My favorite hotel room of the year was also at a Conrad! The Conrad in DC was so nice and the on-site restaurant is fantastic. (I have a trip to London coming this spring and I’ll be staying several nights at the Conrad St. James.)
Favorite trip was the free MSC Baltic cruise I got by status matching. 3 nights in Stockholm pre-cruise. Favorite hotel was the Hyatt Regency Tashkent.
Nice one to finish off the year! I wish I'd thought about the "triple dip" before I opened my AmEx Platinum...in January. Favorite trip this year, hands down, was the Princess eclipse cruise (with Panama Canal transit). Just a once-in-a-lifetime event, made some friends on board, and the ship was one of the better ones in the Princess fleet.
Same when renting a car. I need a car for one day in the first week of February. Advertises $35 went to check out. It was $57 after taxes and fees and all the other crap. Rental cars Airbnb‘s everything need to be priced all inclusive for the number of days that you’re booking it for. No more guessing no more playing games. Merry Christmas
What I hate is with some booking sites they don’t tell you the final price with taxes and everything till the final page and then if you don’t book it they keep pestering you with emails or messages.
Ok Shawn and Mark, give me your best advice. I want to get one single premium credit card that I can maximize travel benefits, lounge access, etc with. Never had one. What would you recommend to someone who wants to get their first card like that. Told my wife the crazy high yearly fee for one of those cards would be my birthday gift in January. 😁
A lot of people start with the Sapphire Reserve for a premium card. $550 annual fee but there is a pretty easy to use $300 travel credit. Best travel and car rental insurance out there and Priority Pass access. Other options are Amex Platinum (but grabbing that negates you from getting the bonus on the Amex Green and Amex Gold card) and the earning structure isn't as good. Venture X is another option with 2x earning on everything, which some people like the simplicity of. The transfer partners are not as good as the others though.
Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah everyone! What was your favorite hotel, flight or trip from 2024?
My favorite hotel room of the year was also at a Conrad! The Conrad in DC was so nice and the on-site restaurant is fantastic. (I have a trip to London coming this spring and I’ll be staying several nights at the Conrad St. James.)
Favorite trip was the free MSC Baltic cruise I got by status matching. 3 nights in Stockholm pre-cruise. Favorite hotel was the Hyatt Regency Tashkent.
NYC for a Xmas weekend. Conrad Downtown.
I could sit and listen to your travel tales all day. Merry Christmas!
Marry Christmas!
Congratulations on a great year guys. Happy holidays and cheers!
Looking forward to 2025 - thanks for watching!
I look forward to staying in those awesome sounding Conrad hotels sometime soon!
Merry Christmas 🎅🎁🎄 Happy Chanukah !!!
Merry Christmas
Happy holidays guys, I love the content on your new channel and MTM Vegas, keep up the great work and wishing you a great 2025!
Thanks for watching both shows - Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas guys.
Merry Christmas
Nice one to finish off the year! I wish I'd thought about the "triple dip" before I opened my AmEx Platinum...in January.
Favorite trip this year, hands down, was the Princess eclipse cruise (with Panama Canal transit). Just a once-in-a-lifetime event, made some friends on board, and the ship was one of the better ones in the Princess fleet.
Sounds like a great trip!
Same when renting a car. I need a car for one day in the first week of February. Advertises $35 went to check out. It was $57 after taxes and fees and all the other crap. Rental cars Airbnb‘s everything need to be priced all inclusive for the number of days that you’re booking it for. No more guessing no more playing games. Merry Christmas
Yeah. It’s toxic. Don’t have that problem in another countries.
Yes! Just rented a car for $26.00 and it came to almost three times that after all the fees!!
What I hate is with some booking sites they don’t tell you the final price with taxes and everything till the final page and then if you don’t book it they keep pestering you with emails or messages.
Don’t use them.
@ sometimes one site has cheaper rates than others or has hotel availability that the other doesn’t have.
TheVIP Universal is great. Did that with my son and the private coach tours worth the price
It was a great experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
They will never ban resort fees outright…the states would hate loosing that source of tax revenue since they are a taxable.
Just price it into the daily rate. Still taxable.
Thanks for the year of podcasts. And the tip about Conrad Nashville. Been hoping to go there and now have a good hotel.
You’ll love it. Not cheap but it’s a true luxury property and the rooms are wonderful.
Ok Shawn and Mark, give me your best advice. I want to get one single premium credit card that I can maximize travel benefits, lounge access, etc with. Never had one. What would you recommend to someone who wants to get their first card like that. Told my wife the crazy high yearly fee for one of those cards would be my birthday gift in January. 😁
A lot of people start with the Sapphire Reserve for a premium card. $550 annual fee but there is a pretty easy to use $300 travel credit. Best travel and car rental insurance out there and Priority Pass access.
Other options are Amex Platinum (but grabbing that negates you from getting the bonus on the Amex Green and Amex Gold card) and the earning structure isn't as good. Venture X is another option with 2x earning on everything, which some people like the simplicity of. The transfer partners are not as good as the others though.
What is the name of your favorite restaurant in Rome you mentioned the other day?