Welcome to this week in review around the web, where we review some stories that caught our eye this week around the Internet.
Chase Account Freeze due to Financial Review
This week there was talk here at Frequent Miler about Amex Financial Review, but did you know that Chase has their own version of FR? Doctor of Credit brings us a guest post from a friend who has been through Chase’s Financial Review multiple times. Read about both the process and potential triggers. It’s a good read with cautions for those opening new Chase accounts.
Five (torturous) economy seating designs you’ll hope never become reality
When I first started collecting miles and points, I was perplexed at the fact that bloggers all talked about first and business class — as though the front of the plane gets there any earlier, I thought. I only ever considered redeeming my miles in economy class, thinking about all of the places I could go. Then, I did it — I redeemed for first class, and everything changed. Now I look at this write-up from God Save the Points that reviews some of the economy class concept seating out there and I’m glad to have obtained a points balance that should keep me out of The Honeycomb for the foreseeable future.
Trump introduces new Cuban Travel Restrictions
As airlines have rolled out new service to Cuba over the past year, I imagine there may be some readers with travel plans to the island. If you are scheduled to visit in the coming months, it would be good to keep up-to-date with the latest information as the ease of travel to and from Cuba may be a fluid situation.
Playing defense and avoiding unforced errors
While much of the advice here from The Free-quent Flyer should go without saying, the truth is that it’s easy to get caught up in the complexities of “travel hacking” and miss the small stuff. This piece was particularly timely for me. Last weekend, I got stuck overnight in Washington, DC due to a delay. I used my Citi Prestige to pay for the least expensive room I could find within a 25-minute ride from the airport — which was $445 with tax. As I walked to the door of the property, I remembered the current Hilton promotion — 3X base points for Diamond members (2X for everyone else). I thought I had registered, but I was glad that I checked — I hadn’t. I registered for the promotion as I walked through the door and collected over 18,000 points for the night. And I’m glad I both paid the annual fee on my Prestige card and paid for my flight with that card =). I’ll be sure to update with the results of my travel delay claim (one of two I’m filing for the past two weeks alone).
That’s it for this week around the web! Keep your eye out for this week’s last chance deals coming soon!
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[…] it in our Week in Review Around the Web the week it was published, titling the review post “Financial Review: It isn’t just an Amex thing“. In fact, in my recap of the post, I said this much: “Read about both the process and […]
The rate was actually $389. With tax, it was $445. But I also ordered room service (~$40), so my total bill pre-tax was $428.60.
Here is the breakdown from my Hilton account:
———————————————————
2017 HH2 GET MORE PROMOTION
0 8572 0
Base Points
4286 0 0
50% BONUS ON BASE POINTS
0 2143 0
DIAMOND VIP BONUS – 50% 2017
0 2143 0
DIAMOND MYWAY BONUS
0 1000 0
——————————————————-
So you’ll see 4286 base points ($428.60 x 10), which is tripled with the Go More Get More promotion because I’m a Diamond member (8472 is two thirds of the triple as the 4286 base points is the other third of that triple). So far, that’s 12,858 points for the 3X base for Diamond members with Go More Get More (don’t forget to register).
Then, as a Diamond member, I still got 50% of the normal base points (2143). I also chose Points & Points (versus Points & Miles), which earns an additional 50% on the base points also (an additional 2143). That brings me to 17,144.
Then, as a Diamond MyWay bonus, I get an additional 1,000 points per stay at some chains (this was a Curio Collection hotel — The Darcy). In total, that was 18,144 points.
Make sure you register for the promo!
wow thanks!
18,000 points for a $445 rate? Can you elaborate?