While I'm not personally loyal to Marriott Rewards, they're pretty popular among frequent travelers given their global footprint and how consistent they are in delivering elite benefits.
One of the really cool promotions that they seem to offer every year is an elite buy back opportunity, whereby you can redeem some points to "buy back" your status from the previous year.
Now, it's pretty normal for airlines to offer status buy back opportunities nowadays, though you can usually only pay in cash, and it's usually outrageously expensive.
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In a city full of graffiti and street art, no place is more impressive than São Paulo's Beco do Batman (Batman Alley), an open air gallery of street art that started with a simple picture of the titular vigilante.
Beco do Batman is an area near Vila Madalena in São Paulo where three alleys meet. Every inch of wall at the dense urban crossroads is covered with graffiti and the pieces even extend down onto the sidewalks. Well known street artists from both Brazil but also other parts of the world are attracted by this sanctuary of graffiti and come to make their marks, however transient they may be.
The street art tradition at the location started in the 80s when the first drawing, one of DC Comics superhero Batman, appeared. Soon more was to follow with fine-arts students painting cubic and psychedelic images along the long walls. Soon Beco do Batman was completely covered in bright, stylized spay paint art.
Today the area is continues to exist in a state of flux, with old pieces disappearing as new paintings are created on top of them, always with the previous artist's permission. The ever-changing look and feel of the site makes every visit to Beco do Batman a new and exciting experience.
Just outside the municipal seat is the Centro Ceremonial Otomí or Otomi Ceremonial Center. This center is the result of efforts to create a recognized space to preserve and promote the Otomi culture.
These efforts were begun in 1977 on the part of Otomi elders and some local ejidos. The foundation was formally established in 1980 and construction of the monumental facility began in 1988. The site and organization aims to recreate Otomi ceremonies of centuries past even though the written and archeological evidence as to what they were like is scarce. On the second Sunday of each month a ritual is performed here to honor the elements of earth, air, fire and water as well as to supplicate to the gods with offerings. This ritual is headed by the members of the Otomi Supreme Council.
The complex is constructed on a mountain called Cerro La Catedral. At the entrance of the center, there is a sculpture of a warrior of the Botzanga Otomi who fought against the Aztec emperor Axayacatl. The first plaza is called the Plaza del Coloso (Plaza of the Colossus), and is named after a giant figure of Tahaay, the lord messenger of fire and life. At the back is a mural of Da-mishi, the jaguar that walks and talks, by Luis de Aragón. Ascending the hill is the Glorieta del Centinela (Roundabout of the Sentinel) to which indications of the four cardinal directions meet. Next is the Plaza del Sagitario, the main courtyard, which is surrounded by 45 enormous sculptures acting as guards. On this plaza as well is the Assembly Hall, with its iconic seven columns. These total 52, the number of years on the Aztec calendar. This building houses the Otomi Supreme Council and the seven columns are thought to be associated with the seven musical notes, the seven colors of the rainbow, and the seven days of the week.
At the most elevated spot are 12 silos or cones, each representing a generation of Otomis, and on each is a sculpture of Tata Jiade, the Sun. While the construction is meant to reflect Otomi culture before the 9th century and Nahua influence, this latter influence is acknowledged by an image of Quetzalcoatl. The Otomi Ceremonial Center has a small teaching museum with a permanent exhibition of artifacts, history of the Otomi people, and past and present crafts. This museum is called the Nguu Ro Ya Hnhnu or Museum of the Otomi Culture.
The complex is located on an ecological reserve called the Otomi-Mexico State Park. This park extends over 50 hectares, most of which is covered in pine, oyamel, and holm oak forest. This part of the ceremonial center has camping and hiking facilities. The complex is also notable for appearing in the 1989 James Bond film License to Kill.
The new American Express Points Match program is a targeted test which allows some small business cardmembers to redeem their Membership Rewards points for travel on United and American without transferring points to a partner frequent flyer program like Aeroplan or British Airways. When awards are available on American or United, targeted members can call […]
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I've argued that the relative value of Delta SkyMiles has increased over the past couple of years. For my personal redemptions, I'd say the value of SkyMiles increased even further this year, given that one-way awards are now possible for half the cost of a roundtrip (unfortunately that came at the expense of stopovers on roundtrip awards).
Primarily I like redeeming SkyMiles for travel on Alitalia, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, etc.
But there's no denying that SkyMiles have historically also been extremely useful for travel to the Middle East. That's because Saudia is in SkyTeam, and they've historically released an almost unlimited amount of business class award space. It was kind of insane, they had at least seven business class award seats available on most flights.
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