Best & Worst Cities for Travel Taxes

CBS Money Watch has a list of the cities with the highest and lowest traveler taxes. Taxes on hotels and rental cars are some of the easiest taxes for politicians to increase. Typically, these taxes only effect those who don't live in the community. Travelers don't vote in the communities that they visit, but they do bring in much needed cash to the cities coffers.

The Global Business Travel Association studied :

"50 top travel destinations in the U.S. in order to calculate the tax burden based on a single night's stay. To isolate taxes, the study used national average room costs of $105.31 per night; a car rental cost of $57.05; and daily meal expenses of $93.32, for a total one day outlay of $255.68. Where tax costs are set as a percentage of spending, they were calculated using these spending amounts. In some cases, however, taxes are set as a flat fee. Boston, for example, levies a $10 daily tax on rental cars."

Photo Credit: ChooseChicago.com

The cities that levy the biggest taxes on travelers?

1. Chicago: $41.04
2. New York: $38.65
3. Minneapolis: $36.70
4. Kansas City, Mo: $36.61
5. Indianapolis: $36.00
6. Cleveland: $35.417
7. Boston: $35.32
8. Seattle: $35.11
9. Nashville, Tenn.: $34.75
10. Houston: $34.16

Metropolitan areas with the lowest tax burden on travelers:

1. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: $22.61
2. Fort Myers, Fla.: $22.61
3. West Palm Beach, Fla.: $22.61
4. Detroit: $22.80
5. Portland, Ore.: $22.86
6. Orange County, Calif: 23.61
7. Burbank, Calif: $24.59
8. Honolulu: $24.67
9. Ontario, Calif: $24.93
10. Orlando, Fla.: $24.94

Photo Credit: www.orlandohealth.com

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Points and Life Update

One of the reasons I am writing this blog is to keep a journal of my crazy doings in my late twenties. Here is a little update on what has happened in Q1 and what I have on deck for the rest of the year:

Quarter 1

• I earned 183,000+ points in Q1, on track for 600,000 for the 2013
• Visit a new state on my trip to Portland, Oregon
• Tried Voodoo Doughnuts (more here)
• Finished my $20,000 spend on British Airways Chase

Quarter 2

• Need to finish my Southwest Companion Pass (2,100 points short), read more here
• Need to complete Hyatt 5,000 bonus miles after $3,000 spend, read more here
• Decided what to do with British Airways and United Credit Cards - Bye Bye or Annual Fee Time???
• What credit cards for next application? Alaskan Airlines? Priority Club?
• Do I participate in this in US Airways Promotion? (HT View From The Wing) 

Upcoming Travel 

• 4/26-4/28 - Connecticut - Haven't been home in 10+ months
• 5/4 - Mileage run to SFO
• 5/10-5/12 - Blogging Conference in COS
• Memorial Day Weekend Trip - ???
• June - New Hampshire or Long Island
• July - Alaska
• August - New York City
• September - Taking my mom to South America
• September - Will Travel for College Football: UCONN
• Columbus Day Weekend - Norfolk, VA
• October - Will Travel for College Football: Northwestern???
• November - Will Travel for College Football: Penn State
• November - 10 Year High School Reunion
• December - Will travel for College Football: D3 Championship
• December - End of Year Trip???

Things I am Working On For The Blog

• Expedia Frequent Stayer Program
• Is Alaska the best airline for newbies?
• Anatomy of a Mileage Run
• Some other things....

Oh, and I have to squeeze in work somehow, tiny little detail. If you need help with financing to buy a new home or refinance your mortgage in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia or Delaware (NMLS #527599), please email me below. I would love to help you out.
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Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com

Do It For The Doughnuts: Voodoo Doughnut

On our quick weekend trip to Portland, I had one objective: to visit Voodoo Doughnut.  Luckily, one of their  locations was right by our hotel, detailed here. It was the first thing we did Saturday morning. At 9 am, the line was short, maybe 10 or 15 people. A few hours later, the line look like this:

The store is small inside, maybe room for 10 people. Due to the small amount of people allowed in the store, the time you have to make a decision is short. Above the registers is a large board with tons of options:

I decided to order a Voodoo Dozen, which is 12 doughnuts picked by the worker.

Yes, I got a dozen doughnuts, not the group got a dozen. I wanted to try as many doughnuts as possible. 

Now, my thoughts on each of the doughnuts that I ate. My first doughnut was the Dirt Doughnut, which is a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Oreos! It was tasty and a great opening number.

My second choice was confusing. Miami Vice Berry, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting, blue raspberry power and pink sprinkles. I did not not like it, but I did not like it either. It was blah.

Number Three: Arnold Palmer, a plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and lemonade/ice tea dust on top. It tasted so so good. The doughnut tasted just like the drink. Definitely get this one . . .

Choice Four: Neapolitan Chocolate cake doughnut with vanilla frosting, strawberry dust and three marshmallows. This was an ok doughnut. Nothing to write home about . . .

Choice Five: Grape Ape, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting, grape dust and lavender sprinkles. This doughnut tasted like grape cough medicine. Super gross! One bite and I spit it out . . .

Choice Six: The Loop, a raised yeast doughnut with vanilla frosting and Fruit Loops. Very yummy...I could not wait for the picture to be taken before I dove in.

Choice Seven: Sprinkle, plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and sprinkles. This was one the simplest doughnut that I had, but I love sprinkles. When I worked at Dunkin Donuts, I use to eat sprinkles handful by handful. This doughnut did not disappoint.

Number 8: Mexican Hot Chocolate, a chocolate cake doughnut dusted in cinnamon sugar and cayenne pepper. I did not check to see what this doughnut was before eating it, well that lead to a big surprise. My mouth was on fire...

Doughnut 9: Marshall Matters, plain cake doughnut with vanilla frosting and mini M & M's. Do you see the number of M&M's on this doughnut? It was soooooo...goood!

Doughnut 10: Portland Cream, a raised yeast doughnut filled with Bavarian cream. Topped with chocolate and two eyeballs, representing the vision of our great city. This is a Boston Creame, on the East Coast. By #10, I was having a hard time keeping them down.

Doughnut 11: Bacon Maple Bar, a raised yeast doughnut with maple frosting and bacon to top! This was the best doughnut hands down. I talked about this doughnut for days afterwards. So, good it gets more than one picture:

Final doughnut #12: No Name, raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting, rice krispies and peanut butter. This doughnut was weird tasting. It had so many things going on that my senses were on overload. It could have been the sugar rush . . .

And for those of you wondering, no I did not eat all of them. I had a few bites of each, scarfed down others and spite out one. Here is the doughnut graveyard!

A list of all the Voodoo doughnuts can be found here. The cost of my dozen was just under $12. You can pick and choose the doughnuts; instead of the random pickings. Doughnuts cost somewhere between $1 -$2.50 each. Very affordable! If Voodoo Doughnut was in Washington, DC, each doughnut would cost $4.00 each and there still would be a line around the corner.

DO IT FOR THE DOUGHNUTS!!!!

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Portland Hilton and Executive Tower

For my second trip to Portland in two weekends I decided to change it up a little and stay at a different hotel to experience a different part of the city and see what other options there are in the city. If you haven't already, make sure you check out JD's review of our room at the Embassy Suites from the first trip.

This trip Kelsey, my parents and I stayed at the Hilton Portland and Executive Tower. The hotel is located in an awesome position downtown with almost direct links to the tram system so you really don't need a car. The building is split into two separate towers, the regular tower and the executive tower, which are located across an intersection from each other. If you bring a car, call ahead and see which building you are in because each has a separate parking structure. You can valet park for $32 per night or self park for $22 per night.

We arrived at the regular tower and were told that we had been placed in the Executive Tower so we went around the block and checked in to the second building. The Executive Tower is all upgraded rooms and takes up floors 11-20 of the building. Our rooms were located on the 17th floor at the end of the hallway and were both "Executive Kings."

When you walk into the room it looks like a basic king. It seems the only difference between the Executive rooms and the regular rooms is a bit more space and a higher floor for a better view (more on that later).

Right on the right when you enter is the bathroom, which was quite small and basic....nothing special here.

Bathroom

Bathroom

 Past the bathroom is the main bedroom with the king bed on the right side and a night stand on either side...as always it's great to see the lamps with outlets next to the bed to plug in phones. To the right of the bed was a chair and a table that can serve as a sitting area.

Bed and Sitting Area

 Across from the bed is the tv, dresser and desk with chair.

TV, Dresser and Desk/Chair

 The room overall was very basic, but the view more than made up for it. The beautiful and clear day made the view of Mt. Hood (Edit: Originally put Mt. Baker in my addled 3 hrs of sleep state) absolutely stunning from our room (sorry my picture doesn't capture the beauty as well as it could..just have to go visit!).

 
The hotel offers breakfast in their restaurant on the ground level and for Gold/Diamond HHonors members the option is for a continental breakfast off of the buffet.

There was nothing special about the hotel, it is the consistency of look and feel you would expect from a Hilton. But its location in downtown Portland and the ease of access to the city it's the perfect place to stay!

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"I think you're crazy..."

"I think you're crazy to go all that way for such a short amount of time." That's what a co-worker told me today as I left the office when she found out that Kelsey and I were heading out to Portland for the weekend...well...more like from 1:00 pm on Saturday until 2:30 pm on Sunday. Not only was that a short trip, but it's also my second trip in as many weeks.

Last weekend I went to Portland for a little longer, from 1:00 am Friday night until 3:00 pm Sunday, with JD and our friend Joe. This weekend I'm heading out with Kelsey and will be joined by my parents who live up in Seattle. I know that on the face of things it seems absolutely crazy to do such a thing...but the more and more I thought about it on the way home the less crazy it seems.

Take last weekend for an example. The three of us guys have not been able to hang out for that long anytime in the past few years. Jobs and life get in the way and happy hours are not long enough to fully catch up. It was great to spend time with two guys that were my closest friends through college and grad school and it was great to see how much we all still care about each other, even if we don't see each other as much as we used to.

This weekend is even better. Living in Washington, D.C. and having parents in Seattle has been hard over the past seven years. I'm an only child and so my parents are all I had growing up, and our relationship is very special. I get to see them at least four or five times a year, but that usually means a wait of a few months in between each visit. Though the weekend will be quick and will fly by before I know it, the chance to hug my parents and talk to them face-to-face while spending time with the love of my life along the way is priceless and I would travel around the globe for that (Points would be nice too **grin**).

But all joking aside...my co-worker was right...I am crazy. This hobby is a crazy thing and it makes us do weird things that others don't understand. But the experiences that come from that travel and that craziness....they are worth everything!



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Knowing the Golden Rules is Half the Battle

On our way home from Portland, Chris, our friend (at the moment, he has no nickname) and I could have encountered major major trouble. However, I remember the basic rules of frequent travel and refused us to get caught in a trap.

It all started, when I heard commotion in the bed room between Chris and our friend. We stayed at the Embassy Suites, downtown, and got a large room with two beds and a sleeper couch. I took the sleeper couch. They were talking about times, airplanes and Denver, Seattle, and Chicago, I was half asleep, so it did not make sense.

Shortly thereafter, Chris comes out and tells me that our flight is delayed by 45 minutes out of Portland (PDX) to San Fransisco, due to the aircraft arriving delay. I asked Chris, if he had called to change our flights. He said he tried, but they said out turnaround in San Fran was sufficient (45 minutes now).  I asked, if he called back, and he said no.

I am going to cut-in here to talk about, what I think are the three most important rules of frequent traveling/mileage running:

1) Be Proactive! Always speak to a telephone/twitter/email agent vs. going to the airport with a delay. If you have advanced notification, do everything in your power to change your flight for the delay. Doing it before getting the airport opens more options for you.

2) Never accept no. If the first phone agent says "no," hang-up and try again. There are very nice agents out there at every airline, maybe your next call will get you one.

3) You are your only advocate. Don't wait for the airline to bail you out. Call them and do research on the flights available before you make the call.

In the end, I forced Chris to call United back and plead our case. Our friend had to be back at work at 6am and the red eye would put us in to late (8:30am). Luckily, we got a sympathetic attendant that rebooked our flights through Denver.

Luck must have been on our side, because the San Francisco flight ended up being delayed 2 hours. About 80 people missed their connecting flights and the remaining options out of PDX were slim. We ended getting home 15 minutes after our originally scheduled flight.

Knowing these three simple rules are half the battle. The harder part is putting them into action when you need them. Chris knew these rules, but in the heat of the moment, your judgement can be clouded. Never accept the first "No," maybe the 3rd or 4th or when they say, "Sir, my 8 previous colleagues all have said the same thing to you."

In the end, the trip was great and we got home at a reasonable hour ie 2am.
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Two Weekends and Two Trips to Portland...What Should We Do?

Last week United plugged in an amazing fare from Washington, D.C. to Portland ranging from $171-193 which average out to a great cents per mile that we don't usually see in DC on UA. I jumped on one fare last week for March with Kelsey and my parents are going to drive down from Seattle to visit us, which I could not be more excited about.

But today my friend Joe texted me and said that the deal was still around for the weekend before that and asked if I would want to go again. After going back and forth a few times and moved what I had scheduled for that weekend around I had the itch and I knew that I had to go...I couldn't miss out on this fare and I couldn't miss out on a trip with friends. Joe texted JD in the meantime and he jumped on it with us so we are going to have a nice guys weekend up in the Pacific Northwest!

Even though I lived in Seattle for a few years before going off to college I only made it down to Portland a few times so I don't really know what we should do (besides the obvious Powell's Books and Voodoo Doughnut) so we need your help! Do you live in Portland? Have you been to Portland recently? What can we not miss? Where should we stay? We are at your will and need your help!!!

Until then...I'll just be dreaming of a delicious doughnut and a nice cold glass of microbrew!