Score A Caribbean Cruise For Just $40 Per Day

A few weeks ago, President Trump ordered cruise ships to stop sailing to Cuba. The cruise companies changed their itineraries and added extra stops in the Caribbean. Some travelers stuck with the cruises, but many canceled. Now the cruise ships are trying to fill the boats and offering some great deals. 

Check out this 6-night cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean that stops in Key West and Cozumel, Mexico. An interior cabin will only set you back $258. That includes your room and food. Amazing. 

Or maybe you want to sail the Southern Caribbean and add a few more countries to your travel list. An interior cabin on the Azamara is discounted to $839 per person for a 7 night cruise. 

Dream of checking out Honduras? This 7 night cruise with MSC cruises is discounted to $299 per person. You are actually only in Honduras for 6 hours, but hey, it counts. 

All of these cruises sail in and out of Miami, Florida and do not include airfare. They are for select dates only. Most of them in August and September which is hurricane season. But there were a few with dates into 2020. You can check all of the offers on this landing page. Don't wait, I'm sure these will sell out quickly. 

Essential Items To Take With You When You Fly

Flying can be very hard on your skin and your body. Think jet lag, dry air and close contact with people and dirty surfaces. But there are some things you can do to fight back. 

Here are my essential items: 

1. Sanitizing Wipes - Yes, I am one of those people who wipes down the airplane seat, tray table and even the seat belt as soon as I board the plane. Yes, I get some strange looks. Yes, I get some thank you's when I tell my seatmate that I already cleaned the seat for them. But guess what, I hardly ever get sick after flying. I prefer Clear Defense Sanitizing Wipes. They are non-toxic and created with essential oils. 

2. Sustain - Electrolytes to keep me hydrated during or after the flight. Comes in a powder so I can just add it to water and no problem with security. 

3. Activate C - This is an immunity booster that helps my body fight against the germs and viruses that are so common in the close space aboard a plane. It works way better than off the shelf brands in my opinion. 

4. Renew Lotion - this lotion is amazing for dry skin, eczema, and psoriasis. On planes, it is incredible to help your skin battle the dry air. 

5. Essential Oil - I prefer lavender to help me relax on the plane. I either take a rollerball filled with lavender essential oil or the Renew lotion with lavender. Yum. 

6. Sei Bella Daytime/Nighttime Face Creme - Again, helps battle the dry air inside the plane and keep my face moisturized. 

7. SunShades Lip Balm - non-toxic made with essential oils and keeps my lips moisturized during the flight. It also has SPF so this is my go-to lip balm for everyday use. 


Whatever products you use, be sure they are moisturizing your skin and body plus helping your body fight off viruses and of course, be sure they are non toxic. If you would like to try any of the products mentioned above, email me and I will show you how to stop direct from the manufacturer so you get the best price. That's how we do it at almostfreefamilytravel.com 

Southwest Cancels All Flights To Newark Liberty

Southwest Airlines says it is pulling out of Newark Liberty Airport and focusing its efforts on New York's La Guardia airport instead. The airline cites issues with the 737 MAX 8 as the reason for the change. It is also planning to consolidate to maximize capacity. 

Flights to/from Newark will cease as of November 3rd, 2019. Any flights booked after that date will be refunded. 

Southwest had 20 daily flights to/from Newark servicing cities like San Diego, Denver and Chicago. 

If you are heading to New York, La Guardia will be your go-to option. Southwest also flies to the airport on Long Island. 

How To Score Bonus Miles For Your Back To School Shopping

Americans spend 26.5 billion dollars on Back To School shopping, according to the National Retail Federation. That's around $600 per child. You may spend less, but whatever you do spend, why not let those purchases pay for your next vacation? Now, we are talking, right?
I call it "leveraged spending". I know, it sounds like a boring financial term, BUT, let me show you how it can help you get your next vacation for almost FREE. And I bet that doesn't sound boring. 

Here's how it works: 
Several airlines like Southwest, Alaska and United offer shopping portals. A portal is like an online shopping mall. Lots of retailers are in that mall and offer discounts to the airline's customers. Easy. The discount is in the form of miles on that particular airline. Now, every once in a while, the airline will sweeten the deal and offer bonuses. 

Let's take a look at the Back to School bonus offers:

Southwest is offering 
250 bonus points if you spend $125
900 bonus points if you spend $300
2,000 bonus points if you spend $550


United is offering 
500 bonus miles if you spend $150
1,500 bonus miles if you spend $350
2,500 bonus miles if you spend $600 (the national average)

Alaska is offering
300 bonus miles if you spend $150
750 bonus miles if you spend $300
1,500 bonus miles if you spend $600 (the national average)

These deals get even sweeter because some of the typical back to school shopping retailers are offering their own increased miles for purchases. So you can essentially double dip. You earn bonus points from the retailer and then a bonus from the airline if you spend the required amount. Check this out:

Always check cashbackmonitor.com to see what each retailers is offering. 
Using shopping portals is easy. 

1. follow the airline portal link above
2. login with your airline loyalty account information
3. click on the retailer you would like to shop with 
4. the website will track your purchase and your account will be credit in 4-6 weeks

*Warning, do not open multiple tabs or you may lose the tracking. 

You do not have to spend the entire amount in the same purchase to get the bonus or even at the same retailer. You do have to spend by August 18th, 2019. 
You can also choose to buy online and pick up at the store to save on shipping. 

Also remember to use the right credit card for your purchases. Some cards will reward with extra points/miles for shopping at office supply stores, gas stations, grocery stores etc. Then you are triple dipping, woohoo!  

Happy shopping and watch the miles add up! 

Using your $300 Travel Credit on Sapphire Reserve

One of the nice perks that the Chase Sapphire Reserve offers is a $300 travel credit. The credit helps to offset the hefty $450 annual fee. I was just approved for this card a few months back and it has already offered me thousands of dollars in savings in flights, Global Entry, and the travel credit. I'll talk about the flights in a different post.  

Let's talk about the travel credit. If you login to your Chase credit card account, you will see the green circle on the right hand side that is keeping track of your travel credit. 

Now some cards like Barclays Arrival Plus and the Capital One Venture card, you need to manually erase travel charges. But with the Sapphire Reserve, Chase will automatically erase travel charges up to $300. You don't have to do anything. Kind of nice. 

You can see where Chase credited my account for the balance of the $300 travel credit. It will credit for part of a purchase so you don't have to worry about charging exactly $300. The benefit is exclusive to the Reserve card, but the Sapphire Preferred is a great card too if you are not up for the $450 annual fee. Check out my previous post comparing those two cards and looking at their current bonus offers. . 

We will continue to explore the benefits of this credit card. I have been waiting for years to drop under 5/24 so I could be approved for this card. If you are new to the points/miles game, Chase limits the number of cards you can be approved for to 5/24 or 5 cards in 24 months. That includes Chase cards and other bank cards. 

Buy $10 At Whole Foods, Get $10 Amazon Credit

Here's a deal for you as we get ready for Amazon Prime Days. If you spend $10 at Whole Foods or Amazon Prime Now by July 16th, you will get a $10 credit that you can use at Amazon during Prime Days. 

This deal is only available to Prime members. And some items will not count towards the $10 like alcohol, tobacco, stamps etc. 
Be sure to scan your Prime code from your mobile phone when you check out of Whole Foods. The $10 credit is only good on Amazon Prime Days July 15 and 16. You can only redeem this offer once. 

How To Get An Extra 5% Off On Amazon Prime Day

Get ready to shop! Amazon Prime Days, yes, this year, there are two days of deal shopping with Amazon, will happen July 15th and 16th. 

Amazon started this tradition a few years back and it involves exclusive deals just for Prime members. 

Sample deals this year are: 

Fire TV Cube for $69.99 (50% off)

Echo for $49.99 (50% off)

35% off groceries (think KIND, Gatorade etc.)

You can check Tom's guide for more deals. 

For almostFREEfamilytravel.com the deals are important, but for Prime Day, it's more important which card we use to maximize our points for FREE travel. 

So here's the trick, prepare for Prime Day by buying Amazon gift cards at gas stations, grocery stores or office supply stores that give you 5x points. 

For example:

•  buy Amazon gift cards at Staples or Office Max with your Chase Ink credit card, bam, 5x points. 
• buy Amazon gift cards at gas stations on your Chase FREEDOM credit card. The card offers rotating bonus categories. This quarter, gas stations are in the bonus category. Just make sure they code as gas to get 5x points. 
• buy Amazon gift cards at grocery stores on your American Express Gold Card and earn 4x points. 

There are a lot of options to max points on Amazon Prime Days. Happy Shopping! 

Earn An Easy 500 United Bonus Miles

I love shopping portals! They are a super easy way to earn points, miles and cash back on the purchases you are making anyway. Now, United is offering 500 bonus miles if you install the Mileage Plus Shopping button on your computer and spend $50 by 7/19. 

Do note the fine print that says "you must keep the button installed for at least 30 days to get the bonus" according to the website. 

The button will alert you if a retailer you are trying to purchase from is participating in the Mileage Plus Shopping so it's not a bad thing. 

Before making any purchase, always check cashbackmonitor.com to see which portal is offering the best rate. 

If you try this promotion, let us know how it works for you. 

Mistake - Don't Let Your United Miles Expire

Darn! Even experienced miles and points travelers can make a rookie mistake. I had 8,923 United miles in my account and I let them expire. Ouch. 

The good news is that United.com now offers a way to reinstate your miles. The bad news is it may not help. 

You can pay $50 for up to 5,000 miles and $100 for up to 20,000 miles OR pay $100 and then buy a flight. That might make sense if you had let a lot of miles expire. 

United gives you up to 18 months after the miles expire to reinstate them. 

Nice offer, but Delta miles never expire. 

I will probably let these miles go instead of paying to get them back. But now I will be updating my spreadsheets with a new column. By the way, the easiest way to reset your expiration date without flying is to use the shopping portal. Just one purchase will reset the expiration date. 

What does FREEDOM mean to you?

Today marks the celebration of Independence Day and freedom. Freedom can mean many different things to many different people. It can mean freedom to make your own decisions, freedom to live the lifestyle you choose, freedom to pick your career, freedom of thought and speech and on and on.
So what does freedom mean to you?
For me, it means the freedom of time; time to travel and see the world. The freedom to learn new cultures, meet new people and explore. 
And in order to have that freedom, I need to find a way to make travel affordable for my family.
That's been my mission for the last 4 years with this blog, almostFREEfamilytravel.
Every article, tip and piece of advice I give is meant to help you and me achieve the freedom of travel. 
I learned 4 years ago that travel does not have to be expensive. You just need to have a plan and focus on execution. 
And the gift you can give to your children will live on forever. 
So I hope you continue to enjoy my blog and enjoy your own definition of freedom. 

Stephanie 

Chase Sapphire Reserve Vs. Preferred, Which One?

Two great cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Preferred, but which one should you choose? I just fell under the 5/24 rule which means I can apply for another Chase credit card. Chase changed the rules a few years ago so you can only be approved for 5 credit cards in a two year period. Some cards are excluded, but most are not.
Since I knew I wanted to open two Southwest credit cards in December 2018, I held off opening any other cards for the last 24 months.
The bonus is I actually have four spots open, wow! I was approved for the two Southwest credit cards, woohoo, and earned the companion pass, (The companion pass is one of the best travel perks out there, you can read about this pass by clicking here) but I have another spot. I actually have two spots, but I am going to hold off using the last one.
I have been eyeing the Chase Sapphire cards for awhile because I already have the Chase Freedom and the Chase Ink Business card, but neither of those allow you to transfer Ultimate Reward Points to airlines unless you have a Sapphire card.
So now the question is which one?

Here are the pros and cons:

The biggest con, of course, is the difference in the annual fee $95 versus $450. However, if you break down the annual fee, you might make a different choice. 
For $450, you get a $300 travel credit so that knocks the annual fee to $150 and you also get a $100 Global Entry credit so now you are talking $50. If you value lounge membership and plan to use the Chase travel portal, then the Reserve starts to make sense. 
However, you get 10,000 extra bonus points with the Preferred. 
So you need to weigh the pros and cons depending on how you like to travel. 
Let us know what you decide.