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Emily: The Spa Grande is the nicest spa I have been to after the baths in Budapest, Hungary. The Spa Grande is the largest spa in Hawaii and had a variety of Roman tub, saunas, cascading waterfalls, Swiss jet showers, a Japanese furo and five specialty baths.
The Spa Grande is expensive, but you can save 20% by buying Spa Finder gift certificates from Costco online or in the store. Here’s a link to the treatment menu.
Posted in Hilton HHonors, Trip Reports
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Emily: Daraius surprised me with a stay at the Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort. I had never stayed in a Waldorf Astoria hotel (part of the Hilton chain), and was looking forward to our visit to see what the fuss was about!
Daraius: The Rough Guide says that “…minimalism is a dirty word” at the Grand Wailea. And, boy, were they correct!
Poolside at The Grand Wailea
Posted in Hilton HHonors, Trip Reports
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Emily: We used our Hilton points and the free nights from the Hilton Reserve card to book a room at the Grand Wailea.
Unfortunately, Daraius could not get an ocean view room because the hotel was full (it was spring break). We still had a nice terrace room with two queen beds, but I preferred the rooms at the Hyatt Regency in Maui.
Daraius: I normally email the hotel in advance, explain how excited we are to visit the hotel, and politely ask for an upgrade (if available). But I slacked off this time and didn’t contact the hotel until only 1 week from our trip. And instead of emailing, I used Twitter to contact the hotel, since I was curious to see how responsive the Hilton twitter account was.
Grand Wailea Terrace Room
I wasn’t able to confirm an upgrade or to get 1 king bed instead of 2 queen beds before check-in. But the check-in agent spent at least 15 minutes furiously banging away on the computer trying to see if we could get an upgrade or a king bed, but nothing was available since the hotel was sold-out.
Posted in Hilton HHonors, Trip Reports
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Over Spring Break in March, Emily and I visited Maui in Hawaii. This was our first time to Hawaii so we were very excited! We spent only $570 dollars for a trip which has a retail cost of $8,731 for some Big Travel with Small Money!
Of course we wouldn’t pay the retail price ourselves, which is why we collect miles and points.
Can’t Wait to Go Back!
I always thought that I’d “save” Hawaii for when I retire because it would be relatively easy to visit and explore later in life. But one of the most common reader questions is “How do I get to Hawaii?”
And almost everyone who has visited Hawaii wants to go back (if that isn’t a ringing endorsement, what is?) so we decided to go! As luck would have it, I fell sick the first 2 or 3 days, but still had a wonderful time. Continue reading
Million Mile Secrets reader Brent teaches English in a public high school in Reno, Nevada. He’s been selected as one of 30 finalists of the Hilton HHonors Teacher Trek competition!
Hilton Teacher Trek
The final 30 were selected by both teachers as well as education experts at the Institute of International Education (which helped institute the Fulbright Scholars program).
The winning teachers get:
Brent plans on staying in Hilton hotels and couch-surfing in Tokyo, Moscow, Prague, London, and Stratford-upon-Avon. He’ll watch different Shakespeare productions and discuss with both the actors and audience how the plays resonate within that culture. Continue reading
Posted in Hilton HHonors
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1. 1,000 Free Marriott Points for Your Baseball Stories
According to NotiFlyer, Marriott is giving away points for submitting stories of your baseball memories.
Submit your baseball memories and stories to Marriott’s Rewards Insiders Forum, between now and April 14th, and you will earn 500 Marriott Rewards points per story, up to a maximum of 1,000 points in honor of the movie 42.
The terms say that stories have to be at least 50 words and not longer then 1,000 words.
2. 4x JetBlue TrueBlue Points Continue reading
Posted in Hilton HHonors, Jet Blue, Marriott, Starwood (SPG)
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I wrote earlier that Emily and I both applied for 2 Citi Hilton Reserve cards at the same time (1 for our business expenses and 1 for our personal expenses) and we received both cards!
2 Hilton Reserve Cards
Posted in Citibank, Hilton HHonors, Hilton Reserve
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1. 50% Bonus on US Airways Miles Shared or Transferred from Hotels
Now through April 30, 2013 US Airways is offering a 50% bonus for sharing miles.
You can earn only 25,000 miles as a bonus, so you’re effectively paying ~2.27 cents for 1 US Air mile. So you’d have to share 50,000 miles to max out on the share mile bonus. 2.27 cents per mile is more than other US Air promotions, but it could be worth it to top off for an award.
50% US Air Share Bonus
Loyalty Lobby writes about a 50% bonus when you transfer your hotel points to US Air. US Airways hotel transfer partners include Best Western, Choice hotels, Club Carlson, LaQuinta, Marriott, Starwood, and Wyndham . Continue reading
Posted in American Airlines, Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Starwood (SPG), Uncategorized, US Air
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1. Free Hilton Gold Status
I’ve written previously that you can get free Hilton Gold status (free breakfast and internet!) with the Hilton Reserve credit card or by a virtual move to Australia. MileQuest reports that this offer is good through May 31, 2013.
Free Hilton Gold Status Still Lives!
The offer technically requires you to be a Visa Infinite cardholder and stay in Australia. But MilesQuest explains a workaround to generate an address and a credit card number.
Emily and I both have the Hilton Reserve card, so we’ll have Hilton Gold status (and free breakfast and internet) for as long as we have the card. Continue reading
Posted in Frontier, Hilton HHonors, Travel Tips
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Hilton, Starwood, and Wyndham hotels have increased the number of points needed for a free hotel night. Loyalty Lobby explains the Hilton hotels increase and the Starwood hotels increase, and Loyalty Traveler explains the Wyndham increase (though many Wyndham hotels aren’t increasing in price).
Hilton Category Changes
Some folks are upset that the hotels have increased the amount of points needed for a free hotel night. I don’t get upset when a great deal or something too good to be true ends or changes. Instead, I’m happy that I was able to participate and start looking for new options!
Posted in Hilton HHonors, Hyatt, Wyndham
I have earned and redeemed millions of airline miles and hotel points to travel the world for free. Now I'm blogging to help more people do the same! Find out more.
