ANA
will launch SEA – NRT via Boeing 787 Dreamliner starting Oct 1, 2012. Wow, I
checked the price at ITA Software and
got the coach price of $1268 of Nov 1, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
How do you fly to Tokyo with FIRSTCLASS for ONLY $1693
If I am asking you to pay a little bit over coach price but
offering you FIRSTCLASS, you may think I am mad. J
here is how.
1.
UAL is running a mile promotion of 40%
So, you buy 75,000 miles for only $1693
2.
Apply for Chase United Mileage Plus card
You will get 59,000 miles potentially http://firstclassforfree.blogspot.com/2012/05/how-to-max-out-my-united-visa-card.html
3.
Put together and book your award ticket
75k+59k=134k miles, great, go to ual.com and search
for your firstclass from your city to Tokyo with 130k. no brainer.
You might challenge me, the credit card consumes one hard
pull, so it's not only cost you $1673. Of course, isn’t it the goal of our hobby: spend coach, fly FIRSTCLASS?
Friday, September 21, 2012
You’ve been approved
I’ve been denied twice for Citi
AAdvanage business card. Now, persistence paid back. I’ve been approved this
time by mailed their Executive Office a letter below. I don’t recommend
everyone’s copycat as each case varies, however, you got the picture.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I hope all is well with you. I am writing to you to ask for your reconsideration of my Application ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx of Citi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx card.
CitiBank Executive Review Department
P.O. Box 6000
Sioux Falls, SD 57117
I hope all is well with you. I am writing to you to ask for your reconsideration of my Application ID: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx of Citi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx card.
I have a 30+ pages Experian credit report that shows
the below facts
1. All my accounts are in good standing since Day 1
2. There are quite a few credit inquires over the last 6 months, it
might sound a bit too many, but for my annually income ($xxx) and household
(>$xxxx), I think it’s pretty reasonable as we need to separate the personal
and business expense and each credit card has a hard limit that it’s not
possible to charge to one card for some expense at all.
I would like Citi to reconsider my
application
Thank you very much in advance,
Let me know any question you may have, you
can email me at xx@xx.com or call me at xxx.
Best Regards,
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Hyatt diamond member benefits review
I’ve completely my challenge of 12 nights within 60 days at
Hyatt and achieved my Diamond status until Feb 2014. Also, the 12 nights
credited me a total of ~40,000 points because I registered up to 65000points promotion . Here below is my personal experience of the benefits as
Diamond member vs the official statement here
During the last 12 nights, I’ve experienced the following
benefits and enjoy Japanese’s hospitality.
1.
Free breakfast in Regency Club
2.
Regency club cocktail party everyday 6pm to 8pm
3.
Free Gym/Swimming pool
4.
Free internet
5.
Welcome gift
6.
Surprise buffet breakfast voucher
7.
Apologies from Hyatt Sales manager for not being
able to upgrade me to a Suite
1.
Free breakfast in Regency Club
The breakfast is not as good as the buffet
which will cost you 2500 Japanese Yin, however, it’s good enough, you got
latte, fresh juice, bakery and variety of fruits. I didn’t eat there much as I
have to go to work earlier and prefer to have my breakfast in JR stations.
2.
Regency club cocktail party everyday 6pm to 8pm
All kind of beers, cocktails and wines, if
you know how expensive alcohol in Japan, you definitely appreciate the
benefits. It saved me at least 2000 Yin/day. J
3.
Free Gym/Swimming pool
4.
Free internet
I know, I know, just like Gym/swimming
pool, most of hotels here in America offers these free of charge. However,
everything you need to pay in Japan if you are a normal guest, say, 2000 Yin
for Gym, 300 Yin/day for Internet
5.
Welcome gift
As diamond member, I received fruits plate,
again, fruit in Japan is expensive, I took it as 1000 Yin at least
6.
Surprise buffet breakfast voucher
As long stay guest, I received one voucher
of Japanese style breakfast, 2500 Yin value.
7.
Apologies from Hyatt Sales manager for not being
able to upgrade me to a Suite
As diamond member, you have 4 times (up to
7 nights per stay) of free upgrade to a suite per year, however, the hotel I
stayed was at 80% capacity and the upgrade has been run out. The sales manager
personally apologized to me. The feeling of Japanese’s hospitality and being
important is PRICELESS.
In
a nutshell, Hyatt Diamond is definitely worth your pursuing it and once you
have it, you just can’t live without it.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
NCL Bahamas Cruise booking trick
I ended up booked two connection ocean view staterooms
for X'mas for our family (4 people, 2 adults and 2 children) for 3 nights Bahamas NCL
cruise with a total of $1459 including everything. If I were to book one ocean view statement
with 4 people, it would have cost us $1350. Essentially, I spent $100 more and got a “Suite”.
J
This is very nice deal as I kept my words to my wife with next cruise on “Suite” and
saved $1000+ and best of all, we have two bathrooms which doesn’t cause conflict in the morning, as I am
pretty sure the free-style cruise (food in particular) will keep each of your party a
bit longer in the bathroom in the morning. LOL.
I used Costco Travel to book and saved $80 more vs NCL and/or other travel agents which will likely get you a few thousands of miles. I like Costco Travel, their service and flex is nice, i managed to switch cred cards last time which helped me complete my spending requirement.Saturday, September 1, 2012
Planning X’mas Trip to Orlando and Bahamas and some tips /tricks
Essentially, after vacation, I do two things 1) read thru
email backlog 2) plan next vacation.
1.
Air flight
2.
Hotel stays
3.
Bahamas
4.
Disneyworld tickets
1.
Air flight
I want to take any opportunity to max Southwest companionpass, therefore, I booked via Southwest from SEAàMCO around 30k points per
person, not go great, for X’mas time, I am ok with that. I still leave 100k
points in my bank as I’ve confirmed you can get all 4 versions of those SW
cards, however, each app-o-rama, you can only apply one personal and one business from
Chase. This is the rule.
2.
Hotel stays
Club Carson’s 144k promotion was so great, that I
managed to get all the nights in Orlando free. You can match their Gold status
by sending them an email with your other hotel’s elite status.
3.
Bahamas
We plan to book a suite statement for a 3-nights cruise
this time, for 4 people, like my family, it’s around $2700, it’s much cheaper
than 7 nights, which normally charge $7000. Last time we cruised Alaska, we
booked Balcony statement, but it was still too small for people >220 lbs like me. :-)
If only you and your partner, I will highly recommend
you wait for the last minute deal, normally at least 30% off an inner statement, as there are too many cruise companies in Caribbean
area. For us, I don’t want to take the risk.
4.
Disneyworld tickets
Unlike Disneyland in CA which you can use eBay to
sell your tickets for the remaining 2-3 days to other family after you buy 5-6
days to compensate the expense, there is no way for Disneyworld and we have to
purchase almost the list price of the tickets.
For
Ebay trick for Disneyland, you need to sell your 2-3 days first on eBay,
then buy the 5-6 days and after you’ve done the trip, use 1day expedite mail
service to the other family. If you look at eBay, you can find tons of people
doing this, it works just fine, it saves you 50% money at least as a seller. I’ve
been doing this for the last a few years, ping me if you are not following.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)