On August 15, 2026, we had our third annual Points Talk Squad Meetup in Chicago! This is a free event we host locally for any of our students who are able to join us. And honestly, we are surprised at how far many of our students will fly to have lunch with us! Thank you so much to everyone who came this year! 

We had a delicious lunch at Giordano’s (a short walk from the Park Hyatt Chicago): salad, appetizers, pizza, and yummy desserts. Chicago is famous for its deep-dish pizza, and the spinach pizza was a favorite! 

 

Our Stay

We used 29k Hyatt points per night for our three-night stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago, which is a World of Hyatt Category 6 property. We also applied a Suite Upgrade Award and got a massive suite with a fold-out sofa bed, a king bed, and two large bathrooms. My favorite parts of the hotel were the location (right on the Miracle Mile) and seeing the Chicago skyline lit up at night!

One of our students used our template for room upgrades and got wine and treats. We didn’t use one and got squat even though we are Globalists. I need to practice what we preach next time!

We ordered room service Globalist breakfast each morning for the three of us, which included a hot item, a cold drink, and a hot drink. We also added in sides of bacon, and our bill came to $0 when we left the hotel! I loved the kids’ Belgian waffles with Nutella, strawberries, and bananas each morning!

 

 

 

 

 

An Elaborate Sapphire Reserve® Exclusive Tables Meal

Every time we are all together, we use our Chase Sapphire Reserve® cards and three $150 semiannual dining credits for a great meal. Linda, Jess’s mom, came too, and we put that $450 to good use! We went to Alla Vita restaurant and had the best Italian dinner and ordered a TON of food—this was so fun! Appetizers, salad, main dishes and sides, and dessert—it covered it all but the tip! 

 

 

Using Resy Credits 

We used Resy credits for a great meal at Armitage Alehouse. The pot pies and sticky date cake were amazing! I love traveling to a big city because these credits are so easy to use.

 

 

Other Credit Cards Used on the Trip

Lyft credits from the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and Uber credits from an American Express Platinum Card® funded some of our rides to restaurants. We all used the semi-annual Blacklane credit from our Citi Strata Elite℠ Card to fund our luxury rides to and from the airport.

We all took advantage of airport lounge access that came with our credit cards. This is much easier to use when you are traveling solo.

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Bottom Line

Meeting new and old students is always a blast! We appreciate your support so much. Being able to stay and eat in Chicago for next to nothing is just a bonus! P.S.— The Chicago architectural boat tour we took at dusk was fascinating, too.