Marriott wants you to know you’re a valued member (according to their email) and as such, they’re going to start imposing expiration dates on your hard earned points. Starting February 1, 2016 Marriott and Ritz Carlton Rewards members with no account activity in the previous 24 months will lose their points. At least they’re giving … Read more
Yesterday, Marriott announced its annual category changes, which will go into effect on March 20, 2015. Over 1,300 hotels will be affected. I got pretty dizzy scrolling through the list, so my count may be slightly off, but it looks like 986 hotels are moving up one category while 359 are moving down. Quite a … Read more
Are you a Hyatt Diamond member with expiring Suite Upgrade Awards that you haven’t redeemed yet? Well, you have until February 28 to do so. These upgrades can be applied to paid rates and Points + Cash awards of up to 7 nights. I wouldn’t recommend using them for 1-2 night stays, since you’re better … Read more
Starwood Preferred Guest has announced its annual category changes, which will affect a total of 255 properties that will either move up or down one category. These changes will go into effect on March 10, 2015, so if a hotel you want to book is moving up in category, you should definitely book it before … Read more
Lately, I’ve been slacking off when it comes to manufactured spending. So much so, that I’ve mostly been letting someone else use my Serve card. I did put forth some effort and picked up five Redbird cards on my trip to Michigan but after a conversation with Kendra from Points and Pixie Dust, I realized … Read more
As most of you know by now, Hyatt is offering Chase Hyatt Visa cardholders a 20% rebate on award redemption through July 31, 2015. This 20% discount applies to award stays, Points + Cash redemptions, suite upgrades, dining and spa activities. If you don’t already have a Chase Hyatt Visa, you can still get one and … Read more
Update: According to Hyatt’s Twitter team, the 20% discount will be applied to all award stays during the promotion period, regardless of when your Chase Hyatt Visa was acquired. Last week, Hyatt introduced some positive additions for Platinum and Diamond elite members. At the time, I mentioned that Hyatt would be announcing another exciting development, but … Read more
Back in December Hyatt announced plans to extend free wireless internet to all Gold Passport members, which left many members wondering whether this would impact Platinum and Diamond elite benefits. After all, free wireless internet was a prominent benefit, for Platinum members who didn’t have much else in the way of elite perks. Hyatt has … Read more
Last week I decided to tag along on my sister’s work trip to Michigan, mainly because I’m not doing much else these days and it was time to get out of the house for a while. After two nights in Troy, we were going to head to Chicago but the words “bad idea,” “frozen eyelashes” … Read more
Many of you know that I live near the Bay Area, where we have yet to see any Target Prepaid REDcards (aka “Redbird”). So when an opportunity presented itself for me to tag along with my sister on a trip to Michigan, where manufactured spending is apparently super easy and convenient, I was excited to … Read more