apointd | pointing out credit cards, hotels, and frequent flyer miles

I have an embarrassing confession to make. I actually just signed up for Uber for the first time....

Last week the AP’s Scott Mayerowitz was tweeting for advice on booking an award stay in Paris. Getting rooms on points for his nights was a bit of a challenge, I did see options but they weren’t for the best or most convenient places that he was looking for....

Never Let a Mile Go to Waste: Always sign up for the program (and track your miles with a site like Award Wallet). Don’t Link Your Facebook Photo When You’re Trying to Stay Anonymous: Accor hotels exec caught posting glowing reviews of his chain’s hotels on Tripadvisor and writing negative reviews about their competitors....

Over the past week and a half AviancaTaca LifeMiles has made some modest mileage price increases in their award chart and increased the cash component of cash and points awards from 1. 3 to about 1....

Can anyone guess where I am for the weekend?...

Uber is the on-demand car service (and in many cities, taxis too — black cars on average run about 50% more than a standard taxi). You download an app for your iPhone or Android phone, and you can see where cars are at and even track the vehicle as it heads to your location....

This is probably the best Uber credit offer I’ve seen so far. This offer is through the deal-a-day site Gilt City but does NOT require you to purchase a “deal” they really are giving away this purchase for FREE....

United is offering a strong discount on purchased miles. As always with United, you can purchase up to 100,000 award miles per calendar year per account....

Now that we’re past New Years Resolutions (and we’ve all broken ours), gym signups are down. Gyms need to incentivize memberships....

Here is another American Express Sync promotion: Receive a one-time $50 statement credit when you make a single purchase of $200+ at Travelocity. com....

Rather than just complain endlessly about the changes to the Hilton program, I thought I’d share a way to use fewer points than you might expect for stays at top-tier Hilton properties....

Finding the various JetBlue promotions used to be somewhat challenging, there was never a great list that housed them all in one central location. Luckily though, as of a few days ago JetBlue complied a “Current Deals” page on their site which lists on the flying bonus promotions....

There are generally two elements to travel insurance – cancellation coverage (you get your money back for non-refundable deposits if you have to cancel for covered reasons) and interruption coverage (the cost to get home if you have to cut the trip short for covered reasons or extra costs due to airline issues along the way). Generally one policy covers both of these things....

St. The feeling walking off our Royal Jordanian flight was one of the most bittersweet I’ve ever experienced....

Nothing’s better than a good old fashion social media disaster. While this perhaps isn’t as epic as Amy’s Baking Company (if you don’t know what that is, google it!...

For a limited time you can get 10% off Jetsetter hotel purchases in Italy by using promotion code JETGOITALY at checkout. 10% off discount will be valid through May 29, 2013 at 11:59PM EST....

Tnooz carries my predictions about how online hotel booking will change in the near future. Frugal Travel Lawyer tells you how to get free Godiva chocolate every month....

Over the weekend I wrote a post asking how you Hilton Diamond members approach suite upgrades. I’m a new Hilton Diamond member thanks to credit card spend on the Citi® Hilton HHonors™ Reserve Card (affiliate link), and while the rules on suite upgrades are clearly published with Hyatt and Starwood (the two chains I’m primarily loyal too), Hilton isn’t quite as straightforward....

Hilton is offering 2,500 bonus HHonors points to members that register and make a reservation for a stay between now and September 30, 2013 by 10:59AM EST tomorrow, Friday, May 24. To be eligible you first have to “Like” the Hilton page on Facebook and go through this link....

Earn 2,500 Hilton Points. Book a Hilton hotel stay between May 23rd and September 30th by 10:59am EST May 24th and earn 2,500 bonus points for your hotel stay – register via this Facebook page....