Weekend Blitz

We loved staying right in the center of the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires on our trip to Argentina. While there are many wonderful neighborhoods in BA (all with very different personalities), this area is considered by many to be the most affluent neighborhood in the city, filled with lavish homes and fancy shops and restaurants. The famous Recoleta Cemetery is also located in this area, so there’s plenty to see and do all around.

We booked with Hyatt Cash+Points for $125 + 10,000 points per night. Cash rates are easily in the $500+ range, so it makes redeeming points a very attractive offer.

We used a Suite Night Award and were booked into a [...]

When we arrived in Mendoza (after bussing over the Andes – see our review of our bus trip here), we took a cab to the Park Hyatt Mendoza. The front facade of the building is perfectly gorgeous and majestic, just like many of the other Park Hyatts we’ve visited (have I mentioned it’s my favorite hotel brand?!).

The 5-star hotel is a bit smaller than several other Park Hyatts, but it’s perfect for a small city like Mendoza. I really love how Park Hyatts stay true to the culture and history of the city and especially loved the restored 19th-century Spanish colonial façade.

The hotel lobby is grand and full of marble, with large, [...]

On the eve of Jeffrey’s & my big Asian Adventure, I wanted to spend some quality time with my mom before Jeffrey and I packed up and headed out for months.

Disclaimer: I’m an idiot and haven’t signed up for the referral to make any money off any of the below credit card offers. This is this genuine advice as I see things. I have both of the cards listed below, however, take my advice with caution: I’m far from an expert on financial/credit matters, but happy to help where I can!

My mom had just applied for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard over Thanksgiving, so she received the Companion Certificate in the mail in late December. A little more on the [...]

Hyatt Gold Passport’s Winter 2015 promo is now live. While the offers are targeted, all Hyatt Gold Passport members should be eligible for something:

Hyatt is offering targeted promotions this season, anywhere from 2,000 on up to 65,000 bonus points depending on the offer received. You’ll have to login to your Hyatt account to check the promo you’re eligible for, but here’s a glance at what’s going around:

Promo 1 “2KSTAY1B”: Earn 2,000 Hyatt Gold Passport® bonus points after your next eligible stay at any Hyatt hotel worldwide during our Stay More Play More promotion.

Promo 2 “5KSTAY2”: Earn [...]

As I’ve written about before, the Park Hyatt brand is my very favorite hotel group. In addition to celebrating several milestones at Park Hyatts, there’s nothing that makes you feel like a princess if not a stay at the Park Hyatt. Our recent stay at the brand new Park Hyatt New York was nothing short of luxurious and was the perfect home away from home while we celebrated our first anniversary. Just a block from Central Park and overlooking Carnegie Hall, the location – in the center of Midtown – is top notch.

This brand new building houses the Park Hyatt in the first 25 [...]

Back in June 2013, Hyatt and MGM announced a partnership that extends reciprocal benefits to the members of each other’s loyalty programs. In practice, this means that Hyatt Gold Passport Members will earn Hyatt points in addition to M life points aka “tier credits” when staying at any of the 12 MGM properties in Las Vegas. Similarly, MGM M life members will be able to earn M “tier credits” when staying at any Hyatt property worldwide.

The new partnership also rolled out the following status matching scheme, where members can receive reciprocal benefits:

Hyatt Reciprocity Chart:

Hyatt Gold Passport has announced a Fall 2014 promo that seems to be targeted, if you’re eligible you should receive an email:

For every 5 nights, you’ll get a one-time bonus, up to a max of 50,000 points –if you stay all 20 nights. If you’re able to max out the promotion and earn the full 50k points that’ll be enough for almost 2 nights at the Park Hyatt Maldives (pictured at the top). Here’s the earning chart:

Hyatt Midtown Atlanta – Hyatt Category 3 125 10th St NE, Atlanta, GA 30309 Award Redemption: 12,000 pts or 6,000 pts + $75 Normal rate: Varies b/t $179-$239 average around $219 + tax Hyatt Gold Passport Points return: 1.7 cents points – 2.7 cent/point = below average – average return

I booked a Standard King room about a week out using a corporate rate. The rate was appx 40% less than the standard daily rate at the time. In addition to the favorable rate, Hyatt was running a promo which gives 1,500 bonus points for Atlanta stays using the “ATL15” promo code. I think this promo has since expired.

We arrived at [...]

For those of you saying, “Enough already! How do you get started?” here’s a quick crash course on racking up the points required for a free trip. This is written from the perspective of someone with no frequent traveler points that is starting from scratch.

This is imperative to getting in on the free miles game. Start by reading our Credit Score Crash Course post here. This will give you an idea of what is behind your credit score.

Before going any further, figure out what you’re working with. Please don’t go to just any website for a credit report– there’s a reason [...]