Should Nick mattress run for SPG Platinum?
Senior Frequent Miler author Nick Reyes recently received an email from SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) with the subject heading "Open Up Your Special Offer." He was offered double elite-qualifying credit on all stays between...
St. Pancras Renaissance Junior Suite. Wow!
I recently stayed with my wife and son at the St. Pancras Renaissance London in a gorgeous Junior Suite. Suites are located in the elegant Chambers wing of the hotel, which is a huge...
Borrowing Hyatt top tier status: Experimenting with two approaches
My wife, son, and I recently returned from a four night stay at the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht hotel. It was great. It's a great hotel in a fantastic location. We had to book two...
Is the end near for manufacturing Delta Diamond status?
For a number of years now, I've been using Delta credit cards to manufacture elite status for my wife and me. I used to to get my wife to top tier Diamond status...
Match to Mosaic
Last week, JetBlue announced a great promotion: if you have elite status on another airline, JetBlue will grant you a match to Mosaic status for the remainder of 2017. If you then earn 3,750 base...
Best use of Hyatt free night certs?
If you recently made a move to sign up for the Hyatt credit card before the "2 free night" version of the sign up bonus ended and you find yourself in possession of two free...
[Expired] Fast-track to A-list [Targeted?]
I received an interesting email today from Southwest Airlines with what I assume is a targeted offer for double points and fast-tracked A-List status. If you're looking for A-List status, keep an eye on your...
Bye bye Fairmont card. I hardly knew ya…
Chase has begun sending letters to Fairmont credit card holders stating that the Fairmont card will be replaced with a Chase Sapphire Preferred card on August 15th. My wife and I got the card...
Fine Hotels & Resorts + Points
As part of our son's high school graduation trip, my family of three spent the first two nights of Memorial Day weekend in San Diego at the US Grant, a Starwood’s Luxury Collection Hotel. ...
Booking a luxury trip with points and deals
My son has just completed high school and will be attending the University of Michigan in the fall to study computer science. Early in his junior year his guidance counselor told him that he...
Is the Andaz 5th Ave overrated?
I recently spent a weekend at the Andaz 5th Ave in New York City. I was excited about this stay; not only had I read the many positive reviews of this hotel over the...
Amex Platinum for Less (2017 edition)
The Amex Platinum card comes with a slew of useful benefits such as lounge access (Centurion Lounge, Delta SkyClub, Priority Pass Select lounges, etc.); elite status with Starwood (and, therefore, Marriott too), Hilton, National...
Family mileage running for Star Alliance Gold
In the post "Hunt for Star Alliance Gold" I described why I wanted Star Alliance Gold status (lounge access!), and I told the story about a crazy Rube Goldberg-ish approach to status matching that...
Rocking Fairmont credit card free nights and elite benefits
Chase's Fairmont credit card is no longer available to new applicants, but I know that many readers signed up for the card in January when I posted: The other Chase card you should consider...
