I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

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Didn't you post you are staying at Hilton Tokyo Bay? Did you decide to get a Hilton card? Which one?

I originally was thinking of Sheraton but now im wondering.......
Yes we are staying at the Hilton. Dh and I both got Hilton cards: him a Hilton honors and me a Hilton biz card. With those points and points we’ve earned from other stays we have enough to cover a little over 5/6 nights and we are staying in a king celebrio ocean room. We also get breakfast included since my card gives me gold status. We don’t really plan to take advantage of breakfast though since we’ll be in the parks
 
I just checked and there aren't any APH rates available right now for your dates. You have a better rate right now with the SMSM rate than whats on the website. I would just keep checking to see if an APH rate becomes available.

Thank you sooo much, you've been a big help!
 
Yes we are staying at the Hilton. Dh and I both got Hilton cards: him a Hilton honors and me a Hilton biz card. With those points and points we’ve earned from other stays we have enough to cover a little over 5/6 nights and we are staying in a king celebrio ocean room. We also get breakfast included since my card gives me gold status. We don’t really plan to take advantage of breakfast though since we’ll be in the parks

The free breakfast is a big deal. I wouldn't skip it. You can get up 30 minutes early and enjoy something for free that you would pay through the nose to get. If it's free count us in 100%!
 
The free breakfast is a big deal. I wouldn't skip it. You can get up 30 minutes early and enjoy something for free that you would pay through the nose to get. If it's free count us in 100%!
Lol I’d rather take the 30 minutes of sleep. I could see Dh getting up for it though. I plan to be up around 6:30 or so already just to get to the park an hour early. I guess that depends how early it opens
 


Which Chase account are you looking at? If you are going for both the checking and savings bonus, you will have cash tied up for a bit. My $10k is sitting there making a whopping $.08 a month until I can reduce it to $1.5k in 3 months.

And to think I was planning to do this and leave the money there for a while anyways just to build more of a "relationship " with Chase. But not at that rate. I'd rather it go back to Discover asap. Esp that they sent me another offer.

Other than @SouthFayetteFan, has anyone seen Citi match AA points first hand? This chat and sm thing is for the birds. They are completely useless and every answer is different.

This is what worries me about applying for this card. Would rather just find an offer from them with a decent signup bonus.
 
Curious about this. I know there are a few other feds on this board also. Is it common for people to use the govt rate for personal use? I have talked about this with DH every few years to try to get him to use it, but he refuses saying it is against the law to use it for personal use. Just had the conversation again a few days ago. I know many people do, but just wondering how other people see it.

There are certain government rates out there that require it to be business use and then there are others that are for leisure travel. It depends on what the hotel is offering. It will sometimes state the conditions in the rate details. A lot of hotels are flexible in how they handle this. Some are fairly strict. I don't think it is against the law, per se unless you are deliberately going against the policy - such as if a hotel is offering a rate that they are billing to the government agency that you work for.

Having had a military ID in the past, we used gov/mil rates in some situations. Some will specify that you must have a copy of orders to use the rate. Others will mention RR or leisure use.

Years ago, gov rates were usually a substantial discount on the room. Now, not so much, if they are available. In the past with a military ID, I've stayed in a room at half of the regular rate - now sometimes its more costly for the gov rate as the government sets a per diem and they will actually base the rate on this.

The hotel in question had no gov rates available for any date I put in. I always check all the rates and find that an advance purchase or senior rate or AAA usually gives me the best bang for the buck.

And, gov rates are not just for Feds - state employees and or military usually qualify or even have their own rate.
 
Idk if you’re interested but we booked our flights with ANA using URs and got an amazing redemption rate. We transferred our URs to Virgin Atlantic and booked through them. Our business class seats were half as many miles than if we would’ve flown with United

Yes, but award travel on ANA has to be booked round trip.
 


How do you look them up on the Loews site?

On the Loews site after clicking book your stay, there is a section to add codes such as AAA, AARP, etc. Click on the one that says promotions and type in APH

Sorry I wasn't around to respond. Glad @vanjust14 was able to help you! There's a thread on the universal forum that has links and where people post their ap rate questions. It's a good thread to follow if you're watching for P discounts. Sorry, not sure how to link to it.
 
Curious about this. I know there are a few other feds on this board also. Is it common for people to use the govt rate for personal use? I have talked about this with DH every few years to try to get him to use it, but he refuses saying it is against the law to use it for personal use. Just had the conversation again a few days ago. I know many people do, but just wondering how other people see it.

There are certain government rates out there that require it to be business use and then there are others that are for leisure travel. It depends on what the hotel is offering. It will sometimes state the conditions in the rate details. A lot of hotels are flexible in how they handle this. Some are fairly strict. I don't think it is against the law, per se unless you are deliberately going against the policy - such as if a hotel is offering a rate that they are billing to the government agency that you work for.

Having had a military ID in the past, we used gov/mil rates in some situations. Some will specify that you must have a copy of orders to use the rate. Others will mention RR or leisure use.

Years ago, gov rates were usually a substantial discount on the room. Now, not so much, if they are available. In the past with a military ID, I've stayed in a room at half of the regular rate - now sometimes its more costly for the gov rate as the government sets a per diem and they will actually base the rate on this.

The hotel in question had no gov rates available for any date I put in. I always check all the rates and find that an advance purchase or senior rate or AAA usually gives me the best bang for the buck.

And, gov rates are not just for Feds - state employees and or military usually qualify or even have their own rate.

I concur. I understand the ethical conundrum of not wanting to use the rate if you're not on official business, I've dealt with that before. But it's truly on a case-by-case basis. @WVMomof3, you might direct him to the horse's mouth: Who is Eligible for Marriott's Government Rates? Marriott for years has explicitly stated in their T&C that federal government employees are welcome to stay at their properties on the official government rate even if it's for leisure travel. Now, I always double-check the terms of the rate for the specific hotel I'm booking, because the hotel can disallow leisure use of the rate if they so choose. It will be in the terms of the government rate at the time you book - you won't be caught by surprise. I've even had hotels ask me at check-in if I'm there for business or leisure, and I'm always honest and answer leisure. It's never been an issue.

From a legal perspective, you are free and clear to use the discount as well. I'm not sure what your DH needs to see to be convinced that it's legal, but this has been reaffirmed by ethics and OGC offices government-wide over and over again - we are allowed to take advantage of discounts offered to all federal employees as a group, provided that the discount is ordinarily always available and we are not being offered the discount on the spot as a result of our standing as a federal government employee. A quick Google search brought multiple results affirming the law, but here's one such link from USDA: USDA Office of Ethics. This is another one from OGE, Office of Government Ethics. The writing clearly states that government employees are allowed to use the government rate for personal use as long as the hotel (or even car rental or other things as well) affirm that it's ok with them (but obviously you cannot claim to be on government travel just to get the rate).

Other hotel chains are not quite as explicitly government-friendly as Marriott. When I'm booking a cash rate, I always choose government first, and read the terms. Often, it's not allowed, and I book a regular rate. As I recall, Best Western is usually very solid in allowing the discount, but the rate is often worse than the best available public rate. Hilton is very hit-or-miss. Wyndham and Hyatt rarely allowed it. It's been several years since I've booked a non-Marriott hotel on a cash rate thanks to churning, so chances are a lot of this stuff has changed.

But yes - show him the legal links! No need to pay more than is necessary.
 
Are any of our friends here traveling in New Zealand now by chance? Absolutely sickened by what happened. I just don't know what to say anymore, except certain social media platforms have destroyed the world.

I keep on saving my MR points for an eventual trip to Australia and New Zealand. I will get there someday!
 
There are certain government rates out there that require it to be business use and then there are others that are for leisure travel. It depends on what the hotel is offering. It will sometimes state the conditions in the rate details. A lot of hotels are flexible in how they handle this. Some are fairly strict. I don't think it is against the law, per se unless you are deliberately going against the policy - such as if a hotel is offering a rate that they are billing to the government agency that you work for.

Having had a military ID in the past, we used gov/mil rates in some situations. Some will specify that you must have a copy of orders to use the rate. Others will mention RR or leisure use.

Years ago, gov rates were usually a substantial discount on the room. Now, not so much, if they are available. In the past with a military ID, I've stayed in a room at half of the regular rate - now sometimes its more costly for the gov rate as the government sets a per diem and they will actually base the rate on this.

The hotel in question had no gov rates available for any date I put in. I always check all the rates and find that an advance purchase or senior rate or AAA usually gives me the best bang for the buck.

And, gov rates are not just for Feds - state employees and or military usually qualify or even have their own rate.

I concur. I understand the ethical conundrum of not wanting to use the rate if you're not on official business, I've dealt with that before. But it's truly on a case-by-case basis. @WVMomof3, you might direct him to the horse's mouth: Who is Eligible for Marriott's Government Rates? Marriott for years has explicitly stated in their T&C that federal government employees are welcome to stay at their properties on the official government rate even if it's for leisure travel. Now, I always double-check the terms of the rate for the specific hotel I'm booking, because the hotel can disallow leisure use of the rate if they so choose. It will be in the terms of the government rate at the time you book - you won't be caught by surprise. I've even had hotels ask me at check-in if I'm there for business or leisure, and I'm always honest and answer leisure. It's never been an issue.

From a legal perspective, you are free and clear to use the discount as well. I'm not sure what your DH needs to see to be convinced that it's legal, but this has been reaffirmed by ethics and OGC offices government-wide over and over again - we are allowed to take advantage of discounts offered to all federal employees as a group, provided that the discount is ordinarily always available and we are not being offered the discount on the spot as a result of our standing as a federal government employee. A quick Google search brought multiple results affirming the law, but here's one such link from USDA: USDA Office of Ethics. This is another one from OGE, Office of Government Ethics. The writing clearly states that government employees are allowed to use the government rate for personal use as long as the hotel (or even car rental or other things as well) affirm that it's ok with them (but obviously you cannot claim to be on government travel just to get the rate).

Other hotel chains are not quite as explicitly government-friendly as Marriott. When I'm booking a cash rate, I always choose government first, and read the terms. Often, it's not allowed, and I book a regular rate. As I recall, Best Western is usually very solid in allowing the discount, but the rate is often worse than the best available public rate. Hilton is very hit-or-miss. Wyndham and Hyatt rarely allowed it. It's been several years since I've booked a non-Marriott hotel on a cash rate thanks to churning, so chances are a lot of this stuff has changed.

But yes - show him the legal links! No need to pay more than is necessary.


Thanks, I have showed him what Marriott states before. He says it does not matter if a company offers it, he is not allowed to show his badge for a personal discount and that is that. After I posted last night I found this other website that talked about it and half the comments were like my DH saying it is absolutely against your code of ethics and the other half said, no it is not. I read him all the comments and he was still in the camp of Yes, it violated the code of ethics. I will look at your Ethic links above and see what they say. I don't think I am changing his mind though.

ETA funny, the first page talks about cell phone discounts and that is what I brought up last night, that we get an employer discount with AT&T and he didn't have a problem with that.
 
Thanks, I have showed him what Marriott states before. He says it does not matter if a company offers it, he is not allowed to show his badge for a personal discount and that is that. After I posted last night I found this other website that talked about it and half the comments were like my DH saying it is absolutely against your code of ethics and the other half said, no it is not. I read him all the comments and he was still in the camp of Yes, it violated the code of ethics. I will look at your Ethic links above and see what they say. I don't think I am changing his mind though.

ETA funny, the first page talks about cell phone discounts and that is what I brought up last night, that we get an employer discount with AT&T and he didn't have a problem with that.

The AT&T discount is allowable under the exact same law that allows hotel discounts. Verizon has one too. And you generally don't have to show your badge to get the government rate at a hotel. I've never been asked, anyway (but they are within their rights to ask for proof).

I totally get where he's coming from. They drill in us to not wear our badges when out and about off the clock. I put my badge on when I walk in the front door in the morning, and take it off after I exit. I don't want any suspicion. I don't want even the appearance of impropriety. I'm an accountant for an agency, and the specific work that I do also intersects heavily with appropriation law, so almost all of my work is scrutinized by our legal office. As a result, I look at everything I do - especially in fiduciary matters - with a heavy legal reasoning. It's drilled into me now. All of that to say, I researched the hotel discount inside and out. It's legal. If he still refuses to do it even when it's explicitly allowed by federal law, there's nothing else you can do about that.
 
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Ah ha, I found you, I thought I read someone asking about a SW AF refund. I don't remember if you got an answer but I just saw a DP today on r/churning getting an AF refund outside of the 30 days.

https://www.reddit.com/r/churning/c...central_thread_week_of_march_14_2019/eiinzez/

It's not guaranteed, but encouraging. Have to weigh if not getting the refund is worth still cancelling I guess. Although they should be able to reactivate it if it doesn't come through, I think. Then at least you'd have a shot at next years anniversary points before cancelling (if it doesn't throw off any other plans).

Edit: oh, forgot, there's a small bit of language in the r/churning post - just a warning for our more genteel folks before they click. (just a 3 letter word, I'll be honest, took me a couple reads before I even noticed it... I am not amongst the genteel crowd... :p)
SM worked to close my SWA cc! Thanks for the info- I can't recall b/c the info was taken off my page when it got closed but payment of AF was due in a couple of days,and I think it might have been issued more than 30 days ago strictly speaking(don't quote me b/c I can't remember exactly now) but they refunded the $99 AF.
 
FYI - Southwest extended their schedule this morning for flights through November 2nd, 2019.

Here is my usual Historical Southwest Release Dates (for planning purposes) comment:
  • NEXT RELEASE: 5/23/19 - travel through January 5, 2020
  • 3/15/19 - travel through November 2nd, 2019
  • 1/31/19 - travel through October 1st, 2019
  • 11/15/18 - travel through August 5th, 2019
  • 9/27/18 - travel through June 8th, 2019
  • 8/30/18 - travel through April 7th, 2019
  • 6/28/18 - travel through March 6th, 2019
  • 5/31/18 - travel through January 6th, 2019
  • 3/8/18 - travel through November 3rd, 2018
  • 2/15/18 - travel through October 1st, 2018
  • 11/2/17 - travel through August 6th, 2018
  • 8/28/17 - travel through June 1st, 2018
  • 7/27/17 - travel through April 6th, 2018
  • 6/22/17 - travel through March 7th, 2018
  • 5/18/17 - travel through January 7th, 2018
*The next release may be of particular interest since it covers the holiday season!

This chart could be useful to approximate when your travel time may become available for upcoming releases, however they don't always follow the exact same pattern (as you can see above).
 
FYI - Southwest extended their schedule this morning for flights through November 2nd, 2019.

Here is my usual Historical Southwest Release Dates (for planning purposes) comment:
  • NEXT RELEASE: 5/23/19 - travel through January 5, 2020
  • 3/15/19 - travel through November 2nd, 2019
  • 1/31/19 - travel through October 1st, 2019
  • 11/15/18 - travel through August 5th, 2019
  • 9/27/18 - travel through June 8th, 2019
  • 8/30/18 - travel through April 7th, 2019
  • 6/28/18 - travel through March 6th, 2019
  • 5/31/18 - travel through January 6th, 2019
  • 3/8/18 - travel through November 3rd, 2018
  • 2/15/18 - travel through October 1st, 2018
  • 11/2/17 - travel through August 6th, 2018
  • 8/28/17 - travel through June 1st, 2018
  • 7/27/17 - travel through April 6th, 2018
  • 6/22/17 - travel through March 7th, 2018
  • 5/18/17 - travel through January 7th, 2018
*The next release may be of particular interest since it covers the holiday season!

This chart could be useful to approximate when your travel time may become available for upcoming releases, however they don't always follow the exact same pattern (as you can see above).
:thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2
 
Update on my flight change that required me to fly in a day early and find a hotel. I have points with IHG, Hilton and Bonvoy. IHG wanted 60k points which was too high for a bed to crash for a few hours in New York. Hilton wanted 80k points for a $300 something per night room. I know they are generally low value but when I know I can get a $1300 a night over water bungalow in the Maldives for just 95k points there was no way i was pulling the trigger. Imagine my surprise when I found a Residence Inn for 35k points post category changes in NYC! I snagged that and when I get my next FN very, I will see if I can switch for the very and get the points back.
 
Are any of our friends here traveling in New Zealand now by chance? Absolutely sickened by what happened. I just don't know what to say anymore, except certain social media platforms have destroyed the world.

I keep on saving my MR points for an eventual trip to Australia and New Zealand. I will get there someday!
:sad1::grouphug:
 
Update on my flight change that required me to fly in a day early and find a hotel. I have points with IHG, Hilton and Bonvoy. IHG wanted 60k points which was too high for a bed to crash for a few hours in New York. Hilton wanted 80k points for a $300 something per night room. I know they are generally low value but when I know I can get a $1300 a night over water bungalow in the Maldives for just 95k points there was no way i was pulling the trigger. Imagine my surprise when I found a Residence Inn for 35k points post category changes in NYC! I snagged that and when I get my next FN very, I will see if I can switch for the very and get the points back.

Is this the RI Midtown East? Definitely curious to hear your thoughts after you stay! I'm sure we'll be using it too, since so many other Marriott properties in NYC went up to Cat 6.
 
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