Some Decent Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses

Unfortunately, the stream of massive credit card sign-up bonuses we saw earlier this year has now slowed to a trickle. But despite there being very few mega-bonuses in the past few months, there are still a couple of good deals to be had.

I had previously written about the SPG American Express, and how it remains one of my go-to cards for daily use. I typically don't keep cards beyond one year so as not to incur the annual fee, but I've made a notable exception for the SPG AMEX simply because SPG points are worth more than the average airline miles or hotel points, and because it is so flexible for transfers to other programs. Earlier this summer, there was a promotion on this card for 10,000 SPG points after your first purchase, and then 20,000 more after spending $4,500 within the first 3 months of cardmembership.

That offer has already ended, but American Express has now tweaked the regular year-round offer to make it somewhat easier to earn the full sign-up bonus. Right now, if you sign up for the card, you can earn 10,000 SPG points after your first purchase, and then 15,000 more after spending just $5,000 within the first 6 months of cardmembership. Compare that to the normal $15,000 spend threshold within 6 months! Personally, I would say if you don't have an urgent need for this card, wait until next summer when SPG and American Express might run another 30,000 point sign-up promotion. Otherwise, take advantage of this offer now. The $65 annual fee is waived for the first year.

If anyone plans on applying for this card, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to refer them. That way, you get the same great offer, and I receive 5,000 SPG points also. Just email me your full name and email address at milesglu@gmail.com, and I'll get the referral sent out right away. Thanks!

Another offer that popped up recently is for the Chase Ink Business Bold charge card. Right now, you can receive 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points when you spend $5000 within the first 3 months of cardmembership. That is a pretty high spend threshold in a short amount of time, so you may need to employ some other spend methods such as buying gift cards or Amazon Payments. Also, even though this is a business card, you typically don't need a registered business... applying as a sole proprietorship with your Social Security Number has worked in the past. But as always, proceed with caution.

I've gone through some of the benefits of the Ultimate Rewards program in a previous post, but in general, points can be redeemed for cash on a 100:1 basis (so 50,000 UR points = $500 USD). Or if you redeem for flights or hotels through the UR travel booking tool, points are worth 25% more (so 50,000 UR points = $625 USD). You can also transfer points on a 1:1 basis to a number of different airlines such as Continental, British Airways, and starting within the past week or two, Korean Air. The $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. This offer expires on November 28, 2011, so apply soon!

Reduced Mileage Awards With Citi AAdvantage Card

If you have a Citi AAdvantage card (and who doesn't nowadays), you can book round-trip American Airlines award flights with reduced mileage requirements from now through December 31, 2011, for travel between October 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. Every quarter, Citi releases a list of select destinations within the 48 contiguous United States and Canada for reduced mileage awards. They break down the list according to the specific Citi AAdvantage card type you have, but judging from what I have seen, it appears the destinations are identical for every card. The only difference is that some card types offer a discount of 7,500 miles, while others only offer 5,000 miles. You must call the AAdvantage award reservations desk at 1-800-882-8880 in order to book your reduced mileage tickets. Unfortunately, the $20 phone reservation fee will apply.

The list of destinations is somewhat disappointing, as they feature mostly smaller obscure markets that typically aren't very popular with travelers. However, there are a couple of larger destinations that might be interesting, especially to Canada. For example, I see Vancouver, Toronto, as well as Montreal listed for only 17,500 miles round-trip if you have the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Visa or MasterCard, or the Citi AAdvantage Select American Express. I also see Atlanta, New Orleans, and Memphis for the same number of miles as well. Take a look at the list; there may be some good deals to be had if you are planning on visiting those destinations anyways.

Also don't forget that tomorrow, September 19, 2011 is the last day to take advantage of the SaverPass reduced mileage awards on Continental and United Airlines. Unlike the Citi offer, this is actually a very good deal, with plenty of popular destinations offered for reduced miles. See my previous post for more details.

Tokyo/Vietnam July 2011 - InterContinental Asiana Saigon

***This post is part 19 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

Let's start by saying I had fairly high expectations for the InterContinental Asiana Saigon. Virtually every review I read about this hotel had high praise for it, and it's ranked #2 on TripAdvisor for hotels in Ho Chi Minh City, right behind the Park Hyatt Saigon... not too shabby.

I compared a number of different booking sites trying to weigh my options when planning this 3-night stay. There were a couple of different factors at play here, first of which was cost, of course. Being a Priority Club Platinum member, I logically reasoned that I should book directly with the hotel so I could earn points on the stay, though I also had enough points to book a "points + cash" stay. But if I did that, they probably wouldn't honor any status benefits... although there wouldn't be any status benefits anyways since I'm not even an InterContinental Ambassador. Then to make things even more complicated, I had just received an email offering me an Ambassador challenge... I only had to stay 3 qualifying nights at any InterContinental Hotel within the next 3 months, and I would earn Ambassador status. Man was I in a pickle.

Ultimately, I narrowed my choices down to 2 options: book the best available rate directly with the hotel (which was close to $200/night) and earn both points and Ambassador status, or book the Friends & Family rate (which was the cheapest anywhere at $140/night) and not receive any points nor Ambassador status since it wouldn't be a qualifying stay. It was a tough choice, but I finally went with the cheap rate since I didn't feel like it was fair to put the extra cost burden on my friend (nor did I want to pick up the cost difference myself). Either way, I didn't expect to receive any benefits with my lowly Priority Club Platinum.

Wow, was I wrong on just about every front!

We arrived at the InterContinental Asiana Saigon by taxi, and I was immediately impressed with the service. There was a gentleman in traditional Vietnamese garb who opened the door for us, then several bellmen took our luggage and directed us to the front entrance, where a well-dressed woman opened the doors for us. It certainly felt excessive for me, but in a very good way. I was still in my local hotel do-it-yourself mode I guess. The lobby was beautiful, extremely modern and very personal, but not really grand in any way... though I preferred this to a grand, opulent entrance I must say. We were directed to the check-in counter and I was helped by a friendly gentleman. After taking my information, he called up another woman and told us to follow her. I was confused.

So follow her we did, up to the 14th floor, then down a corridor and finally into our room. When I looked in, I realized we had been upgraded one category to a deluxe corner room with beautiful views of the city. Then I also realized we were completing the check-in process inside our room... and not only that, I had been given most of the Ambassador benefits as well, including free breakfast or internet (I chose internet, which I later regretted), fresh fruit at arrival, 2 pieces of complimentary laundry per day, and also late check-out. I was blown away, having expected none of this at all. It was definitely a great way to start the stay! The only thing I was slightly bummed over was not being able to try the club lounge, which I've read great things about.

The room itself was very nice, with spectacular views of the city and the Notre Dame Basilica two blocks away. The bed was probably the most comfortable out of all the hotels I stayed at on this trip. There was an efficient work area, large flat-screen TV, and a very spacious bathroom with a large soaking tub and separate shower.

Everyone at this hotel was very friendly and welcoming, and service was top notch. I used the concierge desk a number of times to set up tours to the Mekong Delta and for other recommendations, and the lady could not have been any nicer or more helpful. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try the restaurant since there were so many places to eat in Saigon... but I definitely regretted not choosing the free breakfast earlier. The place was packed all day, so I assume the food there must have been pretty good.

I also tried out the gym and pool, which were decent, but not as nice as the Sheraton Nha Trang. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the pool, but it was interesting in that it's elevated, and two of the sides are made of clear glass... so you can see everyone swimming in full view. That definitely made me feel a little self-conscious while doing laps :)

I must say the InterContinental Asiana Saigon was an absolutely spectacular hotel, from the front door service to the check-in process to the concierge to the beautiful room to the super-convenient location (walkable to all the major tourist sites in Saigon), everything was virtually perfect. I can't recommend this hotel highly enough.

View from the room

And as if all that weren't enough, I have a small postscript to add. About 2 weeks after I had returned from my trip, I was randomly checking my Priority Club account, and I literally shrieked like a little girl. I noticed that I had achieved Ambassador status with InterContinental! So not only did I book the cheapest Friends & Family rate, but apparently it also qualified me for the Ambassador challenge! I was definitely not expecting this at all especially since I had called in prior to booking, and it was confirmed to me that the F&F rate would not qualify for the Ambassador challenge. I guess the InterContinental Asiana Saigon is just full of surprises! :)

Tokyo/Vietnam July 2011 - Vietnam Airlines 1353 Economy Class (CXR - SGN)

***This post is part 18 of a full trip report. The index can be found here***

This will be a very quick post as much of the flight was very similar to the two previous domestic Vietnam Airlines routes I took. We grabbed a taxi from the Sheraton to Cam Ranh International Airport about 20 miles outside of Nha Trang. Despite it's small size, CXR is a very modern-looking airport, having been completely rebuit in 2004. The facility has plenty of amenities for passengers, with a number of places to eat and shop. Security was very quick as usual, and soon we were in the waiting area next to Gate 1.

Vietnam Airlines 1353

Airbus A320
Cam Ranh (CXR) - Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Friday July 15, 2011
Departure: 9:30 AM (scheduled)

Arrival: 10:25 AM (scheduled)

Duration: 0h 55m (scheduled)
Seat: 9A (Economy)

I was happy to see that we would finally be boarding via jet bridge and not the typical two-minute bus ride out onto the tarmac. The Airbus A320 we were taking that day, however, looked fairly old and rough around the edges. The seats were a bit worn, though it really didn't matter on this short 55-minute hop to Ho Chi Minh City.

Take-off was uneventful, and the bottled water that I knew and loved was quickly distributed. Service was efficient and courteous. As quickly as we ascended, we were soon descending into Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It was actually kind of nice to see a huge sprawling metropolis (complete with skyscrapers) for the first time in almost two weeks. It was also nice to see some familiar faces... at least for my friend, since a bunch of his relatives were waiting at the airport to pick us up.

Goodbye Nha Trang

Hello Saigon!

Say Goodbye To "Bump The Bonus"

American Express has long had a bad (good?) habit of applying targeted promotional offers to non-targeted cardholders' accounts and thereby "bumping the bonus" they receive. For example, I applied for an American Express Premier Rewards Gold card in May of this year and the promotion I signed up for only gave me 10,000 Membership Rewards points. There was another offer floating around, however, on Flyertalk which gave you 75,000 MR points after spending $500 within 3 months. Despite appearing targeted to specific customers only, I was able to call up American Express and have this offer applied to my account. After I completed the spend, I called them back and requested the full 75,000 points, which was promptly added to my account.

Well, it looks like those days of "bumping the bonus" are officially over. Since about a week ago, it looks like American Express has clamped down on this loophole and are now refusing to apply offers to non-targeted customers and also refusing to add bonus points to anyone's account - even those that have been previously notated with an offer code. It's unfortunate because in early August, I had another offer code applied to my Premier Rewards Gold account, giving me 10,000 MR points per additional user I added, after making the first spend on each card. I even blogged about it here. I added 5 additional users, and reconfirmed with another representative that the offer was applied to my account and that I would receive the points.

After hearing the chatter on Flyertalk regarding American Express' recent refusal of bonus points, I called up their Membership Rewards line (1-800-297-3276) to see for myself. Low and behold, I was denied the points since I was not specifically targeted for the promotion. After about half an hour on the line with both the representative and her supervisor, I hung up and dialed the American Express Executive Office line (212-640-2000). Apparently, the people at this office have more ability to "make things happen". I spoke at length with a pleasant lady who, despite continuing to deny me the points, still offered to do some more investigation into whether or not I was actually promised the points. I'm not worried about that since they can pull up phone records that show I indeed spoke to 2 different representatives who both confirmed that my account was notated and that I would receive the points after the first spend had been met. However, I'm not holding out hope that I will actually receive anything at the end of all this.

American Express has obviously realized that honoring these bonus points will cost them dearly, since the promotion code spread like wildfire and their own representatives were adding them onto everyone's accounts. They've clearly decided that cutting their losses far outweighs angering some of their customers and perhaps even some closed accounts. And frankly, I can't blame them.

I'll report back if I hear anything from the investigation, but it's definitely not looking good.