Win 80,000 HawaiianMiles in Hawaiian Airlines Aloha from contest.
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Enter soon to be eligible for weekly drawings of 10,000 HawaiianMiles.
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Read the fine print here.
On May 15, Radisson launched their Big Night Giveaway (see this post), they also launched the So Go Country promotion for their Country Inns & Suites brand of hotels. With a little creativity I managed to turn one night into 55,134 points. Here's how:
The Country Inns So Go Country promotion awards 44,000 bonus points to the first 35,000 people who register and complete a qualifying stay during the promotion period of May 15, 2012 - July 15, 2012. The cavet: if you're the 35,001 person to register or complete your stay, instead of 44,000 bonus points you only get 15,000 bonus points.
Since this could be a slippery slope, I choose to complete my stay sooner vs later. Plus, there's only one Country Inn & Suites in San Diego. With limited supply and peak travel season approaching, the best rates are now vs later.
I had planned a stay-cation, booking two rooms (I had registered myself and Jeff for the promo). But Jeff reminded me that he was riding up Mt. Baldy on Saturday for stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, the terms and conditions of the So Go Country promo dictate that you have to be physically present at check-in and check-out, so we only booked one room.
But it wasn't a loss since my boys were drug got to experience their first mattress run.
The point breakdown:
I booked into a double Gold Points rate for only $20 more. This breaks down to $0.07 cents a point (which is the standard rate Club Carlson sells Gold Points), not saving any money but not losing either.
As a Silver member in the Club Carlson program I earn a 25% bonus.
Booking online as a Silver member gave me another 2,000 bonus.
By using the promo code mentioned in this post, I got another 2,000 points.
There's a Staples a block from the Country Inn & Suites San Diego North along with a Shell station. I needed to fill up on gas so I purchased Shell gas cards at Staples using my Ink Bold. (nod to Frequent Miler; I haven't paid at the pump since February).
I used my Sapphire Preferred card for dining to take advantage of the 2x Ultimate Rewards points on dining. The same card was used to pay for the hotel, also at 2x UR points.
We had happy hour appetizers at Chili's across the parking lot from the hotel. Then stopped by Extreme Pita (part of the idine program) since it was only 3 miles away to get a few extra miles and points. Since my Sapphire Preferred is also linked to my idine account, I earned 5 miles per dollar spent with American Airlines (my airline of choice).
Here's how:
| DESCRIPTION | POINTS | TYPE |
| County Inn & Suites - San Diego North | 2,750 | Club Carlson |
| Silver - 25% Room Points Bonus | 688 | Club Carlson |
| County Inns So Go Country 44,000 Bonus | 44,000 | Club Carlson |
| Business Rate Double Points Bonus | 2,750 | Club Carlson |
| Online Booking Silver Member Bonus | 2,000 | Club Carlson |
| Welcome Next Stay 2000 Bonus Points | 2,000 | Club Carlson |
| Staples Shell $75 Gas Card purchase | 75 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Ink Bold 5x bonus | 375 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Appetizers | 23 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x dining | 23 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Dinner | 20 | Ultimate Rewards |
| AA Rewards Network | 100 | AA |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x dining | 20 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Hotel stay | 154.78 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x travel | 154.78 | Ultimate Rewards |
| 55,134 | TOTAL |
Watch for a full review of the Country Inn & Suites San Diego North to be posted soon.
(George Hincapie not Jeff: I couldn't find one of Jeff on his bike and since I love me some Hincapie, I figured this was close enough. )
Yesterday...
Me: "What are your plans for today?"
Jeff: "I think I'll go for a little 35 mile maintenance ride."
Me: "Hmm, maybe I need a maintenance mileage run...."
As many of you know I'm obsessed with miles and points, flying to Dublin the weekend, flying to reach 2 Million Miles with American, just to name a few of the "crazy" things I've done over the past 3 years in my quest to earn more miles and points. (If you're new to my blog, just click on the Frequent Flyer, Mileage Run, and Travel categories. Not all my trips have been posted, still working on that.)
This year, I decided to really concentrate on the game and become even more efficient at collecting miles and points. So much so that I launched a new blog, Traveling Well For Less, dedicated to that pursuit.
Being frugal in all things, I tend to use those miles sparingly and get the most value of each mile. Sometimes, you need to pull the plug even when the perceived value may not be high and use those miles because the benefit received is greater than the cost. That was the case this week.
A week ago today, my Uncle Roy passed away. Uncle Roy was married to my godmother so it was important for me to attend the funeral. Given that I would be traveling last minute during Holy week, airfare was extremely high. The lowest price I could find was $1000 on Southwest or $2500 on American.
Being an Executive Platinum and LIfetime Platinum, I try to concentrate all my flying with American. But $2500 is well out of my price range. Thankfully, I have miles.
I was able to redeem 50,000 miles (25,000 Economy Anytime Miles and 25,000 Business/First Mile Saver). While not the best redemption as most mile chasers will tell you for a domestic airline ticket as most can be obtained for only 25,000 miles, in this case it was the best for me.
I was able to arrive for the viewing, mass and funeral with time to spare. Allowing me time to spend with my family, having not seen many of them in almost three years. This was by far a better redemption of miles in my book. Having the cache of miles to draw upon when needed is why I chase and will continue to chase miles.
First, someone tried to take off the front and back covers from my passport. I guess they thought, they could just slide in the pages in the binding?
Then, realizing that this would not work, they taped, yes taped, pages into my passport. And it's quite obvious the pages are taped in as you can see by the photos.
"Back in black
I hit the sack
I've been too long I'm glad to be back"
Stealing a few lines from AC/DC.
Black as in black American Airlines Executive Platinum card - my last one expired 2/11. This isn't my card, but my new one will be arriving soon.
And all it took was 12 flights from San Diego to Los Angeles to Chicago and back in the same day with just an hour layover each way, thanks to American' DEQAA (Double Elite Qualifying miles) systemwide promotion that ended on January 31st plus DEQ11 (Double Elite Qualifying Miles LAXORD). Only a few delays, and thankfully despite some snow, I made it home every night.
Now to reap the benefits...
Missed a call from American Airlines this morning. No message was left. I'm flying five days out of seven next week, haven't received any schedule changes so I thought I'd call to make sure there were no radical changes to my flights.
AA Reservations looked and said everything was good and transferred me to the Platinum desk in case they were the ones who called. Helpful agent said they hadn't called and maybe I missed an invitation because "sometimes American Airlines will call to invite people to things and if they don't answer they go on to the next person."
The big thing coming up with American Airlines is the Oneworld MegaDO 2012, beginning on January 23rd (the international portion) with the domestic portion starting on January 25th.
So American, if you called me this morning to invite me to the Oneworld MegaDO 2012, I promise to answer the phone. I wasn't screening calls, just indisposed. I promise to now bring my phone with me at all times...
Sitting patiently waiting for the call back from American Airlines....
While waiting for our flight home from the Tampa airport, I noticed four of the WWE Superstars: Alex Riley, Justin Gabriel, Mason Ryan, and another guy but I can't remember his name. Although it's kinda hard not to miss then when they tower over everyone and they can squash you like a bug.
They were flying on US Airways to the military base in Fort Wayne for a benefit for the troops.
Traveling internationally? Global Entry, a program offered by U.S. Customs, will get you through Customs faster.
I first heard about Global Entry In 2009 when I did my first mileage run. I did a few mileage runs that year and never waited longer than about 15 minutes to clear Customs so I didn't bother applying.
This year, however, was a different story. I did two mileage runs to Shanghai and after waiting over 45 minutes to clear Customs after the second run, I decided to relook at the Global Entry program.
I got back from Shanghai on the evening of the 23rd. The next day, yes Thanksgiving, I submitted my Global Entry online application at 11am. The application process is very straightforward. Simply fill in the blanks: basic personal information such as name, hair and eye color, height and weight, to include any other names used, contact information, citizenship, passport and driver's license information, employment, list the countries (outside of the US, Canada, and Mexico) that you've visited in the last five years, and confirm that you haven't been convicted of a crime or in violation of any customs or immigration laws. Finally you enter your payment information for the $100 application fee. Very straightforward and takes about 15 - 20 minutes.
As mentioned I applied on Thanksgiving at 11am. At 10:35am, on Black Friday, I received an email indicating that my status has been changed. I was now conditionally approved. The next step, schedule my interview at a Global Entry interview location.
Although LAX was the closest Global Entry interview location, I did not want to drive to LAX. Since I was doing a mileage run to Chicago on the 30th, and ORD is a Global Entry interview location, I opted to schedule my interview at ORD.
My flight into ORD was to land at 2pm, so I scheduled my interview for 3pm. However, this flight was like no other or more accurately, this day was an event to remember as you may recall from my brief 3 flights in 2 Hours post. Earlier that morning I had called the agents at Global Entry to let them know I was going to be late for my appointment.
I finally arrived at ORD at 3:40pm at Terminal 3 and was off the plane at 3:45pm. My departing flight was leaving at 4:40pm, which meant boarding would be at 4:10pm. My Global Entry interview was in Terminal 5. Which meant I had to take the train to Terminal 5, go through security on the way back and make it to my gate before the plane left. It was a gamble, but a gamble that paid off.
I arrived at Terminal 5 at 3:50pm. There was one person in front of me. I asked how long she had been waiting. 15 minutes was her response. I politely started to ask, "Would you mind." when I got an abrupt, "No." Ok, no worries. I told myself that I needed to get out of there by 4pm so I could make my flight.
After a few minutes the woman in front of me gets called back. It's not 3:55pm, I'm not sure how long the interview is going to take so I'm stressed. If it takes 30 minutes, I'm not going to make my flight. If it's less, I'm good to go.
Thankfully, I get called back. The agent doing the interview runs through my application and asks about my travels to Mexico. Since Mexico was specifically not listed on the application, I confirm what my passport shows, yes, I've travelled there quite frequently over the past five years.
She takes my picture and fingerprints and leads me to the Global Entry kiosk for a quick demonstration. Asks if I have any questions and tells me to expect my card in the mail. I'm out of there and the woman who had been in front of me, is still sitting there answering questions. :)
Despite it all, I made it back to Terminal 3, through security, and on my flight, boarded with Group 4 as I had long missed my Priority Access window.
Could the process have been completed sooner? Yes, but it would have meant a drive to LAX over Thanksgiving weekend. All in all, I'm ok with a 7 day turnaround.
Oh, my Global Entry card arrived in the mail today. They must have mailed it out that afternoon.
I'm looking forward to my next international flight.
AA Customer Service Rocks!! Just got a call and per Kathy, they will reinstate my original mileage credit from my flight on Wednesday. So I will get my SANLAXORD routing that I had booked but wasn't able to fly due to the fog in LAX that morning, which will give me the DEQM (Double Elite Qualifing Miles) for LAXORD portion.
