5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Visit Tahiti Instead Of Hawaii

Crystal clear water, colorful fish, over the water bungalows, lots of seafood, yep, Tahiti is gorgeous. And I'll let you in on a secret. I actually liked it better than Hawaii. Yep, I said it. 

And if you want to take a big trip next summer, now is the time to plan. 

Did you have FOMO watching your friends post photos from Hawaii, well, starting planning now for next summer and you can vacation in an even better location for almost FREE. 

First, let me tell you why I like Tahiti more than Hawaii. 

5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Visit Tahiti Instead Of Hawaii

#5 International Travel - this can be both a pro and a con. But for me, I love to travel internationally, it's really my jam. Tahiti is located in French Polynesia which is a French territory. What that means is that yes, you will need a passport and Global Entry is helpful, but it also means French wine, French cheese and fresh baguettes. Yum! It also means you can practice your French. For some, just leaving the country is a con, but this may be an easy way to start travelling internationally. It's safe, easy to navigate, direct flight from the West Coast, simple to use points and miles to snag flights, the people are friendly and helpful, English is used everywhere, credit cards are accepted almost everywhere and you can rent a car and driving here is also easy. Picture one road around the island. Easy! 

#4 Easy to use points and miles for flights and hotels - It takes a lot of points and miles to travel to Hawaii and Tahiti for almost FREE, but both are doable. I think there is actually more availability on flights to Tahiti just because it is less popular and less crowded. You can read here about how I used points and miles to save $15,000 on our family trip to Tahiti and Moorea. There are also inexpensive food trucks with huge portions on Tahiti and on Moorea, you can find local "Snack" restaurants with fresh fish for about what you would pay in the US. There are also grocery stores on both islands. For our family of 5, all of the meals we ate out cost about $20-$25 per person including one alcoholic drink. 

#3 Over the water bungalows - This is the bucket list dream for a lot of people and you can do this in Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora. And the best part is that you can use points and miles to pay for it, woohoo! We stayed at the Sofitel Resort on Moorea using Chase Ultimate Rewards and it was fantastic. Our stay included breakfast always a plus. Because we are family of 5 and the over the water bungalows allow a max of 3 people, we also booked a garden room. Booked both rooms on points and miles and shhhh, we all stayed in the OWB bungalow. 

The OWB bungalows are everything you think they are going to be

• Lounge chairs sitting on the deck over crystal blue water. 
• A ladder connected to your personal deck so you can snorkel and swim right off your bungalow. 
• Rays and colorful fish swimming below. 

Other hotels with OWB include The Hilton Moorea, Manava Resort in Moorea, Intercontinental in Tahiti and the St. Regis, Four Seasons and The Conrad in Bora Bora. 

#2 Rays, Sharks, Turtles and colorful fish - Yes, in Hawaii, you can see rays, turtles, sharks and colorful fish, but in Tahiti, I would argue that there are just more and the water is so crystal clear, you can see everything with your naked eye. The water is also warm and the islands are surrounded by reefs so the water is very calm and great for kids. My favorite tour was a 6 hour Sharks and Rays Lagoon Tour With Lunch by Moorea Miti tours. The tour includes a cooking lesson to learn how to make Poison Cru with real salt water and fresh coconut. You can book this through our partner Viator. 

 5 Reasons Why You Might Want To Visit Tahiti Instead Of Hawaii

#1 Stunning scenery and crystal blue waters - Besides the wildlife, the scenery is stunning just like in Hawaii, but it's not crowded and more accessible. You can drive to the black sand beaches, waterfalls, scenic views and mountain hikes. To me, Tahiti felt like what Hawaii was probably like fifty years ago. Very local, very calm and tranquil. Though there are tours and hotels, it's just not crowded. There are very few lines and nothing seemed sold out. 

If you would like help planning your Tahiti adventure or using points and miles to take this bucket list vacation, check out our website for travel advising and our new Travel Coaching Program. We would love to help you and your family make memories! 

Two NEW Great Bonus Offers $1,000 FREE Travel

 

Just got back from Tahiti and all I can say is Wow! I'll share more on how to enjoy Tahiti using points and miles. This trip would have cost my family of 5 more than $20,000, but we spent three weeks in the islands for just $5,000. I saved approximately $15,000 on this bucket list trip. 

There are two great offers out right now that I need to share with you because these two cards are key to my success using points and miles to take my family on amazing adventures. 

Two NEW Great Bonus Offers $1,000 FREE Travel 

• Capital One Venture - 75,000 bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee. Right now, you can get an additional $250 travel credit for use in the Capital One Travel Portal. So this offer is now worth $1,000 at the very least. 
• Chase Ink Business Preferred - 120,000 bonus points for $8,000 minimum spend and $95 annual fee. This bonus offer is worth at least $1,200 and maybe more if you use our trick. This offer ends September 3rd. 

Which is better for me?

Chase Ultimate Reward points and Capital One points are both considered flexible points which means you can use them on dozens of different airlines and several hotels. You can read about why I love flexible points here. 

But which one is better for you? That is a great question and the answer is that it depends on various factors including your travel goals, who and where you plan to travel, when you plan to travel and how you plan to travel. 

If you want support in making the best decision, join my Travel Coaching Program, the new cohort will start in September. There are only 10 spots so don't wait to enroll. Hope you will join us! 

How You Can Earn 5x Chase Points This Quarter

 

One of the easiest ways to earn 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points is to activate the bonus categories on your Chase FREEDOM (no longer available) and FREEDOM FLEX credit cards. These cards are great no annual fee cards to have in your wallet. You can read here why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Reward points.  

Past 5x bonus categories have included Amazon, hotels and restaurants. 

This quarter the categories are gas stations (good for summer road trips), EV charging, select live entertainment and movie theatres. 

You can only get the bonus on $1,500 spent in all categories total, but that's a lot of bonus points! You must activate your card by September 14th. Purchases are retroactive, but it's better to activate before the bonus begins on July 1st. 

If you don't have the CHASE FREEDOM FLEX credit card yet, it's a good first card for your student or a good everyday card for you. You earn a $200 bonus on the first $500 that you spend. There's no annual fee and you earn 3x points on dining and drugstores. 

Why You Should Jump On This Bonus Offer Before It Ends

 

We are hearing that the increased bonus offer for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards is ending "soon." 

Though we don't know exactly when soon is, if you are thinking about jumping on this offer, you should do it sooner rather than later. 

These cards are my favorites because Chase Ultimate Reward points are so flexible. You can transfer points to dozens of different airlines, hotels, use them in the Chase Travel Portal or even pay yourself back though I don't recommend doing this.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards also offer great benefits and should have a primary spot in everyone's wallet and travel strategy. The Sapphire Preferred credit card is also an excellent card for a student once they have built enough credit to qualify. 

Right now, you can earn 75,000 CUR bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but the Reserve card also comes with a $300 travel credit, $100 global entry credit, Priority Pass membership and an increased value for the points in the Chase Travel Portal.

I love CUR points because of their flexibility. You can:

• transfer them to dozens of different airline loyalty programs 
• transfer them to several hotel chains (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) 
• use them to buy hotels, flights, activities and car rentals in the Chase Travel Portal 
• pay yourself back 
• get a statement credit 

75,000 points equals $750, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal with your Preferred credit card, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,000. And if you combine the points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, then they will be worth 50% more in the Chase Travel Portal for a whopping total of $1,250. 

If you don't have one of these in your wallet yet, this is the time. If you decide to apply, please consider using my referral link. 

Why You Should Apply For This 75,000 Bonus Offer

 

Two of the best credit cards for Chase Ultimate Rewards just increased their bonus offer! Woohoo! 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve cards offer great benefits and should have a primary spot in everyone's wallet and travel strategy. 

Right now, you can earn 75,000 CUR bonus points with a $4,000 minimum spend. The Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee and the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but also comes with a $300 travel credit, $100 global entry credit, Priority Pass membership and an increased value for the points in the Chase Travel Portal.

I love CUR points because of their flexibility. You can:

• transfer them to dozens of different airline loyalty programs 
• transfer them to several hotel chains (Marriott, IHG, Hyatt) 
• use them to buy hotels, flights, activities and car rentals in the Chase Travel Portal 
• pay yourself back 
• get a statement credit 

75,000 points equals $750, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal with your Preferred credit card, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,000. And if you combine the points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, then they will be worth 50% more in the Chase Travel Portal for a whopping total of $1,250. 

Like this redemption in the Chase Travel Portal through my Chase Sapphire Reserve account, this Hilton in Moorea has rooms at $938 dollars or 62,554 CUR points. 

And if you transfer them to an airline or hotel, the points could be worth even more depending on the specific flight or the number of rewards needed per night.

Plus if you transfer points to IHG and buy three nights, you get a fourth FREE so that could be very lucrative. 

Hyatt hotels usually fall in the sweet spot of redemption value as well.  

You can only hold one of these cards at a time and you can only get the bonus once every 4 years. You can apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve here using my referral link. 

How You Can Earn 5x Chase Points on Amazon

 

Chase just announced the 5x points bonus categories for Q2. These rotating bonus categories are available with the Chase FREEDOM (not available) and FREEDOM FLEX credit cards. 

They are bringing back the popular Amazon, Hotels and Restaurants. Woohoo! 

Besides the Paypal category, Amazon is my fave. There are not many ways to get bonus points on Amazon purchases so the 5x points is huge! You can read here about why I love Chase Ultimate Reward points. 

You must register for the bonus by June 14th. You can do that here. If you do not have the FLEX card yet, it's a great no annual fee credit card. Right now, you can get a $200 or 20,000 point bonus for $500 minimum spend. 

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. 

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. 

Empowering Your Teen to Build Credit for a Brighter Future!

 

If you have teens, you need to listen up! In the past few weeks, I have heard from lots of you asking about your teens and building credit. I have created a simple formula and it has worked well for my three children. Not only to build credit, but also to create good financial literacy skills that will last a lifetime. That's not to say there isn't another way to do this, but I found this one successful. 

Let's start with the why. Why should your child build credit?

Empowering Your Teen to Build Credit for a Brighter Future!

The short answer is that unfortunately most big purchases are based on your credit history. So if your teen has no credit history, it will be tough for them to buy a car or house when the time comes.  

So how does a teen build credit? These are the steps that I took for all three of my children and it has worked well for them. 

1. 12-years-old - add teen as an authorized user on one of your credit cards.  

2. 16-years-old - teen opens their OWN checking account with a debit card 

3. 18-years-old - teen opens their OWN credit card. Some good credit cards that will approve your teen include Bank of America student travel or cash card, Chase FREEDOM Unlimited or Flex, Capital One Savor One Student Cash Rewards. Avoid the Discover card since it is only accepted on a limited basis outside the United States. The Chase FREEDOM Unlimited or Flex are my #1 choice since they offer a $200 bonus when you spend $500 in the first three months and they have no annual fee. I also LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards points so this would be a card your teen can keep forever. 

4. 20-years-old - teen opens their OWN Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card. This card carries a $95 annual fee, but will make the teen's Ultimate Rewards worth more. Currently, it has a 60,000 point bonus which could pay for your teen's trip to Europe or Spring Break! And a $50 hotel credit! You may have to help your teen reach the minimum spend, but it's worth it. 

Empowering Your Teen to Build Credit for a Brighter Future!

After you follow these steps, your teen should have a credit score of approximately 800. Pretty good! 

Remember, you must pay off the balance on these cards every month! The best way to do it is to put the card on autopay immediately. 

How You Can Earn 5x Chase Ultimate Reward Points Using Paypal

 

Woohoo! I love when Paypal is one of the bonus categories! Chase announced the bonus categories for the Chase FREEDOM and FREEDOM FLEX cards for Q4. 

And Paypal made the list! It's awesome when Amazon makes the list, but apparently not this year. 

However, you can pay for almost everything using Paypal so it's time to rack up the points this holiday season. 

How You Can Earn 5x Chase Ultimate Reward Points Using Paypal

The Wholesale clubs category is a bit tricky. Gas does not count and Costco does not take Mastercard so it's a bit limiting. 

Chase FREEDOM FLEX is one of my favorite go to cards since there is no annual fee and you can rack up the points with the bonus categories. You can also get a $200 bonus for a $500 minimum spend. 

How You Can Earn 5x Chase Ultimate Reward Points Using Paypal

This is a great card to pair with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve or Ink Business Preferred 

Why? Because once you earn the points, you get more value out of them if you transfer them to the Preferred, Reserve or Ink card. You can read all about it here. 

You have to activate the bonus categories by December 14th and it is retroactive. 

Happy Shopping! 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards

 

I've used Chase Ultimate Rewards to travel all over the world for FREE. The points came in very handy to erase Airbnb reservations (this promotion ended) and for flights when we visited the Perito Moreno glacier in Patagonia, Argentina. 

I love CUR rewards because they are so flexible. If you don't know where you want to stay or where you will be traveling, then these points are for you. That's because you can transfer them to dozens of different airlines and three hotel chains, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott. 

Sometimes the deal is even better transferring CUR than using the points in the travel portal and sometimes the portal is a better value. 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Here is an example that happened just last week. 

I had my eye on the Hyatt in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago for an upcoming trip. 

The cash price was showing $350 per night, ouch! 

In the Chase Travel Portal, it was showing $320 per night or 48,005 points. I get 50% more value for my points in the portal because I have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. The Chase Sapphire Preferred gets 25% more value in the portal.  

But when I checked the Hyatt website, standard rooms are just 12,000 points per night. 

Woohoo! That means by transferring CUR to Hyatt at 1:1 cuts the number of points needed in half and has a value of $740. Nice. 

It's simple to transfer CUR points to dozens of airlines and hotel chains. When you log into your Chase.com account and click on redeem points

Then click on the menu in the top left hand corner and choose transfer to travel partners. 

CUR points transfer immediately to Hyatt and you must transfer in 1,000 point increments. Sometimes Chase will offer a bonus when you transfer. 

You will need to create an account with the EXACT name on your Chase account BEFORE you attempt to transfer the CUR points. 

Once you submit, you cannot get the CUR points back so be certain this is what you want to do. 

When I transferred to Hyatt, the points showed up immediately in my new Hyatt account and I could book the hotel in Evanston. Amazing! 

Yet Another Reason Why I LOVE Chase Ultimate Rewards 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a 100,000 CUR bonus with a $8,000 minimum spend. It's a hefty minimum spend, but usually it is set at $15,000 so you might say this minimum spend is a bargain. If you have a big expense coming up or can handle the minimum spend, this bonus can be worth thousands of dollars. 

We are hearing this bonus may end September 23rd.