Another Dining Rewards Offer

In the past two weeks, my inbox has been inundated by bonus point offers from Dining Rewards .

I have received offers from United, Hilton and IHG. I was a little shocked that I had not received one from US Airways. They were the first Dining Rewards program that I signed up for.

Less than 24 hours after uttering those words, a Dinning Rewards offer from US Airways came in.

Compared to other offers, this one isn't sexy. No major bonus miles/points to be earned. 

The offer is double miles for all dines in the month of July. Why might this offer be good for you? It doesn't require a large commitment of x amount of dines. You can dine as you normally would.

The bigger question: why all the bonuses from Dining Rewards? Are they looking to be bought?

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A New Benefit for Intercontinental Ambassadors

Last year, I wrote about my apprehension about paying for Intercontinental Ambassador status.

Eventually, I decided to use points for the status and my experiences using it have been overall positive. I used them at the Intercontinental Miami Doral and Buenos Aries Intercontinental. In both stays, we were upgraded to rooms on the club level, which impressed my mom.

Yesterday, I received an email notifying me that come July, Ambassadors will earn 10 points per $1 spent at Intercontinental hotels worldwide.

Later this year, I have to decided if I want to pay to renew my status. This new benefit will definitely play into my decision.

After last year devaluation slaughter, any change for the positive by a company needs to be cheered.


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5 Things To Know About IHG

Personal Finance Digest wrote a post about Three Things To Know About IHG. The post was very informative, but he missed some very important parts about IHG.

    1.  IHG Credit Card Gets You Platinum Status 

         Yes, there is a secret 80,000 point card offer. However, one of the secondary benefits of
         the card is Platinum Status.

          Platinum Status is the top status of the IHG chain. It doesn't get you great benefits, but its
          better than nothing:

    2.  Intercontinental Hotels Have Their Own Status

            While Platinum status is the top status for most of the IHG hotels, Intercontinental
            hotels have their own status: Ambassador Status. Unlike Platinum Status earned
            from getting the credit card, Ambassador status must be purchased.

            In November, I wrote about how I was wavering on purchasing Ambassador
            Status. In the end, I decided to shell out the 32,000 points for it. With only two
            stays under my belt, I so far think it was a great decision to buy Ambassador status.

           The benefits of Ambassador status are numerous:

         
          Also, it gives you Platinum Status with IHG. A Win, Win, Win!


      3. Ambassador Status Could Be Bought for 23,800 Points

           Wait, didn't I say that I purchased Ambassador Status for 32,000 points? Yes, but my net
           cost of getting Ambassador status came out to only 23,800 and the same could happen
           for you.

           First, if you have the IHG credit card, you get a 10% rebate on all point redemption
           including buying Ambassador Status. 32,000 x 10% = 3,200 points.

       
           Next, one of the benefits of getting Ambassador Status is a 5,000 points certificate.

         
           Ambassador Status for 23,800 points:

                   32,000 - 3,200 (10% Credit Card Rebate) -5,000 (Points Certificate) = 23,800 points


       4. IHG Members Get Free Internet

           Starting this year, any member of the IHG's membership program will be given free
           internet, during any stay.

          Unlike other hotels, there is no minimum membership level to get the free internet.
          Any member of the program, even basic members, can get free internet access.

       5.  A Worldly Hotel Chain

           IHG hotels has 4,400 hotels in 100 countries. That's a little over 50% of UN
           member counties.

•     Hilton has only 540 hotels in 78 countries
•     Hyatt has 548 hotels in 48 countries
•     Marriott has 3,800 hotels in 72 countries
•     Choice Hotels has 6,300 hotels in 30 countries

           The IHG brand is a true world wide brand. If you are traveling to a country,
           you have a 50/50 chance that an IHG hotel will be there. 

           

There it is 5 Things To Know About IHG. 

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A Cold Shower Turns Into An Important Travel Lesson

On Saturday morning, I awoke to take a shower at the Hilton. After a long night, all I wanted was a nice hot shower. What did I get? Ice cold water.

Photo Credit: http://gettingstronger.org

On my way to breakfast, I sent this tweet:

I meant to say.... "brrrr....no hot water this morning at @hiltonhotels Stamford."

Less than 15 minutes later, I got this response from Hilton Help

I sent them my confirmation number and I got this response:

Shortly after this tweet arrived, I received a call on my cell phone from the on-duty manger. She wanted to explain that the engineers had informed her that hot water was slowly going back to normal levels. I explained to her that the tweet was joke, but I appreciated the call.

In less than 90 minutes from my initial tweet, I got a call from the manager. Even though the call was not necessary, it was cool that @hiltonhelp got management to call me. Hopefully, I could get the same attention when I actually need something.

Most other hotel have twitter accounts as well:

Hyatt - @hyattconcierge

Starwood - @starwoodbuzz

IHG - @ihgcare

Marriott - @marriott

Kimpton - @kimpton

I think its important to follow all of them. You never know when you might need them.

Social Media, how did we exist without you? Oh, that's right, we had to complain in person.
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Lowes Hotels Offers Free Internet

Lowes Hotels becomes the first major luxary chain to offer free internet to all guests.

Loews Hotel has 20+ hotels located in over 15 cities in the United States and Canada. The decision to make WIFI free is hitting the bottom line of the corporate profits.

"The company was making a "couple million" annually in Wi-Fi fees, Paul Whetsell, president and chief executive officer of Loews Hotels told CNBC. "But we will recapture that in loyalty and repeat business," he said. 

Why? "Because they can," he said. One reason is because the corporate guests who stay at the top hotels often aren't actually the ones paying the bill." 

The WIFI access is free to all guests staying at the hotel.

"The basic Wi-Fi will be offered for free in rooms, lobbies, restaurants and at the pool areas of all 18 hotels and resorts in the chain. Going forward, it will be standard at all new properties including Chicago and Orlando, Fla., said Loews spokeswoman Sarah Murov. Meeting spaces are not included in the free access and will continue to be sold to groups booking those areas."

The decision to offer free WIFI to guests is catching on. IHG hotel chain made the decision to offer WIFI to all members of their hotel frequent stayed hotel.

In a Hotel.com survey,  "free Wi-Fi is often cited as one of the most important amenities for travelers."

For members of the Millennial generation, paying for internet is one of the most annoying things.  We see internet as something that should be free. 

"I think that's right. We've been able to charge," Whetsell said. "But it's an irritant," akin to checked-bag fees at airlines that lead to griping about being nickel and dimed, he said.

Bravo Lowe's for being a trendsetter!
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I Won Big, But Don't Think I'll Play Again

One of the biggest promotions of the end of 2013 was IHG's The Big Win. I wrote here about how my planned travel worked with this promotion and how I was going to "win."

Shortly after returning from my trip to Buenos Aires, I got an email stating that I "Won Big"

By winning, I earned 107,700 points off the promotion. However, I earned alot more points than 107,700. Alot more:

As a wrote here, I earned 22,917 points with my first stay. While that was my highest earn, I did pretty good with my other four stays:

2nd - 14,675
3rd - 7,275
4th - 5,248
5th - 5.085

My five stays earn me about 55,200 points.

Add that into the 107,700 points from the promotion, I earned 162,900. Amazing haul for 5 stays!

The good news is that The Big Win is back for Quarter 1 of 2014.

So after earning 162,900 last time, I don't think that I am going to participate this time. Why you might ask?

First, my possible win total is 20% less than last time, at only 86,100.

Second, my travel schedule does not work with this promotion. At the moment, I have very few planned hotel stays and those I do have aren't at IHG hotels. In addition, my tasks aren't easy:

Here are my tasks to win again:

1) Stay a total of 5 nights

2) Stay at 3 different brands

3) Book 1 stay through the Best Flexible Rate with Breakfast

4) Book 3 separate stays directly with IHG.com

5) Stay 2 Saturday Nights

6) Stay at 2 Holiday Inn hotels

7) Take a survey

Therefore, I would need to make 4 stays (3 different brands + Holiday Inn again) and pay for 5 nights. What I am not positive of is if Holiday Inn Express would count for # 6"Stay at 2 Holiday Inn Hotels." If it does, they I only need 3 stays, which could be done. 

At the moment, I have one trip that I could stay at a Holiday Inn, but it wouldn't be convenient.  Even if I did that one stay, I would still have complete mattress runs.

For these reasons, I think I am going to pass this round. I had fun IHG, but I am think I am going to sit out this dance.


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Which One of My Friends Is Coming On Vacation With Me?

I am days away from embarking on my trip to Argentina. One of my last decisions to make is which of my friends is making the trip with me. As I have previously written, I have a love/hate relationship with my credit cards.

On this trip, I hope not to have to use credit cards often. Due to the economy in Argentina, US Dollars are getting a premium in a black market known as Dolar Blue. The current government exchange rate is $1 = 6.1 pesos compared to $1 = 9.85 pesos at Dolar Blue. For this reason, I might be paying for everything in cash. However, traveling with credit cards is a must. The only things I can foresee using credit cards there is for hotels, expensive meals and /or large purchases.

Now back to the question, which friends (credit cards) do I take with me?

The credit cards I have are:

Alaska Airways
US Airways
IHG
Delta AMEX
Hyatt
Hilton AMEX
Southwest Premier
Club Carlson
Chase Ink
United
Debit Card
Banana Republic
US Airways World
Chase Sapphire

The number one thing I am looking for in a credit card is one with no foreign transaction fees. The following cards offer that benefit:

IHG
Hyatt
Southwest
Chase Ink
United
Chase Sapphire

As we can see, my Chase credit cards are the ones without foreign transaction fees.

The next criteria is to look at what I will be charging: hotels in Miami area &n Buenos Aires, restaurants and some transportation, etc. Looking at my spending needs, lets look at what I will earn:

IHG - 5x at IHG hotels, 2x at Restaurants

Hyatt - 2x at Restaurants

Southwest - 1x on all spending

Ink - 2x at Hotels

United - 1x on all spending

Chase Sapphire - 2x at Restaurants, Hotels, Transportation

With this information, my Hyatt, Southwest and United credit cards provide no real benefit for my travel needs. That leaves the following:

IHG

Ink

Sapphire


Final Decision:

I am going to bring three cards with me: IHG, Sapphire and my debit card.

                

 





The Ink Bold provides the same benefits (2x on hotels) as the Sapphire. However, the Sapphire offers 2X on transportation and restaurants that the INK does not.

Why the debit card?

To take out cash. Its always smart to bring a debit card with you. Cash is king in many societies and your ability to access it is key. Before you leave, you should notify your bank that you are traveling overseas. Failure to do so could result in your debit card being frozen and your access to cash cut off. To get your card back in order, a phone call must be made to your bank's security department. While overseas this could be costly and timely and even then they might not turn your card back on.

Sapphire and IHG pack your passports, we are going on vacation.
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Marriott to Open Hotel In Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina is a country in transition. After a long period of war, independence and reconciliation, the country is starting to make move into tourism destination.

One big step towards becoming a tourism destination is attracting international hotel chains. When international hotel chains are willing to invest money into your country, this signals stability. Average tourists need that idea of stability to come to visit.

Early this month, Marriott announced that they plan to open its first hotel, a Residence Inn, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. "The 75-suite Residence Inn Sarajevo is expected to open in late 2014 and will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned by SEIC Hospitality and managed by Interstate Hotels & Resorts." The hotel will be located 20 minutes from the airport, near the old city.

While studying abroad, I had the opportunity to visit Sarajevo. My class stayed at the famed Holiday Inn.

http://www.tacso.org

During the war, the Holiday Inn was where the international journalist stayed. The hotel was bombed and half the hotel became uninhabitable.

www.theguardian.com/

Don't be confused by the name, Holiday Inn Hotel Sarajevo. The hotel no longer has affiliation with the Holiday Inn/IHG Group. The Holiday Inn Hotel is quite a distance from the old town, where the majority of attractions are located. Therefore, the location for the Residence Inn maybe a better place to say. However, if you visit Sarejvo, you must visit the Holiday Inn for a drink. It has a place in the city's dark history.

For those you are interested, National Geographic Magazine named Sarajevo as a must see city in 2014. 

Maybe I need to add Sarajevo to my list of places to revisit!

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I Pulled The Trigger

Last month, I asked the question, "should I pay for ambassador status?" Overall, the response that I received was a resounding yes!

For the next six weeks, I sat on making the decision. I wasn't positive that I wanted to pull the trigger. Paying 32,000 points or $200 is a lot for status that I might use infrequently.

Last weekend, I pulled the trigger and spent 32,000 points on the Ambassador status. My decision to use points rather than cash was easy decision. Due to the IHG's The Big Win Promotion, I have a good stash of points.

Four days after I applied, I received this email:

My status with IHG already reflects the ambassador status:

My first stay at an Intercontinental Hotel is next week. I am excited to see what the status gets me . . .
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IHG's The Big Win: Status Update

IHG's The Big Win Promotion is a little less than half way over, so I thought that a status update was due.

Since the beginning of the promotion, I have made 3 stays at IHG hotels:

Crowne Plaza - National Airport

Candlewood Suites - Hampton, VA

Holiday Inn Express - Riverwood, IL

Those three stays have accomplished about 75% of the requirements of the promotion.

All that I have left is 2 more stays, one of which needs to be on Saturday. There is still 68,000 points available for me to earn. How do I know this?

IHG has been sending me emails letting me know that I have completed a task. Every time I completed a task, I got an email with the heading "Nice Work. You Just Earned Another Win." 

IHG should be applauded for there proactive notifications. One of the biggest gripes of our community is the lack of notification during contests. During the no defunct US Airway's Grandslam, one of the biggest complaint was that you never knew what tasks you completed. You had to have blind faith in US Airways. That isn't the case with this IHG promotion.

If the emails were not enough, the promotion has its own webpage tracking your progress. 

The webpage has a section for each promotion requirements:

Overall, this is a great promotion. It requires strategy, offers a big reward and provides a tracking system. I wish all promotions were like this one.

How are you doing with the promotion?

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Should I Pay For Ambassador Status?

In the next 6 months, I have a few paid stays at Intercontinental hotels. As some of you might know and others probably don't, Holiday Inn and Intercontinental Hotels are owned by the same hotel chain: IHG or Intercontinental Hotel Group.

IHG has two loyalty programs: IHG Reward Club and Intercontinental Ambassador. The reward club covers the lower level hotels.

I currently have Platinum Status due to having the Priority Club Visa. Platinum status gets me a variety of benefits:

The Ambassador Program is devoted specifically to Intercontinental Hotels.

Unlike the IHG Reward Club, you can't really earn status in the Ambassador Program. Instead, you need to pay a $200 membership fee or 32,000 points or be invited to join the program.

The benefits of being an Ambassador are:

I come back to the main question of the post: do I pay to join the ranks of Ambassador?

Follow-up question: pay cash or use points?

My searches online have come up with mixed results. Some people wholly endorse paying for Ambassador status stating great upgrades. Others state that the status is absolutely useless.

Have you had success with Intercontinental Ambassador Status? Is it worth the money?


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A Crowne Plaza Stay Earn Me 22,917 Points

The other weekend, I did a mattress run to the Crowne Plaza DCA (National Airport) to complete 1 night for IHG's The Big Win Promotion. The cost of the night was $79 and I got breakfast and a drink out of it.
(Hotel Review to Follow).

A week after my stay, I checked my account to see if the stay credit and I was a little shocked:

I earned 22,917 points for one stay...say what?

I understood 945 points, as I bought dinner at the hotel, but could not figure out the other bonus points. Why did I get these points? Then it hit me! A few weeks early, View from the Wing wrote about stacking IHG promo codes and I must have load the promo codes into my account. 

What Are Promo Codes?

Promo Codes are the secret weapons to earn a lot of miles on stays. Each promo code is different, but overall they offer you xxxx points after stay xxxx amount of times. Most of the time you earn bonus points with one stay, as m account shows. View From the Wing's post has an excellent list of the promo codes, but also check out this Flyertalk Thread.

If you have a stay at an IHG brand hotel coming up, you would be silly not to load them to your account.

My one word of caution is to be careful about which ones you load. Don't load similar ones like Elite Bonus twice, as it will only work once. Save the second code for a later date.

Oh btw, I also earn 1,000 points for my first stay of The Big Win -

This one $79 stay almost earned me enough points for stay at the Intercontinental Buenos Aires.

On to the next stay.....

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Earning Free Hotel Nights Without Credit Cards

A few months back, a reader left the following comment:

"This is a little random--but do you guys have any tips or tricks on booking hotels in NYC? Unfortunately, i'm still in the paying off my credit card debt stages in terms of point earning and cannot even qualify for a card with free nights, etc (probably a bad idea even if I did). I was just wondering since DC is so close and thought maybe you'd have ideas. Thanks! -c" 

I haven't responded to this comment, because I didn't have an answer to the question. Credit cards are the easiest way to get free nights:

• Chase Hyatt Visa = 2 Free Nights At Any NYC Hotel
• Chase Marriott = 50,000 or 60,000 Points = 1 Free Nights At Any NYC Hotel
• Citi Hilton HHonors = 2 Free Weekend Nights At Most NYC Hotel     
• Chase IHG Visa = 60,000 Points = 1 or 2 Free Nights At Any NYC Hotel
• Starwoood AMEX = 25,000 Points = 1 or 2 Free Nights At Any NYC Hotel

Like the reader states in the comment, not everyone is able to earn points via credit cards. "C" is doing the right thing by paying off credit card debt before applying for more credit cards in the name of points. No number of points or miles is worth damaging your credit score.

So, we are all back to square one? How do we earn points to trade for free nights in New York City?

My first thought was participating in Marriott's Unexpected Bonus or Mega Bonus.

Stay twice at any Marriott hotel, earn a free night at any category 1-5 hotel. I completed a $50 mattress run to earn my free night. Sounds like a great way to stay for free in New York, right? However, all of the hotels in New York City proper are category 7 and above. Therefore, MegaBonus free nights can't be used. However, there are a few Marriott's located near the City that are category 5, thus the free nights could be used there.

My next thought was IHG's The Big Win, which I wrote about here. Complete stays at IHG hotels like Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites, Intercontinental and earn from 50,000 to 150,000 points. IHG points can be turned into free nights a multiple of ways:

• All Points
• Cash & Points
• PointBreaks (5,000 a Night Hotels)
• Flash Sales for points      

Here is a sample of availability at two NYC IHG hotels on a random Friday night:
    

50,000 points will get you a $450 a night room at the Intercontinental on a Friday night. Pay $40 and the amount of points drops to 45,000. Pay $30 more ($70 total) and you only need 40,000 points for that night.

If you don't have any stays at IHG branded hotels, the only way to succeed is to complete mattress runs. Mattress runs are throwing money out the door. Money the could be used to pay down credit card debt.

Again, I am back at zero. My last idea is to think small. Companies like eRewards, eMiles, Dining Rewards have options to transfer points at hotels. You won't earn a ton of points from these options, but its a start.

As I have stated before, small steady will help you win the marathon. The points game is a marathon, not a race.

Do you have any suggestions for reader "C"?
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