Another Hyatt Promotion: Bonus Journeys is back!

I was pleasantly surprised to see a confirmation email arrive today from Hyatt highlighting another promotion to start the year: Bonus Journeys

If you're looking for additional points on stays, this will certainly help in conjunction with using your Hyatt credit card.

You must be a member of World of Hyatt in good standing at time of registration and stay and register for the promotion between January 14, 2025 and March 10, 2025 to participate. To join World of Hyatt and to register for the promotion, visit hyatt.com/bonusjourneys. Only Eligible Stays at participating Hyatt hotels and resorts worldwide, participating Mr & Mrs Smith hotels, and the Venetian Resort completed after registration and between January 27, 2025 and March 28, 2025 (“Promotion Period”) will count towards this promotion. All Eligible Stays must be completed by March 28, 2025.

Cards in My Wallet Right Now (2025)

Happy New Year!  My card list has changed a little this past year while my spending overall has stayed even.  I retired the Hilton Surpass and AA Biz Platinum while picking up the regular AA Platinum.  I'm still using the United Club card for lounge access and extra miles for purchases.  I have referral codes for most cards if needed! 

Cards in my Wallet:

Chase Sapphire Reserve - one of the best earning cards with 3x points for travel and 3x for dining; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase Freedom - Quarterly bonus categories give 5x points and pairs with Sapphire

Chase World of Hyatt - 4x Hyatt points per stay make this one of the best for hotel stays, 2x for restaurant/transit; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase IHG Rewards Club Select (no longer available) - Platinum Elite status plus free night every cardmember year

Chase United Club Infinite - 4x miles on United, 2x miles on other travel, 2x on dining, United Club membership

Chase Biz Plus (replaced with Business Preferred) - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x on gas station and hotel; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase Biz Cash - 5x points at office supply and phone, 2x points on gas stations and restaurants

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless - 6x points at Marriott properties; 3x Gas/Grocery/Dining up to $6k, 1 Elite Night credit per $5k spent; 2x points on other purchases; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Chase British Airways - 3x Avios on BA purchases; 2x on hotels; No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank Premier - 3x points on travel including gas stations and grocery; 2x on dining/entertainment, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank AA Platinum - 2x American Airlines miles on purchases plus free checked bag and priority boarding; 2x on gas stations, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Citibank AA Mileup - 2x American Airlines miles on flights, plus 2x miles for grocery purchases, No Annual Fee

Citibank Double Cash - 2% cash back on all purchases, though the transfer option to Citi ThankYou Points makes this card strong for all non-category spend, No Annual Fee

American Express Hilton card - 7x Hilton points on stays, 5x points dining/gas/grocery, 3x all other purchases, complimentary Silver status, No Annual Fee, No Foreign Transaction Fee

Discover It card - 5x points/cash on quarterly bonus categories, link to Amazon.com purchases, No Annual Fee

Bank of American Alaska Airlines card - 3x miles on Alaska purchases, $99 companion fare

Travel Stats 2024

It's time for another quick travel checkin now that 2025 is here.  I was pretty happy with my travel pattern over the last year though I will lose some status this year due to decreased flying.  This will be the first time in many years with no 1K on United.

For the year I ended with 92,112 miles flown across 75 flights (with 76,271 BIS on United and lifetime count at 943,903).  No major travel disruptions due to weather.  Global Entry is still fast and even checking luggage was not a problem.  I also made it back to Doha, Qatar along with trips back to Switz.  

I had fewer stays overall with Hyatt this year - nights credited were 40 including free nights from the credit card.  

Happy New Year! 

First Hyatt 2025 Promotion

I was thrilled to receive an email from Hyatt today about a promotion for spring:

EARN UP TO 90k BONUS POINTS Register by February 2, 2025 and then complete qualifying activity within 90 days of registration. Remember—free nights at Hyatt hotels start at just 3,500 points during off-peak times.

When you register for this exclusive offer, you can earn up to 90,000 Bonus Points for qualifying nights.

Nights Stayed Bonus Total Bonus Points 5 +5,000 5,000 15 +10,000 15,000 25 +15,000 30,000 35 +25,000 55,000 45 +35,000 90,000

 If you have stays planned, be sure to take advantage of this offer when received!

Thanksgiving 2024: Doha

We were off again on another Thanksgiving trip flying back to Doha!

There are a number of options to fly to Doha, however, Star Alliance does not have easy direct flights.  In order to maximize miles and points, we chose to fly through Newark on the direct United flight to Dubai (United miles) and transfer to a Qatar Airways flight (AA miles).  We still arrived in the evening the next day which helped with the time shift.  For our stay we chose to try a new Hyatt property - the Park Hyatt Doha.  The room and amenities were excellent including the breakfast which was part of our stay being a Globalist.  Airport transfers are straightforward via Karwa taxi which can be reserved from the Uber app if preferred. 

Our food choices included the following:

Sunday Dinner w/Justin and Christy: Damasca One (fantastic Syrian cuisine)

Monday Dinner: Morimoto Doha (sushi and Japanese offerings)

Tuesday Dinner: Sora Rooftop at the PH Doha

Highlights for this portion of the week included walking to Souq Waqif multiple times, dinner north of West Bay, visiting the Museum of Islamic Art, and meeting up with Justin and Christy for dinner.  The weather was warm and perfect for plenty of walking.

It was great to be back and enjoy the city along with seeing friends and trying new restaurants.  We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!