Flying home from New York, I got my first chance to visit an American Express Centurion Lounge. There are currently well over a dozen lounges around the world, largely concentrated in the US, but we haven’t been to an airport with a lounge while it was open until now. We were flying out of La…
Miles/Points
Maximize Your Starbucks Purchases: Peppermint Mochas for Points
It’s officially the holiday season and last week Starbucks released their seasonal holiday drinks to celebrate (though sadly they didn’t bring back my favorite Gingerbread Latte). Did you know that with every Starbucks purchase you make you can be earning points towards FOUR different loyalty programs? That’s pretty big power for a Chestnut Praline Latte….
Making Money on High Fee Credit Cards
It’s easy to look at credit cards with high annual fees and immediately dismiss them in favor of low- or no-annual fee cards, but if the card is a good match for you* then you may be able to come out ahead of the annual fee. *I want to emphasize that not every card is…
Why We Love Turo for Car Rentals
Nine times out of ten when Thomas and I rent a car on a trip we do so through Turo. If you’re never heard of Turo, it’s basically Airbnb for cars. People can list their cars for rent on the app/website, set the price, parameters, etc. and you can book them to use on your…
How to Get 2 CLEAR Memberships for the Price of None
I’ve had TSA PreCheck since I was in middle school and strongly believe it’s worth every penny of the $85 fee (or $100 with Global Entry) every 5 years (and can be free with some credit cards). It’s been the only reason I’ve made my flight on more occasions than I care to count and…
Beware the Fine Print: My Travel Hacking Mistakes
One thing that I learned very quickly as I got into the points/travel hacking game is that there are so many deals out there and lots of ways to save money and earn points. You can literally save thousands of dollars each year by playing your (credit) cards right alone. However, not every offer is…
Why I Cancelled my Southwest Reward Flight and Rebooked with Cash
A few months ago, I booked a flight from Chicago to Boston on Southwest for our Portland, Maine trip for 7,905 points at the Wanna Get Away Fare. Then just a week before the trip, I cancelled the booking and re-purchased a ticket with cash at the new Wanna Get Away Plus fare for $224….
Booking Free Flights with Credit Card Points
As I’ve gotten more and more invested in travel hacking, I’ve gotten good at figuring out how to accrue points, but redeeming them can be really daunting. I have a huge amount of loyalty to Southwest Airlines and am very well versed in booking their flights with points and because we have the Southwest Priority…
Triple Dipping on Points: Airbnb
If you’re buying something with a rewards credit card, there’s a good chance you’re earning some sort of points or cash back reward on your purchases. Some cards even offer more points for certain spending categories. But did you know you can earn even more points beyond that? Here’s a scenario I recently went through…
Southwest Companion Pass: How I Always Fly Free Domestically
Since January 2020, I have taken 21 trips where I have only had to pay $5.60 each way. Ok so that’s not actually free, but pretty dang close. I’ve paid more for a bottle of water in the airport! My secret weapon: the Chase Southwest Credit Card. By accruing 125,000 qualifying points in a calendar…