A Secret Gateway To Affordable Globetrotting – Language School!

This past summer, I tried something different in my travel journey....attending a language school. Yep, call it a short study abroad program at the Isla Spanish Language school in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Language Schools are a great way to deep dive into the culture and community of a country and they are super affordable. This was my second time attending one and I have already enrolled in a third.

 

Why San Juan? Well, the flight from the East Coast is short and cheap. Plus Puerto Rico intrigues me. It's a US territory, but its neighboring islands are independent countries. How did that happen? What is it like to be in a place that straddles both the US and the Caribbean? A place that is part of the US, but labeled a territory and not a state? Puerto Rico also has a huge problem with stray animals so I thought I might be able to lend a hand. You can read about that here. 

A Secret Gateway To Affordable Globetrotting – Language School!

San Juan is a US territory so you do not need a passport to visit just a drivers license to fly. Puerto Riquenos have US passports and are US Citizens, but residents of Puerto Rico cannot vote for the President of the United States and they have no representation in Congress. 

Isla Spanish Language School is located in the financial district of San Juan away from the tourist areas. The school conducts a placement interview before your arrival so they can put you in the appropriate class, beginner to advanced. The students were of all ages and included professionals, Spanish teachers, second generation Puerto Riquenos and ex pats. 

A Secret Gateway To Affordable Globetrotting – Language School!

At most schools, classes run 9am-12pm Monday through Friday with additional private classes offered in the afternoon. And the schools offer FREE cultural activities several times during the week. Cultural activities include dancing or cooking classes or excursions to a local site or art museum. 

Besides the classes, the schools offer a variety of affordable accommodations for approximately $330 per week including meals and laundry. There is a discount if you enroll for multiple weeks. You can choose from homestay with a local family, a dorm or private apartment. I opted to stay with a local family and it was lovely. Nayza is a widow and has been housing students for years creating an income stream for her. 

I had my own room with air conditioning and a shared bathroom. Nayza's home was within walking distance of the school. I had access to the kitchen and refrigerator, but not the stove. 

Reflecting on the experience, my language ability increased dramatically, but even more importantly, I felt like a local in San Juan and welcomed into the community. More like a traveler than a tourist. 

A Secret Gateway To Affordable Globetrotting – Language School!

Of course, we can make this experience even more affordable by using points and miles for the flights. Most language schools will not code as a travel so you cannot "erase" the purchase, however, I paid for the school with Paypal during the 5x bonus category with my Chase FREEDOM FLEX so at least I used the purchase to earn lots of points towards future travel. 

And while in San Juan, I booked tours of the rainforest, kayak in the biobay and snorkeled with the turtles and was able to "erase" all of these tours with points. 

If you would like help planning your next travel journey with points and miles, consider joining my travel coaching program. I would love to help you! 

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases

 

Oh yes, the island of Moorea in French Polynesia is the picture of that perfect vacation. And what makes it even better is when you pay with points and it's almost FREE. 

If you would pay cash for this vacation, it would really put a dent in your wallet. 

Hopefully you have been following along as I walk through using points and miles for our family of 5 to spend a few weeks in French Polynesia. 

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

First we secured flights for FREE for all five of us, then we secured the over the water bungalow and garden room. Next, we worked on the airbnb.com and tours. 

Now, we paid for the rental car using points. 

And this time, I used one of my favorite tricks. The travel eraser by Capital One. 

Some will say this is not the best use of your points since it really is a statement credit. But I believe that the value of points and miles is in the eye of the beholder and if I can get a $1,300 charge for the rental car down to $0, then it's worth it to me. 

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

And the best part is that I never even paid for this purchase. Keep reading and I'll show you this trick. 

So we are assuming that you have already earned the bonus on the Capital One Venture or Venture X or Venture X Business cards and the points are in your account. You can access them by logging into your Capitalone.com online account and clicking on view rewards. 

If you scroll down, you will see "cover travel purchases." If you click there, you will see your travel purchases for the past 90 days that are eligible to be erased. It is a 1:1 value. 

You can choose to erase the entire purchase or just a portion. It can take a few days for the credit to post to your statement. If you can time the credit after the purchase and before the statement closes, you actually never pay for the purchase at all.

How You Can Use Capital One Points To Erase Travel Purchases 

If you look below, I made the purchase for the rental car on Feb. 2nd and then erased it on Feb. 4th and the credit posted on Feb. 6th. The statement closed on Feb. 8th with a balance minus the credit. 😊

Since I thought I would pay for the rental car closer to the actual trip, I had used some of my points to erase ferry tickets. But to get a $950 discount on the rental car, it's worth it. 

This is just one of the reasons why I love flex points like Capital One and Chase. 

If this interests you, but seems confusing, let me help you. Enroll in my travel coaching program. We will explore your travel goals, review your credit cards and make a plan. Then you can join our monthly live coaching sessions for more support. 

Unlocking the #1 Hyatt Points Sweet Spot

 

You already know how much I love flexible points like Chase Ultimate Reward points and Capital One points. You can use them in the portal, transfer them to dozens of airlines and hotel chains or just use them for a statement credit. 

One of the sweet spots is transferring Chase Ultimate Reward points to Hyatt. I wrote about an awesome redemption in Chicago last year, but here we go again. 

I was looking at Hyatt Place in Raleigh Durham and found one for just 5,000 points per night. Check out the cash price of $280 per night. Can you believe it? I couldn't. Now I didn't have any Hyatt points, but I had Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

Unlocking the #1 Hyatt Points Sweet Spot

So I transferred 20,000 CUR points to Hyatt. The transfer happened almost instantly. And then I could book four nights in the hotel at 5,000 points per night. 20,000 points = $1,140. Amazing! Remember, once you transfer the points, you cannot transfer them back to Chase, but you can cancel the reservation and the points will be returned to your account, in this case, to my Hyatt account. 

There are quite a few ways to earn CUR points, but the easiest is to open a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. The Chase FREEDOM UNLIMITED OR FLEX are no annual fee cards that are great to pair with the Sapphire cards. 

This is just one of the reasons why I love flex points like Capital One and Chase. 

If this interests you, but seems confusing, let me help you. Enroll in my travel coaching program. We will explore your travel goals, review your credit cards and make a plan. Then you can join our monthly live coaching sessions for more support. 

Is the Southwest Mini Companion Pass Offer a good deal?

 

Southwest launched its mini Companion Pass promotion today. The Southwest Companion Pass is one of the best travel perks around. It is a BOGO for any flight for up to two years. You can also change your companion three times per year. 

Is the Southwest Mini Companion Pass Offer a good deal?

I have had the Companion Pass for the past 8 years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. I used the Companion Pass to take my husband to Cuba, my children to the East Coast multiple times for events and college trips and graduation, Chicago, Florida, Mexico and more. 

This offer is to apply for any Southwest Personal credit card, spend $4,000 minimum with annual fee of $69-$149 depending on which card you choose and get 30,000 points and a companion pass good through February 28, 2025. 

Sounds pretty good, right?

Usually, you have to earn 135,000 Southwest points to get the Companion Pass, but it's good for up to two years. 

Is the Southwest Mini Companion Pass Offer a good deal?

This offer may be a good deal for some people, but here are a few things to think about before you hop on it:

1. You can only get a bonus on the personal Southwest credit card once every 24 months so if you get the personal card now, your Companion pass will expire in February 2025 and you won't be eligible for the personal card bonus again until February 2026. You can only hold one personal Southwest credit card at a time. 

But you can apply for both Southwest business cards and get both bonuses so if you have a small business and can meet the minimum spend, you could go with that plan in January 2025 and then have the Companion Pass through December 2026 plus lots of points.

2. Many times, the minimum spend on the personal Southwest credit card is just $1,000 with a bonus offer of 50,000 points or higher. So the minimum is lower and the bonus points offer is higher, BUT you need to get two credit cards to earn the companion pass. Not everyone can qualify for the Southwest Business credit card. 

3. You only get 30,000 points, of course, you can always transfer points from your Chase Ultimate Rewards if you need more. 

Of course, everyone's situation is different so that's why this offer may be perfect for you and not for someone else. If you are not sure if this offer fits your plan, join my Travel Coaching program and I'll help you figure it out. There are only 4 spots left in the Spring cohort so don't wait. 

If you decide to jump on this offer, please use my referral link. Thank you for your support! 

 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

 

I love when I see my rewards summary in my inbox. Now you may look at this Chase Ultimate Rewards summary and say, wait, you only earned 23,363 points in 2023. But let me explain. 

This summary is for my Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card. It's a no annual fee card with 5x points rotating bonus categories. 

What does that mean? FREE money! Woohoo! 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

I earned those 23,363 points on purchases that I was going to make anyway like gas, groceries, Amazon, Paypal etc. 

But I intentionally used this credit card when Chase offered 5x points on those types of purchases. 

Chase rotates the categories every quarter. This quarter the categories are groceries and gyms. You can activate the offer in your Chase.com account.

The secret here is to earn the points on the Chase FREEDOM FLEX credit card and then transfer those points to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve account to squeeze more value out of them for incredible trips like this one in Chile. 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

The reason is that when you spend the points from your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve account, you get 1.25% or 1.5% more when you book travel through the Chase Travel Portal and you can transfer the points to a dozen different airlines and three hotel chains. You can click here to find out how we use Chase points to book insanely cheap nights at Hyatt. 

 

The Chase FREEDOM FLEX is offering a $200 or 20,000 CUR points on $500 minimum spend. This no annual fee card earns 5x points on rotating bonus categories and 5x points on gas and groceries for the first year up to $12,000. Please use my referral link if you decide to apply for this card. 

Unveiling the Chase Ultimate Rewards: Why 23,363 Points in 2023 are Worth Celebrating

If you don't have a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve credit card, you can read about these cards here. They are the key to our success, we love the flexibility of the Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE travel. 

Again, if you decide to add any of these card to your strategy, please use our referral links and if you would like support with your travel goals, join our Travel Coaching Program.