Eating Out, Earning Points!

There are many ways to gain rewards points, some obvious and some not so obvious. Once of these not so obvious methods involves eating out at restaurants, something most of us do on a regular basis. If you properly prepare, you could double or triple the amount of points you would receive from these meals.

Choose a credit card that gives extra points for restaurants. Many cards offer various points for restaurants so choose which one works best for you. If you have a card that needs to meet its minimum spending requirement and offers extra points for rewards for restaurants, use that. Personally if it is the correct quarter, I would generally use the Chase Freedom to receive 5% rewards otherwise I would use Chase Sapphire Preferred for 2X since Chase Ultimate Rewards points are very flexible.

Many rewards programs (i.e. MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, IHG Rewards, etc.) including dining plans. These plans usually offer additional bonuses for signing up and your initial usage, with seasonal bonuses offered throughout the year.

You would just need to sign up on their respective websites and add the credit card you previously selected. Not all restaurants accept these rewards programs so you would have to search which restaurants do beforehand. When you would use the credit card at one of these approved restaurants then you would be eligible for the rewards points.

Also all of these dining plans are administered by the same company, The Rewards Network. As such, you cannot link the same credit card to multiple rewards programs. From our own experience, they flagged the purchase until we called them and we had to tell them which rewards program to credit the points to.

However, you could still link your credit card to programs not associated with The Rewards Network. These programs work the same way, you would sign up for their program and add your credit card information to link it up to their respective program. Yelp Rewards offers cash back. Uber’s Visa Local Offers provide Uber credits. American Express Offers provide points/cash back. Once again, the restaurants which accept these programs vary so you would need to do your research beforehand.

Now finding a restaurant that accepts all of these programs may be difficult, it all depends where you are. Recently we ate at one restaurant where we received points from the card, dining rewards program, and Yelp cash back. We have not been able to get more than a triple dip but maybe you will be more fortunate! 

Complimentary Room Upgrades

A well-known tip when visiting Las Vegas is to tip the front desk attendant when you are checking in with the hopes of getting a “free” upgrade. This trick has always worked for me and I have received free upgrades every time (though some have not been as fortunate).

I wondered if this worked in non-Vegas hotels and to my surprise, it worked in boutique hotels I visited in Chicago and in Washington DC. The DC hotel even covered all my resort fees. But then I got a little cocky and tried it in a more established chain in Orlando. Being laughed at by the attendant when I tried to tip them was very embarrassing and something I won’t soon forget.

What I failed to take in account, is the higher level of monitoring by these bigger hotel chains. Even if the employee wanted to give you an upgrade, many times big brother is watching them. True, the tip still works well in Las Vegas but that has almost become customary in Las Vegas.

Since then I have realized a much simpler way to try to upgrade your rooms. Many hotels offer status levels that include room upgrades (when available) when you sign up for their credit cards. While many of these cards do have an annual fee, many of these hotels offer a free night’s stay which is usually worth more than the fee. Also, what I was offering in tips adds up as well.

Some hotel credit cards to consider:

·         Marriott Rewards Premier

o   80,000 sign-up points, 1 night free at your sign-up anniversary, $85 annual fee

o   Silver status

·         Hyatt

o   40,000 sign-up points, 1 night free at your sign-up anniversary, $75 annual fee

o   Discoverist status

·         American Express Hilton Honors

o   75,000 sign-up points, no annual fee

o   Silver status

·         American Express Hilton Honors Surpass

o   80,000 sign-up points,$75 annual fee

o   Gold status

Unless you are in Las Vegas, I recommend signing up for one of these cards if you are looking for complimentary upgrades. True, most of these have an annual fee but consider it an investment in your trip planning. It sure beats getting laughed at in your face.

San Francisco Marriott Marquis - Hotel Review

Right in the heart of downtown San Francisco is the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. Its location is ideal for both business travelers and tourists alike. For business travelers, it houses many meetings and conferences during the week in house and nearby. For tourists, it is within walking distance to the Embarcadero, Chinatown, and Union Square.

Our View

This was our first stay as Marriott Gold members so this was our first time experiencing the perks. We had booked a standard king bed room which was upgraded complimentarily to a king suite with an excellent view of the city. We were also provided M Lounge access which had scheduled breakfast, hors d’ouvres, and dessert.

River enjoying the king suite

King Suite

After dropping off our bags, we headed to the lounge to grab some milk for the baby. It was late morning but the lounge did offer various potato chips, granola bars, fruit, and non-alcoholic beverages. We were surprised when an attendant suggested we come back for dinner as we did not know they offered dinner.

M Lounge Schedule

After walking around the city and checking out the big tourist sites, we decided to head back to the hotel and check out the dinner the attendant mentioned. If it was underwhelming, we could always grab something nearby. We were pleasantly surprised by the dinner service which consisted of steak, roast potatoes, butternut squash soup, salads, and a charcuterie of various meats and cheeses. After filling up, we rested up for a bit and came down and enjoyed a wide selection of desserts before calling it a day.

Hors D'ouvres?

Breakfast offered your usual selection of bacon, scrambled eggs, and hash browns. What was interesting is that they offered regular versions of this and farm-raised, organic versions as well.

As Marriot Gold members, we took advantage of the late checkout option and scheduled ours for 4PM. Since the location of the hotel is in the middle of the shopping district we were able to squeeze in some light shopping before departing.

M Lounge

Our family really enjoyed our stay at this hotel. We highly recommend the hotel to other traveling families as well especially if you are a Marriott gold member.

Traveling Abroad – Credit Card Fees

Credit cards are useful tools when traveling abroad. In using them, you minimize the need to exchange and carry large sums of money which is especially important when visiting tourist spots, havens for many pickpockets. However, it is important to make sure you do not get pickpocketed by fees when using your credit cards abroad.

Avoid Foreign Transaction Fees

Foreign Transaction Fees (FTF) are exactly what they sound like - fees charged for using your credit card internationally. It is actually two fees – one by the credit card network (Visa, American Express, etc.) and one by the issuer (Chase, Citibank, etc.) The credit card network charges 1% and the issuer charges 2-3% meaning you are paying an extra ~3% per transaction.

All foreign credit card transactions are assessed FTF. However, certain issuers will not charge anything and actually absorb the network’s fees meaning the user will not pay any FTF. These credit cards usually prominently display that they offer no foreign transaction fees in their advertising and their website.

If you are unsure if you cards have FTF, you could always call your credit card’s customer service line or check your credit card’s terms and conditions under the fees section (usually under transaction fees). However if they do not advertise it, they probably charge FTF.

Below is a chart of issuers and their average FTF. All Discover and Capital One credit cards do not have any FTF. However, Discover is not widely accepted internationally. American Express credit cards that charge a FTF have a slightly lower fee because they are both the credit card network and the issuer.

Issuer	Average FTF
American Express	2.70%
Bank of America	1% to 3%
Barclaycard	1% to 3%
Capital One	0%
Chase	3%
Citibank	3%
Discover	0%
US Bank	3%
Wells Fargo	3%

Charge in Local Currency

Many foreign merchants ask you if you want to charge in USD or the local currency when using your credit card. Always charge your card using the local currency.

Merchants ask this because if you choose USD then they get to set the currency exchange rate in a process called Dynamic Currency Conversion. DCC allows the merchant to pick an unfavorable exchange rate for you and thus padding their profits. However, when you opt to use local currency then the conversion is automatically done by your credit card network which does not have such bias.

Best Happy Hour Deal - San Francisco - The Waterbar

Nestled along the Embarcadero between the Ferry Building Marketplace and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge is the Waterbar. For their happy hour special, they offer freshly shucked west coast oysters for $1.05 each. Be forewarned, you may only order 24 oyster per table at a time as the oysters are shucked to order and there is high demand. Service was slow as their only seemed to be one waiter in the outdoor seating area we were seated at.

For those unfamiliar with west coast oysters (these were from Washington), they are much smaller than gulf and east coast oysters (about thumb sized) but have a salty, sweet taste. They are paired with a pear and champagne mignonette which I did not particularly care for but the taste of the oysters by itself (with a little lemon) was phenomenal. In comparison, I am used to gulf oysters which I usually douse with a hearty mixture of lemon, horseradish, cocktail, and tabasco.

We chose this as the best happy hour deal because it is not just a happy hour, it is more like a happy day. It’s offered every weekday from 11:30AM – 5:30PM. The nearby Hog Island Oyster Company in the Ferry Building Marketplace is the most popular tourist place for west coast oysters. However, they do not offer a happy hour anymore and when we walked by we just saw a bunch of already shucked oysters sitting there.

Some of you may be wondering about the $1.05 pricing. Five cents of every oyster sold is donated to Hamilton Families which helps homeless families find housing. So the more you devour, the more you are helping the local community also.

Discover 2018 Cash Back Bonus Calendar Revealed

Discover just announced its full 2018 cashback bonus calendar, usually it releases it one quarter at a time.

• Q1 (January – March): Gas stations and wholesale clubs
• Q2 (April – June): Grocery stores
• Q3 (July – September): Restaurants
• Q4 (October – December): Amazon.com and wholesale clubs

For those unfamiliar with the Discover it card, check out my review (here). The card offers 5% cash back rate on certain items and 1% cash back on all other items. These 5% cash back eligible categories also change every three months (quarter).

For more information, please visit:

https://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.htmlhttps://www.discover.com/credit-cards/cashback-bonus/cashback-calendar.html

Discover it - Credit Card Review

Today I will be discussing the Discover it credit card. It is very similar to the Chase Freedom credit card (review here) as it offers 5% cash back rate on certain items and 1% cash back on all other items. These 5% cash back eligible categories also change every three months.

This is easier to explain by looking at Discover’s cashback bonus schedule below:

For example, we are currently in the fourth quarter (October – December) on the rewards schedule meaning we would be eligible 5% cash back for purchases made at Target and at department stores, especially useful with the upcoming holiday season. However, there is a $1,500 maximum limit in combined purchases allowed meaning the maximum amount you could get 5% cash back for is $75 per quarter. All purchases not covered by the rewards categories or that exceed the maximum limit receive 1% cash back.  

Additionally, Discover currently offers a $50 sign up bonus after your first purchase within the first 3 months of initializing the card. Also, they offer an unlimited dollar-for-dollar match of all the cash back you've earned at the end of your first year, automatically. And unlike many other rewards credit cards, this card has no annual fee (meaning you do not have to pay to use their credit card). Your rewards do not expire while the account is active and there is no minimum to redeem for cash back.

For those that do not want to deal with points, the 5% cash back offered is one of the best rewards out there especially with no annual fee and the unlimited dollar-for-dollar, year-end match.

For more details and to apply, please visit:

http://refer.discover.com/s/fcx2x

The Westin San Francisco Airport - Hotel Review

Recently we visited San Francisco and arrived on a late night, after work flight. Being late we did not want to venture into the city just yet and opted for a hotel nearby the airport for the night. There are no hotels in or connected to the airport so we booked a room at the nearby Westin San Francisco Airport ($180 if you booked with them directly, $150 for us since we found an online price deal from a third party). Most of the hotels shared shuttles so they came frequently and the airport had many signs to direct you to the proper waiting area.

River, don't touch the water

We are SPG Gold Preferred Guests so we were offered a complimentary room upgrade at check-in. We had an incredible view of the airport runway and planes departing over the bay. The soothing sounds of the planes taking you off really put you to sleep fast.

Our View

When we woke up, there is a nice walking area along the bay which we enjoyed with nice views of the bay and planes taking off. Surprisingly the area (Burlingame) was pretty nice. Our experience with hotels near airports is that they are predominantly in ghetto areas because who wants to live next to an airport. 

The shuttle comes along every 15 minutes or so and we rode that to the SFO airport international terminal. The terminal is connected to the BART subway system which we used to head out to downtown San Francisco.

Overall, it was a pretty nice start to our trip. The hotel completed a $10M renovation in 2015 and it really shows when you walk around the property.