An incomplete reservation.  Bottom tier elite status.  No free breakfast.  No free internet.  Would I survive? 

A few weekends ago, I was scheduled to visit Washington DC for the Freddie Awards (Thursday), the Travel Executive Summit (Friday), and Frequent Traveler University (Friday through Sunday).  Before going, I thought that my travel plans were all set.  I was wrong.

On Wednesday night I packed for the trip and then opened TripIt to review my itinerary.  “Thursday morning: Depart DTW to IAD.  Friday: Check into hotel.”  Uh oh.  I was scheduled to fly out on Thursday and return on Monday, but I only had Friday and Saturday night booked at the hotel.

I called Hilton to see if they could extend my reservation to arrive a day earlier and leave a day later.  They told me the hotel was sold out.  Sure, I could have booked another hotel in the area, but I really wanted to stay in one place, so I logged into Hilton.com to see what I could find.

It turned out that there were a number of special rooms available.  All were listed at $300 per night or higher.  Luckily, I found some that I could book for “only” 40,000 Hilton HHonors points per night.  Compared to the $300 room rate, this was a pretty good value for my otherwise devalued Hilton points, so I booked the rooms with points.  Now I had three reservations for one long weekend.  Problem solved.  But, then I had to face the real challenge….

While researching room options, I discovered that I no longer had Hilton Gold status.  I was a lowly Silver elite!  Horror!  No more free internet or free breakfast!  What could I do?

Sure, I could have signed up for free Hilton Gold status by temporarily becoming Australian and making up a credit card number (see this post), but that just didn’t feel right to me.  And, it was far too late to get Gold status by spending $20K on my Hilton credit card or by signing up for the Citi Hilton Reserve card.  What other options did I have?

I remembered reading this LoyaltyLobby post about Hilton status matches.  According to LoyaltyLobby, I could send an email to hhonors@hilton.com to ask for a status match.  I would have to send a year-end activity report from a competing chain where I had status to prove that I was match-worthy.

Luckily, last year I had completed Marriott’s Taste of Platinum Challenge which resulted in my getting Marriott Platinum status that would last throughout 2013 and I had quite a few Marriott stays on the books for 2012.  I couldn’t find anything like a year-end report, but I was able to get Marriott’s website to display activity for the last 9 months of 2012.  I copied that info, along with a screenshot showing my Platinum status to Microsoft OneNote and then used OneNote to save the whole thing as a PDF.  I then emailed the PDF to Hilton along with a request for a match.  I received an automated response saying “Our goal is to respond to all inquiries within a 24-48 hour timeframe from receipt of the message.”  Would I get my status match in time?  Would I avoid having to pay for internet and breakfast?

On Thursday, there was no response from Hilton about the match.  I arrived at the hotel in the afternoon to check in.  The desk agent found my three reservations and click clacked away at the keys for many minutes to ensure that I had one room for the entire stay (which I appreciated very much!).  My Friday and Saturday night stays were booked as Executive Club Floor rooms (which included breakfast, but not internet), but the club lounge was closed for renovations (no wonder they had such a good rate for those rooms!).  Instead, I was given a bunch of breakfast and snack coupons that were valid through Sunday.  This meant that I was covered for breakfast for every day except Monday morning, even without Gold status.  Whew.

On Thursday night I paid for one night of internet service.  I had to work on this blog, after all.  The internet service lasted until Friday evening.  On Saturday, I called the desk to ask if internet was included in my Club Floor room rate.  Nope, but the desk agent offered to make an exception, and she gave me a code for two days worth of internet for free.  Score!

I was all set for the rest of the weekend, but Monday morning loomed ominously ahead.  That was the day I would have to pay for breakfast.  Oh no!

On Monday morning, I checked my email and found a wonderful sight (bolding is mine):

Re: Status Match

Dear Frequent Miler,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding a status match. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

First, we are always thrilled any time a member reaches out to us in an effort to attain our most prestigious Diamond membership level.
As you have reached the highest achievable level of membership with one of our hotel competitors, we are happy to extend a special one-time offer to fast track to Diamond tier level. If within the next 90 days, from today’s date, you record 21 eligible nights at any participating HHonors hotel, your account will be automatically upgraded to the Diamond tier status through March 31, 2015.  In the interim, we have upgraded your account to Gold membership level so that you may begin to enjoy the benefits while working to earn Diamond.

Sweet.  I have no intention of trying to stay 21 nights to get Diamond status, but I was happy to get free Gold status!

So, I got dressed and scampered to the front desk to let them know that I had earned Gold status during my stay.  The desk agent was incredibly gracious.  She told me to go sit down for breakfast and she would bring the breakfast coupon to me.

At the restaurant, I asked about ordering from the menu instead of the buffet and was told that there would be a $7 upcharge with the breakfast coupon.  I was OK with that.  When the coupon arrived, however, I was told that this coupon was good for anything on the menu, for free.  Score!  Breakfast was fantastic.

A number of interesting tidbits have been piling up lately, so rather than covering a single topic I’m simply going to give a rundown today of things on my mind…

Amex Financial Review

Gary, at View from the Wing, wrote up a terrific piece about Amex financial reviews (see “Preparing for the Dreaded American Express Financial Review“).  He argues that its something to get through rather than to fear.  This is a must read for anyone who manufactures spend.

10% off Amazon gift cards

This week OfficeMax is offering $5 off the purchase of two $25 Amazon gift cards.  Limit 1, but if you have a nice cashier they might let you split a purchase into multiple transactions.  Make sure to buy two $25 cards with each transaction.  Ideally, pay with a card that earns 5X at office supply stores (e.g. Ink Bold, Ink Plus, etc.).  Travel Summary has the scoop here.  I’ll run over to OfficeMax soon to see if I can buy these with OfficeMax gift cards.

10% off Lowes or $10 off $50 purchase

A number of coupons were posted to this SlickDeals thread.  Please go to that thread for details and questions.  Remember that you can also get a Movers coupon for 10% off by filling out an online form, and you can double or triple dip at Lowes for extra points.  Details here: Million Mile Madness: Banking on Lowe’s; and here: Maximizing Home Improvement Spend.

How to get the Citi Forward card

Last week I said that the Citi Forward card is great, but that you can’t get it unless you’re a college student (see “5X everywhere without gift cards, part 2: ThankYou Points“).  A number of people told me about a great workaround: Call Citi and ask to change your existing Citi card to a Forward card.  I can’t promise this will always work, but some people have reported success in blog comments and in this FlyerTalk thread.  5X restaurants, movie theaters, book stores (Amazon!), and more!

Hilton HHonors program only mostly dead

Indulge the Wanderlust reports that there are still deals to be had with the Hilton HHonors program despite recent huge devaluations.  I agree.  Details here.

Club Carlson whips the competition

LoyaltyLobby ran a series of posts analyzing the “earn and burn” rates of a number of hotel chains.  On the “earn” side, he estimated the number of points that would be earned at various properties with and without elite status and with and without a branded credit card.  He then looked at how many points were needed for free nights at various hotels (this is the “burn” side).  He then wrapped up the series by showing the amount of spend required within each chain to earn a free night.  Club Carlson beat the competition by a long shot.  Here’s an example graph showing the spend required for a free night based on someone with mid tier status:

It’s interesting that Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott all came out about the same.  Club Carlson required less than half the spend of its competitors.  SPG required much, much more. 

Please see LoyaltyLobby’s series for details (or to complain about those details)

Best rate guarantee success

Angelina, author of Just Another Points Traveler, reports on her success in getting much cheaper hotel nights through the use of Best Rate Guarantees.  I need to try this trick out more often (I’ve only done a Best Rate Guarantee once).  Details here.

UPDATE: Gary reports that changes are coming, but not until May. Plus he has details about other changes: some good, some bad.  Read the details here. 

I was notified recently by a few readers, this TravelBloggerBuzz post, and this FlyerTalk thread, that American Express no longer shows drug stores or telecom charges as bonus categories on their online application.  Up until now, both the American Express Hilton HHonors card and the Hilton HHonors Surpass offered 6 points per dollar at grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations, and telecom (phone, internet, cable).  Recently, though, the online applications leave out most of those categories.  For example, the Hilton HHonors application landing page currently shows no hint of bonus categories at all other than Hilton properties:

Earn 6 Hilton HHonors^TM Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at any participating hotel within the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands. You will receive 3 HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of other eligible purchases

Meanwhile, the application landing page for the Hilton HHonors Surpass card shows 6X for groceries and gas stations, but does not mention drug stores or telecom:

Earn 12 Hilton HHonors^TM Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at any participating hotel within the Hilton HHonors portfolio of brands. Earn 6 Hilton HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of eligible purchases at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets and on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations. You will receive 3 HHonors Bonus Points for each dollar of other eligible purchases.

Amex Speaks

I called the customer service line to ask what was up.  The rep told me that for the Hilton HHonors card, as of Feb 1, American Express will no longer offer 6X for drug stores or telecom, but would continue to offer 6X for groceries and gas stations.  She said that, as a cardholder, I should receive notice of these changes from American Express soon.  Yes, if she’s correct, that means that existing cardholders will lose this benefit.

I asked her if the same was true with the Surpass card.  She admitted that changes were coming to that card too, but for some reason she didn’t seem willing to spell them out.  Either that, or the changes are not yet final.  I suspect we will see the same changes to both cards.

Oh no, not drug stores!

As most of you know, many in the points & miles community have been visiting drug stores frequently to buy reload cards.  Many have been paying with Hilton Amex cards in order to earn 6X points per dollar for these purchases.  Sadly, it looks like that particular opportunity will be gone by the end of this month.

You may now wonder what other cards offer bonus points at drug stores.  According to my “Best Category Bonuses” page, the only other options are the US Bank Cash+ card which can earn more than 2% at drug stores, and the Chase Amazon Rewards card which earns 2 points per dollar at drug stores.  I don’t know much about the Amazon card.  Are 2 points worth two cents?  If so, the Cash+ card has that one beat.  Unfortunately, the Cash+ card is also being devalued soon.  You can read complete details about the Cash+ devaluation tomorrow.

Recently I’ve fallen in love with two old friends.  No, I’m not talking about my true love, Ink Bold, or her equally fantastic twin, Ink Plus.  I’m actually talking about two cards that I hold, but almost never use…

Priority Club Visa

I was attracted to this card over a year ago by a generous 80K sign-up offer which I spent for cash & point nights at the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel.  One of the cool features of the Priority Club visa is that it gives you a 10% rebate on all points used, so I eventually got some of those points back for later use.

Since then, I haven’t thought much about the card.  I certainly don’t use it for regular spend since I value other point programs more highly, and I value earning 5 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar much more highly.  Recently, though, I paid the card’s $49 annual fee and then received my annual free night voucher.  I needed a one night stay in Manhattan anyway, so I applied the voucher for a free night at the InterContinental Times Square (which was wonderful, by the way).

Suddenly, I was once again loving this card that I had long neglected.  Thanks to paying its small annual fee, my family stayed in a $400+ per night hotel.  And, since I have Priority Club Platinum status (which is given automatically to cardholders), the InterContinental upgraded us to a higher floor, and gave us water and a fruit plate as a Platinum welcome gift (which was, indeed, very welcome).

Think about this, by simply holding onto this card and paying the $49 annual fee, you get a free night at any Priority Club hotel worldwide, free Platinum status, and a 10% rebate on all points used.  This card is definitely a keeper!

Marriott Premier Visa

I picked up this card last November when I was lured in by a 70K sign-up bonus.  Until recently, those points (and others that I earned from actual stays) sat in my account unused.  This past week, though, I found I nice use for those points.  After dropping off our son at a camp in Northern Michigan, my wife and I spent a night at the Inn at Bay Harbor, which happens to be a category 5 Marriott Renaissance resort.  Instead of paying over $350 per night plus taxes and resort fees, we redeemed 25,000 points.  In return, we were upgraded to a beautiful lake view room and given free hot breakfast.  I’m not sure what criteria they use to decide who gets free breakfast, but I did notice some Trip Advisor reviews in which people with Marriott Silver status got this benefit.  Since the Marriott card gives you Silver status automatically, free breakfast at this resort might be automatic for cardholders.

We enjoyed our stay so much that when we headed north again at the end of the week to pick up our son, we stayed 3 more nights.

I haven’t received my annual free night from my Marriott Visa yet, but I’m now excited about it.  It gives me a free night at any category 5 Marriott hotel.  This means that I can stay a night at this resort every year for just $85 (the card’s annual fee).  While this card isn’t as valuable as the Priority Club card, it is close.

Like a sign-up bonus without the credit pull

I regularly sign up for credit cards just to get the awesome sign-up bonuses so many cards offer.  What I love about these hotel cards is that in addition to great signup bonuses, you get benefits every year without having to do anything but pay the annual fee.  The Priority Club free night can be optimally used at a hotel that would otherwise cost 50,000 points per night.  If you use it this way, it’s almost like getting 50,000 points every year for simply paying the annual fee.  Similarly, the Marriott free night can be used at a hotel that would go for 25,000 points per night.  So it’s like getting 25,000 Marriott points per year for paying the annual fee.  The Hyatt Visa Signature card also offers a free night each year up to category 4 (equal to 15,000 points), so this one is high on my list for a future churn.

My goal is to get all three of these cards for myself and for my wife.  That way, in addition to the sign-up bonuses, we will get a combined 6 nights per year towards fantastic vacations every year going forward.  The combined annual fees across all 6 cards will come to $418.  When you consider that one night at some of these hotels would otherwise cost this much or more, it’s a great value.

All three of these cards are Chase cards.  Chase is known to shut down cards over time for lack of use so it’s a good idea to use these cards occasionally.  I plan to use these cards only for spend within the corresponding hotel chain so as to maximize points earned.  While that won’t amount to much, I’m hoping it will be enough to keep Chase happy with me as a customer.

Free nights, but with spend required

The Priority Club, Marriott, and Hyatt cards each give a free night each year (after the first year) regardless of whether you’ve actually used the card for spend.  Two other cards worth mentioning are the Fairmont Visa Signature card and the Hilton HHonors Reserve.  The Fairmont card requires $12K annual spend to receive a free night that can be used at any Fairmont hotel in the world.  The Hilton card requires $10K annual spend to receive a free weekend night that can be used at almost any Hilton hotel in the world.  Both of these cards have great signup bonuses and perks that may make them worth keeping past the first year, but they’re not “no brainers” the way the others are.  I’m sure I’ll signup for each of these cards eventually, but I’m not sure whether I’ll keep them beyond the first year.

Summary of annual costs and benefits

The following benefits ignore signup bonuses.  The point here is to look at hotel cards that offer sign-up-like bonuses every year after the first year simply by paying the annual fee.

• Priority Club Select Visa: $49 per year.  Free night at any Priority Club hotel. Automatic Priority Club Platinum Status.  10% rebate on point redemptions.
• Marriott Rewards Premier Visa: $85 per year.  Free night at any category 1 through 5 Marriott.  15 nights elite status credit (enough for Silver status which isn’t worth much).
• Hyatt Visa Signature: $75 per year.  Free night at any category 1 through 4 Hyatt. Automatic Platinum status (free internet!).
• Fairmont Visa Signature: $95 per year.  Free night at any Fairmont after $12K annual spend.  Two free lounge visits per year.
• Hilton HHonors Reserve: $95 per year.  Free weekend night at almost any Hilton property after $10K annual spend.  Automatic Hilton Gold status (free internet, and free breakfast and room upgrades at many properties).  This card is notable as the only one on the list that is not a Chase card (this one is from Citibank).

From this day forward

There’s something really fun about using points and free nights for fantastic redemptions.  I love the idea of getting these free nights every year with no effort whatsoever.  So, yes, I love my Priority Club and Marriott cards, and will likely love my Hyatt card too once I get one.  That being said, you won’t see me using these cards day to day.  These are cards to have and to hold, and to keep in a drawer until they’re needed.

With the introduction of Citi’s new Hilton HHonors Reserve card, there are now two options for big spenders to earn top tier Diamond status with Hilton (besides, you know, actually staying at a Hilton): the Citi HHonors Reserve and the Amex HHonors Surpass.  Both cards grant Diamond status after $40K of annual spend.  Which is better?

In Lucky’s post about the new Citi card, he described reasons the card might be a good fit for you.  For example, he wrote:

If you want to spend $40,000 on the card annually for HHonors Diamond status. My parents are a prime example of how awesome this card is. They own a business where they put well over $100,000 in expenses per year on credit cards, and all the spend is in categories that doesn’t earn bonus points with other cards. They also like to travel, though due to commitments don’t take more than a few trips a year. This is an awesome way for them to not only have their hotel nights covered on points, but also to be treated very well thanks to top tier status with Hilton.

This got me thinking.  Is the Citi card really the better card for earning Diamond status?  I’ve been a fan of the Amex Surpass card for quite a while.  Is it possible that the Citi card is better?  Not counting the sign-up bonuses of either card, let’s look at the advantages of each:

Citi Advantages

• 10X (10 points per dollar) at Hilton properties (vs. 9X with the Surpass)
• 5X for airline and car rental purchases
• 3X for everything else (same as Amex)
• No foreign transaction fees
• Smart chip for easier use overseas
• One free weekend night after $10K spend per year

Amex Surpass Advantages

• 6X for supermarkets, drug stores and stand- alone gas stations; and for service payments for home and wireless phone, cable, satellite TV and Internet service providers.
• 3X for everything else (same as Citi)
• AXON Awards: discounted 4-night award redemptions for cardholders
• $75 annual fee (vs. $95 annual fee for the Citi card)

When Citi is better

I think there are a few situations in which the Citi card is better for earning Diamond status:

• If you plan to meet much of your $40K spend outside of the United States, then the Citi card has a big advantage with it’s smart chip and no foreign transaction fees.
• If most of your spend is not within the categories for which the Surpass gives 6X (supermarkets, drug stores, gas, etc.)
• If a lot of your spend is on airline and car rentals, you’ll earn 5X instead of the Surpass’ 3X.  Or, if you plan to spend a lot at Hilton properties, you’ll earn an extra point per dollar.

Even if you break even with point-earnings compared to the Surpass card, you will come out ahead with the Citi card.  By using the Citi card, you avoid foreign transaction fees and you earn 1 free weekend night each year.

When Amex is better

The Amex Surpass card has the edge when you spend enough in its 6X categories to overcome the loss of a free weekend night (which you would earn with the Citi card).  Personally, I like points better than a free weekend night because points aren’t limited to particular days of the week and points don’t expire if not used within the year.  Let’s arbitrarily value Citi’s free weekend night at 40,000 points.  If so, you would need to spend about $13,500 in the Surpass’ 6X categories in order to earn enough extra points to overcome the loss of the weekend night.  Given that, the Surpass may be the better card for earning Diamond status in these situations:

• You spend heavily within the Surpass’ 6X categories.  Note that for a large family, this can be quite easy to do.  I know families that regularly spend $300 per week or more on groceries.  If they were to use the Surpass card, they would earn almost 50,000 more points than they would with the Citi card (over the course of a year) and they would be almost half way towards meeting the $40K spend requirement.
• You are a creative spender.  If you like the idea of going to supermarkets, drug stores, or gas stations to buy gift cards, you may find that you can dramatically increase both your monthly spend and points earned.  You can even save money by buying gas station gift cards at a grocery store that offers fuel points.  This way you will get the same 6X that you would have earned at the gas station, but you also earn discounts off your fuel!  If you want to take things even further (advanced gift card churners only!), see if you can find a supermarket, drug store, or gas station that sells prepaid reload cards and allows credit card purchases.  If so, you can do a trick like the one documented in “One card to rule them all.”

I wouldn’t count the discounted AXON awards as a reason to prefer the Amex.  Even if you put your $40K spend on the Citi card, you can get the no fee version of the Amex HHonors card in order to qualify for the same discounts.

I’m tempted, are you?

I’ll probably wait at least until next year to get started with this, but I am tempted to get the Surpass card and try out some creative spend techniques.  I think that with a little effort it could be a fantastic way to earn oodles of Hilton HHonors points and top tier Diamond status.

How about you?  Are you tempted to go for Diamond?  Which card (if either) is right for you?

On Friday, I wrote “Rumor: Something great from Citi…”  In that post I replayed hints given by Gary Leff (View from the Wing) about a new Citi Hilton card on its way.  Today, Gary revealed the details of the new card in his post “Citibank Introduces Awesome New Hilton HHonors Reserve Card”. 

Here are the primary features of the card:

• Signup bonus: two weekend night certificates after $2500 in spend in four months
• No foreign transaction fees
• It has a chip which I assume is “chip and pin” or “chip and signature” for security and easier use abroad.  However, the card’s advertising page doesn’t elaborate on it other than to say “TRAVEL WITH EASE and enjoy global acceptance with your Citi chip credit card” (I added the underline).  And, the application page says “Enjoy advanced chip-based technology which provides enhanced global acceptance and advanced security abroad.”
• Anniversary bonus: one free weekend night, but only if you spend $10K per year on the card.
• Complimentary Gold Status.  Diamond status if you spend $40K per year.
• Earn 10X at Hilton properties, 5X on airline and car rental purchases, 3X elsewhere.
• $95 annual fee is not waived the first year.

How does this stack up against my guesses?

Here are each of the guesses I posted on Friday and a discussion of how the actual offer stacks up:

Free nights?  Sure two free nights at any Hilton property would be a great signup bonus, but would it be enough for Gary to call it the best he’s seen?  I don’t think so.  I think we’d have to see 2 free nights per year to warrant that opinion.

Actual offer: 2 free nights, weekend only.  1 free night ongoing only if you spend $10K per year.  I was on the right track, but the actual offer isn’t as good as I expected.

Free points?  I think the signup bonus would have to be 100,000 points to be considered the best.  Will we see a new 100K offer?

Actual offer: No free points

Elite status?  The Amex cards already provide the means to earn high level elite status through big spend.  Can this card trump that with automatic Gold status? That would be a nice benefit!

Actual offer: Automatic Gold status, and the opportunity to earn Diamond status.  I was right on target here!

Points per dollar?  The Amex Hilton cards already offer 6 points per dollar in a number of popular categories.  Can this card offer a multiple that’s even more attractive?

Actual offer: This card does offer more points per dollar than the Amex cards for Hilton, airline, and car rental purchases.  10X at Hilton properties is really nice.  However, this card doesn’t match the other categories that many people are likely to put more spend on (e.g. grocery store, drug store, etc.)

Travel benefits?  Maybe this card goes beyond Hilton benefits to airline club access, companion passes, or other perks?

Actual offer: The only travel benefits I see are the chip and no foreign transaction fee.

Is this a killer offer?

In many ways this card is similar to the Hilton HHonors Surpass card from American Express.  Both cards offer top tier Diamond status after $40K per year of spend, and both offer high points per dollar for various categories.  The Citi card slightly trumps the Surpass at Hilton properties (10X vs. 9X), but doesn’t offer a special multiple for gas, drug stores, or grocery stores (where buying gift cards is especially easy by the way). 

I’m on the fence as to whether the Citi card’s signup bonus trumps the Surpass.  The 60K point signup bonus with the Surpass will get you one free night at a top tier hotel (with 10K left over), whereas the Citi card offers two free nights.  On the surface that sounds much better, but the two nights are weekend-only (Fri, Sat, Sun night stays) and they expire after 12 months.  So, while many people will get more out of these two free nights than they would from 60K points, many others will likely never find the time and opportunity to redeem the nights properly before they expire.  I’d argue that the Citi card’s signup bonus is better only if you have a particular redemption in mind.

There are some areas, though, in which this card does beat out the Surpass:

• The Citi card is much better for foreign spend.  If you plan to spend money at Hilton properties overseas, then this card is a no-brainer thanks to it’s combination of the 10X multiplier, security chip, and no foreign transaction fees. 
• The Citi card is also worth considering simply for its automatic Hilton Gold status.  Gold status gets you free internet and breakfast, extra points on paid stays, and often a nice room upgrade.  With the Surpass card, you get Gold status the first year for free, but you will keep Gold status only if you spend $20K per year.
• The Citi card’s annual free weekend night (with $10K spend) is a nice extra that the Surpass does not match in any way.

Final thoughts

I don’t see a compelling reason to rush out and signup for the card today.  Personally, I’d rather wait until I have a specific weekend redemption in mind so as to ensure that I get full use of the two free nights.  The problem there, though, is that it may take quite a while after applying to meet the spend requirements and receive the free night certificates.  So, I need to have a specific weekend redemption in mind that is pretty far out in the future.  That might happen someday.

On the flip side, the Surpass is still very interesting to me.  I’ll take the 60K points and bank them for a rainy day.  More importantly, I’m sure I’ll find a grocery store, drug store, or gas station that allows credit card purchases of prepaid reload cards of some sort (see “One card to rule them all” for a similar scheme).  Since the Surpass gives 6X for grocery, drug store, and gas station transactions it should be possible to earn 240,000 Hilton HHonors points on the way to $40K of spend (which would give Diamond status).  That, to me, is worth pursuing…

I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay about a half cent each to buy Hilton HHonors points via Daily Getaways.  After all, the price was equal to, but not better than my estimated Fair Trading Price for Hilton points.  After looking at some upcoming travel plans, though, I realized that I really can get good value from these points.  Loyalty Traveler helped convince me in his post showing good value at the low and high ends of the redemption chart.

Once I made up my mind, I decided to go in big-time for the 250,000 point package.  As you probably know, by paying with an Amex card, I was able to save 10% over the published cost the package.  Since this package was more than $500, I couldn’t use a disposable Amex gift card as I had tried to do before.  However, a reloadable Amex Prepaid card worked like a charm!  Since I used my Ink Bold to buy reload packs at Office Depot, I earned 5X Ultimate Rewards Points for my Hilton point purchases!  For complete information about using the Amex prepaid card in this way, please see “One card to rule them all.”

Are you planning to buy any Daily Getaways? There are some great deals coming up.  I’m especially interested in the Hyatt points on May 9th.  Unfortunately, there aren’t many Hyatt packages for sale, so it’s going to be really tough to snag any.  Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it…

This is the second of a four part Chicago trip report: 1) getting there; 2) lodging; 3) eating; and 4) stuff to do.

This photo of Chicago is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Conrad Chicago

When looking for a hotel to stay in, we found a bunch of good options.  We were tempted by great rates at the Doubletree, the Westin, two different W’s, and even the new Radisson Blu.  By the time we decided to go with the Radisson Blu, the great rate we had seen had disappeared.  So, we took another look and stumbled upon a $130 government rate at the upscale Conrad hotel.  Yes, there were good alternatives for as low as $90 per night, but we chose the Conrad for a few reasons: location, breakfast, and upgradeability.

Location

The Conrad is in a terrific location just north of the river on Michigan Avenue.  True, its address doesn’t say “Michigan Avenue”, but it is connected to the Nordstrom mall which opens to Michigan Avenue.  If we were into shopping (which we are not), this location would be perfect for that alone.  However, it’s still really good as a base for just about anything to do in downtown Chicago.  Other than the initial cab ride from the train station to the hotel, we walked everywhere we wanted to go for the weekend.

Breakfast

I’m particular about breakfasts when I’m on the road.  I like to eat in a nice, calm setting with good food.  And, I prefer an in-hotel breakfast so that I can retreat briefly to my room before tackling the day.  And, of course, I like it best when I don’t have to pay for breakfast!  Yes, it’s true that many low to mid tier hotels offer free breakfast, but they usually don’t do so well with the “nice, calm, and good food” requirements.  So, for me, the best option is an upscale hotel with free breakfast.

When we checked in at the Conrad, we were given two breakfast vouchers per night thanks to my Hilton Gold status.  I mentioned to the desk clerk that we had three people in the room and so he gave me two more vouchers!  The text on the vouchers claimed to be for continental breakfast only, but when we showed up for breakfast the next morning we were told that we could have either the full buffet or $14 towards anything on the breakfast menu.  Sweet!  And, while the buffet wasn’t very expansive, everything on it was very good.  There’s nothing like a free, high quality breakfast to start the day!

Upgrade

When I booked the room online, I was given the option to upgrade to a suite for 20,000 points per night.  I declined.  Since I made the reservations only one day in advance, I felt confident that suites would still be available when we checked in.  Sure enough, when we arrived we were given the King Deluxe Suite!  The Suite had two full baths, a living room, bedroom with king bed, and HD TVs with Bose sound systems.  Very nice!

Sorry about the grainy pictures:

The windows shown above look out onto Michigan Avenue and the Hotel Intercontinental which is directly across the street. 

Overall, the Conrad turned out to be a great choice.  We will definitely return (if we can find a rate that good, or better, in the future).  Oh, and regarding the government rate: my wife is technically a state government employee because she works for a state University, so we were prepared to show her ID if needed.  No, they didn’t ask to see it, but I can’t promise you’ll be as lucky…

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If you’re new to Frequent Miler, please start here

It’s been long overdue, but I finally got around to updating the Preparing for Miles page on the Frequent Miler blog.  This is a permanent page that you can access at any time from the link named “Preparing for Miles” at the top of each Frequent Miler page, just below the banner.

This is the one page where I keep up to date credit card information and signup links.  Unlike most other blogs that focus on the cards with the best signup bonuses, this page is focused on cards that will help you earn points and/or elite status by using and keeping them.

What has changed

More Ink

I’ve written a lot in the past about the Chase Ink Bold card and have shown ways to leverage its 5 points per dollar at office supply stores in ways never envisioned by Chase.  But, did you know that Chase has two other cards that also offer 5 points per dollar at office supply stores?  Both the Ink Classic and the Ink Cash have this benefit, and both with no annual fee!

SPG Added

Now that Starwood has significantly improved the value of Gold and Platinum status, it’s time to take another look at this perennially favorite card.  The card gives you 5 elite nights / 2 stays per year towards elite status.  If you get both the personal and the business version of this card you will get 10 nights and 4 stays.  Plus, if you spend $30K per year on either card you will be given Gold status automatically.

Hilton Added

The Hilton HHonors and Hilton HHonors Surpass Amex cards both have amazingly generous bonus categories including 6 points per dollar at grocery stores.  Both cards grant gold status for $20K of annual spend.  The Surpass offers Diamond status for $40K of spend.  Imagine using the Surpass to spend $40K per year at grocery stores (gift cards anyone?): you would earn Diamond status and 240,000 Hilton points!

Take a look

In addition to the new cards, the page has also been completely re-written and re-formatted to make information easier to find and to read.  Please take a look:  Preparing for Miles.

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This morning I wrote about how the Hilton HHonors Surpass card from American Express surpassed my expectations for its point-earning ability.  A few helpful readers pointed out that American Express has another Hilton HHonors card without the “Surpass” title and without the Surpass card’s $75 annual fee.  I took a look at this card and indeed it appears to be almost as good as the Surpass for point-earnings.  The main differences appear to be that for spending at Hilton hotels, the Surpass earns 9 points per dollar whereas the regular card earns 6; and while both cards will get you Gold status with $20K spend per year, only the Surpass will get you Diamond status for $40K spend per year.  Check out the comments of the previous post to see one way (if you are a big spender) that you could actually cycle back and forth between these cards to keep Diamond status without paying $75 every year for the annual fee.

In order to estimate the point earning power of credit cards, I’ve setup a simple spreadsheet to automate the calculations.  When I plugged the Hilton HHonors specs into the spreadsheet, it came out with a 4.43 points per dollar average.  Compared to the 4.5 points per dollar average of the Surpass, this card is a close contender!

With the non-Surpass card, you will receive 6 Hilton HHonors bonus points at Hilton hotels, supermarkets; drug stores; stand-alone gas stations; and home telephone, wireless, cable, satellite TV and internet service providers. You will receive 3 Hilton HHonors bonus points per dollar for all other eligible spending.