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.