Mar 21, 2013

2 new credit cards & 100,000 miles coming my way!

Last week I got approved for two new credit cards. The Chase Southwest Visa and the American Airlines Citi business Visa...Hello 100,000 miles! That's enough miles for 4 round trip domestic flights.

Southwest has four credit cards each offering 50,000 points, and Citi has five AA credit credit cards in their family. With Citi, you can even double dip and get the same card twice, as long  as you wait 19 months from the last time you cancelled the account.

Thanks to my personal points guru ThePointsGuy, I always get alerted about the best credit card offers available and also about some amazing limited time deals, like 100,000 point Amex Platinum card offered back in January for only 12 hours!

Here are the direct links to the cards:
Southwest Cards: http://bit.ly/ZykIVU
Citi AA Business Visa Card: http://bit.ly/U9JXKD

Mar 18, 2013

Trip to LA - March 2013

Flight: I actually paid for my ORD-LAX tickets, but before you get disappointed, I was able to get $200 off thanks to my Amex Platinum Card. I got this card back in January, thanks to the heads up from ThePointsGuy and was rewarded with 100,000 points! I was more than happy to pay the annual fee of $450 because the bonus points were huge and the card has many benefits. One such benefit was a statement credit up to $200 for any AA purchase (baggage, lounge, on-board snack), including the purchase of gift cards. So, I bought a $200 gift card and viola, a $200 credit was on my next statement. 

Accommodation: For the first time, I tried www.airbnb.com and was very happy with the outcome. For $89 per night, I had my own room at an upscale condo right near the beach in Santa Monica. A great value, and I saved some hotel points for next time!

LA Food:
I was really blown away by the quality of the seafood, especially the sushi, and the Asian fusion food. This was some of the best sushi I've had outside of Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo..if you've never had a sushi breakfast there you're missing out! One place that was local, and had great prices was Tsukiji Sushi Sen in Santa Monica. I'm sure you can find more expensive sushi that might be a little better, but the quality, size, and price was unbeatable.

For Asian fusion you must try A-Frame in Culver City. The flavors are off the charts and so is the creativity. Roy Choi, of top chef fame, knows what he is doing, and DO NOT miss the lychee granita for dessert..you will never want an ice cream sundae again!

Mar 11, 2013

How I used points and miles for my trip to Italy - August 2012

Here's how I used points and miles for my trip to Italy in mid August 2012:

Flight to Rome: 60,000 points round-trip on American Airlines. Although, I was not happy about being in coach, the non-stop flight in the peak season was a decent deal. AA has 4 or 5 different credit cards, making it possible to rack up at least 200,000 points.
 

Hotel in Rome: For 25,000 points per night, I stayed at the Intercontinental  DE LA VILLE ROMA perched at the top of the Spanish steps. I have stayed there before, and love the location and old world 5 star beauty of the hotel. Intercontinental is part of the Priority Club reward program, and can come in handy for nice hotels in Europe. It’s tough to rack up lots of these points, but there are a couple of credit cards they offer, and you can double dip after a couple of years (gotta love the double dips points!).

Hotel in Venice:
In Venice, I stayed at the incredible Hotel Danieli on the grand canal for 8000 points and $250 per night (room rates start at $600 in August). I must admit, the ridiculously high prices that Venice is famous for sent a chill through my bones when planning this trip, but thanks to my war chest of points, I was able to do the unthinkable, and tame the beast! SPG will sometimes offer a points-and-cash combo to book rooms, I almost always use this option when available, because SPG points are so valuable and are tough to accumulate lots of them. The Hotel Danieli ranked up there with some of the most luxurious hotels Flavor City has ever stayed at (and others from the Luxury collection by Starwood).


Transport from Rome to Venice: Since I booked my Euro rail ticket a few months in advance, I was able to buy a one-way ticket for $15(normally $80)! Yes, you heard me right...even my brother-in law was stunned and insisted I bought the wrong ticket or it was fake. There is no need to pay up for first class euro-rail tickets, the economy seats are very spacious and nice.


Tip: Starwood has two credit cards offered by Amex, and is part of the Amex membership rewards program. This means you can transfer points to SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) with any Amex points you have. American Airlines has 4 or 5 credit cards offered by Visa, Amex, and Mastercard.

Mar 8, 2013

How I usded miles and points for my trip to SoBe - February 2013

As an example of how I take advantage of the Mile and Points I get with credit cards - here's an account of my latest trip to South Beach this February:

Hotel: I used 40,000 Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points for 5 nights at the Four points by Sheraton.  SPG is by far my favorite hotel reward program because of the 5 star properties they offer. 10,000 points per night for the Four Points was a good deal, especially because SPG gives you the 5th night free.  I was upgraded to a junior suite($400/night value) thanks to my Gold status. Hotels in SoBe during the winter are  astronomically high, so cashing in some points saved me big time!
 

Flight: Round-trip on AmericanAirlines for only 20,000 points. I was able to get that low mileage thanks to my hoard of British Airways Avios points and their partnership with AA. I can use my BA miles to book domestic AA flights for way cheaper miles than going directly through AA. This is because BA uses distance to calculate miles needed, while AA does not. That same flight could have cost me 30,000 miles if I booked straight through AA.
 

I even bought a few daily deal coupons ahead of time for half off jet ski rental, paddle boarding, and massages to sweeten my stay in SoBe!
 

Credit Cards used: Starwood has two credit cards offered by Amex, and is part of the Amex membership rewards program. That means you can transfer points to SPG with any Amex points you have. AA has 4 or 5 credit cards offered by Visa, Amex, and Mastercard. British Airways has a Visa card that sometimes offers a huge points promo.

How to get Miles and Points to travel all over the world

The last eight years, I am proud to say I have used points and miles to fly all over the world for pennies on the dollar. I have racked up millions of airline and hotel points and used them for 5 star hotels and first class flights. It is very easy to rack up these points, and I will help you get there!
As long as you use credit cards and bank accounts, you might as well use the right ones and get huge bonus points for doing so. There is lots of info out there on where to find these deals, but the one person I have followed for years, and trust is The Points Guy (www.thepointsguy.com). He is on top of it when it comes to letting you know how to build an arsenal of points. We’re talking deals such as 100,000 airline points for merely signing up for a Visa or Amex credit card, something almost all of use every day.

So, head on over to The Points Guy (www.thepointsguy.com) and follow him on twitter(@thepointsguy). You will soon be on your way to collecting points like never before. There is really no need to worry about your credit score being affected by opening some cards, I have an excellent score (above750) and have had countless cards over the last eight years. Just read up about how to handle opening and closing cards.