Don't Let Your Chase Sapphire Reserve Credits Expire! Here's Your Game Plan 🎯

Got the Chase Sapphire Reserve? You're probably feeling the December 31st deadline pressure right about now.

Here's the deal: Chase bumped the annual fee to $795 earlier this year (ouch 😬). But they also added some seriously valuable credits to soften the blow. The catch? They all expire on Dec. 31st, and you need to use them to actually justify that hefty fee.

If you're scrambling to figure this out, you're not alone—we're in the same boat! Let me walk you through some strategies that might help. Plus, Chase is rolling out changes on January 1st that should make this less stressful next year 🙌

Your Three Main Expiring Credits:

• $150 StubHub credit
• $150 Restaurant credit
• $250 Edit hotel credit

(There are also monthly credits like Lyft and DashPass, but those don't expire annually, so we're focusing on the big three.)

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💳 The $150 StubHub Credit

This one's straightforward:

Activate the credit first in your Chase.com account. It's located under benefits. Buy any ticket on StubHub.com using your Chase Sapphire Reserve card. You can purchase for yourself or let someone you trust buy a ticket in their account using your card—as long as the purchase goes through StubHub directly, you're good.

Key detail: You only need to purchase the ticket by Dec. 31st, not attend the event. You need to activate the credit before you make the purchase! 

Pro tip: You could buy a ticket and relist it on StubHub. Even if you resell for the same price, you're up $150 from the credit 💡

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🍽️ The $150 Restaurant Credit

This one confuses people, but it's actually pretty flexible:

1. Go to Chase Sapphire Exclusive Tables on OpenTable
2. Click your city (or wherever you're visiting) to see participating restaurants
3. Book a reservation through OpenTable—you can choose ANY available time, not just the ones marked "Chase Sapphire"

But here's where it gets better—you don't even need a reservation:

• Walk in and dine
• Order takeout
• Get delivery (if the restaurant offers it directly—not through third-party apps)
• Buy a gift card online IF the restaurant uses Toast as their payment system (you'll see "Toast" on the checkout page)

Just make sure you pay with your Chase Sapphire Reserve card to trigger the credit.

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🏨 The $250 Edit Hotel Credit

This one takes a bit more work:

Log into the Chase Travel Portal and search for hotels. Edit properties sometimes appear at the top if they include a points boost, but there's no dedicated filter (annoying, I know).

Since Edit hotels are typically 4-5 star luxury properties, filter for those categories to narrow your search. Some more affordable options include Kimpton hotels and MGM properties in Las Vegas.

What you get with Edit hotels:

• $100 property credit
• Daily breakfast
• Early check-in/late check-out
• Free WiFi

Important notes:

• 2-night minimum required
• Book by Dec. 31st, but your actual stay can be in 2025
• Some people are booking refundable 2026 stays—we're still figuring out what happens if you cancel or modify
• You can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to cover any remaining balance after the credit

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My Vegas Plan 🎰

I already have trips booked for next year, but the Edit hotels in those cities were way over budget. So I'm doing a quick midweek Vegas trip instead:

• MGM Grand - only $40 out of pocket after the $250 credit for 2 nights
• Daily breakfast included
• $100 property credit for lunch or dinner
• $150 restaurant credit for another meal out
• $150 StubHub credit for Sphere tickets
• Southwest points + Companion Pass for flights

Total out-of-pocket: $40 for a 2-night Vegas getaway ✈️

I'll report back on how it goes! 

In January, Chase is changing the bi-annual $250 credit to an annual $500 credit, BUT you will still need to book a 2 night minimum for each $250 credit. The theory is you can book back to back reservations to use both credits. You will need to contact the hotel to connect the reservations so you don't need to change rooms. 

If you don't have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card yet and these credits sound interesting to you, there is an increased 125,000 point offer right now for a $6,000 minimum spend. You can read more about the benefits of the card here. If that's too steep for you, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is also offering an increased 75,000 point bonus offer for $5,000 minimum spend.

Want more personal help planning your next trip? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

One More Chance To Earn The Southwest Companion Pass!

If that 120,000 Southwest bonus offer for a $10,000 minimum spend was a bit too hefty for you, now you have another chance! 

Southwest just launched 85,000 bonus offer for just $3,000 minimum spend on all three of their personal credit cards. Depending on which benefits you want, the annual fee will range from $99 to $229. 

Some of the differences between the cards include:

• 2x points on groceries or restaurants or gas stations
• Points earned on your anniversary date
• Seat selection 
• Upgrade option for more legroom 
• Qualifying points towards A List 
• Flight discount promo code 

All the cards include one FREE checked bag for you and up to 8 people on your reservation including your companion pass.  Which one is best for you? Depends on the benefits you will use and where you spend the most money, groceries, restaurants or gas stations.

This is a pretty great offer and better than the usual 50,000 bonus offer. 

The catch here is that if you want to earn the Southwest Companion Pass, you will still need to apply for  a business credit card or earn the points through flying, booking hotels or just using the card for purchases. You earn the Southwest Companion Pass when you collect 135,000 Southwest points in a calendar year. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is a BOGO on any flight anytime anywhere Southwest flies. Now that the airline is going to fly to Alaska and the Caribbean, it might save you a lot of money. I have had the companion pass for the past 8 years and it has saved my family thousands of dollars. 

You can read here about how we time this process so you earn the pass for almost two entire years! 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Southwest 120,000 Bonus Offer Ends Oct. 27th

 

Southwest Airlines 120,000 bonus offer ends Oct. 27th so don't wait! This offer gets you so close to earning the Southwest Companion pass. It's crazy! 

If you follow my blog, you know that the Southwest Companion Pass is the most valuable travel perk out there. It is a BOGO pass on any Southwest flight for up to two years and you can change your companion up to three times per year. If you  were planning to earn the pass, you may have applied for the Southwest Personal Credit Card 100,000 bonus offer that ended recently. 

And you are now slowly working towards your minimum spend since you have four months to do that instead of the usual three. So you strategically reach the minimum at just the right time to earn the companion pass for nearly two years. 

The Southwest Companion Pass has saved my family thousands of dollars on cross country trips, college trips, family weekends, events and more! Plus Southwest will be starting flights to the Caribbean in 2026! 

And usually the second step in this plan is to apply for a Southwest Business Credit Card to reach the 135,000 points that you need in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

Whew! It's a lot of strategy and that's why I help people like you keep it all straight and on track. 

With this new offer, if you do it right, you will end up with 235,000 Southwest points plus a BOGO companion pass good through December 2027. Wow! 

Now if you were not eligible for the Southwest Personal Credit Card 100,000 bonus point offer, don't worry. This new offer includes almost enough points to earn the Southwest Companion pass on its own.

 

Here's the offer:

• $10,000 minimum spend in 3 months 
• 120,000 bonus points 
• Offer ends 10/27/2025
• $299 annual fee

The minimum spend is a bit hefty, but remember to use this card for all of your purchases for the next three months. It is a business credit card, but many businesses qualify, you can read about that here.

Just as an fyi, the Southwest Personal Credit Cards dropped back to their traditional offer of 50,000 bonus points for $1,000 minimum spend. Remember when you fly, you may have access to a better offer. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Why The New Southwest Business 120,000 Bonus Points Offer Is Amazing

 

Southwest Airlines just dropped a whopper big bonus offer that gets you so close to earning the Southwest Companion pass. It's crazy! 

If you follow my blog, you know that the Southwest Companion Pass is the most valuable travel perk out there. It is a BOGO pass on any Southwest flight for up to two years and you can change your companion up to three times per year. If you  were planning to earn the pass, you may have applied for the Southwest Personal Credit Card 100,000 bonus offer that ended recently. 

And you are now slowly working towards your minimum spend since you have four months to do that instead of the usual three. So you strategically reach the minimum at just the right time to earn the companion pass for nearly two years. 

The Southwest Companion Pass has saved my family thousands of dollars on cross country trips, college trips, family weekends, events and more! Plus Southwest will be starting flights to the Caribbean in 2026! 

And usually the second step in this plan is to apply for a Southwest Business Credit Card to reach the 135,000 points that you need in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

Whew! It's a lot of strategy and that's why I help people like you keep it all straight and on track. 

With this new offer, if you do it right, you will end up with 235,000 Southwest points plus a BOGO companion pass good through December 2027. Wow! 

Now if you were not eligible for the Southwest Personal Credit Card 100,000 bonus point offer, don't worry. This new offer includes almost enough points to earn the Southwest Companion pass on its own.

 

Here's the offer:

• $10,000 minimum spend in 3 months 
• 120,000 bonus points 
• Offer ends 10/22/2025
• $299 annual fee

The minimum spend is a bit hefty, but remember to use this card for all of your purchases for the next three months. It is a business credit card, but many businesses qualify, you can read about that here.

Just as an fyi, the Southwest Personal Credit Cards dropped back to their traditional offer of 50,000 bonus points for $1,000 minimum spend. Remember when you fly, you may have access to a better offer. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Southwest Promotional Companion Pass Is Back! 3 Days Only!

 

With all the changes happening at Southwest, it was nice to see this offer pop up this morning! Whether you are working on the real Southwest companion pass or not, this promotional pass could help bridge the gap in early 2026 while you wait for your real pass to kick in OR how about a winter getaway?

The Southwest Companion Pass gets you BOGO flights for you and one companion as many times as you want where ever Southwest flies. Costa Rica, perhaps? Belize, perhaps? 

This promotional pass will be valid Jan 6, 2026-March 6, 2026. 

All you have to do is book one round trip or two one way flights by Thursday August 28th and travel by Nov. 15th. Basic tickets do NOT count. 

You must register here first! 

A few years back, I flew to Phoenix and had lunch with a friend. Round trip flight cost less than $100 and then I used the promotional pass for a few trips to New York. Worth it! 

Now Southwest is also offering a bonus offer of 100,000 points right now, with this offer , you can earn the companion pass for almost two years because Chase is giving you five months to reach the minimum spend instead of the usual three. But you have to time it right! You have to earn the bonus in January 2026. It's not easy, but we have a strategy. 

I have done this multiple times and helped dozens of people do it, if this interests you. You need to act fast. Book a consult with me now. Before you apply, you have to do one very important step and with this bonus offer ending on Sept. 17th, we don't have much time. 

So let's talk now! 

Stop! You Must Do This Before You Apply For The Southwest Bonus Offer

 

One of the best travel perks out there is the Southwest Companion Pass, BOGO flights for you and a companion for up to two years anywhere Southwest flies. With all the changes happening at Southwest, we don't know how much longer this pass will exist in its current form or at all. 

So now might be the time you want to earn it for 2026-27. But you need to do one thing before you apply for the amazing Southwest 100,000 bonus offer. So keep reading! 

I have had this pass since 2017 and it has saved our family thousands of dollars. I have used it to take children to college, family weekend at college, life events across the country, trips to Cuba, Cabo, Costa Rica, Washington DC, New Orleans, New York City and so much more. In fact, recently, I used it for a quick trip to Seattle and San Francisco. 

You get the pass by earning 135,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year (Jan-Dec). The closer to the beginning of the year that you earn the pass, the longer you have to use it. The pass is valid for the year you earn it and the following year. 

If you earn the pass Jan. 15th 2026, the pass is valid through Dec. 31st 2027. Almost two years! 

With the current bonus offer of 100,000 points, you can earn the companion pass for almost two years because Chase is giving you five months to reach the minimum spend instead of the usual three. But you have to time it right! You have to earn the bonus in January 2026. It's not easy, but we have a strategy. 

I have done this multiple times and helped dozens of people do it, if this interests you. You need to act fast. Book a consult with me now. Before you apply, you have to do one very important step and with this bonus offer ending on Sept. 17th, we don't have much time. 

So let's talk now! 

Southwest Travel Credits: The Good, The Bad, and The Smart Workaround

Southwest Travel Credits: The Good, The Bad, and The Smart Workaround

Let's talk about something that makes my travel-planning heart sink: airline travel credits. They expire when you're not looking, you can't give them to anyone else, and finding them in your account feels like a scavenger hunt nobody wants to play.

Just last week, I was working with a client planning her Arizona getaway on Southwest. We dug into her account and discovered over $1,000 in Southwest travel credits just sitting there! The kicker? She'd been buying new flights while these credits collected digital dust.

Here's what's changed (and not in a good way): Southwest travel credits now expire anywhere from 6 months to a year after purchase, depending on your fare type. Picture this nightmare scenario: you book a fare four months before your trip, life happens and you need to cancel, and boom – your credit expires just two months later. Not exactly the flexibility we're looking for as families.

The Game-Changer: Southwest Points

Ready for the solution that'll make you wonder why you ever booked any other way? Always book with Southwest points. When you cancel a points booking, those points flow right back into your Rapid Rewards account. No expiration dates, no restrictions on who can use them – just pure travel flexibility.

Building Your Points Stash

Southwest is currently offering 100,000 bonus points when you open one of their personal credit cards and spend $4,000 within five months. That's more time than usual to hit the spending requirement, which makes it much more manageable for families.

Here's where it gets exciting: this bonus gets you most of the way to Southwest's Companion Pass. Earn 135,000 points in a calendar year, and you've unlocked buy-one-get-one-free flights. If you time this right and earn the bonus after January 1st, 2026, you could have companion pass benefits for both 2026 and 2027.

Southwest has three personal credit cards to choose from, and while the benefits have shifted with their new assigned seating and fare structure (along with higher annual fees), all three cards currently offer that same generous 100,000-point welcome bonus.

The bottom line? Skip the credit headaches and go straight to points. Your future travel-planning self will thank you.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Not ready to dive into the coaching program, download the ebook or custom tracker or book a 1:1 consulting call with me.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

Should You Apply For One Of The New Southwest Credit Cards?

 

Southwest has been making a lot of changes recently, no FREE checked bags, assigned seats and more. And the company just announced a refresh of its five co-branded credit cards. We will take a look at the changes, but the big news is that the refreshed personal credit cards carry a huge 100,000 bonus point offer, FREE checked bags, refundable flights and give you 5 months to spend the minimum $4,000. 

That's huge and gets you most of the way there for the best perk in the travel biz, the Southwest Companion Pass which is a BOGO on any flight anywhere Southwest flies for up to two years. Wow! 

So what's the difference between the five credit cards and which one is best for you? Let's take a look. 

Personal Credit Cards are Plus, Premier and Priority

Some of the differences between the cards include:

• 2x points on groceries or restaurants or gas stations
• Points earned on your anniversary date
• Seat selection 
• Upgrade option for more legroom 
• Qualifying points towards A List 
• Flight discount promo code 

All the cards include one FREE checked bag for you and up to 8 people on your reservation including your companion pass.  Which one is best for you? Depends on the benefits you will use and where you spend the most money, groceries, restaurants or gas stations. 

Southwest offers two business credit cards, one has a 60,000 bonus offer with a minimum spend of $3,000 and the other carries an 80,000 bonus offer with a minimum spend of $5,000. These are the regular offers and both cards only give you 3 months to meet the minimum spend. But in our travel coaching program, we show you how to use these cards to collect enough points to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. 

The business credit cards also underwent a refresh due to the changing rules at Southwest. Some of the differences between these two cards include:

• Preferred seat selection
• Upgrade option for more legroom
• Points earned on your anniversary date
• Flight discount promo code 
• Points earning power on gas stations, restaurants, hotels and flights 
• Global Entry $120 credit 
• Annual fee $149 vs $299 

Here's where it gets a bit tricky, you can hold only one personal Southwest credit card and you are only eligible for the bonus IF you have not earned a bonus in the past 24 months. Your eligibility date is the date that you earned the previous bonus NOT the date you were approved for the credit card. 

So if you earned the bonus on April 25th 2023, then you are not eligible to apply again until April 26th 2025. You can check your Southwest Airlines account points activity to determine your bonus date. 

You can hold both Southwest business credit cards at the same time, but the bonus eligibility rule is the same. Also the personal credit cards fall under the Chase 5/24 rule. 

Bottom line, the new 100,000 point bonus offer is fantastic! Lots of points, checked bags, makes every airline ticket refundable plus it gets you very close to the 135,000 points needed for the Southwest companion pass. Woohoo! 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Not ready to dive into the coaching program, download the ebook or custom tracker or book a 1:1 consulting call with me.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

 

Book Fast! Mini Southwest Companion Pass Offer

 

If you don't have your Southwest Companion Pass yet, you can snag a mini by just booking one round trip or two one way flights by Friday. 

To get the pass for up to two years, you need to earn 135,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year, but sometimes Southwest offers these mini passes. 

The companion pass is one of the best travel perks in travel because it is a BOGO on any flight that Southwest flies. 

Book Fast! Mini Southwest Companion Pass Offer 

I have saved thousands of dollars by having the Southwest Companion Pass. You can read about how I used the pass for college trips, family trips, friend trips and more. 

By the way, Southwest flies to Costa Rica, Belize, Cabo and Hawaii. 

Here is how to receive your promotional Companion Pass®:

1. Register now, then purchase one qualifying round trip or two qualifying one-way flights by 6/27/25.

2. Travel by 8/31/25 (perfect for summer travel.)

3. Companion flies free with you 9/8-11/15/2025.

*Terms apply. Not valid on Basic fares. Does not include taxes and fees from $5.60 one-way.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. Or book a 1:1 consulting call.  I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities. 

#1 Way To Prepare For Southwest Changes Coming Wednesday

 

The day is finally arriving this Wednesday, May 28th. The end of Southwest as we know and love it. Starting this Wednesday, the FREE bag policy is ending. We anticipate that the bag charge will be approximately $35 per bag in line with other airlines. 

Starting soon, you will also be choosing your seat when you book your flight. Though assigned seats do not officially start until early 2026. Travel credits will start to expire as well, but since we always fly on points, we are not worried about that. 

You are probably already seeing some strange pricing happening on the Southwest website and app. 

Hopefully you are taking advantage of some of the strange low fares. I snagged a 6,000 point flight from San Diego to Seattle and pair that with my companion pass and wow! 

If you buy a Business Select ticket or have A List Preferred, you will still get two FREE checked bags. If you have a Southwest credit card or A List, you will still get one FREE checked bag. If you follow my blog and have earned the Southwest Companion Pass, then you have at least one Southwest Credit Card. Your companion will also get a FREE checked bag. 

But since you won't get two FREE checked bags, what's the #1 way to prepare for these changes?

#1 is to stop traveling with checked bags. #teamcarryon all the way. Southwest will still allow a FREE carry on and a FREE personal item. 

If you are saying right now, there is no way I can fit all my stuff in just a carry on, I'm here to help you. 

There are a few methods like 5-4-3-2-1 (5 shirts, 4 pants, 3 shoes, 2 dresses, 1 accessory), but I follow the pack for approximately 7-10 days no matter how long you plan to travel. You can always do laundry. 

You can check out this video to see how I pack my carry on. You will note that I take along a French press too. 

I also bought this nifty personal size backpack that fits under the seat, but holds an extraordinary amount of stuff. You can find it on Amazon for $36.99 in all different colors. 

Bottom line, change is part of life, but the challenge is to find the best value. 

As always, if you need more guidance, please join our Travel Coaching Program, you can find out more about our personal coaching here. Use FREETRAVEL for $50 off the cost. Or you can book a 30 minute consult for just $100. We would love to help you! 

How To Visit National Parks With Points and Miles

 

Feeling uneasy about traveling internationally right now, there are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the US including National Parks. And yes, you can use points and miles to visit them. 

Recently, I visited Joshua Tree National Park, it is the 6th most visited park in the US with 3 million visitors every year. The park is located approximately 45 minutes from Palm Springs in the Hi Desert.

The top 10 most popular National Parks are: Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Zion, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, Acadia, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree and Olympic. 

And those are just the most popular ones. Some of the smaller yet amazing National Parks include: Canyonlands, Lassen Volcanic, Big Bend, Channel Islands and North Cascades. 332 million people visit the National Parks each year. 

You will need to pay the entry for each park so if you plan to visit 2-3 of them, you should look into purchasing the America The Beautiful annual pass for $80. For seniors, it's just $20 for an annual pass and $80 for a lifetime pass. The pass is FREE for military and fourth graders and their families. 

You could pay a lot to stay inside some of the parks OR there are a handful of hotel chains that are typically located just outside the entrances to the parks. Those chains include Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express by IHG and Sure Stay Plus by Best Western. These hotels usually qualify for FREE night certificates like Marriott's FREE night for 35,000 points. In addition, Holiday Inn is a stay 3, get the 4th night FREE and Marriott is stay 4, get the 5th night FREE. 

If there is no chain near the entrance or you don't have a FREE night certificate, you can also look in the Chase Travel Portal or the Capital One Travel Portal or you can "erase" the hotel with your Capital One Venture credit card. 

For Joshua Tree National Park, I used a FREE night certificate to stay at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Twenty Nine Palms. It is located about seven minutes outside the park entrance. There is a grocery store across the street from the hotel and a few restaurants nearby including a Chipotle and Starbucks. I prefer the Fairfield Inn and Suites hotels because the rooms can accommodate up to 6 people, there is a pool and includes breakfast. 

Most of these parks are located within driving distance from a city where Southwest flies so you can use points and your Southwest Companion Pass. For example, Joshua Tree National Park is approximately 30 minutes from Palm Springs, 1.5 hours from Ontario Airport and 2.5 hours from Los Angeles, Burbank, John Wayne Airport and San Diego. 

Yellowstone is located a few hours from Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho. Yosemite is located a few hours from Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Fresno. The Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce are located a few hours from Las Vegas. You can also fly into Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. 

The biggest expense with a National Park trip is usually renting a car, but if you charge this purchase to your Capital One Venture or Venture X credit card, you get rental insurance and can "erase" the purchase with points. Right now, the Capital One Venture credit card is offering 100,000 bonus points through my special link. You might also try booking your rental car through the Chase or Capital One Travel portal, but I usually find Costco has better rates. 

One of my clients told me she finds great rates through airline offers when she books her flights. But however you make the reservation, be sure to pay for the rental car with a credit card that earns bonus points for travel. Or use a credit card that you are working to earn a bonus offer like the Chase Sapphire Preferred 100,000 point offer or that you can erase the rental with points. 

Food options can be limited near the National Parks so it's a good idea to carry a cooler with you and stop at a grocery store on the way. Keep plenty of water with you as well since many of the parks can be hot and have long lines during the busy season. 

Some of the parks like Joshua Tree National Park offer ranger tours like the one I took to Keys Ranch, an original homestead inside the park. We spent two hours in a private area inside the park that is only accessible on the tour. The original house, equipment and cars are on the property and Ranger Tom had lots of stories about the miners and park back in the 1930's. The tour is only available October - April and costs $20 per person. 

If you are looking to stay closer to home or in the US this summer, National Parks offer a great escape from the city and are super affordable with points and miles. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable.