Toolie Business Travel Newsletter May 2009In This Issue:
Toolie's Monthly Travel Tip: Making the Most of AmEx RewardsThose of you who have been on my list for a while know that I am an advocate of belonging to airline and hotel rewards programs. I wish I had done it earlier in my career at Microsoft, especially joining the American Express Rewards program. We who traveled were given an AmEx card for business, and I could have been racking up rewards much sooner. At least I did finally join, and I have made good use of the program since then. In 2005, 2007, and now again this year, I've paid for a trip for part or all of one of my trips using hotel and American Express points, plus airline miles. As a frequent traveler, being able to REDEEM points is very satisfying! Since not everyone has or uses an American Express card, or has attempted to redeem points, I'll describe the process I used to pay for 3 of 4 nights for my upcoming trip to the National Speakers Association Convention. You Gotta HAVE Points to Use Points Well duh, yes, but setting yourself up to acquire the greatest number of points is the trick. Some frequent flyers use a rewards card to accrue airline miles, but I have always balked at the interest rates on those cards. I prefer to put all my miles on one airline, and get bonus miles because of my frequent flier status. What I decided to do in my business is to run all my expenses through my American Express Blue for Business card and tie that plus my AmEx charge card to the Membership Rewards program. Trip expenses go on the charge card, so either way, I'm building up points. It Helps That I'm Staying at a Marriott Hotel American Express has agreements with several hotel chains, which makes it fairly easy to arrange for nights at business hotels: Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Intercontinental (Priority Club) and even Best Western. For the Convention, I'll be staying at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in north Phoenix, so while I was making my arrangements I knew I would be able to use points one way or another. The First of Three Ways to Use Points When I arranged for my trip to Hong Kong with my sister Melody in 2005, I used a combination of American Express points plus Hyatt points to get 4 of our 6 nights for free. For that trip, I used method #1, which is to transfer points from AmEx to the hotel program. If you decide to do that, get out your calculator. First you have to find out the points value of one night at the hotel of your choice, then find out what the "exchange rate" is between AmEx points and the hotel program points. Because I wanted Melody to see and stay in the Grand Hyatt on Hong Kong Island (my favorite, but yikes!), I went through nearly all the points I had at that time, but I can say without hesitation that it was well worth it: the trip of a lifetime. You also need to be making the transfers and hotel reservations at least 2 months in advance to ensure that all the exchanges take place. Back in 2005, they were issuing paper certificates that I redeemed at the front desk, so we had to allow sufficient mailing time to receive the certificates. For this trip, I knew I had enough points to transfer, but when I went to calculate the exchange value, I couldn't seem to get Marriott and AmEx to agree. Method 2: Using a Points Consolidator I first discovered www.Points.com about 6 months ago when I noticed that one of my credit cards had some rather innocuous points built up. Never one to waste a freebie, I went looking to see what I could acquire for these points, and that led me to the website. Ultimately those points became a $25 gift certificate to Amazon for McAlister's birthday, but while I was on the Points.com website, I went ahead and established a connection to the American Express Membership Rewards program so that if I needed to use AmEx points on Points.com, the would be no waiting. I checked with Points.com, and again, was unable to get the hotel I wanted with the dates I wanted through their website. But, the transfer of points was still a possibility, and I didn't consider it a wasted effort. Method 3: Using American Express Travel Services You may be thinking "duh" why haven't you been using the AmEx Travel Services previously? Well, in my experience, I've gotten better deals by going directly to the hotel or airline or rental car website. My thought to use AmEx's own travel reservation system was directly tied to my desire to use AmEx points. I logged on, found the hotel and dates, and there at the top of the reservation screen was an offer to pay with points. Bingo! The trick was, they were going to charge my American Express credit card and then issue a refund. Since 1) I was trying to not have to pay anything and 2) not sure how quickly a "refund" would be issued, I was hesitant. But true to their word, they charged my card and immediately issued the refund of the same dollar amount. The rewards points disappeared from my account, and I received email confirmation of the reservation, the charge, and the refund using points. Yay!! A Rental Car: The Icing on the Cake My brother and his wife now live about 90 minutes from Phoenix, and I've not been able to visit them in their new location. After making my reservation with the hotel, I had enough points left over to cover a rental car reservation for 24 hour so that I can drive down to see them. So after my business is concluded, I'll be driving south to Tucson to see them before departing for Seattle. So I hope this glimpse into the redemption process gives you courage to find a way to use those points I know you have lurking in one or more of your accounts. If your points are spread out over multiple hotel chains or credit cards, look into using a consolidator like www.Points.com to get the best use of your rewards points. Website Training Product to Be Released in JuneAfter nearly a year of research and delivery online, my acclaimed website course is becoming a combination product plus coaching, plus online membership. I don't have an exact release date yet, but I wanted to give you a heads-up so that you can alert your entrepreneur and small business colleagues who either want the training or have someone they want trained to maintain their websites. I'll send a message to you when everything is available. Once the product is done, I plan to incorporate this program into my speaking business and take it on the road. I don't know how long it will take to get things moving, but that's the plan! Reminder: You Can View This Newsletter Online Too!Immediately after sending my email to you containing this newsletter, I am able to also post it online at http://www.tooliethetravelguide.com/currentnewsletter.html. I finally put to work those 4 classes in XML I took 2 years ago. With a little copying and pasting and the push of a button, voila! An HTML version of this newsletter appears. I'm working my way back through past newsletters for your viewing pleasure. Do share the link to the online newsletter with friends and colleagues, and invite them to subscribe. Thanks! Toolie's Travel PlansMy next trip is the above very splendid journey to the NSA Convention where I will be presenting on "Web 2.0" and the impact of social media. Then, as soon as I can get traction, I'll be out speaking again! Stop by my web site, http://www.tooliethetravelguide.com and say 'Hello,' especially if the Live Chat icon says I'm online. I love to hear from my subscribers anytime! Toolie®
the Travel Guide http://www.ToolieTheTravelGuide.com PS: Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/toolie! |