Tag: credit-cards

San Francisco Trip: an exercise in planning a trip with points

In the process of planning a quick 2 day weekend trip from Southern California (SNA, LGB, ONT, LAX) to Northern California (OAK, SFO, SJC). We have to leave after 2PM on Friday and return in the afternoon or evening on Sunday. Since it is a short trip, direct flights, flexibility, and time savings are ideal. We also plan to rent a car, so parking is a consideration when booking a hotel.

Flights

For most trips, I start with flights.

Do a google flights search to get an general idea on pricing between city pairs
Search on Southwest
Search directly on carriers where I have points. In this case, the cash price was low enough that I knew that most points redemptions wouldn’t make sense since most carriers are minimum 12k points round trip.

My options for the flights are:

Southwest: at least 16k points from LAX, 35k from SNA
From SNA: $312 round trip United
From LAX: $300 round trip Delta and Alaska
From ONT: $120 round trip Frontier, or 20k points

There are about a dozen airport pairs available between SoCal and NorCal. I looked at a variety of options, and the best seems to be ONT to SFO on Frontier with points. Since I have Frontier elite status, which includes refundability, the cash price is the lowest price in the past couple months with Discount Den. I could just set a Google alert and rebook if the price drops. The redemption was roughly 0.5 cents per point. Not ideal but I have an excess of Frontier points. The point options on other carriers were in the range of 30k per person. Even though ONT and LAX are each about an hour away for us, we would pay a premium not to deal with LAX traffic. There were round trip flights as low as $125 from LAX, but the time restrictions almost tripled the price. The car rental prices at each airport was roughly the same so that didn’t effect the decision.

Car Rental

OAK – Dollar at $67, Hertz at $97
SJC – Payless at $89, Hertz at $118
SFO – Hertz at $118, Fox at $80

Since I would be arriving from SFO, I chose Hertz because I have Presidential Circle status from the Venture X. I also had the $90 off $360 Hertz Amex Offer. Fox requires a 2nd shuttle and their customer service is inconsistent.

Hotels

Castle Inn via Agoda.com at $177, parking included
Hyatt Regency San Francisco SOMA, $340, offsite parking not included. Other Hyatts were around this price point
Grand Hyatt SF, 34k points, parking included with Globalist, Sticker (inflated) price: $535 + $170 valet + breakfast = $800
Marriots near Oyster Point, $300 with parking, but $120 off $300 Amex Offer and 35k free night promotion

Originally, the Grand Hyatt seemed like a good deal because it offered free parking, breakfast, and potential upgrades. However, I decided to save 34k points and booked the Castle Inn for $177 with free parking instead. Even though it’s a 2-star hotel and not as nice as the Grand Hyatt, it had great reviews and was an acceptable choice for us. While the Grand Hyatt would have been over 2 cents per point based on the regular prices, I wouldn’t have paid anywhere close to $800 for the stay. Considering the price of alternate hotels ($177), I maybe value the Grand Hyatt at $377.

But then I found some Marriott promotions changed my mind. I had a $120 off $300 offer on 3 of my Amex cards, and I was targeted for a free 35k certificate after 2 stays. So, I canceled the Castle Inn reservation and booked two nights at different Marriotts in South San Francisco for $318 total. After the Amex offers, it would be $198, I would get points, and I would also receive a 35k certificate.

Conclusion

Having points, elite status, and travel credit cards did open up extra possibilities for this trip. Without points and elite status, we would have spent:

Flight: Nonrefundable Frontier ONT-SFO flight, $300
Car Rental: Hertz SFO, $118
Hotel: Castle Inn via Agoda, $177
Parking: ONT airport, $54
Total: $649

With points and elite status, we would have spent:

Flight: Refundable Frontier ONT-SFO with perks, 40,000 Frontier points and $11.20
Car Rental: Hertz SFO after Amex Offer, $89
Hotel: Marriott, $198, but will receive 35k certificate
Parking: ONT airport, $54
Total: 40k Frontier Points and $352, but will receive 35k Marriot Cert

Since I value Frontier points at 0.5 cents each, and the 35k cert at around $150, I estimate we saved $250 on this trip. In addition, we do get perks like upgrades at Hertz, lounge/restaurant access at ONT/SFO, seat selection, carry-on, and priority boarding on Frontier, and increased points earn rate.

True cents per point value

I would argue that the true cents per point value should be calculated not just versus the quoted sticker price, but also the price of any acceptable alternatives. When someone brags about getting a great deal using cents per point, I hardly ever see comparisons with similar products. For instance, if they can book a flight for 30k points with a retail value of $900, they might think they’re getting a great deal at 3 cents per point. However, if there’s another flight with acceptable schedule for $400, the actual value of the redemption is much lower.

This is particularly true for traveling to other countries. Western brands often cost more than local ones. For example, spending 12k points for a $360 Hyatt hotel room might not be as good a deal as paying $120 for a similar local hotel. Similarly, American Airlines flights to South America might have good value in points, but they are usually twice as expensive as the local airlines.

Redemptions with great CPP are often very restrictive and only available on certain dates. If you apply the same level of flexibility when booking with cash, the CPP value is often very low. If I’m willing to plan my trip around a cheap award flight, I should be equally willing to plan my trip around a cheap cash flight.

The takeaway is that the cents per point value quoted is often not as a great as it seems. When you compare to other alternatives, the actual value is often much lower.

myVegas: Room Availability Calendar Jan 2024 – Jun 2024

Here is the current room availability calendar as of 1/23/24. Availability will change as people book rooms. One day and two day comp room availability is usually the same. There is no weekend availability, but some of the free rooms are valued at $300+ per night.

Bellagio

Aria

Mandalay Bay

MGM Grand

Park MGM

NYNY

Luxor

Excalibur

myVegas: Spending Loyalty Points

Refresh Times

Most rewards refresh daily. These are the approximate refresh times. There are some exceptions that do not refresh daily (helicopter flights, special events, and some cruises).

Sunday 11:40AM

Monday 11:05AM

Tuesday 11:15AM

Wednesday 8:05AM

Thursday 9:05AM

Friday 1:30PM

Sunday 1:40PM

To snag a reward that sells out quickly, I find that Tetris is one of the better apps because you do not have to enter your name/email and it checks availability every time you click the reward.

Redemption Limits

For rewards at MGM properties, you are limited to 3 premium rewards every rolling 30 days. You can increase this limit to 4 premiums permanently after spending roughly $100 in-game. The 5th and 6th slots open up after more spending. You can redeem an unlimited number of non-premium rewards.

Other rewards (e.g. NCL cruises, Maverick Helicopters, or Sycuan Casino) have different redemption limits and don’t count toward your 3 premium limit. Each partner will have their limits written out in the terms when you purchase the reward.

Many of the popular rewards are limited to one purchase per batch. Every couple months the batches are refreshed so it is possible to use multiple of the same reward in any given year. Historically, batches are refreshed less than a month before the MGM free hotel calendars end. They are often refreshed at other times a well, for example, if the LP price of the rewards change.

Popular redemptions

Reward	Premium	Refresh
1-day and 2-day Hotel Stays	Yes	Usually available
Regular Freeplay	Yes	Usually available
myKonami Freeplay	Yes	Daily
Shark Tank Admission	Yes	Daily
BOGO Buffets (Excalibur, Bellagio, Luxor)	No	Daily
NCL Free Cruises	No	Daily, based on availability
NCL Cruises $750 off	No	Daily, based on availability
Sycuan Casino Rewards	No	Daily
Restaurant $ off or free food	No	Daily
Maverick Vegas Flight	No	Daily
Maverick Grand Canyon Flight	No	Rarely

Details about each redemption

Maverick Vegas Flight

The Maverick Vegas flight is updated frequently at the regular refresh times. Only a few rewards (possibly one) are released each day. There may be some days where this doesn’t refresh at all but historically it has refreshed multiple times a week. Instructions to redeem are on the reward and involves calling in to find an available time.

Maverick Grand Canyon Flight

This reward is refreshed infrequently. Possibly once a month or less.

Restaurant $ off or free food with purchase

These are usually refreshed every day. Some sell out while others seem to be more available. They are not premium rewards and you can use an unlimited number per trip. Typically, you can only get one per batch. Popular ones include the $10 off $20 at Posh Burger in the Aria, $20 off $40 at Moneyline pizza (stacks with their happy hour), Free Entree with entree + drink purchase at Wolfgang Puck’s, etc.

BOGO Buffets at the Luxor, MGM, Excalibur, Bellagio

These are refreshed daily. They are buy one get one and you can’t get half off a single buffet. The bellagio buffet sells out relatively quickly.

NCL Free Cruises

These are based on availability of a particular sailing. There are times when no sailings are available and other times where they release dozens at a time. Unfortunately, there is an additional admin fee of $20/night when booking so typically the dollar off rewards are much better.

NCL Cruises $500, $750, $1000 off

You can only apply one per person per booking so it only makes sense to buy the highest reward unless your cruise is lower priced. If you buy two $1000 rewards, you can apply both and get $2000 off the voyage fare of the cruise. The cruise prices are identical to the published rates on the NCL website and there are no extra charges. There is no admin fee. The dollar off only applies to the base voyage fare and doesn’t apply to airfare, taxes, add-ons, excursions, or gratuities. You can stack them with the CruiseFirst certificates and other discounts to save even more.

The true expiration date may be later than the stated date. You have to call the number on the reward to book and confirm expirations.

These are usually refreshed every day at the regular time, but there are times when the reward isn’t available at all.

Since it is often possible to book $0 voyage fares with these certificates, it makes the cruise effectively fully refundable up until the date of the cruise. Since taxes, gratuities, and packages are always refundable, and you’re paying $0 for the actual cruise, you should get all your money back if you cancel. Just confirm with the booking agent before booking.

Room Rewards

Room rewards (1 and 2 night comped rooms) have a special redemption rules. You can only have one room reward in your wallet regardless of property. That is, if you have a Bellagio room reward you can’t buy an Aria room reward. Once you book a room reward, you can’t buy another room reward until the stay is over. The redemption date is the must redeem by date, but you can book a room in the future, as long as the calendar is available. A booked room uses a premium slot for 30 days prior and 30 days after check-in. If you cancel a room after booking, you can sometimes get a refund by contacting support but it’s up to the discretion of the agent. Room calendars for the next couple months are usually released 2-3 weeks before the current room calendars run out. Although terms state room rewards are limited to one redemption every 30 days, it is sometimes possible to buy another reward after your stay so you can use more than one comp per month. To combine stays, two people can purchase rewards and you can book twice but ask the front desk stay in the same room. Booking a myvegas comp reward prevents you from using your own MGM offers for similar dates. However, you can book your own MGM offer, then book the myvegas comp rooms so you can stay consecutive nights. Comp rooms are not eligible for the freeplay rewards and you are responsible for resort fees unless you have Gold status or above with mgm rewards.

Regular Freeplay

The regular freeplay requires a 2 or 3 night paid stay. You have to be checked in at the property for a single stay where 2 or 3 nights are paid/not comped. For example, a 4 day stay with 3 nights paid and 1 comped is eligible. Resort fees and upgrade fees aren’t considered a paid stay. Only one freeplay may be used per booking. You must go to the MGM rewards desk to redeem this reward, and they check their system to make sure you are checked-in to an eligible stay to load the freeplay. The freeplay is valid at most games at that particular property except system-wide progressives. They sometimes have special freeplay where a reduced number of stays are required. These rewards usually don’t sell out but may be removed from time to time. A secondary person that is added to the room can redeem freeplay if the primary person does not. They usually notate on the primary’s account when the secondary redeems freeplay so you can’t double dip.

Konami Freeplay

Konami freeplay is only available on the Konami Slots app and does not require a paid stay. They can only be activated at the particular property and they can be used on most machines at the property. They are limited to one per property per batch.

Park MGM Matchplay

Matchplay is a premium reward that is available only at Park MGM. It allows you to match your even bet at a table game. You can redeem by going to the reward desk and they will provide a voucher. You lose the voucher whether or not you win or lose.

myVegas: Booking MGM rooms

One of the best use of loyalty points is to book rooms at MGM hotels in Vegas. The 1 and 2 night comp stays are available for Sunday-Thursday nights, depending on availability. Rooms are released when the rewards refresh every couple months, and room availability declines as people book the rooms. You would have to purchase the reward to check availability for your particular dates.

There are some special rules for booking these rewards:

Rooms are premium rewards and count towards your 30 day limit.
You are responsible for resort fees unless you have Gold status or above with MGM.
You can only have one room reward in your wallet regardless of property. That is, if you have a Bellagio room reward you can’t buy an Aria room reward.
Once you book a room reward, you can’t buy another room reward until the stay is over.
The redemption date is the must redeem by date, but you can book a room in the future, as long as the calendar is available.
A booked room uses a premium slot for 30 days prior and 30 days after check-in.
If you cancel a room after booking, you can sometimes get a refund by contacting support but it’s up to the discretion of the agent.
Room calendars for the next couple months are usually released 2-3 weeks before the current room calendars run out.
Although terms state room rewards are limited to one redemption every 30 days, it is sometimes possible to buy another reward after your stay so you can use more than one comp per month.
To combine stays, two people can purchase rewards and book back to back stays but ask the front desk to stay in the same room.
Booking a myVegas comp room prevents you from using your own MGM offers for similar dates. However, you can book your own MGM offer, then book the myVegas comp rooms so you can stay consecutive nights.
Comp rooms are not eligible for regular (non-konami) freeplay rewards.
Generally, the availability calendar for the one and two night rewards at a particular property are the same.

myVegas: Quickstart Guide

Want to get rewards with the minimal amount of effort? This is a quick guide to get started with myVegas. The games were chosen because they have the best user experience, have the least ads, and can run on autopilot. This method earns 16k loyalty points per day by just “playing” two games.

Step 1: Download Pop Slots, MGM Slots, and myKonami Slots on your mobile device. They should be available from iOS and android app stores. It is easiest to earn loyalty points on Pop Slots and MGM Slots. myKonami Slots has some unique rewards that aren’t on the other games. Enable location tracking if prompted to enable all rewards.

Step 2: Create a dummy facebook account. Your real name doesn’t have to match the dummy facebook name. The myVegas apps sometimes asks to post content on your feed and this is to avoid accidentally spamming your contacts.

Step 3: Launch the games and link your dummy facebook account to the games. This allows you to save your progress, recover your account, and earn points from multiple apps at once.

Step 4: Play Pop Slots and MGM Slots for points. Ideally, this would be on a spare phone and you can just autospin each game for an hour. Disable the autosleep/autolock on your phone. It takes about 1 hour to hit the 4000 point loyalty cap the cap resets at 5AM PST and 5PM PST each day. Each game will net you 8000 points per day for a total of 16k per day.

Step 5: Create an MGM rewards account. The program is free to join at mgmresorts.com. You will need to enter your legal name on your ID.

Step 6: Redeem your points for rewards. When purchasing rewards, you will have to enter your real name. The rewards will give instructions on how to redeem.