Happy Holidays From All Of Us

 

As we approach the end of the strangest year I've ever experienced, I am humbled. This year, I have been forced to slow down, explore my neighborhood and my home city. My son put it best when we were considering heading to Hawaii over the holidays, he said "we live here, why do we need to go somewhere else?"

Yep, we live here. We are fortunate to live in San Diego and lots of people come here for vacation. So why do we want to explore somewhere else in the middle of a pandemic? Good point. 

So for now we stay put, explore our home town, enjoy time with our immediate loved ones, and watch a lot of sunsets. And when I have downtime, I look at travel websites and dream of a time when we can travel again. 

It's not too bad. So this holiday season, wherever you live, enjoy the moments, the treasures of your hometown like a tourist. And we wait together for better times in 2021. 

Alaska Airlines BOGO Promotion Is Back

 

It's back! Alaska Airlines just brought back the BOGO sale, but you need to hurry. You must book your ticket by Dec. 28th, 2020 for travel anytime from January 12, 2021-May 19, 2021. 

The sale is valid on most Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays for most flights. For flights to Hawaii, Mexico, and Costa Rica, the sale is offered on Monday - Wednesday, and the return is offered on Tuesday-Thursday. Blackout dates: Feb. 11-15, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 17, 2021. You will need to use the code LETSGOBOGO in the booking form.  and enter 2 travelers. 

I did a quick search of flights to Honolulu from San Diego and I found plenty of availability for the low fares. 

The return was a bit more expensive. So the total for two people came to $246.40 round trip, pretty good. Now I have a Southwest Companion Pass and if you compare, it's a better deal to fly Southwest. If you use points for your trip, then it's almost FREE which is the best, of course. 

Remember, you must book your travel by December 28th at 11:59pm PT. If you pay for your reservation with your Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you will earn 2x points on travel and with your Reserve you will earn 3x points. You can read about why these are my two favorite cards here and if you decide to apply for one, please consider using my referral link. 

New Ways To Redeem Miles With Barclays Arrival Card

 

If you hold a Barclays Arrival Plus Mastercard (closed to new applicants), you have a new way to redeem your miles, but just for a few weeks. 

Many of the leading credit cards like Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve are offering new ways to redeem points other than travel since many of us have not traveled in 2020. I just redeemed thousands of Chase Ultimate Reward points to pay for my bathroom remodel - woohoo! 

And many of these new redemption methods are offering better value than using them for travel. 

Now Barclays is allowing you to redeem your miles for credit on gas, grocery store, and restaurant purchases. 

This offer is only valid through January 31,2021, but you can use them to erase purchases made in the past 120 days. 

As usual, you will also earn 5% of redeemed miles back to use on future redemption. 

Chase FREEDOM and FLEX Q1 Bonus Announced

 

One of the benefits of the no annual fee Chase FREEDOM (closed to new card holders) and the new FLEX card are the rotating 5% or 5x points bonus categories. 

Both of these cards earn Chase Ultimate Reward Points which are my new favorite due to their flexibility to use for hotels, airlines, and cashback. I just used the points to pay for part of my bathroom remodel.  You can check out how I am maxing out these points right now. 

Chase just announced the bonus categories for Q1. Drumroll, please. The categories are wholesale clubs (Sam's BJ's and Costco), cable, internet, phone, and some streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, Spotify and more). These bonus categories are for spending between Jan. 1, 2021, and March 31, 2021. 

Note that Costco only accepts Visa in store so the FREEDOM FLEX which is a Mastercard will not be accepted, however, if you have the FREEDOM card, you can use that. 

You need to activate this offer by clicking here. You can activate any time before March 14, 2021, but I like to do it early. 

If you don't have the FREEDOM Flex card yet, you can apply for it here using my referral link. You will get 20,000 points for a $500 minimum spend plus 5x points on grocery purchases up to $12,000 or one year. It's a no annual fee card so it's pretty much a no brainer. 

Last Day To Convert Southwest Travel Funds To Points

 

Earlier this year, Southwest announced that you could take leftover travel funds stored in your account and convert them to points instead of letting them expire. But today, December 15th, is the last day to do that. 

What are travel funds?

When you cancel a Southwest flight, Southwest will ask you if you want the difference or the taxes returned to your credit card or stored in your account as travel funds. If you chose travel funds, they are stored in your account until you book your next flight. 

Side note, I always choose to refund the dollars to my credit card unless I'm rebooking right away. Southwest has made it easier to find your travel funds and use them since it changed the computer program earlier this year, but it's still easier to just refund to your card. 

To convert your travel funds

1. log into your Southwest account

2. Click on my account

3. Click on the banner at the top that talks about travel funds

4. Click on the tab "My Travel Funds" 

5. If you have any that are eligible to convert, click the convert button 

The points should be added to your account immediately and you can use them for any future flight. Southwest points and the Southwest companion pass are great because they are so flexible. You can read about both here. 

The Southwest credit cards are one of the easiest ways to earn points fast, right now, the personal cards are offering a bonus of 80,000 points. If you decide to apply, please consider using our referral link. 

The Trick To Getting More Value Out Of Chase Ultimate Reward Points

 

When I wake up and see this in my Chase.com account, that makes for a great day! I applied for the new Chase FREEDOM Flex card in October and bam, this month, I was awarded the 20,000 point bonus. 

The Flex card requires just a $500 minimum spend in the first three months to earn the bonus. It has no annual fee and right now, it also earns 5% at grocery stores for the first year or up to $12,000. It also comes with the Chase rotating categories which for Q4 are Paypal and Walmart. 

I already had the Chase FREEDOM card, it's been my go-to card forever. But this is a new product so I was eligible to apply and get the bonus. I may close my old FREEDOM card or I may hold onto it in order to max out the rotating categories. 

Chase Ultimate Reward Points are amazing because they are so flexible and during the pandemic, Chase added a pay yourself back benefit to the Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards where you can cash in the points for grocery and home improvement purchases. The Sapphire Preferred card has a $95 annual fee, but I think it's totally worth it. This is one of my favorite cards. The Sapphire Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but before you gasp, it also comes with a $300 travel credit which right now is a grocery credit plus FREE Doordash, Lyft and Peloton membership and a $120 credit at Doordash. It also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit and FREE airport lounge access. 

So here's the trick to get more value out of the points. 

The Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal and the Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. Chase also allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your new FREEDOM FLEX card to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve to get more value. 

It's easy. 

• Just log into your Chase.com account
• Click on the earn/use points and you'll see this dashboard. It's expanded a lot since the pandemic started. One of the things I love about Chase is how user friendly the site is. You can see exactly how many points you have, how to use them, and how to earn them. 
• Click on combine points and you will see the option to move points from one card to another. You can also move points from one family member to another if your family member only has a no fee card or even a Preferred card. 

Chase will ask you how many points you want to move, review your order and bam, instant transfer. Now you can use those points for travel or to pay yourself back for any qualified purchases you made in the past 90 days. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase FREEDOM Flex or Sapphire Preferred, please consider using my referral link. You get the same bonus and I also get a small bonus for referring you. That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

Hurry! BOGO Promotion on Alaska Airlines

 

Alaska Airlines just launched a BOGO promotion for 2021! 

Here's how it works: Book a flight to, from, or within California, and get a second ticket on the same flight for just the taxes and fees.
Pretty sweet! 

The details are you need to fly between California and Alaska Airlines cities in the US and Canada between January 5, and March 11, 2021.  There are some day of week restrictions and blackout dates. 

Shop quick! This deal ends at 11:59 pm PT on December 9, 2020.

Here’s how it works:

1. In the booking form on this page, enter your departure and arrival cities, dates, and at least 2 travelers.
   • Travel is valid January 5 - March 11, 2021.
   • Travel to Hawaii is valid Sundays - Wednesdays
   • Travel from Hawaii is valid Tuesdays - Fridays
   • Travel to/from all other cities in the US and Canada is valid Mondays - Thursdays and Saturdays
   • Blackout dates of February 11-22, 2021, apply.
2. Enter CALIBOGO into the discount code field, and then click "Find flights" to start your search.

I did a quick search on flights from San Diego to Salt Lake City on February 6th and it worked! Flight was 50% off for 2 people totaling just $113.70 for the one way tickets. Alaska is waiving their change and cancel fees for all Main and First class tickets booked through Dec. 31, 2020. Saver tickets cannot be changed, but may be canceled for travel credit. 

Early holiday present from Alaska Airlines. Woohoo! 

How You Can Get A FREE Flight To Hawaii

 

Hawaii is launching its "Movers and Shakas" pilot program to lure remote workers to relocate temporarily to the islands. If you are one of the first 50 to be accepted into the program, you will get FREE airfare to Hawaii. The application opened Nov. 29th and closes Dec. 15th. Everyone accepted into the program will be eligible for discounted hotel rates. There are some hotels also offering work/play packages like Marriott and Hyatt. 

However, I did a quick search and the discounted hotel rate for 30 days is about $5,000 or $160 per night. On Airbnb.com, you could get a studio apartment in Waikiki for half of that and you would have access to a kitchen. Think about lower food costs! 

Before you leap at this opportunity, there are few requirements,

1. you must commit to staying at least 30 days

2. you must agree to volunteer at an approved community organization

My older daughter and I did a program several years ago where we lived with a host family and volunteered in a low-income preschool in Ecuador for a month and it was a life-changing experience. 

But it may not be for everyone. The bottom line is this may be a great opportunity for remote workers also looking to give back and dive into the Hawaiian community. 

If you'd rather hang out at a luxury hotel drinking pina coladas, this may not be the deal for you. 

Apply Now To Get 80,000 Southwest Points And A Companion Pass

 

Southwest is offering 80,000 points on all three of their personal credit cards which is one of the highest offers we have seen, but there is a catch. The good news, 90,000 points puts you well in reach of the best perk in travel, the Southwest Companion Pass. 

The pass gets you buy one, get one FREE for up to two years on Southwest Airlines. And you want to earn it at the beginning of the year so you max out the two years so the timing is fantastic. You can read my previous post to see how to do that. 

However, the catch here is that there are two minimum spends you need to hit to earn the bonuses. Let me explain. 

1. 50,000 bonus points when spend $2,000 in the first three months which is not bad since it's traditionally been a higher minimum spend. 

2. 30,000 bonus points when you spend $10,000 in your first 9 months

If you break it down, it's just about $1,000 per month which is totally doable, but you won't get the companion pass until you hit that bonus. Since you have to earn all of your points in the same calendar year to earn the companion pass and you pass is good for the rest of this year and the next year, you will want to reach that $10,000 minimum as fast as possible. 

Even if you can't reach the $10,000 quickly, the 50,000 points puts you 1/3 of the way towards the 125,000 points needed to earn the pass. 

Make sense?

There are 3 personal credit cards offered in this promotion, the Priority, the Premium and the Plus. My favorite is the Priority because with all the perks, the annual fee is actually less than the others. And the cards earn 5x points on groceries and Amazon through Dec. 31, 2020. 

If you own a small business, you are allowed to hold a Southwest business card and a personal card at the same time so you may want to think about opening both to reach the companion pass as well. 

Now if you have received any Southwest credit card bonus in the past 24 months, you are not eligible to get it again plus you can only hold one personal card at a time. 

Where to Find The Best Travel Deals on Cyber Monday

 

We may not be able to travel yet, but you can get some deals on Cyber Monday to use when we can. A lot of the deals out there right now come with FREE cancellation or big travel windows which gives you a lot of flexibility. Be sure to check out the cruise lines and theme parks since they are offering amazing benefits along with discounted rates. Also, many of the airlines and hotels are offering a chance to buy points like Jet Blue, IHG, and United.

Now I don't usually recommend buying points, but when they offer a 100% bonus and you have someplace in mind, it could be worth it. 

You can check out this fantastic comprehensive list of deals from our friends at ThePointsGuy.com. 

And here’s a list of some of the Cyber Monday travel deals for this year from Shannon at Blackfriday.com:

• American Airlines: Book by Dec. 1 (for travel through March 31), and get up to 20% off. The discount amount depends on how much you spend.
• Expedia: The Cyber Monday sale runs through Dec. 1. Get up to 50% off select stays booked through the app.
• Hotels.com: Get an extra 5% off through Nov. 30 (for travel until Sept. 21, 2021).
• Hotwire: Get an additional 12% off all Hot Rate hotel bookings in-app. Use code BF12. The sale runs Friday Nov. 27 through Monday Nov. 30.
• Karisma Hotels & Resorts: Shop the mystery sale through Dec. 7, and get rates as low as $99 per person at Karisma resorts. Travel between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.
• Orbitz: Promo code APPVENTURE15 gets you 15% off on select hotels when you book via the app. Book by Dec. 1
• Priceline: Sign up for the email list by Nov. 29, to receive special offers through Nov. 30 (aka Cyber Monday). These offers include mystery coupons for 99%, 15% or 10% off.
• Princess Cruises: The Cyber Sale (which runs through Nov. 30), offers reduced deposits, extra onboard spending money and up to 50% off deposits. Deals are good for departing May 2021 and later.
• Riu Resorts: Book by Dec. 4 for stays through Dec. 23, 2021, and get an extra 15% off all-inclusive beach resorts.
• Travelocity: Use promo code CYBER10 to save 10% when you book by 11:59 p.m. CST on Dec. 1. Most travel by Sept. 12, 2021.

If you do take advantage of the sales, be sure to use the right credit card to max the points. The Sapphire Preferred gets 2x points on travel and the Reserve gets 3x points. Good luck and let us know what you find! 

How To Max Out Points and Miles during Black Friday Shopping

 

This week marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season and specifically the Black Friday sales. Now this year is going to look very different with so many people just trying to make ends meet and retailers trying to save a dismal year. 

So whether you will be taking advantage of the sales a lot or a little, make each purchase count. One day, we will be traveling again, and why not, travel for FREE. 

So a few things to remember when you are shopping over the holiday season:

1. Use the right credit card - this year has been incredible for increased cashback percentages on certain types of purchases. For example, 

• the new Chase Flex credit card offered new credit cardholders 5% back on groceries for one year or up to $12,000. When you are shopping for that Thanksgiving meal ingredients, that would be the card to use. 
• Chase Southwest credit cards offered a targetted offer of 5x points on Amazon purchases this quarter so this would be the card to use at that retailer. And now there is a more general offer for 5x points on Amazon and groceries, you need to activate the offer with this link.
• Chase quarterly bonus categories on Chase Flex and Chase Freedom offer 5x points at Paypal and Walmart this quarter. 
• Cards like Sapphire Preferred and Reserve offer increased percentages at restaurants, travel and grocery stores. Both cards also offer a cash back program where you can erase purchases at an increased 25% and 50% value. 
• Discover offers 5% this quarter at Amazon, Target and Walmart. 

2. Shopping portals - I love shopping portals, this is FREE money. You can check out my guide to shopping portals here. The bottom line is never make a purchase online without clicking on a shopping portal. It costs you nothing and puts money back in your pocket. And right now, Rakuten will give you $40 FREE when you use this referral link. 

3. Amex and Chase offers - check your AmericanExpress and Chase account to see what offers are available. Honestly, I don't find the best offers here, but once in a while, there is a gem. A few months ago, I found $50 back on any Marriott hotel stay. Pretty sweet! 

4. Open a new credit card and use the purchases to meet your minimum spend and get the bonus. One of the best bonuses and cards is the Sapphire Preferred which is offering a 75,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus and 1.25 point cash back program. 

The bottom line is every time you make a purchase make it count twice or three times towards that FREE trip. I call it leveraged spending and in the future, we will call it FREE travel. Woohoo! 

How You Can Score A FREE Flight To Santorini, Greece

 

One of the most amazing trips I ever took was to the Greek Islands including the island of Santorini pictured above. I spent one month traveling from island to island enjoying the sun, ruins, blue-roofed homes and yummy food. This has to be on everyone's bucket list. 

Now Aegean Airlines is offering 5,000 award miles just for signing up for their program. The miles never expire so this is really a no-brainer. Aegean Airlines is a Greek airline and a Star Alliance partner. A quick check shows 5,000 reward miles are valued at approximately $72 and can get you a FREE flight from Athens to any Greek island. Pretty sweet!

Or you could use it for short flights to neighboring countries. A quick search of other flights shows that a flight from Athens to neighboring countries like Italy, Turkey, and Croatia cost about 7,000 reward miles and hop over to London or anywhere in Europe for 11,000 reward miles. 

Aegean Airlines has a shopping portal and reward mile earning deals with Booking.com and other booking sites for hotels and cars. So you could run this up pretty quickly and save hundreds on flights. Plus Aegean Airlines is a partner with Star Alliance so you could use the reward miles to book on United and other airlines. Aegean Airlines typically charges less miles for the same flights as United. 

Just use this link to register and open a new account. Once the promotion ends, you will see 5,000 award miles deposited into your account. You will also get 1,000 miles that count towards Elite status if that's important to you. 

Big Bonuses Offered To Small Business

 

Two great new offers from Chase for small businesses. Both cards carry no annual fee and a $750 bonus for a $7,500 minimum spend. That's the highest offer Chase has ever offered on these two cards. Remember many businesses and side gigs can qualify as a small business. 

So which one to choose? 

• Ink Unlimited offers 1.5% cashback on all purchases. It's the ultimate in simplicity. 
• Ink Business Cash offers 5x points on internet, cable, office supply stores and phone, 2x on gas stations and restaurants, and 1x on everything else. 

Remember both of these cards actually earn Chase Ultimate Reward points which you can use at dozens of hotels, airlines, in the travel portal, cashback or to erase certain purchases. And if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you can transfer your points to those cards increasing their value even more. Check it out here. 

Huge Bonus From The #1 Shopping Portal

 

If you follow me at all, you know how much I love shopping portals. Portals are FREE money and I love that! They are essentially a marketplace of retailers that offer cashback, miles, or points in exchange for being listed on the marketplace. What does this mean for you? I call it leveraged spending, it sounds like a very financial term, but it really just means getting more value out of each purchase. 

Picture this, you need to buy a new toilet from Home Depot. You can buy it straight from homedepot.com, you can walk into the store and buy it OR you can click on a shopping portal to reach homedepot.com and buy it there and get 3%-10% cashback. Woohoo! 

Most of the airlines and Chase offer shopping portals plus there are a few cashback portals including my favorite Rakuten used to be Ebates. 

Stores come and go and the cashback rates change all the time. I use cashbackmonitor.com to check the percentages for retailers. The best part is when you get the email from Rakuten saying you have a big fat check on the way. If you are not a Rakuten member yet, use this link to open your account and you will get $40 when you spend $40. Cha-ching! 

How You Can Score Another FREE National Park Pass

 

Do you have a fifth grader? If so, you now qualify for a FREE National Park Pass. Before today, the FREE pass was awarded only to 4th grade students, but now it has been expanded to include fifth graders too. 

So if you took advantage of the FREE pass last year when you had a 4th grader, well, now I'm assuming your child is in fifth grade and qualifies you again. 

Nice! 

There are 421 National Parks in the US including Yellowstone National Park pictured above and entry fees vary from just a few dollars to $35 per day. So the pass is a huge savings and it's good for the car not just for the people inside. 

Last year, we visited three National Parks in one trip, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons, the pass saved us hundreds of dollars. 

To get the pass for your 4th grader, you need to click on the official site, but for your 5th grader, you can just print the voucher and place it on the dashboard of your car. 

If you don't have a 4th or 5th grader, the pass sells for just $80 per year and is good for 12 months (the month you buy it in and the entire year). There are several days a year that are fee-free days too like Veteran's Day. 

Incredible Chase Sapphire Preferred 80,000 Bonus Offer Ends Sunday

 

Probably the highest ever bonus offer we have ever seen for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, 80,000 points ends Sunday. Wow! 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be worth up to $1,000 in travel or right now, $925 in FREE groceries. 

So who is eligible for this card? According to Chase, if you have never held a Sapphire credit card before, you are eligible OR if it's been at least 48 months since you have held a Sapphire credit card, you are eligible. 

The fine details include a $95 annual fee which is not waived for the first year and $4,000 minimum spend in the first three months. 

The Sapphire Preferred is one of my favorite travel cards because Ultimate Rewards points are so flexible. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines plus several hotel chains. You can also use them in the Chase travel portal with a 25% bonus. Through the end of the month, you can also pay yourself back by using the points at a 25% bonus to erase grocery purchases. 

How You Can Earn Bonus Miles On Your Holiday Purchases

 

If you follow my blog, you know how much I love shopping portals! It's FREE money. And now, the airlines are offering bonus points on your purchases when you click through the portals. So how does it work?

Think of a shopping portal like Target or Costco, it's a collection of stores on the shelf. Except the difference is that you get a bonus every time you choose to buy a product. The retailers agree to offer cash back or points or miles bonuses in exchange for being displayed on the store shelf. 

Most of the airlines American, United, Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit, British Airways, Delta, Alaska, Virgin Atlantic have portals. Hotels like Choice and Wyndham have portals. Amtrak has a portal too. And then Chase Ultimate Rewards, Wells Fargo, and Barclays have portals and then there are the cashback ones like Rakuten. I use cashbackmonitor.com to find the best percentage normally when I make a purchase OR I'll use the portal to top off an account. 

However, during the holidays, the airline portals launch bonus promotions that are great to take advantage of. 

The bonus right now can earn you up to 5,000 bonus miles!  

United - spend $100, get 500 bonus miles 

             spend $500, get 2,500 bonus miles 

             spend $1,000, get 5000 bonus miles 

Southwest - spend $100, get 500 bonus miles 

                   spend $500, get 1000 bonus miles 

                   spend $1000, get 3,500 bonus miles 

Plus United is giving up to a 1,000-mile bonus if you are a new shopper. So next time, you go to make an online purchase, check those portals first, and watch the miles/points/cash back add up.

If you use my link for Rakuten, a cashback portal, you get a $30 bonus when you make your first purchase! 

Activate Your Lyft Pink Membership by Oct. 31

 

One of the many benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is a one year FREE membership to Lyft Pink. Now Chase has extended the membership another five months. Lyft Pink membership includes preferred pricing, priority airport pickups, exclusive offers with one year of complimentary Lyft Pink, a minimum value of $199, when you or your authorized user activates with a Reserve card by March 31, 2022. Lyft Pink will be registered in the name of the cardmember who first activates the benefit. To receive the Lyft Pink benefits, the enrolled cardmember must use their Reserve card to pay for Lyft rides.

 If you activated your membership already then you do not need to do anything. If you did not activate it yet, you need to do that before October 31, 2020 by logging into your Chase account and clicking on the Ultimate Rewards dashboard. 

The Sapphire Reserve comes with the following benefits:

• Flexibility with Ultimate Reward Points 
• 1.5 value in the travel portal 
• $300 travel credit 
• $100 global entry credit 
• Priority Pass Lounge membership 
• FREE Lyft Pink membership
• FREE Doordash Pass 

I value Lyft Pink membership at $199.  You already get 10x points through March 2022 when you use your Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay when you ride Lyft

If you feel like the Sapphire Reserve's $550 annual fee is out of your comfort level, then opt for the Sapphire Preferred credit card. Right now, it is offering 80,000 Ultimate Reward points for a $4,000 spend with just a $95 annual fee. This card offers the most flexibility since you can transfer points to hotels and airlines plus cash them in for cashback. 

Chase Adds Peloton Membership Benefits

 

Yet another benefit added to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred credit cards. These two cards are already my favorite due to the benefits and flexibility. You can check out the benefits and the difference between the two cards here. 

Now Chase is adding a benefit where Sapphire Reserve card holders receive up to $120 in statement credits on either Peloton Digital or All-Access Memberships through December 2021. Chase Sapphire Preferred card holders receive $60. Memberships must be bought directly from Peloton.

Yet another reason to apply for one of these cards especially while the 80,000 bonus is being offered.

Marriott Extends FREE Night Certificates Until August 2021

 

According to our friends at FrequentMiler.com , Marriott Bonvoy is planning to extend FREE night certificates earned with a credit card to August 2021. Not all certificates qualify however. Any certificates that were extended already so ones that were originally scheduled to expire in 2019 will not be extended. But any certificates with current expiration dates of 2020 or through July 2021 will be extended to August 2021. 

That's great news! Marriott says the adjustment will be made on December 11th, 2020 so keep an eye on those certificate dates. 

Marriott also announced that the points expiration date has been extended to August 2021.

If you don't have a Marriott credit card yet, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is currently offering an amazing 5 nights FREE with a $5,000 spend in the first 3 months. There is a $95 annual fee on this card. This bonus could be worth up to 250,000 points if you cashed in the points for 5 nights at a category 5 or category 6 standard or even a category 7 off-peak. 

Which Airline Should You Travel On Right Now

 

Some of us are staying put, but after 7 months in our homes, lots of us are ready to travel or need to travel to take care of loved ones or to bring loved ones home. So the question is which airline should you fly right now?

Since it changes day by day, I will share my experience flying recently on two different airlines and I'll run through the policies at the other airlines. 

Recently, I flew on Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. My daughter flew on Delta Airlines so I'll run through those experiences first. 

Southwest Airlines is not selling the middle seat through November 30th so that's a huge plus. Since you get to choose your own seat on Southwest, they are boarding the plane just 10 people at a time and making sure passengers know that there is enough room for everyone to have an aisle or window seat. That extra space just made me feel safer and lowered my stress level. Seats in the waiting area were also marked off so people could socially distance. 

On board, the flight attendants handed out a glass of water and a packaged snack. I thought the glass of water was a bit strange, I would rather have had a sealed bottle, but I bring my own water anyway so it wasn't an issue. The airplane felt and looked clean though I bring natural sanitizing wipes to clean my space. Check out my post about some places you want to clean that you wouldn't think about. 

Some people have said they are concerned about direct flights and most flights on Southwest are not direct. I changed planes at Baltimore Washington International and it was pretty empty. 

Another flight I took recently was on American Airlines. Totally different experience. The flight was packed, in fact, as we were boarding, the flight attendants alerted us that every seat would be filled. Argh. 

The flight attendants handed us a bottle of water and snack as we boarded. Once onboard, the plane felt very cramped and small. For me personally, the flight attendants seemed to invade my personal space several times. When we changed planes in Charlotte, North Carolina, the airport was jam-packed with people. Once we exited the American terminal, the crowd dispersed, but yikes. I wish American would think of staggering arrival times and gates. 

My daughter flew Delta Airlines and said it was great. She had a whole row to herself on all the flights. They handed her a snack bag with water and a few packaged goods as she boarded. 

At this point, all airlines require masks on board. If you forget, they some at the gate. The masks must be real masks (no holes, no bandanas, no filters). Right now, Alaska, Hawaiian, Jet Blue, Delta and Southwest are the only airlines blocking the middle seats. 

The bottom line is fly if you feel comfortable. There have been very few reports if any of flight attendants or passengers getting sick.