I stayed 2 nights at the ibis Styles Araneta City near Manila in the Phillipines in June 2025. ibis Styles is a the value hotel brand that is part of the Accor All program. I took advantage of the status match to Diamond from Bilt so I wanted to try some of the Accor properties. The benefits of Diamond at an ibis Styles is early/late checkout if available, a welcome drink at one of the restaurants, and free breakfast at Asia Pacific properties.
I booked directly on the website and the total for the stay was just $86.48 for 2 nights. By comparison, any Hilton, Marriott, or Hyatt was at least $100 per night. The lowest price I could find for an USA based chain was IHG, at around $80/night. Even local 3 star hotels are around $30/night.
It’s about an hour from the Manila Airport by Grab, which was only about $8 USD. I would avoid the tolls because it only saved me a couple minutes.
I checked in at around 6PM and it was seamless. I was assigned to a king room on the 12th floor. Since they essentially have 2 room types, no upgrades were available. The room is modern but basic, about 200 square feet. It includes a safe and a small fridge.
The breakfast buffet was in the restaurant on the 5th floor and is included with diamond status, or about $13 without. It was actually the best breakfast I’ve ever had at a value hotel, and way better than any Hyatt Place or Marriott value property that I’ve been to.
Some highlights of the breakfast (free with Diamond, $13/pp without):
Made to order omelette station
Made to order ramen station
Rolled ice cream cart with toppings
Salad station
Pressed juices and juice station
Local food station that had rotating entrees including pork adobo, beef stew, chicken afritada, and daing na bangus (fried fish) while I was there. They had 6 dishes at the local food station and all 6 were different between days.
3 different types of eggs (scrambled, sunny side, hard boiled)
Waffles, pancakes, bacon
Dessert/Pastry station with over 15 different pastries or breads. The bread budding and ube cake was particularly good.
I went as only there for two days, and they rotated many of the main dishes and pastries between days.
The gym is also on the 5th floor and had weights up to 22kg, a couple weight machines, a dip station, a boxing area, a single bench, and a pulley station. Unfortunately, no squat rack or even a smith machine. For cardio they had 3 treadmills, a stationary bike, and a spin bike. They also had an inbody scale and hot/cold towels.
I checked out at 1PM (they were unable to give me a later check-out due to availability). Supposedly 4PM is possible, depending on the day.
Some thoughts:
There are so many good hotels besides the big US chains. If I only looked at a Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton property, I would have had to at least 2x more (in cash or points).
If no one has status, then your status goes way further.
So far, best breakfast of any value property I’ve been to.
We visited Mexico City for a quick 3 day trip to catch the Monarch Butterfly migration.
Parking at the Airport: We used cheapairportparking.com to book 4 days of parking at VPNE parking near LAX. It includes a shuttle and was only $27 for 4 days. A trick is to buy a cheap refundable parking reservation. When you cancel it they will offer you additional credit if you refund as an account credit versus to your credit card. Afterwards, you can use the credit for your booking. Make sure to add a coupon code for additional savings.
Flight to Mexico City: We only had 3 days in Mexico City so we wanted to catch the midnight flight out of LAX so we can arrive in the morning. The price of the flight was only listed as $88 but we added the carry-on package. They also charge a significant tax for non-residents of Mexico, bringing the total to almost double the listed price. Despite booking two people on the same PNR, they did not seat us together so we also paid extra for a seat assignment.
Hotel in Mexico City: Although the Andaz Mexico City was an option was 42k points, we opted for a cheaper option on Expedia. It was only $184 after a personal Capital One Shopping offer of 16% back. The Apartamento Suites Londres 212 was basically an AirBnB studio that was very centrally located. Two of our tours started within a 7 minute walk of the hotel. The lobby was staffed 24 hours but they only spoke Spanish and they had no AC in the room. At the end, we were happy with the choice because of the convenient location. We arrived at the hotel at 6AM the first day and just left our luggage with the staff at the lobby and proceeded to breakfast, followed by the first tour.
GetYourGuide Frida Kahlo Tour + Xochimilco + Coyoacan Tour: The tour was originally priced at $162 for two people but we had 40.5% cashback from the Capital One Shopping Portal. We gathered at the meeting spot and took our tour buses between locations. Fortunately, we were able to sleep on the bus between locations since we arrived that morning from LAX. This was a full day tour and lasted until around 7PM.
GetYourGuide Teotihuacan Balloon Tour: The tour was originally priced at $336 for two people but we again used the cashback from the portal. We were picked up at the hotel and drove about an hour to the meeting area. There were hundreds of balloons that go up each morning and we were in a basket with 8 total people. We flew for roughly an hour and a half and got really close to the pyramids. Definitely a great experience and worth the price. Afterwards, we had breakfast in a restaurant in a cave and then proceeded to spend an hour on foot at the pyramids. We could have used about an hour more but we had to get back to the van.
GetYourGuide Monarch Butterfly Tour: The tour was originally priced at $234 for two people but we had the 40.5% cashback offer. We walked to the pickup spot and the van took about 4 hours to get there, including one rest halfway. The van was incredibly bumpy (I logged 10k steps each way just from the bumpiness of the ride). The El Rosario sanctuary was the highlight of the trip and we came at a good time to watch millions of monarch butterflies in the sanctuary.
Food and miscellanous: We ended up withdrawing 3500 pesos (About $180) and used all of it for food and miscellanous expenses. We used the Charles Schwab debit card which reimbursed our fees at the end of the month (about $6 reimbursement). Some highlights:
La Casa De Tono: Breakfast place close to our hotel. Really hit the spot when we first arrived. Only about $10 for two people. 9/10 Taqueria Los Coyos: A Bib Gourmand taco place. Really good tacos. Was only about $8 per person. 9/10 Terraza Los Pérez Carbón y Comal: Rooftop Restaurant with views across from cathedral. About $20/pp. 8/10 Taquería El Califa de León: Michelin star taco place. They really need better signage for the pickup vs order line. Worth a shot if you’re visiting but took us about an hour to order and wasn’t as good as the other taco place. About $15/pp. 8/10 Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 1): Food is free for platinum card holders, plus tip. Pizza and tacos were great. 9/10 Centurion Lounge Mexico City (terminal 2): Only had the pizza here, and it seemed like it was microwaved. The lounge seemed fine otherwise. 7/10
Flight back Aeromexico via AA: We originally booked a 6AM AA flight award from MEX-PHX-LAX for 12k points per person. However, a day before, availability opened on AA for a 3PM direct flight for the same cost so we just cancelled the first one and rebooked for the later flight. It allowed us to wake up at a reasonable time and also enjoy a couple hours more in Mexico City. When we arrived at the airport, we spent an hour or so at the Centurion Lounge which offered a la carte meals that were quite good. We walked to the gate and they needed about 20 volunteers to change flight due to weight limitations. They offered $800 credit per person and offered to rebook us to the Aeromexico flight that was leaving just 3 hours later so we jumped on it. It took us about an hour to switch to the other terminal and get our new tickets from the Aeromexico counter. We were able to save about 30 minutes by using the skyteam priority line because of the Bilt status match to Air France/KLM. After clearing security, we went to the other Centurion lounge for awhile and then boarded the flight.
Totals: Our total cost for the trip was about $1800 for two people. Broken down it was flights: $774, Hotel: $184, Activities: $477, Food/Misc/Ubers: $371. They flights were pretty expensive because we had date/time restrictions. We also received $800 of AA vouchers per person for changing a flight by 3 hours. However, they were archaic paper vouchers that had some booking limitations and expire within a year.
Effect of Points: The points/miles hobby saved a couple hundred dollars for this trip and gave us lounge access. It allowed us to book refundable award flights, and change our flight to a better one at the last minute. We also received $280 cashback from the capital one shopping portal. There were points options for the hotel and flights, but they just did not make sense given the lower cash prices for acceptable alternatives.
The Caesar’s Reward program often has promotional days where you earn 5X, 7X, or 10X Tier credits. It’s possible to achieve Caesar’s Diamond, Diamond Plus, or Diamond Elite status with a minimal amount of gambling. With a 10X Tier Point multiplier, someone can reach Diamond with 14k coin-in , Diamond Plus with 24k coin-in, and Diamond Elite with roughly 65k coin-in in video poker. With a 99.54% RTP Jacks or Better machine (e.g. at the El Dorado in Reno), the expected loss is only $64, $110, and $299 respectively for each tier.
In early 2023, I played enough to reach Diamond Elite until 1/31/2025. I significantly underperformed the expected value of roughly $300. The real cost for me was $2887, divided up into:
Car Rentals $177
Hotel Stays: $55
Gambling Loss: $2655
In return, I received over $2900 in benefits:
Monthly Sports Bets, returned $670
Reward Credits: $75
Airfare Credit: $1200
Reno Freeplay: $100
Atlantic City Freeplay: $275
Uber Eats Credit: $100
Two weekend nights in a Caesar’s Palace Suite: $300
Tier match to MGM Platinum: $200
One night at Caesar’s Atlantic City: $50
So even though I was unlucky on the gambling side, the value of the benefits still outweighed the cost. I also did not redeem the 5 free nights for achieving 25k tier credits, or the 4 free drinks per day in Vegas. I also had offers for 3 stays in Las Vegas that I booked but ended up canceling.
Diamond Elite requires significantly higher play than just Diamond but is well worth it if you can handle the variance. For about $250 more in expected loss, you get $1200 in airfare credits and roughly $800 in free bets on Caesar’s Sportsbook, in additional to better comp offers.
The Amex Platinum card has a hefty $695 annual fee but has many credits that help offset that cost. I’ve been tracking the actual value that I’ve gained from this card in the last 12 months. This is the actual value I would have paid in cash for each benefit.
$240 Entertainment Credit: $20/month. Value for me is $7/month. I pay $2/month for Hulu, $2/month for Disney Plus and $3/month for NYT Games. Value: $84
$200 Fine Hotel Resorts: $200/year. Value for me this year was $200. I booked a hotel and ended up canceling it, but they still credited me anyways. Value: $200
$200 Flight Credit: $200/year. Value for me is $150. I just buy Southwest credits, but I haven’t flown Southwest in awhile because their prices aren’t competitive anymore. Value: $150
$100 Saks Credit: $50 biannually. Value for me is $83. I have a local Saks and just buy gift cards. Value: $83
$200 Uber Cash: Value is me is $140, or 70% of face value. In the past 31 months I’ve used this card, I’ve used this organically 15 times for full value. In the other months, I forced myself to use the credit at the end of the month. Value: $140
Clear membership: Value for me is $20. I use it about 5 times a year, but only if there is a line at pre-check. I mostly use this in Las Vegas, where the pre-check line in terminal 3 has gotten longer. Value: $20
Walmart+ Membership: Value for me is $10. I used it for free shipping about 5 times last year. Value: $10
Priority Pass membership: Value for me is $20. I’ve used this 2 times a year at minute suites and sleeping rooms inside the airport. This is useful since the Capital One priority pass membership doesn’t cover these. Value: $20
Marriott Gold and Hilton Gold: Value for me was $20. I only stayed at Marriotts and Hiltons about 4 times this year. I think I got late checkout and some bonus points but the benefits were barely noticeable. Value: $20
Amex Offers: $30. The Amex Platinum had a couple unique offers as part of their 40th anniversary. Value: $30
Amex Centurion Access: Value for me is roughly $160. Last year, I entered a Centurion Lounge about 40 times. Mostly at the LAS location and a couple of times at LAX. Since I usually had other lounge options, I would value this at $4/visit or $160. This may seem low, but I usually get to the airport very close to departure and I honestly would not make the trek over for a 20 minute visit to the lounge if it wasn’t free. Value: $160
So the total real value, the amount I would have paid out of pocket for these benefits, was $917 per year, which more than offsets the $695 annually fee.
SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) joined Skyteam and issued a challenge for the end of 2024. If you fly 15 Skyteam airlines, and credit the points to SAS, you will receive 1 million SAS miles. I decided to do this challenge to exercise my flying/planning chops. This would be the first time I’ve flown outside of North America for about 15 years. The 1 million mile bonus (worth maybe $8000-10k to me) meant the entire trip was essentially free or negative cost.
Some stats for the trip:
15 Days
24 Segments Flown
25 Airports Visited
17 Airlines Flown
30+ Airport Lounges Visited
27966 miles flown, 9546 miles in business class
$2921, 75k Aeroplan Points, 40k AA Points Spent on Flights
$316, 33k Hyatt Points, 10k Marriott Points Spent On Hotels
$539 Spent on Misc (Food, Sightseeing, Ubers, Visas)
I programmed too much time for layovers, especially in Europe. Since it was my first time flying internationally in 15 years, I didn’t know how efficient the transfer system was and added too much buffer time.
I didn’t want to just fly, I wanted to spend some time at some of these cities, which increased the cost. I spent a day or two in Barcelona, Bucharest, Jakarta, and Seoul.
I flew out of Incheon right as a huge snow storm hit. The flight was delayed 2 hours but I got lucky and many other flights were canceled that day.
I got lucky and immigration at Fuzhou let me through on a temporary stay for transit, even though they didn’t have a 24 Transit Without Visa Policy. They were highly professional and let me through without an issue.
I unfortunately got a terrible cold/cough/diarrhea/night sweats halfway through the trip.
Best flight: Qatar first/business from Dubai to Doha to Jakarta.
The daytime flight from TPE-SFO in United Polaris wasn’t worth the points. I was awake for all but 3 hours so the lie flat seat wasn’t worth the price premium.
All but one of the flights was on time. The only issue with the flights was with Kenya Airways, which was canceled/rebooked, which cascaded to about $290 in fees.
It’s been 7 days since the last leg and I’ve gotten 13/15 flights credited to SAS.
Overall it was a fun experience and I would do it again. I learned a lot about flying international and it made me more confident to book complicated trips in the future.
Amex increased the annual fee on their Amex Gold card to $325/year and added some credits. Here’s how I value the credits:
$120 Dining Credit (Grubhub): $10/month. I would value this at $108, or 90% of face value. With the Grubhub Guarantee hack, I get 2 Chipotle bowls + side of tortillas (4 meals) per month.
$84 Dunkin Credit: $7/month. Value for me $60, or 70% of face value. The market value for the gift cards is at 85% right now, but it’s inconvenient.
$100 Resy Credit: $50 bianually. Value for me is $60, 60% of face value. The restaurants are less convenient and usually has a price premium over the places we would visit organically.
$120 Uber Cash: Value is me is $84, or 70% of face value. You can regularly buy uber gift cards for 80% of face value, but these expire each month and I’m often forced to spend it. Historically, I use about half of these on uber rides that I would have paid for anyways. In the other months I get Uber Eats for pickup at the end of the month.
So the total real value for me is $312 per year, which basically offsets the $325 annually fee.
We were planning to visit Madison, WI for about a week in November. We had fairly strict boundary conditions: We had to arrive on Monday, November 4th and leave on Saturday or Sunday.
Flight to MSN: The lowest priced option was to Uber to Ontario airport (about $60) and take a cheap Frontier flight to MSN. We looked at a variety of permutations (from all the Socal airports to Madison, Chicago, or Milwaukee) but it’s hard to beat $46 per person. I had diamond status on Frontier, which includes a carry-on, seating, and priority boarding. If we had no points we probably would have booked the same flight, but added the carry-on bundle for about $60.
Hotel in MSN: Our best option turned out to be booking direct with Choice Hotels at a Mainstay Suites for $516.38. There was also 10.5% cashback through a shopping portal. The points alternatives were Fairfield Inn and Suites (126k Marriott points), Hyatt Place (72k points), or Hilton Home2 Suites (180k points), none of which seem to be a wise use of points. There was also an interesting option with Marriott using 2 Amex offers for $140 off $350. The lowest rate would have been $590 after Amex Offers, but would have been a nonrefundable. In this case, points weren’t very useful.
Car Rental in MSN: We booked a refundable $30/day weekly rate. Presidential Circle status from Amex Platinum or the Venture X card may allow us to pick a larger car from the lot. I had about 800 Hertz points expiring this year, so this rental would earn enough points to get another free rental day. Without points, I would have booked the same rental, but wouldn’t have gained the free rental day.
Flight from MSN: We booked a Frontier flight back that would stop overnight in Las Vegas. We had to book each leg separately because Frontier doesn’t allow long layovers. Any alternatives would have been about $250 per person or 18.5k AA points.
Overnight in Vegas: This would allow us to do a mattress run at the Rio and use some of the dining credits from various offers (e.g. Fointainebeau status match). We had waived resort fees at the Rio and used some expiring Hertz points for a 1-day rental. With cash, we would have booked $40 Budget rental through Autoslash and stayed at the Excalibur or Luxor for roughly $58/night with resort fees.
Additional Flights: We had 2 people coming from PHX and their flights would have been $307 pp on American Airlines basic economy. We used Alaska points to book the exact same flights for 15k points + $36.20 per person. The points flight would be mostly refundable (minus the $25 partner booking fee) and include seat selection.
Totals: Our total expected cost for the 6 day trip for 4 people is: $1238 and 30000 Alaska Airlines points. Without points, it would have cost roughly $2000 for the entire trip. Although we used points for only 2 flights, we were able to use some elite status perks. The savings for this trip is mostly from the Alaska points on American flights, extra perks from Frontier Diamond, and Hyatt Globalist.
One of the lesser known paths to MGM status is via status match with Celebrity Cruises. Classic members (2-149 Club Points) get matched to MGM Pearl. You get points by sailing with Celebrity Cruises, typically 1 Club Point per night sailed. And unlike most loyalty programs, cruise loyalty programs count the number of nights during your lifetime, which means your status is permanent.
In addition to getting Club Points for sailing, you can get Club Points outside of the cruise. By signing up for the the Captain’s Club (free to join), you get invited to surveys or webinars to earn Power Up Points. Each 10 Power Up Points convert to 1 Club Point. Since Classic status only requires 2 Club Points, just one activity is enough to get you Classic status for life. Unfortunately, they only send these offers out once or twice a year.
For example, on 9/18/24, a webinar link was sent out that is worth 30 Power Up Points = 3 Club Points, or enough for Classic status for life. The webinar link seemed to be unique but is good for up to 5 viewers.
Wait until they send out a survey or webinar OR ask someone who received a link to add you as a viewer. Each link seems to be valid for up to 5 people.
Get 30 Power Up Points, which are automatically converted to 3 Club Points, netting you Classic Status
Match Classic Status to MGM Pearl (should work for a lifetime, as long as the match stays in place)
Of course, you can also get Pearl status for signing up for the MGM Rewards Mastercard (no annual fee). The credit card also gives you priority line access, which Pearl status doesn’t on it’s own.
Some Hyatt members received a promotional offer to get Instant Status from American Airlines. For Globalists, they instantly match to Platinum Pro for 4 months. They also get the ability to extend or upgrade status by meeting Loyalty Point thresholds every 4 months.
If you don’t plan to chase status, it makes sense just to sign up if you have an American flight in the next 4 months. It gives you Platinum Pro for 4 months. You get better seats, upgrades, checked bags, and free same day confirmed changes. Then just don’t meet the requirements and let it expire.
The AA promotions website lets you track the status match progress.Versus no status match, I would have to spend more 67k more LP, but would be Executive Platinum for 26 months instead of 16 months.
I was planning to go for AA Executive Platinum next year anyways. I would be Platinum until 2026 from 2024 activity. My original plan was to start earning LP on March 1st 2025, earn as fast as possible, and get status for 2 years. I estimate I would earn about 25k LP a month for 10 months. So I would be Platinum for 5 months, Platinum Pro for 3 months, and Executive Platinum for 16 months.
The status match divides the 200k LP requirement for Executive Platinum into phases. You have to earn 67k in each phase. So if I were to do the status match, I would have to earn 67k in phase 1, from 9/2/24-1/1/25. My phase 2 is from 1/2-5/1 but I would try to earn as much as possible from 3/1-5/1 so that it would count towards the next earning year. I would then try to earn 67k in phase 3. I would already have 134k LP in the 2025 year by completing phase 2 and 3. It would be 66k more to get EXP until 3/2027 and 116k more to get the milestone rewards. I would be Platinum for 4 months and EXP for 26 months.
Basically, it comes down to earning 67k extra LP from 9/2-1/1/25 just to get EXP for 10 more months. Is it worth it? I think the only reason it makes sense is because I would organically earn about 20k LP during this time period. This means just 47k more LP to earn EXP for 10 months. It would also mean hit the 30% LP boost milestone, which would increase my LP earn in March/April/May.
The Instant Status Pass offers are designed to change consumer behavior. There is a reason they’re never offered at the beginning of the status year. If they offered them at the start of the status year, you would get a full 2 years of status by completing the challenge. By offering them at the middle of the year, it divides your LP earn into two status years. It encourages more LP earn in the 2nd year because you’re already close to the next status level.
We were planning to visit NYC for about a week sometime later in the year. This is one of the instances where points didn’t really save much money, but did elevate the trip.
We wanted to leave at night from LAX and arrive in the morning in New York on specific days, which limited our flight and hotel options.
Flight to NYC: I had 4 Move to Mint certificates from the Jetblue/Delta Status match so Jetblue was really the only choice with points. There was also a 25% off promotion, which brought the flight down to $130.
If I didn’t have points, I would have booked Jetblue Basic, which would have cost $30 less per person.
Hotel in NYC: With points, the first option was the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, at 18000 points per night. I applied a suite upgrade to the Hudson River Suite. Another option was to get a suite at Hyatt House Jersey City for $131 + 6k points per night. There was also a double point promotion at Hyatt Houses at the time. Either choice would include breakfast and would have early check-in (if available) and late-checkout. The Regency room and breakfast should be nicer, so we opted for the HR option.
Without points, we would have booked the Doubletree at Fort Lee, which was $689 through id90travel. It wouldn’t have a view of NYC, wouldn’t have breakfast, would be a less nice room, and would be less convenient to public transportation.
GoCity Explorer Pass: The explorer pass includes touristy options like the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty. It’s available as a Hyatt Find Experience so we opted for the $150 and $300 find credit as a 50 and 70 night milestones on Hyatt. I would value them at roughly 50% of face value, so $350 find credit cost me roughly $175.
Without points, I would have purchased the passes from Groupon with a gift card and cashback portal for roughly $147 per person.
Flight from NYC: We booked a Jetblue Blue fare for $168 per person and used move to mint certificates. It was originally $204 but the price dropped.
Without points, we would have just booked the blue basic option for $153 per person.
Other expenses: We would have paid less for food since breakfast is provided at the Hyatt hotels. Other than that, the other expenses should be the same with or without points.
Totals: Our total expected cost for the trip for two people is: 90000 Hyatt Points, $1304, and 4x Move to Mint Certificates that was free from the Delta status match last year.
Without points, we would have paid about $2117. In this case, points didn’t really save us much money at all, but gave us a more luxurious experience. We would have lie-flat seats both ways and better accommodations that were closer to public transportation.
The sticker price for all the options would be some nonsensical number that has no bearing on reality since we would never pay that amount. The personal value of the trip (the amount I would have paid out of pocket) was around $2700. We would have paid $100 more for mint each way and about $300 more for the better hotel with breakfast. So we got a trip that we value at $2700 for $1304 and 90000 Hyatt Points.
Median Travels 