Free $25 from American Express: Small Business Saturday (Updated 2011)

(Update: American Express is running the same promotion again in 2011. Registration begins in early November.)

American Express is promoting Small Business Saturday again this year. Register your American Express when it opens November 1st, and then use your registered card to shop at a participating small business on Saturday, November 26th. You’ll receive a $25 statement credit when you spend $25 or more at participating small businesses. From this press release:

For the second year in a row, American Express will help drive traffic through the doors of small businesses with a special incentive: a $25 statement credit offer for Cardmembers when they register their Card and spend $25 or more on Small Business Saturday at any qualifying small business that accepts the American Express Card. Cardmembers will be able to register their cards in early November.

I think this is a very creative way for American Express to promote acceptance of their cards at small businesses, which has always been their relative weak spot due to their slightly higher fees for the merchant. Last year, over 20,000 people were able to get $25 from their American Express cards. Here is the fine print from last year, 2010:

Eligible merchants include any independently owned small businesses that accept the American Express Card. Purchases made online, at large, national chains, at franchised business locations and at government agencies are not eligible. Prepaid, corporate cards and ExpressPay transactions are not eligible. [...] Limit one statement credit per Cardmember. Statement credits are generally issued within 5 business days after your qualifying purchase, but may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account. Additional terms apply; see Registration Terms and Conditions for details.

A small business owner yourself? You can promote your small biz with their free “small business toolkit” including $100 in Facebook ads.

Find more in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 10/24/11, 12:40am | Trackback

View the original article here

Updated: Hyatt Credit Card – Two Free Hotel Nights at any Hyatt Hotel, $75 Annual Fee

The Hyatt Credit Card by Chase with two free hotel nights anywhere promotion offers you one Free Night Award after your first purchase, and an additional Free Night Award after spending $1,000 in the first three months of account opening. The free nights are valid for a standard room at any Hyatt hotel worldwide, with no blackout dates, within one year of issuance. Award nights have no resort fees, no internet fees, and no redemption fees.

You get Hyatt Platinum member status with the credit card, but if you are already Platinum, the two free nights come with two suite upgrades. I’m happy this card is back because I don’t have it yet, and I was afraid they would dilute the bonus a lot more. My sister signed up for the card and already used it for a two-night stay at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando (Cat 5, $250 a night). I think I can do better. I just need to see if I can travel somewhere I can take advantage of this within the next year. There are also no foreign transaction fees for international purchases.

There is a $75 annual fee that is not waived, so keep that in mind… Now for the fun part. By cross-referencing Condé Nast Traveler’s Top Hotels and Travel+Leisure’s Top 500 Hotels with their highest level Category 5 & 6 listings, I found these spots with sample rates from from $500-$900 a night. These also tend to be in prime locations for sightseeing.

Also new: Upon renewing the card (for another $75) you will get another reward night at designated as Category 1 through 4. There are some nice Category 4 options for the renewal as well. These hotels definitely normally charge more than $75 a night, but only worth it if you would get the value out of it. Some of them charge up to $300 a night and are the poshest hotels in the area, like the Park Hyatt Saigon.

Hyatt Regency BostonHyatt Regency ChicagoHyatt Regency OrlandoHyatt Regency San FranciscoHyatt Regency Washington DCPark Hyatt MelbourneGrand Hyatt BeijingGrand Hyatt ShanghaiGrand Hyatt BangkokPark Hyatt Saigon

Ease of Award Redemption?
My sister was able to book her hotel with no issues, and most other experiences I have read about are positive. However, there was an issue with the Maui Hyatt which can be summarized from this InsideFlyer interview with a Hyatt representative:

Garrido (Inside Flyer):In a recent Flyertalk discussion, members said that some hotels (e.g. Hyatt Maui) are setting aside standard room inventory as part of package deals, thereby making rooms unavailable for free nights in a stealthy move around no blackout dates. Any comment?

Zidell (Hyatt): When we relaunched the Hyatt Gold Passport program last year, we removed all blackout dates and/or capacity controls on award inventory for standard rooms. As long as the hotel is selling standard rooms then these rooms are available for award redemption. Occasionally, award inventory will not be available because all standard rooms are sold or the hotel is only selling packages, which cannot currently be booked with Hyatt Gold Passport points. Overall, we have received very positive feedback regarding the availability of our award inventory.

I’ve haven’t heard of any other specific hotels doing this, but there are sometimes glitches with their online booking. I would use the phone to book your award nights, and if you have any problems, use the power of social media. Hyatt has Gold Passport “Concierges” all around the internet, and you can contact them easily via @hyattconcierge on Twitter. They seem very vigilant and have done a good job of solving any issues that do come up.

Find more in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9/30/11, 5:00am | Trackback

View the original article here

Updated List Of Airports With Full-Body Scanners

Just in case you had thought/hoped/prayed that the use of full-body scanners at airports was going to be a passing fad, you should know that the devices continue to sprout up at security checkpoints everywhere. In just the last few months, seven more airports have joined the roster.

Thanks to the good people at Jaunted, we can bring you this current (for now) list of airports here and abroad where you might have to opt for an "enhanced" pat-down before the screeners hassle you into just walking through the scanner anyway.

Airports listed in bold are the latest additions to the list.

DOMESTIC AIRPORTS:
· Albuquerque International Airport (ABQ)
· Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL)
· Baltimore-Washington International (BWI)
· Boise Airport (BOI)
· Boston-Logan International (BOS)
· Brownsville-South Padre Island Airport (BRO)
· Buffalo-Niagara International (BUF)
· Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)
· Chicago-O'Hare Airport (ORD)
· Columbus International Airport (CMH)
· Corpus Christi International Airport (CRP)
· Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport (DFW)
· Denver International Airport (DEN)
· Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport (DTW)
· Harrisburg International Airport (HIA)
· Indianapolis International Airport (IND)
· Jacksonville International Airport (JAX)
· Laredo International Airport (LRD)
· Las Vegas-McCarran Airport (LAS)
· Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
· McAllen-Miller International Airport (MFE)
· Memphis International Airport (MEM)
· Miami International Airport (MIA)
· Milwaukee Mitchell Airport (MKE)
· Nashville International AIrport (BNA)
· Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX)
· Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)
· Providence-T.F. Green International (PVD)
· Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU)
· Richmond International Airport (RIC)
· Rochester International Airport (RST)
· Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC)
· San Diego International Airport (SAN)
· San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
· Tampa International Airport (TPA)
· Tulsa International Airport (TUL)
· Valley International Airport (HRL)
· Washington DC's Reagan Airport (DCA)

AIRPORTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES:
· Amsterdam-Schipol Airport (AMS)
· Gimhae/Busan International (PUS)
· Gimpo/Seoul International (GMP)
· Jeju International (CJU)
· London-Heathrow (LHR)
· Manchester Airport (MAN)
· Moscow-Sheremetyevo International (SVO)
· Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
· Regina International Airport (YQR)
· Rome-Leonardo da Vinci/Fiumicino (FCO)
· Toronto Pearson International (YYZ)
· Tokyo-Narita International (NRT) *Trial period
· Vancouver International (YVR)

Seven More Airports Added to Our List of Those with Full-Body Scanners [Jaunted.com]

View the original article here