Just a reminder that the best bonus ever offered on the Amex SPG card ends tomorrow 4/5/17. If you have a trip coming up, it is very possible that there is a Marriott or SPG hotel close by that could be covered with these points. Marriott is buying SPG and the points are now interchangeable. The 35,000 point SPG bonus is convertable to 105,000 Marriott points.

I like to use Awardmapper to look for hotels near surf destinations that I plan on checking out. Other than the previously mentioned JW Marriott Guanacaste and the Courtyard Aguadilla, here are a few others to look at:

Courtyard Bridgetown, Barbados

Hotel Escondido, Puerto Escondido

Boca Chica, Acapulco

The Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta

W Punta de Mita

JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa

Courtyard Kaua'i at Coconut Beach

The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas

Courtyard Oahu North Shore

The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, Fiji

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

I've been reading through this and am excited to say that I was approved for the SPG card!

I have a few questions for clarification... to use the reward programs to their full advantage do I just use the cards for all purchases and then book a hotel/ flight directly or do I need to go through a partner website?

Good work!

PM me any specific questions you have. I can help you maximize their value. Not sure if you are talking about SPG starpoints or other rewards programs in general. SPG points are unique in that they are hotel points but can also be transferred to over two dozen airlines at great rate.

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

Great thread occy. Anyone who's not earning rewards on their daily spend is just plain throwing money out the window. I always cringe when I see someone paying for anything with a debit card, although not everyone is cut-out to manage credit properly (which is a must in this game).

Of course, we haven't even begun talking about manufactured-spend yet, where things get very interesting (and lucrative). ;-)

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Sunlight splatters dawn with answers.

Bringing back an old but great thread. Im mainly interested in Peru and Ecuador now but also like to go to Chile or Argentina to snowboard during our summer. I also have been attempting to get to the 110K Southwest milestone to get their companion bonus but never achieved it. Should my wife and I cancel our SW personal and business cards and wait out the 24 months and apply again? What other cards are good ones to apply for now? Where do you get the most up to date info if you don't use The Points Guy?

epic: Thanks for checking it out. There are many options available for using miles or points to get to South America. This is a good exercise for me because I also want to go to Ecuador and then to Peru when my girls get a little older.

Flying AA is usually the best option if you can find MileSAAver award seats available. If you can, using Alaska Mileage Plan miles or British Avios to book the seats is most of the time a cheaper option than using AA miles. There are also many other good redemptions like using Flying Blue miles to Ecuador and Peru, or ANA miles on United in business class.

Let me know when you nail down exactly where you want to go and when.

The Southwest companion pass is the best deal around. Here is a good summary on it. You do not have to wait 24 months from the time you cancel the cards to get the bonuses again, you are eligible again 24 months from date you last received the bonus. PM me your questions and I will explain more. The bonuses are now the best ever at 60,000 RR miles (worth $834 toward Wanna Get Away fares).

There are always so many good bonus offers.  here is a good list

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

Expiring Thursday, June 29th 60K Southwest Rapid Rewards sign up offers on all 3 Southwest credit cards:

Plus - $69 annual fee

Premier - $99 annual fee

Business - $99 annual fee

Getting two of these and meeting the minimum spend will trigger a companion pass. You will then also have 124,000+ points to use. These points will be worth $3,447.20 toward Wanna Get Away fares if you take a companion on all your flights. This is a great time to get in on these offers if you are eligible. Your companion pass will be good for the rest of this year and all of 2018.

Do not apply for these if you have opened 5 new card accounts in the last 24 months. Chase implemented new rules (5/24 rule) on some cards to try and limit "churning."

I would recommend getting the Plus version and the business version, if you have a business. If not, apply for the Plus, then open a private browser window or switch to a different browser type to apply for the Premier. This will prevent a duplicate response from Chase. 

Tip: After having these cards for a year, you will receive an anniversary bonus, but you still have about 30 days left to cancel before you have to pay the next annual fee. You can cancel and keep all your points.

For waves, Southwest now flys to Mexico, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Bahamas and Turks and Caicos (starting this year) + Hawaii (rumored to start next year).

Let me know if you have any questions.

Reports are that these increased bonus offers are scheduled to end this Thursday, June 29th.

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

It sounds like a pretty good deal! Though, I'm not understanding how the companion points works. Can you explain it?

PM sent S9s

I should have added that the card bonuses will not go away this week. They will probably just be lowered to 40K or 50K points, like they normally are.

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

An oddball:  Miami to Bristol, England on WOW for around $650.  That's reasonably close to Cornwall.  Of course western Ireland has better surf and it looks like WOW has similar deals to Dublin.  Cheap flights, Dublin-Newquay.  Of course WOW is in Iceland, so you could get a 7 mm suit and surf there. 

 

ww: Go for it! I'll go after I have surfed all the warm water spots in the world. Might head over soon for some golf, though.

Tip: WOW Air can be super cheap on the way over ($99 from MIA), but a lot more for the return. Just book a return one way with another carrier or with points. They also charge you extra for everything, but it's not a big deal if you're low maintenance.

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

STFU, pick a spot and go explore.  

 

Found this online. Seems like some good related info.

https://thepointsguy.com/

For places to sleep and eat I like to use the RCI resort directory for a reference point, then go from there

We much prefer to stay at a "condo/home" with a kitchen rather than at a regular hotel. Don't really need the "resort" thingy and keeping up with the hotel's kitchen schedule is a pain.

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Dora Hates You

That guy sucks dick, literally. He is also paid by the banks to market/sell you credit cards that are not the best. Some travel related articles there are good, but be skeptical when reading about offers and benefits on a card they are pushing. He sold out to Bankrate, who owns creditcard.com, years ago. Just watch the douche try to surf on a "private wave."

It does look like there is a private left there where you have to reserve a spot.

Nihiwatu, Sumba

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

 

LMAO 

 

And so true many of these bloggers are paid for by bank so don't really give best info. For example I joined Marriott as they purchased the westin & Aloft W hotels that I like:

 

The card they sell... $100 upfront fee and something like get 80k points if spend $3,000 in three months 

 

But I did some research on Chase's website and the card I got was $0 initial fee and 60k if spend  $1,000 in three months. 

 

I think that second one is a much better deal! (A free night in basic hotel is 10,000 in few locations but most location  a decent hotel is 15- 20,000 points so you can kinda value the points from that - IMHO definitely not worth one or even two extra free night to pay fee of $100 and spend extra  $2k on the card )

 

 

BTW I'm not trying to sell Marriott but I will say one nice thing I've found is if you stay 25 times a year they give you gold which guarantees a 4pm late checkout at any hotel which is a very nice perk!!!!

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get up early and go surf - it'll make that hangover go away and/or make the workday more tolerable :)

There is now an insanely good deal for anyone who lives in California and flies Southwest. Tell your friends in CA

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

Southwest is planning to expand its service to Hawai'i.  

$18/night villa in Bali near waves with lots of dates available from Nov - March

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Ask me how to take almost free surf trips anywhere.

I'll believe that when I see it been hearing talk like that for over 5 years... well color me wrong, flights starting in 2018?

Edited: 10/19/2017 at 12:54 PM by oipaul