It is shitty. Tried to book plane tickets today and ended up having to call and book over the phone because the site kept giving me an error when I was ready to check out. It’s just really clunky and you’re right, hotel prices are almost always higher on the site.
The chase portal can definitely be slow but I've never had issues booking probably 10+ flights through it. I like that they let me use the total value of however many points and then pay the rest in cash if needed. I mostly fly delta and their pay with points and cash option is a rip off.
I stayed at the Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris the week of Christmas. I booked the room for 25-30k points a night, depending on the day of the week. The standard room was valued at ~$1k a night so I was happy with the redemption. I had emailed the concierge before we left letting her know if was our anniversary and saying “anything you can do to make our stay more enjoyable would be appreciated.” When we arrived, they upgraded us to a deluxe room for our stay, which went for $1700 a night. So now my redemption is like an absurd 6 cents a point. Team Hyatt for life.
Staying at the Park Hyatt Zurich (for now) in February end for a couple of days. The only "issue" is that it's more of a residential adjacent neighborhood and with only a couple of nights, I'm thinking of staying closer to the old town to make it easier.
I’m jealous. I stayed at the Hyatt Regency when I was there. That hotel looks legit and it’s in a great location.
Side story, went to a super nice restaurant in Ubud, Bali. Russell Simmons was a table over while he was running from rape allegations & avoiding extradition. Anyways, we're getting all this free stuff. Random appetizers, drinks, etc. Seemingly no one else was getting what we were getting. We're just loving it. Then the end of the night comes and the entire staff surrounds our table and loudly sings happy birthday to my wife. She's super embarrassed. Everyone is staring. Singing like we're at Applebee's or something. Forgot that I put a note that it was her birthday when I made the reservation on Resy. Think I was just looking for a nicer table vs song
Hey dudes - in the market for a personal Amex Gold, looking for the 90k welcome offer. Lmk if someone may have that as a referral
Have a 150k Amex point referral for the personal platinum card, lmk if anyone is interested. Also 120k for the business platinum
I was wrong on this. Apparently that wallet just shows miscellaneous credits, such as credits for refunds or if a price dropped after booking. I noticed my credit still hadn't shown up so checked my normal Capital One account and looked under the Benefits tab under the Rewards for my Venture X Card. There's a box that shows your annual travel credit.
Starting to regret this dumbass Marriott Bonvoy shit "5 free nights" but I can't find a damn hotel that qualifies... in fucking OCALA and LEESBURG, FL, christ, who goes there why is it a popular destination?
Which card did you get? I know when I applied for the Mileage Explorer the screen said they need to review my app further or something? I never got any confirmation of approval, but it popped up in my chase portal a couple days later. Then I received the card 7-10 days later? It was real odd because every other credit card app I’ve done I received instant approval and the card would arrive within a week.
Same one. United Explorer. I never received an email, but I don’t remember a screen saying it would take longer. I think I got a notification on the screen saying approved.
Here you go EDIT: Removed link, hit 90,000 in referral points thanks to this thread. Maximum is 100k in a given year so wanted to make sure the wealth is shared
Only have 80K reward offer. Is it just random? I got the 150K offer. I'm a consistent spender on the card. I've checked every time someone asks and never have it.
Would a same day flight upgrade to first class qualify for the “incidental fee” or whatever it is called on a lot of these cards? I know typically buying a beer on flight or a bag fee easily qualifies. Never tried it with a first class upgrade before.
Folks routinely use AMEX's airline credit for post-fare seat selection, if that's what you're getting at...
AS folks also tell of success using it to upgrade a cheap flight, then canceling the flight and having the full amount returned to their wallet (AS' credit thing)
i do the gift card purchase to drop ticket price to ~200 then it'll reimburse the ticket purchase its annoying but works
caveat emptor on that. Seat upgrades is term with different possible meanings. Like bellotibold, check FT for DPs on the exact type of purchase you are considering. It can even fail if you use the wrong purchase avenue (e.g. bought via agent over the phone vs in app), despite it being a would-be valid purchase type. He even said "post fare seat selection" which may not be the same as what you mean when you said "seat upgrade". It's definitely not the same as what comrade static was referring to.
So if you have a 500 ticket, you buy 300 or $301 worth of gift cards then buy a ticket for $199 amex /301 giftcards. Then you'll get a 199 refund
On this topic: Since I'm not flying these days, I just hit $1300 in United Travel Bank with $200 more to add this year.
I moved a flight back a couple days on Delta and the later flight was ~$150 more expensive. The airline credit was reimbursed for that.
I canceled my Platinum in September. I just received the Uber cash benefit for the fifth time since cancelling. $95 so far. This is how I win.