Airmiles Armchair Chatter

Disney Addicted said:
Did anyone get an e-mail from Air Miles about 25 bonus miles from Shell? I can't tell if it's specific to my air miles card or not. I hope not.

It says "Get 25 bonus miles when you fill up at Shell between February 14-18, 2018". (minimum 25L) Oh, wait. As I'm typing this I now see it says exclusively for the collector card ending in my number.

Check your e-mails! Hopefully more were sent out!
Click to expand...

Got one as well. Just filled the tank on my way home tonight, one day too early lol!
 
I also received that email. Luckily, my husband will need to fill up in that time frame. Hopefully he remembers to go to shell!
 
Donald - my hero said:
WAY off topic here ...
There was a discussion going on in here a bit ago over travel destinations that aren't Disney (aaak gasp!) and a few of you mentioned having suggestions for great resorts -- searching back thru the thread i found
@Dylemma1 , @dancin Disney style you both mentioned places, and @mort1331 you also talked about what to avoid. Life at the Duck Pond is pretty dismal right now and we both seriously need a carrot to reach for or we'll go stir-crazy!
We have a few limitations/requirements:
January is our best month for travelling since most people don't want training then and hubby's on-line courses don't run (teaches, not takes)
Warm enough for hubby to sit in the sun but not hot enough that i melt
Ability to have most if not all meals ala-carte to deal with my stupid dietary issues
Something other than a standard hotel room that you can get anywhere
Beach
Ability to connect to WiFi at least periodically (no, hubby can NOT go without bringing his work laptop)
And of course, ability to pay with AM travel certificates -- we now have $2,500 worth
Click to expand...
Hi all....I got back from Mexico on Sunday and I'm just getting around to catching up here. Geesh, you guys were busy....10 pages I have to read. If you are interested I can share a few pics of the resort we went to. It was even more incredible than I had hoped. It is by far the most beautiful and unique place I have been. We were upgraded to the premier spa building. Unfortunately we never got around to taking advantage of the additional inclusions that it offered. We zip lined, drove ATV's through the jungle, swam in underground rivers, kayaked, paddled boarded, took long walks on a natural beach, spent entire days sitting on a lounge chair at the pool and drank colourful, fruity drinks until my liver hurt. Many, many staff members that made us feel like they were going above and beyond. Food was the best we have had at a resort.....fresh seafood every day, steaks you could cut with a butter knife and cooked to perfection.

@Donald - my hero the resort I just got back from is the only place I've ever been that you could have all your meals, B/L/D, al a carte without needing to pay for an upgrade in service. January is the lowest priced time for winter travel but unless you go to the southern Caribbean the weather can be hit or miss. I know Cuba came up in the convo before. The weather there is on par with Florida at that time of year. We stayed in Cuba on the island of Cayo Santa Maria which it an hour and half away from the airport but all but 2-3 of the resorts on that island are 1-5 years old. It's a tad far but very worth while and if you happen to get a day time flight the bus ride is like a free excursion....there is a guide on the bus and you will see and learn a ton about Cuba. They were building more resorts on the island but after the hurricane last fall the new construction stopped to put all materials and labour into repairing the other resorts. Since nothing moves quickly there it's going to be a while until the new resorts open. One of the new ones is a Paradisus. I recommend Ocean Casa del Mar, Valentin Perla Blanca(adult only), the Iberostar and the Royalton. Generally, in Cuba do not stay at anyplace less than 4.5 stars. Wifi in Cuba is not always available. The resorts are not in control of it...it's the service provider. Last time we were there we arrived on a Saturday and there was no Wifi until Wednesday night. Also, you have to pay for it by the hour....it's cheap though. If you hubs needs to work via the internet while away Cuba is not the place to go unless you have your own data plan available to use.

Dominican Republic will have slightly better weather in January but it's still questionable because it's not that much further south than Cuba. The better resorts are in Punta Cana but there are also nice ones in other areas. The best beach is in Punta Cana. In the DR you don't go with any less than a 4 star. The places we have stayed there never sell off so the prices are high. Our favourites are the Catalonia and Catalonia Royal. Other good ones....Royalton, Bahia Principe complex, Bavaro Princess, Memories, Sirenis Cocotal, Majestic, Riu Palace. There are still resorts in the DR that don't have Wifi at all. It's been a couple of years since we were there so it may be less now. As far as all al a carte dinning the more expensive 5 star resorts will give you that option but it's going to cost you. Lower priced resorts might give the option for 24 hour room service but you generally would have to upgrade to privilege level for that and it can cost a lot....$500-ish per person.

The Bahamas might be a good option for you food wise. The bring all their food in from the US. Here again, weather is similar to Florida in January. There are LOTS of options here to rent a timeshare which would allow you to cook....but I guess that doesn't fit in with the plan to use those AM vouchers.

I'm happy to offer any further info you would like. I LOVE LOVE LOVE talking vacation!
 
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I'm jealous of your gift card AM deal! Here in the west, it's only 35 AM for $25 cards, and the selection isn't that wonderful.
 
kitntrip said:
I'm jealous of your gift card AM deal! Here in the west, it's only 35 AM for $25 cards, and the selection isn't that wonderful.
Click to expand...

Don't be lol. Ours has only 4 different cards (I think) and it's 70am for $50, so same price. It is however a good deal for me since I use Sephora and Roots gift cards anyway, which are two of the included ones.
 
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dancin Disney style said:
Hi all....I got back from Mexico on Sunday and I'm just getting around to catching up here. Geesh, you guys were busy....10 pages I have to read. If you are interested I can share a few pics of the resort we went to. It was even more incredible than I had hoped. It is by far the most beautiful and unique place I have been. We were upgraded to the premier spa building. Unfortunately we never got around to taking advantage of the additional inclusions that it offered. We zip lined, drove ATV's through the jungle, swam in underground rivers, kayaked, paddled boarded, took long walks on a natural beach, spent entire days sitting on a lounge chair at the pool and drank colourful, fruity drinks until my liver hurt. Many, many staff members that made us feel like they were going above and beyond. Food was the best we have had at a resort.....fresh seafood every day, steaks you could cut with a butter knife and cooked to perfection.

@Donald - my hero the resort I just got back from is the only place I've ever been that you could have all your meals, B/L/D, al a carte without needing to pay for an upgrade in service. January is the lowest priced time for winter travel but unless you go to the southern Caribbean the weather can be hit or miss. I know Cuba came up in the convo before. The weather there is on par with Florida at that time of year. We stayed in Cuba on the island of Cayo Santa Maria which it an hour and half away from the airport but all but 2-3 of the resorts on that island are 1-5 years old. It's a tad far but very worth while and if you happen to get a day time flight the bus ride is like a free excursion....there is a guide on the bus and you will see and learn a ton about Cuba. They were building more resorts on the island but after the hurricane last fall the new construction stopped to put all materials and labour into repairing the other resorts. Since nothing moves quickly there it's going to be a while until the new resorts open. One of the new ones is a Paradisus. I recommend Ocean Casa del Mar, Valentin Perla Blanca(adult only), the Iberostar and the Royalton. Generally, in Cuba do not stay at anyplace less than 4.5 stars. Wifi in Cuba is not always available. The resorts are not in control of it...it's the service provider. Last time we were there we arrived on a Saturday and there was no Wifi until Wednesday night. Also, you have to pay for it by the hour....it's cheap though. If you hubs needs to work via the internet while away Cuba is not the place to go unless you have your own data plan available to use.

Dominican Republic will have slightly better weather in January but it's still questionable because it's not that much further south than Cuba. The better resorts are in Punta Cana but there are also nice ones in other areas. The best beach is in Punta Cana. In the DR you don't go with any less than a 4 star. The places we have stayed there never sell off so the prices are high. Our favourites are the Catalonia and Catalonia Royal. Other good ones....Royalton, Bahia Principe complex, Bavaro Princess, Memories, Sirenis Cocotal, Majestic, Riu Palace. There are still resorts in the DR that don't have Wifi at all. It's been a couple of years since we were there so it may be less now. As far as all al a carte dinning the more expensive 5 star resorts will give you that option but it's going to cost you. Lower priced resorts might give the option for 24 hour room service but you generally would have to upgrade to privilege level for that and it can cost a lot....$500-ish per person.

The Bahamas might be a good option for you food wise. The bring all their food in from the US. Here again, weather is similar to Florida in January. There are LOTS of options here to rent a timeshare which would allow you to cook....but I guess that doesn't fit in with the plan to use those AM vouchers.

I'm happy to offer any further info you would like. I LOVE LOVE LOVE talking vacation!
Click to expand...
So glad you had a good time. If others don't mind, I would love to see photos of the resort. Are you posting a trip report somewhere? Sometimes I have to live vicariously through others. :)
 
Do you find the Air Miles Travel Hub gives good rates when booking hotels?

I need to be a night's stay in Fort Lauderdale for April. So far I'm finding their prices a lot more expensive than if I booked direct. For example, I already booked a night's stay at Lago Mar Beach Resort & Club for $216 US. While browsing through the Travel Hub's list of hotels, I discovered I could book Lago Mar and get 380 air miles. Plus an extra 75 ar miles. However, the Travel Hub says $434 per night. My $216 US converts to $271. That's a huge difference.. $163 extra.

I checked a second hotel and it was also more than booking direct.
 
Disney Addicted said:
Do you find the Air Miles Travel Hub gives good rates when booking hotels?

I need to be a night's stay in Fort Lauderdale for April. So far I'm finding their prices a lot more expensive than if I booked direct. For example, I already booked a night's stay at Lago Mar Beach Resort & Club for $216 US. While browsing through the Travel Hub's list of hotels, I discovered I could book Lago Mar and get 380 air miles. Plus an extra 75 ar miles. However, the Travel Hub says $434 per night. My $216 US converts to $271. That's a huge difference.. $163 extra.

I checked a second hotel and it was also more than booking direct.
Click to expand...

Everytime I look on the Hub, prices are a lot more. I would have to get a good amount of miles to pay extra on purpose.
 
Disney Addicted said:
Do you find the Air Miles Travel Hub gives good rates when booking hotels?
Click to expand...

I have booked my hotels using my AM. For me, I was easy, and nice to know that my hotel was already paid for and wasn't an extra expense to pay for
But the way I look at the AM I have collected... I have these miles because I have bought items that I have needed...so here is a bonus. It not EXTRA money coming out of my pocket for a vacation. It helps to offset the price of it. For me...I look at my Am that I get as free cash back. I hunt for AM deals on products that our family can use. I have some time and energy to spend on doing this to save some $$$ for a vacation. Even if we are heading to the " big city " for the weekend away with our boys, or planning a big trip somewhere. It's not extra $$$ I have to shell out for something.
 
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