You must book by Friday, August 1 to take advantage of Starwood Vacation Villas 1,000 bonus points promotional AAA rate offer at 13 properties. This “AUTOP” special AAA promotion requires prepaid, nonrefundable rates for bookings by Friday, August 1 for hotel stays completed by December 18, 2014.

Starwood Villas are timeshare apartment style properties. Most resorts have a choice of rooms, up to 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom villas. These are good properties for family travelers.

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This week locals have been talking about how the humpback whales are close to shore and more visible around Monterey Bay than anyone remembers. Yesterday, for the second time this past week, we set up our chairs on the beach and watched the whale show. The humpback whales in our faces at Moss Landing beach was the closest I have ever been to whales while rooted on dry land.

Humpback whale surfaces next to beach.

This woman had a front row view as a humpback whale surfaced about 100 yards from the beach at Moss Landing, California. The woman walking out of the picture heard the fifty or so people sitting on the beach cheer when the humpback unexpectedly surfaced in front of the crowd.

While planted in a beach chair for over two hours, several humpback whales fed in the waters near the beach on the south entrance to Moss Landing harbor on Monterey Bay. Read More…

IHG Rewards Club Last Minute Reward Nights 50% off rates are available for 42 hotels this Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend August 1-3, 2014. These offers are available for booking at 50% off award rates over the next three days through Thursday, July 31.

Looks like several North Carolina and Colorado hotels on the list. IHG Rewards Club does not mention state location in their descriptions. This list will give you an opportunity to brush up on your USA geography.

Last Minute Reward Nights (42)

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Kimpton Hotels changed its loyalty program name from InTouch to Kimpton Karma Rewards this month. Loyalty members can get instant Karma double elite credit on hotel stays booked by August 4 using the Kimpton 2014 Summer Fling rate. The special Summer Fling rate is also an up to 20% discount rate.

The new Kimpton Karma Rewards hotel loyalty program has four membership levels. Read More…

Hilton HHonors has reduced the cost to buy points by 20% through September 3, 2014. Hilton HHonors buy points at 20% discount reduces the rate from $10 per 1,000 points to $8.00 per 1,000 points. Each HHonors Member or Mutual Account may purchase no more than 40,000 “Non-Reservation Points” in a single calendar year. Any Points in addition to this limit will not be posted to your account.

The descriptor “Non-Reservation Points” is significant since according to Hilton HHonors Program Terms and Conditions, a member can buy unlimited points needed for a reward stay at the time of booking the reward reservation for $10 per 1,000 points.

Buy all the Hilton HHonors points you need at time of booking a reward stay.

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This weekend, Marriott eBreaks hotels 20% off rates are available from Thursday, July 31 to Sunday, August 3 for participating hotels in 16 states and Canada. Marriott eBreaks generally are the lowest rate available at these properties. Usually these flexible rates can be canceled without penalty up to 6pm day of arrival.

Thursday night requires a Friday night stay and Sunday night requires a Saturday night. Marriott eBreaks rates for Friday and Saturday may be booked as one night stays.

Alabama

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Florida

Georgia

Michigan

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Texas

Virginia

Outside of U.S.

Canada

Two ways to book:
Reserve below — make sure MEB is in the corporate/promotional box. Reserve by phone — call 1–800–752–7571 or a worldwide reservation center.

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Earn United miles and Marriott Rewards points July 23-Oct 31, 2014

Be sure to register for the United Mileage Plus 1,000 bonus miles per stay at hotels in Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection and Gaylord full-service brands for stays July 23 to October 31, 2014.

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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.

Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Check out current hotel loyalty program offers across all the major chains in Loyalty Traveler’s monthly hotel promotions guide.

Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Another Airbnb horror story is making international news this week as two brothers who rented a Palm Springs, California condo for 44 days only paid for 30 days and then refused to leave. The Airbnb Palm Springs squatter claims tenant rights in California after staying in the 600 sq. ft. condominium more than 30 days.

Cory Tschogl of San Francisco rented her Palm Springs condominium through Airbnb. The renters stopped paying rent and have refused to leave. When Tschogl threatened to turn off the electricity, the renter threatened to sue her for disrupting his online business income.

Besides lost rental income, Tschogl has seen her electricity bills quadruple. Palm Springs is in the California desert and typical July temperatures reach 110F. Her father stated he has passed by Tschogl’s condominium and seen the AC running with windows open. USA Today Airbnb tweaks platform after renter turns squatter.

The renter’s name was not disclosed when the story originally gained attention through a San Francisco Chronicle article last week. Since then, the renters names have been disclosed in stories as Maksym Pashanin and his brother Denys Pashanin.

“This is a gray area where laws haven’t caught up to Airbnb,” said Ontario (San Bernardino County) attorney C. Mario Jaramillo of Access Law Group. “Being a homeowner is very different from being an innkeeper. (A landlord) cannot circumvent unlawful detainer and eviction laws in California. But laws protect traditional hoteliers and innkeepers; if people don’t pay, they can call the police and have them kicked out for trespassing.”

Skift – What the Airbnb Squatter Says About the Sharing Economy

The Pashanin brothers online business Kilobite is a video game development company. They raised nearly $40,000 last year through a Kickstarter campaign to develop a Confederate Express video game.

Tschogl has hired a lawyer to proceed with tenant eviction. Airbnb paid Tschogl for the two weeks of rent the renters failed to pay and apparently is helping with legal fees. Airbnb is also reportedly updating its long term rental information.

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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.

Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Check out current hotel loyalty program offers across all the major chains in Loyalty Traveler’s monthly hotel promotions guide.

Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

InterContinental London Westminster rebranding to Conrad, a Hilton Worldwide luxury hotel brand, is a major hotel shift for the two year old central London property located between Parliament and Buckingham Palace. The six floor, 256 room hotel with 42 premium rooms and suites will not close during the rebranding transition from an IHG InterContinental to Hilton Conrad in September 2014.

InterContinental London Westminster was a recent addition to London luxury hotels, opening in December 2012, after £150m ($225m USD) investment to refurbish the former government building of Queen Anne’s Chambers.

The hotel owners decided Conrad was a better brand fit for their property.

Loyalty Traveler – InterContinental London Westminster Hotel (March 25, 2013)

Hilton London Bankside is another major Hilton property opening in London summer 2015.

InterContinental London Westminster (March 2013) will become Conrad London Westminster September 2014.

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Ric Garrido of Monterey, California is writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler.

Loyalty Traveler shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. Check out current hotel loyalty program offers across all the major chains in Loyalty Traveler’s monthly hotel promotions guide.

Follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

There is an IHG Rewards Club buy 60% bonus points promotion to August 18 on purchases of 10,000 points or more.

You may purchase points in 1,000 increments:

• 1,000 – 10,000 points for $13.50 per 1,000 points
• 11,000 – 25,000 points for $12.50 per 1,000 points
• 26,000 – 60,000 points for $11.50 per 1,000 points

IHG Rewards Club Buy Points Rates with 60% bonus

$135 = 10,000 points + 6,000 points = 16,000 points ($8.44 per 1,000)

$137.50 = 17,600 points ($7.81 per 1,000 points)

$299.00 = 41,600 points ($7.19 per 1,000 points)

Buy IHG Rewards Club points by August 18, 2014 for 60% bonus points.

IHG Rewards Club program Terms & Conditions state a member may buy 50,000 points in a calendar year. That is outdated. The limit was increased to 60,000 points a couple years ago. And the current sale wording indicates a much higher annual points purchase limit for IHG Rewards Club members.

Members may purchase a maximum of 120,000 points per calendar year and receive as a gift a maximum of 120,000 points per calendar year.

IHG Rewards Club points were available through Daily Getaways this year from late May to July 4 at the price of $567 for 100,000 points. Those points packages did not sell out.

Loyalty Traveler – Daily Getaways IHG Points Did Not Sell Out (May 26)

The current sale is a decent offer if you have an immediate use for points like the current PointBreaks list for hotel reward nights at 5,000 points per night.

Loyalty Traveler: IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks July 28 to September 30, 2014 (July 26, 2014)

Otherwise, simply buy points as needed using Points & Cash option for award nights at rate of $70 per 10,000 points. Points purchased for Points & Cash Awards do not count toward the annual purchase limit. Members keep the points purchased for Points & Cash reward nights when the Points & Cash reward stay is cancelled. This is a way to buy points at an even lower rate of $7.00 per 1,000 points compared to the current 60% bonus points offer.

Earn United miles and Marriott Rewards points with a new promotion for 1,000 Mileage Plus miles per stay from July 23 to October 31, 2014. This offer is valid only for hotel stays in USA, Mexico and Caribbean at participating hotels in full-scale brands Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection and Gaylord. There are about 250 participating hotels in USA, Mexico, Aruba, Costa Rica, Curacao, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts-Nevis, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Marriott Rewards promotion registration is required. Hotel stays must be booked by September 5, 2014.

Marriott Rewards members may earn up to 5,000 United Mileage Plus miles after five stays during the promotion period.

This is one of the infrequent promotion opportunities to earn both miles and points for hotel stays outside of Hilton HHonors hotels. 5,000 United miles after five stays is a good bonus offer additive to earning 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar in hotel spend too.