Points Cash Miles

Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites - Raleigh-Cary (I-40 @Walnut St.)

2015-07-22T07:30:00.000-04:00

The pictures below are from my stay in October 2014. As with my other recent hotel reports, this is a currently a work in progress. If you have any specific questions, leave me a message in the comments and I'll answer it as best I can.

This was actually one of my favorite things about this hotel stay. Even though I chose the points amenity, I received a small bag of trail mix and a bottle of water.

It's hard to see in the picture, but the room had a nice moderately sized LCD TV.

View into the room from just inside the door

Microwave and coffee station outside of the bathroom

Another super exciting microwave picture

View into the bathroom

Vanity

Toilet with a busted seat

Shower

I didn't use the hair dryer but it did appear to be fairly new and in working order.

If you think the top of the mattress looks a little bit uneven, you'd be right. There were definitely two permanent impressions.

This last one shows a close up of the desk, the stains were actually underneath the glass top, so I don't doubt that it was clean but it didn't give me a very good impression of the room overall. When you add in the loose toilet seat and the worn out bed, it's a hotel I won't be staying at again unless I hear of improvements.

Holiday Inn Express - North Lima, OH

2015-07-20T15:34:00.001-04:00

These images are from a one night stay at the Holiday in Express Youngstown (N. Lima/Boardman) in December of 2014. I may add more detailed information at a later date but until then, here are the room pictures:

I think it's time for a return...

2014-07-15T22:35:00.000-04:00

So I know it looks like I've totally abandoned the site, and I suppose I have. It's been nearly 7 months since my last post. I had planned on taking some time during the holidays to working on revamping the layout of the site and begin preparing some new material. As you may have noticed, only part of this actually happened and I've been on an extended hiatus. I'm planning on starring this up again before the end of the summer.

In the meantime, here's a random travel pic that will be used in a later post:

Time for Some Changes

2013-11-12T23:04:00.002-05:00

Points Cash Miles is currently undergoing a redesign. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to be playing around with the layout and overall appearance of the site and I've started on some new material with plans of a few posts in the next couple of weeks with a return to regular posting towards the end of the year

Points Hound Link

2013-04-18T22:08:00.001-04:00

https://pointshound.com/ysagxz

An unexpected free gift card - Bing Rewards

2013-01-21T07:01:00.000-05:00

So I should start off by mentioning that this post isn't directly related to the typical miles and points.
It does fall under the Cash category though, and at least for blogging purchases, "Cash" is my middle name.

I don't specifically remember signing up for Bing search rewards, but I happened to notice recently that whenever the Bing search page would load, I would see my name along with a number that was a little bit higher each time I saw it. I finally clicked on this and found out that I had apparently been earning bing.com rewards points for some time.

I had enough points for $10 worth of gift cards. I redeemed the points for two $5 Tango Cards which were e-mailed to me within a couple of days. From what I can see so far, this deal is probably good for around one $5 gift card per month.

I don't actually go to the bing.com page to do my web searches, my default search engine setting in Internet Explorer is Bing, so I'm really earning these points without doing anything different from how I would normally browse the internet. It may not amount to much but it's free, and if nothing else it will cover a few coffee runs at the airport Starbucks.

If you're interested in signing up for Bing rewards, You can check it out at my link HERE.

Plastic Jungle - $20 Bonus through 1-19-2013

2013-01-17T07:28:00.003-05:00

Plastic Jungle is currently offering a $20 discount off a future purchase of discounted giftcards

It appears that this offer is combinable with TopCashBack for an additional 2.5%. I'm not a big fan of TopCashBack compared to other cash-back shopping sites, but they are the only one with a link for Plastic Jungle, so in this case they'll get my business.

This is a pretty good offer on it's own if you happen to have a couple of gift cards that you need to liquidate. It can be an even better offer if you recently used your AmEx Platinum $200 airline reimbursement to pick up a couple of American Airlines gift cards. It just so happens that I did this just last week, so I have $200 worth of AA giftcards that I've got no immediate plans for. I'll get $160 cash for the gift cards, $4 from TopCashBack (hopefully) and $20 towards a future giftcard purchase. In this case I value the cash now over the airline giftcards to use at a later date, so sometime today I'll be taking advantage of the offer.

If you're interested in learning more about Points, Cash, & Miles, consider following by email or just bookmarking the page - I'll be here with new material 2-3 times a week, possibly more if there happens to be anything I find really exciting in the world of points and miles.

Hilton 24 Hour Sale - Starts Now!

2013-01-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

Starting right now at 11:00am eastern Hilton is running a 24 hours flash sale for up to 40% off weekend stays plus 2,500 bonus points. This is really just an additional bonus on top of the Any Weekend Anywhere sale that runs through the end of the month. You have to register though Facebook for the bonus points and then book through the sale link HERE Details are below:

Here's the Text from their Facebook page:

Come back on Wednesday, January 16th at 11:00AM ET and register for the 24-Hour Flash Bonus Offer. To earn your bonus, simply book a stay with the Any Weekend, Anywhere Sale and you can save up to 40% on weekends throughout 2013 at participating hotels and resorts worldwide. Plus, once you complete your stay you'll get 2,500 Hilton HHonors™ Bonus Points for every weekend you book. Start making plans for all of your weekend getaways today.

And the link to register: HERE

Dining Rewards - Don't Even Think About Paying Cash for Dinner

2013-01-14T12:16:00.000-05:00

From my NYC trip at the beginning of the month, I have a good example of why you should never pay with cash for dinner.

I was checking account balances yesterday and noticed that my HHonors balance was a few thousand points higher than the last time I had checked. I knew that points from my Hilton Amex and the points from my New Year's Eve stay had already posted as I mentioned in Friday's post.

It turns out that the points in question were from the HHonors Dining program. Now I knew there would be a few points coming from dining in NYC, and I knew that the Gelato Stand in Grand Central Terminal is a participating business, but I had absolutely no idea that the restaurant we had went to for dinner on New Year's Eve was even part of the program.

My girlfriend had actually made the reservation at Megu Midtown through OpenTable, and earned OpenTable points for the reservation, so it appears possible double dip on reservations like this one.

I hadn't spent much cash so for the trip up until that point so I was considering leaving cash until I reminded myself to put it on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card since it earns double points on dining. Overall, I ended up earning 2 Chase Ultimate Rewards points plus 8 HHonors Points per dollar spent. It normally wouldn't be enough to have me going out of my way to pick a restaurant, but It's a nice bonus when you can get it.

In this case, it was a perfect scenario This was by far the most expensive meal we ate in NYC, the food was excellent, and then later I find out I earned HHonors points. Awesome.

Sashimi Cave at Megu Midtown

I'll likely be back to Megu on a future New York Trip, and you can bet I'll be making sure my card is registered with HHonors Dining.

If you already use a Dining Rewards program, now's a good time to double check that all of you credit cards are enrolled. If you're not already using a dining program, there are several to choose from and the links are below. I personally use HHonors Dining, but something else may work better for you. I'll be doing a write up covering all of the programs in the next week or so to help you make your decision.

HHonors Dining
AAdvantage Dining
Mileage Plus Dining
SkyMiles Dining
Rapid Rewards Dining
Priority Club Dining

12 Free Points or Miles - Audience Rewards Trivia 1-13-2013

2013-01-13T09:05:00.002-05:00

Regular posting will commence / resume on the 7th but in the meantime here's a quick Audience Rewards Trivia Update:

Audience Reward Trivia update

You can pick any one of the 4 programs to answer the questions, but you only get to answer them once. As usual I'll be focusing on the SPG program as I value Starwood points more highly than the rest

Delta Skymiles (1-13-2013)

US Airways Dividend Miles (1-13-2013)

Starwood Preferred Guest (1-13-2013)

Best Buy Reward Zone (1-13-2013)

Your Trivia Questions and Answers for 1-13-2013:

Cougar, the Musical plays what Off Broadway theatre?
St Luke's Theatre

What pop star is behind the music for the upcoming Broadway show, Kinky Boots?
Cyndi Lauper

What religion is prominently featured in bare: the musical?
Catholicism

What new Disney musical has been rumored to be coming to Broadway in the spring of 2013 after Mary Poppins closes?
Aladdin

Where is Sherrie in Rock of Ages originally from?
Kansas

Who directed The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway?
Harold Prince

Audience Rewards Triva Update

2013-01-13T08:49:00.000-05:00

The Audience Rewards Trivia Pages have been updated - I'll have the answers up as soon as I get a chance to check them.

No Paid Stay? Sign Up for those Hotel Bonuses Anyway

2013-01-11T07:18:00.000-05:00

Typically the hotel rewards programs view award stays a little bit differently than paid stays. Most hotels don't count the stay or number of nights stayed towards elite status, although Starwood's SPG program is a notable exception.

You can generally earn points at the usual per dollar rates on any incidentals such as meals charged to the room, bar tabs, etc. This probably isn't all that surprising, what does surprise me though is that it's often possible to earn bonus points from quarterly promotions on award stays.

Here's an example from my recent stay at the DoubleTree Times Square:

As you can see I only earned 321 base points yet earned 3,000 points from HHonors Q4 1,000 Reasons to Stay Bonus. Definitely a reason to make sure you have at least something that will generate base points charged to the room on award stays. In most cases, if there are no room charges, no bonus points will post.

I always make a point to sign up for the quarterly bonuses from any of the chains I may be staying with, whether I have paid stays or award stays planned. I usually even register for the promos for my primary and secondary rewards programs even if I don't have stays planned, just in case something unexpected comes up.

Here's a list of the Q1 Hotel Promotions I know of so far:

If you're interested in learning more about Points, Cash, & Miles, consider following by email or just bookmarking the page - I'll be here with new material 2-3 times a week, possibly more if there happens to be anything I find really exciting in the world of points and miles.

New Year - New Task List

2013-01-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year !!! (I may have started this post about a week ago but just finished it this morning)

I figured I'd start the year off with a bit of a task list of things I'm doing to get the year started off right in the Points Cash Miles world.

Check your hotel points and airline mileage account balances and more importantly, the expiration dates. I started with this task because I consider it to be the most important. there's nothing I hate more than losing the points we work so hard to collect. Over the coming weeks, I'll be going though all of my accounts and will provide some ideas for how to extend the expiration dates for the various programs.

American Express Platinum card holders - $200 Airline Reimbursement Choice - this benefit is based on calendar year as opposed to membership year, so if you carry this card you are now eligible for another $200 worth of Airline reimbursements. You can view or change or airline choice HERE.

Also for Amex Platinum Holders, If you haven't already called to have your complimentary Starwood Gold status added to your SPG account, now's as good of a time as any to do so. Just call the number on the back of your American Express and they'll initiate the call to SPG.

Chase Freedom 5% signup - Gas, Starbucks and Drugstores up to $1,500 of spending - If you carry this card and haven't already activated the 1st quarter benefit, do so now. The link is HERE

MrRebates.com - I used Mr. Rebates for at least half of my online holiday shopping this year, so it's time to check to make sure my purchases are showing up in my account. My favorite shopping portal is the Chase Ultimate rewards portal but often I find that the cash back percentage is higher at Mr. Rebates. I've had great results with Mr. Rebates and have only once had a cash back tracking issue which was quickly corrected after I emailed customer service. Mr. Rebates does reward referrals, so if you decide to give them a try I'd appreciate if you'd use one of my links.

Amex Small Business Saturday - if you haven't already, check to make sure you've received your $25 credits on each of the cards you may have used at a participating small business. If you are still waiting, it's time to send a secure message to customer service through the American Express website. I actually had a $25 credit that didn't show up due to the charge not posting to my account until 11/25, the day after small business Saturday. A quick note to customer service was all it took to get the credit posted to my account.

Back in September MyPoints had a deal with OpenSky that offered 150 points per dollar spent. If you participated, you may be sitting on a bunch of MyPoints that need redeemed. Mommy Points wrote about this recently - read more HERE.

2012 Free Travel Review

2013-01-07T15:07:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of a new year I like to take a look back at the previous year and analyze my expenditures of points, cash, and miles for travel the previous year. This helps me to plan for future trips as well as check if I've been getting the best deals and make sure it's still worth the time commitment involved in playing the points and miles game.

I'm hoping this post doesn't come off as bragging - that's not the intent; there's plenty of people out there who just can't wait to tell you how awesome they are and I'm not one of them. I'm simply a guy who loves to travel. With moderate travel resources and 3 weeks of vacation each year, I look to make the most of it, and points and miles have been helping me do so for the past 5 or 6 years.

Rockefeller Center Tree - Dec 2012

2012 saw quite a few weekend trips but nothing earth shattering - there weren't any flights in international business class or exotic destinations this year and probably none to come in 2013 either. I do have some big ideas for 2014 but we'll get to that later...

Free (or nearly free) Travel in the past 12 months has included the following:

- 2 first class tickets to NYC (American Airlines - 27k British Airways Miles)
- 2 coach tickets to return from NYC (American Airlines - 9k British Airways Miles)
- 3 nights at the Waldorf Astoria NYC (150k Hhonors Points)
- 4 tickets to Las Vegas on Southwest (2 expired award vouchers + $100)
- 2 return tickets from Las Vegas - (38k Southwest points)
- 1 night at the Radisson Cleveland Gateway (10k Club Carlson points + $80)
- 1 night at the DoubleTree in downtown Columbus, OH (0 HHonors points)
- 1 round trip to Vegas (21k Southwest points)
- 2 rooms for 1 night at the Palazzo, Las Vegas (Free Credit Card Night, 50k points)
- 3 round trip tickets to Nashville (roughly 40k Southwest points)

I finished out the year with a returning to NYC for New Year for the second straight year but I'll include that on next years travel listing as the trip ended in 2013.

Overall I burned a decent number of HHonors points and a ton of Southwest points (actually I didn't have SW points so I was transferring Ultimate Rewards points). I'll need to restock, as Hilton is my go to hotel chain for reward stays and Southwest is my airline of choice for trips to Las Vegas. In the coming weeks I'll outline my plans for reloading my accounts.

At this point I'm not exactly sure what travel 2013 will hold, but I'm eyeing a return to Vegas in the spring or summer and possibly NYC for New Year's Eve again next December. Once I get a better idea I'll be putting together some travel goals for the year as well as developing a plan to achieve them.

If you're interested in learning more, consider following by email or just bookmarking the page - I'll be here with new material 2-3 times a week, possibly more if there happens to be anything I find really exciting in the world of points and miles.

Holiday Break -- Until Jan 7th

2012-12-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

It's probably already obvious do to the lack of new material, but things have gotten a bit busier than usual lately and I really haven't had time to devote to the website. I'm going to take a few more weeks off with plans to come back with new material during the 1st full week of the new year.

Thanks for your support,
PointsCashMiles

$25 AMEX Statement Credits on 11/24/12 - Small Business Saturday

2012-11-20T14:02:00.000-05:00

As they have for the past couple of years, American Express is offering a $25 statement credit for local small businesses for purchases of $25 or more on Small Business Saturday, which is on 11/24/12. You must register for this promotion to be eligible for the $25 statement credit.

Register Here

Registration is limited and began on November 18, but is still available as of this posting.

It's Back! – 15% back at Priority Club Hotels with MrRebates.com

2012-11-15T16:48:00.000-05:00

Mr. Rebates is advertising IHG Hotels as their "Store of the Week" and offering 15% cash back

This is 2 1/2 times their normal cash back rate. I took advantage of this deal the last time it was offered for a hotel stay I had in September and found it to be an excellent deal.

What is Mr. Rebates?
Mr. Rebates is a shopping portal which provides cash back on purchases at select merchants. Many of the major online retailers are partners with www.mrrebates.com and I tend to use them as my go to shopping portal as I find their cash back rates to be some of the best available. They give you a $5.00 sign up bonus after your first purchase through their site and they do offer referral credits, so if you do choose to sign up I'd be appreciative if you'd use one of my links– if prompted for a referral email address, just use pointscashmiles@yahoo.com.

Mr. Rebates Link

Audience Rewards Trivia Questions 11-06-2012

2012-11-07T10:43:00.000-05:00

New Audience Rewards Trivia Questions were posted yesterday and today I have the answers:

Audience Reward Trivia update

There is one set of questions which is listed on each of the partner sites.The questions can only be answered once per Audience Rewards account, so you need to pick which partner program you want to earn the points in. I’ve listed all 4 links below; personally, I’ll be using the SPG link as I value their points more than Delta or US miles.

Delta Skymiles (11-06-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (11-06-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 11-06-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (11-06-2012)

Your Trivia Questions and Answers for 11-06-2012:

Which of the following musicals has the Old Man of A Christmas Story NOT been in on Broadway?
Guys and Dolls
What Tony winning actor is the producer behind Sistas, The Musical?
Hinton Battle
What character in Wicked becomes the known as the Wicked Witch of the East?
Nessarose
Cameron Mackintosh produced all but which of the following shows:
Sweeney Todd
What is the love song duet in The Lion King called?
Can You Feel the Love Tonight?
Which of the following holiday shows playing NYC this season was also on Broadway in the 2011/2012 holiday season?
None of the Above
What musical on Broadway this season is based on a film in which Ed Asner of the play Grace played a major role?
Elf
True or False? War Horse starts with a single singer on stage.
True

Audience Rewards Trivia Questions - 10-25-2012

2012-11-02T12:15:00.000-04:00

I actually wasn't aware that there were new trivia questions available - last time I had checked there were only questions that only gave showpoints, not partner points so I didn't think it was worth our time. I just happened to think about it this morning and when I checked, there are new questions available that offer the usual 2 Showpoints + 2 Partner points. It looks like these questions were posted last week.

Audience Reward Trivia update

Delta Skymiles (10-25-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (10-25-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 10-25-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (10-25-2012)

Your Trivia Questions and Answers for 10-25-2012:

Where is Grace set?
Florida

Daniel Breaker, of The Performers, is from what state?
Kansas

What other Kenny Ortega film did Newsies director Jeff Calhoun bring to the stage?
High School Musical

What one role in Once is not listed as playing an instrument as well as performing in the show, according to the program?
Ivanka

True or False? Elaine Stritch was in the replacement cast of the original Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
True

What was Dusty Springfield’s real full name?
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien

In Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark, the Green Goblin dies by falling off what?
The Chrysler Building

True or False? Until the upcoming production, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella has not yet been on a Broadway stage.
True

FedEx to give away 40,000 - $25 Amex Giftcards

2012-11-01T13:54:00.000-04:00

Once again FedEx is giving away $25 gift cards to support Small Business Saturday. This year they are giving away 40,000 though a facebook contest which means the odds should be pretty good for winning one.

You can enter here

Final day of Hilton's 25 days of Winning

2012-10-25T09:01:00.001-04:00

Today is the final day for Hilton's 25 Days of Winning sweepstakes. For the last 3 and a half weeks they have been giving away a prize everyday, some noteable and some not so much. For the final day of the promo, they have the grand prize for the sweepstakes and it includes the following:

ONE (1) DAY TWENTY FIVE GRAND PRIZE: Grand Prize Dream trip prize package. Prize package includes $15,000 that may be used by winner to design a trip of his or her choosing; $1,500 that winner can use toward air transportation for his/her trip; $5,000 in Hilton HHonors Gift Cards (terms and conditions of Gift Cards apply); and 500,000 HHonors Bonus Points (Bonus Points will be deposited in the winner's Hilton HHonors account. Bonus Points do not count toward elite tier qualification. Hilton HHonors™ membership, earning of Points & Miles™, and redemption of Points are subject to HHonors Terms and Conditions). Winner must complete the trip within one (1) year from the drawing date or prize will be forfeited. Trip must be booked at least twenty-one (21) days prior to departure. ARV: $26,500 USD.

Though I don't normally bother with sweepstakes entries (unless I get points/miles for entering) this seemed like it was worth the 30 seconds it takes to enter.

You can enter here

Audience Reward Trivia update 10-11-2012

2012-10-16T11:46:00.002-04:00

These Questions have been out for the better part of a week now, but I'm just getting around to answering them:

Audience Reward Trivia update 10-11-2012

Delta Skymiles (10-11-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (10-11-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 10-11-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (10-11-2012)

In Newsies, what paper does Katherine Plumber work for?
The Sun

Who stars as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin on Broadway?
Robert McClure

A Christmas Story, The Musical is based on a movie that came out in what year?
1983

At what Off Broadway theatre does Sistas, The Musical perform?
St Luke’s Theatre

Which cast of The Lion King made a live recording of the show?
South African cast

True or False? Spider-man: Turn off the Dark had out of town try outs before coming to NYC.
False

Aside from Rock of Ages, what other Broadway show has Mitchell Jarvis been in?
Fiddler on the Roof

What is the last song of Act I of Evita?
A New Argentina
What 90's film brought back a famous song by Dusty Springfield?
Pulp Fiction

Did Hhonors Take Away Diamond Benefits?

2012-10-04T09:05:00.001-04:00

Gary over at View from the Wing has concerns this morning over same changes to the Hhonors benefits page "Did Hilton Hhonors Steal my snack?". This worried me so I took a look myself and it does appear that the wording for Embassy Suites has changed, from three snacks to two, not really a concern for me since I always took the points anyway. The worrisome part was that the wording change on the HHonors website for Conrad / DoubleTree/ Hilton on the Member Benefits page under Explore Hhonors. This page indicates that you must choose between the free breakfast and 1,000 extra points.

The Hotel Benefits page under the My Profile section of the site (when logged in) does not show these changes and does not allow you to make a selection between the options. Additionally, a confirmation e-mail I receieved for a stay I booked yesterday afternoon shows all of the benefits and does not indicate that a choice is required.

I think this is nothing more than a mistake that will be corrected. As far as I can tell the Conrad / DoubleTree / Hilton benefits have not in fact changed. We may have lost a snack at Embassy Suites, I don't really care as I prefer the points anyway.

Additional Audience Rewards Trivia Questions

2012-10-01T14:44:00.002-04:00

I must have caught last weeks trivia questions during the update because when I now log in, there are 4 additional questions that weren't previously listed. Here are the addtional trivia questions and answers from 09-27-2012:

True or False ? The original choreographer of The Lion King on broadway has not choreographed any other Broadway show.
True

True or False? Disney is producing Newsies.
True

In what year was the book of The Phantom of the Opera published in English?
1911

For what animated film was Ed Asner the voice of a main character?
Up

Audience Reward Trivia update 09-27-2012

2012-09-27T19:34:00.004-04:00

Audience Reward Trivia update 09-27-2012

There seems to be a change in the Audience Rewards program; where we previously had different sets of questions for each of the partner programs, there is now one set of questions which is listed on each of the partner sites. The questions can only be answered once, so you need to pick which partner program you want to earn the points in. I’ve listed all 4 links below; though personally, I’ll be using the SPG link as I value their points more than Delta or US miles.

Delta Skymiles (09-27-2012)

US Airways Dividend Miles (09-27-2012)

Starwood Preferred Guest 09-27-2012

Best Buy Reward Zone (09-27-2012)

Who is the director of the revival of Evita?

Michael Grandage

What legendary drama teacher-actress was in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf on Broadway?

Ute Hagen

What was the last musical to play the Longacre theatre?

La Cage aux Folles

In what theatre is Annie playing this season?

The Palace theatre

True or False? Christian Bale is reportedly NOT a fan of the Newsies film.

True