Travel Deal of the Day (July 23, 2009)

Hyatt Gold Passport members earn 2,500 bonus Hyatt Gold Passport points when registering for the following promotion and paying for an eligible stay with a MasterCard. This offer is valid for stays until September 15, 2009, and you can earn the bonus an unlimited amount of times. For full terms and conditions or to register for the promotion, go to the Hyatt MasterCard Deal.

Travel Deal of the Day (June 2, 2009)

If you are not taking advantage of hotel promotions or hotel frequent stay programs, now is the time to do so.

The Deal:
Hotels are suffering from low occupancy rates, so they are offering incredible discounts and frequent stay promotions (second or third night free; % off discounts for rooms; bonus frequent stay points). Now is the time to plan your travel to maximize rewards and discounts if you want to limit your travel budget.

The Inside Scoop:
While maximizing travel promotions and discounts is important, be sure to avoid overpaying solely to take advantage of a travel reward.

Travel Deal of the Day (December 31, 2008)

Two end of the year travel notes:

(1) With the end of the year approaching, you should note that certain frequent flyer programs (e.g. Mileage Plus) are changing required redemption amounts in 2009. If you have enough miles to redeem an award, you should consider redeeming miles today rather than waiting until 2009 as you may be required to use more miles if you wait.

(2) The end of the year is a good time to check frequent flyer/frequent stay account balances. If you have not used certain frequent flyer/frequent stay accounts recently, you should check the rules of those programs to see if miles expire without activity. If you must have periodic activity to retain your miles/points, you may want to find the least expensive way to accrue miles/points. In some programs, something as simple as buying a single song on Apple Itunes for $1 can save all of your miles.

Travel Deal of the Day (Feb. 20, 2007)

If you have been collecting Starwood Hotel points and you do not quite have enough points to redeem for free nights, what about redeeming a few points and paying a nominal amount for a hotel room? With Starwood’s Cash and Points program, it is possible to redeem as few as 1,200 points and pay as little as $25 and obtain a room.

The Deal:
Use Starwood points and pay $25, $30, $45 or $60 per night for Starwood hotels worldwide. The points/money required increases when the level of the hotel increases. Starwood designates its nicer hotels with higher categories – Category 5 is the highest level available for Cash and Points. Rooms are available for as little as 1,200 points and $25.

How:
Go to Starwood Cash and Points.