Almost time for my next app-o-rama

This month I will be attempting my most ambitious app-o-rama since I have begun this "game."

In my last mini app-o-rama in January, I applied and was approved for two new credit cards. This time I hope to get four new cards. Note: if you plan to attempt this, I recommend a credit score at or above 750 and you should always pay off your credit card bills in full on time every month.

Here's a chart I made with what cards I have previously applied for (the red row means the card is closed) and what I plan to apply for this month:

Chase Hyatt
I will be applying using a link from a targeted email I got with the first year fee waived. For those interested in this card, but don't have such an email--I have read that if you go through the Hyatt website as though you're making a reservation, you should see an offer on bottom of the page where you enter guest information for the credit card with a $50 statement credit after your first purchase. You don't actually have to complete the reservation booking. This brings the net fee down to $25.
I paid the fee for the Chase Southwest card last year and it is now up for renewal. I will not be keeping this card, however, I wanted to wait and apply for the Hyatt card first. This is in case I am denied for the Hyatt initially I would call the reconsideration line and ask to close the Southwest card and transfer the credit line. If I am instantly approved, I will still call in and close my Southwest card. I do expect to be approved for the Hyatt card either way.

Barclays US Air
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. Barclays is notoriously finicky about approvals especially for people who frequently open new accounts. However, this is the first Barclays card I have ever had, so I hope to be instantly approved. I don't fly on US Airways too often, but since they have purchased American Airlines, these may be AA miles in the near future and this card will no longer be available.

Citi AA Business
I will be applying with a link from Flyertalk. I don't think I should have trouble getting this card. However, I am a bit sad to have missed out on the 50,000 miles that was available up until very recently.

Club Carlson Business (US Bank)
Like Barclays, US Bank is finicky about approvals. They have also been known to approve applicants for a lesser card than they applied for. That's why I am applying for the business instead of the personal version because there is no lesser business version. I will be applying through the public link on Club Carlson's website. Unfortunately, the fee is not waived, but I am willing to pay because 85,000 miles is pretty good and the card has a number of good benefits such as 5 points per dollar on all purchases and if you redeem two or more award nights, the last night is free. I doubt I will be instantly approved as I may have to call in and provide some information on my business.

In conclusion, if I am approved for all four cards, the spending requirement would be $6,500 in three months. I could never do this just from my day-to-day purchases, but thanks to some manufactured spend, I should I have no problem. I will report back with my results as well as how I hope to use these miles and points.

I'm back...earn free night with new Club Carlson promo

Well, I'm back from my hiatus. I thought I'd jump right back in with a promo I recently registered for, though not sure if I will take advantage or not.

Radission 1 For 1 promo

The first 50,000 Club Carlson members to register for the Radisson 1 for 1 promotion will be eligible for a Free Night Award at any Radisson or Radisson Blu hotel in the U.S., Canada or Caribbean.

Promo details are as follows:

• Book a qualifying stay online at www.radisson.com or www.clubcarlson.com at any Radisson Blu or Radisson hotel in the US, Canada or Caribbean between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31, 2012.
• Complete your qualifying stay between Oct. 1, 2012 and Dec. 31, 2012.
• When you are ready to book your Free Night Award, log in to your Club Carlson account and then search for your desired location and date. Select the 0 Point rate option in the Gold Points column and click “Book Now.”
• The Free Night Award will be available through your Club Carlson account and will be valid for online reservations at Radisson Blu and Radisson hotels in the U.S., Canada and Caribbean through Dec. 31, 2013.

 Stay More Nights promo

The 1 For 1 promo can be stacked with the Stay More Nights promo, which awards bonus points for every night stayed between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31.


Complete the registration form to earn:

• 2,000 bonus points per night when you stay one to five nights
• 4,000 bonus points per night when you stay six to nine nights
• 6,000 bonus points per night when you stay 10 to 20 nights

Your total award will be calculated and credited to your account early in January 2013.

The 1 For 1 promotion is not nearly as lucrative as the 150,000 points I got from mattress runs over the summer. I most likely won't have a need for a hotel stay between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, though if I can find a good rate, I'll do a mattress run. During the summer promotion, I paid about $75 for my night at the Radisson. Current rates at my local Radisson are almost $100, which is too much for me. The other drawback is that the free night can only be used in the U.S., Canada or Caribbean. The previous promo allowed for worldwide redemption.

Still, it can be a pretty good deal if you can book a sub-$100 rate, then use your free night at a place like the Radisson Blu Aqua in Chicago, where rooms go for $250 to $300 per night.

Point/mile opportunities: British Airways, Club Carlson

Yesterday, I posted how to get 500 free US Airways Dividend Miles.

Well, here’s a few more point/mile opportunities. The first two hit my email yesterday, while the third is credited to Slickdeals.

Club Carlson: Stay 2 nights at a Country Inn and Suites, get 25,000 points

In recognition of Country Inn and Suites' 25th anniversary, Club Carlson has launched a “25 for 25” promo. To participate, register here (you must be a Club Carlson member), then complete a two-night stay booking the 25 for 25 Promotion Rate at any Country Inns & Suites By Carlson hotel worldwide between Aug. 15 and Oct. 14.

Keep in mind that the “25 for 25” rate is higher than if you prepay in advance. I priced a room in the Dallas area for next weekend and the “Book Early and Save” rate is $69.70/night while the “25 for 25” rate is $82, which is the same as the “General Rate.”

After you complete your stay, your 25,000 bonus Gold Points will be deposited in your Club Carlson account within 4-6 weeks (my bonus points posted within a few days when I participated in a previous promotion).

I registered, but it’s highly unlikely that I’ll stay at a Country Inn before October 14. Still seems to be a cheap way to get some points—IF—the Country Inns in your area are inexpensive.

If you’re not already a Club Carlson member, sign up here to earn an extra 2,000 bonus points when you stay at a participating Carlson hotel in the next 90 days.

A second Club Carlson promotion: Sweepstakes entries+100 points per day

With Club Carlson’s Global Giveaway (that’s strangely only valid in the U.S. and Canada—excluding Quebec) you can enter to win one of six giveaways that include five nights at a Carlson Rezidor hotel, roundtrip business-class airfare for two and USD $5,000 in spending money. Carlson hotels include Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Country Inn and Suites, and Park Inn.

First, register here for one sweepstakes entry. If you book an eligible stay (any stay eligible to earn Gold Points) online at a Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group brand website and then complete that stay at any of the group’s hotels worldwide by Sept. 24^th, you’ll receive 10 entries for each night stayed. For an additional entry, view the week’s entire Vacation Look Book. A new Vacation Look Book will be unveiled each week of the sweepstakes.

The real meat of this promo is through the 100 points a day you can earn by viewing the Vacation Look Book. That’s 4,000 points. It does look like you have to view the same book over and over for a few days because it apparently only changes once a week.

If you have multiple family members with Club Carlson accounts, encourage them to participate and you can then combine the points into one account for easy redemption. Award nights start at 9,000 for Category 1 properties and go all the way up to 50,000 points for Category 6 hotels. Points+Cash awards start at 5,000 points.

You may recall this is the chain I scored 150,000 points from for just three hotel stays and a little over $200 this summer. This promo is more easy points and free at that.

Again, if you’re not already a Club Carlson member, sign up here to earn an extra 2,000 bonus points when you stay at a participating Carlson hotel in the next 90 days.

1,000 British Airways Avios points/miles

• Join the Loyalty program of British Midland International (BMI) here.
• Use Voucher code 1JA1KD when joining to get 1,000 free points.
• Go to your British Airways (BA) account and combine the BMI account to your BA account to transfer the 1,000 points over.

For additional points, up to seven accounts can be linked together. So if you have additional family members in your household, create accounts for them with BMI (use the code 1JA1KD) and with BA. Then transfer the points from BMI to their BA account using the steps described above. Then create a Household Account on BA and add all the members to your household account. This will combine everyone’s BA points into one account for a total of 7,000 Avios. To keep things on the up and up, I’d recommending only using actual people who live in your household for these extra accounts.

Avios flight awards are distance-based (the fewer miles you fly the fewer points you need), and one-way awards start at just 4,500 Avios. And since American Airlines is an alliance partner of BA, you can book AA flights within the U.S. using BA Avios thus saving yourself BA's high fuel surcharges and taxes on European award flights.

Click here to check out my ongoing list of free and easy frequent flier mile offers from all airlines.

150,000 points in my Club Carlson account

My points from Club Carlson's Big Night Giveaway

The day after my stay at the Park Inn for Club Carlson’s Big Night Giveaway, I checked into the Country Inn and Suites near DFW airport.

Only this time, I didn’t stay the night. Still, the frugalista in me couldn’t stand to see the room go to complete waste, so I hung out for about an hour soaking up the A/C and watching the big flat screen TV. The mini-fridge and microwave are nice amenities.

Do you take "freebies" in the bathroom?

Extra pillow and blanket in the closet

My view of Airport Freeway from the window

  I had no issues with check-in or the room. I had a non-smoking room, but the hallway smelled of unpleasant cigarette smoke as I was leaving. Overall, this was a decent hotel that I’d probably consider staying at in the future should I need a room close to DFW airport. I would have liked to partake in the free breakfast, but was unable since I wasn’t staying the night.

Finally, I stayed at the Radisson. I expected this to be the nicest of the three, but I’d actually rate it the worst. The hotel looked dingy, but to its credit is undergoing renovations. The hallways were dark. The bathroom was quite small and the tub looked seriously worn. I could never connect to the free Wi-Fi. I’d definitely be hesitant to stay here again in the future, even after their renovations are complete.

Sleep Number bed was OK, but clearly old

Bathtub looked dingy

Small, awkward layout with toilet, tub (behind door)

Morning view of Central Expressway

 I spent a total of $228.51 or an average of $76.17 per night. Since I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x points on travel), I should received 457 Ultimate Rewards points. I plan to use the Club Carlson points for a room that goes for $200-$300 per night in Europe.

All of my points posted within a few days of checking out (and I never checked out at the front desk, just left my keys on the nightstand). It’s so nice seeing those 150,000 points in my Club Carlson account. I can’t wait to redeem them!

Mattress run #2—44,000+ Club Carlson points

Back in May, I learned that the Carlson hotel chain was having a Big Night Giveaway promotion, basically a buy one, get one kind of thing. I signed up online to participate in each promotion of the three hotel chains (Radisson-50,000 points, Country Inn & Suites-44,000 points, Park Inn-44,000 points). Staying one night at each hotel would result in a total of 138,000 Club Carlson points, which could be redeemed worldwide.

Plus, I get 20 points per dollar on the room cost, 1,000 extra points for booking online, a 2,000-point “Welcome Next Stay” bonus and I previously got a 4,500 signup bonus from E-rewards (sign-up by invite only). So all told I should end up with at least 150,000 points.

Technically, the promotions are still available; however each hotel is only offering 15,000 points instead of 44,000 and 50,000. If you’ve got a trip coming up and one of these hotels work for you, I’d obviously sign up for the smaller bonus, but it’s no longer worth doing a mattress run.

Links to the promos are as follows

Park Inn

Country Inn & Suites

Radisson

*ParkPlaza also just announced a 50,000 point promotion, but there is only one in the U.S. (Minneapolis), so I didn’t sign up for it.

The three nights at the hotels I’ve selected in the Dallas area will run me about $230 (this helped to meet myspend on the Chase Sapphire Preferred as well). I was able to get each room through a 25 or 30 percent off promo.

Carlson hotels start at 9,000 points per night and go all the way up to 50,000 points. I plan to redeem some of the points for a night or two at a fancy Radisson Blu in Spain or Park Plaza in London, so I thought it was definitely worth an outlay of $230 to get rooms that cost way more than that.

My first stay for this promotion was at the Park Inn near Dallas Love Field for 44,000 points. I felt fortunate to have a Park Inn nearby, since there are only 10 of them in the United States.

I checked in about 11 p.m. on a Friday night. I had read the Trip Advisor reviews of this hotel and wasn’t planning on it being too nice. I had packed a bag to stay overnight, but if it was gross or creepy, I’ve would’ve turned around and went right back home after checking in.

My room was on the second floor. As I opened the door, I first noticed the light was on and there were towels and garbage in the vanity area immediately next to the door. I peered inside and didn’t see anyone, but the room had clearly been recently occupied. The bed was unmade and there were other pieces of trash strewn about.

I headed back downstairs and told the front desk clerk of the room’s condition. She said someone must have switched rooms and this was the second time that had happened that night. She gave me a free breakfast voucher for my troubles and reassigned me to a room on the 11^th floor.

The hallways were dark (borderline creepy), but the room itself was clean. The room certainly showed its age with peeling wallpaper. The lights were not easily accessible upon walking into the dark room. The pillows were also a bit too soft for my tastes. The air conditioner was extremely loud; it drowned out the TV every time it came on. The hotel’s amenities included an airport shuttle and free Wi-Fi.

King size Sleep Number bed with a complementary package of gummy bears, chair with ottoman

 

old tube TV, mini-fridge and microwave

The bath area was small, but serviceable.

I had a view of the pool from one window.

I got a nice view of the sunrise over IH-35 from the other window.

I ordered my free breakfast to-go the next morning and headed out around 7 a.m. They put my bill under the door with a note that I didn’t have to check out at the front desk, just leave my keys on the nightstand. I did call the front desk to let them I was checking out though just in case. Points posted the following Tuesday.