It was rumored that Chase was going to release a new version of their Hyatt Credit Card on Monday, February 27.   Today I got this email:

“TRAVEL THE WORLD WITH SMART CHIP TECHNOLOGY

You are one of the first Cardmembers who will receive a new Hyatt Credit Card with Smart Chip technology. This new feature will provide additional convenience and security when traveling abroad.

What you need to know:
Your new card will arrive within 30 days.
Your account number and expiration date will remain the same.
You can continue to use your current card until you receive your new one.

Explore your favorite corner of the world with the perfect travel companion, your Hyatt Credit Card.”

This is great since Smart Chip is used extensively throughout Europe and Asia and we occasionally got puzzled looks from merchants when we presented our “ancient technology” magnetic strip cards from the USA.  To our bemusement, some merchants didn’t even know how to operate the magnetic stripe feature on their terminals.

We’re glad Chase is introducing Smart Chip cards in the US as this feature is useful when traveling abroad!

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Wondering why it’s been so quiet here at On the Ground Travel?   We’ve been exploring parts of Chile, Argentina, and Brazil since January!   In the mean time we’ve been tweeting photos taken with our blackberry whenever we happened to have a wi-fi signal.

Check them out at our OntheGroundTrvl Twitter photo gallery!

To raise awareness to the recent rebranding of the British Airways’s loyalty program, the airline is offering 1000 Avios Points to the first 1000 British Airways Executive Club members who upload their pictures to this link here.  Your picture may be selected to be included in their new advertising campaign.  Deadline is January 31st.

We alerted you to the closure of Torres del Paine Park in Chile due to forest fires a few weeks back.  At the time, all tourists within the park were evacuated, and the Chilean government announced that the park will not be reopened until the end of January.  We are pleased to report that as of today, over 80% of all trails within the park have been reopened to the public.

Nonetheless, our thoughts and prayers go out to those to lost their homes over the past month.  As a result of the fire, over 170 homes and 70 acres of land were destroyed.  Many more were forced from their homes.  It’s very unfortunate that a piece of this beautiful scenery was destroyed by fire.  This serves as a mental note to us (and hopefully to you as well) to be very diligent when setting fires in parks.

More information can be found here.