This post is coming to you from a random cafe in North Carolina and it's been something that I've been ruminating over in my head as I've been walking all morning. I'm in North Carolina so Kelsey can visit a grad school that she might be attending next year and she's spending all day doing an admitted students program so I am on my own to check out the area until 5:00. So far I've had only one biscut, which my twitter followers know already, I am disappointed in. I must find more biscuts and eat them as fast as possible.
But the real thing that I noticed as I walked around the area, and area that I have never been to before, I noticed just how much joy and fear one can get while traveling. Even when you are only a few hours from home, there is still that feeling in as you see a place for the first time.
For the most part it's a feeling of joy. It's that feeling when you are wandreing aimlessly around a new place and you go around the corner to discover something out of nothing. When it seems like the Main Street of shops that so many towns have ends...but you keep going only to find the next stretch around the corner. To people who live in the area, it's a given to them that this happens. Instead of a new discovery around the corner, they know this as the normal occurance, their everyday. In face you see it in their faces, they are here for that cup of coffee or to lunch with a friend at their favorite lunch spot. The blip on thier radar represents just something out of their routine. For you...it represents something different...it represents a new shop, a new coffee, a new food dish, a new culture to discover.
You think of how you go through your regular day at home without much thought to what's around you...it's old...not in a bad way, but in a way that makes it not shocking and exciting as the first time you saw it. Think of the first time you found your favoite coffeeshop, your favorite restaurant, clothing store...anything in your town that you had previously not discovered. That feeling at first was like you were a tourist in your own town. That's the part of travel I can't get enough of.
But there are times where travel make you a bit fearful as well. Even when you are just a few hours from home there are differences. There is a natural flow of life for everyone in the area that is used to how things work. They know where the roads go, they know when to cross the street against the signal, they know which restaurants to avoid at certain hours. This makes you feel like you stick out and look silly. For me it's always standing in the exact wrong place in a shop or on public transit and feeling like I should know better, when I would have no possible way to know where to stand. It's that weird circumstance of feeling like you are an alien in your own world...but one that still blends in. It's this feeling that I both love and hate at the same time. I don't like to stand out, but I also recognize that in a new place it's unavoidable...part of the process.
But then there's that moment where you just have the pure joy of knowing that you are in someplace new...that joy of discovering that new site around the corner and stepping into a cool coffee shop to write a blog post and catch up on e-mail. That moment where that fear in your stomach is crunched down and the joy takes back over. It's those moments I love, and those moments that keep me traveling near and far from home.
I know this doesn't do much to "add" to the miles and points conversation...but I think it's something that we travelers all have knowledge of, we all have that unique joy of being in a new place and the fear of it at the same time. We are all united and packaged around the love of travel and the more we share our experiences and read the experiences of others, the more we want to travel to somewhere new. So for now...I'll just enjoy this cup of coffee, set off into the new city and try to find the joy in every moment of something new.
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Friday, March 22, 2013
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Earning My Southwest Companion Pass
In my most credit card churn, see here, I got both the Southwest Personal and Business credit cards. Both cards earn 50,000 miles after spending $2,000 in three months. The reason I got both cards is to get the Southwest's Companion Pass. You can learn all about the Companion Pass on Southwest's website here. In short, the companion pass allows your chosen person to fly with you free on any purchase or free Southwest flight.
One can earn the Southwest Companion Pass by earning 110,000 miles in one calender year. The key term here is "earn." One does not need to earn the miles by flying alone.
Therefore getting the two Southwest Cards puts be almost 95% the way to a companion pass:
50,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus for Personal Card
2,000 Earned by Spending $2,000 on the Personal Card
50,000 Point Sigh-Up Bonus for Business Card
2,000 Earned by Spending $2,000 on the Business Card
So far, I have earned 104,000 Southwest Miles leaving me 6,000 miles short of the Companion Pass. I could spend $6,000 more on either or both cards and be finished, but that will divert my spending ability from other cards that I value more. Therefore, I need to find other ways of earning 6,000 Rapid Reward Miles and quickly.
Here is my plan (so far):
1,000 Filing taxes through TurboTax (Southwest Merchant Portal here)
2,000 eRewards Transfer ($100 eRewards = $2,000 Points)
I have no plan for the last 3,000 Rapid Rewards. Here are some of my ideas:
1) Transfer 5,000 Choice Privilege Points = 1,800 Rapid Reward Points
2) Transfer 5,000 Hyatt Points = 2,400 Rapid Reward Points
3) Sign Up for Southwest Dining Rewards and spend $25 = 300 Rapid Reward Points
4) Stay at a Wyndham Hotel =1,200 Rapid Reward Points
As you can see,there aren't really any cheap slam dunk ideas to get that last 3,000 points. These 3,000 points are very violable. The sooner I earn them the sooner I earn the Companion Pass.
After looking at my options, I might need to just spend the extra $3,000 on the credit cards. Not what I want to do, but what I may need to do.
Am I missing some great way of earning 3,000 Rapid Reward Points asap and cheaply?
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E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
One can earn the Southwest Companion Pass by earning 110,000 miles in one calender year. The key term here is "earn." One does not need to earn the miles by flying alone.
Therefore getting the two Southwest Cards puts be almost 95% the way to a companion pass:
50,000 Point Sign-Up Bonus for Personal Card
2,000 Earned by Spending $2,000 on the Personal Card
50,000 Point Sigh-Up Bonus for Business Card
2,000 Earned by Spending $2,000 on the Business Card
So far, I have earned 104,000 Southwest Miles leaving me 6,000 miles short of the Companion Pass. I could spend $6,000 more on either or both cards and be finished, but that will divert my spending ability from other cards that I value more. Therefore, I need to find other ways of earning 6,000 Rapid Reward Miles and quickly.
Here is my plan (so far):
1,000 Filing taxes through TurboTax (Southwest Merchant Portal here)
2,000 eRewards Transfer ($100 eRewards = $2,000 Points)
I have no plan for the last 3,000 Rapid Rewards. Here are some of my ideas:
1) Transfer 5,000 Choice Privilege Points = 1,800 Rapid Reward Points
2) Transfer 5,000 Hyatt Points = 2,400 Rapid Reward Points
3) Sign Up for Southwest Dining Rewards and spend $25 = 300 Rapid Reward Points
4) Stay at a Wyndham Hotel =1,200 Rapid Reward Points
As you can see,there aren't really any cheap slam dunk ideas to get that last 3,000 points. These 3,000 points are very violable. The sooner I earn them the sooner I earn the Companion Pass.
After looking at my options, I might need to just spend the extra $3,000 on the credit cards. Not what I want to do, but what I may need to do.
Am I missing some great way of earning 3,000 Rapid Reward Points asap and cheaply?
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E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Latest British Airways and American Airlines Promo Not Worth It
Many other blogs posted pieces on the latest offer from British Airways that was matched by American that would give up to 20,000 bonus miles per flight when flying from the United States to Europe (Or New York to Dublin on AA Edit: Wrong Original Link. Here is the correct link for all flights from the US to Europe). If you are able to get five round-trips on BA you can earn an additional 100,000 miles.
At first you are thinking...oh yeah, sign me up! But then when you dive deep into the details you discover that the only trips that are eligible for these bonus amounts are trips that are booked into full-fare tickets (i.e. F, A, J, C, D, R, I, W, E, T, Y, B or H on BA) which if you were to book right now for a week in May flying from Washington, D.C. to London would set you back $1488 in Economy, $2071 in Premium Economy and $7324 in Business Class.
It would be nice to earn all of the extra bonus miles, but unless you are sitting on a pile of cash you need to burn or you have a bunch of business trips to Europe coming up that you will be reimbursed for, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to drop nearly $1500 to just get 20,000 bonus miles per flight. Others may disagree with me, but I look at this from the perspective of myself who can't spend anywhere close to $1500 on a plane ticket and is in this hobby to avoid doing just that. Yes the return is nice, but I could think of so many other things I could spend $1500 on and get to my travel goals just as well. It may work for some, but I'll take a pass till a better offer comes along.
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At first you are thinking...oh yeah, sign me up! But then when you dive deep into the details you discover that the only trips that are eligible for these bonus amounts are trips that are booked into full-fare tickets (i.e. F, A, J, C, D, R, I, W, E, T, Y, B or H on BA) which if you were to book right now for a week in May flying from Washington, D.C. to London would set you back $1488 in Economy, $2071 in Premium Economy and $7324 in Business Class.
It would be nice to earn all of the extra bonus miles, but unless you are sitting on a pile of cash you need to burn or you have a bunch of business trips to Europe coming up that you will be reimbursed for, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to drop nearly $1500 to just get 20,000 bonus miles per flight. Others may disagree with me, but I look at this from the perspective of myself who can't spend anywhere close to $1500 on a plane ticket and is in this hobby to avoid doing just that. Yes the return is nice, but I could think of so many other things I could spend $1500 on and get to my travel goals just as well. It may work for some, but I'll take a pass till a better offer comes along.
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Antarctica: The Last Frontier
I have written many times of traveling to all 7 continents in business class by my 30th birthday. I turn the Big 30 in May 2015. To achieve my goal, I will need to head to the world's last frontier.
That is why I was shocked and saddened by this Yahoo article about tourism in Antarctica.
According to the article, 35,000 visitors visited Antarctica for tourism reasons, last year. That number is down from the height of 48,000 visitors in the 1980s, and up from 27,000 in 2011-2012. Getting to Antarctica can only be done by boat or flight. For more information, go to the website of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
However, trips to Antarctica are no longer sightseeing excursions. The article says, "now people want to go paragliding, waterskiing, diving or a variety of other things." The result of the increased tourism on the ecological system is unknown. However, "the United Nations' shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, barred the use of heavy fuel oil below 60 degrees latitude south in 2011." This binding rule hurt the cruise industry by limiting the size of the ships going to the continent. Further proposed rules would further limit the size of ships touring around Antarctica to those with less than 500 passengers.
Why does this mean for me? Nothing really except that the trip is going to cost me more money than expected. Small cruise ships = more money. Points will only get me so far on this trip. Good thing that I have started my Antarctica fund, a little bit each paycheck.
T-minus 26 months until the BIG 3 0!
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That is why I was shocked and saddened by this Yahoo article about tourism in Antarctica.
According to the article, 35,000 visitors visited Antarctica for tourism reasons, last year. That number is down from the height of 48,000 visitors in the 1980s, and up from 27,000 in 2011-2012. Getting to Antarctica can only be done by boat or flight. For more information, go to the website of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.
However, trips to Antarctica are no longer sightseeing excursions. The article says, "now people want to go paragliding, waterskiing, diving or a variety of other things." The result of the increased tourism on the ecological system is unknown. However, "the United Nations' shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, barred the use of heavy fuel oil below 60 degrees latitude south in 2011." This binding rule hurt the cruise industry by limiting the size of the ships going to the continent. Further proposed rules would further limit the size of ships touring around Antarctica to those with less than 500 passengers.
Why does this mean for me? Nothing really except that the trip is going to cost me more money than expected. Small cruise ships = more money. Points will only get me so far on this trip. Good thing that I have started my Antarctica fund, a little bit each paycheck.
T-minus 26 months until the BIG 3 0!
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us?
E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Monday, March 18, 2013
Saving 50,000 Club Carlson Points and Getting A Free Night!
Kelsey and I are still "massaging" our Australia itinerary that includes stop overs in Singapore and Bangkok for 23 hours each and now that we have our flights mostly routed the way we want them we have moved onto our hotels.
Right now we have:
Two nights at the Park Hyatt Sydney using our two Hyatt nights from the Hyatt visa
Two nights at the Hilton Cairns using one free weekend night from the Hilton Reserve card and 35,000 points (Great Barrier Reef Trip)
One night at the Hilton Sydney using our second free weekend night from the Hilton Reserve Card
One night at the Radisson Blu Sydney using 15,000 Club Carlson points and $115
One night at the Conrad in Singapore for 40,000 Hilton points
One night at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok for 10,000 SPG points
As I was looking at our itinerary and not really feeling good about paying for the cash and points option at the Radisson Blu Sydney I went to read Angelina's post at Just Another Points Traveler about her trip with her father to Australia. They were also staying at the Radisson Blu in Sydney but they had used the power of the Club Carlson Visa card to the fullest. If you are redeeming Club Carlson points for a reward night and need at least two (2) nights the last night on your reservation is free. So you can redeem just one night of Club Carlson points and get a second night for free! Why mess around using more points than needed and I could pull back a Hilton free weekend night certificate for another time!
So I quickly went to the Club Carlson site and put in a search for two nights and found pleanty of availability at the Radisson Blu in Sydney for 50,000 points per night. I went to book and saw a note that as long as the Club Carlson visa cardholder was on the reservation the last night would be automatically free. After booking it was confirmed that for two nights I was only deducted 50,000 points and after canceling my old reservation I even got 15,000 points back into my account for another booking later!
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Right now we have:
Two nights at the Park Hyatt Sydney using our two Hyatt nights from the Hyatt visa
Two nights at the Hilton Cairns using one free weekend night from the Hilton Reserve card and 35,000 points (Great Barrier Reef Trip)
One night at the Hilton Sydney using our second free weekend night from the Hilton Reserve Card
One night at the Radisson Blu Sydney using 15,000 Club Carlson points and $115
One night at the Conrad in Singapore for 40,000 Hilton points
One night at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok for 10,000 SPG points
As I was looking at our itinerary and not really feeling good about paying for the cash and points option at the Radisson Blu Sydney I went to read Angelina's post at Just Another Points Traveler about her trip with her father to Australia. They were also staying at the Radisson Blu in Sydney but they had used the power of the Club Carlson Visa card to the fullest. If you are redeeming Club Carlson points for a reward night and need at least two (2) nights the last night on your reservation is free. So you can redeem just one night of Club Carlson points and get a second night for free! Why mess around using more points than needed and I could pull back a Hilton free weekend night certificate for another time!
So I quickly went to the Club Carlson site and put in a search for two nights and found pleanty of availability at the Radisson Blu in Sydney for 50,000 points per night. I went to book and saw a note that as long as the Club Carlson visa cardholder was on the reservation the last night would be automatically free. After booking it was confirmed that for two nights I was only deducted 50,000 points and after canceling my old reservation I even got 15,000 points back into my account for another booking later!
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us? E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Why I Joined Best Buy's Reward Zone
Yesterday, I signed up for a new loyalty program: Best Buy's Reward Zone.
I have never had a Reward Zone account, weird because I shop at Best Buy often. I think that the reason why I never got an account was that it once had a cost to be part of it. I don't know when they stopped charging for Reward Zone, but ever since the program has had a bad taste.
Something changed yesterday. I don't what, but I now have a loyalty program that I am earning points for.
The main point of the Reward Zone program is to give rewards for loyal customers. For every 250 points, one earns a $5 gift certificate to use at Best Buy. One earns 1 point for $1 spent at Best Buy or BestBuy.com.
To join, go here.
Now one can earn points by completing activities or answering polls on the Reward Zone Facebook page. In addition, one can earn Reward Zone points by answering Audience Reward questions. Weekly, one can earn 12 points by answering 6 questions right (2pts per correct answer).
What really got me to sign-up is their current offer, spent $10 or more in-store or online, earn 500 points: enough for a $10 reward coupon. All one has to do is to complete a purchase over $10 (after discounts), by March 23, in store or online and provide your Reward Zone Number. 500 Reward Zone points will be deposited into your account shortly thereafter. Of course, one should use this promotion online and go through a shopping portal to earn extra points.
Why am I writing about Reward Zone on a travel points blog, first free money is free money and simple free money is a no brainer. Second, Reward Zone points can be transferred into airline points through Points.com.
1,000 Reward Zone Points (as of 3/16/13) can be traded into:
170 Areoplan Miles
131 AAdvantage Miles
255 Asia Miles
139 Frontier Miles
255 Priority Club Points
131 United Mileage Plus Miles
237 US Airway Miles
124 Alaskan Airways Miles
200 Amtrak Miles
107 Virgin Atlantic Miles
While transferring Reward Zone points into miles won't earn you a ton of miles directly. Many times airlines have promotions that give you bonus miles when you complete partner activities ie US Airways GrandSlam RIP, Delta's New Member Bonus, or United's 25% Bonus.
Since Best Buy's Reward Zone is free, it can't hurt to sign up. Worst case, I transfer all the miles to an airline through Points.com.
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us?
E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
I have never had a Reward Zone account, weird because I shop at Best Buy often. I think that the reason why I never got an account was that it once had a cost to be part of it. I don't know when they stopped charging for Reward Zone, but ever since the program has had a bad taste.
Something changed yesterday. I don't what, but I now have a loyalty program that I am earning points for.
The main point of the Reward Zone program is to give rewards for loyal customers. For every 250 points, one earns a $5 gift certificate to use at Best Buy. One earns 1 point for $1 spent at Best Buy or BestBuy.com.
To join, go here.
Now one can earn points by completing activities or answering polls on the Reward Zone Facebook page. In addition, one can earn Reward Zone points by answering Audience Reward questions. Weekly, one can earn 12 points by answering 6 questions right (2pts per correct answer).
What really got me to sign-up is their current offer, spent $10 or more in-store or online, earn 500 points: enough for a $10 reward coupon. All one has to do is to complete a purchase over $10 (after discounts), by March 23, in store or online and provide your Reward Zone Number. 500 Reward Zone points will be deposited into your account shortly thereafter. Of course, one should use this promotion online and go through a shopping portal to earn extra points.
Why am I writing about Reward Zone on a travel points blog, first free money is free money and simple free money is a no brainer. Second, Reward Zone points can be transferred into airline points through Points.com.
1,000 Reward Zone Points (as of 3/16/13) can be traded into:
170 Areoplan Miles
131 AAdvantage Miles
255 Asia Miles
139 Frontier Miles
255 Priority Club Points
131 United Mileage Plus Miles
237 US Airway Miles
124 Alaskan Airways Miles
200 Amtrak Miles
107 Virgin Atlantic Miles
While transferring Reward Zone points into miles won't earn you a ton of miles directly. Many times airlines have promotions that give you bonus miles when you complete partner activities ie US Airways GrandSlam RIP, Delta's New Member Bonus, or United's 25% Bonus.
Since Best Buy's Reward Zone is free, it can't hurt to sign up. Worst case, I transfer all the miles to an airline through Points.com.
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us?
E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
Saturday, March 16, 2013
5,000 Bonus Points for Shuttle Flights with US Airways
I just got an email from US Airways with a promotion offering 5,000 bonus miles for every 3rd segment flown before May 31st, 2013.
A maximum of 50,000 points can be earned with this promotion.
To participate, one needs to register here.
This promotion is very similar to the one I wrote about here, where US Airways offered 1,000 points per shuttle flight..
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us?
E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
A maximum of 50,000 points can be earned with this promotion.
To participate, one needs to register here.
This promotion is very similar to the one I wrote about here, where US Airways offered 1,000 points per shuttle flight..
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Follow us on Twitter @doit4thepoints! Have a question for us?
E-mail us at chris@doitforthepoints.com or jd@doitforthepoints.com
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