ExpatVista

New York City

Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel: An 85K Certificate Against a $1264 Room

Oct 9, 2026

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4 min read

Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel: An 85K Certificate Against a $1264 Room

An 85K Marriott Free Night Award plus 5000 points replaced a $1264 Manhattan hotel rate. This time, the hotel was actually pretty good.

ExpatVista

United Kingdom

TheFork in Practice: How I Stack Restaurant Discounts in Europe

Oct 5, 2026

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4 min read

TheFork in Practice: How I Stack Restaurant Discounts in Europe

TheFork combines restaurant discounts with its own rewards currency. I tend to wait until several offers line up.

ExpatVista

Hotel Reviews

Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District: Great Location & Price, Not-Great Hotel

Oct 3, 2026

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4 min read

Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District: Great Location & Price, Not-Great Hotel

30,000 Wyndham points replaced a $378.72 cash rate in an excellent location. The hotel itself was disappointing.

ExpatVista

IHG

What IHG’s Card Changes Mean for Our Five-Card Portfolio

Oct 2, 2026

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6 min read

What IHG’s Card Changes Mean for Our Five-Card Portfolio

Five cards, higher fees, and what the new benefits add to our portfolio.

ExpatVista

Site Structure

Oct 1, 2026

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4 min read

Q3 Most Read on ExpatVista

What Q3 Readers Opened, What New Articles They Read Online, and What Google Found

ExpatVista

Baltimore

Oct 1, 2026

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4 min read

While We Were There: Baltimore After the Rugby

A rugby weekend that turned into a water taxi, Fort McHenry and Maryland crabs.

ExpatVista

Expat Logistics

Amex Business Gold's $240 Flex Business Credit From Abroad

Sep 30, 2026

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6 min read

Amex Business Gold's $240 Flex Business Credit From Abroad

How I turn a monthly U.S.-only credit into restaurant spending I’ll actually use, and why that still doesn’t necessarily make the card worth keeping.

ExpatVista

Hyatt

Sep 29, 2026

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1 min read

East, Central & West Berlin

AN EXPATVISTA COLLECTION

ExpatVista

Hotel Reviews

Sep 28, 2026

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4 min read

Moxy Washington, D.C. Downtown Review

A $165.92 room completed a $150 Amex Offer. What followed involved a few more moving parts.

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Can You Earn World of Hyatt Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

Sep 27, 2026

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3 min read

Can You Earn World of Hyatt Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

I booked Magma Resort Santorini through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts. The stay still earned World of Hyatt points, qualifying spend and a qualifying night.

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Sep 27, 2026

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1 min read

A Miami Stopover

AN EXPATVISTA COLLECTION

ExpatVista

Baltimore

Sep 27, 2026

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5 min read

Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Review

A rejected Nightly Upgrade Award, a harbor-view room anyway, and an unexpected All Blacks connection.

ExpatVista

Miles & Points

MEL to LHR: $1488 in Business. How'd That Work Out?

Sep 26, 2026

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7 min read

MEL to LHR: $1488 in Business. How'd That Work Out?

The Air India itinerary fell apart. What Aeroplan did next revealed value I hadn’t included in the original calculation.

ExpatVista

Netherlands

Sep 24, 2026

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2 min read

Amsterdam in August

AN EXPATVISTA COLLECTION

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Sep 24, 2026

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5 min read

Park Hyatt Washington D.C. Review

Amex FHR benefits changed the economics of a $405.94 Park Hyatt stay.

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Can You Earn LHW Leaders Club Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

Sep 23, 2026

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2 min read

Can You Earn LHW Leaders Club Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

I booked Katikies Garden through Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts. The Leaders Club points didn’t post, but LHW confirmed that FHR bookings are eligible and credited them manually.

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Sep 22, 2026

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6 min read

COTE Miami: How’d That Work Out?

We built our only evening in Miami around one restaurant reservation. It ended up shaping the hotel, the neighborhood and most of what we did with the stopover.

ExpatVista

Layovers

Sep 21, 2026

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2 min read

16 Hours in Singapore

AN EXPATVISTA COLLECTION

ExpatVista

Melbourne

Sep 20, 2026

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2 min read

While We Were There: Melbourne's Street Art

Hosier Lane, AC/DC Lane and the painted laneways of central Melbourne

ExpatVista

Hilton Aspire

Sep 20, 2026

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2 min read

Hilton Credits: What Actually Triggers

Amex Business Platinum Hilton Credits and Aspire Resort Credits. What posts when there is no hotel stay attached.

ExpatVista

IHG

Holiday Inn Express Baltimore at the Stadiums Review: Location Does the Heavy Lifting

Sep 19, 2026

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6 min read

Holiday Inn Express Baltimore at the Stadiums Review: Location Does the Heavy Lifting

For an event at M&T Bank Stadium, this Holiday Inn Express solves the most obvious post-game problem. Our stay also showed us another way to handle it.

ExpatVista

Airports

Sep 19, 2026

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7 min read

LHR Test #2: From Gateside to Curbside

My second timed arrival at Heathrow Terminal 2 came under very different conditions: an evening arrival from Newark, economy class, two checked bags and a busy immigration hall. The result was surprisingly similar.

ExpatVista

Santorini

Sep 15, 2026

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4 min read

While We Were There: An Evening in Oia, Santorini

We arrived after sunset, stayed past 1am and saw a rather different version of Santorini’s most photographed town.

ExpatVista

Amex Platinum

Sep 15, 2026

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9 min read

Magma Resort Santorini Review

Our final Santorini stop traded the caldera for a private pool, a quieter setting and a resort we were happy to keep coming back to.

ExpatVista

Netherlands

Element Amsterdam Review: Better Connected Than It Looks

Sep 15, 2026

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6 min read

Element Amsterdam Review: Better Connected Than It Looks

A two-night Marriott Platinum stay in a suite near Amsterdam Zuid, and a location that worked better than I expected

ExpatVista

ExpatVista

Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel: An 85K Certificate Against a $1264 Room

TheFork in Practice: How I Stack Restaurant Discounts in Europe

Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District: Great Location & Price, Not-Great Hotel

What IHG’s Card Changes Mean for Our Five-Card Portfolio

Q3 Most Read on ExpatVista

While We Were There: Baltimore After the Rugby

Amex Business Gold's $240 Flex Business Credit From Abroad

East, Central & West Berlin

Moxy Washington, D.C. Downtown Review

Can You Earn World of Hyatt Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

A Miami Stopover

Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Review

MEL to LHR: $1488 in Business. How'd That Work Out?

Amsterdam in August

Park Hyatt Washington D.C. Review

Can You Earn LHW Leaders Club Points on an Amex FHR Booking?

COTE Miami: How’d That Work Out?

16 Hours in Singapore

While We Were There: Melbourne's Street Art

Hilton Credits: What Actually Triggers

Holiday Inn Express Baltimore at the Stadiums Review: Location Does the Heavy Lifting

LHR Test #2: From Gateside to Curbside

While We Were There: An Evening in Oia, Santorini

Magma Resort Santorini Review

Element Amsterdam Review: Better Connected Than It Looks

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