Fun & Interesting Travel Thread

[Edward64]

As the other travel thread is now pretty much become a sobering & solemn reminder of this most recent airline disaster ...

And it's become a discussion thread for political & social commentary etc. I decided to start this thread to just focus on fun stuff of travel.

If you decide to participate, appreciate if you can just focus on the "fun" part. Thanks.

[Edward64]

I am still in awe of this woman. Can't think of a better inaugural post, one of the best airline ads evah ...

[Edward64]

I got the IHG Platinum card earlier this year and have been learning how to maximize its benefits.

Perhaps only interesting to me (and maybe @Ksyrup), my goal was to find out how many nights (and cost) I could stay at an IHG hotel assuming maxing out points bought.

Assumptions:

• 500,000 points bought @$2,500. IHG often has 100% bonus sales, so $2,500 will get me 250,000 x 2 = 500,000 points to spend in a year. I've heard others may get benefit to purchase up to 300,000 x 2 but I only got the 250,000 last year.
• 4,000 points per night is the cheapest I've found. This is for a Holiday Inn Express in China.
• If you stay 4 nights with points, IHG will give you the 4th night free or essentially, 4 nights for the price of 3.

Conclusion:

If I did the math correctly, this means I can stay in this hotel for approx. 4.5 months or 135 nights at approx $19 per night. It's approx because IHG will give you additional points as you hit 20, 40 nights etc. which can be turned into nights.

Or in other words, if you choose to, you can spend $2,500 to stay at a HI Express in China for 4.5 months. Breakfast is included but not Lunch or Dinner. And from what I've seen in other countries, the hotel does not charge you tax for using points.

Also, another thing to note. The HI Express that I've stayed at in Asia is nothing like the one's here. It can be just as small, but it's nicer maintained and the front desk are ... higher quality. Overall, a much better experience overseas.

Spoke to the wife about this. I've been thinking about immersing myself in a country for multiple months. Doesn't have to be China but figured IHG hotels were near the cheapest there. She's a little concerned that I've done this research.


Edit: should have mentioned this above. The 4,000 pt HI Express has list price of $39. So, with my calculated price of $19, it's effectively 50% discount from list price using IHG points and "4 nights for the price of 3".

[Ksyrup]

Ha! I have not done any research like that, as we can't be away for more than 2 weeks, tops. My research/travel using IHG points has been focused more on maximizing top-end benefits at Intercontinentals, which netted us stays (in 4 night increments, to max out the 4th night free benefit) in Auckland, Sydney, Toronto, Atlanta and London for fairly cheap.

[Edward64]

I've watched a bunch of YT influencers, and they're more like you wanting to max points "experiential stays". For me now, because wife doesn't like to global travel like me, the room is just to sleep in. Nowadays, I'm more the budget, value traveler, currently in my Asia phase.

I've done similar calculations with Marriott but IHG beats Marriott. I'm lifetime Marriott platinum (or whatever they call it now) and hate I cannot use those nice lounge benefits.

[Lathum]

Wife has to go to Vegas Monday for work and I am going to come along. Using miles for the flight and obviously work pays for the room so minimal expense. She will be working almost the entire time so I'll have 3 days on my own in Vegas. Really excited. We are seeing Blake Shelton on Wednesday.

[Edward64]

Some news last week on supersonic plane. Concorde had accomplished that decades ago but had its challenges and was not economical.

Doubtful this new version will fit my budget but maybe ... if my Gaza/Greenland beachfront property takes off. I would like to experience the sonic boom at least once.

Supersonic jets are making a comeback. Here’s what that means for air passengers | CNN

Last week, American company Boom Supersonic flew faster than the speed of sound with its XB-1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft. It’s now the first piloted non-military aircraft to break the sound barrier since the Concorde was retired from service in 2003.

The company claims a trip from New York to Rome on Overture could take just four hours and 40 minutes, instead of eight hours.

Not real yet, just a rendering but pretty



I've always thought the Concorde was the coolest

[Ksyrup]

Just a heads up, if you're looking to go to London (or to use London as a jumping off point to go elsewhere in Europe) and you don't mind flying Economy, Virgin Atlantic is running a great deal on saver award flights from multiple US cities (ATL, BOS, JFK, MIA, TPA, IAD, SEA, SFO, LAX, LAS) for as little as 10K VA points and several hundred dollars, round trip. Even better if you've got Chase points to transfer, as there's a 30% transfer bonus from Chase to VA right now.

We just decided to book a fall (October) trip to Switzerland through London with a combination of Delta SM and Chase-to-VA points. We got RT tickets for 2 in Economy Classic on VA direct from ATL to LHR for 23K points and $750. Then I used 40K Delta SM to book RT from LHR to ZUR. It's crazy that Delta SM are mostly worthless for flights within the US due to how expensive they are, but we got RT economy tickets within Europe for 20K each!

Anyway, this is going to be an economy Europe trip, as I also booked Holiday Inn Express for 4 nights with IHG points (4th night free) in Lucerne, Switzerland for 100K points, and a couple of nights in Zurich for $400 (using a $200 credit for booking through Delta Stays on my Reserve card). So, our airfare and hotels are covered for a bunch of points and about $1200, and all we really have to spend on is meals (although breakfast is free at all of the hotels we've booked) and sightseeing/excursions. Score!

That'll be it until a May 2026 graduation trip with Mack for a Mediterranean cruise.

[Edward64]

Sounds like a sweet deal!

Never been to Switzerland, would like to go one day. But man, sounds like a lot of tracking, different airline websites, & spreadsheets to find this deal! You're a little more hardcore than I am in finding deals.

I also booked Holiday Inn Express for 4 nights with IHG points (4th night free) in Lucerne, Switzerland for 100K points

4 nights @100k for HI Express in Switzerland will get me 25 nights at HI Express in China!

In case you did not already know, the IHG pts needed for a stay changes all the time. And you can cancel-and-rebook pretty easily with the lower pt cost. Sometimes, its 1k swing, but I've personally seen 7k swings (or about 2 nights at a HI Express in China )


We told the kids to plan on a family trip this Christmas or next year. Debating between the European Christmas markets; China or Taiwan for Chinese New Years (got to believe China wouldn't launch an invasion during CNY); or Tokyo (so wife can do the Tokyo marathon). All IHG hotels, of course.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I check and re-book hotel stays all the time. Unless you've done a non-refundable fare, points and cash bookings are cancellable until about a day or 3 ahead of the stay. Airfares are a little trickier, but Delta for one has completely cancellable reward tickets, so there's no harm in booking (unless you don't have enough miles to cover a diferent flight).

[Edward64]

Korean Airlines wins out this year. I've flown on 6 of the 10.

I like Korean Airlines and flew them for work. But they had a male and a female flight attendant stop by and bow, thanking me just before arrival (business class). That gave me the heebie-jeebies. I know they are showing "respect" but I couldn't help but feel they were showing "subservience". Nowadays, they are too expensive for my personal economy travels.

Haven't flown Turkish Airlines but been watching them as they show up consistently with lowest/lower rates for trips to Asia region. I'll have to try them out someday, wouldn't mind checking out Ankara airport at a layover.

As usual, US airlines don't rate very well. Cattle ... we are all treated as cattle in US domestic. I don't view air travel as a strategic US industry so I vote we allow more foreign carriers do US domestic and see what happens to prices & user experience.

World's Best Airlines For 2025

Here are the top 25 Full Service Airlines for 2025

1. Korean Air
2. Qatar
3. Air New Zealand
4. Cathay Pacific
5. Singapore Airlines
6. Emirates
7. Japan Airlines
8. Qantas
9. Etihad
10. Turkish Airlines

2024 was

1. Qatar Airways
2. Korean Air
3. Cathay Pacific Airways
4. Air New Zealand
5. Emirates
6. Air France/KLM
7. All Nippon Airways
8. Etihad Airways
9. Qantas
10. Virgin Australia/Atlantic

[Ksyrup]

We decided to go to Ft. Lauderdale a day early for our cruise because of the weather, so I had to quickly book a hotel for the night before we go to the hotel I booked and pre-paid several months back. Luckily, I had an IHG anniversary night free room that was going to expire anyway, so I used that for tonight.

Tomorrow, we're checking into a much nicer hotel on the beach that I booked through Chase Travel on a deal they did where I get 10K bonus Chase UR points if I spent $500 on my card. So I spent $500 and transferred some points to book a King Balcony room with a partial ocean view.

So, we get here tonight and I'm checking reservations to make sure everything's in order, and I see that we no longer have the same room - we've been "upgraded," except it also shows I owe $1600 for the upgrade. WTF? So I call the hotel and explain what's going on, and they blame Chase and tell me to call them. So I do, fearing the usual "both sides blame the other and I'm in the middle, fucked" outcome, but Chase was really helpful. They called the hotel, spoke to a manager, and confirmed that they happen to be low in inventory for the room I pre-paid for, so they upgraded me to a 2-bedroom, ocean view, presidential suite. Free of charge.

Supposedly, this will cost me nothing extra tomorrow when we check in. It's so big I'm almost embarrassed to stay there. My wife said we should sleep in a separate bedroom each night just because we can. Two balconies, full-on ocean view.

Seems too good to be true - or at least to go off without a hitch when we show up tomorrow. We shall see.

[Ksyrup]

Just about to leave Curacao, third of the ABC islands we've visited on this cruise. I didn't realize how dry these islands are. Average rainfall between 16-22 inches a year, plenty of cactii everywhere, outside the hurricane zone. Not sure I'd want to live here during the proper summer, but October to March would not be a bad trade-off. And I'm not really a beach person, but missing the worst of late fall and most of winter would not kill me.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Just about to leave Curacao, third of the ABC islands we've visited on this cruise. I didn't realize how dry these islands are. Average rainfall between 16-22 inches a year, plenty of cactii everywhere, outside the hurricane zone. Not sure I'd want to live here during the proper summer, but October to March would not be a bad trade-off. And I'm not really a beach person, but missing the worst of late fall and most of winter would not kill me.

Love the ABCs. Really want to take another cruise back down there soon.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Just about to leave Curacao, third of the ABC islands we've visited on this cruise.

Nice.

I've been to (and plundered) Curacao more times than I can remember.

[Edward64]

Sounds like fun, look forward to the reviews.

If kids were younger, we'd consider this just because of Shrek, Puss in Boots & Minions. Wonder how extensive/updated the Jurassic World will be vs Orlando. Last time we went, it was already looking pretty dated.

Universal Destinations & Experiences recently revealed several themed areas that will be featured at Universal Kids Resort, a new family-focused theme park set to open next year in Frisco, Texas.

The resort will include lands based on characters from Shrek, Puss in Boots, Trolls and Gabby’s Dollhouse, SpongeBob SquarePants, Minions, and Jurassic World.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to bring these iconic stories to life for kids and families to experience, interact with and play together,” Sarah Gibbon, VP & Executive Producer, Universal Creative said in a press release revealing the new themed areas.

Attractions will feature Shrek’s swamp, SpongeBob SquarePants’ underwater neighborhood, a Minions-themed water play area, a Jurassic World exploration zone, a Trolls music festival, and a Puss in Boots-inspired space with rides and interactive elements.

[Edward64]

NK is opened for limited tourism since the Covid shutdown.

First British tourists allowed back into North Korea tell BBC what they saw

Don't insult the leaders. Don't insult the ideology. And don't judge.

These are the rules tour guides read out to Western tourists as they prepare to drive across the border into North Korea, arguably the most secretive and repressive country in the world.

Then there is the practical information. No phone signal, no internet, no cash machines.

It's lower on my bucket list, but do want to visit one day

Googled on Koryo tours for the cost. Not unreasonable for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

• Rason tour: A 4-day trip to Rason starts at €1,345 per person
• Winter budget tour: A tour to North Korea in January 2019 started at €775
• Private tours: A 3-night tour for 2 people costs €995 per person, and a 4-night tour costs €1,075 per person

[Edward64]

You know you've "made" it in this world when you get to sit in one of these ...

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/02/firs...airplanes.html

A Lufthansa First Class “Allegris” cabin, which was set up outside the show.

I've travelled a couple times in one of these. Good enough luxury IMO

[SirFozzie]

Was visiting family this week in Florida, which means I'm missing the last gasps of true winter in New England (although we'll still probably get one more good snowstorm). Got to go to a Sox spring training game (watched Walker Buehler throw two shutout innings).

We were on the third base side grandstands by the left field corner, but there was absolutely no shade and just about no breeze, so we had to put on multiple applications of SPF 50 sunscreen.

Really good fun, mind you, but my legs were complaining like crazy afterwords. Still on track for a hip replacement at some point.

[Edward64]

Anyone looking for a vacation home in Italy?

It really sounds appealing but I've watched some YT on people that have bought these homes. Basically, some are happy with the end result but it'll take more than $20k to renovate. I dream of buying one but deep down, I know I'd be bored living in these smaller towns.

Another town in Italy will sell more houses for one euro | CNN

Penne, located in Italy’s central region of Abruzzo, midway between the Adriatic coast and the Gran Sasso mountain range, is selling off abandoned homes for the price of an espresso in an attempt to stop depopulation.
:
The next tranche of “a handful” of properties will soon be up for grabs “in the next couple of weeks” according to the mayor — and it looks like there’ll be more to follow.

“There are potentially over 40 empty buildings in town looking for new owners, and they’re all located in the historical center .

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Anyone looking for a vacation home in Italy?

It really sounds appealing but I've watched some YT on people that have bought these homes. Basically, some are happy with the end result but it'll take more than $20k to renovate. I dream of buying one but deep down, I know I'd be bored living in these smaller towns.
[/indent]

Those all feel like the poster children for "buyer beware". I've seen a lot of similar things in Japan in particular and they're somewhat notorious I guess for slowly becoming if not more nightmare than dream then at least usually regret.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Those all feel like the poster children for "buyer beware". I've seen a lot of similar things in Japan in particular and they're somewhat notorious I guess for slowly becoming if not more nightmare than dream then at least usually regret.

Yup, "Akiyas" are the Japanese equivalent. Have watched some of those YT also, not quite 1 Euro but close enough.

For me, Akiya > 1 Euro houses, primarily because of the food.

[Edward64]

Not quite "fun" but falls under "interesting" (vs plane accidents).

I know the Heathrow is one of the busiest airports and likely other airports have similar visuals, but fascinating to look at to see all the inbound flights.

Flights forced to return to India, the Caribbean and the US as Heathrow shutdown triggers worldwide travel chaos with more than 200,000 passengers left stranded in airports | Daily Mail Online

All the mid-air flights en-route to Heathrow which were subsequently diverted

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I saw that right before I hit the sack last night. I can't imagine being someone who is headed over to (or through) LHR on your way for a vacation and this completely blows up your itinerary. But, shit happens.

[Edward64]

Anyone have or seen upside-down pineapple stickers, t-shirts etc. on a cruise?

What does an upside-down pineapple mean on a cruise?
When I think of pineapples, I associate them with all things tropical — mainly pina coladas by the pool. But, for people who are swingers — couples who switch partners for the purpose of having physical relations — upside-down pineapples serve as a subtle way to indicate that they're part of that lifestyle, thereby making it easier for potential partners to find them.

[Ksyrup]

They've mostly been banned by now. At least the magnets on cabin doors. I doubt they'd tell someone to change a shirt.

[Edward64]

Didn't see this on "Love Boat". I wonder if this works outside of cruising.

I'll have to look for a pineapple t-shirt and wear one when I go overseas like at a dive resort. Could have some interesting conversations!

[Lathum]

It's a well know thing amongst people who cruise often

[Edward64]

Per "The Croods" ... still alive.

Was in Bangkok for the Myanmar-Thailand earthquake. AMA

[GrantDawg]

Where were you staying? Did the hotel pool splash down in you?

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Where were you staying? Did the hotel pool splash down in you?

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

I was actually in a taxi but was staying at the Holiday Inn. The HI had a Crowne Plaza right next to it which had a rooftop pool. I heard from others that some did spill over into the streets (and the Executive Lounge on the floor below) but don't think it was the viral YT video that you've seen.

[Edward64]

In the past week, I’ve seen 1 and 3 and 6 US Marines on separate days in my Holiday Inn hotel.

3 was in BDUs (or whatever they call them now) and 6 in civilian clothing but with shaved heads and gear/sea bags checking in. Spoke to the 3 in the elevator, told them I was from Atlanta, good ‘kids’ but they were uncomfortably polite.

No idea what they were doing at a HI but our tax money at work somehow.

[GrantDawg]

Where are you now?

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

In the Philippines

Not surprised there is an uptick in US military presence as we are reactivating some bases. Just weird they’re staying at a Holiday Inn.

[GrantDawg]

When traveling they almost always stay in hotels. A few bases have IHG Army hotels.

Sent from my SM-S938U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

At a new IHG hotel and there is a crapload of US Marines (and at least one Air Force drone guy) here.

Messing up my gym schedule, they’re hogging the bench & dumbbells (eg 5am)

I think they’re feeding them steroids, they’re all “bulky”. Taxpayer money at work


Edit: war games

From April 21 to just a week before election day in the Philippines, close to 17,000 soldiers, mostly from the United States’ Indo-Pacific Command (Indopacom), will be training in different parts of the Philippines for the 2025 iteration of the yearly Balikatan war games.

A bulk (and most notable) of the activities will be taking place at the northern and western sides of the Philippines, in provinces, waters, and islands facing the tense West Philippine Sea as well as the Taiwan Strait up north.

[Edward64]

For those that travel some, I encountered a situation which I've not had before. So, FWIW ...

When logging into a hotel wi-fi, it's common to have to sign in with name/room to get access to wi-fi. When I first arrived, my laptop, personal iPhone, travel "beater" iPhone, and iPad worked fine at the IHG hotel.

But I travelled between 4 different IHG hotels (because I was using points and wanted the best deal, see post #3 above) and somewhere along the way, the logins no longer worked. My beater iPhone and iPad worked consistently but not my laptop or personal iPhone.

There are times when the login page does not come up and the typical workaround is to force the login page by (1) typing in something like below or similar to bring it up or (2) do the "Forget Network" connection

Blocked

192.168.1.1

I tried the tips in the above post but was not able to get it to work for the laptop or my personal iPhone.

I was finally able to get the laptop to work by deleting/uninstalling network connections. But after turning it off and turning it on again the next day, it would stop working again. I was never able to get my personal iPhone to work again but had Google Fi so used my cell data instead.

I did go to a Starbucks and tried the wi-fi there for my laptop and that didn't work either.

My best guess as to the issue is because I rotated among 4 different IHG hotels, somehow stuff got confused, cache got messed up etc.

[Ksyrup]

Haven't had that specific problem, but getting laptops to connect and open up the sign-in page has always been a pain.

Next May, we're taking Mack on a Mediterranean cruise which - cruise aside - I'm hoping to pay for mostly using points and miles. Looks like we'll be gone for upwards of 3 weeks. The cruise itself is 10 days and getting to and back from Barcelona and Rome is going to require building in a few days on either side of the cruise as well.

So, I was able to book the first flights to Barcelona over the weekend, using AmEx points transferred to Aeroplan (Air Canada), to book business class seats on TAP Portugal. And, since Aeroplan allows stopovers for 5K miles a person and our flight was going to stop in Lisbon anyway, I decided to book a 2 night stopover in Lisbon before continuing on to Barcelona. Total was 225K miles and about $250. We'll be flying out of Chicago, so I'll need to figure out how we're getting to Chicago, but otherwise, the first leg is done.

Next up, in about 2 weeks when flights are bookable, is figuring out the best return flight from Rome.

[Edward64]

Some misc notes & tips for travelers for Incheon airport ...

1. If you plan to travel globally, get lounge access for sure. Cheapest way that I know is get Capital One VentureX (or similar credit card) that gives you access to Priority Pass lounges. They don't have the best lounges (nor food) but much better than sitting in the common area.
   
2. I had a long layover at Incheon airport Terminal 2. I had access to Priority Pass lounges but none had showers. I purchased a shower pass from a third party. Highly recommend if you have a long layover to plan a shower, it was very refreshing. Towel, toothbrush & toothpaste included. Have to bring your own comb and fresh underwear!
   
3. I saw loads of Korean Airlines female flight attendants. They all had a similar look, not just in outfit and hairdo (to be expected) but also height and facial structure. And they were way too pasty white. There's something about Koreans wanting to be more white. Somewhat off putting for my personal taste.
   
4. Terminals typically have 7-11's or convenience stores to buy sundries. I didn't find any in Terminal 2. They had shops (and duty free) but you couldn't just buy a water, coke or peanuts, it was more food gift items. A little strange.
   
5. A big plus was Terminal 2 had free sleeping couches (?). They were always taken but you could also rent one from a third party. Also had massage services which I did not try. I ended up lying across 3 chairs to catch my nap.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Haven't had that specific problem, but getting laptops to connect and open up the sign-in page has always been a pain.

I don't know why hotels can't always force a login page to come up. Or at least provide a link that says "if you are having problems, click here to get to login page".

I've never had such inconsistent experience. But this was my first time with 4 different IHG hotels on one trip.

Next May, we're taking Mack on a Mediterranean cruise which - cruise aside - I'm hoping to pay for mostly using points and miles. Looks like we'll be gone for upwards of 3 weeks. The cruise itself is 10 days and getting to and back from Barcelona and Rome is going to require building in a few days on either side of the cruise as well.

So, I was able to book the first flights to Barcelona over the weekend, using AmEx points transferred to Aeroplan (Air Canada), to book business class seats on TAP Portugal. And, since Aeroplan allows stopovers for 5K miles a person and our flight was going to stop in Lisbon anyway, I decided to book a 2 night stopover in Lisbon before continuing on to Barcelona. Total was 225K miles and about $250. We'll be flying out of Chicago, so I'll need to figure out how we're getting to Chicago, but otherwise, the first leg is done.

Nice, especially the cruise.

Are you using AMEX primarily or a bunch of different mix-and-match? If latter, I can imagine the headache to plan for it.

[Ksyrup]

I have (or had, after these bookings are done) a big stash of AmEx MR points that I'm transferring to airline and hotel partners and then booking through those loyalty systems. For airlines, a lot of their currency can be used to book partner flights. That's how I went from transferring AmEx points to Air Canada's Aeroplan miles which I used to book TAP Portugal business class. I'll probably use some of my 200K IHG points for Lisbon or Barecelona hotels.

The wife and I are also going to Hawaii at the end of January, and I used Delta SM to book the flights and then Chase UR points to Hyatt to book 2 resorts (one on Oahu and the other on Maui), plus used my free IHG anniversary night for the final night back on Oahu at an HIE before we head to the airport. Since the Delta flights are fully refundable award bookings, we'll take those flights if nothing comes up between now and then. If Delta or another airline puts some flights to Hawaii in business class on sale (either cash or points) and the dates work, I'll jump on it and cancel the Delta SM flights.

[Edward64]

I'm assuming you have a xls tracker with all these transfers, dates etc.

I'm pretty much just VentureX and IHG now. For flights, I buy my flights through the C1 portal and use whatever VentureX points I accumulated. For hotels, get me the cheapest IHG in a reasonable location. Definitely not near as complex as your itinerary.

I've maxed out on buying IHG points this year. I've come to the conclusion I'll need more IHG points for 2026 so am applying for the IHG Business card. With the 2 cards, this will let me double the points I can buy. Starting to plan for 2026 travel and if, markets keep up, it'll be pretty extensive.

[Ksyrup]

I don't use Cap1, but portal purchases can often be a bad deal. I hope you are at least comparing the portal prices to cash prices directly from the airlines. I'm not militant about maxing out my points value, but I'm also willing to do some work to find the best ways to use my points. Portal spend is not usually a good way to spend points.

I don't know how Cap1 does it, but at least with my Chase Reserve card, I'm guaranteed 1.5x the value using my points in the Chase Portal. I've done it a couple of times when cash wasn't plentiful, because the pricing kinda sucks compared to off-portal.

For what you want, IHG is good. The biggest issues with IHG are that they only make basic rooms available, and the nicer hotels have become increasingly expensive. The deals I got for London, Auckland and Sydney for last year's trips are not nearly the steals today. But if you're just looking for HIEs in a bunch of different cities, the points can be a good value. I expect that's the case more often interntionally, as I've looked at booking IHGs in positioning US cities for flights (CVG, DTW, ORD, etc.), and for the cheapest hotels, cash was a better deal or at least break-even.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I've maxed out on buying IHG points this year. I've come to the conclusion I'll need more IHG points for 2026 so am applying for the IHG Business card. With the 2 cards, this will let me double the points I can buy. Starting to plan for 2026 travel and if, markets keep up, it'll be pretty extensive.

You'll appreciate this...

I am so thankful for the new 100% bonus offer that just dropped today! They just had one like 2-3 weeks ago, and I didn't buy, but as mentioend above, I'm planning a big vacation to Europe around a cruise for next May/June, so our dates are fixed. Based on the flights I booked, we have 2 nights in Lisbon (I booked with Hyatt points) but I still needed 3 nights in Barcelona. Hotel prices are insane a year out, which I didn't quite expect to this degree. I thought maybe I'd have close to enough IHG points, but no. We're only staying 3 nights, so I can't take advantage of the 4th night free, but oh well. Anyway, I've been monitoring IHG hotels in Barcelona for a week or so, and tonight, the rooms came available for the latest dates I need.

I don't know how legit the cash prices are on the website, but we booked 3 nights at Indigo Plaza Catalunya in a double bed suite with a pool view (it's me, wife, and kid, which is why I went for a suite). 120K points a night. I had 190K so I bought 170K for $850 and booked. The cash price showing on the website right now for that room, non-refundable, is $3974. A NIGHT. Refundable, it's about $4800. So I think I just got about $12K worth of a room for 360K points that was half accumulated points from stays and spending plus $850.

Even if that cash price is inflated and it's only 25% of that, I still got a great deal. THAT is why I love playing the credit card points game!

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't know how legit the cash prices are on the website, but we booked 3 nights at Indigo Plaza Catalunya in a double bed suite with a pool view (it's me, wife, and kid, which is why I went for a suite). 120K points a night. I had 190K so I bought 170K for $850 and booked. The cash price showing on the website right now for that room, non-refundable, is $3974. A NIGHT. Refundable, it's about $4800. So I think I just got about $12K worth of a room for 360K points that was half accumulated points from stays and spending plus $850.

Congrats on the find, that must be a personal best redemption? Happy you got a great deal.


FWIW. I've come to the conclusion that Accor is probably the other chain that I'll focus on building up status for my travels in Europe & Asia. They've got lower-mid tier brands (Ibis = HI Express) that are pretty affordable. Unfortunately, no credit card to build up points, no 4/5th night free, cannot buy points etc. so their program sucks. I'll default to IHG but will use them as needed.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I don't use Cap1, but portal purchases can often be a bad deal. I hope you are at least comparing the portal prices to cash prices directly from the airlines. I'm not militant about maxing out my points value, but I'm also willing to do some work to find the best ways to use my points. Portal spend is not usually a good way to spend points.

I always use Google Travel first to see what's out there for flights & hotels. I have not seen any egregious $ differences for flights between Google Travel and C1 portal.

But for hotels, yeah C1 really suck. So always have to weigh if the difference is worth it for C1 multiplier pts. C1 supposedly does a price guarantee but I've not tried it yet for my non-IHG bookings.

Oh, C1 Venture X announced changes to their Priority Pass. Starting next year, primary gets to go in for free but not the additional card members. Have to pay annual $175 (?) if the additional card members want access. Not that big of a deal to me but still ...

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I saw that about C1 lounges. Delta has already been playing that game for a couple of years. I don't fly enough for it to create any issues for me, and I'm not putting $75K of spending on a Delta card for unlimited access. I get 15 visits a year (a visit is now determined by 24 hour period, not an individual visit) on my Delta card, plus I have another 10 visits on my AmEx Plat, so that's more than enough for me.

I don't keep track of CPP like a lot of people do, but that Barcelona hotel deal has to be the best deal I've ever gotten, assuming those cash prices hold up.

[Edward64]

Can't imagine the hardware & software/OS maintenance that needs to happen to make things keep on working.

FAA to eliminate floppy disks used in air traffic control systems - Windows 95 also being phased out | Tom's Hardware

FAA to eliminate floppy disks used in air traffic control systems - Windows 95 also being phased out

Thinking in terms of how computer games have evolved the past 30 years. You'd think the 30 year old ATC software would be relatively easy to rewrite/port for newer OS/hardware (unless everything was written in Assembly). Admittedly, the build-test iterations will be rigorous & extensive before final deployment.

[flere-imsaho]

Honestly, I'm more than a little surprised it isn't still written in COBOL.

[Ksyrup]

Well, the long-rumored Chase Reserve card "refresh" dropped today and it is a doozy.

This article provides a nice summary of the changes:

It's Official: Chase Sapphire Reserve® Hikes Annual Fee, Adds Tons of Perks

Bottom line is that it continues the decent into couponing and being a "lifestyle" card rather than for pure travelers, as many cards are now doing. And, it mostly benefits people who live in big cities, who are the only people able to take advantage of the new food credit for certain high-level restaurants in a handful of cities.

Still, I'm happy they are retaining the easy-to-apply $300 travel credit (it automatically applies $300 off your travel purchases every year) but upset they are getting rid of the 3x points for all travel, replacing it with 4x points for hotels and flights. That's a lot of points to lose for paying for cruises, tours, busses/trains, rideshare, etc. I'm going to have to figure out how to replace those points.

Other new perks are of little or marginal value. A Peloton credit? No thanks. The biannual $150 Stubhub credit could be useful. There's an Apple Music/Apple TV credit, but that would requiring signing up for something I don't use now to take advantage of.

Oh, and if you are an existing card holder, none of the changes apply until after October 26th (including the increased fee, from $550 to $795).

Can't wait for the fall, when AmEx "refreshes" the Platinum card!