US Bank FlexPerks 33,150, Alaska Airlines 40,000, and Marriott 50,000 is back

Posted on August 17, 2012 by wpengine

US Bank Flex Perks Visa Olympic Promotion

US Bank FlexPerks is a mediocre set of bank points. They pale in comparison to the Ultimate Rewards that Chase has constructed. This offer is in conjunction with the Olympic Games, and the offer is based on the number of medals that the US won in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Fortunately we rolled the competition and got lots of medals. This offer is for 33,150 FlexPerks.

With the FlexPerks each 10,000FP is worth $200 in airfare. The 30,000 FlexPerks is worth any airfare less than $600. If the flight is $601 then you wouldn’t have enough FlexPerks to cover the flight. Like I said, the program isn’t amazing, but $600 for one credit inquiry is a great offer. This offer expires August 31st, so time is running close.  The spending requirement is $2500 within 5 months, so that is pretty easy for most people.

They don’t have any travel partners, so transferring the miles isn’t an option.  This card doesn’t pay us a commission, but it is a great offer for someone who wants to send in a credit card application that isn’t with Chase.

Alaska Airlines 40,000 Bank of America Credit Card

Alaska Airlines is a great airline.  They have incredible amounts of partners, and do very well when flying the west coast going to Alaska, Mexico, and Hawaii.  If you’d like to visit one of these places, this is a great card.

The spending requirement is much higher than it was last time.  Now you’ve got to spend $7,500 within 6 months to get the full 40,000 Alaska Airlines miles.  You get 25,000 for your approval on the card (Which is enough miles to get one person to Alaska), and the additional 15,000 when you complete the spending requirement.

This Award Chart will help you to see the value of the 40,000 miles. This isn’t our link, so we don’t make anything when you apply for this card.

Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card is Back

Chase removed this link from us for about two weeks, but now they’ve given it back to us.  This is one of the best cards for a greenie.  There isn’t any spending requirement, and you score 50,000 Marriott Rewards points  with the application.  It also gives you one additional free night for a category 1-4 hotel too.

If you can stay five nights in a category 2 hotel, plus the additional free night that means you can get six free nights.  If you include the breakfast that some hotels offer this card can be worth up to $1000.

My brother Colby values Marriott points over any other hotel chain because of their abundance.  Low level redemption is really possible.  Look at our Using Hotel Points to see how far the points would stretch for you.

This card is our link, so we would appreciate if you used it 🙂

 

Club Carlson 25 Years Celebration

Club Carlson has a new promotion that isn’t as good as the Big Night Giveaway that they did earlier this year. This promotion is in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Country Inns and Suites hotel chain.

You must first register for the 25 for 25 promotion. Then you must stay two consecutive nights at the Country Inns and Suites chain. It isn’t the biggest promotion that I’ve ever seen, but if you have to stay two nights anyway, why not load up an additional 25,000 points while you’re at it.

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Posted in Bank of America, Credit Cards, Hotels, How to Wanderlust, Marriott Rewards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Partners

Posted on August 15, 2012 by wpengine

With all of the frenzy around Chase’s latest credit cards it is important for you to know how they work.  When Brad and I were at lunch the other day with a couple of friend we started explaining how the Ultimate Rewards work, and realized that we’ve never clearly defined who the partners are and how to use the Ultimate Rewards Points.  Here goes nothing…

Chase has named its loyalty program Ultimate Rewards (with good reason).  Just as McDonald’s has the Ronald McDonald Club, Chase has their Ultimate Rewards.  These points can be used just like any other bank will allow you to use points to redeem for headphones or pencil sharpeners,  but what makes them stand out is the Ultimate Rewards travel partners.

How to Earn Ultimate Rewards

Some of Chase’s proprietary cards offer you Ultimate Rewards for every dollar that you spend on their cards.  Each of the cards have a sign on bonus after you meet certain spending requirements.  These bonuses can be very lucrative, and can help you to get your free travel faster.  Some cards have categories that pay more than one point per dollar.

  • Chase Sapphire PreferredSM Current Bonus is 40,000 UR after $3000 in spending within the first 3 months.

The Sapphire Preferred card pays 2 points per dollar spent on restaurants and travel.

  • Ink Bold® Business Card Current Bonus is up to 50,000 UR.  Get 25k with the first purchase and 25k more when you spend $10k within 3 months.

Both of the Ink cards will offer 5 points per dollar spent at office supply stores, and on cellular phone, landline, internet and cable TV services.

  • Ink Plus® Business Card Current Bonus is up to 50,000 UR.  Get 25k with the first purchase and 25k when you spend $10k within 3 months.

With the Ink Plus card you can earn 2x points per $1 on the first $50,000 spent annually at gas stations and for hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel

All of your Ultimate Rewards points accrue in a safe account until you are ready to splurge.

Spending Ultimate Rewards (AKA Having FUN)

Brad already explained how the Ultimate Rewards can be spent as cash, so if you’re interested, review that post.  Chase has a variety of partners that accept the Ultimate Rewards on a 1:1 ratio.

  • United Airlines
  • British Airways
  • Southwest Airlines
  • Hyatt
  • Priority Club
  • Marriott
  • Korean Air

Incredibly you can transfer as many points as you need.   So if you’re a few points short this works well to top off the tank with any one of the above mentioned companies.  Also, the points generally transfer on the spot.

Why You Need More Ultimate Rewards

These points are incredibly versatile.  They should be a part of any worldwanderluster’s portfolio of miles and points. The most feasible offer comes from the Sapphire Preferred Card.  It requires the lowest spending requirement, but a generous 40,000 UR.  Start stockpiling your points today and wanderlust with us.

 

Posted in Chase, Chase Ultimate Reward Points, Credit Cards | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Staying 8 Free Nights near Universal Studios Orlando

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Brad Christensen

What if I told you that it costs $15 just to park at Universal Studios Orlando or one of the Disney Theme Parks?  If you’re like me, you’d say that a free shuttle from your hotel is a necessity.  Well how about a free shuttle from a free hotel?

This is precisely what WorldWanderlusting is about! Helping you put the “R” in “FEE.”  We love to travel, and we hate to hear people say, “I’d love to travel, I just can’t afford it. How many families would like to visit the theme parks in Orlando, but have a hard time with the idea of springing for $1000-1500 in hotel costs?  I’m guessing that there are a lot.

Well, we’re about to show you how you can stay for at least 8 nights in the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort at absolutely no cost to you.  Does is sound too good to be true?  Ok, here’s the catch.  You have to sign up for a credit card, then you have to make the same purchases you make normally, but put them on your Starwood Preferred Guest American Express, and then pay them off entirely before ever accruing any interest.  Once you spend $5000 within 6 months, the free-travel fairy comes with 25,000 Starwood points – your ticket for as many as 8 free nights at 3-4000 points per night (Starwood’s Category 2 rate).Wait a minute, what other hotels could you stay at?

Orlando HotelBut the hotel is probably a dive, right?

It’s a beautiful hotel. The rooms are immaculate, the location is ideal, and the amenities abound.  You’re not going to get a whole lot better than this. Starwood Category 2 hardly second-class.  This is not a chain that skimps on luxury.  You’ll be in heaven… it’s possible that you won’t even want to leave the property.

But, applying for the credit card will hurt my credit, right?

The short answer is “not really, as long as you’re responsible.” For that one, we have a specific post.  You’ll need to check out “Doesn’t it Hurt My Credit?”

Why would a credit card company do something like that?

They’re building brand loyalty, not just for Starwood, but for American Express, too.  We have a post that talks about this, too.

Wait, show me some more pics of that hotel.

Well, it’s a resort… but, yeah, here they are:

Well, how can I fly to Orlando for free?

Oohh… you’re greedy and we love it. ok… here’s how you can fly to Orlando for free.

This is good stuff! I want to keep track of what WorldWanderlusting is doing!

Glad to have you! Follow us on Facebook or enter your email in the subscriber list in the box on the upper right hand side of our site.

Posted in Club Carlson, Hotels, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

FREE FLIGHT trip to COSTA RICA!

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Brad Christensen

This is a guest post by our fellow wanderluster, John. John has followed WW for more than a year, and got in on the Citi AAdvantage card deal to stock up on AA miles in early 2011 – miles that took him and his wife to Costa Rica earlier this year.

We decided to fly into Liberia because the flight times from there better matched the times we wanted to stay and go back.  It used the same amount of AA points and we could avoid the big city of San Jose.  Small airport, very easy to find your way around.  I did a bunch of searching to find a good deal on a car rental due to the mandatory TPL insurance they charge.  Most companies won’t tell you this amount until you arrive and you’re locked in a price.  I worked with Luis Diego at www.4x4rentacar.com;  I got a 4×4 Daihatsu Bego for $400 even.  This was a deal because most places I found for an equivalent car for 8 days were $500-$650+.  Everything involving the car went smoothly.  I met a guy there who was blindsided and paid $1200 for a 10 day car rental…eek.
 
We were more than anxious to head straight for the beach. Our GPS (which I downloaded maps for previously) took us on the straightest path, although not the fastest.  We found ourselves on a dirt road with quaint little houses every 3-4 miles.  We found an incredible restaurant on the beach where I had fresh fish for dinner…it was incredible as my expression clearly indicates.  We stayed that night right on the beach in Playa Guinoes.  The next day we went to Playa Samara.  This was an incredible little town with plenty to do.  We could’ve stayed here the whole time and been happy.  The people were great, the fruit stands were cheap, and the food in open-air restaurants was fantastic.  We only stayed here one night because we wanted to see a lot, but looking back it was one of our favorite places.
 
We drove all the across the Nicoya peninsula and stayed in a town south of Jaco called Esterilles Oeste.  Our hosts at our hotel were very friendly and happy to have us, although we had to drive down some crazy alley ways to get there.  We spent that day on the beach and in Jaco.  We made frequent stops at the local grocery store and made friends with the surf shop and rented gear for a fraction of what it would have cost in the states.

The next day we got up and drove down to Quepos and stayed at the Best Western…the first place we could flush our TP down the toilet!  We checked out Manuel Antonio!  Anybody who knows CR knows how beautiful this place is.  Definitely worth seeing the incredible beaches and wildlife.  We were only down there for one day and then headed back up to Jaco area where we stayed at a Canadian owned hotel outside the city.  This was also a highlight area.  We were able to chill in the city, cook food at our hotel, and hang out on the beach.  
 
After staying two days in Jaco, we drove north west to Monteverde and the Cloud Forest.  Long dirt road drive, but totally worth it.  We stayed in a little bed & breakfast and checked out the forest and chilled with the locals.  Monteverde had a great atmosphere and we loved chilling in this town and had a little relief from the heat.  We went on the Selvatura zip lines and had a blast, highly recommend! 
 
After just one day and night in Monteverde we had to get back to Liberia for an early morning flight the next day.  We drove back to Liberia and I decided to give Ash a taste of American standard of living and booked a room at the Hilton.  She was in paradise after having slept 7 nights with more than one living thing in bed with her…she was a trooper.  We got up early and headed on home.
 
We had an amazing time and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest.  I never did the exact numbers on our expenses, but we stayed 8 nights, 9 days in beautiful places and did amazing things.  We figured we saved about $1600 in airfare costs and with the car rental, hotels, food, and play money, there’s no way we spent more than $1500.  The great thing is that this won’t be the last free trip we take.

Thanks, WorldWanderlusting!

Posted in Central America, Cheap Honeymoons, Guest Post | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Starwood SPG Credit Card Offer

Posted on August 7, 2012 by wpengine

We’ve posted time and time again about this card.  Here are a few great posts to review

In my opinion this is the most valuable offer for a hotel credit card that I’ve ever seen.  The bonus is worth 10 nights at Category 2 hotels.  With each night being valued at $150, this card will give you $1500 in value.

My Love for the Starwood Program

Because my wife and I were both able to hit the bonus last year I’ve definitely come to know this program.  In the past year I’ve stayed for free at:

  • Charleston, SC Aloft (2 Nights)
  • Salt Lake City, UT Sheraton (2 Nights)
  • Dallas, TX Element (1 Night)
  • Dornbirn, Austria Four Points (1 Night)
  • Bolzano, Italy Four Points (1 Night)
  • Padova, Italy Sheraton (2 Nights)
  • Milan, Italy Four Points (1 Night)
  • South San Francisco, CA Four Points (3 Nights)

Yep, you’ve counted that right, thirteen nights for free in the last year.  The best part is that we still have almost 60,000 Starpoints left over for future use.  My only regret is not staying longer at most of the properties.  You’ll see once your Starpoints account begins to grow with the bonus how exciting it can be.

The card is so useful to me that I even kept it and paid the annual fee this year.  Basically for every $3000 I spend on the card I can get 3000 Starpoints.  That many Starpoints is one free weekend night in a Category 2 hotel.  I value that at $150.  That’s almost 5% cash back for something that I love, travel!

How Many Starpoints Does Each Night Cost?

SPG Free Nights

I’ve always found it best to use the lower level redemptions to make the points last as long as possible.  Starwood has an abundance of Category 2 and 3 hotels all across the world.  You can do a category search (Use the button in the upper right hand corner to change the category) to see where your Starpoints will take you.

Remember to Subscribe to our blog by putting your email address in the upper right hand corner of the blog so you never miss another deal.

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Posted in Credit Cards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How to Get to Hawaii for Free

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Brad Christensen

Hawaii.  It has all of the allure of crystal blue water, pristine sandy beaches, and dense green jungles with none of the worry about foreign languages, currencies, and customs.  I think that’s why it is such a draw for so many people.  I’d love to convince you to try out some Central American and Carribbean gems, but if you’re already dead-set on Hawaii (and you have every reason to be), then let us at WorldWanderlusting help you get there the way we like to get to places: freely (or at least close to it).

Not all FF programs were created equally, and some present value options for specific departure locations and destinations.  I scoured the options and mapped them out in a spreadsheet with pros and cons so that I could rank them (that’s what any good equity analyst would do).

But before we get to that, I have to tease you.  After all, the idea here is to put the “lust” in “wanderlust.”  Let’s start with this video.  You don’t need to watch the whole thing, just get a taste.

Ahh… yes… you watched it all, didn’t you?  Mission accomplished, right? Your pulse quickened, didn’t it? That’s what we like to hear.  Now, things are about to get more exciting.

You know that the one thing we just can’t stand to hear people say is, “I’d love to travel, I just can’t afford it.”  Here’s how we eradicate that phrase – I have two solid options for you to get to Hawaii from the mainland US for free or close to it.  As you probably already know, what we like to do at WorldWanderlusting is show you how you can take advantage of bonus offers and promotions to build an arsenal of frequent flyer miles and points that will help you combat the monotony of life.

After reviewing the available programs and the bonus point promotions help you get them, I’d recommend these three options: 1) The United MileagePlus Explorer Card and 2) the American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card.

Here’s how I laid it out:

 

RT to Hawaii with Frequent Flyer Miles
Airline Lowest Mile Redemption Pros   Get them
Chase Ultimate Rewards Points as cash ~40,000 All points from one card/Reclaim   miles as you travel/Ultimate flexibility Ink Classic® Business Card Or Chase Sapphire PreferredSM
US Airways 40,000 Get all points from one card/No minimum spend/5k mile discount with card The US Airways Premier World MasterCard®
Delta 40,000 Flies to all   islands/Relative value for Skymiles American Express(R) Premier Rewards Gold Card
American 35,000 Lowest   redemption/Good from American hubs 15
United 40,000 Flies to all   islands/Good from United hubs United MileagePlus Explorer Card
Hawaiian Air 40,000 No blackout dates/All islands Hawaiian Air
Alaska Air 40,000 Lots of   availability/Good from Delta hubs Alaska Air
Allegiant N/A  as little as $318 Cheap prices from Allegiant hubs – LAS, LAX/Could buy vouchers www.allegiantair.com
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Posted in Chase, Cheap Honeymoons, Credit Cards | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Brand New Ink Plus Business Credit Card from Chase

Posted on August 3, 2012 by wpengine

For those of you salivating at the thought of a new credit card on the market, here it is.  Chase has released a brand new credit card very similar to the Ink Bold.  The only difference between the two is the Ink Bold is a charge card (meaning you have to pay it off every month) and the Ink Plus℠ Business Card is a credit card.  Either way it is a ticket to 50,000 Ultimate rewards if you can swing the spending requirement.

Bonus: 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points after your first purchase.  Then you get another 25,000 as a bonus once you’ve spent $10,000 on the card within the first three months of having the card.

Point Earning: Earn 5x the points per $1 when spent at office supply stores, cellular phones, landlines, internet, and cable TV services.  Earn 2x the points per $1 with money spent at gas stations and money spent directly at hotels.  Earn 1 point per $1 on everything else.

No limit to the amount of points that you can earn.  The sky is the limit.  If your business buys lots of things from Staples, or Office Max, this is a great card because you will accumulate points very rapidly for dollars spent at those stores.

Point Using:  The points that you get from this card are Chase Ultimate Rewards.  They can be transferred on a 1:1 ratio to British Airways, United Airlines, Southwest, Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, and Korean Air.

You can also use the Ultimate Rewards like cash through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards booking tool.  The 50,000 bonus is worth $625 in airline tickets if bookable through their site.  Brad has a great post outlining how to book with Ultimate Rewards

Point Expiration: Chase Ultimate Rewards will never expire, however, you must transferred to the program of your choice before you cancel the card or you’ll forfeit the points left over.

Annual Fee: $0 for the first year.  $95 per year thereafter.

Foreign Transaction Fees: None.

Card Type: MasterCard– Business Credit Card.

Card Issuer: Chase Bank.

It is crazy how aggressive Chase is getting with their offers.  They continue to release top notch credit cards on the market and their bonuses are much more generous than other credit card issuers.  At some point they are going to slow down.

If you can swing the spending requirement, the Ink Plus℠ Business Card is incredible.  If you can’t meet the spending requirement I’d recommend you go with the Sapphire Preferred, where the spending requirement is much lower.

 

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Posted in Chase, Chase Ultimate Reward Points | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment