Hilton has finally enabled registration for the second quarter promotion.  This time it is 4 stays = a free night OR double base points.  The fine print does mention 4 stays/10 nights.  This makes it pretty much the same promo as Q1 when I only ended up getting 2 free nights instead of the max 3.  This time there is no limit so I need to try harder to get some more free nights this quarter.

I know a lot of you give me flack for being a Hilton apologist.  I know Hyatt’s promos blow Hilton out of the water, but find me a Hyatt in St. Joseph, MO (35 miles away).  Find me a Hyatt in Newburgh, NY( 36 miles away).  Find me a Hyatt as convenient as the Embassy Suites in Charleston, SC (where I have redeemed most of my Hilton points).    Then there is the fact that I often have to deal with my client’s contracted rates which coincidentally seem to be at Hampton Inns.  By mainly staying at Hampton Inns the brand offers me very little for my loyalty aside from extra points.  They do seem to be everywhere I need or want to be though.  As a business traveler my goal is to earn points as conveniently as possible to redeem when I’m not working.  My goals are different than people like Lucky on OneMileataTime who are always looking for a ways to spend a little money to get big rewards.

The key is to know your goals.  My goal is to maximize points without going out of my way.  It has worked out well enough over these past few years.  I get my points with minimal personal cash outlay.

Just announced on Flyertalk today:

IFast Ways to Free Stays

Earn double points for each stay or one free night certificate after 10 nights within the promotion dates of April 6 – June 30.

HHonors members must register for the promo.

Hotels are opted in by default.

There is also a pile of airline promos coming out which hotels have to opt -in to.

This will be a tough one.  It took me almost 2 months to get 10 nights for 1 free stay this quarter, but I mainly stay in hotels that cost less than $150/night so double points doesn’t mean much with that.  If the free night can be used for higher level properties then I know 1 free night is worth over 30,000 points and it is unlikely I can do better than that with many stays.

I’m going pretty pathetic in the current Hilton promotion. For every 4 stays or 10 nights a free reward night is issued with a max of 3 free nights. So far I have stayed 8 nights. These 8 nights could have been broken up into 8 stays and thus resulted in 2 free nights with 2 months remaining in the quarter. Instead I’ll hit 4 stays at the same time as 10 nights, but by that point the quarter will be mostly over.

I just feel awkward handing a stack of hotel receipts to a client, especially if there is a price difference.

I never unpack in a hotel so mainly it’s just the convenience of not having 5 difference receipts for last week.

Oh well. They’ll probably ban me from FlyerTalk for admitting I haven’t reached my 12 stays for the promotion yet, but life goes on.

There are two important things when it comes to wallets and travel: have a wallet that meets your needs, and fill it with the right cards.

I use my wallet as the main organizer for my expense reports. I went through a few wallets early in my travel career, but settled on one with multiple bill-length compartments. This allows me to easily keep work receipts separate from personal receipts.   Business receipts go in the back compartment, personal receipts and cash go in the front.  I also like a zippered coin compartment to keep control of parking meter money.  Having multiple compartments also allows me to keep Canadian currency separate so I can quickly get the appropriate money.

I also like a wallet with slots for many credit cards so I always choose the correct one.  The current cards I carry are:  Hilton HHonors American Express, Citi PremierPass, Citi Professional, my local bank debit card, and my Charles Schwab Investor Checking debit card.  In addition to these cards I have some that sit at home collecting dust.

• Hilton HHonors American Express: This card comes in a free version offering 6 points per dollar at Hiltons, gas stations, grocery stores, and a few other things and 3 points per dollar elsewhere.  I use this card for all Hilton properties, my internet and phone bills, groceries, and some gas. It also gives Silver VIP status. There is also the Surpass level which gives 9 points per dollar at Hilton properties, 6 at the same types as the other card.  The Surpass carries an annual fee of $75/year and it is possible to spend enough to get Diamond VIP status.  Since I already get Diamond VIP on my own and the additional 3 points per dollar from Hilton properties take a while to be worth $75 I have stayed at the normal card.  If the right bonus comes along I will probably upgrade.  I took on the Hilton card originally during a 62,500 point bonus.
• Citi PremierPass: This used to be a good card when mileage rewards had a different redemption scheme.  I mainly just use this card for personal expenses in categories I don’t have any other bonus in like clothing.  I also use this card to book personal airfare due to the ability to earn Thank You points on miles also.  I use my Thank You points for gift cards mostly.  There is also a annual fee version of this card that gives a TYP per mile flown instead of 1 per 3 miles flown.  I don’t purchase my business airfare and until recently didn’t purchase much personal airfare either.  I’d rather have an airline card if  I purchased my airfare though.
• Citi Professional: I can’t find a link for this card right now.  It has a cash version and a Thank You network version.  I have the Thank You version.  It gives 3 points per $ at restaurants, gas stations, and rental cars.   It is also part of the Mastercard small business rebate network which has rebates are fuelman network gas stations and Avis.  I use this card for restaurants, rental cars, and fuel man gas stations (with other gas stations going on Hilton).  Another nice feature is primary rental insurance.
• Charles Schwab Investor Checking: I tried to get the Charles Schwab Visa for its 2% cash-back and no forex, but I had a snag with FIA.  Instead of a credit card, I have this debit card for my checking account with Charles Schwab.  I’ve blogged about this card before because I use it to save on forex.  As a debit card I just have to make sure I put money in this account before  I go internationally.  The checking account earns a paltry 0.75% so I pretty much just use this for foreign currency transactions.
• My local bank debit card: to me this is mostly an ATM card, but I have one of those “rewards checking accounts” which means if I make 10 debit transactions a month I earn 4.25% APR on balances less than $10,000.  This means I find a soda machine that accepts credit cards and make a few transactions, then I use this for airport parking until I get to my 10 transactions.

I don’t like to change credit cards often so I’m not the person to emulate, but I have learned to keep track of which card to use in which situation.  At first I tried to be a 1 credit card person putting everything on my PremierPass card, but I quickly grew out of that.  I tried the Starwood American Express, but since I rarely had Starwood stays to supplement my earnings I was not earning much.  That card has been filed away and I do use it when I stay at a Starwood.

The actual wallet I carry was purchased at Target 2 years ago.  I am not a brand whore and I’d rather have more money to use for travel so I bought a $20 wallet instead of a $200 wallet.

January 1 marks the day that my frequent flyer accounts reset to 0 for elite qualification and the race to status begins again. This year is looking good for United right now. I have a 6 segment transcon this week and I’ll be flying from the east coast to MEL this year. That trip alone pretty much guarantees at least Premier so that plus my normal travel may just push me over to 1K. I know I better take advantage of any DEQM promotions. My only concern is that my regular west coast project is coming to an end and I’m getting more east coast business so we’ll see how this all goes.

Delta is always an unknow. Last year a trip to GIG supplemented my Delta miles. The Hilton promotions for MQMs always help too, but who knows if that will happen this year. I should get at least Silver, but hopefully I can maintain my Gold status. Delta DMQM promotions have never worked for me because they require the highest fair classes and that is a little too much for me to spend on a mileage run.

Hilton is in the bag for diamond.

As I max out the Q4 Hilton promotion I reflect on why I continued to stay at Hilton properties after requalifying for Diamond VIP, the top tier.

• There is a Hampton everywhere I go. I go places such as St. Joseph, MO, New Albany, IN, and others like that. The Hampton Inn is the only hotel among Hilton, Marriott, Starwood, and Hyatt. Many of the places I go have Holiday Inns, but I only stay there if nothing from the other chains is there.
• I like the Hilton chain bedding. I always bring my own toiletries so those don’t win me over, but I care about bedding. I try not to think about how often the duvet gets washed, but I’m a cold person and the 3 tiny sheets that Fairfield Inns and Courtyards (both by Marriott) try to pass as adequate bedding during winter in Iowa just don’t cut it for me. I have never had a cold night at any Hilton brand I’ve stayed at. I’m constantly tempted to buy a Hampton Inn bedding set, but I’m not sure if I could keep it as white as they do.
• This week I stayed at a Hilton property instead of a Marriott property because I had no shot at Gold with Marriott at this point (25 nights from Gold) and I just needed 1 stay to complete the 12 Q4 stays to get 75,000 points. 75,000 points are nothing since Hilton points are the peso of hotel points, but I just wiped out my balance recently so every point helps.
• Most importantly though, this game to me is all about using the points. Points are only valuable when cashed in just like I used to tell my brother than a quarter is only a quarter unless you have an offer for more. I have redeemed many Hilton HHonors points over the years. Some places a Hilton is one of many locations to choose from in the city. In places like Charleston, SC the Embassy Suites is much better than any Starwood property in the city. The latest feat is using points to stay at a conference. At first there was no availability during the actual conference, then it opened up and I managed to use a discounted redemption rate for VIPs.

Would I tell someone at the checkin counter that Hilton has great promos? Doubtful, but it does meet my needs. Although everyone on Flyertalk seems to love Starwood and Hyatt, I have chosen Hilton.

This year I’m in pretty much the same boat I was in last year except on the rental car front.

• Airlines: still 1P with United and Gold with Delta. Hit 75,000 and 60,000 respectively
• Hotels: still Diamond with Hilton and Silver with Marriott. Lost status with SPG, but only because that was conferred from a credit card and I shifted my spending to Hilton AMEX.
• Rental cars: Avis First *ahem* I mean Last. National got up to Executive Aisle and I made 5 star with Hertz, but I haven’t rented with Hertz since then.

In a couple weeks it all resets to 0 and the race begins again.

I decided to do a check to see if availability opened up in Melbourne for the rest of my trip. As a matter of fact, now Hilton is showing availability at South Wharf for my whole trip! I could have tacked on another 3 nights for 120,000 so then I’d have a 4 night AXON6 @ 145,000 points, 3 more nights at 120,000 points, and a night at Airport for 30,000 points. Now I’m trying to get a GLON for the whole trip which 235,000 points. So: 295,000 or 235,000, which would you prefer? I can’t book until the AXON recredits though so I just sit and keep refreshing…

…remember to book anything before pretty much all hotels move up a category in January!