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Marriott

Sunday Reader Question: What is the Best Use for Marriott Points?

March 18, 2012

TPG reader Mary Lynn writes: “What’s the best value for Marriott Reward miles?  If you try to exchange them into airline miles the exchange ratio is so bad I’m wondering if I’m completely misunderstanding things.” In my opinion, transferring Marriott points to airlines at a ratio of 10,000 points to 2,000 miles is not a [...]

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Earning Hotel Elite Status Through Meetings, Part 2

March 8, 2012

TPG Contributor Max Bloom explains how planning meetings can earn you points and elite status at the major hotel chains. In his previous posts he gave introductions on planning meetings and how the major chains award elite status for meetings. Last week I talked about deciding which program will give you the highest status the fastest by [...]

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Destination of the Week: Austin, Texas

March 2, 2012

Since the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival starts next week, we decided to continue our Destination of the Week series with a look at the city that hosts one of the country’s most happening music scenes: Austin, Texas. THE SCENE Apart from South by Southwest, which takes place in spring and has become one [...]

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Destination of the Week: Hawaii, The Big Island

February 24, 2012

Since The Points Guy had such an excellent time on Kauai last weekend, we decided to continue our Destination of the Week series with a look at: Hawaii, the Big Island. Hawaii Island The island the rest take their name from is also the largest in the chain, and one of the least developed, with [...]

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Maximizing Hotel Elite Status By Planning Meetings

February 23, 2012

TPG Contributor Max Bloom explains how planning meetings can earn you elite status at the major hotel chains. Last post he gave an intro to planning meetings. Every major hotel chain allows meeting planners to earn elite status through meetings, though their criteria vary. Some award status based upon the amount of money you spend, [...]

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Destination of the Week: Maui

February 17, 2012

  TPG might be spending his weekend on Kauai, but there are plenty of other Hawaiian vacation spots including this week’s Destination of the Week: Maui. We had the new TPG intern from NYU, Ryan, help us out with this huge list of properties where you can earn and burn points on Maui this winter, [...]

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Valentine’s Day Destination of the Week: Paris

February 10, 2012

TPG Managing Editor Eric takes us to the City of Lights for a bit of a romantic twist for Destination of the Week. As Valentine’s Day approaches, we thought we’d pick one of the world’s most romantic cities as our next Destination of the Week: Paris. Paris needs no introduction. A center of culture and [...]

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Destination of the Week: Kauai

January 27, 2012

As winter really begins to set in over most of the country with freezing conditions, it’s time to start considering some sunny destinations where you can earn and use your points. That’s why this week’s Destination of the Week is: Kauai. Kauai is the northernmost and oldest of the Hawaiian Islands. Though it has a [...]

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Maximizing Reduced Level Hotel Awards

January 26, 2012

Like airlines and their off peak awards, many hotel points programs offer reduced level awards, even at some of their higher-end properties. Priority Club just released their latest list of hotels where PointsBreaks are available for bookings now through March 31, 2012. PointsBreaks free nights for just 5,000 Priority Club points, but this promotion isn’t [...]

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My 2012 Points Strategy: Hotel Elite Status

January 10, 2012

This is an installment in the My 2012 Points Strategy Series. Posts include: Taking Credit Card Inventory, Future Credit Card Applications, Airline Elite Status, Hotel Elite Status. Hotel elite status is often overlooked, but frankly can be much more rewarding than airline status, which seems to get all of the attention. Frankly, hotels can be a huge portion of [...]

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Hilton’s More Points Promotion

December 30, 2011

Hilton just announced their first quarter More Points promotion - register and then stay at any Hilton brand hotel between January 1st and March 31st, 2012 to earn an additional 1,000 bonus miles per night, or 5,000 miles per weekend (defined as 2 consecutive nights, Thursday to Sunday). There is no limit to the amount of [...]

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Marriott Launches 2012 Megabonus

December 20, 2011

Marriott is very predictable when it comes to their promotions – they use the same name and overall concept making slight tweaks each time. So once again, they announced a Megabonus promotion  for Spring 2012 and you will get one free night at a category 1-4 hotel for every two stays. You must register by [...]

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Marriott and Hyatt Facebook Point Giveaways

December 7, 2011

I’m not a huge fan of sweepstakes, but I thought I’d share a couple hotel point giveaways. They both require Facebook “liking,” which means they’ll probably use all of your valuable information for marketing purposes – but hey, we’ve all got our price! Hyatt Million Point Sweeps. I entered, but it annoyed me that you [...]

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List of Reduced Price Hotel Promo Awards

November 24, 2011

Several hotel loyalty programs have discounted award nights, which are rotating lists of hotels that will let you redeem free nights for a fraction of the points needed regularly. Priority Club just updated their list, so I thought I’d list include the others as well: Priority Club PointBreaks: Free nights for only 5,000 Priority Club [...]

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70,000 Points for Marriott Premier Visa

October 24, 2011

Update: offer no longer available Recently I blogged about a pretty great deal for the Marriott Premier – 50,000 points and a bunch of other benefits. However, several TPG readers sent me a link for 70,000 points. This isn’t one of my links, but it does lead directly to a Chase application page, so I feel comfortable [...]

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Sunday Reader Question: How Can You Spend Your Way to Airline and Hotel Elite Status?

October 9, 2011

Savvy TPG reader thegasguru asks: “I’d like to see a post on how to “spend” your way to status in various programs. Can the very top tier status be obtained without ever stepping foot on the plane or in the hotel? If not, what’s the highest you can go via spend only” These days, its [...]

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Chase Sweetens Marriott Credit Card Sign-up Bonuses

October 7, 2011

Chase just rolled out two new enhanced offers for their Marriott co-branded cards and I have to say I’m pretty impressed, even though I’m not a Marriott guy. Their higher-end card, the Premier, went from 30,000 sign-up points to 50,000 with your first purchase and a free category 1-4 night. The annual fee is waived [...]

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Sunday Reader Email Question: Can I Get Points for Booking Corporate Travel?

September 25, 2011

TPG reader Adam writes: “My girlfriend recently got a job as a receptionist. She’ll be doing all of the travel booking for the company … however, individuals will be using their corporate credit cards to book. Are there any rewards programs (hotel, air, or AmEx) that allow assistants to make points for choosing that hotel/air program [...]

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How to Use Hotel Elite Status to Force Room Availability

September 20, 2011

I’ve been a top-tier member of multiple hotel chains over the years and there’s one benefit I’ve never used – the guaranteed room availability perk that is included with many of them. Generally, I book my travel in advance and I can usually find ways to get a reasonably priced room at my preferred property. [...]

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2,000 US Airways Miles Per Marriott, JW Marriott and Renaissance Stays

September 10, 2011

Marriott is offering 2,000 US Airways miles per stay at JW Marriott,®  Renaissance® Hotels or Marriott Hotels & Resorts. Book by October 31, 2011 and stay by December 26, 2011. 10,000 max bonus miles can be earned with this promotion, so I suggest switching back to Marriott points once you earn the maximum on this bonus. You [...]

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Southwest Points for Marriott Gift Card Purchases

September 9, 2011

I just got this email from Southwest: “From August 17, 2011 through October 31, 2011, you can earn Rapid Rewards Points (up to maximum of 12,000 points) when you purchase Marriott Gift Cards. (link to purchase page) Get 1,200 points with a $100 Marriott Gift Card purchase Get 3,000 points with a $250 Marriott Gift [...]

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Up to 5,000 Bonus Points for Hotel Transfers to Aeroplan

August 24, 2011

Airlines often add incentives to transfer hotel points to them, because the hotel chains actually pay the airlines for the miles you get. From August 22 – Sept 18 Air Canada’s frequent flyer program Aeroplan is now offering up to 5,000 extra Aeroplan miles when you transfer the equivalent of 25,000 miles or hotel points [...]

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Sunday Reader Email Question: Which Hotel Credit Card is Best?

July 31, 2011

TPG reader Evan writes: “I don’t travel very often for my job but I am very good, thanks to you, at getting a lot of miles via my credit card to use for a nice vacation or two every year (usually one big and one small). I spend about 20-30K a year on my credit [...]

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Mid Year Hotel Elite Status Check-in: How Have You Fared So Far?

July 12, 2011

Yesterday’s airline elite status check-in post was a really interesting read, so I figured I’d start another on hotel status. I am currently working on requalifying for Hyatt Diamond, Starwood Platinum and  Priority Club Platinum/Intercontinental Royal Ambassador and I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I have a lot of travel [...]

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