Club Carlson had my favorite summer hotel promo of the year last year (by far) with their stay one night, get one night promo.  That promo awarded up to 50,000 points with just one stay.  That was enough for a free standard room at any of their properties!  Naturally many have had their hopes up that a similar promo would return this summer.  The good news is that a Club… Read the Rest.

First, thank you to the over 1,100 entries in my Club Carlson contest from both the comments section of the linked post and Twitter.  Great response for a great giveaway.  As a refresher, this giveaway was sponsored by Club Carlson, and there are two winners who each receive a $500 Club Carlson gift card as well as Gold elite status with Club Carlson.  If the winners already have Gold status… Read the Rest.

Here are a few fast updates from the ever-changing world of miles and points…. As expected, American Airlines matched the British Airways promo that was announced earlier this week.  If you fly in an eligible fare class from the U.S., Canada, or Mexico and Europe in First Class, Business Class or select Economy Class fares* on American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia or OpenSkies flights then you get 20,000 bonus AAdvantage… Read the Rest.

Update: The contest has ended – winners to be announced soon! I have been a big fan of the Club Carlson Visa ever since it came out last year. In fact the Club Carlson loyalty program itself has been a rising star in the miles and points world since it ran the “stay one get one” promo last year where you received 50,000 points after just a one night stay…. Read the Rest.

European trip to London and Dublin: Planning US Airways Envoy Suites to London Getting To and From London Airports Sheraton Heathrow Aer Lingus to Dublin Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Dublin (this post) We decided to spend our first two nights in Dublin at the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel Dublin because the price was right, the hotel looked nice, and the location was walkable to many of the spots within Dublin… Read the Rest.

Maybe I just missed an announcement in the middle of all the other hotel award chart shake-ups this year, but it seems that as of at least early January a popular Club Carlson redemption option went up from a Category 1 to a 2 without much fanfare.  This is only “newsworthy” as it was such a good family redemption. The Radisson Resort Orlando Celebration was a Category 1 hotel that… Read the Rest.

Over the weekend a brand new credit card was released by US Bank.  I posted a little bit about it then, but wanted to do a more in depth post now that I have had a little more time to evaluate the details.  Brand new credit cards are always exciting because they are fair game for “everyone” since no one has had it before (and by everyone I mean those… Read the Rest.

Good news – a Club Carlson credit card issued by US Bank is now available!  I actually really like Club Carlson points – but do keep in mind that it takes more of them to get a night top tier hotel than it does with a chain like Hyatt.  Top tier hotels like the May Fair I stayed at in London are 50,000 points per night.  Category 1 hotels are… Read the Rest.

I’ve made no secret about how much I enjoy the Olympics, and I especially enjoyed my trip to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.  Naturally, as soon as that trip was over I started planning for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.  Those games are actually just one year and three months away, which isn’t that far out in the world of planning trips on miles and points.  I… Read the Rest.

Tomorrow (10/31) is the deadline for making a reservation to take advantage of the Radisson Hotels “Stay One, Get One” promotion.  This promotion is the best active hotel promotion for most families since you receive a free night to use after staying just one night at a Radisson or Radisson Blu Hotel in the US, Canada, or the Caribbean when you register for the promotion and book a qualified stay… Read the Rest.