Summer planning

[dancerjodi]

Bills are paid, and I purchased my weekend membership for http://www.dragoncon.org/. We should have some more New England folks there this year, which is always a good thing.

What's even cooler, is that its looking like through our points with https://www.bonuscheckcard.com we may be able to cover our hotel stay and not pay much (if anything out of pocket). That's a good thing, given how expensive the rooms at the hotel are. This year Brian and I will be getting our own room - its just easier that way not needing to coordinate with anyone or deal with cramped spaces. Brian has to contact the hotel to make sure we can use those Mariott gift cards, here's hoping it works out (Brian - it looks like there are 2 kinds of certificates on the site, Mariott "flex" (good at less hotels, less points to get) and Mariott "worldwide", which takes a ton of points, like 43k for one day)! We'll be flying in a bit earlier this year to check out the new aquarium, apparently the largest in America: http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/

EDIT: THE POINTS AREN'T GOOD FOR THE MARIOTT MARQUIS - ITS TOO FANCY OR SOMETHING. AH WELL, WORTH AN ASK!

With DC, going to CA in a couple of weeks, and FL in May, and a bunch of weddings to attend its going to be a year free of a big vacation. That's OK - we'll have plenty of neat domestic experiences to enjoy!

Comments

[tiamatlady]

That rewards card thingy = is that from your bank?

I'm staying at the Mariott Ren in Leipzig, and it's going to cost an arm and a leg (but be ever so sexy, since that's where most of the bands stay and most of the Americans *squee* even!) I'd give my right arm to be able to defer some of the costs next year, of the hotel or the plane tix, or even use this trip to help fund the next one. I'm having issues finding the right program. The website isn't helpful for institutions. But it sounds perfect!

Rewards card

[dancer.livejournal.com]

It is through our bank. We get points for using our Debit Cards as a credit card. I only discovered this recently - I have almost 14k points and Brian has almost 25K (we use Watertown Savings Bank).

Re: Rewards card

[tiamatlady]

I figured, I went to my bank to poke around - thery have nothing like that. I like them though, so I'm going to figure something else out. I'm going to try and talk to Capital One after Leipzig, see if I can get a rewards card (I already have one of their cards and I like it) but I have a piece of financial history from a Giant Bank that's reared it's head for no reason (something I handled, that suddenly *new evil bank* thinks is valid. to the point of reporting me to a check bureau. I'm going to have to take a whole day off to deal with it at various locales.)

I do that with my PayPal card - I get 2% back, plus a veru decent interest rate on any balance. it's not good for long term savings, and I don't think they're that insured, but mad money definately. It's where my "Savings to do naughty stuff in Germany" goes.

Eh, I wish things could just kinda be there, instead of me having to hunt for them. Your bank is teh awesome!

[christmasjedi.livejournal.com]

I have a Marriott Rewards Visa card. I picked it up 2 years ago, because I basically got 2 free nights just by signing up and making my first purchase. Last year we also earned the 38k points needed to get two free nights at Dragon*Con. There is a trick to it though - hotels only reserve so many rooms at "rewards" rates, so when they're gone, you're out of luck. Also, the Marquis is the top of the line for Marriott, so it requires the max points. I hope your points work for you, because it suddenly makes the whole weekend a lot more affordable!

I know I don't have enough points this year for 2 free nights, but I might be able to squeeze one night. sajuka hasn't had any business trips this year, which is where we've gotten the majority of our points in the past.

We have Sajuka's membership already, but not mine. I've been lucky enough to get media passes the last two years through SWC, and I need to contact the media rep again about this year.

Oh, wow! The aquarium is really close to the Con site! That's a tempting idea!

[jasonsmyr.livejournal.com]

woot fun.. was poking around D*C site some months ago and got my membership nice and early..

Oh.. on that note.. was wondering if you wanted to look into one of those multi room sharing common area things..

DC

[dancer.livejournal.com]

"Oh.. on that note.. was wondering if you wanted to look into one of those multi room sharing common area things.."

Nope. As I mentioned in this post, Brian and I are getting our own room this year.

[jedimaster6872.livejournal.com]

I have my room reserved.. John our local NEG resident KOTOR II Sith Lord will be one of the roommates.. His Co-House owner also.. Maybe Shawna if she can go also..