Saturday, 10 October 2015
AwardAce
Dear Annabelle,
Back in July I was lamenting about the lack of sites that let you compare frequent flyer program options for certain routes. It seems like this relatively new site AwardAce is a great step in the right direction. According to their FAQs it looks like they might be expanding into fuel surcharges at some point too.
That said it doesn't help with award availability but it does give you an idea ahead of time of what types of points to collect if you are interested in a certain route. Or what to consider once you have amassed points of a certain type (e.g. who to transfer AMEX points to).
Hugs,
Jen
Friday, 2 October 2015
Canadian card to consider if you have Rogers
Hi Annabelle,
I just came across this post on a Rogers card. Not sure if you have seen it or if you have Rogers services. I was thinking of showing it to my Mom since I am pretty sure she does.
Hugs,
Jen
I just came across this post on a Rogers card. Not sure if you have seen it or if you have Rogers services. I was thinking of showing it to my Mom since I am pretty sure she does.
Hugs,
Jen
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Optimizing Car Rentals
Hello Annabelle,
I have been trying to get my head around car rentals and how to pick the best option/bonuses and it has not been a fun process. Unlike the airline and hotel world that felt complex but logical (and as such kind of fun to research about), I feel like I am just going in circles with the car rentals. Everyone and their dog seems to have a discount code and some points (e.g. airline) to be gained. But then wait you need to pay for those points to get them. Urg!
So in an attempt to see what is going on I am going to write my thoughts down. Feel free to not read this post as it is really just my own muddles in written form ;)
I first looked on the Chase Travel Portal because the Chase Sapphire Preferred has primary CDW and so I thought booking with that card made sense (the United MileageExplorer card also has primary so that is another option). I found a week in Orlando for $150 which seemed great to me (especially with a 3X through the portal) BUT then it turned out that that company (Alamo and National) doesn't include the spouse for free. And I will be doing some driving on the trip so I want that included and not another $10/day.
So then my assumption was maybe everyone in Orlando charges for the extra driver (which I am thinking now may not be true but I am not sure). So next I looked at Costco because they include an extra driver as part of the package but there rates are more like $195 and some involve having to get a coupon to get that rate.
We seem to be able to get discounts by being United MileagePlus members, Delta members, Interval International members, etc. So I started looking up this bonus points offer through Interval International (the time share organization); well it turned out it was only for Interval Gold members, which I am not. But that got me looking at Hertz and it looks like they will include both drivers if you are both Hertz Gold members and that is free to sign up for. I was on the phone with them to find this out so I ended up making a booking for about $215 for the week. It is the "discounted" price but it still seems high and it is actually a compact price with an upgrade that is supposed to be included. But the upgrade is "subject to availability" which makes me nervous.
I confirmed that it is the same discount with the other plans (United). The advantage of using Hertz is that Andrew rents through them on his work trips and so we might actually be able to eventually build up to a free rental. It looks like none of the plans are stellar on building to free rentals very quickly though. That said, at a minimum we should get him signed up so we are building something.
I just looked back at the Chase Portal and the cheapest rental they have (not at Alamo or National) is $233. This post seemed to indicate that Avis, Budget, and Enterprise don't charge for a spouse (although it is from 2013) so I was considering them.
I think part of the muddle is what am I trying to do here. Should I be going for airline points (where you have to pay the daily fee), some frequent car rental program, or just the cheapest fare. At this point it looks like the Chase portal doesn't make sense for the cost but do I go with the more pricey Hertz rental for building loyalty or a Costco rental for the cheaper value. Sadly it seems like $195 is the cheapest I can get right now, renting with Alamo through Costco.
It seems like buying the frequent flyer points is only valuable if you are getting an additional bonus. Many of them are around $1 per day so if you are only getting 500 points for $7 it is pretty steep. 2000 points for $7 is 0.35 CPM is actually a pretty good deal so maybe it is worth going for the airline bonuses, even with the cost, now that I know how crappy the car rental loyalty programs are. Well how crappy exactly: with Hertz a non-peak week is around 2250 I think and you build a point for every dollar spent. So if a week is $200 so you spend $2250 and get a $200 value. I guess that is around 1%. Urg...for some reason this all makes my brain hurt!
Delta is actually one of the best for not charging too much for getting the points but they are showing a rental at $248 so that doesn't help. I just checked on Air Canada, who partner with Budget and Avis but don't give a discount code on the site. I just checked out the bonuses listed on this site and they didn't seem to come up or help.
I is making me realize how well I did with my last Ottawa booking. I managed to get something like 5000 Delta points for about a dollar! Actually just looking up the same Delta offer now and seeing if I link to it a different way whether it will give a different result (rather than just looking through the main Delta page). Wow, now it is showing a cost of $190 with Hertz with the promotion! But when I log in and actually try and book it is not showing the page correctly!!!
I finally got it to load and I booked two different rentals. At first it would only show me a compact, which I can get for $166 and then a full-size which came up later for around $190. So it looks like that is the best I can do. Using the Delta limited-time promotion which should also give around 1900 bonus Delta points for very little cash. I booked it under my name since I am building the Delta points. I signed up for the Gold Hertz Rewards. And hopefully if Andrew signs up too we can use these reservations with an extra driver for free. I think I will want to call to just make sure. I signed up for the Hertz Gold Rewards with the CSP and I think it said you have to use that card for your first booking. That works since it will give us 2X on travel and has the primary car insurance and then the Delta bonus and discount is separate from using a Delta card. In the end not too bad!
But what a rigamarole!
Related Links:
- Rental cars in terminal at MCO (Orlando)
- Million Mile Secrets has a whole series I haven't completely read on car rentals
Hugs,
Jen
I have been trying to get my head around car rentals and how to pick the best option/bonuses and it has not been a fun process. Unlike the airline and hotel world that felt complex but logical (and as such kind of fun to research about), I feel like I am just going in circles with the car rentals. Everyone and their dog seems to have a discount code and some points (e.g. airline) to be gained. But then wait you need to pay for those points to get them. Urg!
So in an attempt to see what is going on I am going to write my thoughts down. Feel free to not read this post as it is really just my own muddles in written form ;)
I first looked on the Chase Travel Portal because the Chase Sapphire Preferred has primary CDW and so I thought booking with that card made sense (the United MileageExplorer card also has primary so that is another option). I found a week in Orlando for $150 which seemed great to me (especially with a 3X through the portal) BUT then it turned out that that company (Alamo and National) doesn't include the spouse for free. And I will be doing some driving on the trip so I want that included and not another $10/day.
So then my assumption was maybe everyone in Orlando charges for the extra driver (which I am thinking now may not be true but I am not sure). So next I looked at Costco because they include an extra driver as part of the package but there rates are more like $195 and some involve having to get a coupon to get that rate.
We seem to be able to get discounts by being United MileagePlus members, Delta members, Interval International members, etc. So I started looking up this bonus points offer through Interval International (the time share organization); well it turned out it was only for Interval Gold members, which I am not. But that got me looking at Hertz and it looks like they will include both drivers if you are both Hertz Gold members and that is free to sign up for. I was on the phone with them to find this out so I ended up making a booking for about $215 for the week. It is the "discounted" price but it still seems high and it is actually a compact price with an upgrade that is supposed to be included. But the upgrade is "subject to availability" which makes me nervous.
I confirmed that it is the same discount with the other plans (United). The advantage of using Hertz is that Andrew rents through them on his work trips and so we might actually be able to eventually build up to a free rental. It looks like none of the plans are stellar on building to free rentals very quickly though. That said, at a minimum we should get him signed up so we are building something.
I just looked back at the Chase Portal and the cheapest rental they have (not at Alamo or National) is $233. This post seemed to indicate that Avis, Budget, and Enterprise don't charge for a spouse (although it is from 2013) so I was considering them.
I think part of the muddle is what am I trying to do here. Should I be going for airline points (where you have to pay the daily fee), some frequent car rental program, or just the cheapest fare. At this point it looks like the Chase portal doesn't make sense for the cost but do I go with the more pricey Hertz rental for building loyalty or a Costco rental for the cheaper value. Sadly it seems like $195 is the cheapest I can get right now, renting with Alamo through Costco.
It seems like buying the frequent flyer points is only valuable if you are getting an additional bonus. Many of them are around $1 per day so if you are only getting 500 points for $7 it is pretty steep. 2000 points for $7 is 0.35 CPM is actually a pretty good deal so maybe it is worth going for the airline bonuses, even with the cost, now that I know how crappy the car rental loyalty programs are. Well how crappy exactly: with Hertz a non-peak week is around 2250 I think and you build a point for every dollar spent. So if a week is $200 so you spend $2250 and get a $200 value. I guess that is around 1%. Urg...for some reason this all makes my brain hurt!
Delta is actually one of the best for not charging too much for getting the points but they are showing a rental at $248 so that doesn't help. I just checked on Air Canada, who partner with Budget and Avis but don't give a discount code on the site. I just checked out the bonuses listed on this site and they didn't seem to come up or help.
I is making me realize how well I did with my last Ottawa booking. I managed to get something like 5000 Delta points for about a dollar! Actually just looking up the same Delta offer now and seeing if I link to it a different way whether it will give a different result (rather than just looking through the main Delta page). Wow, now it is showing a cost of $190 with Hertz with the promotion! But when I log in and actually try and book it is not showing the page correctly!!!
I finally got it to load and I booked two different rentals. At first it would only show me a compact, which I can get for $166 and then a full-size which came up later for around $190. So it looks like that is the best I can do. Using the Delta limited-time promotion which should also give around 1900 bonus Delta points for very little cash. I booked it under my name since I am building the Delta points. I signed up for the Gold Hertz Rewards. And hopefully if Andrew signs up too we can use these reservations with an extra driver for free. I think I will want to call to just make sure. I signed up for the Hertz Gold Rewards with the CSP and I think it said you have to use that card for your first booking. That works since it will give us 2X on travel and has the primary car insurance and then the Delta bonus and discount is separate from using a Delta card. In the end not too bad!
But what a rigamarole!
Related Links:
- Rental cars in terminal at MCO (Orlando)
- Million Mile Secrets has a whole series I haven't completely read on car rentals
Hugs,
Jen
Friday, 18 September 2015
Hilton HHonors
Dear Annabelle,
So as part of our recent app-o-rama, which I will write more about later, we both applied for the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card which currently has a 75K sign up bonus and no annual fees. Andrew has been approved and I will have some paperwork to do (coming in the mail) and then we will see.
The question I am pondering is whether it is worth taking advantage of the offer to "Fast track to Gold after four stays within your first 90 days of account opening." Normally we don't stay in hotels much so I am not sure Gold status really matters but I am wondering if we might more in the next year if we do go on a Europe trip or do more local travel. I am also really itching to do some shorter local trips this fall so the idea of making some one night stays in our general area of the country is actually kind of appealing. Travel is Free has made a great map of all the Hilton Properties by level. There are actually quite a few near us.
The thing is that both the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card ($95 annual fee; 2 free weekend nights) and the Hilton HHonors Surpass from AMEX ($75 annual fee; 60K bonus points) give you Gold Status for as long as you have the card. So that appears to be a much cheaper way to acquire Gold status if we want it, than 4 one-night stays. That said, if we want four stays in hotels anyways then two birds with one stone is OK. One Mile At A Time summarizes which credit cards give you elite status for all the different hotel programs here. Of note is that if you earn status in 2015, for example, you have it for the rest of 2015, all of 2016, and possibly into the beginning of 2017 (I am guessing this isn't the same for the card related status level).
Here is a review of what HHonors status is worth. Ironically a lot of the benefits of Gold status (free breakfast, wifi, etc.) only apply when you stay in the more upscale places since they are available to everyone in the lower level sites. How does that make any sense? That said a bunch of the places in Europe are the more upscale side of the brand so maybe Gold would make a difference there. Here is the Hilton summary of member benefits. It is interesting that late check-out (which we would definitely benefit from!) is actually a benefit of the free level, you just need to ask for it. Good thing to consider when staying at any brand of hotel. To sign up for their program and see what rewards are included.
The main benefit I see, which is part of both the silver and the gold, is that you get the 5th night free. Which is pretty sweet (although I think a benefit in other hotel chains as well). So yes, looking at the list I am not sure we need the Gold status.
The only part of the HHonors program I don't really understand at the moment is that it has base points and bonus points and it appears that the bonus points can be transferred to airlines. Or just that airline points can also be earned, in addition to hotel points. But I don't have my head around how you earn them and how many. The HHonors Ts&Cs are here and probably worth reading at some point.
I also realized that it is too bad that HHonors charges a fee for transferring points. This post summarizes transfers in the different hotel programs and says that for HHonors "Transfer to anyone. Must transfer in increments of 10,000 points. Cost of $25 per 10,000 points. You can transfer a maximum of 200,000 points per year." It is just that in order to qualify for the 5th free night you need to pay completely as an award and without our points being pooled we might not have enough to ever do that.
Hugs,
Jen
So as part of our recent app-o-rama, which I will write more about later, we both applied for the Citi Hilton HHonors Visa Signature Card which currently has a 75K sign up bonus and no annual fees. Andrew has been approved and I will have some paperwork to do (coming in the mail) and then we will see.
The question I am pondering is whether it is worth taking advantage of the offer to "Fast track to Gold after four stays within your first 90 days of account opening." Normally we don't stay in hotels much so I am not sure Gold status really matters but I am wondering if we might more in the next year if we do go on a Europe trip or do more local travel. I am also really itching to do some shorter local trips this fall so the idea of making some one night stays in our general area of the country is actually kind of appealing. Travel is Free has made a great map of all the Hilton Properties by level. There are actually quite a few near us.
The thing is that both the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card ($95 annual fee; 2 free weekend nights) and the Hilton HHonors Surpass from AMEX ($75 annual fee; 60K bonus points) give you Gold Status for as long as you have the card. So that appears to be a much cheaper way to acquire Gold status if we want it, than 4 one-night stays. That said, if we want four stays in hotels anyways then two birds with one stone is OK. One Mile At A Time summarizes which credit cards give you elite status for all the different hotel programs here. Of note is that if you earn status in 2015, for example, you have it for the rest of 2015, all of 2016, and possibly into the beginning of 2017 (I am guessing this isn't the same for the card related status level).
Here is a review of what HHonors status is worth. Ironically a lot of the benefits of Gold status (free breakfast, wifi, etc.) only apply when you stay in the more upscale places since they are available to everyone in the lower level sites. How does that make any sense? That said a bunch of the places in Europe are the more upscale side of the brand so maybe Gold would make a difference there. Here is the Hilton summary of member benefits. It is interesting that late check-out (which we would definitely benefit from!) is actually a benefit of the free level, you just need to ask for it. Good thing to consider when staying at any brand of hotel. To sign up for their program and see what rewards are included.
The main benefit I see, which is part of both the silver and the gold, is that you get the 5th night free. Which is pretty sweet (although I think a benefit in other hotel chains as well). So yes, looking at the list I am not sure we need the Gold status.
The only part of the HHonors program I don't really understand at the moment is that it has base points and bonus points and it appears that the bonus points can be transferred to airlines. Or just that airline points can also be earned, in addition to hotel points. But I don't have my head around how you earn them and how many. The HHonors Ts&Cs are here and probably worth reading at some point.
I also realized that it is too bad that HHonors charges a fee for transferring points. This post summarizes transfers in the different hotel programs and says that for HHonors "Transfer to anyone. Must transfer in increments of 10,000 points. Cost of $25 per 10,000 points. You can transfer a maximum of 200,000 points per year." It is just that in order to qualify for the 5th free night you need to pay completely as an award and without our points being pooled we might not have enough to ever do that.
Hugs,
Jen
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Chicken Tikka Masala
Hello Annabelle,
So I realized that can probably save myself some money if I learn how to make chicken tikka masala. I just have days where I really crave it now that we live so close to a super yummy Indian restaurant (especially after having take out not really be an option in Arnprior). I remember you asking at one point if Andrew and I were in to the having someone clean your house and going out for food. Not at all for the first but we love going out or getting take out!
So....here are some links to websites (here, here, and here) I have found with recipes. And some tips. I need to compare since they all look a bit different. I will let you know how it goes!
Hugs,
Jen
So I realized that can probably save myself some money if I learn how to make chicken tikka masala. I just have days where I really crave it now that we live so close to a super yummy Indian restaurant (especially after having take out not really be an option in Arnprior). I remember you asking at one point if Andrew and I were in to the having someone clean your house and going out for food. Not at all for the first but we love going out or getting take out!
So....here are some links to websites (here, here, and here) I have found with recipes. And some tips. I need to compare since they all look a bit different. I will let you know how it goes!
Hugs,
Jen
Baggage Fees
Hello Annabelle,
We recently booked our flights back to Denver from Ottawa after Christmas for the girls and I. I ended up getting 50K bonus points for Delta with the Gold Delta SkyMiles AMEX and I was able to find 12.5K flights for mid-January. Still need to book the flight to Ottawa.
In the flurry of wanting to just book the tickets before the award seats went away we were a bit confused about what credit card to use for the taxes and what that would mean for baggage fees. I have been really wanting to book flights on the Chase Sapphire Preferred (even though it only gives 2X rather than the 3X bonus of some cards) because it provides nice looking trip interruption and cancellation insurance as well as baggage delay and such. Basically it provides the kind of trip insurance that we used to buy for our trips. But the Delta AMEX gives first bag free for everyone on your reservation (up to 9 people). We ended up going with the CSP and tonight I finally looked into the details of baggage fees.
I knew I had some other options because the AMEX Gold cards we have got have a $100 airline credit that can go towards baggage and the Delta AMEX offer did say that you could get a $50 credit towards a Delta purchase and I had read about people just getting a $50 gift card (which I am assuming I could use towards baggage later).
But first I went looking at the details on the First Checked Bag Free of Delta. It wasn't clear that you needed to book with the card to have the benefit apply so I just had an online chat with an AMEX agent who assured me that you definitely need to purchase with the card, but couldn't direct me to the terms and conditions where that is specified. Million Mile Secrets is saying, in a recent post, that you definitely DO NOT need to purchase the flight with the card to have it apply.
So I think we will just hope the baggage fees get covered. The nice thing about the AMEX Gold one is that it gets assigned right away so I might be able to use that as a back-up. And I might as well try to get the $50 gift certificate if it is essentially going to be free.
People really complain about Delta availability but I think we might have some luck with them for YOW-DEN flights during off peak times.
Some other links on credit cards and waived bag fees by airline are here and here.
Hugs,
Jen
Update:
I got the Delta gift certificate. It turns out the fine print is "eGifts and Cards may only be used for the total purchase price of air transportation, including taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed on the air transportation. They may not be used for any additional fees (including baggage fees) or for any other products or services (including class upgrades, in-flight purchases, premium seating, mileage booster, SkyMiles Cruises, cargo, hotel stays, or car rentals)." But "eGifts and Cards are not reloadable and do not expire. No service or inactivity fees apply."
So that won't work for the baggage but I am sure we will book a ticket on Delta at some point. Hopefully the cost is covered by the credit card sign-up bonus credit!
We recently booked our flights back to Denver from Ottawa after Christmas for the girls and I. I ended up getting 50K bonus points for Delta with the Gold Delta SkyMiles AMEX and I was able to find 12.5K flights for mid-January. Still need to book the flight to Ottawa.
In the flurry of wanting to just book the tickets before the award seats went away we were a bit confused about what credit card to use for the taxes and what that would mean for baggage fees. I have been really wanting to book flights on the Chase Sapphire Preferred (even though it only gives 2X rather than the 3X bonus of some cards) because it provides nice looking trip interruption and cancellation insurance as well as baggage delay and such. Basically it provides the kind of trip insurance that we used to buy for our trips. But the Delta AMEX gives first bag free for everyone on your reservation (up to 9 people). We ended up going with the CSP and tonight I finally looked into the details of baggage fees.
I knew I had some other options because the AMEX Gold cards we have got have a $100 airline credit that can go towards baggage and the Delta AMEX offer did say that you could get a $50 credit towards a Delta purchase and I had read about people just getting a $50 gift card (which I am assuming I could use towards baggage later).
But first I went looking at the details on the First Checked Bag Free of Delta. It wasn't clear that you needed to book with the card to have the benefit apply so I just had an online chat with an AMEX agent who assured me that you definitely need to purchase with the card, but couldn't direct me to the terms and conditions where that is specified. Million Mile Secrets is saying, in a recent post, that you definitely DO NOT need to purchase the flight with the card to have it apply.
So I think we will just hope the baggage fees get covered. The nice thing about the AMEX Gold one is that it gets assigned right away so I might be able to use that as a back-up. And I might as well try to get the $50 gift certificate if it is essentially going to be free.
People really complain about Delta availability but I think we might have some luck with them for YOW-DEN flights during off peak times.
Some other links on credit cards and waived bag fees by airline are here and here.
Hugs,
Jen
Update:
I got the Delta gift certificate. It turns out the fine print is "eGifts and Cards may only be used for the total purchase price of air transportation, including taxes, fees, and surcharges imposed on the air transportation. They may not be used for any additional fees (including baggage fees) or for any other products or services (including class upgrades, in-flight purchases, premium seating, mileage booster, SkyMiles Cruises, cargo, hotel stays, or car rentals)." But "eGifts and Cards are not reloadable and do not expire. No service or inactivity fees apply."
So that won't work for the baggage but I am sure we will book a ticket on Delta at some point. Hopefully the cost is covered by the credit card sign-up bonus credit!
Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Tracking expenses
Hi Jen,
I am using a new website to track my expenses and I really like it so far, and I thought you might be interested in it. It is super simple, but it is fine for my purposes. It is called The Birdy. It sends you an email every day, and you reply to the email with what you spent that day, with one line per expense, and using hashtags to categorize the expense. Then it adds it to your calendar/expense list. It is one of the easiest free ones I have found where you don't have to link accounts, as the techie husbands scared me sufficiently about that!
Hopefully it will help me keep our expenses on target. Our July expenses were a little high (like $2000 more than budgeted!), but they included our Maine rental car and a bunch of house maintenance supplies, so I think our expenses for the Fall months will be more on target.
Love,
Anne
I am using a new website to track my expenses and I really like it so far, and I thought you might be interested in it. It is super simple, but it is fine for my purposes. It is called The Birdy. It sends you an email every day, and you reply to the email with what you spent that day, with one line per expense, and using hashtags to categorize the expense. Then it adds it to your calendar/expense list. It is one of the easiest free ones I have found where you don't have to link accounts, as the techie husbands scared me sufficiently about that!
Hopefully it will help me keep our expenses on target. Our July expenses were a little high (like $2000 more than budgeted!), but they included our Maine rental car and a bunch of house maintenance supplies, so I think our expenses for the Fall months will be more on target.
Love,
Anne
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