Sierra Snowboard Review
By The Net Analyst | November 13, 2008
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The Catch: Not only does Sierra Snowboards have great prices on their products, they also offer a huge support forum with many active community members. Having a reputable place to ask for advice is always a plus when you are shopping online.
I was especially impressed with the sale section on their website where I found gloves from Burton (w/ Gore Tex inserts) for around $20 (usually $70) and snowboard cargo bags for $35 (these are at least $50 anywhere else). Helmets, name brand clothing, and snowboards were all on sale too.
With the free shipping it would be tough to beat any of the deals here. If you do find a better deal within 15 days, Sierra Snowboards will credit the difference + 10%. Not too bad! You can also find deals for ski equipment at www.sierraski.com.
The Sierra Ski and Snowboard websites are packed with equipment deals and advice. Their site navigation also made it easy to find specific products, their details, and good pictures.
Topics: Online Deals | No Comments »
Hilton Hotel Reward Program
By The Net Analyst | November 8, 2008
The second hotel reward program under examination is Hilton HHonors. No, that’s not a typo. The Hhonors program is spelled with the letter H twice. Aside from the grammatical issues, their bonus structure and VIP program is outstanding and I will show you a way to earn a minimum of 20 points per dollar spent and a 15% point bonus at any of the Hilton brand hotels!
Read the table below according to this example: Getting 7,500 points requires spending $375 on Hilton Hotel stays assuming 20 points/dollar spent. A free night at an $80/night hotel generally costs 7,500 points. $80 divided by $375 is about 21%.
This method is used to create a range of savings. Note that the range is based on 20 points per dollar and does not include the 15% bonus that you will receive with automatic Silver VIP status provided by the Hilton Honors credit card. The information provided below is a low estimate!
| 1 Night at: | Points Required | Dollars Spent (assume 15 points/dollar) | Typical Room Cost per Night | % Rebate |
| Opportunity to Class 2 Hotels | 7,500-20,000 | $375-$1,000 | $80-$130 | 13%-21% |
| Class 3 to 4 Hotels | 25,000-30,000 | $1,250-$1,500 | $80-$240 | 7%-16% |
| Class 5 to 6 Hotels | 35,000-40,000 | $1,750-$2,000 | $130-$440 | 7%-22% |
| Most Waldorf=Astoria Collection Hotels | 40,000 to 80,000 | $2,000-$4,000 | $400-$600 | $15-20% |
The Review Method
Here is an excerpt from the first hotel reward program article explaining the process I went through to determine the benefits of each reward program:
“I searched for properties and point redemption values in Houston, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, and Orlando during the month of November (no holidays) in order to get a general idea for the cost of a typical room.
The programs I have chosen to review offer the most perks (room upgrades, free stays, etc.), the best point structures (converted into dollar amounts), and thousands of locations to stay at worldwide. All of the programs featured will be considered with their corresponding credit cards as additional point accumulation and benefits can be earned this way.
The Actual Cost of a Free Stay
The cost of free stays can range from 5,000 points/night at a less expensive brand to upwards of 60,000 points/night at a posh luxury resort. This makes it difficult to calculate the actual value of the rewards because point redemptions vary so greatly among the different hotel brands.
I will use a percentage rebate amount to determine the actual benefits of each reward program. This will make for easier comparison between reward programs and give you a more realistic perception of what you actually get.”
Hilton Hhonors
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3 + 1 Ways to Earn PointsThe first 2 ways to earn points with Hilton hotels involves earning frequent flier miles and the 3rd way gives you additional Hilton Hhonors points. When you break it down, the extra points for Hilton stays is clearly worth more than airline miles.
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Note: For those of you who have not read any of my previous articles, I think that airline miles and their associated credit cards are a big rip off. In fact, credit cards are just a big rip off unless you have very strict spending habits. I suggest going with the extra points whether or not you use the Hilton credit card described below.
The optional 4th way earns you over 20 points per dollar spent on your Hilton Stays. This can be accomplished with the Hilton HHonors Platinum Card from American Express which will give you an extra 5 points for every dollar spent on your hotel visit and a free upgrade to Silver VIP status. The Silver VIP status will give you another 15% point bonus on top of everything else!
The American Express Hilton Honors card can earn you points and upgrades by a few other means. Here are the specifics:
- 3,000+ hotels to chose from
- 10,000 points with your very first purchase
- 2,500 bonus points for your first 4 stays
- No blackout dates (this is important!)
- No annual fee
- 5 points per dollar spent on Hilton Hotel stays, supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, dining establishments, the U.S. Postal Service, and wireless phone bills
- 3 points per dollar you spend everywhere else
- American Express retail, travel, and insurance benefits
Automatic VIP Status
Consider the credit card if you are interested in the automatic upgrade to Silver VIP status with the ability to attain Gold status when you spend $20,000 annually on the card. Last but not least you can have it all with Diamond VIP status if you accumulate 100,000 points per year. Another great feature is the additional point bonused available for different VIP levels. Each level is summarized below.
Silver VIP
- 15% point bonus
- Complimentary health club privileges
- VIP only vacation packages 6 to 14 night resort stays for 150,000 to 410,000 points
Gold VIP
- 25% point bonus
- All Silver VIP Benefits
- Choose from a room upgrade w/ free breakfast (may entitle you to executive lounge access), free internet access, or 1,000 bonus points per stay (options vary between hotel brands)
Diamond VIP
- 50% point bonus
- No need to choose a bonus, get them all including executive lounge access!
Topics: Money & Finance, Travel Reviews | No Comments »
The Choice Hotel Reward Program
By The Net Analyst | October 29, 2008
Confused by Hotel Reward Programs?
There are many hotel reward programs available throughout the United States and abroad, but their point structures and redemption allowances for free stays are complicated and misleading. This is certainly not the first review of hotel reward programs, but it is unique and it does offer a clear breakdown of what you actually get for every dollar spent at the largest hotel chains.
Because hotel reward programs are so complicated, this task will be accomplished one reward program at a time in a series of reviews. The programs I have chosen to review offer the most perks (room upgrades, free stays, etc.), the best point structures (converted into dollar amounts), and thousands of locations to stay at worldwide. All of the programs featured will be considered with their corresponding credit cards as additional point accumulation and benefits can be earned this way.
The Actual Cost of a Free Stay
The cost of free stays can range from 5,000 points/night at a less expensive brand to upwards of 60,000 points/night at a posh luxury resort. This makes it difficult to calculate the actual value of the rewards because point redemptions vary so greatly among the different hotel brands.
I will use a percentage rebate amount to determine the actual benefits of each reward program. This will make for easier comparison between reward programs and give you a more realistic perception of what you actually get.
The 5 Best Hotel Reward Programs
The best “average” hotel reward programs are through Choice Hotels (Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, etc.) and Priority Rewards (Holiday Inn Brands) while the best “luxury” hotel reward programs include Hilton, Marriott, and Westin. The first program that we will look at is Choice Hotel Privileges.
Choice Hotel Privilages
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With the Choice Hotels Privileges Visa you will get 15 points for every dollar spent at over 3,700 “choice privileges” locations in the US, Canada, and Europe. You get the premium reward of 15 points at 3,700 of their 5,500 locations worldwide, but you can redeem points at any of the Choice Hotel locations including luxury resort properties. To get you started the reward card will give you 8,000 points after your first purchase and and another 8,000 points after your first stay. 8,000 points will get you 1 free night at 1,500 of their lowest tier hotels. Because you cannot or will not stay in their lowest tier hotels all the time you can see how the points convert to actual percentages in the table below. I searched for properties and point redemption values in Houston, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, and Orlando during the month of November (no holidays) in order to get a general idea for the cost of a typical room. Then I converted the point redemptions into a percentage reward for staying at Choice Hotels in the table below. You may also exchange the points for other various rewards including air travel, but using them for a hotel stay is a much more lucrative. Other Benefits
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Read the table below according to this example: Getting 5000 points requires spending $333 on Choice Hotel stays assuming 15 points/dollar spent. A free night at a $60/night hotel generally costs 5000 points. $60 divided by $333 is about 18%. I’ve done the math about 10 times since I cannot believe how big this bonus is; yet the math keeps working out correctly!
| 1 Night at: | Points Required | Dollars Spent (assume 15 points/dollar) | Typical Room Cost per Night | % Rebate |
| 1,500 lower-end hotels | 5,000-8,000 | $333-$533 | $60-$80 | 18%-25% |
| 4,000 better hotels | 10,000-25,000 | $666-$1,666 | $100-$450 | 15%-27% |
| Hawaii Properties | 25,000-35,000 | $1,666-$2,333 | $120-$200 | 7%-9% |
*In row 3 hotel rooms in New York City costing over $400 per night could be redeemed for 25,000 points.
*You can get the best deal by spending your points in New York City and the worst deal by spending your points in Hawaii.
*Points can also be redeemed for luxury stays at Preferred Hotels® & Resorts and Summit Hotels & Resorts for 24,000 to 50,000 points per night.
Topics: Money & Finance, Travel Reviews | 1 Comment »
Free T-Shirts and Business Cards!
By The Net Analyst | October 23, 2008
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The Catch: Vistaprint basically has the cheapest t-shirt and custom printing deals that I’ve been able to find. They are currently running several different promotions, but I have included 2 links to the best ones which include the free t-shirt offer and the free business card deal. You really just pay the shipping! I ordered a custom t-shirt just as a gag gift and it cost under $11 including the $5 shipping. I’ve paid over $20 a piece for custom t-shirts in the past with recreational sports teams and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw this. The free t-shirt deal is only good until 10/25/08 although it will likely be extended. Vistaprint can customize just about anything, so I would suggest trying one of the freebies to evaluate their products for yourself. |
Topics: Online Deals | No Comments »
Zecco Offers Unlimited Free Trading!
By The Net Analyst | October 4, 2008
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The Catch: Zecco and several other online brokers experienced huge increases in trading volume last month causing problems with some of their trading platforms. The problem has been resolved and since then Zecco has doubled their available trading capacity with more increases to come. Because Zecco is a customer friendly broker and they made lots of money from the volatility last month, the CEO has decided to give everyone unlimited free trading for the entire month of October. I have written about Zecco in the past (see Best Discount Brokers) and this good faith effort to keep traders happy has reinforced my positive opinion. They do charge extra for services like GainsKeeper and advanced trading software but its worth it for the 10 free monthly trades and $4.50 trades thereafter. The new deal they have going with unlimited free trades is unheard of and offers a good opportunity to check them out. Aside from one tough week in September, I have definitely seen major quality improvements in the last few months. Thanks Zecco! |
