Benjamin Din
speaker
33 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Apr 2025
last heard Apr 2025
Benjamin Din’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
Hey, everyone. Excited to be here.
So I like traveling to places I've never been. And last year, I flew over 100 flights across six continents.
So that means I spend a ton of time on planes and in airport lounges. So I really try to maximize my air travel experience whenever I can, whether that's using points to book a premium cabin or using points to upgrade my flight. I'm also a United Premier 1K, so I really love chasing a weed status. And I'm also on my way to becoming a million miler with United.
And I'm doing Chase Ultimate Rewards.
So when I redeem my points, I really like to spend them on hotels because I feel like that's where people can get the most value. While it's really fun to fly in business class, you're actually probably going to spend more time in your hotel room than on the plane. Also, I often find that whether I love my hotel room or hate it can also really play a huge role in determining the vibe of the trip.
Plus, hotels are expensive, especially if you're staying for multiple nights. So really, if you use points on hotels, you could be saving a lot of money.
I want to start off with Chase. They have a really great transfer partner in Hyatt Hotels.
You know what, Sally? I did hear that and I wasn't surprised by it at all. Yes, thank you. I love Hyatt as a transfer partner because they're one of the few programs that still have an award chart. And plus, their rates are very reasonable.
So even if you're looking to book the highest hotel category, which is Category 8, the most points you'll ever need to book a standard room is 45,000 points per night. Contrast that with Marriott Bonvoy, where I've seen hotel rooms go for more than 200,000 points a night.
Wow.
Well, I'm super excited to hear about your trip, Megan, because that's a very in-demand property with only 54 rooms and suites. Plus, they're not all available on points every day. So it's really not surprising to me that the availability is so low. But Hyatt actually has a ton of all-inclusive options.
They've got Ziva, Zalara, Zoetree Wellness and Spa Resorts, Secrets Resorts and Spas, and also Miraval. So if I had 100,000 points, I'd definitely start looking there.
There are a lot of options here if you have chase points. One that I've done is fly Lufthansa First Class. You can actually book that by transferring your credit card points to Air Canada's Aeroplan program. So you would book your flights through Aeroplan because Air Canada and Lufthansa are partners.
In terms of pricing, a one-way flight from the East Coast to Europe would cost you 90,000 points, and a West Coast flight would be 100,000. This is definitely an aspirational redemption. Keep in mind that one-way international flights are often more expensive than round trips, but a one-way from San Francisco to Frankfurt can cost more than $11,000 in first class.
That's a whopping redemption value of more than 11 cents per point.
Definitely. Air Canada miles are super accessible. But let me just talk a little bit more about what it's like to fly in first class, because it is such a cool experience. I flew to Boston from Frankfurt, where Lufthansa has an entire terminal just for first class passengers.
Yeah, there was a private check-in area, sleeping rooms, sit-down dining. And when it was time to board, there was even a car to drive me to the plane.
First class definitely blows business class out of the water. The food is tastier and the bed is so much bigger. Now this is a little silly, but my favorite part about flying Lufthansa first class is getting a rubber duck from the lounge as a souvenir.
Yeah, it's a really fun thing that Lufthansa does. And some people will actually time their trips during certain holidays or events like the Olympics to get a limited edition duck.
You know, Megan, I've actually heard that on the bottom of those salt and pepper shakers, it says nicked from Virgin Atlantic. Did you see that?
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