Month: September 2013

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IHG Rewards 24-Hour Flash Sale

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For today only (starting at approximately 10:00 AM EST), the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) is offering a flash sale on the number of points required at select properties around the world. This sale is similar to the Points Break lists that are put out throughout the year where select hotels are only 5,000 points per night. However, the flash sale is slightly different in that the amount of points required varies by anywhere from a 25-75% discount.

The sale only runs for 24-hours, or until availability is all booked, and is only for stays October 8, 2013 – November 8, 2013.

Belgium

Holiday Inn Express Antwerp City-North (50% Off)

Canada

Holiday Inn Toronto-International Airport (25% Off)

People’s Republic of China

Holiday Inn Express Hangzhou (50% Off)
Crowne Plaza Ningbo (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Zhabei (50% Off)
Crowne Plaza Shanghai (50% Off)

Cyprus

InterContinental Aphrodite Hills Resort Hotel (50% Off)

France

Holiday Inn Paris-Auteuil (28% Off)

Germany

Holiday Inn Munich-South (50% Off)

Macau

Holiday Inn Macau (75% Off)

Mexico

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mexico City at the WTC (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Resort Acapulco (50% 0ff)

Thailand

Holiday Inn Resort Phi Phi Island (50% Off)

United Arab Emirates

Crowne Plaza Dubai-Festival City (50% Off)

United Kingdom

Holiday Inn Express Gatwick-Crawley (50% Off)
Hotel Indigo London-Tower Hill (55% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Poole (75% Off)
Holiday Inn Edinburgh-City West (75% Off)

United States

Alabama

Holiday Inn Express Fairhope-Point Clear (25% Off)

Arizona

Crowne Plaza Phoenix North (50% Off)

California

Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Corona (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Mira Mesa-San Diego (50% Off)
Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley (50% Off)
Holiday Inn San Mateo-San Francisco SFO (50% Off)
Holiday Inn San Francisco-Intl Airport (75% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Los Angeles-LAX Airport (75% Off)

Colorado

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Denver Tech Center-Englewood (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Colorado Springs-Air Force Academy (50% Off)

Florida

Holiday Inn Express Clearwater N/Dunedin (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express N Palm Beach (50% Off)

Georgia

Holiday Inn Atlanta-Perimeter/Dunwoody (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Alpharetta-Roswell (25% Off)

Illinois

Holiday Inn Express Chicago-Arlington Heights (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Sringfield (25% Off)

Kansas

Holiday Inn Exress Village West (50% Off)

Kentucky

Holiday Inn Cincinnati-Riverfront (50% Off)

Maryland

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Northeast (25% Off)

Massachusetts

Holiday Inn Express Swansea (50% Off)

Minnesota

Holiday Inn Minneapolis NW-Elk River (25% Off)

Michigan

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Ann Arbor (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Mackinaw City (75% Off)

Mississippi

Holiday Inn Express Ridgeland-Jackson North Area (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Meridian E-1-20/I 59 (25% Off)

Nebraska

Holiday Inn Express Ogallala (50% Off)

New Hampshire

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Manchester-Airport (50% Off)

New Jersey

Candlewood Suites Jersey City (28% Off)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Mount Arlington-Rockaway Area (50% Off)

New York

Holiday Inn Mt. Kisco (Westchester County) (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Saratoga Springs (28% Off)

North Carolina

Holiday Inn Raleigh (Crabtree Valley Mall) (50% Off)
Staybridge Suites Raleigh-Durham (50% Off)

Ohio

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Cleveland-Streetsboro (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Cincinnati-West Chester (50% Off)

Oregon

Holiday Inn Portland I-5 S (Wilsonville) (25% Off)

Rhode Island

Holiday Inn Express Middletown/Newport (75% Off)

South Carolina

Holiday Inn Charleston-Riverview (75% Off)

South Dakota

Holiday Inn Spearfish-Convention Center (75% Off)

Tennessee

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Nashville I-40 (25% Off)

Texas

Holiday Inn Amarillo West Medical Center (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Fort Worth SW (I-20) (25% Off)
Candlewood Suites San Antonio NW Near Seaworld (50% Off)

Utah

Holiday Inn Salt Lake City Airport West (50% Off)

Virginia

Holiday Inn Lynchburg (25% Off)
Holiday Inn Express Troutville-Roanoke N (50% Off)
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fredericksburg (50% Off)

Washington

Holiday Inn Seattle (75% Off)

Taking advantage of either this Flash Sale or the various Points Break offers that come along throughout the year can be a fantastic way to stretch out the value of your IHG Rewards points. The IHG Rewards credit card typically offers 60,000-80,000 (targeted) for new members, so you can see how the value of those points can get used for these fantastic sale events.

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: IHG Rewards Club Facebook

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Nostalgic Walt Disney World Postcards

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I am a child of the 1980’s, and while I was not immersed into some of the American era experiences it seems lots of my friends were, there were lots of other great experiences my sister and I had as children. My grandparents were avid travelers, and visited Disney World and Las Vegas like clockwork every couple of months, or at least it seemed so as a child.

So I always enjoyed getting postcards from my family during their adventures. As a kid, I had a desire to start using a camera and taking my own photos of our travels. However, my parents were keen enough to show me that postcards were better quality and made great souvenirs than that lousy cheap camera could create. So I was excited to find some of these old postcards from my grandparents and aunts, with one even being from before I was born and my mother was pregnant with me.

July 1978 Mickey Mouse Postcard

Walt Disney World’s First Citizen, Mickey mouse personally greets visitors to the MAGIC KINGDOM and towering CINDERELLA CASTLE.

What I really like about looking at old photographs is seeing how far we have come with technological advancements. For example, just look how the size of the character heads has changed over time. In the early days, they were sort of awkwardly large and in-proportionate to the rest of their body. Today, the characters heads not only typically scale with the rest of the costume, but also feature advanced mechanisms to control the movements within the eyes and mouth.

August 1979 Pooh and Friends Postcard

Tigger, Pooh, and Eeyore took a break from greeting Magic Kingdom guests to pose in front of the towering Cinderella Castle…entrance to the happiest land of them all – Fantasyland.

One aspect of looking at old postcards, and that is not shown, is seeing what my family wrote to each other. While a postcard had limited space, I find it interesting that the majority of the cards discussed the flights more than the destinations. While commercial flights had been around for quite some time, they were still considered a premium service in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. As we all know, taking a flight somewhere was considered a special treat and reason to be treated great by the airlines. Today, sadly, we are all just a number.

July 1983 Mickey & Friends Postcard

Mickey Mouse and his pals, Goofy and Pluto, greet guests near the towering Cinderella Castle, entrance to the happiest land of them all – Fantasyland.

July 1983 Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs Postcard

Snow White radiates love and laughter to all she greets. And her faithful companions – Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Dopey – are never far behind.

The one character I have always find really awkward is Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. If you take a look at the photo above, he looks completely different then what he actually looked like in the movie. Still, I find it fun to look at the old costumes, and once again wonder to myself if there is a warehouse somewhere just packed full of all the antique characters?

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: InACents

US Bank FlexPerks Cards

20,000 US Bank FlexPerks Travel Visa Card Branch Offer

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US Bank FlexPerks Cards

Update: In addition to the branch offer originally discussed below, US Bank has temporarily increased their public offer to 20,000 points after $3,500 in spend.

When I performed my first multi-credit card round last spring, one of the cards that I never really knew much about was the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature card. At the time I received a targeted offer in the mail, granting me:

  • 20,000 FlexPerks after $500 spend in 90 days
  • $25 credit towards in-flight purchases of baggage fees
  • No annual fee the first year; $49 thereafter
  • 0% interest on purchases for 12 months

Normally, I would not give much of a second look at a card only offering 20,000 points. However, the terrific aspect of the US Bank FlexPerks program is the rewards value. Each point is worth $0.02 of value, making my 20,000 points worth $400 towards travel. You simply book your reward via the US Bank FlexPerks program, and the points can be used towards the balance.

There are some tricks to maximizing your redemptions, but as long as the value of the flight is within certain ranges of the point spreads, it is easy to maximize.

I also opened up a Business version of the same card at the same time, which I received the best offer by calling in and receiving 17,500 bonus points by spending $2,500 in 90 days. The spend was a bit more than I was initially told, but we still made it happen.

As a result, after all the spend, we are sitting on just over 43,500 points, which equates to $800 towards airfare for 40,000 points. Not a bad return for opening up a couple of credit cards. With any luck that will be at least 3 domestic tickets for our family!

Since I opened my cards, there have been some better and worse offers floating around.

2012 Olympics 33,150 FlexPerks Offer; however, you had to spend a minimum of $2,500 in the first five months to qualify.

20,000 FlexPerks Public Offer after $500 in purchases within 90 days.

17,500 FlexPoints via referral, US Bank website, or affiliates after $2,500 or more within five months from account opening.

See a pattern? The minimum spend on this offer keeps getting more and more expensive.

Want the current best offer on the US Bank FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa Signature card?

When I was in my local US Bank branch recently, I stumbled upon a “better” offer of the FlexPerks card. Unfortunately, the only way to apply is by visiting a local branch, as there is no current way to apply online from home.

US Bank FlexPerks 20,000 Branch Offer FrontUS Bank FlexPerks 20,000 Branch Offer Rear

Earn 20,000 FlexPerks = $400 in airline tickets after spending $3,500 within 4 months. So now US Bank is back to the same bonus as a year ago, yet offering it only after spending 7 times the amount of money, and within a month less of current online offers. Not quite the offer I was anticipating.

Update: US Bank is now offering a public 20,000 point offer on their website without having to go into the branch.

So which is right for you?

It all boils down to can you swing the extra minimum spend $3,500 versus $2,500 for an extra 2,500 points, not including the points earned from spend?

The 17,500 FlexPerks offer for $2,500 in spend earns you the 20,000 points needed for a $400 reward ticket.

The 20,000 FlexPerks offer for $3,500 in spend will earn you 23,500 points, enough for your $400 reward ticket, plus the second year annual fee.

If you plan on redeeming your points for airfare sooner than later, I think the 17,500 offer may be the way to go.

If you already have the US Bank FlexPerks card, do not forget to check your email to see if you were targeted for 3,500 bonus FlexPoints.

Save Money, Travel More!

Source: US Bank Branch Office

4/29/13- Originally published