I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 & 2024 (see first page for add'l details)

[mmmears]

Maybe it’s easier to use the Hilton GCs in the US? When we stayed at a HGI in NC, our rooms were free on points/FNC but we used the GCs to pay for meals and snacks charged to the room. I did have to go to the desk each day to get new keys because our room for 3 nights was in 3 different names. Each day, I used my cards to pay outstanding charges. If a card was partially used, I told them how much was left and it was no problem for them.

Maybe? I really don't know, but one of the unhelpful suggestions from the card company was to "just try another store." Even if we switch out store for hotel, it's not really something we could do. We were just at the WA in Amsterdam and we didn't even try - figured it wasn't worth the time and the hassle while on vacation.

 

[Haley R]

Dh is in the Centurion lounge in Houston right now. He said he tried putting his eye mask on twice to attempt to nap and both times has had a worker come up to him saying he needed to leave because people were waiting. We don’t normally go in Centurion lounges. Is this normal for them to try and force people to leave?

ETA: He said it’s happened 3 times now even though he chose to stay awake. They are bugging everyone and keep asking “are you finished? People are waiting”. I’ve been in a few different lounges and never had something like that happen

 

[havaneselover]

Any London hotel recommendations? I will need a room for two nights next August pre-Disney cruise (Norwegian Fjords). It will be just my daughter and me. I have 250k Marriott points and 500k Hilton points as well as a lot of URs (so can get Hyatt points). Flying in overnight Thursday so we'll probably do touristy stuff Friday, see a show Saturday, and will catch the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton on Sunday.

 

[Sheree]

Any London hotel recommendations? I will need a room for two nights next August pre-Disney cruise (Norwegian Fjords). It will be just my daughter and me. I have 250k Marriott points and 500k Hilton points as well as a lot of URs (so can get Hyatt points). Flying in overnight Thursday so we'll probably do touristy stuff Friday, see a show Saturday, and will catch the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton on Sunday.

love the hilton paddington. great hotel, location. Nice executive lounge

 

[georgina]

My Amex frustration is kicking in again. The free night from my Marriott biz card (annual fee was on the June statement) won't show up until Sept 1. Meanwhile my Chase Bonvoy Boundless AF will hit Sept 1, and I already received that free night. I have a 2 night plan for those free nights, hope the 2nd night is still available in 2 weeks!

 

[SleepyatDVC]

My parents are flying home from HND on 2/5/2025.

So, they should spend a few days in Tokyo when they position there for the flight.

Any recommendations on hotels? Not sure they will wander and sight see on their own, unless they join some sort of tour group (on their own).

I was thinking maybe in the Yokohama area, as it is walkable to the Chinatown area which my Dad will like.

They currently have URs and some MRs or there is always cash.

The lunar new year is 1/29/25. Will that make a difference with businesses or prices in Tokyo?


TIA.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

My parents are flying home from HND on 2/5/2025.

So, they should spend a few days in Tokyo when they position there for the flight.

Any recommendations on hotels? Not sure they will wander and sight see on their own, unless they join some sort of tour group (on their own).

I was thinking maybe in the Yokohama area, as it is walkable to the Chinatown area which my Dad will like.

They currently have URs and some MRs or there is always cash.

The lunar new year is 1/29/25. Will that make a difference with businesses or prices in Tokyo?


TIA.

I didn't even realize that ds and I will be in Tokyo for the lunar new year. Should be a lot of fun!

The Yokohama area is quite removed from Tokyo -- I would not recommend staying there. I'd recommend Ginza, which is walkable, and has several great shops and restaurants or maybe Shinjuku, which also has several nice restaurants, but it is more of a business district. They might find Shibuya too crowded for their taste, but it is an excellent location.

I found the Marriott hotels in and around Tokyo to be way too many points versus cash cost. I transferred URs to Hyatt and booked ds and I each rooms at the Hyatt House Shibuya (rooms have washing machines, which will be nice). I'm also eyeing the Hyatt Centric Ginza, but it would cost me more points and I don't think we will be in our rooms too much. I don't find value in using MRs for hotels (I use them to transfer to airlines) and with the relatively low cash cost for hotels in Tokyo I would try to avoid using them for a hotel stay. There are also a lot of local hotels in Tokyo that are priced much lower than the NA brands which are highly rated.

They really should take some tours while they are there -- there is so much to see and do. Or they could hire a private guide to take them around, but honestly transit in Tokyo makes getting anywhere super easy and announcements are in Japanese and English.

 

[DogCat]

I have never transferred my UR points to Hyatt before. It is a simple quick process? I looked at the room on Hyatt.com and it says From 12K points per night. I need 2 nights so is it safe to assume I need to transfer 24K UR?

edited - I do see the total needed is 24K. Gosh I hope it is quick. The app says it could take up to 7 days.

 

[eticketplease]

I have never transferred my UR points to Hyatt before. It is a simple quick process? I looked at the room on Hyatt.com and it says From 12K points per night. I need 2 nights so is it safe to assume I need to transfer 24K UR?

edited - I do see the total needed is 24K. Gosh I hope it is quick. The app says it could take up to 7 days.

Yes it is easy but put in the details of your stay and then click through and it will show you the actual costs. You may need to click the down arrow.

 

[DogCat]

Yes it is easy but put in the details of your stay and then click through and it will show you the actual costs. You may need to click the down arrow.

Thank you! I just hit transfer and wow it’s super quick! I was a wee bit nervous cause I knew I couldn’t get the points back LOL.

 

[wanderlust7]

Any London hotel recommendations? I will need a room for two nights next August pre-Disney cruise (Norwegian Fjords). It will be just my daughter and me. I have 250k Marriott points and 500k Hilton points as well as a lot of URs (so can get Hyatt points). Flying in overnight Thursday so we'll probably do touristy stuff Friday, see a show Saturday, and will catch the train from Waterloo Station to Southampton on Sunday.

We stayed at the Andaz Liverpool pre-cruise. It's easy to get to from Heathrow on the Elizabeth Line. The station is pretty much next to the hotel. There's a taxi stand out front, easy to take a taxi to Waterloo.

The train was a pain, but I think we just got unlucky. There was a track problem, so train was delayed and got progressively more crowded with cruisers and their luggage. People ended up sitting on the floor. At least we had aircon in our train car, it wasn't working in some. Allow plenty of time!

 

[EACarlson]

Thank you! I just hit transfer and wow it’s super quick! I was a wee bit nervous cause I knew I couldn’t get the points back LOL.

They put the disclaimer there in case something goes wrong or the transaction trips the fraud algorithm. I've never had it take more than 5 minutes, usually I go in, choose what I want to book, log into chase, set up the transfer, go back to Hyatt, hit the refresh and the points are there.

 

[DogCat]

Wow that was easy-peezy and a good use of my UR! No wonder so many here recommend it!

Oops, I was in such a rush, I made the reservation for 1 guest instead of 2. I don’t see any way to change it online. I guess that should not be a problem?

 

[eticketplease]

Wow that was easy-peezy and a good use of my UR! No wonder so many here recommend it!

Oops, I was in such a rush, I made the reservation for 1 guest instead of 2. I don’t see any way to change it online. I guess that should not be a problem?

You should be able to cancel and book again or call to modify it.

 

[FreeDiningFanatic]

We were just at the WA in Amsterdam

How was the WA Amsterdam? It's on our list since it gets such high reviews everywhere.

 

[wanderlust7]

My parents are flying home from HND on 2/5/2025.

So, they should spend a few days in Tokyo when they position there for the flight.

Any recommendations on hotels? Not sure they will wander and sight see on their own, unless they join some sort of tour group (on their own).

I was thinking maybe in the Yokohama area, as it is walkable to the Chinatown area which my Dad will like.

They currently have URs and some MRs or there is always cash.

The lunar new year is 1/29/25. Will that make a difference with businesses or prices in Tokyo?


TIA.

I've read good things about the Hyatt Regency Yokohama. It looks very close to Chinatown.

Western New Year's is a big holiday in Japan with many places closed on January 1. There are festivals for Lunar New Year, but probably nothing else is different.

 

[AmyAnne]

Looking for recommendations for a hotel near the Atlanta airport--I looked at tripadvisor and am overwhelmed by the number of what seem to be okay but not excellent choices. I have Hyatt, UR, and AmEx points (also Hilton points but from what I can tell, there are no good points options for next week, but I could book through Chase and use UR points).

 

[mmmears]

Dh is in the Centurion lounge in Houston right now. He said he tried putting his eye mask on twice to attempt to nap and both times has had a worker come up to him saying he needed to leave because people were waiting. We don’t normally go in Centurion lounges. Is this normal for them to try and force people to leave?

ETA: He said it’s happened 3 times now even though he chose to stay awake. They are bugging everyone and keep asking “are you finished? People are waiting”. I’ve been in a few different lounges and never had something like that happen

No that's not normal from my own experience anyway. In fact, the one nearest us has little places where people can kind of lie down and rest. We have never been asked to leave before we were ready, even when it was crowded.

How was the WA Amsterdam? It's on our list since it gets such high reviews everywhere.

It was lovely. Really, really nice hotel built by combining 6 historic mansions all in a row. The inside is a little odd because the floors don't line up perfectly (so going down the hallway meant going somewhat up or down hill). The Diamond breakfast was great. There is also a really nice indoor pool (plus sauna and steam room) that opens up to their delightful garden (6 nice back yards all combined into one). You need 2 rooms (or a big suite) if you have more than 2 guests, though. I also really like the location.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

I didn't even realize that ds and I will be in Tokyo for the lunar new year. Should be a lot of fun!

The Yokohama area is quite removed from Tokyo -- I would not recommend staying there. I'd recommend Ginza, which is walkable, and has several great shops and restaurants or maybe Shinjuku, which also has several nice restaurants, but it is more of a business district. They might find Shibuya too crowded for their taste, but it is an excellent location.

I found the Marriott hotels in and around Tokyo to be way too many points versus cash cost. I transferred URs to Hyatt and booked ds and I each rooms at the Hyatt House Shibuya (rooms have washing machines, which will be nice). I'm also eyeing the Hyatt Centric Ginza, but it would cost me more points and I don't think we will be in our rooms too much. I don't find value in using MRs for hotels (I use them to transfer to airlines) and with the relatively low cash cost for hotels in Tokyo I would try to avoid using them for a hotel stay. There are also a lot of local hotels in Tokyo that are priced much lower than the NA brands which are highly rated.

They really should take some tours while they are there -- there is so much to see and do. Or they could hire a private guide to take them around, but honestly transit in Tokyo makes getting anywhere super easy and announcements are in Japanese and English.

I looked at the Hyatt House Shibuya first but it wasn't available for the dates we needed.

I've read good things about the Hyatt Regency Yokohama. It looks very close to Chinatown.

Western New Year's is a big holiday in Japan with many places closed on January 1. There are festivals for Lunar New Year, but probably nothing else is different.

I then saw the Hyatt Regency Yokomama which was why I thought about having them stay there. However, the cash rate seems very low in comparison to the points per night of 15K per night. But then again, free is free...




So, if the price per point isn't great and we have to pay cash, I guess we can pay cash anywhere in the city and are not limited to Hyatts.

 

[miztressuz]

So I don't visit the Chase Travel portal often, but when I launched my app it popped up something that led to the Chase Travel Advisor.

This is new to me. On the home page I found a slide for Complimentary Travel Advisor access that launched the same page. It mentions that you can use your points for airfare when booking through your advisor. Not sure if that's the only thing or just a specific selling point. My Google-fu has failed to find any other information about it. For me this is the first I've seen of the Frosch acquisition. I know cxLoyalty has been handling the portal and cruise side. I think they used Frosch for the higher end pieces like the Luxury Collection/The Edit , I guess at some point they opened up the TAs. Maybe this is helpful for someone looking at new or complicated itineraries?