Tag: travel

Travel: Nationwide gym access through Active&Fit Direct

AAA and some health insurance/corporate wellness programs provide access to the Active&Fit Direct program. For an initiation fee (sometimes waived during promotions) and $28/month, you can have access to thousands of gyms nationwide. AAA members also get 10% back after 12 months with the program, which makes it roughly $25/month.

A unique benefit with Active&Fit is that you can sign up for an unlimited number of memberships at the same time. Options include LA Fitness, Planet Fitness, 24 hour fitness, Crunch Fitness, Esporta, EoS fitness and others. Typically, you present your Active&Fit membership number at the gym and they sign you up for a regular membership, many which give you nationwide access.

This membership really comes in clutch when backpacking/traveling solo and you need a quick shower. Also it’s useful while traveling and you need something more than a hotel gym.

Beware: AVIS Car Rental Experience

This morning, I received a call from a company called Sedgwick, which handles claims for the AVIS/Budget group. They claim that I had damaged a rental car that I returned on 6/13/23, 8 months ago. This is the very first time I’m hearing of this damage. They claim they sent an invoice on 6/23/23 but I never received it. I did not receive any calls, emails, or additional correspondence even though all the addresses and numbers are accurate.

After the call, they emailed me with the damage estimates and photographs. The damage amounted to over $1300, with $200 in admin and $200 in loss of use fees. Fortunately, I still had 2 minutes of video showing that the damage was preexisting. I emailed them the proof and I am waiting to hear back.

Lessons

Take extensive videos of the car, inside and out, before leaving the lot. Inform the agent of any potential damage, no matter how minor. Include the mileage, gas level, location, and time in the video.
Your credit card rental damage coverage doesn’t cover you if the rental company takes 8 months to report damage. Usually, they require claims to be filed within 45 days.
Get confirmation and recording of the attendant inspecting your vehicle on return. If there are any issues, follow up as soon as possible.

I’ve rented with AVIS/Budget maybe 5 times in my life. Of those 5 times, I’ve gotten 1 charge for sand in the car (this was waived), one car key fob that broke off, a car that had a broken fuel meter, and this false claim for damage.

How much would most people pay for a business class lie-flat seat?

Many people in the travel space, particularly travel influencers or bloggers, would happily pay $1000 out of pocket for a regular business-class seat on a 10-hour international flight. Usually, 1) their income is significantly above the median or 2) travel is their hobby and it’s a worthwhile splurge 3) they need the seat for work purposes 4) they are used to business class so economy is torture for them.

Most people would not pay $100/hr to be moderately more comfortable going from point A to point B. I would never consider paying $100/hr for a lie-flat seat. My parents would disown me at the mere suggestion of paying $2000 extra for a roundtrip ticket. So what is a reasonable price point for an average traveler? Here are a couple thoughts:

Obviously everyone has their own price point. I’m interested in the price point that is reasonable for people in the middle of the bell curve.
People who travel internationally typically have higher incomes. In fact, most people never fly in a given year at all.
People who post/blog/participate in forums about travel typically have higher incomes and value travel more than most.
Many people in business class aren’t paying for their own ticket.
As a data point, SAS airlines allows bidding for upgrades and bids for $500 (or less) are routinely accepted for 8 hour flights. In other words, a vast majority of people on the flight would not pay $500.
Families traveling with kids would be even more expensive

Based on the above points, I would argue that most travelers wouldn’t pay $50/hr for a lie-flat seat. For most people, business class is an unnecessary splurge that can easily double the cost of a trip without adding much value. It just doesn’t make any sense to spend days of post-tax income to be moderately more comfortable for a couple hours.

Personally, $50/hr is my maximum unless the product is exceptional. Even then, it is a splurge that doesn’t really make sense from a financial perspective.

Beware: Ralph’s tampered Amazon Gift Cards

I recently purchased a $100 Amazon gift card from Ralph’s (Kroger’s) supermarket in Southern California. Being an idiot, I was in a hurry and didn’t check the packaging. I opened the gift card 3 hours after purchase and found that the gift card had been tampered with. They had scratched/scraped off two digits of the claim code so that I can’t claim the balance. The scammers would then periodically check the claim code to see if someone has activated it and claim it themselves.

I went back to the store and they gave me a phone number to call. Apparently gift card fraud is so prevalent that they make a hand-out when it happens. In the 3 hours since I left the store, the manager had independently already found over a dozen other Amazon gift cards that had been tampered with.

I called the Kroger customer service line (866-544-8062) and they looked up the transaction. They were able to confirm that the gift card was activated and told me to call the regular Amazon customer service line(888-280-4331). I went through the prompts (I said “gift card” to the automated system) to get to a human. They asked for the 16 digit number card number on the gift card and was able to apply the claim code to my account. Luckily, only about 4 hours had passed since I purchased the gift card so the scammers didn’t claim it yet.

If the scammer had claimed it before I called, I’m not sure Amazon would be willing to do anything. If not, my only recourse would likely be a credit card chargeback.

Lessons

Check the gift card for tampering before purchase.
Open the gift card before scanning and paying at the register
Check the balance on the gift card as soon possible
If it’s an Amazon gift card, contact Amazon ASAP, Ralph’s cannot help you

Frontier Elite Status

Despite being a budget carrier, Frontier has a strong elite program. I had elite status with Frontier in 2023 via a status match through statusmatcher.com. I believe I paid $99 to match to top tier Frontier status for 2023. They have offered very generous status match promotions in 2023 as well.

An overlooked benefit of Frontier Diamond status is that every flight purchased through their website is fully refundable up until about 24 hours before the schedule flight time. By setting a google alert, this allows you to purchase the flight at the lowest price possible. Outside of Southwest, I don’t believe any other carrier offers refundability on all fares, even with elite status. And unlike Southwest, Frontier flight prices fluctuate wildly so it’s often possible to get flights for a couple cents plus taxes and fees.

New to 2024, Frontier’s elite program allows you to cancel flights up to 7 days before departure at any elite level. Since Frontier’s prices generally increase closer to departure, this benefit could be just as good as full refundability.

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: myVIP levels and myVIP points

What is the myVIP program?

Separate from loyalty points, you can get myVIP points through daily play and by purchasing on most apps. It is intended to give incentives and rewards to the most active and highest paying players.

What is myVIP Status good for?

Higher myVIP levels will get you marginally more chips, priority support and, access tournaments, and a personal host at tier 7. At tier 7, you can ask your host for some sold-out rewards or to convert your LP into freeplay. You may also receive some gifts from your host.

Without spending any money, the highest you can get is myVIP level 5, which nets you priority support and access to special tournaments. The tournaments may be worth participating in because the pool of players is smaller and your odds of winning is higher than a general tournament.

How do you earn myVIP points?

You can earn myVIP points by collecting hourly/daily bonuses. The ways to earn myVIP points are:

Pop Slots (60/day)
myVegas (30/day) and 5 every 2 hours.
myVegas Classic (30/day)
Konami Slots (30/day) and 5 every 2 hours.
Bellagio Poker (15/day)

So you can earn 175/day by logging in once in each of these apps, up to 285 day if you collect every 2 hours.

You can also earn myVIP points by making purchases in most games at the rate of 80 points per dollar spent. The only game that isn’t linked to the myVIP system is Tetris and all the other games seem to earn 80 points per dollar.

How do you earn myVIP status?

The chart showing earning requirements is a bit misleading. For example, you don’t need only 5500 points to get to tier 5. Once you get to a tier 4, you need an additional 5500 points to get to tier 5. So to get to tier 5 you need to earn 5500+1600+300+75=7475 points. Once you reach tier 5, you can maintain tier 5 by earning 7400 points (tier 4 + tier 5 requirement). Or you have 45 days to earn 22k points to get to tier 6.

At a rate of 285/day, you can get 12k+ points per 45 days so you can realistically keep tier 5 forever since it only requires 7400 points to maintain. To get to tier 6 from tier 5, you will need to spend about $125 on top of daily bonuses. To get to tier 7 from tier 6, you would need to spend at least $550 in addition to the daily bonuses.

Trip Report: 15 hours in Las Vegas

Drove to SNA airport and parked at main street parking. It is $14/day and is perfect for very short trips. They also have free level 1 car charging, which gets about 60-70 miles per 24 hours. You have to provide your own charger.

Took the Frontier flight to LAS, it was on time and was a smooth experience. I had Diamond status from a status match in 2023 and I gained Diamond organically for 2024 from 100 segments. The elite membership gives incredible value. I netted around 1600 miles from this flight.

I actually bought flight tickets for effectively $13 round trip from the vegas.com $100 promo. They offered a $100 promo code for any purchase, and it was possible to make a purchase for as low as $13. You can add your frequent flier number after booking to get most elite benefits.

After landing, I went to the lounge for a quick bite and took the shuttle from terminal 3 to the car rental center. I had Hertz Presidential status from the Venture X card and I grabbed a car from the Gold lot since I booked class B (class C or above would allow a choice from the Prez Circle lot). In the gold lot there were mostly sedans, a Mini, a mustang, and some SUVs.

Drove to downtown Las Vegas and grabbed some freeplay and dinner. I did a mobile check-in and headed to Excalibur/Luxor to get some more freeplay (through myVegas) and gambled a little. Overall I had $225 in freeplay but did poorly and only made $165 from it from video poker.

Returned the car around 6:00AM and was in the Amex lounge in about 30 minutes. Had breakfast and the mostly empty flight left at 7:50AM.

Total Cost:

Airport Parking: $14
Flight: $13
Car Rental: $35
Hotel: $22
“Gambling” (gain): +$165

Total Cost: $-81

Hopper app for discount travel

Hopper is a travel app that allows you to book flights, hotels, rental cars, and airBNB style homes. Hopper routinely (or use to) offers amazing discounts during their sales, depending on the city. For example, right now they have

$250 off Azores Airlines
$75 off Azores Hotels
$75 off flights to the Azores
25% off hotels in Germany
20% off Fontainebleu Las Vegas
$200 off hotels in the Cayman Islands
$150 off hotels in Saudi Arabia

In the past they’ve offered

$30 off flights to a particular city
$100 off flights to the Cayman Islands
$20 off car rentals

Unique to Hopper is that many of these promotions have no minimum spending requirement. So a cheap flight to and from, say, Las Vegas, can potentially be free. I’ve seen many cases where you can book totally free hotels, free flights, and very cheap car rentals when booking through Hopper.

It seems that Hopper has been having funding issues so I don’t know how long the promotions will last. It seems that the promotions have been less generous lately, which isn’t surprising because they were literally giving money away.

Hopper has a partnership with Capital One Travel, and incredible discounts have been offered in the past through their portal.