Earning Points at Hotel Resturants

In the pursuit of points & miles, you need to think about earning points constantly. One place where you might be leaving points on the table is at hotel restaurants. Many hotel chains allow you to earn points for money spent at restaurants even without staying at the hotel.

Photo Credit: Blue Duck Tavern - Park Hyatt Washington,DC

Last year, I wrote about how I earn points for a business lunch at the Park Hyatt Washington, DC. That one business lunch earned me 5,000 Hyatt points.

Starwood has a promotion going on until April 30th that earns you double points per $1 spent. Typically, you earn 2pts per $1 spent at Starwood Hotel restaurants even when not staying at the hotel. This promotion gives you 4pts per $1 spent.

To register for the promotion, go here.

Not all Starwood restaurants are participating. The list of participating restaurants can be found here. Over 1,000 restaurants worldwide are participating. In the United States, there are 98 restaurants participating. 5 of them are in Washington, DC.

Here are the rules of the promotion:

• Offer is valid from February 1, 2014 until April 30, 2014 

Members must register for the promotion at spg.com/twiceasnice to participate in the offer.

• Only eligible food purchase are allowed
• Greater than $10 charges 
• no alcoholic beverages 
• not in connection with a banquet, meeting or other function  

• Must provide SPG number at time of dine

I would register for this promotion, even if you aren't planning on using it. You never know when you might dine at a SPG hotel.


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CNN's 20 Biggest Travel Mistakes

CNN has an article about the 20 biggest travel mistakes. My grandfather says, "learn from mistakes; otherwise, you will inevitably make them again."

CNN's list made me laugh, because I have made a few of the mistakes myself:

4. Trusting "near city center" descriptions

Taken from CNN's Article

Every hotel is "near" the city center. I remember my hotel in Belgrade.  The hotel's website stated it was close to the center of town. Close was 30 minutes away by car or 60 minutes by tram/bus. I wasted so much time traveling to and from the hotel. The savings for staying at this hotel was maybe 25 Euro a night. At that time, 25 Euros was alot to me.

Always use Google Maps to see where the hotel is compared to the attractions you want to visit.

6. Not tightening shampoo caps . . . all the way

Taken from CNN's Article

Mine involved shower gel that leaked all over my clothes. I had to spend time out of my vacation at the laundromat. Not the best way to spend a vacation, but lesson learned.

16. Obsessive Photography

Taken from CNN's Article

Guilty as charged! I am so focused on getting the greatest picture that I forgot to use my five other senses. What did you hear at the monument? What did if feel like? How did that food smell We become so focused on taking that picture that we miss things.

Other travel mistakes listed by CNN should have been listed under "No Duh"

11. Buying cheap flip-flops

Taken from CNN's Article

Footwear is one thing that you should never buy cheap. That is why I always skip Old Navy's $1 flip flop sales. Your feet are one of the most important parts of your body. Spend the extra money on shoes and flip flops that support your feet.


19. Using a credit card to get cash

Taken from CNN's Article

Cash advances from your credit is the stupidest move ever. The interest rates associated with cash advances are extremely high. If you need cash, use a debit card, because they provide some of the best exchange rates. Never ever ever ever ever use a credit card for cash.

Conclusion

This list is great reminder for travelers of all levels. Mistakes are inevitable when traveling. All we can hope is that the mistakes that we do make don't ruin the experience.

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eRewards: The Turtle of Earning Miles/Points

eRewards is a site that pays you for taking surveys in miles/points. This is not an easy way to earn miles/points. It can take months just to earn 2,000 airline miles. Why bother you might ask? In the past, airlines have offered bonuses for transferring miles from partners like eRewards.

The first step is to register with e-Rewards. My recommendation is to search your email for e-Reward offers. Many times airlines and hotels will send emails inviting you to join e-Rewards and included in that email is sign-up bonus offers. A quick search of my email turned up offers from JetBlue, Southewest, and Priority Club in the past 60 days.

Jetblue:

Southwest

 Priority Club:

Also in my email account was an offer from United Airlines offering 250 miles for setting up your profiles and completing a survey in 3 months:

If you can't find an offer in your email box, United has the same offer available here.

After registering for e-Rewards, the next step is to fill out your profile. It is important to be honest in this step as it will determine what surveys are sent to you. If you stretch the truth in your profile, you might start noticing that you don't qualify for any surveys they sent you. There are 9 different sections that you need to fill out to complete your profile:

Here is a sample of the questions you will have to answer:

After filling out your profiles completely, sit back and wait for eRewards to email you invites to surveys. I typically get at least 5 invites a week. Each email looks something similar to this and lets you know the subject of the survey, the time commitment, and payout:

Click on the link within the email and you enter the landing page of the survey. This page will have the same information as the email except it also has the amount you will be paid for testing out of the survey. Being paid for testing out of the survey is one of my favorite parts of eRewards. They give you something for trying. That is why I always attempt to take surveys, nothing to lose.

After completing or testing out of surveys, your account is typically credited immediately; however, some surveys have taken a few days to credit. Once your account has at least $25 in it, you have the option to cash out in exchange for miles. Currently, eRewards allows you to transfer to the following airlines: Air France/KLM, AeroMexico, AirTran, Alaskan, AA, Emirates, Etihad, Fronteir, Hawaiian, Iberia, Jetblue, Southwest, Spirt, US Airways, United, Virgin America and Atlantic. Here is a list of all the partners:

As we have been talking about earning Mileage Plus miles this month, here are the redemption options for United:

After choosing your redemption level, you will be asked to enter your MileagePlus number and eRewards password. Typically, the miles will show up in your MileagePlus account within 3 weeks, but eRewards warns it could take 6-8 weeks. Therefore, this is not a way to transfer miles to your account for an immediate award purchase. Here is some important information about transferring miles to MileagePlus:

Overall, eRewards is a great way to earn a handful of miles. It's time consuming and the payout isn't huge. However, if United has another partner bonus like they did in December, it would be nice to be ready. A little bit of time now can payoff later. 

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Nine Nights, Six Hotels and Four Countries

I think it's finally done....we might finally have a complete itinerary for moving to Seattle via Australia and Asia! We have changed the flights over and over and coming along with that is many changes in hotels. The great thing about the miles and points community is that many of them have been to the places you are going and can give you great hotel and attraction suggestions so we were influenced by some great suggestions from great people like Keri over at Heels First who has some amazing suggestions for Singapore and Bangkok.

Now that our itinerary is finel I wanted to map out our hotels and actually see how much this trip will end up costing us on the hotel front. So here's the list and how we are paying for the nights:

Park Hyatt Sydney - 2 Nights = Hyatt Visa 2 Free Award Nights + $96 per night for an upgrade to an Opera King = $192

Hilton Cairns (Great Barrier Reef) - 2 Nights = Hilton free weekend nights from Hilton Reserve Card

Radisson Blu Sydney - 2 Nights = 50,000 points from sign up bonus for the Club Carlson Visa card and taking advantage of their book at least one award night, get the last night free benefit!

Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok - 1 Night = $144 thanks to the recent 40 percent off sale in Asia/Pacific

Intercontinental Hong Kong - 1 Night = 45,000 points from Kelsey's Priority Club Visa sign up bonus

Conrad Singapore - 1 Night = Originally booked for 40,000 before devaluation and then date change pushed it up to 60,000. So an additional $25 was needed to transfer points from Kelsey's account to mine.

Total for 9 nights =

-2 Hyatt Free Nights
-2 Hilton Free Weekend Night Certificates
-50,000 Radisson points
-45,000 Priority Club Points
-60,000 Hilton Points
-$361 in cash

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I am going on a mattress run!!!

A few days ago, I called Hilton to confirm a few details about my stay in Tokyo. While on the phone, I got an interesting offer. The conversation went something like this:

Hilton Rep: I want to thank you for being a Gold member with us. How have you enjoyed your status?

Me: I have only used it once, but it was nice to get breakfast and a better room.

Hilton Rep: I see that your status is expiring in March 2013.

Me: I think that is correct.

Hilton Rep: Would you like the opportunity to keep it for 2013?

Me: That would be great, but I don't think I can hit the required stays by the end of month.

Hilton Rep: Well....can you complete 4 different stays with us in the next 90 days?

Me: Hmmm...I already have 1 book for Tokyo and a conference in February in Connecticut that is at a 

       Hilton. So, I need to stay 2 more times. I think I can do that. When would my status expire?

Hilton Rep: I you stay 4 more times in 90 days, your status would be renewed until March 2014. You would 

                  need to complete the normal requirements of 16 stays or 36 nights.

Me: Awesome. I accept the challenge. 

One thing you need to know about me is that I never turn down a challenge. So, I needed two additional stays in 90 days. I went back to work and an hour late, it hit me...Hilton is having an amazing 50% off sale...there has to be cheap hotel stays now (go here for the sale page). 

A quick search of hotels in Washington, DC turned up a $39 stay at the DCA Hilton and $45 stay at DCA Doubletree. For about $100 all-in, I will complete the two extra stays I need for my Gold status in 2013.

Before having status, I did not know what the big deal of having status was. Here is what Gold Status gets you at Hilton:

• Quick reservations and check-ins based on your room preferences
• Late check-out*
• Express check-out
• Spouse stays free**
• Complimentary access to fitness centers and health clubs†
• Two complimentary bottles of water per stay 

And....

MY WAY GOLD MEMBERSHIP HOTEL BENEFITS:††

Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts

• Space-available upgrade to a preferred room
• 1,000 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or one in-room movie per stay

Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™

• Space-available upgrade to a preferred room
• 1,000 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or a complimentary continental breakfast for you and up to one additional guest registered to the same room each day of your stay

Embassy Suites Hotels™

• 500 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or two snack/refreshment choices per stay

Hilton Garden Inn™

• 750 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or a complimentary Hot Cooked-to-Order Breakfast for you and up to one additional guest registered to the same room each day of your stay

Hampton Inn™, Homewood Suites by Hilton™

• 250 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or choice of snack and bottled water

Home2 Suites by Hilton™

• 100 HHonors Bonus Points per stay or choice of snack and bottled water

Hilton Grand Vacations™

• 1,000 HHonors Bonus Points per stay

Gold Status won't get you an amazing value, but the ability to check-out late will help in Tokyo, because I have a 6pm flight. Also, the breakfast benefit is nice and will save me money.

So...next weekend, I am going on a mattress run. $100 for two nights towards status is to good to pass up.

Marriott's "What's Your Travel Type" Contest Ends Tomorrow

The Marriott "What's Your Travel Type"contest has been written about extensively with lots of promos out there in blog land to win additional points. (Here...Here...Here...etc.) But it is worth noting that the contest ends tomorrow at 4:00 pm ET. But, you can enter once a day so if you hurry you can get two more entries in!

The prizes are everything from 6 nights/5 days at a JW Marriott anywhere in the world to a 7 day/ 6 night trip to Madrid, Spain.

We don't have any prizes to offer...but I am curious what your favorite prize was, and what Marriott properties you would use your prize on?