Looking for some feedback from TBB readers on my upcoming miles & points burning…thank you!
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Very slow weekend in the blogosphere, elections in Greece with a new era ahead (with possibly the bottom finally to be reached), and the 2014 tax season about to get started in my end so hopefully this blog keeps up its pace #longshot
Since not much is going on I would like to take this opportunity to get some feedback from you on some questions related to burning and I can keep them all in one place I can refer to (and others can learn from too) instead of burying the feedback in comments over many blog posts that I can’t track!
Dusseldorf hotel – Must be airport as next morning flight is at 6 am! Not looking for luxury on the cheap, just a good deal on points in an easy way to get to the airport so early. Hopefully no shuttle buses involved!
Frankfurt hotel – Flight is next morning at 10 am but getting into Franfkurt the night before around 10.30 pm. Nice free breakfast would be nice. I have stayed at the FRA Sheraton before and not that impressed but it will do if nothing else.
2 Fairmont nights – These VISA certs expire by early August. Since the trip to Greece in the summer is set we won’t have the opportunity to check out another Fairmont property as a family. Unless it is a quick getaway trip for a weekend. I can use one of them for sure in Chicago when I visit in May for a concert. I may need to get to New York by April too if it comes to using one there. Or if there is a great property in Toronto because we may visit for a weekend, it has been a while!
1 Intercontinental night – This must be used by December 31. What are the top three Intecontinentals in the US? Any top properties in Toronto? College visits to San Francisco and Los Angeles may be in store for me and son sometime in the next three months or so too. Trip to Sydney with daughter in December is possible if I ever sit down and look seriously to burn my last batch of Skymiles. Prior plan to try to get to Sydney in August is off the table as we may be moving son to college.
1 night in a Hyatt – This is also the free night from the credit card. Up to category 4. Must be used by December 31. Obviously not that big of a deal. I wonder if there are any must see Hyatt properties in the locations stated above.
Also on the horizon, I will be attending a conference in Indianapolis in the Fall. It is in a JW Marriott, boo! Any suggestions for a nearby hotel preferably within walking distance that is a great deal on points (about 4 nights)? Or maybe I should get the credit card again, it has been years since I had it. I just don’t get along with Marriott well.
Plan was to visit Vancouver sometime later this year and stay in the Fairmont Pacific Rim but the trip to Greece has messed up this plan for now.
I will also need to do a ME type trip somewhere in the world like I try to do every year. I was thinking going to London for a weekend in November to watch the Detroit Lions play an NFL game. Game starting time is 9.30 am, say whaaat? A specific part of my body got really deflated when I heard that starting time. Watching NFL at 9.30 am is just plain weird! Or somewhere else. Maybe I’ll do South Korea and finally get to the DMZ. Or Vietnam. Or Bucharest. Not going to worry about it until after tax season.
Seriously, these are really First World problems to have for sure. If you have any input, suggestions, comments, or even insults please share.
Some funny pics/gifs to laugh along…
Lonely Island’s totally awesome rap parody video “Threw It On The Ground” Every time I watch this I am on the floor laughing uncontrollably “Not going to be a part of the system….maaaaaan!” & “you can’t trust the system maaaaan”
Check out my updated blog lists: Blogs I Love, Blogs I Like, Blogs To Ignore
I declare I am with the Seahawks, come on, deflate some Patriot balls!
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First…. What????
Suggest looking at Hilton at FRA if you have Gold. Their lounge is quite nice and I’ve gotten access with my status in the past. It’s just behind the Shearton, another 3 min walk
Will certainly do, thank you!
Why not go for a quick romp close to FFM Hauptbahnhof? You can use your Intercontinental stay.
It’s just a 15min S-bahn ride from Hbf to the airport.Train stops at Terminal 1. OW is terminal 2.
Not worth it as we are checking in late around 10 pm. If I am going to do an IC stay I would like to check in as early as I can :-). Booked the Hilton for 50k HH pts, will work great for this one night.
For NYC how about the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City (Cat 4)? Short PATH ride into Manhattan
http://www.hyatt.com/gp/en/awards/hyatt_category_display.jsp?_DARGS=/gp/en/awards/hyatt_category_display.jsp
Thanks for the suggestion. If I spend a night at NYC it will have to be an aspirational stay. Got family in Brooklyn and NJ.
Use Hyatt in Chicago at Regency. Its a cat 4, so accepts the Hyatt CC cert. Chicago Fairmont one block away and is totally without charm–my least favorite Fairmont.
Use Fairmont in San Francisco on Nob Hill. Suites have all been renovated, as has many upper floor standard rooms. Fairmont York in Toronto great location, but last summer the room I was in badly needed renovation. Maybe they’ve renovated since then? Worth a call.
Maybe use the Intercontinental at Savoy in London. I haven’t stayed there since IC took over management, but a colleague stayed there over holidays and raved.
On second thought, I’d use the Fairmonts on the Big Island to get a break from MI winter!
But you’d get a suite on Maui at the Kea Lani. Of the places you’d mentioned, I’d also do SF Faimont with a mandatory stop in the Tonga room. although the Mark Hopkins across the street isn’t bad, nor is the Hyatt Embarcadero for a cat4. Room rates in SF are crazy high now.
Hey Buzz, with the dollar being up so high against foreign currencies (1.24 CDN, 14.5 MXP, 0.9 EUR) how come bloggers aren’t mentioning that this is the best time in years to travel?
Thanks eveyrone!
I have stayed at that Hyatt Regency in Chicago before. On Priceline rates, Years ago I could get it for $45 or so! Nice scores.
I am very aware of the Chicago Fairmont that is definitely near up there…but never tried it. And I would love to get one of their BMW bikes and ride around town (if the property carries them that is).I still may burn one night there.
Yes, SF Fairmont is on the list if we make it there (meaning college visit after being accepted).
Yeah, the IC Savoy in London will be THE one. Will definitely aim for it if I make it there in the Fall.
I think all the Fairmonts in Toronto are not terribly exciting. Anyone to confirm??
Kea Lani Fairmont is under my belt, loved it!
I think the bloggers are too busy pumping? Sunday morning is just unbelievable, answering questions like “Chase Sapphire Preferred or Amex Platinum: Which Is Better?” at TPG and PM&M just cutting and pasting marketing material. Eeeek!
Savoy is still a Fairmont. And by most accounts, you need to book a year in advance. Very restrictive, very limited award redemptions.
Painful to hear you wasting the Fairmont certs in Chicago/SF/etc. You can’t get to Quebec/Alberta/Vancouver/Hawaii?
I know, wasting them at Chicago is sad. But the trip to Greece has changed plans as now wife is out of vacation. We have done the Quebec/Alberta/Kea Lani properties. Vancouver is on the horizon but probably can’t get there before August.
Good problems to have 🙂
The NFL game is at 9.30am EST — not local. In London, the game will be mid afternoon so completely normal. I’d do that!! The HI Wembley is a steal on points so could combine that with one of the London IC’s…
Hmm, got my time zones mixed! Weird to have the US TV audience be watching an NFL game so early in the day! If I ever carry out this crazy thought I have my targets for two nights, thanks!
All of the west coast (i.e., the best states) watches the NFL starting at 10am so 9:30 isn’t really that early. Your son could be one of them!
Yeah, you are right. I am just so used to watching them on EST time. Son could be…#waiting
Or just stay 2 nights at Radisson (The May Fair for greatest bang for the buck).
I’m staying one night at Hilton Waldorf in July w/ family, 24k HH +60GBP. Decent for a central place in London (it’s harder to go vendoming in London) w/ good breakfast as GLD member and access to Piccadilly line.
Great tips. The thing is I have not even looked at a map of London in so long, no idea where Wembley or these hotels are. But I can come back to this blog post for reference! This is great, saved me some time! I will stop pimping so hard for a…day or two now 🙂
Wembley is right on the Metropolitan/Jubilee tube lines. Lots of really cheap hotels nearby. If you’re even thinking of it….book a room now.
If you go, try to see a Brentford match, our family’s team. They play in the Championship (right below the Premier League). The only ground left in the country with a pub on all four corners. They’re just a small team, but shockingly, are only 2 points off the top of the table.
I move slow so I probably won’t look at this for months…
Don’t know much about Brentford. I remember growing up as a kid I liked Wolves because they had pretty interesting jerseys. Not sure which Division they are in. English football has changed so much. Heck, all of European football. Money rules, you pretty much know who will be there in the end. I don’t like it, I remember it was more real back in the 70s and 80s, players playing for the jersey. That was a mini rant against the extreme monetization of the beautiful game 🙂
there are 2 fairmont hotels in bermuda if you are looking for some sun. i’m looking at redeeming my hyatt cat 4 free night in boston.
Thanks for the feedback. I am aware of those two Bermuda properties. Just never been able to manage the planning to hit that place but it is on the list one year.
Booked the Sheraton Dusseldorf Airport at 10,000 SPG Points just now!
Booked the Hilton at Frankfurt Airport for 50,000 HHonors points.
I love earning miles & points but burning them without having to shell out cold hard cash is the best #winning
George–any thoughts on the Greek elections? Will Syriza tell the EU to go pound sand?
Ok, here are my brief thoughts.
Not a surprise. But still stunning result, the margin was much higher than anyone expected. And still not enough for an outright majority. It is a new era in Europe. There is no blue print here. Nobody knows what will happen but it looks VERY BAD for Greece.
This guy has an impossible task ahead of him. Impossible promises to keep. Which is no big deal. The conservative loser was anti austerity too when he won. You know, politicians do that all the time. But the Europeans have already given Greece many concessions and no European voters will vote to bail them out again. At some point, the Greek problem becomes a problem just keeping them around. At this point it is better to just cut the cord for good, take the losses and still save money over the long term. And it serves as a great reminder to the rest of the Eurozone that there are consequences if you do not keep your part of the deal. And this is what the Greeks have done for six years, postponing the tough reforms and instead going the easy way of cutting salaries/pensions and taxing more….It has been a total disaster. The brightest young people have already left the country. It is a basket case. Amazing how they can keep things going and still not reaching the bottom after six years of this.
Like I said before, Greece is a schizophrenic country. There is something just rotten to the core here. It needs to be demolished and rebuilt. This new party is not the answer but hey hope never dies. People felt “shoot, we left the main two parties screw it all up, let’s give this young guy a chance, how bad can it get?”. The thing is this party is a coalition of a whole bunch of leftist parties ranging from Euro friendlies to market minded leftists to hard core Commmies to bunch of assholes who think Chavez was god (not kidding here). This dude had Che Guevara picture in his office until a few years ago. So…I guess, brace for impact. I should bring my mother here before the tanks come out to protect the banks from being run over lol.
USA Intercontinental: I’m a history nerd to have to give a shout out to the Willard Intercontinental in DC. Many presidents have had their (ahem) balls there.
Hyatt: I’m checking out a new Hyatt Place in Marathon Key, Florida next week that’s a cat 4. Keep an eye out for a review!
I wonder how many got their balls deflated there….omg, that is so bad. Bad George 🙂
Sheraton Dusseldorf ??? Don’t eat the schnitzel there, they are using schnauzer.
Nice pic 😉