amazing race canada: episode 3

i love my hometown of calgary. and so this was probably the episode that i was waiting for the most to see what they would decide to showcase. i have to admit that they didn't focus on the actual city as much as i would have wanted to. and they made the city seem really cowboy, but i guess you can't have everything.

episode 3 destinations:
calgary, alberta

• outlaw -- the giant steer in downtown calgary. i'm sure i've passed by it. i never realized that it had a name
• ranchman's cookhouse -- i've driven past it before, but haven't stopped by. i'm not cowboy enough. roadblock: line dancing -- i'm glad i had to do that in grade 7-10 phys ed ...

 drumheller, alberta

• hoodoos: roadblock
• lump by lump -- atlas coal mine, loading coal into carts. this is what i would have done
• bone by bone -- royal tyrrell museum. i've been there before. the doctors decided to do this one, but as a doctor who totally couldn't memorize any sort of anatomy, this would definitely not have been my first choice.
• horsethief canyon -- pitstop

the plot
last week, the gay cowboys were eliminated. for people who prided themselves on being so versatile, they didn't do all that hot on the competitions. this week, the hippies opted to give one of their express passes to another team which went against the deal that they made with the doctors. the doctors confronted them with this, but c'mon -- they should have known that those deals never mean anything. and when one of the hippies said that she was so upset that her integrity was being questioned ... well ... you did go back on your word.

next week
i didn't see the trailer ... sigh 

amazing race canada: episode 2

so this one was a bit later than i wanted to ... but excited to see a bit of vancouver in there. and yes -- i totally empathize with the team that just missed the canada line at the airport, and then having to wait an extra 5-10 minutes before the next one comes. it's a rite of passage, although it's too bad that it's in the middle of a race.

episode 2 destinations:
(metro) vancouver, canada

• richmond oval -- roadblock: speed skating challenge. two laps in 90 seconds. i can't skate, so this would have been the impossible mission for me.
• millennium gate, chinatown. i don't go to chinatown often, but i'm 99% sure that i've driven past it. it's a bit too close to sketchy-land for me to actually walk it. but i think i'll eventually get there. detour:
• draw it: ten ren tea house, dr. sun yat-sen park -- participants draw a chinese character from memory
• dance it: chinese cultural centre -- participants find the pieces necessary to build and then perform a lion dance
• DP world: industrial shipping area -- probably closed off to the public.
• vancouver convention centre -- pit stop. i've been there!

what's next?
calgary!

sheraton four points calgary airport: wedding edition

i think everyone posts pictures of their hotel rooms when they are at their best. the room is always nicely done, the bed is always made, the luggage is still tucked away in the corner. but i figured that it would be fun to post an "after" shot of what it looks like just as we are about to check out. and so, this is the sheraton four points calgary airport, after a single night's stay. we are clearly not tidy people. 

perhaps what is the most significant part of yesterday's stay is the fact that after the stay posts my account, i will finally be SPG gold. it will make my attempt at platinum next year just that much more rewarding. i hope.

oh yes, and it was a beautiful wedding as well.

the taxi game + $50 coupon is back at flight centre!

i was on call last night. it being welfare check wednesday this week, and being in the downtown core, the call shift was extremely quiet. i ended up taking the cab home slightly early. as mentioned before, certain cabs in the vancouver region have seat back entertainment. and oh look! the flight centre game is back! i even took screen shots to show:

i've played the game before, and it actually does take a good 5 minutes of effort, which for a 5 minute taxi ride, makes it hard to complete the offer for the coupon. but just underneath the "enter to win", you can hit "skip the game".

once you skip the game, you have to choose where you would like to go if you were to win the "around the world" contest. if i were smart, i would have chosen a more expensive destination than las vegas ... but my finger slipped in my effort to get this done as fast as possible.

up until this point, all you think is happening is that you're entering a draw for a contest that you'll never win. but then the following screen appears. just for entering your e-mail, you'll get a $50 voucher!

 

it's been roughly 8 hours or so, and i haven't received my voucher yet so i don't know what constitutes a vacation. based on previous experience with the same wording, it usually means $50 off any domestic round trip flight, usually with a far expiry date (like 5 or 6 months). also, the vouchers don't have names or unique codes on them, so you can keep using them over and over again despite one voucher per e-mail. and the fact that it's 8 hours late doesn't worry me yet ... the last time it took about 2 days before it arrived in my inbox. 

have a good night out on the town, be safe, take a taxi home, and make sure you get your $50 coupon.

pointshound's double dip seems to be getting better

i wrote a few small blurbs about points hound in the past. this is a hotel booking website which allows you to earn frequent flyer miles for your hotels. it offers 3-20 points per dollar, compared to what various other airlines offer (usually 1-2 points per dollar). the more hotel nights you book a year, the higher the tier level you become, and the more points per dollar you earn.

in the last few months, they rolled out their double dip feature. usually, with third party sites like expedia or hotels.com, you don't earn hotel elite status points or stay credits. points hound's double dip feature lets you earn fewer points per dollar, but will also allow you to continue earning your hotel program's points and stay credits.

poking around their website for yet another monthly visit down to seattle, i discovered something fantastic. their base rate for me has always been roughly 4 airline points per dollar spent since i'm just a basic member. but i've noticed that their double dip rates also earn the exact same amount while also earning hotel points and stay credits.

an example:

the sheraton bellevue (only one example of at least a few) is a 3.5 star hotel being offered for $125 a night on both points hound and spg.com. you can earn 550 airline miles for this booking, or roughly 4 points per dollar.

when you click on the "select" button, you see that the traditional king sized bed, non-refundable, earns 550 points. but then when you click on the "double dip" tab, you see the exact same non-refundable king sized bed for the same price, the same amount of airline points, and earning elite benefits.

so given that there's no erosion in base level benefits (i.e., the non double dip rates still earned the same amount as before), this suggests perhaps an enhancement in the program. i'm not sure if it's intentional or not. in the end, you get something for free! it would kind of be silly to not book the latter. i've tested pointshound before, and indeed, it did give me the elite points and stay credit with starwood preferred guest.

kind of like with the sheraton bellevue itself, which i eventually booked using points hound's double dip feature. i selected the AAA rate:

 it was so hard to decide which package i wanted. for the same price, did i want the package that included the breakfast or not? oh, choices choices choices ...

(disclaimer: signing up for pointshound using the above link nets me a 250 point bonus after your first booking. you can also sign up for it here without using my referral link.)

amazing race canada: episode 1

an introduction
since the amazing race is happening in canada, i figured that i may as well follow it on the blog. i regularly follow the american version, and tell myself that i'll eventually want to go to the same places that they have been. but i guess the problem is that there are always so many more places that they showcase compared to my a) limited budget, and b) my limited time. and then i forget.

the canadian version seems a bit different in that it's solely within canada (no international travel occurring, kind of like the family edition of the amazing race which was purely america/canada). in theory, it would make it easier to retrace their steps. it's also fun to watch because i've been to most of the major cities in canada, and it'll be exciting to be able to say that i've maybe done this and maybe done that. finally, it's exciting to know that friends were involved in the production of the series.

the background
9 teams of two follow road markers in a race around canada. there are mandatory roadblocks and detours which are challenges that must be completed before the end of the episode. there are various mandatory pit stops which complete certain legs of the race. at the end of each leg, the last team to arrive at the pit stop faces potential elimination from the race.

the prize
in the american version, the winning team usually wins a total of $1 million dollars. on our version, the winning team shares $250,000, two chevrolet corvette stingrays, and executive class unlimited air canada passes for one year. the guaranteed winnings would be greater than $300,000 per couple. remember that prizes south of the border are taxed at certain brackets, and 2 x $500,000 prizes could actually be equal maybe 2 x $375,000 after taxes have taken their share. my understanding is that this is not the case in canada.

my fave team so far
while i'll always have a soft spot for hal johnson and joanne mcleod of body break, i'm kinda cheering for brett and holly, married pediatricians from montreal.

holly: "our biggest challenge is going to be racing. we are not physical people at all, at all. we are workaholics. we don't have a lot of time to go to the gym."
brett: "i think viewers will see us as strategic players. bottom line is we're not playing a physical game. that's not going to be our strength."

i loved that piece of honesty. i can see that being a problem for me as well.

episode one destinations:
niagara falls, ontario

• oaks garden theater park
• niagara falls butterfly conservatory: given my deathly fear of butterflies, i'd be okay with skipping this particular site.

kelowna, british columbia

• the bear statue, stuart park
• kelowna yacht club -- roadblock 1: underwater dive task to search for a clue
• lakefront watersports kiosk
• okanagan highland -- roadblock 2: bungee jumping from the bellevue trestle.

westbank, british columbia

• quail's gate winery -- pit stop

upcoming episodes
episode 2 has already been previewed as being in vancouver, episode 3 has been suggested to be in calgary. current city followed by hometown ... can't wait!

flight track pro -- for free at starbucks

my friend had recommended flight track -- a free app for the iphone. he actually recommended flight track pro for $9.99, but i was way too cheap (heck, i even list my home address in alberta to save on the pst!). i've been using it ever since because it's a quick way to look up flights, find delays, and keep track of flights that other people are taking. yes, you could get it all on the airline or airport website. and in the case of united airlines, you could get even more useful information on the united app. but flight track combines it all.

then today, at starbucks, i found out that it was the app pick of the week. it is free!

 

what i like most about flight track is that it is a searchable database of flights for virtually all the airlines that one would care about. it does not include charter or private flights, obviously. so for example, i searched for ac1 today, and it popped up. it told me when it actually departed and its estimated time of arrival. i have noticed that on flights that i take prior to departure, it updates me with regards to delays. it even has a tool which can use its previously gathered data to tell you its on-time performance. you can interpret that data however you want.

 

the fun feature is tracking where the plane is now. it's not the exact flight path ... or where the flight is at the exact moment. at least i don't think it does. i suspect that it has to do with expected location given the estimated departure time, arrival time, and flight time. but you can take a screen shot while your friend is in flight so that you can show them later. "see! i did think of you as you were in the air!" for some reason, you can zoom in and out on the map in the free version, but not with the paid version.

according to the app store, and you get push alerts, airport delay predictions, and synced flight itineraries. i haven't actually played with those yet. in fact, i was perfectly happy with the free version. but why stick with free version when you can get the paid version for the same price?

rewardsplus: united and marriott announce reciprocal travel benefits

found on flyertalk initially, i saw that united announced rewardsplus: an extension of its existing partnership with the marriott group of hotels. this is very similar to the delta / starwood partnership that was announced months ago, whereby elite status on one program would provide benefits to non-elite members of the other. unlike the delta / starwood partnership, you actually get a full status level and all of its privileges.

the details of the partnership in a nutshell:

• united premier gold (50k), platinum (75k) and 1k (100k) members can sign up to get complimentary marriott gold elite status
• marriott gold status is normally earned after 50 nights per year
• marriott gold status gives you: free internet, complimentary room upgrade, continental breakfast, hotel lounge access, late check-out, 25% bonus points on hotel stays
• therefore, this is only a benefit if you're currently a marriott silver or basic member.
• marriott platinum elite members (top tier, 75 nights/year) will get complimentary united premier silver statu
• united premier silver status is normally earned after 25k premier qualifying miles and $2,500 annual spend for those with american addresses
• united premier silver status gives you: waived checked baggage fees for first or second bags on star alliance carriers, priority check-in/screening/boarding on united airline flights, complimentary economy plus seats, 500 mile minimums, and 25% bonus miles on united and certain partner flights. 
• this is probably one of the most generous star alliance silver programs in terms of benefits there are.
• this is only of benefit if you're not already a premier silver/gold/platinum/1k member.

in the future, the program will allow united mileage plus members to transfer miles at a 1:1 ratio to marriott points, which is probably a bad deal. asides from the starwood program, airline points are always more valuable than hotel points, provided you can redeem them. they will also offer a 20% discount when converting marriott points to united miles. i am not familiar enough with marriott points to say whether this is a good deal or not.

overall, i like deals and partnerships between programs. i feel like they open up opportunities for people who don't normally travel enough in order to earn status in all the various programs. i'm sure that the true frequent flyers and road warriors aren't pleased as it reduces the exclusivity of the club and dilutes the benefits. but as for my own habits, i think it's just another reason to pick united to credit miles to over aeroplan in the future.

aeroplan likely to move from CIBC to TD ... with a few more details

a few weeks ago, i noted that aeroplan was going to partner with TD instead of CIBC. i didn't notice this but aeroplan had posted an FAQ on their website regarding this upcoming change. this can be found here. their official press release can be found here.

it's interesting to read through. some of the highlights:

• though cibc has first right of refusal, it is unlikely that they're going to match TD's offer. so it sounds like the affiliated bank will most likely change after all
• there will be multiple first-year free offerings throughout the year
• there will be three tiers of cards: mid-market (i.e., normal), premium, and enhanced premium (i.e., probable large annual fee). 
• there will be a higher earn rate with new benefits for the cards, although it's not fully described what that would involve. for the enhanced premium cards, there will be an enhanced earning rate as well.
• one wonders if these additional benefits will be like the mid-tier credit cards in america whereby cardholders can get pseudo-elite status. for example, the united mileage plus explorer card with its $95 annual fee gives the cardholder a free checked bag and priority boarding

TD offers the select service account, where if one can keep a minimum $5,000 minimum balance, they receive a whole range of free perks to the account. from their website:

• unlimited transactions (withdrawals, deposits, cheques, interac)
• free cheques
• free small safety deposit box
• free basic US account

what's probably the most relevant to this post is that their select service account offers a premium credit card product with the fee waived. some of their strongest offerings include their first class visa (1.5% return in travel money, excellent insurance offerings) and their gold elite credit card (1% return and complimentary TD deluxe auto club membership). one wonders if their new aeroplan co-branded credit card would be included in this. i will be waiting to find out ...

links from the web: $111 in playnow.com money; free accor top tier status; free la quinta points; cheap itunes cards

1) view from the wing posts two different promos recently offered.

• you can get free accor hotel top tier status. once you have this status, he suggests that you can easily get status matches at other hotel chains like best western, priority club, and marriott. i haven't taken advantage of this, and doubt that i will just yet.
• you can get 300 free la quinta points by following through his link and then watching a short video. it's yet another one that i didn't do ... although if i pick up pennies from the floor and collect them in a jar, i guess i should do the same with la quinta.

2) from smart canucks, residents of british columbia can get a free sign up bonus of $111 (+$10 in other promos for a total of $121 free) for signing up with playnow.com. this is an online casino that is run by the bc lottery corporation. you can play slots, poker, or even buy 6/49 and lotto-max tickets on there. anyway, if you sign up with the promo code STROMBONE1, then you can get the free money. you can't cash it out directly, but you can play the slots and then cash out the winnings.

• so i went ahead and signed up. i instantly picked up the $111 "luongo bonus" (i can only assume this has to do with the canucks' goaltender). i picked up another $10 in the new slot player bonus.
• i went to play the diamond queen game. i started with my free $121.00 in credits. i kept playing $2 per spin, and kept spinning and spinning. i came out with $201.85 that i can cash out with. all for a total initial investment of $0.00.
• this only works if you can control your spending. as the bc lottery corp says, know your limit, stay within it. 
• and no, i'll be waiting until another free promo before i play again ...

look at the promos that are free for the taking!

balance: $201.85 and the new token balance: $0.00

3) also from smart canucks, there is a reminder that future shop is selling their itune gift cards for 20% off ($50/$60/$100 denominations). before this, 7-11 was selling their $25 gift cards for $20 (that promo is now over, from what i see). this is a reminder that one should never, ever buy itunes gift cards at full price! this is in-store only.

update 7/12/2013: i have confirmation from my bank that $201.85 was deposited from playnow.com.

sheraton bellevue and the westin bellevue -- mattress run weekend july 5-7

so last weekend, we did another mattress run in seattle. i am aiming for spg gold status (10 stays per year). as a point of reference, spg platinum status is a bit more ambitious, requiring 25 stays per year.

2013 stay #8
we drove down to bellevue and checked in at the sheraton bellevue. it's an older hotel, nice amenities. we booked using the mobile app so as to capitalize on the 500 mobile app booking bonus and 2nd trimester double points promo. we booked the AAA rate, and they came up with two types of packages. both were fully refundable. one offered a room, the other offered a room and a free buffet breakfast. for the exact same price. so, obviously, i booked the free breakfast. and when i tipped the waiter at the hotel restaurant, i made sure to charge the tip to my room: you still get SPG points for that kind of thing.

2013 stay #9
for the next night, i opted to book at the westin just a kilometer down the road. the westin bellevue is a category 5 hotel which was having a hot rate AAA promotion. because it was specifically excluded from the 2nd trimester promotion, i ended up booking on points hound for their double dip -- earning extra pointshound points on american airlines plus earning my stay credit and starwood points. i can confirm now that this works as advertised.

the westin was actually a pretty nice hotel. a pristine lobby. the check-in agent was training someone else, and so she was very careful to do everything by the book. for instance, for the first time ever, i was asked for my AAA membership (luckily i actually am a member!). she made sure that she acknowledged my preferred plus status (which everyone can get by having their co-branded amex ... which i no longer have), and she made it a point to let me know that she upgraded my room to a higher level. very nice.

and then there's the room:

blanky and friends make an appearance by accident ...

a regular room, a nice view. and perhaps the most important qualifier: clean. i enjoyed the leaf-shaped bars of soap. there is one sitting in my bathroom at home now.

conclusion: another two successful stays and on track for gold status by the end of the month. i don't think i'll be able to make platinum. and the bf was only slightly (?) irritated by having to pack up and move halfway in between. but one day, i'll convince him that it was worth it.

another seattle mattress run weekend: the spg app needs some work ...

we're doing yet another seattle (bellevue) run this weekend. but, in typical mattress-run style, we're staying at two different hotels this weekend so as to get two different stay credits. this means achieving gold (hopefully platinum) status sooner. it also allowed me to take advantage of SPG's second trimester promo for one night (double points + 500 point booking bonus) and a points hound double dip booking for another night.

i recently started to really like the SPG iphone mobile app for booking. it offers the various rates for the hotels all in a nice, organized row. while it doesn't have some of the promos on there (second night = your birth year, for example, although in all honesty, i didn't try too hard to find them), it does have the most commonly used ones. auto association rates, for example, are my fave. it also makes it easy to enter your details and book.

what i find annoying, however, is how bookings disappear on the day of the reservation. not like physically disappear, but they just don't show up on the app. you can't access them. it's like the app just forgot they ever existed. you have to point the web browser to the actual site to find your booking. this is problematic if you were relying on the app to remind you which hotel you were staying at first, or what the hotel address was. and if there was a problem with your reservation (e.g., did they get the wrong room type?), it's just that much harder to pull up the real reservation.

and when you're actually staying, even the morning after, the reservation still isn't there. the whole "enter your room number" function on the app to help you remember what room you were in? yeah ... doesn't work out so well.

the app has great ideas, and has great features for booking. it's just that it really does need some work, and has needed work since at least march when i first noticed these problems. hopefully it'll be fixed in time for the next mattress run.

priority club turns into the IHG rewards club

everyone was given notice a few months ago that priority club, the loyalty program for the intercontinental hotel group (intercontinental, holiday inn, holiday inn express, crowne plaza etc), would be rebranded and relaunched on july 1, 2013.

today, they updated the website. most of the changes, it seems, affect the way one earns status. i am currently a gold member without having stayed at an IHG hotel last year. by checking in online last year on foursquare using the topguest program, i earned roughly 16,000 points. i earned an additional 4,000 points by answering surveys from e-rewards, for a grand total of 20,000 points. until they recently changed the program, points from any source counted towards status. 20,000 points = gold status.

qualifying for various levels is still based on the number of nights stayed or the number of elite qualifying points earned. elite qualifying points are earned from hotel stays (excluding the elite bonuses) and various partners. as far as i can tell, e-rewards counts as qualifying activity.

• 15-49 nights a year, or 20,000 elite qualifying points = gold elite
• 50+ nights a year, or 60,000 elite qualifying points = platinum elite

there are a few slight changes to the new program including:

• free internet for every IHG member (even base level)
• like the starwood group, reward nights now officially count towards status
• if you achieve more nights than needed for platinum status, those extra nights will rollover to your next year. no rollovers happen for gold.
• fast track to elite: by staying at 3 different property brands, you can earn gold status for only 10 nights. by staying at 4 different property brands, you can earn platinum status for only 40 nights.

of course, we should not forget that you can simply buy their top tier platinum elite status for just $120 a year by holding their capital one affiliated credit card. so when i put things like that, asides from the free internet benefit, the program hasn't really changed at all ...