3 Things I Haven’t Gotten To This Week

This Take A Spin promo from SPG is worth your 30 seconds a day. Why? Because I’ve already had a couple readers tell me they were instant winners of a free night stay. Oh, and the grand prize is 250,000 Starwood points. Enter every day through October 10th.

Also, there’s a big mileage discount on flights to Hawaii right now from American Airlines. If you haven’t been to Hawaii yet, let me make something clear – IT. IS. HEAVEN. Personally I love Maui, but everyone has their favorite Hawaiian island and loves to debate it. I know many of you prefer Kauai. Another eloquent friend made his opinion clear by telling me, “Maui is a pimple on the ass of Lanai.” The point is, life is short…get to Hawaii asap. On that note, win a million Hawaiian Airlines miles here.

Experiences

Merchandise awards are usually a disastrous use of your miles. Why use 100,000 miles to book a flight worth thousands when you can spend it on a $400 iPad. Ugh. Seeing people use their miles in this way can literally make me feel sick. Miles/points should be used for flights and hotel stays. This is almost always a given.

“Almost always.” Recently, experience auctions have opened up interesting new options. Last month’s softball game on Wrigley Field was a perfect example. For some, there will never be a better use of 2,500 Starwood points than that. Others are enjoying US Open tennis this week in a suite courtesy of points. Or a tennis lesson from Andre Agassi! These can be priceless opportunities. Right now, sideline NFL access and a chance to throw out the first pitch at a Dodgers game stand out to me. United and Starwood are the kings of experience auctions, with Delta (as always) lagging behind.

Hyatt Diamond Challenge

Last week, I wrote a couple of posts about status (M Life and Hertz). There was some good feedback from some of you, while others made it clear they had no interest at all. Let me be blunt here…

If you are into points but ignore free status opportunities, you are either (1) New to this, (2) Lazy, or (3) Not very smart. If you stay in hotels at all, top-level status can COMPLETELY change your experience at that chain. That’s all I have to say about that. On to my intro of Hyatt’s Diamond Challenge…

  • With Hyatt, your status is either Gold, Platinum, or Diamond. 
  • Gold sucks, Platinum is half-decent, and Diamond is spectacular.
  • Some jaded Hyatt people will disagree with the word “spectacular.” They are wrong.
  • Diamond status includes upgrades when available, late checkout, free internet, lounge access/breakfast, a 30% point bonus, and 4 confirmed suite upgrades per year.

The suite upgrades ensure that you can turn paid stays into suite stays 4 times a year. You don’t have to show up on the day of your vacation and depend on “luck.”
  • Since it’s a status match, you need “approved” existing status to do the Hyatt Diamond challenge.
  • The easiest options for most people are Hilton Gold or Marriott Gold (both of which you can get through credit cards).
  • Ask for the challenge by emailing goldpassport@hyatt.com and saying you want their Diamond Trial Offer. 
  • Give them the proof of existing status and 1 stay in the last 12 months when they ask for it.
  • Usually within a couple days, it’s done! Just like that, you have Diamond status for 60 days. 
  • If you want to extend the status, you need 12 stays in the next 60 days.

For some of you, those 12 stays are never going to happen. So the best time to do this challenge would obviously be before an upcoming Hyatt stay somewhere nice. You’ll get the goodies above and a great shot at an upgrade. In addition, you get those 4 suite upgrades that you can use down the road (they’ll last 6 months). 
One last tip…ideally, you’ll apply for the Hyatt card right after you get approved for Diamond status. If so, your 2 free credit card nights improve into 2 free suite nights. Big difference. And just another Diamond benefit!

American Airlines Card

A week ago, I posted a link for the non-advertised 50,000-mile American Airlines card. The next morning, my mom asked me for a proper offer with a landing page. She had a bad experience collecting the bonus last year from one of these secret, straight-to-application links and wanted a standard offer page. Well, she randomly got one emailed to her over the weekend and the link is here. As always, American Airlines miles are some of the best around and should be pursued the way a fat kid chases an ice cream truck.

(Sorry mom. That was uncalled for. And sorry to any fat kids who love miles they same way they love cake.)

Big Win Promotion

IHG’s Big Win is one of the best hotel promos of 2013. Offers vary, but you should be able to rack up a lot of points with a few stays. Click the link and sign in to see what your personal offer is.