If we can have 9-days Europe or 7-days Japan vacation in 2015, that would be quite nice. The first item of my checklist is free or cheap hotel stays. We like Hilton hotels. Yea Isa also likes Hilton, because its offering is worldwide, more affordable even if we have to pay. It is a bigger challenge now to earn sufficient Hilton HHonors points.
How to have one week of free/cheap decent hotel stays in Europe/Japan?
One key player: Citi Hilton Reserve Card with two free weekend night stays worldwide. We had a great time at Hilton WaterFront Beach Resort last December. The card dropped out of my radar, because I mistakenly thought it is a one-time sign-up bonus, not churn-able. Isa applied last time. It is better to apply via a better promotion from Flytalk forum: Citi Hilton Reserve card $100 credit with two free nights worldwide, after $2500 spend within the first 4 months, or $625 per month. (Please ignore the 40,000 HHonors sign-up bonus which is much lower than the 60,000 HHonors promotion.)
Note the certificates from Citi Hilton Reserve Card are for weekend night stays only. Suppose the weekend night stays are Saturday and Sunday nights. That leaves Monday to Friday nights (5 nights) to be taken care of. Hilton offers 5th night stay free when purchase or redeem 5 nights at the same Hilton hotel, and applies to Standard Room Reward Stays only. Assuming 30000 HHonors points per night stay, we would need 120,000 Hilton HHonors points. The fifth night will be free. ($150 = 15,000 JPY)
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| Hilton Japan Hokkaido hotel |
Our temporary plan
I will apply Citi Hilton Reserve Card in my next card application time in Fall 2014 to take care the weekend stays. Isa will apply 60,000 Bonus HHonors promotion of Citi Hilton Visa, and 50,000 Bonus AMEX Hilton HHonors card when the promotion comes again in the Fall 2014. She would manage to add 10,000 HHonors points somehow.
Recall the following rules:
- can not apply two Citi credit cards at the same time
- must cancel existing Citi Hilton card before applying a new one to qualify for sign-up bonus
- it seems fine to apply AMEX hilton card now even holding a Citi Hilton card, but it is safer to apply Citi Hilton card and AMEX Hilton card on the same day.
- I was informed by AMEX customer care to hold AMEX Hilton card for at least one year in order not to lose the Hilton HHonors bonus points.
Why should you apply for the Citi Hilton Reserve card?
If you plan to have a weekend getaways with a nearby Hilton hotel and offering of standard room reward, the fee of $95 is a worthy investment. Just read about our experience. By the way, the $95 fee does not count toward the $2500 spending requirement.
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