Introduction Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. is one of the largest multinational hotel conglomerates in the world, comprised of 5,200 properties across 14 hotel brands. Brands owned by Hilton include Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Canopy, Curio, Hilton, DoubleTree, Embassy suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton, Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations, Waldorf Astoria, Tru, and Tapestry. In 2017, Hilton’s guest loyalty…
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Sallie Mae Credit Card (SM) Review 2018.3 Update: This card will be automatically converted to Barclaycard Rewards Credit Card (Discontinued) (HT: DoC). This is also a useless card. No idea what Barclaycard is doing here. 2016.12 Update: This card will be automatically converted to a card called “Commence by SallieMae Mastercard”. It only offers 2% cashback on Grocery & Utility and 1%…
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Iberia has an award ticket sale going on, where you can fly one-way from NYC/Boston/Chicago to Madrid for just 25.5K Iberia Avios in business class. You can also fly Miami to Madrid for 31.9K Avios. Economy awards are also discounted 25%, and the deal is valid for October – December 15, 2018, excluding certain dates (detailed below). This is an…
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1. Brief Introduction to Marriott Hotel Group Established in 1957, Marriott Hotel’s headquarters lies in Washington D.C, with over 4,000 hotels and resorts across the world. After they acquired the Starwood Hotels Group in November 2015, this number increased to over 6,000 hotels in 122 countries all over the world. This is the hotel breakdown: Marriott hotels (the top half)…
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As an international financial and transportation hub, Hong Kong (HKG) serves as a great stopover point between North America and the rest of south and east Asia. From a miles and points perspective, Hong Kong has several advantages: There is zero fuel surcharge (YQ) imposed on flight departing HKG. You heard it right. Nil. There are several sweet spots for…
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People used to earn a lot Amex Membership Rewards points by getting sign-up bonuses from different versions of Platinum cards. They currently offer Platinum, Mercedes-Benz Platinum, Schwab Platinum and Ameriprise Platinum for normal users. You at least can get 195k MR points by simply getting sign-up offer of these Platinum cards. However, if you go to application page of AmEx…
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Introduction I recently received an offer for 60,000 Membership Rewards (MR) points after spending $5,000 by upgrading my Amex Premier Rewards Gold (PRG) to an Amex Platinum. The offer was received via email with the subject line “Congratulations [NAME], Get Exciting Benefits When You Upgrade to the Platinum Card!” Of course I accepted the offer. The best part amount Amex upgrade offers…
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I believe many of you still remember that Marriott and Anbang Insurance became the last two players to buy SPG after SPG Hotel Group revealed its willingness to sell itself in 2016. At that time, the two sides constantly offered higher prices. At some stage, the Anbang Insurance Group prevailed, and offered a price that Marriott can not afford. What’s…
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Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi Review Application Link Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card by Citi Benefits Earn 4% cash back at gas stations worldwide (including Costco gas station); 3% cash back at restaurants and eligible travel spending worldwide; 2% cash back at Costco and Costco.com; 1% cash back on other purchases. No annual fee if you are a…
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Barclays Ring MasterCard Review 2019.6 Update: This card is currently unavailable because Barclays is “re-thinking” this brand. Application Link This card no longer accepts new applications. If you have this legacy credit card, you can still enjoy its original benefits. Benefits Enjoy a 0% intro APR for 15 months on balance transfers made within 45 days of account opening. After that, a…
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BankAmericard Credit Card Review Application Link BoA BankAmericard Benefits Introductory 0% APR for your first 15 billing cycles for purchases, and for any balance transfers made within 60 days of opening your account. Introductory $0 balance transfer fee for the first 60 days your account is open. No annual fee. Disadvantages No sign up bonus. No rewards. Recommended Application Time The time…
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Yesterday Lucky at One Mile at a Time posted an article describing a recent policy change made by Alaska’s Mileage Plan. As you have probably known by now, Alaska no longer allow its member to redeem miles on Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Hainan Airlines within 72 hours of departure if the award is solely intra-Asia. As far as I know, this…
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When using your credit cards abroad, you usually need to pay a 2%~3% Foreign Transaction Fee (FTF). Some credit cards do not charge this fee, and thus are very suitable for using abroad. Here are some common credit cards with no FTF. Note: Aside from the Foreign Transaction Fee, Visa/MasterCard may also charge a Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) Fee, which can be…
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Since American Airlines decided go revenue-based and introduced Elite Qualifying Miles last year, many AA loyalists feel betrayed and don’t bother re-qualifying anymore (well, unless your corporate contract forces you to fly AA). As an half academic flyer/half leisure traveler, I don’t necessarily feel betrayed. Nonetheless, AA no longer appears appealing to me. In addition to changes in Elite Qualification,…
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This is an introduction to how to retroactively request mileage credit on the major U.S. airlines. There are a variety of reasons one might want to retroactively request mileage credit. For instance: The miles from a flight you took do not appear in your frequent flyer account after a certain period of time (varies by airline, as described below). You…
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