Citi Hilton HHonors Card

I'm a big fan of the Amex Hilton card as I outline here, but I also wanted to introduce the Citibank version of the Hilton HHonors card. As per this FT thread, you can find an application link for 50k HHonors points after spending just $1500 in 6 months but since that doesn't show the actual offer, you'll have to trust in the FT thread. You can probably also find the standard 40k offer here.

Hilton's HHonors program, IMHO, gives the best value for points than almost any other program as I explained here. Here's a sample of a Category 5 (moving up to 6 on April 30) Embassy Suites Montreal hotel. Without rehashing all the details I've already gone through with the Amex card, I'd like to highlight some differences between these two cards so that you can decide whether this makes sense for you or not.

US Airways Barclays Mastercard

Just recently applied and got approved for the US Airways Barclays Mastercard which offers a 60k mile bonus (40000 easy) as per this public link.

This is the best offer Barclays has put out for their US Airways Mastercard and while its not as competitive as some of the other 50k, 75k and 100k offers that came out in 2011, this might be good to consider for broadening you card issuers (especially if you're heavy on the Chase and Amex and even Citi cards). Also, Barclays typically pulls from the Transunion credit bureau which is usually pulled less and thus shouldn't dent your credit scores at other bureaus.

Trick Review (2000 / 2002 / 2003)

Drama Rating: ***
Personal Rating: Loved it!

Story:
Yamada Naoko, a mediocre magician who doesn't believe in spiritualists, is constantly being chased by her landlady for her overdue rent. Desperate for some cash, she decides to accept a challenge issued by Assistant Professor Ueda, a physics genius, who offers money to someone who can prove to him that magic exists. Naoko uses a simple magic trick and dupes the professor, uncovering his true purpose - to find someone to help him uncover the tricks used by a cult. Thus, their hilarious partnership begins as they start to root out all magical and spiritual impostors.

Chase British Airways Card

British Airways is once again back with their 100,000 Avios point bonus although slightly less lucrative this year due to the heavy spend requirement. Additionally, due to the revaluation of the new BA Avios miles, this deal is not as good as last year particularly if you don't live in a Oneworld hub city or you tend to fly long distances (as their new award charts are more based on distance).

At the current redemption chart rates and assuming you can accomplish the $20k spend, you can still get 2 roundtrip tickets from the continental US to London for 50k Avios each.  Flights with partners though can get pretty pricey as the distance begins to go up.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

One of the most famous attractions in Krakow is the huge Wieliczka Salt Mine located not far from the city. There is a public bus near Plac Jana Matejki which you can take directly to the Salt Mine bus station.

An Evening of Music in Krakow

After a scrumptious dinner at Jadetkol's, after dinner entertainment was at Bonerewski Palace located at the north end of the main market square.