Mrs Credit Card and myself just got another email yesterday from Chase about a few events where preferred tickets are available through them. One of them is the Radio City Spectacular.

Radio City Spectacular Show – The dates available for booking are from 9th November to 30th December 2012. The tickets available through Chase range from $49 to $299. What is more interesting is the packages that are available for Chase card members.

For example, you can purchase a VIP experience. With this package, you and up to three guest will have a special private VIP entrance to the Radio City Hall and you will be given a tour of the venue. You will also have group pictures taken and also get a pop corn and drinks voucher.

There is also a Elite Moments package where you have to arrive early through a private entrance. There will be a concierge team that will escort you to a Roxy Suite where for a pre-show holiday season reception. There will be a buffet, open bar and a visit from Santa and two Rockettes!

The VIP Experience and Elite Moments require that you use your Ultimate Reward points to redeem for them. You can log into your UR account directly and you actually have to bid on an auction for these two experiences. The number of points required, date availability and your actual seats are all spelled out clearly. Below is a screenshot.

Preferred Seating is also now available (while they last). To verify that you are a Chase card member, you will have to enter your first six digits of your card number under the promo code box on the website.

30% discounts are also available. The promo code is CHASE.

Demonstration of how to book – I’ll now take you to the actual screenshots and explain how you should book your tickets. The screen below shows how the page will look like when you select a date that you are interested in seeing. Notice that on the top left there is a promo code box. You have to either enter the first six digits of your credit card number to see the preferred seating availability or the promo code CHASE to get the discounted tickets. In this example below, I entered my first six digits of my Chase Freedom Visa®. You could also use any other Chase cards you have like the Chase Sapphire Preferred(SM) Card. It will tell you that your code is valid and you will be taken to a screen that shows you available tickets. As you can see below, most of the Orchestra Seats are available (as of now!).

If either preferred seating or advanced/discount tickets are not available for that particular time and date, then you will not informed of the situation and not be able to proceed to buy any tickets under that promotion code.

I have been to the Radio City Spectacular with my family and it is simply a great show. Back then, Chase was not offering any preferred seating of any sort. If I were to go this year, you bet that that I will be using my Chase card to get the discounts or preferred seating. Here is t the link to this offering page.

Starting from today (8th October 2012) at 10:00am EST until 11th October 2012 10:00pm EST (Thursday), card members of Chase credit cards will be able to book advanced tickets for FUN and the 13th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show before the pubic can even get their hands on them.

I got of this in the morning when I checked my email and because I am a Chase Freedom card holder, I got the notification in my ibox. Here is the screen shot.

The date for the FUN music show at the Radio City Hall is for the 2nd February 2013 at 8pm. The tickets are available on a pre sale basis from Ticketmaster. To ensure that only Chase card holders book these advanced tickets, you will need to provide the first six digits of your Chase card in the offer code box during the purchase process. Here is the link to the booking page.

The 137th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show will be held over a two day period from 11th to 12th February 2013 at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. The show times are at 8:00pm and 7:30pm respectively for the two days. This is a favorite show of mine and Mrs Credit Card (because we own a standard red poodle!) and we like to see who the winner is in different categories every year. Last year, a Pekingese won the overall show and it’s been a while since the standard poodle has won! We are awaiting that day! (BTW – our is not groomed like those in dog shows!).

We have been watching this on TV for many years. I’ve always wanted to bring my family to this show. But since it falls on a Monday and Tuesday, we’ll probably give this a skip and just watch it on TV.

Like the FUN musical, the tickets are made available through TicketMaster and you need to use the first six numbers of your credit card to verify that you are a Chase card member. Here is the screen shot of the booking page.

Better Tomorrow Promotions – Starwood Preferred Guest is now having a “Better Tomorrow” promotion whereby you can get 40% discount for the second day if you pay regular rates for the first night’s stay. So if you stay at a SPG hotel for 2 nights and you pay the regular rate for the first night, the second night is 40% off the regular rate. If you stay for 4 nights, you will receive 40% discounts the 2nd and 4th nights. This promotion is valid until 31st December 2012 and is good only for non restrict room rates. Here is the link to the promotion page.

Better By the Night Promotions

Here is a quick recap on the Better by the night promotions by Starwood. Starting 1st October 2012 (yesterday) until the end of the year, you can earn double Starpoints if you stay for one or two nights at their hotels. If you stay three nights or more, you could earn triple Starpoints. You do have to register by 15th November here to earn the extra points.

But SPG is also offering more ways to earn points. For example, if you book your stays through their iPhone app, you earn 500 extra points. If you book through their website (spg.com), you get 250 points (they are telling you to book direct and bypass online booking sites!). And if you check in via FourSquares, you earn 250 points. This requires linking your SPG account with FourSquares. I’m a little weary about checking in this way because when we check into hotels, we always like to ask for better room, or to make sure our room request is honored. So “e-check-ins” do not really appeal to me.

20% Discount for AAA/CAA members – If you are a member of AAA, Starwood is offering a up to a 20% discounts, breakfast for two or $100 credits depending on the hotels that you choose. This promotion is good until the end of the year and is valid in only select hotels. The website says that there some minimum stay requirements though I am having problems finding it! You can check out the details here

Over this past week, the focus has come mainly from promotions from both credit cards, frequent flier programs and frequent guest programs.

BA Year End Promotion
Last week, US Airways came up with their year end bonus miles deal when you flew with them. Well, it appears that British Airways is going to top them all. I just got an email from them yesterday and from now until January 31st 2013, every flight you take with them earns you bonus miles. It starts with 15,000 miles for the first one, 35,000 for the second and 50,000 for the third one onwards. But unlike other deals like the Hyatt or US Airways, there is no cap. So for those transatlantic business flyers, this is one opportunity to rack up the Avios miles!

Citi Thank You Premier Promotion
On the credit card side, Citi has just announced a special time limited promotion. It appears that this promotion is only available on review sites like us. When I checked their site, it appears they have a slightly different promotion. Anyway, the promotion is for their Citi ThankYou® Premier Rewards Card. New applicants can earn double points for 24 months (ie 2 years). The $95 annual fee is also waived for the first year. There is no sign up bonus, just the ability to earn double points. I think Citi is experimenting with this new tactic because to get the most value, you actually have to concentrate your spending on one card.

What makes the promotion interesting is the fact that this card had always offer card members one free annual companion ticket and 15% airfare discount and some other great perks that earning double miles gets you way more benefits than just a simple sign up bonus. I’ve also just updated the review of the card and included much more details on their perks.

Reminder: Amex Business Gold 50,000 Promotion
Here is a quick reminder that we are into our 2nd week of the 50,000 bonus points promotion of the Amex Business Gold Card. The promotion is good until November, so you still have plenty of time on this one.

From Around The Web

Credit Card Protection for Samsun Galaxy
One of the reasons why I love credit cards is because of the extended warranty and purchase protection feature. Here is an story about how a Samsung Galaxy broken screen was remedied!

TSA official caught on camera with stolen iPad
One Miles At A Time posted a video of a TSA official caught for stealing an iPad. For those of you too lazy to head over, here is the youtube video which I copied here!

Chase is about to update their Marriott Rewards credit cards again. Their present features will still be available until this coming Monday.

What I’m watching closely is what will happen to the sign up bonus. The last time Chase updated the cards, they kept the 50,000 sign up bonus for the premier version but reduced the bonus for the regular card from 50,000 to 25,000 points. At this moment, the 50,000 sign up bonus is achieved just after the first purchase on the card. If they keep the sign up bonus the same, my fear is that they impose some form of spending requirements.

As far as features goes, my feeling is that they will more or less remain the same. If it does change, it will probably be for the better. Chase and Hyatt recently upgrade the Hyatt credit card with new features and if anything, any changes would be positive and retroactive.

If you have always wanted to get a Marriott card, perhaps this is the time to get the premier version with the 50,000 sign up bonus since they is some chance that the sign up bonus may be reduced.