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IHG Platinum Status starts the trip off right.
This was the start of a very fun, surprise trip to Tokyo for….2 nights. Because we were due to leave pretty early out of LAX the following day, I thought it would be fun to avoid the morning traffic, and spend a night close to the hotel. The bonus? It would help me get closer to achieving my IHG Accelerate targets as well. I was able to find a great rate of just $115 and I highly recommend starting off a trip this way. You’re away, excited, and a short shuttle bus ride to the airport. Here’s our quick, one night stay at the Crown Plaza Los Angeles LAX.
The Deets:
- When: September 2017
- Where: Los Angeles, LAX
- Status: Platinum via the Chase IHG card
- Rate: $115
- Benefits: Upgrade to Executive King, Club Access, Welcome drinks, and bonus points.
Check-In
When we arrived there were a couple of airlines who had also arrived and were starting to check-in. We lucked out and they were being assisted by a designated rep, and we were able to walk right up to the elite desk and have a swift check-in.
Our check-in rep was very friendly, as was all the staff we interacted with during our stay, and we were upgraded to an Executive King room with club access. BYAH!!!! The trip was starting off to a great start.
The Room
A very solid, clean, well sized room with a comfy bed and a big tv. Was it the Crowne Plaza from Singapore’s Changi airport? No…but that thing is the World’s BEST airport hotel. This was a great spot to rest our head for the night, and we were off to get a couple welcome drinks in the bar.
Grabbing drinks in the bar.
For those leisure or business travelers who end up at the Crowne Plaza LAX, the Century Taproom was a fun place to grab a snack and a quick drink. If there is a game playing and you don’t want to watch it in the room, the bar would be a lively place to cheer your team on.
Club Level
The club level is a small room on the 16th floor and offers a small, but reasonable breakfast spread. This isn’t going to satisfy all of your breakfast cravings if you’re used to having a large buffet, but there are a couple hot items, and continental choices available.
Overall:
There are a lot of choices near LAX when it comes to airport hotels. The Crowne Plaza is a very solid choice that provides roomy accommodations, club level to mid tier elites ( at least in my situation), and a few different on site choices for dining. If the price is right…I’d definitely come back, and I recommend the hotel to others.
Interested in booking? Go here.
This is part of the 2 night trip to Tokyo
- Crown Plaza Los Angeles LAX
- Qantas First Class lounge LAX
- American Airlines Business Class 777-200 Los Angeles to Tokyo Haneda – Super Diamond
- Grand Hyatt Tokyo – Club King
- Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo to Los Angeles
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 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℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
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.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
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.
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