Rapid Travel Chai

Does it feel worse when a hotel is a dud if you paid in cash or points? I emptied my Marriott Rewards account for the JW Marriott Rio de Janiero on Copacabana. Not because I care much about high-end hotels but because hotel options in Rio are so limited and outrageously priced. The hotel offers nothing of note beyond a nice rooftop, the room was generic with only interior view, and they do not have even a tent with towels on the beach (nor do any of the other hotels, so perhaps they are not permitted). A waste at 35,000 points/night. If heading to Rio, it is not worth much beyond the view to be on the beach, because there is a high-traffic 4-lane road separating all hotels from the beach and you need someone to protect your stuff from thieves or walk barefoot in your swimsuit through the hotel and across the street to the beach. Much of Rio I loved, but the hotel was not worth it. Good thing my travel aspirations do not focus on planes or hotels.

Small, bland room at the JW Marriott Rio de Janiero

I spent a lot of purchases in Brazil with some of my Chase cards that have no foreign transaction fees, so too bad I missed the chance for those with Chase Picks Up the Tab via Just Another Points Traveler. I was back in NY yesterday and stopped by a branch for registration.

The mileage hobby is all about one-upmanship, I was happy with the $5 gift card Bank of America gave me for my Virgin Atlantic card until I saw Online Travel Review got $10 for his Hawaiian and my Hawaiian got nothing. Good reminder to pay attention to junk-looking mail.

Wanderian Aramean examines ANA’s upcoming program changes, interesting how earn rates can be boosted with their credit cards, which are available in the US (see here, I do not get a commission for this card).

There were a number of posts about increased discount for Hyatt through American Express OPEN Savings on business cards. Now I need the posts analyzing the benefits of using the Hyatt or Marriott credit cards versus an AmEx and collecting the savings.

And I passed on AmEx Small Business Saturday. I was flying back from São Paulo and just couldn’t deal with trying to make internet purchases and get them processed that day. I can’t spend all my life doing this stuff.