Choice Hotels: Stay 2 Nights Get One Free

Choice Hotels has announced their upcoming promotion.  While this promotion is disguised as a "stay 2x get a 50$ gift card offer" it is really "stay 2x get 8,000 points".  For those of you who do not know, Choice Hotels is a collection of mainly lower to mid tier hotel chains (Comfort inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, Mainstay  Suites, Suburban, EconoLodge, Roadway Inn and Ascend).  While their hotels in the US could best be described as "budget", they have several attractive hotel options in Europe.  I have personally stayed at 3 of their properties in Scandinavia: Clarion Sign in Stockholm, Clarion Hotel Temperance in Malmo, and Clarion Royal Christiana in Oslo.  All 3 were excellent properties with generous free breakfast included in one of the most expensive regions in the world.  They also offer some nice properties in France and several other countries in Europe. 

It seems that choice has an offer similar to this every year and I think that if you have an upcoming trip to Europe planned this is very much in your interest to look in to.  As an example, the Clarion Collection Opera Pavillon in Paris is only 8,000 Points a night and standard rates run upwards of 300 euros during peak season.  Obviously it doesn't take a mathematics professor to realize that 2x 50$/night stays at a local Comfort Inn for a free nigth at a nice hotel in Paris is a solid deal.

For this promotion you need 2 separate "stays".  A stay can be 1 night or 100 nights.  To maximize this promotion with a travel partner, you should alternate the name on the reservation every night.  For example, a 4 night stay booked under 1 persons account would get you only halfway to a free night.  On the otherhand, a 4 night stay where you alternate the name on the booking would get you 2 free nights as the latter would be 4 separate 1 night stays.

While the points required for certain hotels do occasionally change, Choice maintains a list of hotels which are less 8,000 points a night or less.

Fine print:
*Terms and conditions: Member must register at ChoiceHotels.com before arrival and book their trips at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Member may also book through a travel agent or corporate online booking system. Choice Privileges member number must be provided upon check-in. After a second qualifying trip with arrival between 5/23/13 and 8/21/13, member will be awarded enough bonus points to reach the 8,000 point level, which can be redeemed until 11/1/13 for one (1) $50 gift card at defined retailers on ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard. Only members earning this bonus qualify to redeem for the $50 gift card. Only members that register for the promotion are eligible to earn the defined promotional gift cards during the promotion. Terms and conditions apply to $50 gift card options. See card for details. Choice Privileges Diamond and Platinum members who register and book through ChoiceHotels.com will receive an additional 100 Choice Privileges bonus points with every qualified trip during the promotional period. For Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites or Ascend Hotel Collection hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. For Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, or MainStay Suites hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is two (2) or more consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post. You must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible for this promotion. For Choice Privileges program details, eligible rates, eligible countries and point redemption rules, visit choiceprivileges.com.

**Rate restrictions: The reservation must be made on ChoiceHotels.com at participating hotels using your Choice Privileges number and must be made at least 7, 14, 21 or 30 days in advance, which will vary based on the hotel for which a reservation is being made. Subject to availability, the rate starts at 15% off Best Available Rate, is non-cancellable, non-changeable and non-refundable. Your credit card will be charged for the total reservation amount within 24-48 hours of booking.



Cheap Flight Alert: Chicago to India for $730

There are currently some good deals available on flights from Chicago (ORD) to Mumbai or Delhi.  To search for exact dates try a flexible search on ITA.  This is a good deal for flights that generally run well over $1000.

Amex Business 75,000 points bonus is back!

American express is offering 75,000 membership reward points after spending $10,000 in 4 months.  The annual fee for the first year is waved.  While this offer is different from the short lived prior offer which required 5k spend in 3 months.  Nevertheless, this is a great offer on a card that generally doesn't offer more than 50k bonus points.  As detailed in my post on membership reward points  these points can be a great value.

Please note that this is a business card.  While you do need a business to apply, the definition of a business is a lot more broad than most people realize.  If you have ever sold something on eBay or amazon or if you made cookies for a bake sale than you have a business.  Fill out the application truthfully.  It doesn't matter if you have 0$ business income, you can still apply.

The link for the application can be found here.

Club carlson: stay 2 nights, get 10,000 bonus points

I think club carlson offers a fairly good and underrated program especially for hotels in Europe. See my post on the club carlson credit card for more information on how to get the most out of this program.

With this current promotion you get 10,000 bonus points with a 2 night stay at any club carlson hotel. While this offer isn't the greatest in the world there are several low cost hotels from which to stay for the 2 nights, and 10k points is enough for 2 free nights at a category 1 hotel (with the last night free bonus with the club carlson credit card).

Bottom line: don't book a random stay just for the sake of this offer, but if you have a planned stay coming up, consider looking at club carlson.

Travel Medicine: Pre Travel Vaccinations

A lot of people have questions regarding which vaccinations they need to receive prior to traveling.  This is a vast topic and it would be impossible to answer this question in a single blog post.  Vaccination requirements and recommendations vary by country and even regions within a country.  The best place to start when planing a trip is the CDCs Destination list.  This site lists country specific recommendations for vaccinations and other health related travel concerns.  The site lists both recommendations and requirements.  Some countries require proof of vaccination prior to entering the country. 

It is recommended that you begin researching these requirements as soon as possible, as some vaccinations must be administered a certain amount of time prior to travel in order for them to be effective.  Typhoid for example should be administered >2 weeks before departure and hepatitis B is given in several doses over a period of months. 

Malaria is another important consideration when traveling abroad.  Malaria is a parasite that lives in your red blood cells.  It is spread by the bite of the Anopheles mosquito.  Unlike the vaccines discussed above malaria prevention is accomplished with the use of prophylactic antimalarial medications.  The CDC website offers a Malaria Map tool which gives the prevalence of malaria as well as the specific species of malaria that is endemic to that area.  The specific antimalarial medication you are started on will depend on the local species prevalence as well as resistance patterns in that area.  If traveling to an area where malaria is common, it is important that you obtain antimalarial medications prior to departure and that you take it as directed by your doctor.

The WHO also has a pdf file of required vaccinations.  This list is up to date as of time of publication of this post, but requirements may change.
 http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241580364_country_list.pdf

Disclaimer: Information here is my personal opinion and shouldn't be taken as medical advice.  Remember, it is your responsibility to determine the vaccination requirements and recommendations of each country you will visit.  It is advisable to schedule an appointment with your primary care physician prior to departure to have a pre travel medical screening as well as to discuss vaccinations.  There are some contraindications to vaccine administration (such as immunocompromized state) that you must discuss with your doctor.  Some vaccines also carry the risk of adverse reactions.  Please discuss these risks with your doctor.

CDC Country Specific Information

CDC Malaria Map

Chase Ultimate Rewards Overview

Overview:

Just like American express membership rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) is chase's own brand of reward points.  Similar to amex rewards, chase UR can be transferred directly to several airline and hotel programs.

You can transfer points at a 1:1 ratio to the following programs;
Airlines:
British Airways avios
Korean Air Skypass
Southwest Rapid rewards
United Mileage Plus
Virgin Atlantic Flying club
Hotels:
Hyatt Gold Passport
Marriott Rewards
Priority Club Rewards

You can also redeem points directly through Ultimate Rewards for travel with a 20% bonus.  Meaning 40,000 points = 500$ in travel

Ways to earn UR points:

1. Sign up Bonus:
There are currently 3 chase cards which offer generous sign up bonuses with no annual fee for the first year.

Sapphire preferred: 40,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months
Ink Bold: Business charge card, 50,000 points after spending $5,000 in 3 months
Ink Plus: Business credit card, 50,000 points after spending $5,000 in 3 months

Applications for all of these can be found directly on Chase's website

2. Spending:
Both the Ink Bold and Plus offer 5 points per dollar on office supply stores, cell and landline phone, Internet and Cable.  They also offer 2 points per dollar on gas stations, hotel accommodations.  1 point on all other purchases.
The Sapphire preferred card gives you 2 points per dollar spent on travel and dining, 1 point on all other purchases. 

3. Ultimate Rewards Mall
This is an online shopping portal which allows you to earn bonus points while shopping online at hundreds of retailers.  If you are thinking of buying something check here first as there are tons of online merchants represented.

I really like this program for transfers to Hyatt.  Hyatt redemptions start at just 5,000 points and max out at 22,000 points for top tier hotels such as the Park Hyatt vendome Paris or the Park Hyatt Maldives.  Both of these run around $800 a night.  You can see my review of the Park Hyatt Vendome here.

American express membership rewards overview

American express membership rewards are amex's own brand of rewards points.  The point program comes standard on most American express cards.  I recently took advantage of an offer for 75,000 bonus points on the American express gold business card.  Unfortunately this offer expired in less than a day.  The good news is that you can still get 50,000 points as a sign up bonus.  This is still a nice chunk of points as you will see below.  I also have the American express premier rewards card (I got 50,000 points for signing up).  Both of the above mentioned cards have their annual fee waved for the first year and are "charge cards" meaning you need to pay the balance in full every month.

Program basics:
The two primary uses of membership rewards points are to "pay with points" or to transfer to a hotel or airline program directly.

1. Pay with points: you can use your points to pay for travel expenses on any airline or any hotel.  1 point = 1 cent, so 50,000 points = $500

2. Transfer points to airline/hotel program.  In my opinion this is the best use of your points.  There are often transfer bonus offers associated with this, including a current promotion of 35% bonus on transfers to british ariways.  Points can be transferred directly to several programs including:
Airlines:
Delta Skymiles
British Airways avios
KLM Flying Blue
Frontier EarlyReturns
Hawaiian airlines
Iberia
Jet Blue TrueBlue
Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer
Virgin America Elevate
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Air canada aeroplan
Alitalia
ANA
Aeromexico
Asia Miles
El Al Israel Airlines
Hotels:
Best western
Choice Privileges
Hilton HHonors
Jumeriah Hotels
Starwood

Conversion rates and increments

For most frequent customer programs, 1,000 Membership Rewards points will equal 1,000 miles, points or credits and must be transferred in 1,000-point increments unless otherwise noted. The only exceptions are:

• JetBlue Airways: 250 points = 200 JetBlue TrueBlue points; must be transferred in 250-point increments
• El AL Israel Airlines: 1,000 points = 20 Matmid points
• Starwood Preferred Guest®: 1,000 points = 333 Starpoints
• Hilton: 1,000 points = 1,500 HHonors™ points
• Virgin America: 200 points = 100 Elevate points; must be transferred in 200-point increments
• Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts: 2,300 points = 100 Sirius Points; must be transferred in 2,300-point increments

Now you might be saying "i don't use any of those airlines".  Well thanks to airline alliances you can get a little creative on redemption offers.  For example, British Airways Avios currently offers a 35% bonus on transfers.  This means that 75,000 amex points = 100,000 British airways avios.  You can use these points on any one of BAs Oneworld partners including american airlines.  British airways has a distance based award chart which often ends up offering some very good deals.  For example a flight from NYC to Toronto can be had for just 8,000 points round trip.  Another great bargain is a flight from Boston to Dublin on aer lingus for only 25,000 miles round trip.  A flight to Dublin costs around $700, therefore my 75,000 amex points could get me  $2,800 in flights.