Taken from Flyertalk.
Earn 150 points for watching 6 videos and answering a multiple choice question at the end of each. You don't even have to answer correctly. Each video is 1-2 minutes long. After completing all 6, you get a bonus 100 points. You can also enter for their grand prize for a trip for 2 in first class anywhere American Airlines flies.
Though it is technically for US residents, I just did the videos anyway because 1,000 free miles is not insignificant.
Click here for the site.
Sunday 31 May 2015
Wednesday 20 May 2015
Sheraton Princess Kaiulani's resort fees aren't all that bad
I've decided to stay at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in Honolulu this year. Normally, I stay at the independent Waikiki Sand Villa Hotel. However, ever since Expedia foiled my best rate guarantee trick to get hotels for $50 a night, I opted to stay at my regular chain.
This is clearly an older property. The last time I stayed here in November 2014, it was actually slated to be closed down for good. It appears that this plan was delayed month after month to the point where I was still able to book my six night stay with them for my latest stay.
While it's older, it is definitely more than adequate. As a platinum member, I was upgraded to a "suite" (larger room, not a true suite).
One of the things that made me question whether this was a good deal or not was the fact that there were mandatory resort fees of $26.18 per night. On the website, it states that the resort fee includes:
- Free High Speed Internet Access in guest rooms and lobby (this is included if you've booked on an SPG website anyway)
- Self-parking for one vehicle (only valuable if you rent a vehicle)
- Unlimited local and 1-800 telephone calls, up to 60 minutes of long distance telephone calls per day (possibly useful)
- Two bottles of water in room per day
- Children 5 and under eat free from children’s menu in designated dining outlets with paying adult (if you have children)
- Big Kahuna Beach Service (use of sand chair and fresh towels)
- Whole fruit and water service provided twice daily between 10am and 2pm (when seated in designated area on Waikiki Beach),
- One free portrait session and a 4" x 8” keepsake by a professional photographer
- Collections of Waikiki savings booklet
However, upon check in, I was pleased to get the "platinum resort benefits." They had separate cards for gold members and platinum members. Among the goodies that I actually cared about were:
- 250 bonus points per day (value: $5)
- Free full breakfast buffet for two every morning (roughly $25 with the gratuity included is what I would pay for a breakfast for two anywhere else in Waikiki). There's the option of trading two coupons for one seafood dinner buffet.
Sunday 10 May 2015
staying at a hotel for call? part work, part mattress-running
since i joined the call group for the hospital that i'm working at since october 2014 (located a good 40 minutes' drive from where i live), i have been staying at the hotel that was located right across the street. since i'm aiming for starwood status, i stay at the local starwood hotel.
this is the rationale and its accompanying "by the numbers".
1) tax implications: is this a reasonable business expense?
as an incorporated physician, there are rules based on the canadian revenue agency as to what is a deductible corporate tax expense. they have stated that if there is an expectation for your job to be present at the job site within a reasonable amount of time, and if staying at a hotel will help you to make more income for your company, then it can be written off as a business expense. the expense itself is taken right off the top. therefore, you're paying for this hotel night using pre-tax dollars as opposed to after corporate tax dollars or after personal tax dollars.
this works in my situation because i don't get a hospital call room, and driving in to the hospital would take roughly 30-40 minutes (which would be bad for patient care).
2) tax implications: how much does it actually cost?
assuming a marginal personal tax rate of 40%, that means that the total cost of the hotel stay is only 60% of the actual cost buying it using pre-tax dollars. for illustrative purposes: if the hotel night cost $100 a night all in, had i chosen to just drive in to the hospital instead and paid myself $100 from the company, i would actually only see $60 in my pocket after personal taxes.
3) which rates to use?
i have learned that hotels have very loose rules for what constitutes a government employee. having a hospital ID badge which is run by the provincial health authority counts as being an employee of the government. and in all fairness, i am working for the government while i use this rate. this means that the rate falls to $155 a night all in. as per above, the actual cost then is $93 a night. this is the actual amount of money after taxes that i would have actually missed out on in my pocket had i just stayed at home.
4) credit card re-imbursements
you can book using a personal credit card and have the company reimburse you for it. i use the mbna 2% cash back card (no fee version). (note, i argue that i am redeeming for travel credit, which isn't exactly cash back). so by paying $155 a night on my credit card, i get $3.10 back. this is not taxable income as per the canadian revenue agency. so the actual cost per night is roughly $90.
unfortunately, government rates do not qualify for things like ebates or greatcanadianrebates.
5) base points for the rate
the actual base rate is roughly $129 a night. you only get base points based on the rate excluding taxes. i get 2 points per dollar spent, and a bonus point for being an elite member (gold and platinum members both earn 1 bonus point). therefore, per night, i get 387 points.
6) platinum amenity and declining housekeeping
at sheraton and westin hotels, you can choose to get 500 platinum amenity points. you also get 500 points for every night you decline housekeeping. so for each night, you will earn 500 bonus points in some form.
7) bonus point promotions
previous bonuses included double points or 1,000 points for every 5th night etc. the upcoming SPG second trimester promotion is 1,000 bonus points for every 2+ night stay that include a friday, saturday, or sunday. i will conservatively place this benefit as 113 bonus points a night.
8) overall number of points
overall, i expect a total of 1,000 points per night. there are numerous ways to use this in my calculations:
one has to keep in mind that platinum members get free access to club lounges and club floors at all sheraton hotels. some of these benefits for staying at a hotel include:
i used to earn platinum status via stays. previously, i would stay at two different hotels in the same city in order to maximize stay credits. this is no longer the case as i am on call roughly 35 nights a year.
and this is how starwood status will be easy to obtain in 2015 for $21.50 - $59.00 a day.
this is the rationale and its accompanying "by the numbers".
1) tax implications: is this a reasonable business expense?
as an incorporated physician, there are rules based on the canadian revenue agency as to what is a deductible corporate tax expense. they have stated that if there is an expectation for your job to be present at the job site within a reasonable amount of time, and if staying at a hotel will help you to make more income for your company, then it can be written off as a business expense. the expense itself is taken right off the top. therefore, you're paying for this hotel night using pre-tax dollars as opposed to after corporate tax dollars or after personal tax dollars.
this works in my situation because i don't get a hospital call room, and driving in to the hospital would take roughly 30-40 minutes (which would be bad for patient care).
2) tax implications: how much does it actually cost?
assuming a marginal personal tax rate of 40%, that means that the total cost of the hotel stay is only 60% of the actual cost buying it using pre-tax dollars. for illustrative purposes: if the hotel night cost $100 a night all in, had i chosen to just drive in to the hospital instead and paid myself $100 from the company, i would actually only see $60 in my pocket after personal taxes.
3) which rates to use?
i have learned that hotels have very loose rules for what constitutes a government employee. having a hospital ID badge which is run by the provincial health authority counts as being an employee of the government. and in all fairness, i am working for the government while i use this rate. this means that the rate falls to $155 a night all in. as per above, the actual cost then is $93 a night. this is the actual amount of money after taxes that i would have actually missed out on in my pocket had i just stayed at home.
4) credit card re-imbursements
you can book using a personal credit card and have the company reimburse you for it. i use the mbna 2% cash back card (no fee version). (note, i argue that i am redeeming for travel credit, which isn't exactly cash back). so by paying $155 a night on my credit card, i get $3.10 back. this is not taxable income as per the canadian revenue agency. so the actual cost per night is roughly $90.
unfortunately, government rates do not qualify for things like ebates or greatcanadianrebates.
5) base points for the rate
the actual base rate is roughly $129 a night. you only get base points based on the rate excluding taxes. i get 2 points per dollar spent, and a bonus point for being an elite member (gold and platinum members both earn 1 bonus point). therefore, per night, i get 387 points.
6) platinum amenity and declining housekeeping
at sheraton and westin hotels, you can choose to get 500 platinum amenity points. you also get 500 points for every night you decline housekeeping. so for each night, you will earn 500 bonus points in some form.
7) bonus point promotions
previous bonuses included double points or 1,000 points for every 5th night etc. the upcoming SPG second trimester promotion is 1,000 bonus points for every 2+ night stay that include a friday, saturday, or sunday. i will conservatively place this benefit as 113 bonus points a night.
8) overall number of points
overall, i expect a total of 1,000 points per night. there are numerous ways to use this in my calculations:
- convert to aeroplan (1,000 points = 1,250 aeroplan points). i value each point as being worth roughly 1 cent in economy ($12.50) or 5 cents in business ($62.50) if you can actually get seats
- redeeming for hotels usually nets at least 2.5 cents per point ($25.00). sometimes, if you redeem for low tier hotels, you can get better values. currently, the vancouver sheraton airport is a category 2 hotel. weekends are just 3,000 points. the regular rate is about $150, which is a value of 5 cents per point ($50.00).
one has to keep in mind that platinum members get free access to club lounges and club floors at all sheraton hotels. some of these benefits for staying at a hotel include:
- free breakfast in the lounge ($5 value per day)
- free appetizers and dinner in the lounge ($7.50 per day)
- free drinks that i stock my office with later ($2.50 per day)
- free access to fitness facility / pool
- no need to clean, laundry/bedsheets are done, utility usage is down
- actual ability to see patients on call in a timely manner.
- no need to pay for parking/gas while coming in for call ($6 per day)
- you can sleep in before coming in to work the next morning (priceless)
i used to earn platinum status via stays. previously, i would stay at two different hotels in the same city in order to maximize stay credits. this is no longer the case as i am on call roughly 35 nights a year.
and this is how starwood status will be easy to obtain in 2015 for $21.50 - $59.00 a day.
Saturday 9 May 2015
a change in star gold strategy -- asiana cuts points on united metal
i used to really like asiana's mileage club scheme because it was an easy way to access star gold status. you would need just 20,000 miles in two years in order to achieve asiana gold (star silver) status, and 40,000 miles in two years in order to achieve asiana diamond (star gold). This served me well: i have had 4 years of star gold status because of them, and have a membership card that's valid until the end of 2016 left to go. star gold status is really quite valuable.
a few years ago, air canada's flex fares (previously named "tango plus") were mostly cut down to 50% elite qualifying miles (EQM) even when they earned 100% in air canada's own program. their tango fares still earned nothing domestically.
(note that not the minimum mileage for international routes is not actually 250 miles as they will later state. i had a tango fare flight YVR-PDX that only earned 125 miles. they cited 500 x 25% = 125 miles and would not budge.)
therefore, around 2012, the vast majority of my transborder and international flights went to united, because all fares would earn 100%. that was until i saw their sudden change on march 1, 2015. now, most of their discount economy flights will only earn 50-75% elite qualifying miles.
therefore, for someone with travel patterns like myself (based in north america, the majority of my travel being based in north america), i would need to fly 40,000 actual miles a year on united or flex-fare air canada (40,000 physical miles x 50% = 20,000 elite qualifying miles per year x 2 year requalification period = 40,000 elite qualifying miles). if i flew just 10,000 more miles a year, i would get premier gold status.
the rule for elite status is to try to earn the highest level of elite status that you can. the next rule is to try to earn that status on the airline that you will fly on the most as they will generally give the most benefits.
so where do i go from here?
for this year, i have opted to credit my points to united. united offers me the benefit of:
a few years ago, air canada's flex fares (previously named "tango plus") were mostly cut down to 50% elite qualifying miles (EQM) even when they earned 100% in air canada's own program. their tango fares still earned nothing domestically.
(note that not the minimum mileage for international routes is not actually 250 miles as they will later state. i had a tango fare flight YVR-PDX that only earned 125 miles. they cited 500 x 25% = 125 miles and would not budge.)
therefore, around 2012, the vast majority of my transborder and international flights went to united, because all fares would earn 100%. that was until i saw their sudden change on march 1, 2015. now, most of their discount economy flights will only earn 50-75% elite qualifying miles.
therefore, for someone with travel patterns like myself (based in north america, the majority of my travel being based in north america), i would need to fly 40,000 actual miles a year on united or flex-fare air canada (40,000 physical miles x 50% = 20,000 elite qualifying miles per year x 2 year requalification period = 40,000 elite qualifying miles). if i flew just 10,000 more miles a year, i would get premier gold status.
the rule for elite status is to try to earn the highest level of elite status that you can. the next rule is to try to earn that status on the airline that you will fly on the most as they will generally give the most benefits.
so where do i go from here?
for this year, i have opted to credit my points to united. united offers me the benefit of:
- 100% status miles on united flights
- 100% status miles on all flex fares on air canada
- 25% status mile on all domestic tango fares (and 100% on international/transborder tango fares)
- 100% status miles on almost all ANA flights who i will be traveling on when i go to asia later this summer (they offer 25% redeemable miles on my K-fare, although this is no better than any other program).
- complimentary economy plus seating
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