New Priority Club PointBreaks Announced!

Posted by Noob Master on Dec 5, 2012 in Hotels, Points Break, Priority Club | 0 comments

Priority Club has released their new lists on PointBreaks hotels! 

The new list of PointBreaks hotels are valid until January 31st. If you find a hotel you would like to book, do it, because odds are a few other people are eyeing the same property.

Taking advantage of 5,000 PointBreaks hotels is a MASSIVE value. Especially since Priority Club changed their award chart earlier in the year, and just a couple months ago raised their cash and points redemption rate.

However, through the miles inflation and changes, the 5,000 PointBreaks have remained. This is still one of (if not the best) values when it comes to redeeming points for hotels.

When I’m looking at PointBreaks hotels (which I do before every time I travel), I am looking for Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo properties. These properties are usually 25,000-50,000 points a night, so if I can find one for 5,000, that’s….winning.

I didn’t find any hotels that were gong to work for me this time around. I rarely find properties that do, but it’s definitely still worth looking.

You can also transfer Ultimate Rewards points from your Chase Sapphire Preferred^SMCard, Ink Plus® Business Card, or Ink Bold® Charge Card into Priority Club. I don’t usually recommend transferring Ultimate Rewards points into Priority Club, but I DO for 5,000 PointBreaks redemption.

I also have the Priority Club Visa (60,000-80,000), but since the devaluation of the Priority Club award chart, and because you can essentially get 10,000 points for $70 (by canceling award reservations and having the points credited back to your account) – I wouldn’t recommend it over other Chase hotel rewards cards out there. But, you do get a free hotel certificate every year, which is well worth the annual fee.

Happy searching!

— Noob Master

*Quick* Hotel Review: Intercontinental Venetian Las Vegas

Posted by Noob Master on Nov 21, 2012 in Hotels, Priority Club, Trip Reports, Uncategorized | 0 comments

A couple of weeks ago, I spent the weekend in Vegas living the dream at the Intercontinental Venetian hotel. 

I absolutely love going to the Venetian when I’m in Vegas, but this was the first time I stayed the night. It’s actually one of the few hotels where you can earn and redeem points in Vegas. Intercontinental hotels are a part of the Priority Club hotel group. What, what.

Yes, Priority Club is a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards. But, hold up before transferring over very valuable Ultimate Rewards points to Priority Club. It takes 30,000 – 50,000 Priority Club points a night to stay at Intercontinental hotels. The nights I was in Vegas would’ve been 50,000 a night. That’s a no for me.

I would only transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Priority Club if you’re trying to book a “PointBreaks” hotel. PointBreaks are a select rotating group of hotels that can be had for 5,000 Priority Club points a night. I can dig that.

Priority Club is actually running a 50% bonus promotion on bought miles from November 15-22.

I paid $169 for a suite on my stay, and used my free annual certificate from my Priority Club card for the second night.

Check in

I have Platinum status with Priority Club, so I went to the Platinum member check-in. There were two people running the Platinum check-in and they were both helping people when I arrived. I looked over the regular ol’ check-in, and they had about 10 people working it! There was a little line, but I bet I would’ve gotten through that line faster than the “elite” line.

Anyway, once it was my turn to check in, things went pretty smoothly. I was upgraded one room level to the Bella View Suite on the 28th floor.

It was a single door entry, so I wasn’t sure what to expect (you know you’re in for a treat if you get a double door – most times, anyway). But I was very happy with the room when I opened the door.

Once you walk in, the bathroom is instantly on the right. Any bathroom that has a TV in it is….well, balling.

Bathroom

You know I’m a shower snob, and this shower didn’t disappoint.

That’s a shower.

There was more than enough room in the Bella Suite. On the top level, there were two queen sized beds and a Samsung LCD TV. That’s the good stuff.

Those are beds

Second level

A step down, and there’s an L shaped couch, another TV, and a pretty decent view.

Second level

Wrap up

The Venetian is an elegant and very well maintained hotel. I had a little deja vu, since I was just in Venice. (A little.) There’s gondolas you can ride on, a replica of the San Marco square, and even narrow hallways crowded with people. That’s Venetian.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time at the Venetian, especially since I used a certificate on the second night. It’s a great location on the strip; walking to all the other main hot spots was a breeze. I made it over to Caesars and tried their new buffet. It wasn’t out of this world, but I enjoyed it enough to consume a few cals. I can’t say it was better than the Bellagio buffet.

You can definitely get some good bargains in Vegas if you search hard enough, but I’ll take the two nights at the Venetian for $169 anytime. I actually have one more certificate to use on an Intercontinental property, and I’m thinking Venetian again.

— Noob Master

New 5,000 Priority Club PointBreaks!

Posted by Noob Master on Oct 10, 2012 in Points Break, Priority Club | 0 comments

About every quarter, Priority Club announces its PointBreaks list of hotels that will cost 5,000 points a night. Here’s the new list of PointBreak hotels that expire on December 10th. Beware, if you find a hotel you would like to book, do it, because they go fast.

Being able to take advantage of these hotels listed is a HUGE value. Especially since Priority Club changed their award chart earlier in the year and just a couple months ago raised their cash and points redemption rate. However, through the miles inflation and changes, the 5,000 Pointbreaks have remained. This is still one of (if not the best) values when it comes to redeeming points for hotels.

When I’m looking at Pointbreak hotels (which I do before every time I travel), I am looking for Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo properties. These properties are usually 25,000-50,000 points a night, so if I can find one for 5,000, that’s….winning.

I didn’t find any hotels that were gong to work for me this time around. I rarely find properties that do, but it’s definitely worth looking.

You can transfer Ultimate Rewards points from your Chase Sapphire Preferred^SMCard or Ink Bold® Charge Card into Priority Club. I usually wouldn’t recommend transferring Ultimate Rewards points into Priority Club, but I DO for PointBreaks redemption.

I have also signed up for the Priority Club Visa (60,000-80,000), but since the devaluation of the Priority Club award chart, and because you can essentially get 10,000 points for $70 (by canceling award reservations, and having the points credited back to your account)- I wouldn’t recommend it over other Chase hotel reward cards out there. But, you do get a free hotel certificate every year, which is well worth the annual fee.

so bad, it's good.

— Noob Master