Club Carlson Changes

As people in the Miles/Points community know all too well, May 31st was the deadline for several major changes in the Club Carlson hotel rewards program.

First, it was the last day to book hotel free night awards using the old pricing chart. Several top tier hotels are going from 50k points/night to 70k points/night!

Second, it was the final day to use the Last Night Free benefit that comes with holding an active US Bank Club Carlson Visa Card.

Last Minute Bookings
We had just over 100,000 Club Carlson points in our account. So we made a few future bookings this past weekend before the deadline hit.

1. Radisson Blu in Rome.  My aunt and grandmother were going to be in Italy and fly out of Rome in July, so my father booked them a few free nights at the Radisson Blu to finish off their vacation.

This hotel was a Category 5 (44,000 points/night). It was moving to Category 6 on June 1st (50,000 points/night), so we locked in two nights for a total of 44k points (thanks to the Last Night Free benefit).

To be fair, the hotel isn't that highly regarded. It's rated 3.5 out of 5.0 on TripAdvisor with a #595 ranking among hotels in Rome. Further, we could have paid $152 USD/night cash for the same stay, so it's a weak redemption value (0.7 cents/pt, even after the free last night benefit) relative to booking the expensive Club Carlson properties in London, for example. However, we'd still end up saving $300 in cash for a hotel stay that my family would need in the near future.

2. Radisson Fallsview in Ontario.  My parents still had about 56,000 Club Carlson points left without any clear identifiable need for any future 2 night stays. So we decided to book speculatively knowing that it would be free to cancel.

So for Labor Day weekend, we reserved two nights for the Radisson property at Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. There was also a Country Inn & Suites (limited service hotel) nearby which was actually ranked higher on TripAdvisor, but we wanted to get a more upscale full-service hotel experience (Radisson). So we used 38,000 Club Carlson points for the two nights (saving ourselves about $183 USD/night). That equated to a respectable 1.0 cents/pt redemption.

We're not even entirely sure that we'll be going to Niagara Falls for our final summer vacation, but it was a free option to lock in the Final Night Free bonus. Worst case scenario, we cancel the booking and get back our 38,000 points to use for a free 1 night stay somewhere else.

US Bank Credit Card
Now that the US Bank credit card served its purpose and has less value to my parents, they didn't feel appropriate to pay $75 to keep the card another year. Sure, they would receive 40,000 anniversary points in the next few months (worth about $200 without the Free Last Night benefit) by paying the fee and keeping the card open.

But as you've seen above, these Club Carlson properties just aren't as exciting as those offered by Starwood or Hyatt. We really struggled to find a few properties that we'd actually want to stay at.

The only one might be the Radisson Blu Zurich Airport hotel if we were flying through Zurich on the way to Israel. However, that hotel is now 70,000 points/night, and we're likely only staying there during a long daytime layover, not even a full night.

So with that fact pattern, my father opted to downgrade this premium card to the No Fee version of the card, which had fewer watered-down benefits.

But to be honest, we have no intention of actually spending money on this card. We just wanted something active to keep our US bank relationship (and credit line) in good standing.

Conclusion
So while not our most impressive credit card churn and points redemption, we're still happy we got into the US Bank Club Carlson card program. For using this card to spend $2,500 on things we had to pay for anyway (groceries, daycare, etc), we scored $650 worth of hotel stays.

2014 Travel Year In Review

Well, it's the last day of 2014, and wow, I've had an amazing year.

Since my father's an Asian math nerd, according to his excel spreadsheet, I have:

1. Flown approximately 51,422 miles this year.
2. Taken 26 flight segments (6 of which were 8+ hours long).
3. Flown out of 16 airports.
4. On 6 different airlines.
5. Traveled to 6 foreign countries.
6. Earned 25,931 frequent flyer miles!

I was able to earn Gold Status on Aegean Airlines, but unfortunately, it won't be lifetime as we hoped. I suppose I'll just go with earning United miles and try to hit 1,000,000 miles at some point in my life. I'm only at 5,279 miles with United, so I still have a long way to go.

On the hotel side, we have:

1. Stayed 43 nights in hotels this year
2. Across 21 different cities
3. In 20 unique hotel brands including all 9 of Starwood's.

Our most frequent brand was Westin (11 nights across Atlanta, Austin, Chicago and Costa Navarino). We re-qualified for Starwood Platinum status, but lost our Hyatt Diamond status.

So as we close out 2014, here's a photo snapshot of our favorite lapchild adventures each month.

IHG Into the Night Promo

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) is a great secondary or tertiary hotel chain to have in your rotation. While my parents and I prefer Starwood as our primary, the simple facts are:

(a) They don't always have a hotel you want to stay at in every location you want to go

(b) Free/easy points from another chain shouldn't be overlooked out of "loyalty"

I know...I know... No one loves staying at a Holiday Inn, but I have to say, the brand is quite stellar outside the United States. For example, we had a great one-night stay at the Chiang Mai Holiday Inn in Thailand last year. And since we had Platinum status (that came with the Chase IHG credit card), we were upgraded to a massive suite.

But of course, IHG has more premier brands, including their higher end InterContinental Hotels. This is the IHG brand that we usually stay at when we don't find a Starwood or Hyatt. For example, we were lucky enough to stay at the InterContinental Hotels at Berchtesgaden (Germany), San Juan Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and De La Ville Rome.

 Most of these stays were on points or free night certificates. But how did we get all those points?

1. Chase IHG Visa (80,000 points plus a free night award certificate every year)
2. IHG Seasonal Promotions (~150,000 points)

The biggest promotion of 2013 was called the IHG Big Win. From signing up and completing a series of customized challenges (staying 5 nights at 3 different hotel brands in 2 cities), my father earned 91,700 IHG points - with about half of them as a super bonus for completing all the tasks. We used those points to stay 2 nights at the InterContinental De La Ville in Rome (worth ~$1,000 at $499/night).

This year, IHG kept the same concept but called it their "Into the Night" Promotion. This year, my father has an opportunity to earn 30,000 points PLUS either (a) 30,000 bonus points or (b) 2 free nights. Assuming the Free Nights are not restricted, that's probably the better bet than the 30k points, given my family's travel patterns often take us to hotels that cost over 15,000 points/night.

Unfortunately, this year, my father's personal challenges require (a) 7 nights instead of last year's 5 nights and (b) 2 international stays. Given we're not planning to travel internationally in the next several months, it looks like my father won't be able to complete the full list. And the smaller individual bonuses aren't worth going out of our way for.

My mother's challenges, however, were a lot better. First, she only had to complete 4 of 5 tasks to win, and second, a single $113 (including tax) stay at the EVEN Hotel in Norwalk, CT could net her 27,700 IHG points. Then one more Saturday night stay anywhere else (let's just say at $100/night), would get us another 8,000 IHG points + 2 free nights.

However, if someone were to sign up for a completely new IHG account with a different email address, then they would receive the "standard" offer for all new IHG members (see below), which is a lot easier to achieve for those coveted 2 free nights.

So under this "new member" scheme, staying just 3 nights at 2 different Holiday Inns (for about $100/night) over a few Saturdays  would earn us 2 free nights at any IHG property, including those expensive amazing InterContinentals we mentioned above or even the one in Bora Bora. Sounds pretty compelling now, doesn't it?

What scheme were you given this year? Are you going for it?

Eating in Rome

Much like New York City, the city of Rome is world famous for its cuisine. In fact, we were more excited about eating here than we were about sightseeing.

We were fortunate to have tried a few different restaurants that were kid friendly, though I would say they were more "kid tolerant" than "friendly." Of the handful of restaurants we visited, there were two that really stood out in our minds.

Unfortunately, we found these places towards the end of our trip. Otherwise, we may very well have went back to each multiple times during our 4 night stay.

Armando al Pantheon

Located right besides the famous Pantheon Temple, Armando is a great family run trattoria that we found on Yelp right after we came out of the Pantheon.

When we arrived, it was about 1:45PM, so we had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a table to open. The entire place only had about 14 tables, so it had a charming local feel to it, though it was clearly catering to both locals and tourists with its English translation menu.

We ordered a grilled anchovies bruschetta as an appetizer, along with a spicy spaghetti and a prosciutto wrapped veal to share between my parents. They also ordered me a small plate of spaghetti with butter and cheese. I have to say, I love the fresh Parmesan cheese they use here!

Osteria Barbarini
This was our clear favorite restaurant during our short Roman Holiday. Located a few blocks off the Barbarini metro stop, we were able to walk from the St Regis hotel.

My father was smart enough to have the Concierge book a 9PM reservation and to inform them that my party would include a wonderful, but young toddler. They had a nice table in the small upstairs seating area ready and waiting for us when we arrived.

We didn't venture downstairs, but it seemed like there was a larger dining area there, but we were perfectly happy to dine upstairs where my mother could quickly take me outside if need be. And there were fewer other people if I did make a scene (which happened of course).

And at Osteria Barbarini, we found out that their specialty is truffles - seen here. There was an entire section of their menu dedicated to dishes with truffles - both white and black truffles. Of course, my father had to try their specialty!

Unfortunately, the white truffles (the good ones) were out of season and not in stock. But when the owner saw my father's disappointment, he managed to find some frozen white truffles in the back and used it to make us complimentary white truffle risotto for us to sample, repeatedly apologizing that it was frozen. That was just amazing.

My mother and father started out with a seafood salad for their appetizer to share. For the primi course, my father ordered a black truffle lasagna (very heavy, FYI). My mother went with a shrimp fettuccine which was more than enough for her entire dinner.

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My indulgent father, however, also ordered a filet steak with black truffles as his secondi. While actually pretty full after the lasagna, he made room for his rare filet that was literally buried beneath black truffle shavings.

St. Regis Grande Rome

Hotel Details
Hotel: St. Regis Grande Rome
Dates: July 20-22, 2014
Rate Paid: 20,000 SPG points/night
Regular Room Rate: $547/night
Upgrade: Used Suite Night Awards
Suite Room Rate: $1,786/night
Point Redemption Value: 2.7 cent/pt
Upgrade Award Value: $1,239/night

This could be one of the best Starwood redemptions my father has ever pulled off.  First, he booked the standard room using 20,000 SPG points before the hotel went up to 30,000 points/night. However, that in and of itself would have only been a 2.7 cent/pt redemption - not mind blowing.

But then he applied two of his Suite Night Award coupons to the reservation. And a few nights before, we were confirmed for an upgrade to a Junior Suite which was retailing for $1,786 per night! My parents had been to St. Regis properties before (Bora Bora and Bangkok), but this property in Rome was a clear standout for its luxury amenities and service.

Unfortunately, we had our bags with us. So while we could have walked 25 minutes from the Intercontinental De La Ville to the St. Regis, we opted to hail a taxi given much of the walk would have been uphill. The taxi driver made a snide comment about it being close enough to walk (my father interpreted that as him not making much money on the fare), but we arrived in about 5 minutes where the attentive St. Regis doormen rushed to help us unload the car.

They took our bags while my parents and I entered the main lobby. Unlike the small uninspiring entrance of the Intercontinental, the St. Regis Rome made a powerful first impression when you walked inside. Easily the most awe-inspiring hotel I've been to in my 2.5 years of life.

We were guided to the right where the check in area was. At 2:30PM on a Sunday, there was no line to check in though they did have the SPG Platinum & Gold check in area for Starwood elites.

My father had actually booked two separate one-night stays back to back. Both bookings had cleared the suite upgrade award, so we were going to be in a Junior Suite for both nights. Though when we mentioned it to the front desk, their system put us in different suites each night.

Our original room for the first night was actually ready, but when we frowned a bit upon hearing we'd have to switch rooms the next day, they proactively scrambled to get us into a suite where we could stay for both nights. It really wasn't a big deal at all to my family to have to switch rooms each night (if you didn't know, we're pretty well-traveled), but we were happy to wait for the outcome.

Caught a bit off-guard, they asked us if we'd be willing to wait in the lobby lounge and have a coffee while we waited a bit for the new room to be cleaned. My father wasn't entirely sure if that was an offer for a complimentary coffee or if it was just a way for us to wait in the lobby, but when the staff saw my father's confused expression, she assured him it was complimentary. Free coffee in a stunning European room fit for royalty? Sure thing!

The Italian coffee came with a small assortment of biscotti and small sweets. Believe it or not, I didn't really care for the sweets, and instead wanted to jump on the couches. My parents clearly didn't agree with my preferences.

Before my mother even finished her first cup, the front desk staff came by and informed us our room was now ready. She escorted us to the main elevators as she informed my father about the breakfast area in the morning (off to the far end of the main lobby room). My father asked how SPG Platinums breakfast amenities were handled here (the terms say "complimentary continental breakfast" but they had a full hot buffet each morning). The woman seemed a bit surprised to hear we were Platinum elites given it "wasn't on the booking." Knowing his status would be easily confirmed soon enough, my father didn't worry about it. Plus he had already researched on Flyertalk's forum that the Platinum breakfast amenity was indeed the full hot breakfast at the St. Regis Rome.

We arrived to our room 270 and was amazed at how wonderfully regal the suite looked. In classic European taste, it was truly the most elegant hotel room I've ever seen. The kind of Old Money bedrooms you only hear about in my fairy tale books.

The suite was a long railroad style room. The main living room had a full couch and a set of chairs as well as a small desk along the side wall.

Then you enter through a smaller room/hallway where you find a classic vanity table for my mother as you head towards the bedroom with its oversized king bed. Seriously, how'd they manage to get that large of a mattress in here?

The large marble bathroom was also quite impressive. With the dual sinks, full bathtub and separate shower, it was about as large as our full NYC apartment. Of course, the St. Regis Rome had their standard Remede bath products, but this time, the containers were twice as large. More for our collection at home!

And as a nice welcome gift, we were also given a massive bowl of delicious fruit along with a nice note from the general manager. Not too shabby for a free points award stay, though I'm sure it helped my father had SPG Platinum status.

But the best part of getting the upgrade at the St. Regis was that we then had access to the Suite Butler.

The St. Regis butler service is pretty well known among traveler circles. Sort of like a more personalized concierge/room service, the butlers are available to help you unpack/pack your clothes, coordinate with the concierge to arrange reservations or errands, bring you coffee/water/ice and any other small tasks that you'd want help with. 

The butler service is complimentary, though it's best practice to leave him a gratuity commensurate with your level of usage. I'm sure you can google some stories of crazy things that guests have requested of their St. Regis butlers, but we stuck to the simple tasks.

Here's a list of items that are "standard" requests, including shoe shining, light ironing, pillow type selection, and complimentary tea or coffee each day.

We didn't have much need for any special services, though my mother did take advantage of the complimentary coffee each afternoon during our stay.