This Week In Travel

Lots of interesting stuff over the past week that I could talk about in the week’s TWIT (This Week In Travel) notes. But I skipped over those and decided to write about three others, instead. This week, learn about how to outwit (or out-eat) a buffet, more ridiculously profitable credit cards and how hard Marriott is trying to tick off its customers.

Can You Win In Las Vegas (At The Buffet)?

So it’s hard to win at the tables and even harder to come out ahead at the slots, but you can surely beat the buffet, right?

Well, maybe not, according to this article. Of course they put all the cheap stuff in the front so that you load up, so stay away from the potatoes. They’re for suckers, like a prop bet on a craps table.

But I have to tell you, the woman who got kicked out of a Golden Corral for eating all the brownies and then trying to steal more, is my new hero. Even if the desserts are never worth the calories.

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Our “must read” on credit cards: The Pros and Cons of Credit Cards

American Express Joins The Credit Card Insanity: Up To 100,000 Delta Miles With A New Card

Last week, I noted that credit card companies continue to offer ridiculous bonuses, even at a time when they would traditionally cut back.

This week, American Express joined the insanity with several of its Delta credit cards. I value a Delta mile at 1.5 cents, with a minimum value of a penny each, since you can buy tickets with them at the minimum value. There are a bunch of cards on offer, but a couple stand out to me.

The Platinum Delta SkyMiles Card

Although it comes with a high annual fee ($250), the Platinum card is actually a better play than the gold. 100,000 miles is enough to get a few domestic trips or a one-way international ticket in business class.

You receive 80,000 miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months and then another 20,000 after your first card anniversary.
The real kicker, though, is the free companion ticket that you get each year on your anniversary. Every twelve months, they’ll send you a “buy-one-get-one-free” certificate and, while there are limits on the fare class that you can buy, I’ve never had any issues. A free ticket is easily worth more than the $250 annual fee.

The Gold SkyMiles American Express Card

The Gold SkyMiles Amex is the other great option. The annual fee is $99, but they’ll waive it for you in the first year. In return, you’ll earn 60,000 miles for spending $2,000 in the first three months, and then another 10,000 after your first anniversary.

There’s no companion ticket, but you do get a $100 flight credit in any year that you spend $10,000.

Marriott Is Trying Really Hard To Make Sure That Everyone Hates Them

It’s been 18 months since Marriott launched Bonvoy, its new loyalty program that integrated the old Starwood program, and they’re still having technical issues.

Their latest screw-up revolves around award nights. Marriott used to have a flat rate for redemptions but has switched to a “high-season/low-season” model. If you booked under the flat rate, though, you were grandfathered in. Except you weren’t, since Marriott accidentally cancelled all of the old reservations and rebooked people at the more expensive “high-season” rates. They do appear to have corrected the situation and I received an email telling me so, but do I trust these guys to get it right? Not so much.

There are, of course, some things that they actually do on purpose. Of course, that’s usually to make petty changes that seem intended to tick off members. Today, we learned that they will no longer offer ten nights toward elite status for members who book a meeting at a property. And as an added bonus, they’ve made the change retroactive, meaning that if you booked a meeting in 2019 for 2020, you’ve still got the meeting but will no longer get the elite night credit (Hat tip: View from the Wing).