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POP: Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, Signature Suite
My last hurrah as a Hyatt Diamond was this past weekend in San Diego. I had a couple suite upgrades sitting in my account that I hadn’t used, it’s pilot season in LA ( which is mega stressful), and my lady and I decided we needed a break. We looked to the Grand Hyatt San Diego to burn a suite upgrade. What we ended up in was a 1000sq ft + Signature Suite and it was well worth it!
Hyatt changed their suite upgrade terms last year. The biggest impact to me was the limitation on use. You had to use, not book, your diamond suite upgrade by it’s expiration date, and as a result it was the reason we burned one off at the last minute. The rooms at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego are large enough for two people, but when you have a free suite…why NOT?!
Two towers. This hotel is mega…errr – Grand 😉
Location is perfect. On the water.
The lobby is nothing short of impressive. YYYUUUUGGGEEEE
The suite is enormous. Over 1000 sq ft. Would be a great spot to host a super bowl party.
Not one, but two full baths. Kitchen. And a pull out couch.
Looks good in the day too with floor to ceiling windows.
The club is huge but not a meal replacement…not sure I’d pay to use it. But when it’s free…no complaints 🙂
It’s dog friendly
And…there are really cool shops right behind the hotel. With a small park, many restaurants, and a boardwalk to the marina.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.