TRAVEL: Points, Miles, Discounts, Tips, Advice & Questions

[huge 3793]

Looking to fly to IAH or HOU to BOS in early Sept and dont want to pay for the flight.  Doing the SWA card would pay for the ticket, question is how quickly are the points awarded and able to be used?  They offer 40K pts if you charge $1000 within the first 3 months.

Or is there a better card?

I have not done much research and have not read this entire thread.  Is that what I need to do?

Currently between the wife and I we have already done the Chase/United card and currently have Discover and Amex.

 

[skipperj 377]

Points should show up within 6-8 weeks after your statement date where you finished the spending requirement.

Edited June 19, 2018 by skipperj

[huge 3793]

So it would take 3 months plus 6-8 weeks.

That’s no good.

[skipperj 377]

Not if you meet the spend in 1 month. Then 1 month plus 6-8 weeks (probably shorter, usually before the next statement closes).

[midtown 3346]

On 6/19/2018 at 3:28 PM, skipperj said:

Points should show up within 6-8 weeks after your statement date where you finished the spending requirement.

I've had a very different experience.   With the 6 point bonus cards Ive done over the last 4 years I find my points hit my account within days of paying my bill after my spending requirements. 

[skipperj 377]

I’ve had mixed experiences. A lot of it depends on the points vendor, SWA in this case. I wouldn’t bank on it for vacation plans. For flexible points (Chase Ultimate, AMEX Member, Barclays), those are deposited very fast. Sometimes the next day even before a bill.

[skipperj 377]

Just checked. The first billing period for my Chase SWA was 6/15-7/14. I met the $1000 spend requirement in that first period. On 7/15, I received the 1140 points from that statement.

The next statement closed 8/14. On 8/15, I had my 60,000 bonus points deposited into my Rapid Rewards account.

[bluto 4930]

Lulz at 'think it's worth paying $95 for 50k miles.... shit man, 50k on AA gets you r/t to Europe 

[midtown 3346]

Lulz at 'think it's worth paying $95 for 50k miles.... shit man, 50k on AA gets you r/t to Europe 

I flew rt to Colombia for 30k miles. I'm going to use another 45k for an rt to London for a tots game. Still leaves with 25k. Cost me $150 in cc fees. That's probably $1500 worth of flights

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[4th and 5 4914]

Spring/summer free trip bender:

Kentucky Derby, San Diego, Isla, Bahamas, DC for the game, Sonoma, all air via SWA companion passed so 1/2 the price in points

You're either scamming, or you’re getting scammed. 

My wife is running the same plays I am and we haven’t used a single one of her points and I still have 250K chase points and 320K AA points. Finding the time to travel is the hard part. 

[NoRagrets 1125]

Help me out. I almost never use credit cards bc I like being completely debt free without having to think too much about it. However I realize I need to grow up and get a card with all these perks, miles, etc. it would really help me travel more bc I'm also a cheap bastard.

My goal is airline miles, not hotel rewards  I prefer Airbnb's and shun resorts. My preferred travel destinations are usually domestic but really thinking about a trip to Japan and or Hawaii to see family.

I'm fairly high income with great credit. Current cards that are never used are a British Airways card (miles used up and need to cancel) and Amex blue cash back.

what do you recommend?

i should add that my BA card is serviced by chase.

Edited June 22, 2018 by NoRagrets

[midtown 3346]

I'd probably do the two AA cards and add the AMEX Plat.   Mostly because the plats travel related benefits are second to none.   You'll get gold status with Hertz, SPG, and Hilton.  You'll get $200 airline credit, $200 in Uber credits, Global Entry, AMEX and priority pass lounges, and 60,000 pts.

You get a lot more bang for your miles international.  Domestically I think SWA has the best rewards program but others know more than me

Edited June 22, 2018 by midtown

[52-80 19162]

7 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

Help me out. I almost never use credit cards bc I like being completely debt free without having to think too much about it. However I realize I need to grow up and get a card with all these perks, miles, etc. it would really help me travel more bc I'm also a cheap bastard.

My goal is airline miles, not hotel rewards  I prefer Airbnb's and shun resorts. My preferred travel destinations are usually domestic but really thinking about a trip to Japan and or Hawaii to see family.

I'm fairly high income with great credit. Current cards that are never used are a British Airways card (miles used up and need to cancel) and Amex blue cash back.

what do you recommend?

i should add that my BA card is serviced by chase.

If you don't carry a balance, CC is not debt, it's float and convenience.

[52-80 19162]

Got the email today...chase stopped their 90 day return protection.  

 

I used it a few times.  It was a good benefit.  RIP

[thunderlounge 7854]

Isn’t August 26th or something like that when it officially ends? Or was that price protection?

I glanced at the email, but that was about it. 

[skipperj 377]

Can you somehow put in a price protection claim against your annual fee since the value has changed?

[Brew 3049]

My wife has decided she wants to go to the UK for our 20th anniversary/40th birthdays. I’m not a fan, but it is what it is. I’m points stupid, so tell me what steps I’m missing here. I’ve got a ton of Chase points, have an AA account, and BA has a direct flight to London from my local airport. Looking at the AA award chart it looks like business class seats are 57,500 miles. Is this whole process as simple as convert 230,000 UR points to AA and then use those to book the BA flights? Do you pick seats at booking like a normal flight or are they assigned later? My normal go to is just to pay for the seats and waste points on something stupid, but these things look to be $12k if I buy them so I may as well burn some points.

[Spankytoes 1742]

21 minutes ago, Brew said:

My wife has decided she wants to go to the UK for our 20th anniversary/40th birthdays. I’m not a fan, but it is what it is. I’m points stupid, so tell me what steps I’m missing here. I’ve got a ton of Chase points, have an AA account, and BA has a direct flight to London from my local airport. Looking at the AA award chart it looks like business class seats are 57,500 miles. Is this whole process as simple as convert 230,000 UR points to AA and then use those to book the BA flights? Do you pick seats at booking like a normal flight or are they assigned later? My normal go to is just to pay for the seats and waste points on something stupid, but these things look to be $12k if I buy them so I may as well burn some points.

A lot going in here...

1. UR doesn’t transfer to AA, they transfer to BA.

2. You can use either AA or BA miles to book your flights on BA. You will probably pay $350 for doing so in taxes and the fuel surcharge. As a comparison, using AA miles would be about $125.00 if the flight is AA metal.

3. BA has a distance based chart. Make sure the direct flight is available for award redemption in both directions. Just because it’s a route doesn’t mean it’s available for award redemption. Especially direct J class flights into London, which are seen less than Bigfoot. Otherwise, you’ll have to break up the routing and book it in 2 parts since BA doesn’t fly domestic in the U.S.

4. Couldn’t you just book your flights through UR? If you don’t have enough AA miles to cover it, it’s probably a better bet. Use BA miles for short haul flights instead. Also, look at United since they are also a UR partner. They usually have a better availability, albeit, you will probably change planes and will land at LGW, which sucks ass for arrivals.

5. You can buy a Coach ticket on BA and use BA Avis’s to upgrade it. Same with AA. If you want to fly J class on BA, this would be a good redemption if the Award flight isn’t there.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Spankytoes

[skipperj 377]

Since we were talking about 5/24 earlier, pretty comprehensive article on application/bonus restrictions of major issuers.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/credit-card-application-restrictions/

Edited June 26, 2018 by skipperj

[midtown 3346]

My wife has decided she wants to go to the UK for our 20th anniversary/40th birthdays. I’m not a fan, but it is what it is. I’m points stupid, so tell me what steps I’m missing here. I’ve got a ton of Chase points, have an AA account, and BA has a direct flight to London from my local airport. Looking at the AA award chart it looks like business class seats are 57,500 miles. Is this whole process as simple as convert 230,000 UR points to AA and then use those to book the BA flights? Do you pick seats at booking like a normal flight or are they assigned later? My normal go to is just to pay for the seats and waste points on something stupid, but these things look to be $12k if I buy them so I may as well burn some points.

Are you sure about that 57500? I'm going to London in the fall and it's 52500 for economy? Or is that one way?

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

 

 

[Spankytoes 1742]

3 minutes ago, midtown said:

Are you sure about that 57500? I'm going to London in the fall and it's 52500 for economy?

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 

I think he means per seat each way

[Brew 3049]

2 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

I think he means per seat each way

Correct. Thanks for the info above. I’ll check booking through UR first.

Edited June 27, 2018 by Brew

[skipperj 377]

New Marriott Chart is out for all properties.

https://points-redemption.marriott.com/category-change?aff=MARUS&affname=1101l4847&co=US&nt=PH

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/marriott-releases-full-award-rates-70-of-properties-will-cost-the-same-or-less/?utm_source=NLpromo&utm_campaign=JuneNewMarriott

[sunset87 240]

I am new to all of this, but I have been doing some research and I’m trying to decide which card to get.  I would like to get a card primarily for travel rewards. We would be traveling mostly domestically and would use SWA probably about 75% of the time and American and United the rest (those are the only airlines that fly out of our local airport). I already have the SWA Chase Visa, but want to add another.  I used the credit card matching tool on thepointsguy website and was pre-approved and most interested in the Capital One Venture, Chase Sapphire Preferred, and the Bank of America Travel Rewards.  I wouldn’t consider the BofA card except that I am in the top tier of rewards because I bank there. Also, I’m not locked into those three, they are just some of the ones that appeared when I did the matching tool.

 

We don’t travel a ton at this point (kids in college) but enough that I would certainly like to take advantage of some of these reward programs. So, does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations?

[thunderlounge 7854]

Chase Sapphire for sure. Whether that is the Preferred or Reserve is up to you. If the Reserve bonus was higher, then it would be more of a lean. It really depends if the additional benefits of the Reserve are worth it. $300 in travel credits makes the AF $150, so effectively if the remaining benefit differences are worth $55/yr to you (or effectively $35/yr if you have global entry and renew every 5 years), the go reserve. 

Points transfer to partners at the same rate,  but you’ll get 3x on travel/dining vice 2x, and purchasing through the  Chase portal is 1.5¢/pt vice 1.25¢.

 Look at the additional benefits and compare coverage against the venture or amex offerings and the Chase benefits are better. (Like PRIMARY rental car insurance, vice secondary, etc.)

 

 

[sunset87 240]

21 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

Chase Sapphire for sure. Whether that is the Preferred or Reserve is up to you. If the Reserve bonus was higher, then it would be more of a lean. It really depends if the additional benefits of the Reserve are worth it. $300 in travel credits makes the AF $150, so effectively if the remaining benefit differences are worth $55/yr to you (or effectively $35/yr if you have global entry and renew every 5 years), the go reserve. 

Points transfer to partners at the same rate,  but you’ll get 3x on travel/dining vice 2x, and purchasing through the  Chase portal is 1.5¢/pt vice 1.25¢.

 Look at the additional benefits and compare coverage against the venture or amex offerings and the Chase benefits are better. (Like PRIMARY rental car insurance, vice secondary, etc.)

 

 

I was leaning towards the Sapphire...appreciate the help.

[thunderlounge 7854]

You're welcome. It can be tough sometimes to match up a card to what you actually need, vice what you think you want.

[RD3 64]

I've posted earlier on this thread.  We have the SWA card.  We started with my card, got a ton of points.  Then I referred her in January, got 50k points for her and got the companion pass.  She's used it 2 times for our kids on mini family trips (it's hard to get vacation for both of us right now). 

One benefit of that is change/cancel flight via SWA is the easiest.  It's basically risk free.  It's so easy to make changes.

But.... I'm surprised SWA hasn't tried to create a more expensive version to sort of compete with the AMEX.  $250 but you get free wifi, A-list, and more drink tickets?  That's marginal costs to them and they can create stickier credit card customers.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dbeasy 15052]

Would be very appreciative to hear a credit card and cellphone recommendation for Europe travel. I used to travel globally all of the time but I’ve been limited mostly to the US for the last 7 years. I’ve lost my travel mojo. It’s embarrassing.

On the credit card, I’m worried about foreign exchange charges. Also, you used to have to have a pin setup for even the credit (not just debit) transactions with a lot of the merchants. Is that still the case, or have most merchants dumped the PIN requirement?

On the phone, my business would cover the roaming charges so I’d easily rack up hundreds in charges while traveling without worrying too much. For personal travel, I would sometimes buy an in-country phone or SIM card to save on charges, but that required people to call my international number. Does everyone just stick with their AT&T/Verizon phone and eat the roaming charges these days? I know to turn off data and use Wi-Fi for data and Wi-Fi calling for less expensive or free calls.

By the way, my daughter swore that while roaming in Europe that she was able to used google maps on the cellular network without incurring data fees. I’m thinking she’s mistaken and that google simply downloaded maps to her phone, unbeknownst to her.

[Shaddie 1651]

Dbeasy

Just call your provider and have them set you up. Keep your number and price is reasonable if you don’t use lots of data. CC all use chip and they bring machine to you so card is never out of your hand. 

[Spankytoes 1742]

11 hours ago, RD3 said:

I've posted earlier on this thread.  We have the SWA card.  We started with my card, got a ton of points.  Then I referred her in January, got 50k points for her and got the companion pass.  She's used it 2 times for our kids on mini family trips (it's hard to get vacation for both of us right now). 

One benefit of that is change/cancel flight via SWA is the easiest.  It's basically risk free.  It's so easy to make changes.

But.... I'm surprised SWA hasn't tried to create a more expensive version to sort of compete with the AMEX.  $250 but you get free wifi, A-list, and more drink tickets?  That's marginal costs to them and they can create stickier credit card customers.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Southwest is the McDonalds of the airline world. It’s cheap, quick, easy and you get a lot of value for your money. But you don’t go in expecting to be waited on or receive 5-Star service. There’s no J or F Class, no assigned seating, no lounges and their footprint is pretty minimal. Paying any money for the listed benefits would not work, albeit, there’s nothing else they could really offer without changing their business model. Bags fly free already and changing flights is the most seamless in the business. The only time I have gotten a C Group is when I forgot to check-in. That’s why they don’t waive their annual fee on the existing cards like all the other airlines. They know their place in the scheme of things. If AA flew to DAL, I wouldn’t use Southwest again. Points being tied to fares is what gives them value for me as I can stretch things.

[thunderlounge 7854]

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Would be very appreciative to hear a credit card and cellphone recommendation for Europe travel. I used to travel globally all of the time but I’ve been limited mostly to the US for the last 7 years. I’ve lost my travel mojo. It’s embarrassing.

On the credit card, I’m worried about foreign exchange charges. Also, you used to have to have a pin setup for even the credit (not just debit) transactions with a lot of the merchants. Is that still the case, or have most merchants dumped the PIN requirement?

 

First and foremost, let's tackle the credit card aspect. How good is your credit? If you're 750+, low utilization, etc, then you'll be fine (in general) for any of the top travel cards.

I'll save you time on researching a ton of them, and point you to one of the two Chase Sapphire cards. If you're going to be traveling every year, even if it's just one trip, get the Chase Sapphire Reserve. I will warn you up front that it has a $450 annual fee. However, that annual fee can be offset by at minimum $300/yr, and can average out to $325/yr if you take advantage of the $100 Global Entry credit every 4 years. So the annual fee at face value is going to be $150 after the annual travel credit. Of course you'll pay the whole annual fee when due, and the travel credit burns as you pay for travel related expenses.

What counts as travel? Here are some examples:

- Airlines
- Hotels/Motels/Timeshares/Campgrounds/AirBnB
- Car rental
- Cruise
- Travel agencies/Online travel agencies
- Trains
- Buses/Taxi/Limo/Uber/Lyft/Ferries
- Toll roads/bridges
- Parking lots/garages

Note that gas is not one of those.

 

If you don't feel that you will travel enough annually to get $300 back, then look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It has an annual fee of $95, with no travel credit reimbursement.

The perks of either card are top notch. I mentioned in a previous post that one of the often overlooked benefits is primary car rental insurance. That means you decline the rental agency insurance, and you're covered. Unlike amex/cap one, where it's secondary insurance, with Chase you do not need to use your personal car insurance first. It's covers it as the primary, just as if you had bought the rental agency insurance. That alone is pretty awesome.

Then there is the travel insurance. It has some nice benefits as well. Trip interruption/delay, baggage delay, life, and more. It's on par with insurance that you can get added on for about 10% of your trip cost when you buy travel. It's not perfect, but for what it is it's really very good.

There are more benefits than just those, which comes with either Sapphire card, but you can look those up and see for yourself.

Either way, the Sapphire cards are the cream of the crop. The amex/cap one venture have their perks as well, and in some cases maybe better suited to some people. In general though, the Sapphire is going to be the better fit for most general travelers.

In addition to all of that, neither of the Sapphire cards have any foreign transaction fees. They are not "Chip + PIN" cards, none in the US really are, but that isn't an issue. It's slightly annoying to the merchants over there when their card reader spits out 2 slips, but no biggie. Just carry a pen with you, and you'll be OK.

The other option is to set your card up in Apple Pay (or equivalent like Samsung/Google Pay) on your phone. This is the sweet spot as contactless is a big thing there.

I'll hit this and some other general info in a follow-up post.

 

3 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

On the phone, my business would cover the roaming charges so I’d easily rack up hundreds in charges while traveling without worrying too much. For personal travel, I would sometimes buy an in-country phone or SIM card to save on charges, but that required people to call my international number. Does everyone just stick with their AT&T/Verizon phone and eat the roaming charges these days? I know to turn off data and use Wi-Fi for data and Wi-Fi calling for less expensive or free calls.

By the way, my daughter swore that while roaming in Europe that she was able to used google maps on the cellular network without incurring data fees. I’m thinking she’s mistaken and that google simply downloaded maps to her phone, unbeknownst to her.

 

For the phone, I can only speak with regards to AT&T, which is my provider. They have 2 options for international travel.

The first is a simple flat-fee of $10 per day. This lets you use your phone just like you would in the US. Same plan, no extra charges, no roaming. So if you have unlimited calling/data here, that's what you can use there for the $10/day fee.

The second is a per month fee, and only charged when you set it up. It's good for 30 days. That is $40, and comes with 1GB of data. Any calling is billed at a flat rate of 35¢/minute. If you stick to wifi as much as possible, aren't streaming a ton of shit, and also aren't calling every Tom, Dick, and Harry, this second option can work out much better.

On a 10 day trip, at $10/day, that's $100. If you used the second option, that's $40. That's a $60 difference, and you would need to use 170 minutes of calling before you hit $100.

The $10/day is good on shorter trips, or maybe for business purposes where you may be on the phone a lot. For the most part though, for anything over 10 days for sure, the $40 option can work out better.

More in a minute.

 

 

[thunderlounge 7854]

Now some more subtle details.

First, wifi. It's all over, but you need to keep your shit safe. Before you go, get a VPN service and set-up your phone to use it. Turn it on every time you join a wifi network, and set it to send all traffic over VPN. This will isolate your phone from public networks, which can be shady.

 

Next, Apple Pay (or the equivalent.) I'll use ApplePay as the example, but swap in the equivalent if you've got a different phone.

Most US cards aren't "contactless", but you can get the same result by using ApplePay. This is great for things like the tube in London. Say you have the Chase Sapphire, and added that card to your phone in ApplePay , and to your wife's phone in ApplePay. The tube will see it as two different users, which is good. Now you both can use "contactless" for the tube, but down the road it ends up on the same card. Thus you get your points (2x or 3x), and you also get the benefit of their "cap" system. This will save you money on the tube, and is just like having an oyster card. They'll total up your travel over the days you're there, and then end up charging you the least amount possible. (See the TFL site for more in-depth reading.)

For the tube, bring up ApplePay and have it ready to touch before you get to the turnstile. Once you open it and authorize, you have 60 seconds to touch something to make the transaction.

You can also get an Oyster card, but with contactless (via ApplePay, etc) it isn't necessary. You'll pay the same, but not have to worry about the £5 deposit, or getting it back. One thing you can't do on the contactless though is link a travel card. So if you look up the zones, and figure a 7-day card for zones 1-3 would do better for you, then you'll need the oyster card.

All the merchants can accept contactless, so this is good. Plus with ApplePay, you're not limited to a $30/transaction limit. Worst case is you actually have to insert a card somewhere, and the merchant may roll their eyes while looking for a pen somewhere. (Which is why it's a good idea to keep a pen with you.)

In general, if you're traveling without one of the Sapphire cards (or one of the other top cards, if by chance they fit your patterns better), then you're missing out. Not even from the points, but from the coverage. For the Sapphire coverage to be effective, you do not have to pay for the whole trip on the card, but only some portion. So you could put $100 of the airline tickets on the card, and pay the rest with your debit card. You're covered. Of course you don't want to do that, because you miss the points, and you could just take the debit card and pay off the credit card. Same money spent, but you get the points for the whole transaction, not just a portion.

 

[skipperj 377]

The Barclaycard Arrival+ does have chip and pin, but I’m not aware of any other us cards.

[thunderlounge 7854]

True, the Arrival (they dropped the plus in April) does have chip/pin. That’s about all it’s got going for it though, besides a $150 annual fee. Not worth it just for chip+pin, which isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. 

[Dbeasy 15052]

Super helpful tips. Appreciate that. What you suggested will work great.

[wild_turkey 3159]

I do the $10/day unlimited plan on AT&T and it works great. I then activate my personal hotspot and my wife piggybacks off that for no extra charge.

[Sam Lin 3559]

For phone, I got a number through Google Voice, and tell everyone I know to contact me there. It lets me text and call over any wifi or data connection using Hangouts, and the person on the other end always sees the same number. Then I just buy a local data SIM when I travel.

If you aren't married to a cell provider, Google Fi is probably the best full speed roaming plan for value. If you don't need much data/only use basic communication like text and email, T-Mobile free intl data is great.

[52-80 19162]

WhatsApp bro

[skipperj 377]

5 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

True, the Arrival (they dropped the plus in April) does have chip/pin. That’s about all it’s got going for it though, besides a $150 annual fee. Not worth it just for chip+pin, which isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. 

Yeah, I wouldn’t suggest it right now. They devalued the bonus points you get when redeeming and upped the fee. I signed up several years ago for the 80k bonus. I still use it some, but am considering dropping it. I did just pay for an Airbnb in New Orleans with it and redeemed points to cover it. 

Right now, our main cards are CSR, Amex Gold, and the Barclays. I use each one based on bonus categories. Barclays is used when there are no bonus categories as it is 2x. My fee is still $89, not sure if that is going to change. Also, my card still shows as Arrival Plus in my account. Edit: I do see that the Premier is a new card and does not affect arrival plus customers. But they aren’t allowing signups for the plus.

Edited July 4, 2018 by skipperj

[thunderlounge 7854]

Right Skip. Anyone who has it is fine, you just can’t signup for it any longer. 

[RD3 64]

12 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

Southwest is the McDonalds of the airline world. It’s cheap, quick, easy and you get a lot of value for your money. But you don’t go in expecting to be waited on or receive 5-Star service. There’s no J or F Class, no assigned seating, no lounges and their footprint is pretty minimal. Paying any money for the listed benefits would not work, albeit, there’s nothing else they could really offer without changing their business model. Bags fly free already and changing flights is the most seamless in the business.

i'm not asking SWA to create a 1st class.  Just they can add some easy low hanging fruit...

[midtown 3346]

Help with Marriott.  I've never tied myself to a hotel chain opting for hotwire most of the time.    I recently became a gold elite with Marriott by way of my AMEX Plat through SPG.   I took my kids to Florida this past week and booked 1 night in a courtyard and 3 nights at a beach resort in Ft. Lauderdale hoping that I would be upgraded to a bigger room.    At both hotels I was told there were no upgrades available.  Now I get that it was 4th of July week but the Marriott website showed suites and or bigger rooms available at both hotels.  And I checked into the Courtyard at 9pm on a Tuesday so its not like they are going to get a ton of walk ups at that time of night.  Is this normal?  

[skipperj 377]

Lol gold.

[thunderlounge 7854]

46 minutes ago, skipperj said:

Lol gold.

Yep. Pretty much sums it up nicely.

 

[midtown 3346]

So only platinums get upgraded?  

[McCroskey 1504]

So only platinums get upgraded?  

More often than not, depending on the class of property. Most of the time with my business travel, my upgrade consists of moving from the cheaper double room I booked at to some king bed room variant. I usually stay at the same 10-12 properties regularly anyways and they always take care of me, regardless of what I’ve booked. One hotel even put me in the same extended suite room for like two years straight until they got a new GM...when I checked in I knew I was getting room 223. I don’t stay there anymore because the base rates skyrocketed under the new management.

That said, I play my personal travel “upgrade” cards carefully, mostly because those are normally new properties for me.

1. Don’t use mobile check in if you want an upgrade. Deal with actual people with control over what room you get, in person and not over the phone. Psychology is important.

2. If I’m traveling with kids and have booked a double room, I will nicely and somewhat desperately ask if they have any suites available to “give us some more space.” It’s a 50/50 proposition and totally depends on length of stay and the type of property.

3. Perhaps most importantly, showing an awareness of the hotel’s consideration for your request at that moment is key. If they are busy, say you “know they are probably booked and don’t have anything, BUT...”

I could go on...




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[midtown 3346]

Thanks.  I did all that.  Had my kids in tow.  Played the "would be great to get some extra space" card.   Was just curious if Marriott was notorious for not giving upgrades.   I even called to the courtyard from the airport and said "hey im here with my kids at baggage claim and its been a long day traveling any chance you can hold a suite for me?"  the girl said yes but then when I got to the hotel the girl at the front said the manager came by on her way out and said I couldn't have the room.   Not a huge deal just wondering if I should attach to a different hotel like Hilton.

[Spankytoes 1742]

19 minutes ago, midtown said:

Thanks.  I did all that.  Had my kids in tow.  Played the "would be great to get some extra space" card.   Was just curious if Marriott was notorious for not giving upgrades.   I even called to the courtyard from the airport and said "hey im here with my kids at baggage claim and its been a long day traveling any chance you can hold a suite for me?"  the girl said yes but then when I got to the hotel the girl at the front said the manager came by on her way out and said I couldn't have the room.   Not a huge deal just wondering if I should attach to a different hotel like Hilton.

I’m a Diamond with Hilton but I usually got upgraded as a Gold. If you do, you get Executive Lounge access if the hotel has it. Always nice for free food, drinks, and in some cases, booze. (Plus, free breakfast) But, your situation is totally the property GM’s call. Being under the top Elite level is a crapshoot. There’s no rhyme or reason for it. I always check in early on my app and automatically get upgraded unless the hotel is full. I’m in Reykjavik right now and that worked against me. I booked a twin room with 2 beds and got upgraded to a Suite with a king bed. I had to ask them to downgrade me so my son and I could have separate beds.

[McCroskey 1504]

Thanks.  I did all that.  Had my kids in tow.  Played the "would be great to get some extra space" card.   Was just curious if Marriott was notorious for not giving upgrades.   I even called to the courtyard from the airport and said "hey im here with my kids at baggage claim and its been a long day traveling any chance you can hold a suite for me?"  the girl said yes but then when I got to the hotel the girl at the front said the manager came by on her way out and said I couldn't have the room.   Not a huge deal just wondering if I should attach to a different hotel like Hilton.

Calling is where you fucked up. Had you done it in person she wouldn’t have had time to check with the manager and you’d be in the suite.

Always in person. Never by phone or via mobile check in.


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