5 Must See Places To Visit in Medellin, Colombia

  

This city used to be one of the most dangerous cities in the world, now it is a cultural mecca for tourists and digital nomads. Medellin, Colombia should be on everyone's bucket list for travel. Recently, I visited this vibrant city and I have to share my top 5 must see sights. 

First, a few tips and tricks to get to Colombia using points and miles. There are several airlines that fly to Medellin including Copa, United, American and even Spirit. As always, be sure to check prices on several websites including airlines and travel portals. 

I found flights through the Chase Travel Portal on Copa Airlines for 54,000 points for two round trip flights. I used my Chase Sapphire Reserve account to book these so I got 1.5:1 value for my points. Right now, you can get a 60,000 point bonus on the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred, two of my favorite cards and hands down, my favorite flexible points. These cards can make a huge difference in your strategy when you combine your Chase Ultimate Reward points from your other cards too. 

No problem ordering vegetarian meals in advance, but choosing seats on Copa Airlines was tricky. If you don't want to buy seats, you are assigned at check in. They assign seats based on when you check in and start assigning from the back of the plane to the front. 

So on the way to Medellin, I checked in 24 hours in advance and ended up in the back row. However, on the way home, I delayed check in about 5 hours and ended up in row 9. Woohoo! 

Copa Airlines was very pleasant. Seats were adequate. Service was fine. I had heard they were strict with luggage, but no one checked either way and we were able to carry on a bag and a personal item. They did require us to check in at the desk before going through security even though we had checked in online to confirm our passports. 

Arriving in Medellín? Navigate the transportation scene like a pro. Either pre-arrange a driver or master the art of Uber meetups. While Uber operates in a grey area, it's widely used and budget-friendly. For the ultimate local experience, dare to try an Uber Moto!

U.S. travelers will find Colombia refreshingly affordable. Savor local cuisine for pocket change, rest your head in comfortable accommodations for around $50 a night, and zip around the city in Ubers for less than the price of a latte back home.

Now, let's explore Medellín's must-see attractions:

1. Immerse yourself in the vibrant street art of Comuna 13 - Tour this neighborhood with a local who talks about the history, the graffiti, the art and famous escalators. Besides seeing the sights, taste local food like mango ice cream and empanadas. This tour is a winner and it only costs $20 per person.    
   
   
   
2. Escape to nature in Parque Arví - The journey is part of the fun to reach this ecological nature reserve. Take the metro to the end of the line Santo Domingo and then two funiculars to the top of the mountain. It should cost you approximately 3,000 pesos to reach Santo Domingo and 12,500 pesos to ride up on the funicular. You will feel like you are spending the day in the mountains here. Besides hiking or walking the trails, you can shop at local vendors. Guided tours cost 50,000 pesos, but you can also just walk the trails on your own. 
   
   
   
3. Delve into history with a Pablo Escobar tour - This tour was a highlight of our trip. Guide Juan met Pablo Escobar and tells a lot of personal stories about the crime boss. He also walks you through this important part of city history from the memorial to Escobar's grave. 
   
   
   
4. Marvel at the views from Guatapé and El Peñol - Guatape is a made for Insta town with a street with umbrellas hanging throughout the streets. Be sure to notice the beautiful 3D paintings on the sides of the buildings. Then challenge yourself to climb 704 steps up to the top of El Penol. This is a great day trip from Medellin. 
   
   
   
5. Discover the heart of the city in Downtown Medellín with a FREE walking tour - I love FREE walking tours! The guides are local and not only talk about the sights and history, but share personal stories about what life is like in their country and city. Take a half day to walk through the crowded streets of downtown, look at the giant bronze statues in Plaza Botero, art in Centro Cultura and the beautiful National Palace Shopping Center. 

Don't forget to wander through El Poblado, indulging in mouthwatering empanadas and arepas along the way.

If you would like help planning your Colombian vacation using points and miles, join my Travel Coaching Program, book a consulting session with me or chat with the AI Travel Bot on my website. 

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. 

Last Chance To Get The 90,000 Chase Ink Business Bonus

Chase appears to be ending the 90,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards bonus offer on the Ink Business Cash and Unlimited credit cards. We are hearing that both offers will end on January 18th. 

These annual fee business cash cards were offering 90,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Reward points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months. 90,000 points are worth approximately $900, but can be worth much more if you combine them onto another card. 

This is a great offer IF you already have or can also apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Why? Because the Ink Cash card does not allow you to take advantage of all the ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards on travel. 

But you can transfer your 90,000 points to another card that does offer the travel opportunities like the travel portal and transferring points to airlines and hotels. 

Make sense?

The Ink Business cash card also earns 5x points at office supply stores, streaming services, internet, cable and phone. 

So you may be asking what qualifies as a business? Lots of small businesses count like selling items on Ebay, Etsy and rental income. 

You are also allowed to hold each of the Ink Business cards so you may want to apply for one of the no annual fee cards with the bonus offer ending soon and then turn around an apply for the Ink Business Preferred credit card with its new 100,000 bonus point offer. This card does carry a $95 annual fee and a $8,000 minimum spend, but 100,000 points are at least $1,000 in travel and maybe more if you transfer the points to your Sapphire Preferred or Reserve credit card. 

You can read about how I use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for almost FREE family travel here. 

If you apply for any of the INK credit cards, please use my referral link so I can continue to help you travel for almost FREE. 

If you want help walking through this process, register for my Travel Coaching Program or book me for a 1:1 coaching session. 

 Ends Jan. 18th 

How You Can Earn $800 Towards Your Next Vacation

 

I get it, sometimes annual fees are scary. Even though this trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland was almost FREE, people like to point out that I do pay several hundred dollars a year in annual fees. 

And a lot of times, the cards that give you the highest bonuses also have big annual fees. Cards like my favorites: 

• the Capital One Venture X offering a bonus right now of 90,000 points with an annual fee of $395 
• the Chase Sapphire Reserve offering a bonus right now of 60,000 points with an annual fee of $550

But right now, you can get $800 cash back on two of my all time NO annual fee credit card favorites.

The Chase Freedom Unlimited and Freedom Flex. Let me tell you the difference between these two and why they are a great go to card to have in your wallet. 

Chase Freedom Unlimited: Earn $200 cash back on a $500 minimum spend. No annual fee. Earn 5x Chase Ultimate Reward points on gas and grocery purchases for the first year up to $12,000. That's another $600. And then you earn 1.5% cash back on all other purchases. 

Chase Freedom Flex: Earn $200 cash back on a $500 minimum spend. No annual fee. Earn 5x Chase Ultimate Reward points on gas and grocery purchases for the first year up to $12,000. That's another $600. And earn 5x points on rotating bonus categories quarterly like Paypal, Amazon and more. 

Besides no annual fee, you can also combine these points onto your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card for more value. Amazing! 

If you want more support getting started, join the second cohort of my Travel Coaching program! You get my 5 module course (the videos are short, don't worry), a custom tracker, a personal review, 1:1 coaching session with me and then group coaching sessions for life. I'm limiting this cohort to just 10 people, so hurry! 

Chase Ink No Annual Fee Card Offers Big Bonus

 

Woohoo! Chase just upped the offer on its no annual fee business cash card to 90,000 bonus Chase Ultimate Reward points when you spend $6,000 in the first three months. 90,000 points are worth approximately $900, but can be worth much more if you combine them onto another card. 

This is a great offer IF you already have or can also apply for a Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card. Why? Because the Ink Cash card does not allow you to take advantage of all the ways to use your Chase Ultimate Rewards on travel. 

But you can transfer your 90,000 points to another card that does offer the travel opportunities like the travel portal and transferring points to airlines and hotels. Make sense?

The Ink Business cash card also earns 5x points at office supply stores, streaming services, internet, cable and phone. 

Cracking the Code to Redeem 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Like a Pro!

 

Near Santiago, Chile

The Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card is offering a huge 100,000 Ultimate Rewards bonus right now, but the question is what can you do with all those points? What value do they hold for you and your travel goals?

Let's break down the different ways you can redeem 100,000 CUR points. 

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 for groceries, gas and the annual fee
• get a statement credit 

100,000 points equals $1,000, however, if you use them in the Chase Travel Portal or to pay yourself back, you get 25% more value making them worth $1,250. 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 $1,500. 

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. 

The key is to identify your travel goals and then decide if CUR points will help you achieve it. Of course, this is also a business card so you will need at least a side hustle to qualify. You can click here to find out what types of businesses qualify. 

If they will and you can swing the hefty $8,000 minimum spend, then you will want to jump on this offer soon. We are hearing it will end September 23rd.  If this offer is for you, please consider using my referral link. 

 

Priority Pass Strikes Again! Woohoo!

One of the perks of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card is a Priority Pass membership.  This membership gets you entry into 1,300 airport lounges around the world for you and two guests. Plus you get $30 for you and two guests at dozens of airport restaurants around the world. 

I've written about this benefit before because it's so awesome and makes it much easier to shell out the $550 annual fee for this credit card. Besides this benefit, you get the $300 travel credit, Global Entry credit and 50% more value for your points in the Chase Travel Portal. 

You need to activate the Priority Pass membership through your online Chase account. Then you can search airports on the Priority Pass app or website. It will list the available lounges and restaurants. 

For a recent trip to Providence, Rhode Island, we found the Providence Provisions Kitchen listed in the North Concourse on the website and headed there. We decided to take full advantage of our $30 credit per person since we were facing a 6 hour flight and had not eaten lunch. 

Dinner Feast! 

We ordered clam chowder, veggie and quinoa salad, veggie burger and a mac and cheese. Our bill came to $62.17 with tax and tip. The waiter applied our $60 credit and we paid $2.17 for our meal. Woohoo! 

You can use the Priority Pass and restaurant credits as many times as you want during your membership, there is no limit. 

By the way, there are several credit cards out there that include Priority Pass lounge membership, but Chase Sapphire Reserve is the only one that includes the restaurant credit. 

The current offer for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card is a 60,000 bonus for a $4,000 minimum spend plus the $300 travel credit, Global Entry credit, Priority Pass membership and 50% more value in the Chase Travel Portal. This card does charge a hefty $550 annual fee. 

You can read here about why I love this card and how to combine points for more value. 

If this card fits your strategy, please consider using my referral link. 

Find Out If You Qualify for a Business Credit Card!

 

Chase just dropped the minimum spend for the Ink Business Preferred credit card to $8,000 in the first three months. This sounds high, but it is half of what it was at $15,000. So for business owners, this could be an easy 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points. You can read here about why I love these flexible points and how I use them for FREE travel. 

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

So the question is what qualifies as a business? You might be surprised. 

Obviously a business with lots of employees qualifies, but what about small businesses? 

Actually, most small side businesses can qualify. If you freelance, sell things on Etsy or Ebay, tutor, babysit, consult, blog, those all qualify for businesses. 

Plus Chase does not care if you use the credit card for personal or business expenses.

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

You can apply for a business credit card with an EIN number OR if you are a sole proprietor, then you can enter your social security number as your tax ID number. You do not need to become an LLC or Corporation. 

But you will need a credit score between 670-850. 

A few tips when filling out the application:

1. if you are a sole proprietor, your business name is your name. 

2. your business address can be your home address

3. type of business - Corporation, LLC or sole proprietorship

4. tax ID number - an EIN number if you have it, otherwise, use your social security number

5. annual business revenue - how much does your company make in a year

6. age of business - how long have you been in business

7. number of employees - you count as one employee

Do I Qualify For A Business Credit Card?

You can hold more than one Chase Ink credit card at a time so even if you already have one, you can still apply. 

This offer is for the Chase Ink Business Preferred credit card with an annual fee of $95. It comes with a few perks including 3x points on shipping, travel, advertising on social media and search engines and internet, cable and phone. CUR points are worth 25% more in the Chase travel portal so it's still better to combine points to your Chase Sapphire Reserve. 

What are 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points worth? Approximately $1,250 in the Chase Travel Portal and possibly much more if you transfer the points to an airline or hotel. You can learn more about the value of Chase Ultimate Reward points here. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Ink Business Preferred, consider applying through my referral link here. You get the same great offer and I get a small bonus for referring you. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points

 

My favorite flexible travel points are the Chase Ultimate Reward points. I used them to fly our family of five to Europe a few years ago. 

You can transfer them to dozens of airlines and a few hotel chains plus use them in the travel portal or just pay yourself back. 

Right now, the Chase Ink Business Preferred is offering 100,000 bonus points with a $8,000 minimum spend. Wow! That's $1,250 worth of travel. 

The secret here is to have the right mix of Chase cards to max the value out of the points. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred and the Sapphire Preferred gives you 25% more for your points in the pay yourself back and Chase Travel Portal, but the Chase Sapphire Reserve gives you 50% more. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

So here's the secret. Chase allows you to combine your points from one credit card to another. So you can easily move your points from your FREEDOM FLEX or Unlimited card to your Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve to get more value. 

 

• 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. 

How To Squeeze More Value Out Of Your CUR Points 

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, Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Business Ink 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 

How You Can Vacation in South America For Pennies

 

My family and I just returned from two weeks in Chile and Argentina. This was a redo trip from a vacation that was supposed to happen in March 2020. That trip was going to be almost FREE so the question was could we repeat it almost three years later and still do the trip for almost FREE. The answer is yes. 

I'm going to break it down for you so you can see how I do it and hopefully see how you could do it for your family. 

I believe everyone can play this game and travel for almost FREE. 

I start planning big trips like this one almost two years in advance. Why so early? You need time to earn the points and miles and then the airlines open flight reservations approximately 330 days in advance. Depending on when you want to travel especially if you are looking at summer or the holidays, you need to be ready with your points/miles when those reservations open. 

How You Can Vacation in South America For Pennies 

For this trip, we were planning to travel over winter break. It's high season so I needed to be ready. 

The first thing I do is figure out what airlines fly to the destination. In this case, I targeted American Airlines. Between American miles and Marriott points, I had collected enough miles to fly our family of five one way to Santiago, Chile. I looked at several dates and it looked like I could find flights for 30,000 miles one way from San Diego to Santiago, Chile. 

You can see below if you click on the calendar, you can look at the entire month and pinpoint which days offer the best value. Right now, you could fly to Santiago for just 22,000 American miles one way. 

But the return from Buenos Aires was showing 50,000 to 100,000 miles on American. The key is to be flexible with dates and cities. So I tried multiple cities and dates and nothing. 

So I started looking at other airlines. I checked Avianca, United and Delta. Delta Airlines was showing returns for 25,000 miles pretty consistently. 

I decided to target Delta Airlines and start figuring out how to collect those miles. All of us had various amounts of Delta miles already due to flights over the years, earning miles with Airbnb and other random promotions. But only a few of us had the full 25,000 miles needed. Marriott points transfer to Delta Airlines at 3:1 with a 5,000 point bonus for every 60,000 points. So I could top off with Marriott points and bam, 125,000 Delta miles gets all five of us home for FREE. 

As soon as the flights open up, I book them. Now I will book one way flights when they open and then book the return when that opens. So for two weeks, I will sit with flights to the destination and no flights home. It's a bit nerve racking, but has worked for me every time. 

Once I secure the flights, I move onto accommodations. For our family of five with teens and young adults, Airbnb seemed like the way to go. In South America, Airbnb are very affordable and with the Chase Pay Yourself Back program allowing you to erase Airbnb purchases with points, it was a no brainer. Unfortunately, you can no longer erase Airbnb purchases with Chase points. BUT you can still erase Airbnb purchases with Capital One points. 

I booked Airbnb in Santiago, Mendoza and Buenos Aires and erased all of them with Chase points. Check out how to combine your points onto your Sapphire Reserve credit card to max out the value. 

For tours like this Tango lesson in Buenos Aires, I booked through Viator, Trip Advisor and Airbnb experiences. The ones I booked through Airbnb, I went ahead and erased with Chase points. I paid for the Glacier trek with my new Southwest credit card which will help me reach the minimum spend and earn the Southwest companion pass. 

I also leveraged some points on the Capital One Venture X credit card to erase a few travel purchases. 

There were a few flights we took during the trip. I booked those through the Capital One travel portal and the Chase travel portal so I could either use points or erase them with points. 

I will continue to erase dining purchases through the Chase Pay Yourself Back program for the next 90 days. 

All in all, flights and accommodations were FREE. Some tours were FREE. Some meals and taxis will also be FREE. 

Grand total for five people for two weeks in South America comes to approximately $3,000 out of pocket and that included the expensive mini trek on the glacier. If we had paid instead of using points, this trip would easily have cost $15,000. Does it take some planning? Yes. Does it take some time? Yes. But it is worth it, I think so. 

That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel. 

90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Bonus on No Fee Ink Cards - Wow!

Small Business Saturday just passed and in honor of that, let's talk about one of the best offers I've ever seen for the Chase Ink Business credit cards. The two FREE cards are offering 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus and the $95 annual fee card is offering a whopping 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus. Wowza! 

I'll run down the difference between the cards in a minute, but first, I have to share with you why I love Chase Ultimate Reward points and what you can do with all those bonus points. 

This past summer, I took my family to Ireland, you can check out my blog to read all about this amazing country and people. 

But I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to erase the cost of all of our Airbnb stays during the trip, much of our dining and one plane ticket. I love these points because of how flexible they are. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG. You can erase purchases just like a Capital One card. You can buy travel with them in the Chase Travel Portal. Plus if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you can combine your Ink CUR points and get even more value. 

So what's this new offer all about? and which card should you choose? 

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited  - No annual fee! 1.5% cash back or 1.5x points on every purchase. 

The Chase Ink Business Cash  - No annual fee! 5% cash back or 5x points at office supply stores, phone, internet, and cable. This is the card I have had for years! 2% or 2x points at gas stations and restaurants and 1% or 1x points at everything else. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred  - $95 annual fee. 3% cash back or 3x points on shipping, advertising on social media sites, internet, cable and phone services and travel. 1% or 1x points on everything else. 

Look at the types of purchases your business makes to determine which credit card makes sense for you to leverage your spending for maximum points. And remember, your "business" doesn't have to be a Fortune 500 company. A business can easily be selling items on Etsy or Ebay, freelance services, property management, vacation rentals and more. 

You can hold all of these INK cards at the same time, but you can't get the bonus on any of these cards more than once every 24 months. 

And you can transfer your the CUR points from your INK account to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card and bam, almostFREEfamilytravel. 

Amazing! 

Please consider using our referral ink if you apply for any of these credit cards. Thank you for your support. 

Chase Pay Yourself Back Program Extended To Dec. 31st

 

Updated September 30th 2022

Chase has extended the Pay Yourself Back categories again, this time through December 31st 2022. You can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to erase Airbnb.com and dining purchases. During the pandemic, Chase.com expanded the ways you could redeem points so not just for travel since we weren't traveling, but also for dining, home improvement and groceries. 

They ended the grocery and home improvement categories last year, but extended the Airbnb.com and dining portion of the program. 

However, the deadline has been extended so you have until the end of the year to erase those dining and airbnb purchases.  

If you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve, you will want to combine your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to this card before you erase purchases. That's because the Reserve gives you a 50% bonus on your points. If you have the Sapphire Preferred, it gives you a 25% bonus so that would be the next choice. If you have the Chase Freedom, Unlimited or Flex card, you don't get a bonus in the Pay Yourself Back program so you should transfer your points to your Preferred or Reserve card. However, there are other reasons to have a Chase FREEDOM Unlimited or Flex credit card. 

Once you combine your points, 

• login to your Chase online account, 
• click on the Preferred or Reserve card, 
• click on the three bars in the top left 
• click on pay yourself back. 

You will see a list like the one above of all your purchases that qualify to be erased and the points needed to do that. 

Click on the purchases you want to erase, enter the amount of points you want to use, click confirm and done. 

This is way better than the cash back option because you get the 25-50% bonus depending on which card you have. The cash back option is 1:1. 

If you are thinking about making some airbnb.com reservations for the holiday or next year, do it now and then erase them by December 31st. That's how we do it at almostfreefamilytravel.com 

If you don't have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card yet, this is one of my favorite flex cards, right now the bonus is 60,000 points when you spend a minimum of $4,000. That's like $750 in FREE travel. Please consider using my referral link if you decide to apply for this card.