Lain
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2014
- Messages
- 9,372
Hey there!
Things have been a little quiet on the credit card front – which isn’t a bad thing @SouthFayetteFan!
So that’s partly why I haven’t been on much lately. I’m keeping on, churning on, but I find myself without an MSR at the moment! I have a roadmap of what I want to do with our wallets into next year, but I’m just waiting for some pieces to fall into place. Meanwhile, the coronavirus situation has also been a bit disruptive to our lives and work. We’ve changed some routines, tried to enjoy the beautiful weather we’ve been having as much as we can, but avoiding a lot of social gatherings, staying home a little more, and fortunately we’re all still healthy.
I've also been making some redemptions, which is probably even more exciting than earning the points, even as I watch our balances dwindle and resolve to build them back up.
We have our trip to Maui at the end of this month. I weep watching fares drop almost daily. I purchased tickets on United using the Chase portal when prices were – what I considered – good. They’ve dropped another $50 per person, each way since then, and I’m out about 25k UR in value. I know United is waiving change fees, but I don’t really have another trip we’d take this year. I wish the entire airline industry were as consumer friendly as Southwest. I guess we’ll see how the situation unfolds and if we’ll be forced to change our plans. We’re otherwise a bit booked up into next year.
Speaking of which, some of you may remember we’re making a trip to Tokyo over Thanksgiving. I’ve been feeling some remorse over redeeming 80k Hilton points/night to stay at the Hilton Tokyo Bay when cash rates are averaging about $275/night (0.34 cpp), even if the hotel is conveniently right next to the Tokyo Disney Resort. The one positive thing I’ll say about the coronavirus is it’s creating a lot of good travel opportunities, so I went shopping around. Last week, I noticed the Tokyo Station Hotel, part of the Small Luxury Hotels brand that’s bookable through Hyatt for 25k Hyatt points/night, had award availability open up for the second half of our week in Tokyo. Thankfully, DW’s Hyatt SUB had just posted and we transferred over 17k UR to top off the points needed for this redemption. This is a hotel we seriously considered in my initial search, but award availability was almost nonexistent and none for the dates we needed (it’s a smaller property with only 150 rooms). But it’s a beautiful hotel in a grand historic train station that’s across from the Imperial Palace and convenient to pretty much the rest of Tokyo, and just a train ride to TDR or NRT. DW, who’s traveled to Japan for work and passed through Tokyo Station many times, loves the old world architecture and, more importantly, convenience. A delicious looking breakfast is included for two guests with our award stay, and their concierge is supposedly top notch (although we doubt we’ll try for Sukiyabashi Jiro reservations, sadly). The downside is their standard room that’s available for award stays is rather small, and we had to book as 2 adults and reach out to the hotel to add our DD. The hotel has been very accommodating. It was also a much more palatable redemption at 2.1 cpp. So that’s that! We’ve got 3 nights at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills (another Hyatt property for 30k Hyatt points/night) and then 3 nights at the Tokyo Station Hotel in late November, and I canceled our Hilton Tokyo Bay reservation and got 240k Hilton points back.
I’m a little disappointed we won’t be able to fit in a few days in Kyoto on this trip. It’s one of my wife’s and my favorite places in the world that we’d love for our daughter to experience. But such is the dilemma of a parent trying to stick to their kiddo’s school schedule. It’s a shame because Kyoto in the fall when the foliage changes color is supposed to be spectacular. But that got me thinking about my kiddo’s spring break next year, which just so happens to coincide with peak cherry blossom season…
I’m going to be straight with you all if you couldn’t already tell. I’m a bit of a hotel snob. I also love to maximize the value of my redemptions. Many of you know I’ve been eyeing the Park Hyatt Kyoto since before it opened at the end of October last year. It’s the newest Park Hyatt and is situated in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, which is steeped in history and just a short walk to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Yasaka Pagoda, Gion, among other UNESCO World Heritage sites. And it’s going for over $1,700/night next spring. The PH Kyoto is a steal at 30k Hyatt points/night (5.67 cpp!). I knew if I wanted to do this, I had to book the PH Kyoto before March 22 when Hyatt implements off-peak/standard/peak pricing. Because sakura season is the most popular time to visit Japan, I fully expect peak pricing to apply; and since Hyatt’s peak pricing is supposed to be based on geographic market, all their properties in Japan will probably be hit. Hyatt’s reservations calendar opens up 13 months in advance, and I was stalking it obsessively, trying to put together a few days when we could enjoy the sights around Kyoto and make day trips to Arashiyama and Nara. I transferred 120k UR over to Hyatt and got 4 nights in late March-early April. Those dates have since sold out.
You know what’s crazy? The same dates at the PH Kyoto this year, and the days around it, are wide open – have been for at least a week – and we’re just weeks away from peak cherry blossom season. These dates were not available just a month ago. People must be canceling (even though Japan is only at a Level 2 travel advisory).
The hitch with booking the PH Kyoto with points is it only works if you search for 2 adults, since that’s what their standard king and twin rooms accommodate. If you search for more than 2 guests, the PH Kyoto is grayed out from the search results. If you’re a Hyatt Globalist, you could try applying a suite upgrade, but the property is small with only 70 rooms and a few suites. I reached out to the hotel about adding DD, and they were willing to accommodate us because they were fully booked but did mention the room is not usually intended for 3 people, including any children over 5. If this didn’t work out, I was looking at booking the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto over by the Kamogawa River, but I’d probably be paying peak points prices and exhorbitant resort fees, and staying 5 nights just to get the fifth night free. Thank goodness I got in before the PH Kyoto sold out?
We’ll bookend this spring trip with a night in Osaka the day we arrive to experience the night markets, and two nights at the end to visit Universal Studios Japan, where Super Nintendo World should be open by then. I’m eyeing the Conrad Osaka to use my FNC and liberated Hilton points, but Hilton’s calendar doesn’t open for the dates we need for a few more weeks; or maybe we’ll settle on another option closer to Osaka Station. Flights won’t open up for another few weeks either.
So that’s what I’ve been up to. Hopefully the coronavirus situation doesn’t get too bad and is resolved sooner than later.
Things have been a little quiet on the credit card front – which isn’t a bad thing @SouthFayetteFan!
So that’s partly why I haven’t been on much lately. I’m keeping on, churning on, but I find myself without an MSR at the moment! I have a roadmap of what I want to do with our wallets into next year, but I’m just waiting for some pieces to fall into place. Meanwhile, the coronavirus situation has also been a bit disruptive to our lives and work. We’ve changed some routines, tried to enjoy the beautiful weather we’ve been having as much as we can, but avoiding a lot of social gatherings, staying home a little more, and fortunately we’re all still healthy.
I've also been making some redemptions, which is probably even more exciting than earning the points, even as I watch our balances dwindle and resolve to build them back up.
We have our trip to Maui at the end of this month. I weep watching fares drop almost daily. I purchased tickets on United using the Chase portal when prices were – what I considered – good. They’ve dropped another $50 per person, each way since then, and I’m out about 25k UR in value. I know United is waiving change fees, but I don’t really have another trip we’d take this year. I wish the entire airline industry were as consumer friendly as Southwest. I guess we’ll see how the situation unfolds and if we’ll be forced to change our plans. We’re otherwise a bit booked up into next year.
Speaking of which, some of you may remember we’re making a trip to Tokyo over Thanksgiving. I’ve been feeling some remorse over redeeming 80k Hilton points/night to stay at the Hilton Tokyo Bay when cash rates are averaging about $275/night (0.34 cpp), even if the hotel is conveniently right next to the Tokyo Disney Resort. The one positive thing I’ll say about the coronavirus is it’s creating a lot of good travel opportunities, so I went shopping around. Last week, I noticed the Tokyo Station Hotel, part of the Small Luxury Hotels brand that’s bookable through Hyatt for 25k Hyatt points/night, had award availability open up for the second half of our week in Tokyo. Thankfully, DW’s Hyatt SUB had just posted and we transferred over 17k UR to top off the points needed for this redemption. This is a hotel we seriously considered in my initial search, but award availability was almost nonexistent and none for the dates we needed (it’s a smaller property with only 150 rooms). But it’s a beautiful hotel in a grand historic train station that’s across from the Imperial Palace and convenient to pretty much the rest of Tokyo, and just a train ride to TDR or NRT. DW, who’s traveled to Japan for work and passed through Tokyo Station many times, loves the old world architecture and, more importantly, convenience. A delicious looking breakfast is included for two guests with our award stay, and their concierge is supposedly top notch (although we doubt we’ll try for Sukiyabashi Jiro reservations, sadly). The downside is their standard room that’s available for award stays is rather small, and we had to book as 2 adults and reach out to the hotel to add our DD. The hotel has been very accommodating. It was also a much more palatable redemption at 2.1 cpp. So that’s that! We’ve got 3 nights at the Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills (another Hyatt property for 30k Hyatt points/night) and then 3 nights at the Tokyo Station Hotel in late November, and I canceled our Hilton Tokyo Bay reservation and got 240k Hilton points back.
I’m a little disappointed we won’t be able to fit in a few days in Kyoto on this trip. It’s one of my wife’s and my favorite places in the world that we’d love for our daughter to experience. But such is the dilemma of a parent trying to stick to their kiddo’s school schedule. It’s a shame because Kyoto in the fall when the foliage changes color is supposed to be spectacular. But that got me thinking about my kiddo’s spring break next year, which just so happens to coincide with peak cherry blossom season…
I’m going to be straight with you all if you couldn’t already tell. I’m a bit of a hotel snob. I also love to maximize the value of my redemptions. Many of you know I’ve been eyeing the Park Hyatt Kyoto since before it opened at the end of October last year. It’s the newest Park Hyatt and is situated in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto, which is steeped in history and just a short walk to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Yasaka Pagoda, Gion, among other UNESCO World Heritage sites. And it’s going for over $1,700/night next spring. The PH Kyoto is a steal at 30k Hyatt points/night (5.67 cpp!). I knew if I wanted to do this, I had to book the PH Kyoto before March 22 when Hyatt implements off-peak/standard/peak pricing. Because sakura season is the most popular time to visit Japan, I fully expect peak pricing to apply; and since Hyatt’s peak pricing is supposed to be based on geographic market, all their properties in Japan will probably be hit. Hyatt’s reservations calendar opens up 13 months in advance, and I was stalking it obsessively, trying to put together a few days when we could enjoy the sights around Kyoto and make day trips to Arashiyama and Nara. I transferred 120k UR over to Hyatt and got 4 nights in late March-early April. Those dates have since sold out.
You know what’s crazy? The same dates at the PH Kyoto this year, and the days around it, are wide open – have been for at least a week – and we’re just weeks away from peak cherry blossom season. These dates were not available just a month ago. People must be canceling (even though Japan is only at a Level 2 travel advisory).
The hitch with booking the PH Kyoto with points is it only works if you search for 2 adults, since that’s what their standard king and twin rooms accommodate. If you search for more than 2 guests, the PH Kyoto is grayed out from the search results. If you’re a Hyatt Globalist, you could try applying a suite upgrade, but the property is small with only 70 rooms and a few suites. I reached out to the hotel about adding DD, and they were willing to accommodate us because they were fully booked but did mention the room is not usually intended for 3 people, including any children over 5. If this didn’t work out, I was looking at booking the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto over by the Kamogawa River, but I’d probably be paying peak points prices and exhorbitant resort fees, and staying 5 nights just to get the fifth night free. Thank goodness I got in before the PH Kyoto sold out?
We’ll bookend this spring trip with a night in Osaka the day we arrive to experience the night markets, and two nights at the end to visit Universal Studios Japan, where Super Nintendo World should be open by then. I’m eyeing the Conrad Osaka to use my FNC and liberated Hilton points, but Hilton’s calendar doesn’t open for the dates we need for a few more weeks; or maybe we’ll settle on another option closer to Osaka Station. Flights won’t open up for another few weeks either.
So that’s what I’ve been up to. Hopefully the coronavirus situation doesn’t get too bad and is resolved sooner than later.
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a lady in the store behind me gave one little cough.....
