Wedding Spend
 

I am getting married in August 2014 and hoping to use the wedding spend to go to Hawaii for honeymoon. What credit card bonuses would serve me best. My fiance and I would be flying from Cleveland.

So far I have CSP, SPG Amex, Freedom, US Airways Mastercard. She has CSP and Freedom.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

EDIT: We have decided against Hawaii and are thinking Caribbean....possibly Barbados! Once again, any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated!

Wedding Spend
 

I think hotels are the bigger expense for Hawaii...not so hard to find inexpensive flights. You might consider a hotel credit card like spg Amex which often has a big bonus, or the Amex play from which you can transfer points to multiple programs....but has a large annual fee.

I think you should both get the Hyatt CC, giving you each two free nights to any Hyatt hotel (options on most islands!). You can combine those via two reservations getting you four nights and then you can add additional nights by transferring to Hyatt via UR points. Make sure to do so before Hyatt devalues on January 7th!

Also, it'd be nice to know how many points you have currently within each program!

You are starting late ( trip is in ~ 8 months) but here is away to get 8 free hotel nights without paying any credit card annual fees.

I also believe your US Air card should have a $99 companion fare if you can't pull off the miles needed for 2 flights.

Your best bet saying you are starting from zero hotel points and have no status at any hotel is to get a Hilton Amex card for both of you and the 40,000 points that come with spending $750. Just as important is the HH Amex gives each of you access to book AXON 7 awards.

Then each of you ( you're running short on time so do it the same day) get the 50,000 point/$1000 spend Citi HH Visa. You can each get 2 of these cards every ~70 days, churning 3 cards each will cost you $3,000 in spend and bring over 150K points each.

After getting the HH AMEX and 3 Citi HH Visas and spending $3750 on the cards you each have over 190K HH points which then allows you to book an AXON 7 award which is 4 nights at a Hilton Cat 7 , each of you do this and you will have 8 nights in the same hotel , most likely not even having to change rooms

This hotel is on the beach in Hawaii and a CAT 7 so 190K for 4 nights.

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/haw...VHH/index.html

The companion pass is only for the continental US and Canada.

I second the idea of the Hyatt card... that's 4 nights easy right there. You can get another 4 with both of you getting the Citi Hilton Reserve, but those certs only work for Fri, Sat or Sun so you'd have to jump between hotels on the weekend (which might not be that much fun on a honeymoon). Or you could just use 3 and save the 4th one for a different trip.

I see that Hyatt car lowered it's spend to $1000 and has no Annual fee the first year so I would go with 2 of those cards if you don't mind changing hotels and book 4 Hyatt Nights.

I would still get a HH Amex and 3 HH visa's for the other 4 nights unless you need a hotel better than a cat 7 as the Reserve Card will involve spending more $$$ ( $ 5,000 vs $ 3,750) and cost $190 in annual fees while the HH visa's and Amex have no annual fee and the 4 nights can be any nights, not just weekends. The Reserve does bring Gold status which will most likely only be a continental breakfast but I do know of Hilton brand hotels in Florida where gold get you an oceanfront room ( if available ) and full cooked to order breakfast.


Being your coming from Cleveland you are going to want to stay 8 nights minimum

Doesn't all of this hurt your credit?

Short answer- yes short term for a little
Long answer- the inquires will ding your credit some, but the available credit will make it raise and as you let some of the cards age the AAOA will also make it raise some, when you cancel the cards try and move the credit around so you don't lose utilization.

You might want to visit myfico and ask about credit.

All they are doing is applying for 4 credit cards each over a 4 month period, nothing compared to what some here do.


I have been denied one credit card in my life and it was from Chase and they can be funny as 60 days later I was approved for the same card with a $20K limit



If you make your payments on time and don't have your balance too high you will be fine IF you have a good credit history

Interesting.... I've always been told to not have more than a few credit cards... is that just false?

You have a lot of posts, do you ever read the cc portion of this forum ?

Look at the AOR ( apparama) threads and you ma lose it, those people have 30 cards open.

All I can say is it never effected me

we switched it up and are now thinking Caribbean, possibly Barbados.....sorry for the inconvenience.....

In that case, unless you're thinking Aruba, better off going with Hilton for a hotel if you are wishing to use points. The Hilton in Barbados is 50k a night or 20k points + $85. You should use some of the strategies above to get HH points.

I would start with one of you getting Citi HH Reserve for 2 free weekend nights and then each getting the Virgin Atlantic CC and transferring the 50k 2:1 to HH for 200k HH points. This would give you two free nights with the Reserve and four nights on points with the VA CC. if you want to add another night, you can get the Hilton Surpass for an additional 60k points or go the Citi route.

Other options are: Bridgetown Resort (Radisson Aquatica), Fairmont and others which I do not know enough about their programs to continue!

Edit: Here's some ideas for the Radisson Resort in Barbados.
You each get the Club Carlson card by US Bank, giving you 170k points + spend (5,000). It takes 44k/night, so that roughly gets you three nights. However, when you book two nights as a cardmember, you get the third night free. Therefore you could both book two nights (88k each) and have the third night free, giving you six nights. In order to get the 176k points, you're going to have to do $200 of additional spending because it's 5x points/$1.

PS: If this doesn't make sense, let me know! I am in the midst of studying for law school finals and as much as a relief this stuff is, I may be making mistakes! :)

Where ever you choose as long as it has a Hilton Cat 7 or less that fits your needs the 8 free night scenario I gave you will work and there are no annual fees to pay.

Pick your dates and the look at the hotels as Hilton points go up and down with the season and hotels can cost more than 50K per night. For instance the Cat 7 I stay at in Florida each year varies from 30k to 60K per night throughout the year, the good thing is the 190K 4 night AXON award works year round.

Whatever earning route you choose you have to spend some decent cash to get the free points and be able to get approved for every card so I would get going now.

Wow, throwing curve balls arent we, first I thought I wanted to the Citi Hilton and was just going to get that card and churn as everyone else does here, but now you bust out this VA CC which seems like a hell of a deal

Which would you go with to get hilton points and just start stacking them up for when you need them?

You need to check the spend required , I believe to get 50K VA miles ( 100k HH points) you have to spend $2500 and add an authorized user. Also the VA card has a $90 Af which I don't see waived the first year. I could be wrong but this is the best deal I see.

With the HH Visa you have to spend $2,000 ( 2 cards) and no authorized user or annual fees is required to get the 100K points

Unless there is a better VA deal going than what I see IMO the HH visa churn is much better way to accumulate HH points

In the OP's case I would get the VA card but use the points for inter island flights while in Hawaii

Looks like all of the Hiltons in the Caribbean are out of reward stays....looked at 4 and all of them say:

"This hotel has limited availability for HHonors Points around the dates you have selected. Use the "Back a week" and "Forward a week" buttons in the grid below to search for availability or find another hotel.
View standard rates at this hotel."

Looks like i need to find another option lol

Love the suggestions though! Thanks again....

Who would think August is prime Caribbean Vacation time, I would figure March and April like other warm destinations.

I believe the Hyatt card has no blackouts but I'm not sure so you could possibly get 4 "free nights" for $190 if you each grab a card.

If hotels won't work try for 2 free flights,

"If hotels won't work try for 2 free flights"

That's what I was thinking....possibly the British Airways card to pick up some Avios (short haul Miami-Caribbean) and maybe United Explorer for the flight from CLE to Miami...

Did you change months ?

I show the Hilton Barbados Resort available everyday in Aug 2014 for 42,500 points and up

I see it at first but when I select that rate the next screen gives me the 'no-availability' message.....

Are you talking the Hilton Barbados Resort ?


If so give me exact dates and I'll let you know what I see

hahaha like i said... law.school.finals.

I was just going to go Hilton all the way, but when I saw the Radisson, I had to find a new way!

Sorry about that!

Everyone is right about the non-waived annual fee and spend requirements. I don't think adding an AU is a big deal--simply use each other as AU's and then cancel the card later--no harm, soft or no pull on the other person's report. Citi Hilton CC is definitely more efficient in the $$ category; however, if you spend the money, the VA card is the easiest way to go. Basically 2 or 3 cards and you have your hotel.

If you went the VA way, the total spent would look like this:

2 VA CC min. spend = $5,000
2 VA CC AF = $180
1 Citi Reserve min. spend = $2,500
1 Citi Reserve AF = $95
Total = $7,745/four months
This doesn't make sense to do unless your finances will mostly cancel this out within 4 months (or MS it).

With the Reserve card, you will also be a gold member so hopefully an upgrade, but at least breakfast.

The other track would be via churning the Citi HH Card, which has 0 AF and 40k points after $1k spend. This card can probably be churned every 60-90 days. It would be the cheapest, but you've got to get going now on this!

The only Hyatt's I believe that are in the Caribbean is Trinidad and Aruba. So for Barbados, that is a no-go.

Sorry if I've made this messy! You have a lot of options.. just have to play around!

have you thought about st martin?
2 each club carlson credit cards 85k bonus after 2500 spend, spend 3k on each and get 100k pts each, stay at radisson blu st martin he books first night 50k get second night free, she books third night 50k gets 4th night free, he books 5th night 50k and gets the 6th free, she books 7 night 50k and get the 8th free, the hotel comes with free breakfast and with the cc card you get free internet

Good luck on your finals and bar exam

HH visa is 50k/$1000 spend and you can get 4 cards within 80 days

204K points each and no fees

That will give you enough points for 8 nights


BTW your scenario only gives them 6 nights and $275 in AF's for $500 less in spending

Thanks! ^

I saw your posts in the Citi Hilton thread. I will start churning Citi HH on Monday (just apped Saturday for AA). Do you mind PMing me the weeks/months of your cycle for me to get an idea? Thank you!!

And from this, obviously if you'd like to stay with Hilton, that is the way to go!

Get the HH Amex so you can book Axon's

Make sure you sign up for the 50K offer

I get 1 card then another card 2 weeks later, wait 70 days and repeat

I avoid AF's if possible but I did just pay $69 for 50K SW miles but they have free bags and nonstop flights on Air Tran to Tampa so it's worth it plus I may be able to get $75 worth of gift cards in addition to the 2 free flights so the AF may be a wash

I was looking at August 11-18, 2014....thats the dates i entered and initially saw the points option but after selecting was shown the no availability screen...

So if there is in fact availability, would the best option be to each get the HH Amex then do the same in 70 days? Very happy to have all of your help with this....

Thanks again!

You have over 1,000 Flyertalk posts......where do you post?

Here is what I get when I put in your dates at the Hilton Barbados resort.


11 Aug 2014 - 18 Aug 2014
1 room for 2 adults Change
1 KING BED WITH BALCONY BAY VIEW Non Smoking Room
Points (7 nights x 42,500) : 297,500
Room Subtotal: 297,500 points
STANDARD ROOM REWARD
Rate Details Change
Total for stay: 297,500 points


One of you needs 3 HH VISA's and the 3,000 spend ( 153K HH points) and the other needs 4 cards and a $4K spend (204K HH points).

You will need to make 2 reservations one for 3 nights and one for 4 nights.

Seems by splitting the reservation up you can also get an ocean view room for about 50K more points but since you each have enough may as well use them


11 Aug 2014 - 14 Aug 2014
1 room for 2 adults Change
1 KING BED WITH BALCONY OCEAN VIEW Non Smoking Room
Points (3 nights x 49,351) : 148,053
Room Subtotal: 148,053 points
PREMIUM ROOM REWARDS
Rate Details Change
Total for stay: 148,053 points



14 Aug 2014 - 18 Aug 2014
1 room for 2 adults Change
1 KING BED WITH BALCONY OCEAN VIEW Non Smoking Room
Points (4 nights x 49,351) : 197,404
Room Subtotal: 197,404 points
PREMIUM ROOM REWARDS
Rate Details Change
Total for stay: 197,404 points

Are you signed in to your HHonors account when you search? If so, try logging out and searching.

For me it worked both ways, I searched while logged out but had to login to actually see if I could get the room

I sign in, select the 50k point room option, then get hit with "There are no HHonors Reward Certificate rooms available for 11 Aug 2014 - 18 Aug 2014 at Hilton Barbados Resort."

Could it be caused by having no points in my Hilton Account?

why? Generally in the Delta forum.

My dad is a Blue member with 0 points and also shows no availability.

The rooms are there, the HH Visa gives you instant silver status so maybe someone with Silver status can check for you.

I know the rooms are there for Gold