Earn Airline Miles Instead of Rewards Points at Ritz
As a members of the Ritz Carlton Rewards program, we know you can earn Ritz Carlton Rewards points when staying at a Ritz Carlton Resort. In fact, Ritz Carlton Rewards members earn ten points for every eligible dollar spent on room rates at a Ritz Carlton Resorts. But what if you are in the market for airline miles instead?
Although the earning capacity for miles on a stay at a Ritz is much less than the earning capacity for Ritz Carlton Rewards points, Ritz Carlton Rewards has over 30 airline programs in which you can opt to earn miles during your stay instead of Ritz Carlton Rewards points. The number of miles you earn on your stay and possibly on other hotel charges depends on the airline. Click here to can see all of the airlines in Ritz’s airline program as well as the mileage earning potential on your stays.
Starwood Preferred Guest Points Will Get Us Free Stays in Vancouver and Seattle This Summer And A Savings Of About $2,000
Vancouver has been on my list of places to go for a very long time. I think we will finally go this summer.
Right now I booked The Westin Grand, Vancouver. This hotel is a Starwood Resort and an SPG Category 4. This is a boutique, all-suites hotel located in downtown Vancouver. Right now I booked 6 nights for 10,000 points per night with the 5th night free. So the room is costing us 50,000 Starpoints for the 6 nights. The room would have cost about $250 per night, so we will be saving about $1500 using our points. (There is no 5th night free when you pay for your room). I realize that $250 for a room is pretty reasonable, but, in my opinion, so is 10,000 Starpoints. We will likely stick with the points.
After Vancouver, I am thinking we will check out Seattle for a couple of nights. In Seattle, we will be staying at the Westin Seattle. (SPG Category 4). There, I booked 2 nights for 10,000 Starppoints per night for a total of 20,000 Starpoints. The room would have cost about $300 per night so we are saving $600 using Starpoints.
Both hotels are SPG Category 4s and I am sure they are nice. I want to point out that to me this is a city/tourist vacation and I foresee us spending very little time in our hotel. We have made similar choices on our trips to Boston, and New York City, and San Diego, and Niagara Falls and Hershey Park. All of those trips were amazing despite the non-fancy hotel that we were never in anyway!
Earn Airline Miles Instead of HHonors Points at Hilton
As a members of the Hilton HHonors program, we know you can earn Hilton HHonors points when staying at a Hilton Resort. In fact, Hilton HHonors members earn ten base points for every dollar spent on room rate and other eligible room charges and 5 bonus points per eligible US dollar spent on your room. But what if you are in the market for airline miles instead?
Well, as a Hilton HHonors member, you can still earn 10 HHonors Base Points and instead of the 5 bonus points, you can earn 1 mile per eligible US dollar spent on most stays. To earn miles instead of HHonors bonus points, you need to “Select the Points & Miles Earning Style”. You then earn miles based on the amount you spend on each hotel stay. Read more about this option here.
The amount of miles you earn is unique to each airline. For example, with Delta, you earn 1 Delta mile per eligible US dollar spent at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands. However with JetBlue, you earn 1 TrueBlue Point per 2 eligible US dollars spent at hotels and resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio of brands, not as good of a deal! Click here to see the mileage earning potential on your Hilton stays.
I want to point out that this option would probably only be worth doing if you are really trying to accumulate airline miles on a certain airline. The five Hilton HHonors bonus points per dollar spent if you opt for this will likely be many more than the airline miles you will earn on your stay!
Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest Points Will Get Us a Free Stay in California At Some Point
Posted 10/25/2014
In my head, I am already thinking about where we are going to go one future December break, and how we are going to take advantage of points and/or miles for some free travel. I recently toyed with LA for 5 nights and Palm Springs for 3 nights.
Los Angeles
As for LA, I have been researching and talking to friends about where we should stay and it looks like it will be Santa Monica. As for hotels in Santa Monica, there is a Westin but it is not on the beach. So I am thinking the JW Marriott Santa Monica Le Merigot.
This hotel is a Marriott Rewards Category 9 (High!) so the rooms go for 45,000 Marriott Rewards points per night with the 5th night free. This will definitely be a stay where we squeeze into one room with a cot (or air mattress) as the point requirement is too high for us for 2 rooms. Upon doing a quick search, it looks like a standard room is about $400 per night, so the room for 5 nights would cost about $2000. (There is no 5th night free when you pay for your room.) So if we use our points for this, we will save about $2,000.
So for one room, I will need 180,000 Marriott Rewards points. My plan to get these points over the next 14 months is as follows….
First, a couple of months ago, Rob got the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card. (We got a lot of other cards at the same time, read about that here.) He spent the required $2,000 in the first 3 months of card membership and I am currently waiting for those 70,000 miles to post to his Marriott Rewards account. So with these bonus points and the $ he spent on the card, we will be roughly at 72,000 Marriott Rewards points.
Next, we have a very expensive (not on points) trip planned to the Atlantis in April 2015. Recently, Atlantis partnered with the Autograph Collection. The Autograph Collection is part of Marriott International’s Exclusive Portfolio of Independent Hotels. This means that Marriott Rewards members can now earn points for their stay at the Atlantis. In fact, I am going to earn 10 points per dollar on my rooms when we stay at the resort. (We need to stay in 2 rooms at the Atlantis as they count people for water park access). This trip is costing us (shhh don’t tell Rob 
) about $7,000 for the rooms for 1 week. (Bucket list trip for our family!) The bright side-we are going to earn about another 70,000 Marriott Rewards points for our stay. ($7,000 X 10 points per $ spent–note on room rate only).
Third, the card that we are going to use to pay for the room and all of our other charges at the Atlantis is none other than Rob’s Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card. When we use this card to check out, we earn 5 points for every $1 spent at a Marriott. So even just for our $7,000 we will earn an extra 35,000 Marriott Rewards points. This does not include paying for our additional charges at the hotel. But let’s leave them out for this scenario.
So now after next spring break we would have 177,000 Marriott Rewards points. We would have 72,000 from Rob’s sign-up bonus plus charges, 70,000 from our Atlantis stay and another 35,000 from using our Chase Marriott card for our Atlantis stay. We are 5,000 points short.
For these 5,000 points, I would transfer points from my Chase Ultimate Rewards account to my Marriott Rewards point account. These points transfer at a 1:1 ratio.
Palm Springs
In Palm Springs, we will likely stay at The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa. A friend of mine stayed here last year and loved it.
This hotel is Starwood Resort and is only anSPG Category 4 hotel and accordingly, the rooms are only 10,000 Starpoints per night. Plus it looks like they have a Cash and Points offer that maybe I would take advantage of. The rooms here would cost about $250 per night. Maybe I would not use points. I will weigh my options when I actually book. But if I did, we would save about $750 for the 3 nights.
If we were to use points, we already have a lot of Starwood points from accumulation over a number of years. We earned these points using our Starwood American Express card for charges on stays at Starwood resorts and on everyday purchases. We also have referred a number of people to the card and have received 5,000 points per referral. We have also earned extra points by paying with this card when staying at a Starwood resort and earning extra bonus points. Specifically, I earn 2 points per dollar with my Amex plus 3 points as a Gold member, so I earn 5 points per dollar on all of my Starwood charges.
Lastly, although we would not likely take advantage of this because we do not need the Starpoints, if you are an American Express Membership Rewards member you can transfer your Membership Rewards points, in 1,000-point increments, to your Starwood Preferred Guest account. However, your points transfer at 3:1 value. That means three American Express Membership Rewards points equals one Starpoint. In my opinion, this is not worth it!
Earn Airline Miles Instead of Gold Passport Points at Hyatt
As a members of the Hyatt Gold Passport program, we know you can earn Hyatt Gold Passport points when staying at a Hyatt Resort. In fact, Hyatt Gold Passport members earn five points for every eligible dollar spent at Hyatt Resorts. But what if you are in the market for airline miles instead?
Well, as a Hyatt Gold Passport member, you can earn 500 to 1,000 miles per stay with Hyatt’s participating travel partners. You need to present your travel partner and Hyatt Gold Passport membership numbers at check-in. You can also set your earning preference at the hotel’s front desk and avoid having to present your travel partner membership number to earn miles every time you check-in. Note, these stays for which airline miles are chosen instead of Hyatt Gold Passport points will count toward Hyatt Gold Passport Elite Status membership as long as the other conditions of earning elite status credit are met.
I want to point out that this option would probably only be worth doing if you are really trying to accumulate airline miles on a certain airline and are only staying a couple of nights at a Hyatt. The five points per dollar spent if you opt for Hyatt Gold Passport points will likely be many more than 500-1000 miles!
Delta SkyMiles Got Us Our Free Honeymoon First Class Flights to Hawaii
Posted 10/21/2014
I have been playing this point game for a very long time. I had a job as a CPA out of college (I graduated in 1990-really?) where I traveled about 20 weeks a year. Many times my flights were not direct, so often I was taking 2 legs of a flight to reach my destination.
Back then, I did not earn airline miles with a sign-up bonuses or credit card spending but rather I earned airline miles on each leg of each flight that I took those 3 years working as a traveling accountant. I often flew Delta and accumulated a sizable amount of Delta SkyMiles over those 3 years. I earned some additional Delta Skymiles with some leisure travel during the years of 1993-1997.
My wedding date was set for August 1998. At that time we got engaged (Spring 1997), Rob and I only wanted to go to Hawaii on our honeymoon. (FYI-I never would have chosen Hawaii now–I wish I would have went somewhere more exotic like Bali or Tahiti!). Also we wanted to fly first class. It was our honeymoon after all.
I am pretty sure that I am remembering this correctly. In 1997, a first class ticket to Hawaii from New York was a mere 60,000 Delta SkyMiles. (Ahhh the days). I had the 120,000 Skymiles in my account as I had been amassing Skymiles since 1990. I knew I needed to call 331 days in advance to make sure I was able to book the tickets. I marked down the date, made the call, and redeemed 120,000 Skymiles for 2 first class round trip Delta tickets to Hawaii!
Rob and I still remember that flight vividly. We still reminisce about all the free drinks, the sundaes with warm chocolate syrup, the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, the big comfy seats and the warm towels that they pass around to wash your hands. We were treated like royalty for the first time on a flight and we felt like royalty. It was awesome!
Starwood Preferred Guest Points Got Us Many Free Stays in New York City With Savings over $500 Each Time!
When the kids were a little younger, we took them many times to the city for a long weekend. We usually went in November, after all of the fall activities ended, and our weekends were a little more care-free.
It was so much fun being a tourist in our own backyard. Every time we went, we usually saw a show, ate at some trendy kids-friendly restaurant (like Max Brenner) and tried to do a big tourist attraction. Over the years we have “done” the Intrepid, Museum of Natural History, Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty. We always had a great time on those long weekends.
As for places to stay in the city on points, there are a lot of choices. We were very partial to Starwoodover the years and have stayed at various Starwood Resorts. We have stayed at the Westin in Times Square (SPG Category 6), the Sheraton Times Square (SPG Category 5), and Le Parker Méridien New York (SPG Category 6). There are many other Starwood resorts in other areas of the city to choose from as well, but with the kids, we like being in the center of the touristy action!
The rooms always ran us between 10,000 and 16,000 points per night. We usually stayed for 2 nights. Conservatively, we can say that each room would have been about $300 per night, so we saved about $600 each weekend for what I deem as not that many Starwood points.
I am not sure if it is in the cards for us to go this year. (We are in Bar and Bat Mitzvah season.) But we will try. Will keep you up to date. 
Earn Airline Miles Instead of Rewards Points at Marriott
As a members of the Marriott Rewards program, we know you can earn Marriott Rewards points when staying at a Marriott Resort. In fact, Marriott Rewards members earn (depending on the brand of Marriott hotel) five to ten points for every eligible dollar spent at Marriott Resorts. But what if you are in the market for airline miles instead?
Although the earning capacity for miles on a stay at a Marriott is much less than the earning capacity for Marriott points, Marriott has over 30 airline programs in which you can opt to earn miles during your stay instead of Marriott Rewards points. The number of miles you earn on your stay and possibly on other hotel charges depends on the airline. Click here to can see all of the airlines in Marriott’s airline program as well as the mileage earning potential on your stays.
Marriott Rewards Points Will Now Be Earned On My Atlantis Reservation Stay
We are going to the Atlantis for a week during Spring Break, 2015. Read about our free JetBlue flights here. We are staying at the Atlantis. (Yipee!!)
The Atlantis has been on my radar for a very long time. I wanted to wait till I felt my kids were old enough (and tall enough) to fully enjoy the immense water park. Next Spring, the kids will be 11.5, 11.5 and 13. That will probably be the perfect age!!
When I booked back in the early summer of 2014, I was unable to book the Atlantis using points of any kind. So we paid. The best part, (read as sarcasm), we needed to book 2 rooms because the Atlantis is somewhat like a cruise where you need to pay by the person to access the water park. (We still sometimes squeeze into one room, especially when we are just crashing in the room at night–although with the ages of my kids this may end soon!)
A little while after I booked my reservation, the Atlantis partnered with the Autograph Collection. The Autograph Collection is part of Marriott International’s Exclusive Portfolio of Independent Hotels. Alas, the hotel could be booked using Marriott Rewards Points! Oh but wait, not until the fall.
So on October 16, the following guidelines went into effect:
For new reservations booked beginning on October 16, 2014, members will be able to earn points, miles and Elite nights, enjoy Elite benefits and redeem points for free night stays. (The Reef, Atlantis is participating for earning points, miles, and Elite nights only; redemption award stays will not be available at The Reef, Atlantis)
Hmmm—the first thing that went through my mind was…Is it worth it to cancel my current reservation and book my room (2 rooms that is), using Marriott Rewards points? Well, below are categories and the redemption rates for rooms at the Atlantis….
We had booked our rooms in the Royal towers as that is where “everyone” told me I needed to be for proximity to the water park for the kids. Okay, you got me, despite the fact that some other areas of the hotel are considerably less expensive. Whatever!
Based on the above redemption rates, one Royal Tower room would have set us back a hefty 240,000 Marriott Rewards points for 7 nights (40,000 X 6, 5th night is free). Two rooms would have cost us 480,000 points. Huh? Crazy! We do not have those kind of points through Marriott or Chase (Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to Marriott) just laying around and even if we did, I would not use that many to book rooms at the Atlantis!
So once I made my very wise decision not to use my points, the next thing that I did was I called regarding my current reservation to try to link up my Marriott Rewards number to my reservation so that I could earn 10 Marriott Rewards points on my room rate during our stay.
Uh oh, only on stays booked starting October 16, 2014, will members earn 10 points! per US dollar on room rate. So now my mission was to cancel my old reservation and rebook it under Marriott so I would be able to earn those Marriott Rewards points.
My two rooms, under my old reservation, were costing me $410 per night, so $820 for two rooms for 7 nights, for a total of $5740 (exclusive of taxes). Via Marriott’s website, the room was $418 per night. (You can also call 1-877-829-2429 to book). So under this new reservation, the 2 rooms were going to cost me $5852 (exclusive of taxes) for the 7 nights. It was $112 more and a no brainer. Being able to earn over 50,000 Marriott Rewards points on our stay (5852 X 10 points per dollar) is worth a ton more than $112. We can ultimately use those 50,000 Marriott Rewards points to book a room that is way more than $112!!!!!! I happily made the change!
Can’t wait to go!!!!
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I am going to Shop Online For The Holidays and Earn Lots of Chase Ultimate Rewards Points!
When the time comes for me to start holiday shopping, I plan to do most of my shopping online. There are a few reasons I will do this. First, I hate going into stores. I hate the crowds and the waiting on line to pay. I want my purchases to be instantaneous with me sitting at my desk listening to some music or with The Good Wife on in the background. Second, there is a lot of potential to earn bonus points when shopping online. Specifically, you can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus points by shopping on Amazon and other department stores online sites or by shopping at the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.
Earning Extra Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through Amazon and Other Department Stores
With the Chase Freedom card, you earn 5 points per dollar on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter. (A maximum of 7,500 bonus Ultimate Rewards points). Amazon is a bonus category in this quarter which runs from the period of 10/1/14 through 12/31/14. It’s free and easy to activate your bonus. There are also a number of other department stores that are bonus categories this quarter. Click here to see the list of department stores.
Earning Extra Chase Ultimate Rewards Points Through the Ultimate Rewards Mall
The Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall has over 300 top-brand retailers online and you can earn up to 10 extra points per dollar when you shop top retailers online. For example, currently you earn 3 points per $1 shopping at Apple through the Mall, 7 points per $1 shopping at Nordstrom, and 10 points per $1 at the Popcorn Factory (think teacher gifts!). There are currently 215 stores in the Chase Ultimate Rewards Mall.
To take advantage of earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points via either of the above methods, you need a Chase credit card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
