Category Archives: Hotels

The Moana Surfrider Waikiki

As I discussed in March, I successfully booked two nights at the Moana Surfrider Waikiki under the old award chart by calling when the website began showing the new rates prematurely.  I spent 24k points for two nights when the … Continue reading

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Starwood’s 2014 Spring Promotion

Starwood is running another promotion very similar to last quarter’s… except a bit worse. This quarter’s “Bring on the Nights” promotion offers 2.5k bonus points per 5 nights stayed at Starwood hotels between January 5th through April 30th.  Registration by … Continue reading

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Burning A Hole In My Pocket: The Westin Grand Munich

For my three nights in Munich, I opted to stay at the Westin.  Due to a rate quirk, I wound up with two double beds rather than a single bed. Overall, the hotel was well-situated by being a short walk … Continue reading

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Carlson’s 2014 Q1 Promotion

Carlson is running its first quarter promotion from Monday (January 6th) to April 13th, 2014:  Stay 3 nights and earn 38k points. Importantly, there are three take aways: As no further (bonus) points are earned by staying more, this promotion … Continue reading

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Tomorrow’s Hyatt Award Changes

Hyatt’s changing its award chart effective January 7th (tomorrow!), bumping up the prices for Category 5 and 6 hotels slightly and introducing a new Category 7 for several of its Park Hyatt hotels. Today is the last day to book … Continue reading

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It was the Worst of Times

Right on the heels of United’s massive award chart devaluation (and Delta’s “interim” award chart enhancements), Hyatt announced that it’s updating its award chart effective January 7th, 2014.  The full summary is on their website. First, rooms are getting more … Continue reading

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Starwood’s Double Take Promotion

Starwood has opened up registration for their double take promotion for summer 2013.  As the name indicates, they’re offering double Starwood points on all stays between May 1st and July 31st, subject to a few hotel exclusions. As an additional … Continue reading

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Book SPG Stays Now!

Today’s the last day to book SPG awards under the old categories.  While many hotels have stayed put, for others, tomorrow has already come and SPG.com is showing their new rates. The good: The bad:  

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Hotel Devaluations Everywhere…

There have been a number of hotel program updates in the past few weeks, nearly universally for the worse. Starwood announced its annual category changes on MilePoint and FlyerTalk, effective March 5.  Amongst hotels that stood out for me, the … Continue reading

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A Few Miles More: The Westin Ka’anapali Resort and Spa

Locating a sanely priced hotel was the main logistical consideration in this trip. During my previous visit to Maui in 2011, I had stayed at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas thanks to Starwood’s Free Resort Nights promotion earlier that … Continue reading

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