Dubai Part 2: A free night at the Waldorf Astoria!!

This is Part 2 of a 4 part series about our travel deals in Dubai in October, 2016. You may want to read  Part 1 and Part 3. 

(Disclaimer: This first activity was NOT Frugal!!)

During our second day in Dubai, we had high tea at AT.MOSPHERE, a super swanky restaurant on the 122 floor of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We've seen some pretty tall buildings, but the Burj is simply mind-boggling. To say that the tea was over-the-top (pun intended) would be a huge understatement. I'm not even going to tell you how much it cost. If you decide to go, you can figure it out.  Of course, the views are astonishing.

View from 122 floors up! Those rings are part of the fountain show. 

Our table.

Berries with cream, complete with a real, edible gold leaf. I thought about selling it on ebay, but I ate it instead. 

 

Part of the tea Menu....some served only here. Creme Caramel Tea, anyone? There's a page of coffee drinks and a whole page of mocktails also. Oh, and guess what? You can order as many drinks as you like! 

 Little Bites, with yummies like lobster, foie gras, and melt-in-your-mouth rare beef. This was followed by miniature "main courses," which are not pictured... 

 ...which was followed by traditional tea cakes and scones with accompanying generous serving of clotted cream, whipped butter and jams. Overall, absolutely amazing. We were completely stuffed. 

After waddling back to our hotel, we took a taxi to our next destination, the Waldorf Astoria Dubai. It is located on the famed Dubai Palm, a man made land mass in the Gulf built in the shape of palm tree. Looking at pictures, one might be tempted to think it's not that big, but we were located on the right side of that outer ring, and it took a good 45 minutes to get there after crossing the main bridge. In other words, you are no longer close to downtown or the metro, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you should be aware of it if you choose to stay at any of the hotels in that area. 

Waldorf is under the Hilton portfolio, and I was able to attain Diamond Status with Hilton through a "status match" promotion Hilton ran last year. They were giving Diamond status to those who had Platinum Elite status with IHG (The Intercontinental Group), which I received by simply signing up for their credit card. (Yes, it's a crazy game, but it's a hobby I enjoy!) This was the first time I had ever stayed anywhere as a Diamond member. Let's just say it was eye-opening. 

When we arrived at the property gate, we had to show the guard our reservation. The front door was maybe 50 feet from the gate, and yet 15 seconds later when we pulled up, the doorman opened our door and a lady in a suit held out her hand and said, "Welcome, Mrs. Cliff, we have been expecting you. Please follow me." We were escorted past the lobby/check-in to a private room where we were handed cool, wet towels to "refresh" and glasses of fresh squeezed kiwi juice. One of the managers told us all about our room, handed us coupons for free drinks, and escorted us personally to our room! He stopped to show us the restaurant where we would get our free breakfast in the morning and told us about the hotel on our way. Once in the room, he pointed out our welcome fruit basket, red velvet cakes and water and told us how everything worked. He handed us his card and told us to call his number directly if we needed anything at all.  

The welcome amenities. 

Honestly, I was feeling SUPER awkward the whole time. I kept thinking, "Wait, I think you have the wrong people. I'm just a little country hick from the back woods in Maine, you must have made a mistake." I also realized that this is what some people expect all the time...and that's a little mind- blowing.

Exquisite lobby.

Balcony.

Comfy bed.

Cushy robes.

Bath with Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries.

Super wide boardwalk that was always empty.

One of several pools.

View from the beach of the Persian Gulf.

We spent the afternoon at the pool and beach, and were so stuffed from our "tea," that we only ate  some of our welcome fruit and cakes for dinner and called it a night. The breakfast buffet was literally the most extensive I have ever seen. Custom made coffee/tea drinks, a huge selection of fresh squeezed juices, a section of local foods and every traditional breakfast food you can imagine. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures. 

Overall, this was by far the nicest hotel stay we had while in Dubai, and quite possibly anywhere for that matter. This night would have cost over $680 USD, so I won't be staying again anytime soon!

This freebie was compliments of my American Express Platinum card (not a referral link). This card has a whopping $450.00 annual fee, but is usually worth it the first year, and was definitely worth it last year when they ran a special 100,000 point sign on bonus for a short time. Right now, they offer 40,000 points if you spend $3000.00 in 3 months. For that you get a free Priority Pass membership, which gives you access to over a thousand airport lounges world wide (which we use frequently!), a $200 a year airline credit (which runs on the calendar year, so you can use it twice in your first year of membership), $100 reimbursement for global entry, free boingo wifi, and numerous other perks. This on top of the value of the points. I used some of my points to book directly through AMEX travel. I can't remember how many points it was, but it was less than using points on my Hilton card (more on that one later, perhaps.) 

My goal in writing is to inspire you to travel...and to teach you how to make the most of your money!

And that's a wrap on day 2. More to come.

5 Free Nights in Dubai, Part 1

Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world

In October last year, Mike and I spent 5 nights in Dubai during our fall break. I had been wanting to visit Dubai, or more specifically the desert around Dubai, for years, and after snagging round trip tickets HK-Dubai during an Emirates (the official airline of Dubai) spring sale, I set out to find the cheapest lodging possible. There were a couple of activities that I really wanted to do while we were there, and I knew discounts on those would be minimal at best, so I wanted to spend as little as possible on hotels to counteract those costs.

I was able to stay 5 nights at 4 different hotels--including one swanky night at the Waldorf Astoria--using points earned on my credit cards. The first statement I usually hear when I talk about feats like this is, "You must spend a lot on your cards to get that many points." While it is true that I charge as much as possible in order to rack up points (while never carrying a balance), the majority of my points come from sign on bonuses. Most branded credit cards run special offers for significant sign up bonuses at least once a year. What this means for you is that you should never, NEVER, nEvER, sign up for a credit card that isn't offering you a sign-on bonus to do so.  How do you know when these offers are available, you might ask? I keep abreast of all the latest deals by reading several travel bloggers. You can see the links I use by looking under "blogs I read" in my header section. My favorite at this moment is The Points Guy. You can see his top cards listed in the header of his page. As I write about the cards/free nights, I will also add links here on my blog.  So, let me delve in.

First of all, there was our flight on Emirates. After flying with them twice last year, I can say that they are quickly becoming one of my favorite airlines. They offer more space in economy class, 2 free checked bags, great hot food at no extra cost, and the largest seat back screens in the industry, with a fantastic entertainment selection. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you are flying 15 hours, watching movies is a welcome diversion, at least for me. They also have built in chargers, as you can see in the photo. On our flight to the US at Christmas, they also gave us a nice little zippered amenities satchel filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, eye mask, earplugs and socks. This isn't routine in economy class, and it was an unexpected perk. Needless to say, I'm hoping to find other good sales with them this year. 

After flying over endless desert, it is very surreal to fly into Dubai, this glittery city with what seems to be the world's tallest/biggest everything. Here are some amazing aerial views from Travel & Leisure.  The airport was very nice and easy to maneuver. English is one of the official languages of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), so it is easy to get around. The metro train links right to the airport, and we thought it would be easy to get to our first hotel from what appeared to be a close stop, so we bought a couple of tickets and boarded. The stop was downtown, and easy to find, but after a 30 minute train ride and then wandering around in the baking 100 degree sun for over 30 minutes, (while carrying heavy backpacks), we ended up hailing a taxi anyway. Come to find out, we weren't far away, and we were able to walk to the train later, it was just difficult to find the hotel the first time. 

Our first free night was at the Ramada Downtown. Because I am a Wyndham Gold Member, we were offered an upgrade to a nice suite with a balcony without my even asking. Our room was quite large, and included a very extensive kitchen, with a full size frig, microwave, dishwasher and even a washing machine! There was a sitting area, and the bath had a large tub and a separate walk in shower. My first thought was that this would have been a dream room had we been travelling with the kids. 

Balcony

Living Room Area

View looking down at the pool.

Kitchen

Bathroom

This free night was compliments of my Wyndham Rewards Visa (not a referral link), offered through Barclay. Right now there are two cards available, offering different levels of bonus points and annual fees. When I signed up, I received 45,000 bonus points (no longer available) and Gold status, which, among other perks, gives you early check in and late check out along with a welcome amenity, in this case, a small bag of treats. I also get 6000 points a year on my card anniversary. After my current points are all used, I am going to have to decide if keeping the card will be worth the $50 annual fee. Wyndham recently changed their reward levels, and you can stay at ANY Wyndham property worldwide for 15,000 points. Considering you can get 30,000 points for signing up and spending $1000 in 3 months, this can be a great perk. Wyndham has some hotels and all-inclusive resorts that go for over $600 a night, so you can see that this would be well worth your money. The going rate for our room was $400 USD. Not a bad first night free!

Ramada Downtown was within walking distance of the Burj Khalifa, which was visible from our room, as were the world's tallest fountains, which are directly behind the Burj and right outside Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world by total area. There was a small grocery market right next door, so we were able to buy some food there for our breakfast the next morning. We spent some time at the pool, and walked around the mall. Dubai also has Cobones, which are similar to our Groupons. I was able to snag a Cobone for the restaurant on site at our hotel and had a fantastic Middle Eastern four course meal for a very low price. Just be sure to look at expiration dates before you buy. I purchased some coffee coupons, and they expired a few days before we arrived!

This was day one...more to come!