New Way To Use Wyndham Points!

Wyndham hotel group just bought Americinn Hotels. There are about 200 locations of these budget friendly hotels. They offer free breakfast. Wyndham also bought La Quinta, but we don't know the details of that deal yet. 

However, Americinn Hotel loyalty reward program is now merged with Wyndham. So what does that mean? It means for every 1 point you have with Americinn, you will get 1,500 Wyndham points sometime in March. 

Right now, though, you can stay twice at Americinn Hotels and earn a free night at any Wyndham. 

Wyndham hotels are not my favorite as they are very low budget, but there are some all inclusive and international locations that are nice and great deals. 

Last summer, we spent 3 nights at the Ramada in Prague for just 15,000 points each night. It was a steal since Prague can be very expensive in the summer peak season. 

So for almost free family travel, think about staying twice at a budget Wyndham when you are traveling in the US and earning a FREE stay for your next beach or European vacation. 

Amazon Visa Gives 5% Back At Whole Foods

We are starting to find out what types of perks come with the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods. So here's the latest one.....earn 5% back on anything you buy at Whole Foods with your Amazon Visa. That's pretty sweet. 

The Amazon Rewards Visa Signature is a Chase Bank card so you do need to keep your 5/24 status in mind if you apply for this card. 

But it comes with a $50 Amazon gift card upon approval, no annual fees and you will earn 5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods if you are a Prime member. If not, you will earn 3% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods, 2% at gas stations, drugstores and restaurants and 1% everywhere else. 

If you have certain types of Prime memberships i.e. student, then you are not eligible for 5% cash back. 

Though I prefer collecting miles and points, this may be a good option if you shop at Whole Foods and Amazon. 

Deal Alert To Hawaii

Deal alert! United, American, Delta and Hawaiian are offering $326+ round trip in economy to Hawaii for dates February - May and August - January 2019. For family travel, some of those August dates may work before the kids head back to school or winter break.
You can try google.com/flights/ to get an idea of price/airline and then book through Expedia.com or directly with the airline.
The prices are for flights around the US Mainland to Hawaii so even if you live on the East Coast, give it a shot. Check out my blog post about how to travel in Maui as a family on a budget for ideas once you get your flights booked!
Good Luck!

Time To Think About Winter Break 2018-19

Most airlines open their reservations 330 days in advance so now is the time to think about Winter Break 2018-19. You can search aa.com and united.com for award travel for Christmas and New Years. However, United is releasing the economy saver awards slowly. The United rep told me that you need to wait another 30 days or so for the economy saver awards to show up. 

I checked yesterday and saver awards were listed for December 30th and 31st. 

Southwest.com and Spirit.com are only booking through September. 

Remember the secret to booking award travel over the holidays is to be flexible with your dates. And call the airline to find out availability. Sometimes the awards don't show up online. So get your points ready and good luck! 

Alaska Airlines Flash Sale Ends Today!

Alaska Airlines flash sale ends today at 11:59pm pacific time. You can click on this landing page and select your departure city to see what deals are available. The flight must be booked for travel between March 6, 2018 and May 16, 2018. There is a $125 change fee. 

Some sample fares include:

San Diego to Salt Lake City for 5K + $6 one way

San Diego to San Francisco for 5K + $6 one way

San Diego to Maui for 15K + $6 one way

Washington DC to San Francisco for 12.5K + $6 one way

Los Angeles to Mammoth for 5K + $6 one way

Dallas Love Field to La Guardia for 5K + $6 one way 

Dallas Love Field to Washington Reagan for 5K + $6 one way 

This can make for cheap family travel. Let us know what you find! 

How I Flew To Costa Rica For Almost FREE

A few years back, we were invited to a completely paid for family vacation in Costa Rica. Woohoo, we said. But the only catch was that we had to pay for our own plane tickets and we had to fly on Delta with the family. 

Now I don't collect Delta miles, it's just not an airline that I tend to fly. Delta is part of the Skyteam Alliance which I also don't tend to fly. You can transfer Starwood points to Delta at 1:1 with the 5,000 bonus for every 20,000 points transferred. But at that point, I didn't have enough Starwood points to fund 5 airline tickets. 

So what do you do? Back then I used the Barclays Arrival Plus card to erase the cost of the flights. Now you have another choice, the Capital One Venture card. 

Here's a look at how the two compare:

1. Barclays Arrival Plus offers 40,000 points after spending $3,000. 2x points on all purchases, 5% back on travel redemptions and the $89 annual fee is waived for the first year. 

2. Capital One Venture card offers 50,000 points after spending $3,000. 2x points on all purchases and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. 

The two cards are very similar and offer you a chance to buy your plane ticket and then erase it with points. There are no blackout dates and you can buy on any airline. When we went to Costa Rica, my husband and I each opened a card. He bought 3 tickets and I bought 2 tickets. The tickets count towards your minimum spend. Once the bonus hits, you can redeem the points to erase the cost of the flights. Barclays allows you to erase in $100 increments. Capital One allows you to erase in $25 increments. 

You have 90 days from the date of the purchase to log in to your account and erase the purchase. It's super easy. 

So when we went to Costa Rica, each ticket cost approximately $600 and the bonus is worth about $500 plus the points you get for your minimum spend. So in essence, we bought 3 tickets and got 2 FREE. 

You can only get these cards once so plan carefully. 

Sending Flowers? Earn 1,500 United Miles

If you are planning to send someone flowers this Valentine's Day, you might want to try Teleflora through the United Airlines shopping portal. They are offering 1,500 miles per order.
When I checked you could spend a minimum of $50 to qualify for the bonus miles.
Other portals are offering Valentines Day flower specials as well like 20 miles per $ at aa.com and Proflowers. 15% cash back at 1-800-Flowers at the marketplace at Melaleuca.com, 15% cash back at Teleflora at Ebates.com. Remember if you use my link at Ebates.com to set up your account, you will get an additional $10 cash back.

Stay Twice And Earn A FREE Night

Wyndham just launched a great promotion. Stay two times and get 15,000 points. This is big since every Wyndham hotel charges 15,000 points per night. It doesn't matter if it's a Super 8 or an all-inclusive resort. We used Wyndham to stay at the Ramada in central Prague this summer. Great location, great breakfast and great hotel! 

Here's the fine print:

Earn a free night at one of our 8,000+ hotels worldwide, just stay twice.* Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Ramada, Dolce, and more—two qualified stays anywhere gets Wyndham Rewards® members an additional 15,000 points, enough for up to one free night.* Remember to register and book by June 30, 2018 and complete your stays by July 1, 2018. Where to next?

Not a Wyndham Rewards member? You can still book your stays now and register for the offer later. Just make sure to register before you complete your first qualified stay.

*15,000 Wyndham Rewards points are good for one standard bedroom per night, subject to availability, blackout dates/rates, and other restrictions.Resort fees apply at Caesars hotels, even for award nights, and cannot be paid with points. See Promotion Terms & Conditions for additional information.

Remember to book straight through Wyndham and not use a third party site. 

Find Out How To Save 50% At Your Favorite Restaurant

Eating out can be super expensive especially for a family. Now Groupon is offering a plus service to help consumers get cash back when they go out to eat. 

There are several apps that already offer this service so check around to see which one your favorite restaurant is signed up with. 

But the process is easy. 

1. Login to Groupon Plus

2. Link your credit card 

3. When you go to your favorite restaurant, use that credit card and you will get the cash back onto your credit card. 

Yelp offers a similar service and I got $21 dollars cash back when I took my daughter and her friends out for a birthday celebration. Couple of others are Drop App, Amex offers, Southwest Dining and if you want to direct the cash back towards a school or charity, try the Benefit app. 

Get 10% Cash Back On Walmart.com

It doesn't happen very often, 10% cash back at Walmart.com. The 10% is on clothing, shoes, jewelry, furniture, appliances, home, beauty. Then it's 5% back on electronics, movies, music and books.
To access this incredible deal, you need to sign up for an Ebates.com account. It's free to sign up and I would appreciate it if you would use my link. You will get a bonus $10 cash back just for using my link.
Once you create your account, find Walmart in the list of stores, click on the shop now button and Ebates will keep track of how much you spend. Once you log $5 in cash back, Ebates will send you a check. They will send you an email first offering you a chance to redeem your cash back for a gift card. You will actually get more cash back if you take the gift card. But it's your choice.

Happy Shopping!

Buy 3 Airline Tickets, Get 1 FREE

If you have plans to travel from the US to Mexico or Central America, you could buy 3 tickets and get 1 FREE.
Here's the step by step how to do it:

1. You will need to open an AeroMexico credit card
2. Upon approval, they will send you a complimentary companion voucher for flights from the US to Mexico. That's a bonus.
2. Make one purchase and you will earn 10,000 miles, another bonus. Aeromexico is part of the Sky Team so you can book using Chase Ultimate Rewards and Starwood Points.
3. But here's the perk we are after, use your new card to buy 3 airline tickets and get the 4th free. You must call Aeromexico at 1 800 237 6639 to make the reservation and then go to the Aeromexico counter at the airport to actually buy your tickets. The service agent told me they need to verify the card. All 4 tickets must be for the same itinerary, but do not have to be limited to the US and Mexico.
4. You will earn double miles on the tickets you buy.
5. If you choose to keep this card, you will earn a $99 companion certificate every year on your anniversary.

The card does not appear to have an annual fee.

It's a nice perk and could save you up to $1,000. That's how we do almost FREE family travel.