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Good morning from Surakarta, the central Javanese city known for Soto Kudus, and… well, that’s it really. But it’s amazing.
You know what else is amazing? TRAVEL. So let’s do some:
🏃🏼♂️ Mike on the Move
It’s another week. So, as you probably assumed, I am on the move.
This week’s story picks up where last week’s left off: A Hyatt Category 1 hotel in Yogyakarta.
I just completed my stay here and spent just 2,500 points per night (after the promotion rebate that I told you about last week)… it was pretty epic.
But you know what’s better than a Category 1 Hyatt hotel for 2,500 points per night?
TWO Hyatt Category 1 hotels for 2,500 points per night.
This week, I’m staying at another 5-star, luxurious Category 1 property right here in Surakarta. 👇
As with the previous hotel, this bad boy costs just 3,500 points per night.
Since I’m here for three nights, Hyatt’s promo will kick in again with a 3,000-point rebate, bringing the net cost down to just 2,500 points per night… again…
To make my stay a little more special, I decided to apply one of my Suite Upgrade awards that I earned last year as one of Hyatt’s Milestone Rewards.
Now, I’m in a luxurious suite at a 5-star hotel with free breakfast and late checkout, all for 2,500 points per night. 😎
From Surakarta (or “Solo” as the locals call it), I’m heading to Surabaya, the second-largest city in Indonesia and home to a U.S. Consulate that *fingers crossed* might issue me a new passport… which I desperately need, since my current one has no blank pages left… 🙃
Thankfully, there are lots of epic ways to redeem points in this moist city…
Like the 5-star JW Marriott, which clocks in at an incredibly reasonable 11,000 Marriott points per night.
But that’s not what I’m doing at all…
Instead, I’m using this unique opportunity to get outsize value for my dollar billz instead of my points.
I’ll be spending three nights at this other Marriott hotel, which only costs $43 per night with cash.
Here’s why I’m doing this instead of staying at a 5-star hotel that I have PLENTY of points for…
Marriott has a global promotion right now that offers double elite night credits PLUS 1,000 bonus points per night, but only for paid stays.
My 3-night stay will cost me a total of $129 and earn me the following points:
10x points for being a Marriott member
7.5x points for having Titanium status
6x points from my co-branded credit card
3,000 points from the promotion
Total: 6,032 Marriott Bonvoy points
6,000 points earned for a $129, 3-night stay is pretty good, especially because next week I need to book a night at this hotel in Jakarta, which costs EXACTLY that amount of points…
Funny how that works out, eh?
In total, my $129 investment is getting me FOUR nights (which I already needed to book) and SEVEN elite night credits:
Three paid nights = six elite nights (because of the promo)
One award night = one elite night
That’s a meaningful boost toward renewing my status for next year, especially considering how cheap this endeavor was.
This is a good example of how, sometimes, strategically paying cash is more beneficial than using points - especially when you have the opportunity to effectively “purchase” dirt-cheap elite night credits.
Next week, I’m going to mix things up and tell you how to save money when traveling abroad by doing things the “local way.” So stay tuned. 😉
🏨 Hyatt double elite nights promo
Speaking of double elite night credits…
It looks like Hyatt has decided to hop on the bandwagon with Marriott and offer a similar promotion… but WAY more rigid…
For the next few months, you can earn double Hyatt elite nights at Thomson and Dream hotels.
Here are the details:
You must register for the offer by May 22nd
Valid for stays through June 10th, 2024
The promo applies to both cash and award stays
Only for Thomson and Dream hotels (meh)
If you’re someone who primarily travels around the U.S., this presents some fantastic opportunities to boost your way toward Hyatt elite status, which, let’s be honest, is the best elite status… 🤷🏼♂️
While there aren’t a TON of individual properties with these brands, they are in many popular U.S. cities like New York, Los Angeles, etc.
For example, this Dream Hotel in the Big Apple often costs less than $200 per night, which isn’t too shabby for a city like New York.
Plus, if you have Hyatt Globalist Status, the $30 “destination fee” (whatever the hell that means) is waived.
If you want something a bit nicer than Dream Hotels, cities like Chicago have cheap Thomson Hotels, like this one:
To make things even tastier, this promotion stacks with Hyatt’s “Bonus Journeys” promotion (which I referred to in the previous section).
That means that if you stay three nights at hotels in either of these brands (during eligible dates), you’ll earn double elite nights and 3,000 bonus points, making it far easier to justify shelling out some cash for nicer hotels like these.
Sadly, these brands do not have low-category hotels, and there is no way to “mattress run” this deal…
So here’s the bottom line:
If you travel around the U.S., you should have no problem finding solid Dream and Thomson hotels, sometimes at really reasonable prices.
Given how valuable Hyatt’s elite status is, it may be worth paying a few bucks more than normal to essentially “buy” extra elite night credits if it will get you closer to status.
🤣 Meme
Let’s be honest, this is the worst part of the points and miles game…
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That’s all for today, kiddos! I’m recovering from a bit of food poisoning (classic Mike occurrence), but I look forward to getting out and seeing Solo over the next few days…
While I lay in bed watching cringy reality TV, tell me something:
Which of the two hotel promos do you value more (if any)?Tell me why, please |
Only Email Recipients can participate in polls. |
Take care, and see you tomorrow ❤️
