Review: Hyatt Place Milwaukee Airport

Posted on September 7, 2016 by 2btravel

For the second night of my long weekend visiting friends in Milwaukee I used the free night certificate from my Chase Hyatt Visa for the Hyatt Place Milwaukee Airport.

I chose this hotel for a few reasons:

  • I knew there would be a nice large sitting sofa where my friends and I could gather to watch one of our favorite shows
  • Breakfast was included
  • The hotel had a free airport shuttle

Even though my room was just across the street from the airport, airplane noise was never an issue.

I’d reserved a king room and received one on the fourth floor.  Just inside the door was the living area with the sleeper sofa, a desk and a cabinet which held the mini-bar and on top of which sat the coffee maker.

hp-mke-airport-sofa

Sleeper Sofa with Ottoman

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Lufthansa now offers PreCheck!

Posted on September 5, 2016 by 2btravel

On September 1st the Lufthansa USA Twitter account announced that they had become the first European airline to participate in the TSA PreCheck program.  This is fantastic news for travelers who have signed up with either the PreCheck or Global Entry programs!
2016-09-05 LH Tweet
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My Experience Applying for the Chase Sapphire Reserve

Posted on September 4, 2016 by 2btravel

Though I’ve not mentioned it here, the top bloggers in the world of points & miles have all let us know about Chase’s new offering that’s meant to compete with the Citi Prestige and Amex Platinum.

2016-09-04 CSR Intro

The card comes with a $450 annual fee – not waived the first year – which is similar to those cards.  But whereas the Platinum comes with an annual $200 airline credit (and you must specify which airline) and the Prestige has an annual $250 airline credit, the Sapphire Reserve comes with a $300 annual credit good on any type of travel.  Since these credits are valid for a calendar year, that means that in the first year you have the card you can get $600 in travel credits which totally offsets the annual fee.  In future years it knocks the annual fee down to $150, which is quite reasonable for a card like this.

Like the Freedom cards and the Sapphire Preferred, this new Sapphire Reserve card earns Ultimate Rewards (UR) points that can be transferred to a number of airlines and hotels:

  • Air France/KLM
  • British Airways
  • Korean Air
  • Singapore Airlines
  • Southwest Airlines
  • United Airlines
  • Virgin Atlantic
  • Hyatt
  • IHG
  • Marriott
  • Ritz-Carlton

I don’t know if people are applying for this card at record rates or not but they’ve actually run out of card stock for it!  It was supposed to be issued on a metal card, similar to the Sapphire Preferred but apparently the demand has far exceeded Chase’s expectations so people are receiving temporary plastic cards until the metal cards can be issued.
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Register Now for Discover Q4 Bonus

Posted on September 3, 2016 by 2btravel

The Discover family of cards have rotating bonus categories each quarter.  During a given 3-month span purchases in these categories will earn 5% cash back, for up to $1500 in purchases during the quarter.

2016-09-03 Discover Q4 Registration

Registration is now open for the fourth quarter of 2016.  The bonus categories are amazon.com, department stores and Sam’s Club. These are terrific categories for holiday shopping and if you play the manufactured spending game, some Sam’s Clubs sell Visa and MasterCard gift cards.

Go ahead and register your card today so that you don’t forget to do so next month.  You can find the registration link HERE.

Categories: Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, Discover, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Great airfare deals on AA and UA to/from Chicago

Posted on September 3, 2016 by 2btravel

I saw a tweet this morning from Ric Garrado of Loyalty Traveler that American and United are having fare wars between certain cities.  His blog post showed a screen shot of a fare on United where the base fare was $53!  There were taxes and fees that brought the cost up to $86 but still, that’s a fantastic deal for a round-trip ticket.  His post lists the 12 cities and the base fares that he found.

Great news for those who live in Chicago or want to visit the Windy City!

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Review: Crowne Plaza Milwaukee West

Posted on August 28, 2016 by 2btravel

Back in April I visited with a couple of friends for a long weekend.  The Crowne Plaza Milwaukee West is actually in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin which is where one of my friends live.  I used my annual free night certificate from the IHG Platinum MasterCard.

I arrived late on a Sunday afternoon and had a short wait to check in.  Once I reached the counter my Platinum status was recognized and the friendly associate soon had my room assigned.  I was given a king room on the 7th floor.  Though it overlooked a busy intersection, I never had any issue with traffic noise.

CP MKE West King Bed

Crowne Plaza Milwaukee West King Bed

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Categories: Hotel, IHG, Lodging Review, North America, Uncategorized, United States, Wisconsin | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

1000 Free Delta Miles (targeted)

Posted on July 20, 2016 by 2btravel

If you hold one of the co-branded Delta American Express cards, check for an email offering 1000 free Delta miles.

2016-07-20 Delta email

The email reminds you of all the perqs of the card and when you click on the link it will take you to this web page:

2016-07-20 Delta webpage

Simply enter your SkyMiles number and you have your miles! A nice way to add to your mileage stash.

Thanks, Delta!

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Hyatt will refund redeemed points

Posted on July 11, 2016 by 2btravel

Today Hyatt announced a way to get 10% back on redeemed points to those who carry its co-branded credit card. Just register for the promo by August 31 and complete a stay by October 31. Once your stay is completed 10% of the points you spent will be returned to your Gold Passport account! And this works on both points-only and cash+points stays.2016-07-11 Hyatt Points Back Promo

If you hold the Hyatt credit card from Chase, check your email for a registration link.

Nice job by Hyatt!

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Activate Q3 Bonus Categories Now

Posted on June 20, 2016 by 2btravel

There are two great no-annual-fee credit cards that offer quarterly bonus categories.  When you buy products from stores in those categories during the specified time frame, instead of the usual 1% cash back or 1 point per dollar, you’ll earn 5% or 5x points.  Each of these cards offers the bonuses for up to $1500 in purchases each quarter.  You’ll need to be sure to activate these category bonuses before mid-September, so why not go ahead and do it now?

First up, the Discover family of cards.  My Discover card is the oldest one I own and over the years has transitioned to a Discover More card.  But the Discover It card is also eligible to receive the quarterly bonuses.  To register for Q3, either log into your account and look on the right side of the screen where you’ll see a link or go straight to the activation page and sign in there.  This quarter’s bonus categories are home improvement stores (like Ace, Home Depot, Lowe’s and even specialty stores like Benjamin Moore) and Amazon.com, so you can start your holiday shopping early!  (And Amazon is a category for Q4 too!)

2016-06-20 Discover Q3 Bonus

Next, the Chase Freedom card offers 5% cash back – or 5x Freedom points, which can be worth more than 1 penny per point – on spending at Restaurants and Wholesale Clubs.  That comes just in time for those who use Costco as they now only accept Visa.  You can activate your Freedom bonus here.

2016-06-20 Freedom Q3 Bonus

Quarterly bonuses are a great way to increase the amount of points or cash back you earn – just remember to use these cards beginning on July 1!

Categories: Chase, Credit Card Promos, Credit Cards, Discover, Freedom | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Review: Landmark Condominiums in Vail, Colorado

Posted on June 15, 2016 by 2btravel

On my second ski trip this season I returned to Vail, Colorado for the first time in 9-10 years. Our group stayed at the Landmark Condominiums – a property that I don’t think even existed during my last stay.

It’s got a terrific location – right on the frontage road of I-70 and just a block away from the slopes on the other side. There’s an underground garage for those who need to park. Even without a car it’s easy to move around the Vail Valley as the public bus stop is right at the end of the Landmark’s driveway. The free bus can take you wherever you need to go on its route and can even connect you with the (paid) bus to Beaver Creek, if you want to ski there.

Each unit is independently owned so decor varied from unit to unit. Most of our group had 2BR units but my friend and I had a 1BR. Not surprisingly that meant that the bedroom contained only a single queen bed. I used the sleeper sofa and after finding a quilted duvet to help act as an additional mattress pad, actually slept pretty well.

The hallway led past the bedroom into the living room. It had several hooks on the wall, which was great for hanging up our coats so we didn’t have to try to squish them in with our clothes.

Hallway with front door

Hallway with front door

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Categories: Colorado, Condos, Lodging Review, North America, United States, Vail | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

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