Originally Posted by pinniped

Two questions. My anniversary is April and I need to find a way to use my $250, but I don't have an actual resort stay booked between now and then.

1 - I *will* have a resort stay in July at a US hotel. I will not book a prepaid rate, but is there any way to phone the hotel and prepay $250 to my account? It'll be a Hilton.com AAA rate or maybe an MVP rate. I seem to have read about people doing this but it's not in the Wiki.

2 - Are there any hotels in the system from which it's possible (and reasonably easy) to buy something from when you are not a guest and have it successfully charge your card as being from the hotel. The example I can think of is a golf resort - I phone up, tell them I want some snazzy and grossly overpriced golf shirts. Or maybe the spa - I phone and tell them I want a robe or some creams or whatever my wife would want from a spa.

Last resort (lol) is that we live about 4 hours from Branson. I know we could actually go down there and spend a night and have dinner and blow $250. But that seems like work. (Last time I was in Branson was about 1982.)