Triangle Trip

Now there’s all the more reason to room hop for those extra nights! SPG is offering free Internet service to Platinum members:

“As a Platinum member, you have access to our highest level of benefits, which now includes complimentary in-room Internet access. Now when you travel with SPG you’ll enjoy in-room Internet access — on us — at any of our more than 940 participating properties worldwide.”

In addition to the free Internet access, you can get double, triple, and quadruple Starwood points between now and March 31, 2010. Check out my previous post in case you have missed it. Enjoy!

Starwood (SPG) just issued a promotion to get a $100 gift card from Amazon. All you need to do is stay twice at a Westin property in the US or Canada between now and May 13, 2010. You will have to checkin from Sunday to Thursday as weekend stays do not count. This shouldn’t be an issue for our readers as we’re mostly business travelers. Here’s the link to register. By the way, you’ll need to register by April 30, 2010. There is also a limit of three Amazon cards per SPG account.

If you’re visiting New York or get on the New York City subway or bus (MTA) at least four times a day, we highly recommend you get an unlimited ride Metrocard. For the visitors, you may want to checkout my previous blog to see NYC in a day (or two).

There are unlimited Metrocards for daily, weekly and monthly use. The published terms and conditions for an unlimited Metrocard are:

1. You cannot use the unlimited Metrocard within 18 minutes of your previous use (also known as “swipe”).

2. You cannot swipe in other passengers for a fee.

These terms don’t prohibit you from swiping your friends in for free. And, the 18 minute hold on your Metrocard only applies to the station you swiped in at. If you go to another station (NOT another turnstile across the street for the same station; an entirely different station), or a bus, you can swipe your unlimited card again, before the 18 minutes is up.

Below is an example of how you could maximize the use of your unlimited Metrocard (see map for reference):

1.  Swipe your friend in at Astor Place for the 6 train.
2.  Walk one block over to the 8th Street station and swipe in to get on the N, R or W train.
3.  Use the same card to get on the M6 bus to go down Broadway.

Here’s what you cannot do:

1.  Swipe your friend in at Astor Place for the 6 train.
2.  Walk one block over to the 8th Street station and swipe in.
3.  Go back to Astor Place for the 6 train. Unless 18 minutes passed between step 1 and 3, the card won’t work.

You can, however, walk up to the Union Square 14th Street station to reuse the same Metrocard.

Hope this helped you maximize the usage of your Metrocard. You may want to use this opportunity to check out all the skating rinks in NYC - check out Omnifarious’ previous post.