Off The Beaten Path Hikes in San Diego

 

If you live in San Diego or plan to travel to San Diego once things return to a more normal state, you will want to file this post away in your notes. I'm going to tell you about two off-the-beaten-path urban hikes that a lot of locals don't know about. 

Both of these hikes are moderate and probably not the best for small children. 

The first hike called Ho Chi Minh Trail or Saigon Trail rewards you with the view in the above photo when you get about halfway. From this point though, you have to shimmy between the rocks to reach the beach down below. It's a bit challenging. 

I've done this hike twice and I'm not embarrassed to say I stopped at this point. 

Beautiful views and a satisfying hike. 

The entrance to this trail is between two homes on La Jolla Farms Road across from UCSD. It's easy to miss. There is plenty of parking. You can also park at the Torrey Pines Gliderport and walk down the hill. 

Once you reach the bottom if you choose to hike all the way to the beach go right to check out the nude beach. 

The second off-the-beaten-path hike is called Seven Bridges. This hike is basically flat through urban areas, but it's a 5.5 mile long loop. During the hike, you cross seven urban bridges including the longest Quince Street bridge pictured above. Most of the bridges are marked and some feature historical plaques. 

The path is well documented on this website. There is plenty of parking in Balboa Park directly across from the first bridge so that's a good place to start the hike.

My favorite bridge was number 6, the Vermont Street Bridge. This bridge features quotes and puzzles like the one pictured above. It's truly inspiring! 

You can easily get to San Diego from anywhere in the US by flying Southwest Airlines. Right now, all three Southwest credit cards are offering a 30,000 point bonus with a companion pass. You can research the different cards here to see which one is right for you.  The companion pass is an unlimited BOGO pass on any Southwest flight for one year. It's the best perk in travel. You can read about the offer and companion pass here. 

It's a fantastic offer that ends March 10th, 2021. If you decide to take advantage, please consider using my referral link. 

 

Why You Should Do This First Before You Shop Online

 

With much of the country plunged into a deep freeze, you may opt for shopping online. But before you press that purchase button, listen up! You need to do something before you press the buy button that could double or triple your points, miles, or cash back. 

It's called shopping portals and they are my favorite! Most of the airlines have them, some of the hotel chains, some companies, and there are even independent cashback portals. There are even a few portals that will direct a percentage of your purchase to your favorite charity, think Amazon Smile and the Benefit app. 

So how do they work? Easy think of it as a giant marketplace, all your favorite retailers agree to be listed in the marketplace (free advertising for them) in exchange for giving you a percentage of your purchase back in the form of points, miles, or cash. 

I just got an email this morning letting me know that I have a big, fat check heading my way from Rakuten.com used to be Ebates.com. 

This is cashback on things I would have bought anyway....think pet food, printer ink, clothes, household items, and my favorite, flowers. For example, one of my favorite portals that you can only shop at with a personal referral offers 48% back on flowers. Wow! Makes sending flowers to my mom for Valentine's Day a bit less expensive. 

Here's how it works: if the flowers are $45, then the portal tracks my purchase and will send $22 back to my account as cashback. Yep, $22, incredible. 

Now some portals offer hotel points or airline miles like Southwest, United and American Airlines back when you shop and others offer cashback like Rakuten. If you use my referral link for Rakuten, you will get $25 extra cashback on your first purchase. 

You can also use the site cashbackmonitor.com to compare offers from the different portals. I switch which portal I use based on the percentage or points for that specific purchase OR if I am trying to top off an account OR if a portal is offering a bonus. If you are strategic, you can earn thousands of points/miles or cashback. 

Be very careful that you don't accidentally click out of the portal before you press the buy button. Sometimes, I will click through to the portal once I have everything in my cart just to be certain. 

This is FREE money, points, and miles and FREE or almost FREE is how we roll here! 

How You Can Get 5x Chase Points On Gas Purchases

 

You still have two weeks to take advantage of 5x points on gas purchases. Just register your card at this website and then charge up to $150 on fuel.

 The offer is only good on Chase Freedom (not open  to new customers) and the new Freedom Flex. You can only apply it to one card. Again, here's the registration website. 

Chase Ultimate Reward points are amazing due to their flexibility. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines, hotels, trade them in for cash back or use them in the Chase travel portal. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you get a bonus 25% or 50% when you use the points. If you don't have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, check those cards out here. And if you decide to apply for any of these cards, consider using my referral link. 

New Amazing Southwest Credit Card Bonus - One Word: Companion Pass

 

New amazing offer from Chase and Southwest! The offer is good on any of the personal Southwest credit cards, the Plus, Premier and Priority. I'll break down the pros and cons of each card below. 

Regardless of the card you choose, the offer is:

• Spend a minimum of $5,000 within 3 months 
• Earn 30,000 Southwest points 
• Earn a Companion Pass good thru Feb. 2022

The Companion Pass is one of the best perks in travel. It is good for BOGO travel on any Southwest flight for the length of the pass. In this case, it's BOGO travel through February 2022. 

Think trip to Hawaii and take your spouse, child, friend for FREE. You can use it as many times as you want and you can change your companion three times. I have had the companion pass for the past 6 years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. 

Normally, you need to earn 125,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

So which credit card should you choose?

• Plus Card: $69 annual fee, 3,000 points on your anniversary, 
• Premier Card: $99 annual fee, 6,000 points on your anniversary,  no foreign transaction fees
• Priority Card: $149  annual fee, 7,500 points on your anniversary,  $75 Southwest credit, 4 upgraded boardings, 20% discount on drinks, Wifi on board Southwest, no foreign transaction fees

All the cards earn 2x points on Southwest purchases and 1x points on everything else.

Personally, I think the Priority card is the best deal since you get the $75 credit, the annual fee is actually reduced to just $75 which is less than the Premier. However, you get more points on your anniversary plus the upgraded boarding passes.

If you decide to jump on this offer, please use my referral link. It doesn't cost you anything and it will help me continue to bring you amazing travel tips. 

How You Can Save $20 A Month On Take Out

 

One of the perks of holding an American Express card is the Amex offers. You can find them in your American Express account at the bottom of the page for your credit card. They vary depending on which credit card you have and I've even seen them vary from person to person based on who knows what. 

I used an offer last year when I stayed at a Marriott and had a spend $200, get $50 off. 

It's easy to take advantage of, you add the offer to your card and then use that card for the purchase. American Express will automatically apply the credit. It's quick too, usually 2-3 days after the purchase. 

Current offers are all about dining:

Marriott Bonvoy American Express personal cards

• Marriott Bonvoy Card - $10 back per month 
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant - $20 back per month  (not available to those who opened the card after Jan. 1, 2021)

Hilton American Express cards

• Hilton Honors - $5 back per month 
• Hilton Surpass - $10 back per month
• Hilton Aspire - $20 back per month 

Delta Skymiles American Express cards

• Delta Gold - $10 back per month 
• Delta Platinum - $15 back per month
• Delta Reserve - $20 back per month

You can use the credit once per month through 12/31/21. You need to register first before you dine. You can only register one card per offer so choose wisely.  Our family is doing take-out once per week to help local restaurants (we hardly ever ate out before the pandemic opting to save money for travel) so if we get $20 credit per month on our takeout meal that's like buy 3, get 1 FREE.  

If you don't have a Marriott Bonvoy card yet, I highly recommend getting one. The points are transferrable to dozens of airlines and you even get a 5,000 mile bonus when you transfer plus, of course, you can use the points at all the Marriott hotel brands. Please use my referral link if you decide to apply.