I was forced to stay at a Starwood property (Westin). Looks like I'm going to have a $4500 hotel bill at the end of two weeks. Anyone have the Starwood Amex?

10/16/2013 4:40:17 PM

Yes

10/16/2013 6:05:17 PM

I do as well.

10/16/2013 11:45:18 PM

Quote :

"I was forced to stay at a Starwood property (Westin)"

For work?

10/17/2013 12:12:52 AM

Yeah usually a Marriott guy. I will say the breakfast buffet is fantastic. I can get Pina colada and hot chocolate for breakfast. It's the Westin palace in Madrid. Might have to get the Amex.

10/17/2013 2:08:29 AM

they usually do their bigger give away once a year on the starwood cc. think it just ended

10/17/2013 6:34:58 AM

Starwood properties are really nice, but I hate how they nickel and dime you for everything.

Guess they figure you don't mind paying $10/day for WiFi if you're staying at a $500/night hotel.

10/17/2013 7:51:26 AM

Yeah luckily breakfast and wifi was included in my rate but I think to wash a shirt it's like 15 euro. Ridiculous.

10/17/2013 8:08:24 AM

okay so i'm in a marriott - do I want to earn marriott rewards, or airline miles? which is worth more? I'm guessing airlines since i usually stay in hiltions for work.

10/17/2013 2:46:07 PM

If you don't stay at Marriotts a lot then do whatever but if you stay at Marriotts a lot then it's worth it. Once you hit gold/platinum and sign up for all their promotions you can get crazy amounts of points. They'll have seasonal mega bonuses for 20-30k points.

I always dump points at resort hotels. The Vail Marriott is usually $500-600/night and it was 70k points for 2 nights over a weekend. Great $/point ratio.

-Well great ratio if you consider how many points you get per dollar spent at a Marriott. I'm at platinum and I think I get 17 points per dollar spent at a Marriott. So my typical 4 nights at a Marriott at $150/night amounts to maybe 10k-11k points.

[Edited on October 17, 2013 at 3:55 PM. Reason : s]

10/17/2013 3:53:22 PM

A couple weeks ago I could have stayed in St. Croix for a week for free with my Chase points, and gotten a dirt cheap plane ticket from my sister that works at American Airlines.....but my wife decided we would spend too much while there and we did not go.

10/17/2013 11:46:03 PM

^^yup, resorts are almost always the best value when redeeming points. This holds true for SPG, HHonors as well (I'm not at all familiar with Mariott).

10/18/2013 8:59:22 AM

Does anyone know of any good rental car deals going on now?

10/23/2013 9:38:49 AM

For all you guys obsessing over how to get the last $6k+ for the SW companion pass

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/10/22/wyndham-points-20-bonus/

10/23/2013 5:00:28 PM

Does anyone get random gift cards through Amex? I just received a $40 gift card for Fleming's Steakhouse (only been there once ever 2 yrs ago), which is valid as long as I pay with my Amex. How do I get more of these?

[Edited on October 27, 2013 at 11:07 PM. Reason : lk]

10/27/2013 11:07:21 PM

Quote :

"all you guys"

= slappy 1 right?

I'm going to apply for two SW cards today, planning to get denied for both.

10/28/2013 10:07:18 AM

Approved for the Premier Personal, got the "Thank you for responding. Your response requires further review before making a decision." for the Plus Business...I got the same response with my Ink Bold [also business obvi]from Chase and I just got surprised with the card a few weeks later, no notification that I saw. I'm hoping for the same result here

10/28/2013 10:51:15 AM

^^^no, but that is relevant to my interests

^^

I ended up deciding against the SW cards, but did get the 80k IHG card

10/28/2013 11:58:11 AM

The downside of getting SW points is you have to fly SW.

10/28/2013 3:51:29 PM

10/28/2013 3:55:35 PM

I'm sorry I like my free first class upgrades, Delta Skyclub, and free drinks. Southwest just isn't a business friendly airline. It's an airline for infrequent flyers. I have no idea why anyone who flies frequently would ever fly Southwest.

10/28/2013 3:59:21 PM

Quote :

"I'm sorry I like my free first class upgrades, Delta Skyclub, and free drinks. Southwest just isn't a business friendly airline. It's an airline for infrequent flyers. I have no idea why anyone who flies frequently would ever fly Southwest."

Hey nobody is knocking you for your airline preference. No need to be sorry for anything.

As a someone who only flies 4-5 times per year, Southwest is perfect for my needs. More important than free drinks (which I get) and potential club access for me, is they fly direct pretty much everywhere I travel to from RDU, for a lot cheaper than the other guys too (who usually aren't even direct). As such, I pretty much fly exclusively Southwest. Also with the CP if I can fly myself and my +1 out west for $300-$400 combined, that's value for me. Different strokes for different folks I spose.

10/28/2013 4:19:12 PM

Well then you're an in-frequent flyer. If you fly 1-2 times week it's much nicer being in economy plus or first class for business travel. The best you get on Southwest is you get to board earlier. The club is great as it's directly geared toward business travelers. There's never any waiting, there's always nice tables with outlets and working wifi. If you're spending 10+ hours a week on a plane or at airports it's nice not to have to deal with lines and infrequent flyers.

For personal travel I see the perks of Southwest but if you travel for business and someone else is picking up the tab there's almost no reason to fly Southwest. Maybe to get points but if you fly enough for work with another airline you accumulate enough miles to just get free flights anyway.

Plus internationally Airtran wouldn't be my top pick for an 8 hour flight.

-I had to fly Southwest for a month earlier in the year because Delta was really pricey for some reason. It was not the best experience. I know it sounds silly but if you're commuting every week via plane you do not want to be near anyone who isn't commuting as well. I guess it's kind of like driving to work every day but being surrounded by people who don't know how to drive. It gets annoying very fast.

[Edited on October 28, 2013 at 4:42 PM. Reason : s]

10/28/2013 4:34:46 PM

Quote :

"If you fly 1-2 times week..."

Quote :

"If you're spending 10+ hours a week on a plane or at airports..."

Quote :

"if you travel for business and someone else is picking up the tab..."

Quote :

"if you fly enough for work with another airline..."

Quote :

"if you're commuting every week via plane"

I get what you're saying though for sure. If I flew every week I doubt I'd do it on Southwest...though unless Delta/etc is giving me the flight for free, I'd probably still take SW for ski trips and the like out west in order to fly direct.

10/28/2013 6:14:33 PM

Delta is a piece of shit too

10/28/2013 6:24:41 PM

Anyone know of any good rental car deals going on now?

10/28/2013 9:27:48 PM

7.75% fixed APR visa @ SECU

no balance transfer fee

10/28/2013 9:43:28 PM

Quote :

"The club is great as it's directly geared toward business travelers. There's never any waiting, there's always nice tables with outlets and working wifi. If you're spending 10+ hours a week on a plane or at airports it's nice not to have to deal with lines and infrequent flyers. "

You realize using the club and flying southwest aren't mutually exclusive?

10/29/2013 10:04:46 AM

Quote :

"Delta is a piece of shit too"

Compared to what? Delta is usually ranked among the highest airlines for customer support, and service and they're almost always the cheapest flights where I usually fly. Denver, Charlotte, Atlanta. Way better than US, United, or American.

^I guess. I've only ever gone in the Delta clubs. I didn't think SW actually had a club and if you don't have status anywhere else you can't get club access unless you pay $$$.

10/29/2013 10:43:07 AM

From my experience with Delta they have great customer service and often great prices. Flying the NY to CLT route they're almost never the cheapest though (USAir is)...but that's just one route.

My biggest issue with Delta is it seems near impossible to me to buy an award ticket. The mileage you need is almost always far more than other airlines

10/29/2013 11:13:24 AM

Yeah I think the points are worth a little more than others but you get what you pay for. Delta just sells a much better product than AA, United, or US.

That is true when I fly to NY US is usually cheaper.

10/29/2013 12:18:53 PM

I mean, if you need to switch flights or have a problem than I'm glad to be on Delta...but if I'm just getting to the airport and getting from point A to point B with no issues (which is the vast majority of flights) I have no reason to pick any airline over another other than price. The average Delta flight is not worth more money than the average X airline flight

If I took advantage of more things like lounges and switching flights, sure, but I don't

10/29/2013 12:30:23 PM

Quote :

"The average Delta flight is not worth more money than the average X airline flight"

Yeah unless you have to switch flights. Some airlines like Delta have a lot more leverage in getting you places you need to go.

With an airline like Southwest they'll put you on the next Southwest flight. Period.

I've been on US, Delta, and United where they've gotten me on the next available flight regardless of airline. E.g. Delta caused me to miss a layover due to a delayed flight so they stuck me on a direct US flight instead. I guess SW kind of makes up for this by allowing you to get a refund on a flight but if I'm not paying for it I'd much rather take another flight (sometimes with better times) then get a refund on something.

This is also highly dependent on which airport you frequently fly. Obviously the more presence an airline has at a particular airport the more options they can give you for flights.

[Edited on October 29, 2013 at 3:02 PM. Reason : s]

10/29/2013 3:00:44 PM

http://www.theacsi.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=147&catid=14&Itemid=212&i=Airlines
http://www.jdpower.com/content/press-release/5sYQtpZ/2013-north-america-airline-satisfaction-study.htm

Are Delta's economy rates refundable?

Quote :

"they're almost always the cheapest flights where I usually fly. Denver, Charlotte, Atlanta. Way better than US, United, or American. "

Out of RDU?

10/29/2013 4:45:36 PM

They're refundable but I think you usually pay a $150 change fee. SW does not have that.

Those links back my point. Among the big legacy airlines Delta always ranks on top for customer satisfaction.

SW isn't a legacy airline and yes I agree among in-frequent flyers the customer satisfaction is great. SW sells a great product but for frequent flyers I assume the customer satisfaction would be a lot lower than the legacy carriers because they don't offer all the same services as the other major airlines.

I never fly out of RDU.

10/29/2013 5:05:15 PM

Quote :

"They're refundable but I think you usually pay a $150 change fee. SW does not have that. "

Dunno, I've always just refunded SW tickets. I've never needed to change them...you'd just pay the difference I'd imagine, and with SW's low prices I'd bet $150 would more than cover it.

Quote :

"I never fly out of RDU."

Oh ok I was wondering...Delta is rarely cheaper than SW here (even without taking Southwest's free bags into account). Do you fly out of a Delta hub?

Quote :

"Those links back my point. Among the big legacy airlines Delta always ranks on top for customer satisfaction. SW isn't a legacy airline and yes I agree among in-frequent flyers the customer satisfaction is great. SW sells a great product but for frequent flyers I assume the customer satisfaction would be a lot lower than the legacy carriers because they don't offer all the same services as the other major airlines. "

So you can't compare SW's scores to Delta's scores in those surveys? It isn't apples to apples?

10/29/2013 6:43:13 PM

Quote :

"Dunno, I've always just refunded SW tickets. I've never needed to change them...you'd just pay the difference I'd imagine, and with SW's low prices I'd bet $150 would more than cover it."

Yeah so it's similar (change/refund). I think you have a day to refund it before there's a fee I believe. Then you can still refund it (unless you buy a non-refundable ticket) but there's a cancellation/change fee. I'm not quite sure. Either way I'd still take Delta's ability to put you on any flight over SW's refund policy.

Aka I'd rather get somewhere on my own schedule then have to stay at a crappy hotel and wait on the next SW flight the next day. In fact when I was flying SW a flight was delayed and they were going to put me up in a crappy hotel until the next day at 10am.

So I got a refund on that leg of the flight and got a direct Delta flight for cheaper. Obviously I won't always get as lucky so I'd rather just be on Delta to start with. I had to cancel the ticket with SW then actually leave the gate and go to Delta to buy a new ticket. The SW rep said they couldn't even look for other non-SW options for me. When it happened to me on Delta the lady at the gate put me on a US flight in less than 5 minutes.

Quote :

"Oh ok I was wondering...Delta is rarely cheaper than SW here (even without taking Southwest's free bags into account). Do you fly out of a Delta hub?"

^I was commuting between Denver and Charlotte for a long time every week. Now I'm out of Denver and go back to Charlotte and Atlanta a bit. Atlanta is a big Delta hub and Charlotte has a lot of Delta flights. For the three airports Delta is almost always the cheapest (except for a short period where I flew SW because it was cheaper by a good margin).

Quote :

"So you can't compare SW's scores to Delta's scores in those surveys? It isn't apples to apples?"

No it's apples to oranges. The Southwest experience to an infrequent flyer is much better I'll give you that. That's probably a huge portion of the population and what's driving the CSAT surveys. If you compared business travelers then Southwest would probably be toward the bottom. The services offered to business travelers is simply far better than what SW has to offer for frequent flyers.

I mean with SW you get priority boarding, free bag? What else? With the legacy carriers if you're a frequent flyer you get priority boarding, economy plus / first class upgrades (free drinks), and lounge access. It's just apples and oranges.

10/29/2013 7:57:33 PM

Quote :

"I didn't think SW actually had a club and if you don't have status anywhere else you can't get club access unless you pay $$$."

They don't, but that doesn't stop me at hitting up random clubs for other airlines. They never check your tickets and I usually get a myriad of free passes via credit cards.

10/29/2013 10:37:09 PM

Quote :

"No it's apples to oranges. "

I mean, the numbers are on the same scale right?

Quote :

"If you compared business travelers then Southwest would probably be toward the bottom."

It appears you business travelers aren't happy with *any* airline - http://blogs.reuters.com/business-traveller/2011/07/04/business-travellers-can%E2%80%99t-get-no-airline-satisfaction/

I can't find anything rating Southwest low for business travel...in fact, everything I've found shows it rated pretty high for business, far from the bottom


http://www.businessinsider.com/best-airlines-for-leisure-and-business-2013-1

http://www.businesstravelnews.com/uploadedFiles/2010AirSurvey.pdf

Quote :

"I mean with SW you get priority boarding, free bag[s]? What else? "

With 2 free bags per person, the savings really add up at up to $60 per flight per person. They do free drinks as well for frequent flyers, as well as priority check in. But sure, if someone else is footing the bill then the savings really don't matter.

10/30/2013 10:24:04 AM

Hey I guess my assumptions were wrong. You can get a free checked bag on almost any airline by signing up for a credit card or simply having status. And I really can't remember the last time I actually checked a bag. My huge suitcase always fits in the overhead compartment and you get an additional bag for under the seat.

I still hold by my opinion that free economy plus and first class upgrades along with club access far outweigh anything else for a frequent flyer. Plus my experience with SW just hasn't been as good as other airlines. The travelers are slightly more annoying (back to my highway analogy) and they aren't good about getting you to where you need to go.

-And hey at least Delta is in the top 5 for business travels unlike the rest of the legacy airlines. I guess I could refine my definition to say frequent flyers with status probably prefer legacy airlines but I won't assume this time.

[Edited on October 30, 2013 at 10:53 AM. Reason : s]

10/30/2013 10:51:46 AM

Quote :

"I still hold by my opinion that free economy plus and first class upgrades along with club access far outweigh anything else for a frequent flyer"

I can't disagree with that. If someone else was footing the bill I'd love to have those perks as a frequent traveler.

Quote :

"And hey at least Delta is in the top 5 for business travels unlike the rest of the legacy airlines"

They definitely do fare well against the other legacy airlines, usually on top.

10/30/2013 11:01:15 AM

Kind of unrelated but an interesting read:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/01/23/why-frequent-flyer-programs-dont-work-and-what-delta-is-doing-about-it/

I didn't really think of it like that.

10/30/2013 11:02:26 AM

On a similar topic: http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2013/07/frequent-flyer-program-award-redemption-satisfaction-the-best-and-worst-airlines-for-2013/

10/30/2013 12:29:00 PM

10/30/2013 2:36:28 PM

No instant approval for either Southwest, on the plus side

"Congratulations!
You've been approved for the Barclaycard Arrival MasterCard with a revolving credit line of $10,000.00"

$400 for travel after I spend $1,0000

10/30/2013 4:00:48 PM

Had to call in, but also got approved for

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® World Card Mastercard

Spend 3K to get 40,000 miles

10/30/2013 4:10:40 PM

^ Can you get all $400 out of Barclays? Also did you get the 50k AA Visa too?

10/30/2013 4:15:51 PM

What do you mean can I get all $400 out?
Yeah, already did the 50k pt offer with AA

10/30/2013 4:28:26 PM

With some cards it's hard to get dollar for dollar out (in the form of gift cards/statement credit etc)...Citi for example where you can only get $ for $ if you do the mortgage check.

I thought I remember people bitching about Barclay's...that's why I asked.

10/30/2013 4:50:06 PM

I think they'll reimburse you for any travel in $25 increments, so assuming I don't do something dumb like a non $25 divisible reimbursement I should be fine.

10/30/2013 7:01:34 PM