If ya’ll are not yet aware, Platinum & Diamond members received 20% off reservations at select locations until Dec 31, 2014. All you have to do is log in to see the “My Elite Rate” tab and make a reservation.
Well here is how I am getting an additional 17% off my stays. The tools I’m using are Milepoint Premium and my American Express Simply Cash business.card.
Milepoint Premium (currently sold out) lets me purchase giftcards up to $5,000 for the year at a 10% discount. Note that the giftcards are only valid in the US.
Because I have the Amex Simply Cash business.card which is automatically enrolled in the Open Savings Benefit, I get 5% off Hyatt purchases. I wasn’t sure if these gift cards would give me the statement credit but I can confirm that it does.
In addition to this benefit, the card comes with the option to choose a 3% cash back category. The options to choose from are airfare, hotels, car rentals, U.S. gas stations, U.S. restaurants, U.S. purchases for advertising in select media, and U.S. purchases for shipping.
Well I selected the hotel option and according to the agent I spoke with, this is stackable with the Open Savings Benefit. My monthly statement has not closed yet so I can’t officially state if it will give me cash back for this but I’m positive it will.
So if I were to maximize my 5k purchase of Hyatt GCs, I would save $500 from Milepoint, $225 from Open Savings, & $135 from the category bonus. The total of $860 gives me an effective savings of 17%. That is pretty good savings on Hyatt stays!
Also don’t forget to go through a shopping portal before making a Hyatt booking such as TopCashBack which currently gives you 3% cash back or Ebates which currently gives you 1.5% cash back.
Any cards which charge foreign transaction fees and which lack a PIN should never be considered.
Different cards have different benefits/uses. And this card benefits me for my hyatt stays. I agree… this card is definitely not one to use out of the country. For a list of credit cards with no foreign transaction fees, I’ve conveniently have a list! http://first2board.com/giddyforpoints/credit-cards-with-no-foreign-transaction-fees/
Cards with no FX fees. Please amend the list by putting an * by those which have a chip.
Jerry, I wouldn’t say there is a hard and fast rule that says that if a card charges FX fees it shouldn’t be considered. Plenty of people don’t need the no foreign transaction fees feature. Different people have different travel goals, and there are plenty of cards that have plenty of benefits that do charge FX fees. I’d say if you travel abroad a lot, then yes, you need a card with no FX fees, but I am not getting rid of my SPG Amex or my Club Carlson Visa just because they charge fees abroad. I just don’t use them abroad. Those are permanent in my credit card arsenal and the benefits that I get from those cards far outweigh the fact that they charge FX fees.
Spot on! Thanks for your comment 🙂
I understand but, when traveling away from USA, I want to use a card with no FX fees and with a chip. Why would you deliberately choose to use a card out of the USA with FX fees and no chip?
I don’t use this card out of the US. I use another card without FX fees.
I don’t. As I mentioned on my prior comment “I just don’t use them abroad”. When I’m outside the U.S. I use my Chase Ink Plus for hotels and my Amex Platinum for all other expenses (for purchase protection). Another option is the Chase Sapphire Preferred for foreign restaurants, although I haven’t been out of the country since I got that card.
About how many days after your Hyatt GC purchase did the 5% Amex OPEN credit post to your account? I ordered my Hyatt GCs through Milepoint Premium 4 days ago but haven’t seen a credit yet.
It took about a week to post so it should any day now