought this promotion up out of the blue. First, it was Cash Back Boy. Then, my boss. Both of them asked if I had heard about the Unexpected Bonus from Marriott and was it worth registering. Say What! How did you know about this promotion? 

Marriott's Unexpected Bonus has become Unexpectedly Popular. Both of these people do not read points blogs. Therefore, Marriott must have done a great job with their advertising the promotion.

My strategy for this promotion is to only use it if you have upcoming stays that can be steered toward Marriott. I don't this is a mattress run promotion. Maybe if you have one stay under your belt and you can find a very cheap second stay. For instance, Cash Back Boy mentioned that we steer any upcoming hotels stays to Marriott, so that we can use the free night for college football.

The bigger question is Cash Back Boy coming over to the dark side?

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US Airways Grand Slam Lite - My Plan

US Airways bummed many of us by not renewing Grand Slam, last year. In its place, US Airways has offered various bonuses for buying and trading miles, but no real replacement to Grand Slam. That is until last week.

As reported here, here, here, here and many other places, one can earn bonus points by making purchases through US Airways Partners. The amount of bonus points one earns is determined by the number of purchases completed:

Number of purchases	Bonus miles
1 - 3	25%
4 - 6	50%
7 - 9	75%
10 - 12	100%

Let's call each purchase a "hit," because I like to bring up old memories. One can get a "hit" for shopping at the following merchants from April 22, 2013 to June 23, 2013:

• 1800Flowers (25 miles per $1)
• FTD       (25 miles per $1)
• FedEx    (1 mile per $1)
• Teleflora (15 miles per $1)
• Vinesse (2000 miles, when you order 6 bottles of wine)
• Wine Insiders (1000 miles, when you order 12 bottles of wine)
• Dividend Miles StoreFront (varies - must spend $50 to count for hit)
• SkyMall (10 miles per $1)
• DM Dining (varies)

One important part of the deal is that for a Storefront purchase to count towards this promotion it must be a minimum of $50. There are no minimums, at the moment, for the other partners, but that might change. 

My Plan

I have spent the past week thinking about my plan to get to 12 hits. Here is my road map for this promotion:

Hits 1-6 - Dining Rewards

Hit 7 - SkyMall

Hit 8 & 9- FTD/1800 Flowers - Mother's Day Gifts

Hit 10 - Wine Insiders

Hit 11 - Dividend Storefront (Best Buy)

Hit 12 - Dividend Storefront (Kiehl's)

Things might changed on who I use for Dividend Storefront based upon changes to the amount of points per dollar merchants offer. However, I need items from Kiehl's and Best Buy; therefore, it would be wasted money.

My plan is to only spend $100 on wasted items ie things I don't need. We will see if I am able to get 12 hits with only $100 wasted...

Important Steps to Do Now!

First, register for the promotion, here. 

Second, register most of my credit cards for US Airways Dining Rewards.

Finally, create a Google Spreadsheet to track hits.

I will blog about my progress in the next few months .  . .

Happy Batting!!!!

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Points and Life Update

One of the reasons I am writing this blog is to keep a journal of my crazy doings in my late twenties. Here is a little update on what has happened in Q1 and what I have on deck for the rest of the year:

Quarter 1

• I earned 183,000+ points in Q1, on track for 600,000 for the 2013
• Visit a new state on my trip to Portland, Oregon
• Tried Voodoo Doughnuts (more here)
• Finished my $20,000 spend on British Airways Chase

Quarter 2

• Need to finish my Southwest Companion Pass (2,100 points short), read more here
• Need to complete Hyatt 5,000 bonus miles after $3,000 spend, read more here
• Decided what to do with British Airways and United Credit Cards - Bye Bye or Annual Fee Time???
• What credit cards for next application? Alaskan Airlines? Priority Club?
• Do I participate in this in US Airways Promotion? (HT View From The Wing) 

Upcoming Travel 

• 4/26-4/28 - Connecticut - Haven't been home in 10+ months
• 5/4 - Mileage run to SFO
• 5/10-5/12 - Blogging Conference in COS
• Memorial Day Weekend Trip - ???
• June - New Hampshire or Long Island
• July - Alaska
• August - New York City
• September - Taking my mom to South America
• September - Will Travel for College Football: UCONN
• Columbus Day Weekend - Norfolk, VA
• October - Will Travel for College Football: Northwestern???
• November - Will Travel for College Football: Penn State
• November - 10 Year High School Reunion
• December - Will travel for College Football: D3 Championship
• December - End of Year Trip???

Things I am Working On For The Blog

• Expedia Frequent Stayer Program
• Is Alaska the best airline for newbies?
• Anatomy of a Mileage Run
• Some other things....

Oh, and I have to squeeze in work somehow, tiny little detail. If you need help with financing to buy a new home or refinance your mortgage in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia or Delaware (NMLS #527599), please email me below. I would love to help you out.
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5,000 Bonus Points for Shuttle Flights with US Airways

I just got an email from US Airways with a promotion offering 5,000 bonus miles for every 3rd segment flown before May 31st, 2013.

A maximum of 50,000 points can be earned with this promotion.

To participate, one needs to register here.

This promotion is very similar to the one I wrote about here, where US Airways offered 1,000 points per shuttle flight..

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