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

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

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.
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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?

I would like to see reviews to get a sense of how knowledgeable and effective they are

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Anybody have stayed at both the Park Hyatt Kyoto and the Regency? I've got both booked but gotta keep one as I need to free the points. The PH is quite a splurge at 45K vs the Regency's 23K, but Reddit says it's very nice and luxurious. Is it worth so much more?

ETA: we'll be at Kyoto in November for 5 nights

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

Anybody have stayed at both the Park Hyatt Kyoto and the Regency? I've got both booked but gotta keep one as I need to free the points. The PH is quite a splurge at 45K vs the Regency's 23K, but Reddit says it's very nice and luxurious. Is it worth so much more?

ETA: we'll be at Kyoto in November for 5 nights

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Kyoto and it was very nice. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and the restaurant where we had dinner 1 night was excellent. I had an issue with noise because it is located quite near a hospital and the sirens woke me up several times during the night (I am a light sleeper). The hotel gave us another room after the first night, which took care of the noise issue. For the difference in points I'd definitely choose the Grand Hyatt, but I like to squeeze as much value out of my points as possible (both ABD and A&K use the Grand Hyatt, or at least they did in 2019). Also consider how long you'll be in your room -- we were only in there to sleep, but I know others like to spend time on vacation relaxing in their rooms. FWIW I thought the Grand Hyatt was pretty luxurious, at least it was in 2019. Perhaps FT has a comparison of both hotels.

If you go to the market to buy a knife (there is a famous store there, though the name escapes me), when we went they only took cash. Perhaps they now take card, but might be worthwhile checking out before you go (they engrave the knife with whatever you want while you're there and the quality of the knives is renowned).

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

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



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...

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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.

They would probably enjoy the location of the Hyatt Centric Ginza, plenty of shopping and restaurants in walking distance and also close to transit options. It is available for 25k points / night. It is highly rated on FT. If it wasn't going to cost me an additional 36k points I probably would've booked it.

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

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.

I really like to be close to as many tube lines as possible when I'm in London. Ds and I are staying at the BoTree, which I booked with URs (1 room with points, 1 night cash through the Chase portal). I got a great deal -- must've been a system glitch because I got the rooms at what should've been the price in GBP, but it was in $US. The glitch was rectified in less than 24 hours. If you want to use points, Hilton has a few options with the SLH merger (the Mayfair Flemings within 2 mins of Green Park tube, the Trafalgar St James near Picadilly and the about-to-open NoMad, which looks amazing, but is close to just Covent Garden tube). I haven't stayed at the Mayfair Flemings, but reviews I've read state that the base rooms are tiny, something to be aware of. We've stayed at the Conrad St James, but I personally didn't love the location (you have to take the circle line to get anywhere outside of Westminster), but it's a perfectly nice hotel if that wouldn't bother you. Also the executive lounge (access with diamond status) is a major bonus, though I've read they stopped serving scones with afternoon tea -- boooo. I think options with HH points in London are way more plentiful than BonBlah options.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Kyoto and it was very nice. The breakfast buffet was outstanding and the restaurant where we had dinner 1 night was excellent. I had an issue with noise because it is located quite near a hospital and the sirens woke me up several times during the night (I am a light sleeper). The hotel gave us another room after the first night, which took care of the noise issue. For the difference in points I'd definitely choose the Grand Hyatt, but I like to squeeze as much value out of my points as possible (both ABD and A&K use the Grand Hyatt, or at least they did in 2019). Also consider how long you'll be in your room -- we were only in there to sleep, but I know others like to spend time on vacation relaxing in their rooms. FWIW I thought the Grand Hyatt was pretty luxurious, at least it was in 2019. Perhaps FT has a comparison of both hotels.

If you go to the market to buy a knife (there is a famous store there, though the name escapes me), when we went they only took cash. Perhaps they now take card, but might be worthwhile checking out before you go (they engrave the knife with whatever you want while you're there and the quality of the knives is renowned).

I'm confused, I didn't think there was a Grand Hyatt in Kyoto. I only see Park, Regency, and Place. Was there one previously or did you mean one of the others?

 

[tink1970]

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).

I frequently stay...intentionally or not near ATL and I always always recommend any of the Marriott properties branded as "Gateway"--there are 4-the Renaissance, AC, Springhill Suites and Marriott and the Skytrain will drop you off very close to them so no need for a shuttle and it's easy peasy. You didn't say when next week and since these are near the convention center it does appear that there might be a convention-some of them are kind of $$$ on the random date I looked (but less so with points). The convenience with the SkyTrain I just cannot stress enough...walk from the airport out to the Skytrain, up an escalator to the SkyTrain, a couple of stops (it's well signed), down the elevator and then over to the hotel-again, fairly well signed. The Marriott and Renaissance are the closer of the two to the stop IIRC , Springhill Suites and AC a little farther out. It's so easy to get to and from the airport I've literally hopped back on and eaten dinner at the airport on an longer overnight stop (I know, I know, weird but I wanted dinner for breakfast at IHOP). Staying there is just SO MUCH EASIER than a long, expensive Uber ride into Atlanta proper (the traffic!) or waiting outside among smokers in the elements (it's either raining or hot or cold or just miserable) for a shuttle.

TL;DR -Marriott Gateway Hotels, trust me-I've connected (or misconnected or positioned) out of ATL for almost 25 years now!

My brother, who travels for work (he's a sports writer and covers a major league baseball team) concurs so it isn't just my bias btw! So 2/2 agree-kind of like the 4/5 dentist recommend Trident for their patients who chew gum (and we don't agree on lots of things).

 

[wanderlust7]

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.

Have they been to Tokyo or Japan before? What do they want to do? Given their ages, are they able to walk many steps a day?

If they haven't been before and just want to get a taste of Japan, maybe the Asakusa area. Our first trip with the kids, before I got into churning, we stayed at the Gate Hotel in Asakusa. It's very close to Kaminarimon Gate with a fun shopping street that leads to Sensoji Temple.

 

[platamama]

I got a call this morning from Chase in response to my SM yesterday to close one of my Ink Cash cards; I've never had that happen before and I've closed two other Chase cards this year so far. I think it was a call to try to talk me into keeping it. I just said that I'm trying to clean up my financial life and this card wasn't getting used (did not say anything about my plans to open up another biz card haha). The rep offered to move the existing CL to another card so I did that and he closed the card. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go for the CIP and ask for a match, I just am not sure how I'm going to meet the MSR since I'm also trying to put spend on P2's BizWoH to get to the 10% points refund when you hit $50K. I don't think there's any way I can get us to the 60 nights for Globalist this year, but I could get to the 40 night milestone for 1 GOH certificate but it will cost me fees to get to the $50K spend. I need to decide if it's worth doing.

 

[wanderlust7]

I got a call this morning from Chase in response to my SM yesterday to close one of my Ink Cash cards; I've never had that happen before and I've closed two other Chase cards this year so far. I think it was a call to try to talk me into keeping it. I just said that I'm trying to clean up my financial life and this card wasn't getting used (did not say anything about my plans to open up another biz card haha). The rep offered to move the existing CL to another card so I did that and he closed the card. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go for the CIP and ask for a match, I just am not sure how I'm going to meet the MSR since I'm also trying to put spend on P2's BizWoH to get to the 10% points refund when you hit $50K. I don't think there's any way I can get us to the 60 nights for Globalist this year, but I could get to the 40 night milestone for 1 GOH certificate but it will cost me fees to get to the $50K spend. I need to decide if it's worth doing.

We usually get called. I ignore it and after 2 calls, they cancel the card. Last time, there was no call and it felt so much faster lol.

We're going to get to 40 nights this year too. We're doing 15k on the personal card for FNC, then need an extra $5000. A side benefit is DH doesn't like to switch cards, so he gets to use the Hyatt card all year.

Another thing you'll get at 40 is a suite upgrade certificate. I read on Flyertalk that you can potentially have it not expire until Feb 2027. If you earn it towards the end of the year, you then have 3 months to select the award, which could be in 2025. So then the award would be valid for all of 2025 plus 14 months. The terms say "earned", so I'm not sure if that means when you earned the ability to select the award or when you actually select it. I hope FT is right.

FM put up this fun spreadsheet recently. You can see what value you're getting from your spend based on how you value the awards. Link

 

[KPK02090]

I'm booking flights on Jet Blue with points to Costa Rica soon and trying to decide which card to use for the taxes and fees. I have a CSR that I plan to downgrade to a freedom when the annual fee posts in October. I could then upgrade an existing freedom to a CSR. So if I use the freedom (that I plan to eventually upgrade) now and it's a CSR at the time of travel (April '25) will I have the CSR coverage? Alternativiely I could downgrade the existing CSR to a CSP. Any thoughts?

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

I'm confused, I didn't think there was a Grand Hyatt in Kyoto. I only see Park, Regency, and Place. Was there one previously or did you mean one of the others?

Sorry, the HR, but it's so nice I mistakenly called it a GH. For the large difference in points it would be without question be my choice.

 

[disneybirds]

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).

Booking a hotel near the Atlanta airport is always tough. I usually start with the cluster of 3 or 4 that are west of the airport near Riverdale Road. There is a Westin, Marriott, Embassy Suites and Hilton Garden Inn. I just pick the one that has the best reviews that are most recent. It has been awhile since DH has stayed there, so hopefully someone has a more recent review.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Sorry, the HR, but it's so nice I mistakenly called it a GH. For the large difference in points it would be without question be my choice.

Okay, thank you, that is very helpful. The Internet seems to gush so much about the The Park Hyatt, and it does have a better location. But being a bit closer to sights is not enough to warrant the points difference.

Interesting that you mentioned you like to get the most value for your points. Since the rooms at PH are $1.5K per night, some might call that a better value (per point). But I'm usually like you, assign value to stretching out the points.

 

[Minnie368]

Looking for advice on my next card because I've pretty much done every amex biz card for both me and DH and most of the personals. Also have been pretty active with CICs and CIPs. Right now we're looking at airfare for Pittsburgh to LAX or SNA in November and I have enough points through either delta or AA to fly first class. Also have plenty of SW and UR points for SW plus the companion pass for other travel. The next big thing would be we hope to get to Japan next year. First or business is a must and AA looks like a great option if we thought we could really get the 60k biz class through JAL, but how realistic is it that we would be able to get that rate? I hate to get the AA cards just for that purpose and then not be able to use them. So I guess I'm looking for the best way to go to get to Japan from Pittsburgh (I'm sure we'll have to reposition)? Should I go for an AA card for each of us or is there a better option? I know this is a tough question and the info I find seems all over the place.

 

[first*toright]

I got a call this morning from Chase in response to my SM yesterday to close one of my Ink Cash cards; I've never had that happen before and I've closed two other Chase cards this year so far. I think it was a call to try to talk me into keeping it. I just said that I'm trying to clean up my financial life and this card wasn't getting used (did not say anything about my plans to open up another biz card haha). The rep offered to move the existing CL to another card so I did that and he closed the card. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go for the CIP and ask for a match, I just am not sure how I'm going to meet the MSR since I'm also trying to put spend on P2's BizWoH to get to the 10% points refund when you hit $50K. I don't think there's any way I can get us to the 60 nights for Globalist this year, but I could get to the 40 night milestone for 1 GOH certificate but it will cost me fees to get to the $50K spend. I need to decide if it's worth doing.

That 10% back on redemptions if you hit 50k in spend is limited to a maximum of 20k points, I believe. (If you and your employees collectively spend at least $50,000 in a calendar year, you'll get 10% bonus points back on up to a total of 200,000 World of Hyatt points).

I was thinking about shooting for 50k in spend, but I'm also not sure it is worth it for 20k in points.

Another thing you'll get at 40 is a suite upgrade certificate. I read on Flyertalk that you can potentially have it not expire until Feb 2027. If you earn it towards the end of the year, you then have 3 months to select the award, which could be in 2025. So then the award would be valid for all of 2025 plus 14 months. The terms say "earned", so I'm not sure if that means when you earned the ability to select the award or when you actually select it. I hope FT is right.

I did this last year unintentionally! You have 3 months from when you hit the right number of nights to claim your reward. So if you hit the requisite nights in September or later, you can hold off and choose your milestone reward in January and get a SUA that's good until Feb of 2027!

I'm on track to hit Globalist this year, but don't have a ton of Hyatt stays planned for next year, so I'm not sure I'll make it to globalist in 2025. Stockpiling SUAs to use in 2026 might be a good idea for me!

 

[platamama]

I'm booking flights on Jet Blue with points to Costa Rica soon and trying to decide which card to use for the taxes and fees. I have a CSR that I plan to downgrade to a freedom when the annual fee posts in October. I could then upgrade an existing freedom to a CSR. So if I use the freedom (that I plan to eventually upgrade) now and it's a CSR at the time of travel (April '25) will I have the CSR coverage? Alternativiely I could downgrade the existing CSR to a CSP. Any thoughts?

I've been told by Chase that whatever the card is when you charge the fees onto it, that is what determines your travel protections. So this part of the plan won't work, you would only be covered by whatever protection a freedom card gives you:

So if I use the freedom (that I plan to eventually upgrade) now and it's a CSR at the time of travel (April '25) will I have the CSR coverage?

I had the same thought earlier this year so I called and talked with Chase, and ended up upgrading our CSP (at the time) to a CSR. The change was immediate, and the $300 travel credit posted immediately too, although I was told that it could take up to 48 hours to take effect. I would think the downgrading route would work similarly in that you would have the CSR level of protection if the fees are charged to the CSR but you later downgrade to a CSP. The difference between those two in terms of travel protections are these highlighted in yellow (I got from the Chase website):

 

[platamama]

limited to a maximum of 20k points, I believe

Yes, that's right and I was aware of that, although I wish there wasn't a cap! lol

I did this last year unintentionally! You have 3 months from when you hit the right number of nights to claim your reward. So if you hit the requisite nights in September or later, you can hold off and choose your milestone reward in January and get a SUA that's good until Feb of 2027!

Thanks for the DP!

 

[mmmears]

Okay, thank you, that is very helpful. The Internet seems to gush so much about the The Park Hyatt, and it does have a better location. But being a bit closer to sights is not enough to warrant the points difference.

Interesting that you mentioned you like to get the most value for your points. Since the rooms at PH are $1.5K per night, some might call that a better value (per point). But I'm usually like you, assign value to stretching out the points.

I think it all depends on what you're looking for. Some of us are hotel princesses and have a long list of places we want to stay. I don't think you can just go by what people post online since we all value those points differently. Speaking as someone who booked the PH in Kyoto "just because."

I've really enjoyed all the WAs and PHs I've stayed at and keep looking for more to try. But you can definitely get more nights for your points if you don't stay at these places.

The GH seems like a better deal TBH.

 

[amcc]

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 just got back from our Norway/Iceland cruise that left from Southampton. We spent 2 nights at the Canopy by Hilton London City and it was relatively new, quiet, and modern and it was easy to get for 80-90k HH which would be covered by a FNC. A couple of blocks from Tower of London and two convenient metro stations. There is no lounge but they gave us coupons for drinks at the lobby bar and there is a very nice rooftop lounge / restaurant. I used Google maps for navigation and it suggested buses many times. I feel I have a mental block towards buses - prejudice I'm sure due to the absolutely embarrassing bus system in Miami, but we were stuck in the rain at some point and the bus was right there - all I can say, is look at the bus routes as well. We ended up using the buses more than the Metro. For either mode, it was so easy to tap and go as payment.

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!

I booked the train for Sunday to Southampton but it was canceled (several trains down the line as well) due to some issue on the tracks. We ended up with 2 Ubers XL to transport the 7 of us with our ridiculous amount of luggage. I've requested a refund from LNER - don't know why its not automatic- and they say they are reviewing and will get back to me within 10 days. The Ubers cost $700, I wonder if this is something that Chase might cover.