Cash Back On My Solar Eclipse Hotel! Woot Woot

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I love shopping portals. These are basically free money! There are dozens of them on the internet. Some operate as cash back portals, some offer frequest flier miles and some offer points. Depending on what your goals are, you can use one or a combination.
I tend to favor Ebates.com, American Airlines portal and the portal through my online grocery store. Between the 3 of those, I can earn cash back or American Airlines miles depending on what I need and what bonuses they are offering.
For the solar eclipse, I booked the Fairfield Marriott in Portland. I didn't have much choice since we were very late in making the plans.
But fortunately I was able to book through Ebates.com and at least earn almost $11 back.
Remember if I had booked the hotel directly, that $11 would have just vanished. I paid the same amount for the hotel, but I got $11 back. Nice! That's called almost free family travel.

*If you want to try Ebates.com, please use my link above. You will get $10 cash back after your first purchase.

Visiting London With A Teen On A Budget, Sort Of

London on a budget with a teen? It is possible and here's how to do it. We already covered flights in a previous post so let's start with hotels. Start with awardmapper.com to see if you can use your points or miles. FREE is, of course, always the goal! I couldn't find any good values for my points or miles for mid July. So I turned to bed and breakfast type hotels. I always look for breakfast included when travelling with my kids. If you start off with full tummies, it just makes the day better. 

Belgrave Road in London

There are a ton of budget hotels on Belgrave Road near the Pimlico metro stop. Most include breakfast and run about $100 per night for a private room and bathroom. We stayed at the Melbourne House. It is centrally located near a metro stop. Breakfast included croissant, cheese, meats, yogurt, fruit, coffee and orange juice. We even made sandwiches one day for lunch on the train. Only downside, there is no elevator! The farther out of town you go, the cheaper the hotels are, but you are out of town. 

From Heathrow, you can take the express train to Victoria metro station. Pick up an Oyster card in the to pay for the express train and pre-load it with funds. This makes riding the metro in London so much easier. You can use the automated machines to add funds. When you are ready to leave London, scan your card again so you get your deposit and unused funds back. 

Now what to do in London with a teenager. Where should we start? To be honest, I did not expect to like London as much as I did. It was quite a charming city with lots of places to walk. We started by walking by Buckingham Palace and through the nearby park. Then proceeded to walk to Big Ben. Of course, stopping for ice cream on the way. Be sure to include a chocolate flake on top of your ice cream!

The Tower Of London was a definite highlight of this visit. There are discount tickets online, but you may need to wait 30 minutes to recieve a confirmation email with your ticket voucher. You have to take the voucher to the customer service window to exchange it for tickets. The tower offers free walking tours every 1/2 hour and I highly recommend at least doing the 1 hour tour for a part of the time. Includes lots of good history. There is a separate line for the Crown Jewels exhibit, but it is included in your ticket price. Definitely take the time to see the exhibit which includes many crowns, scepters, and much more. 

We walked by Big Ben, River Thames, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square and then hopped the metro to the theatre district, Picadilly Circus. FYI, Westminster Abbey closes at 3:30pm. The changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace happens at 11am. Checked out the 1/2 price booth near Leicester metro stop. There is a board in front that lists the shows available for that evening. We were able to pick up 2 tickets for 22.50 pounds each to see American In Paris. Awesome!

London with a teen is not complete without a day to the WB Tour, The Making of Harry Potter. I must admit that I have only read the first book, but this exhibit and tour is fascinating even for the non fan. You must book tickets online and in advance. I couldn't find any discounts so we just spent the money. When you buy your ticket, you are assigned a time to enter. Do not stress out if you are late or early. Once you arrive, you actually can enter within 30 minutes of your assigned time. You will need to take the train to Watford Junction. The train leaves from Victoria Station and you can buy tickets from the automated machines or the ticket window.  Tickets are 9 pounds there and 4 pounds to return. It can cost more during rush hour. The trains leave every 20 minutes or so and the train takes about 20 minutes. It took us 1.25 hours to reach Watford Junction. Once you arrive in Watford Junction, you will need to wait for the Harry Potter shuttle bus. The ride to the park is included in your ticket. The driver will ask you to pre pay your ride home so be sure to have 2.50 pounds per person.

You can bring your own food and drinks into the park. There is a cafe inside and it's not too overpriced. The tour begins with a guide who takes you through the grand hall and then it is a walking tour that you do at your own pace. There is a lot of reading about the different sets and costumes. Plan to spend about 3 hours at the park.
You can't be in London without enjoying high tea. We chose the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory High Tea at One Aldwych Hotel.  It is inspired by the hotel's partnership with the musical. This was definitely not almost free, in fact, for two of us, it cost about $115. Definitely a splurge, but worth it if you love chocolate. Starts with little sandwiches and then a dessert platter. Lots of interesting teas as well and a nice atmosphere.

So all total, we spent $400 for the hotel, $115 for the high tea, $100 for Harry Potter, $40 for the Tower Of London, $45 for a show and $100 for transportation. We ate fish and chips one night and at an inexpensive restaurant the other. You could spend less, but we enjoyed the splurges.

Southwest Increases Its Bonus! Companion Pass Time!

If the Southwest companion pass is on your wish list and it should be on everyone's wish list, then now is the time! Southwest just increased the bonus to 60,000 points on all 3 of its cards, Southwest Premier, Southwest Business and Southwest Plus. 

The difference between the 3 cards:
Southwest Plus - $69 annual fee, $2,000 minimum spend, 3,000 points on your anniversary
Southwest Premier - $99 annual fee, $2,000 minimum spend, 6,000 points on your anniversary
Southwest Premier Business - $99 annual fee, $3,000 minimum spend, 6,000 points on your anniversary

In order to qualify for the companion pass, you will need to open 2 of these cards. You want to time it so that you reach the minimum spend in early January. The beauty of the companion pass is that it is valid for the rest of the year you earn it and the following year.
You can use it for anybody who flies with you and you can change your companion 3x each calendar year.

I have had the companion pass for the last 3 years and have used it to go to the East Coast a few times with my daughter and I took my son to Washington DC and San Francisco. You can use it for international flights to. Southwest flies to the Caribbean, Mexico and Costa Rica.

And besides the companion pass, you will have earned yourself 125,000 Southwest points. Now that's almost free family travel!

Eurostar - How to find seats on a budget

Travelling from Paris to London couldn't be easier these days via the Eurostar high speed train. You can have breakfast in Paris and lunch in London. Amazing! I remember the old days when you had to take the train to the coast and then the ferry across. It was a 12 hour trek.
Couple of things you need to know to make your Eurostar experience a good one.
Book your ticket online early! Ticket sales open 60-90 days before the travel date. Check Eurostar.com for tickets and prices. The price will go up as it gets closer to the departure date. A friend of mine bought hers the day before and it cost $400 per seat. Ouch! If you book early, it will cost $45 per seat.
One of my favorite how to ride the rails website is seatguru61.com. By the way, the Eurostar train services London, Paris, Brussels and other cities in those countries.

The Eurostar leaves from Gare Du Nord in Paris and arrives at the Victoria train station in London. Arrive early for departure because you need to pass through passport control which took us almost an hour. Once on board, seats are comfortable and there is WIFI, but it is spotty. The train is very smooth even though you are travelling at 85 mph. In fact, it really doesn't feel like you are going that fast until you ride on a regular train.
So bottom line, book early and enjoy the ride!

Visiting Paris With A Teen On A Budget

We travel a lot! My younger daughter is 11 years old and has already visited 18 countries and 5 continents. But we tend to visit off the beaten path type places like Peru, Thailand, South Africa and Zambia. We prefer adventure type vacations to museum type vacations. My older daughter who is heading to college in the fall asked if we could visit Europe and some "normal" places.
So planning started on a 3 week European vacation. We dropped the younger siblings off with cousins in Sweden and headed off for a week in Paris and London.
I have been to Paris quite a few times, but it's been quite a few years. And of course, I have never visited the city with a teenager.
We arrrived in Paris on Bastille Day which made me a bit nervous. But the city had set up security checkpoints on nearly every corner and the crowd seemed subdued so we felt very comfortable. We headed to the Eiffel Tower to see the fireworks show. We chose a viewpoint on the other side of the Seine from the tower next to the Trocadero with easy access to the metro. I highly recommend this because the metro stations near the tower close early to help with security. This means after the show, you will have to walk a long way to get to an open metro station.

The fireworks show was amazing!

Once I secure flights, I move onto hotels. One of my favorite tools is awardmapper.com. You enter the city, choose your hotel brand and the website will tell you how many points you will need and what hotels are in the area. For Paris, I couldn't find any good values for my points. So I chose a bed and breakfast in the Moulin Rouge section of the city. Hotel Moulin Plaza was perfect. Booked through Booking.com 3 nights for 256.60 Euros or $302.12.  The hotel included breakfast, private bathroom, clean, secure front desk, located near a metro stop and centrally located. It was also next door to the infamous Moulin Rouge cabaret. I used Booking.com and used my Ebates.com portal to get cash back. Woohoo! 

So what to do with a teenager in Paris? First stop, crepes. 

We feasted on sweet crepes from shops like the one in the video and yummy, chicken, cheese and mushroom crepes for $6 from a stand. There must have been 4 crepe shops within a block of our hotel. Next stop, pick up our Paris Museum Pass from the Tourism Office. We bought it online before we arrived, but not early enough for it to be mailed before the trip. I highly recommend you order it early and have it shipped to your home. The line at the Tourism Office was long. The pass is about $45 per person. 

The benefits to the pass are FREE admission to the museums. Kids and students are FREE anyway. But you get to cut to the front of the line at all the museums. This is a huge benefit. The lines in Paris in the summer are unbelievably long. 

Paris Museum Pass Line at the Orsay - Yep, empty! 

Line for regular ticket holders at the Orsay - ouch!

 We limited our museums to just the Louvre, the Dali and the Orsay. Of course, there are dozens of museums to check out, but I think even with an 18 year old, you have to be choosy.

Crowds at the Mona Lisa

I'll share one of the best pieces of advice we got, skip the long line to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You will wait hours even if you buy your ticket online ahead of time, trust me. A better view is from the roof of the Gallerie Lafayette and it's FREE. Plus you get to check out the inside of this incredible building.

The center of the Gallerie Lafayette

 After walking in the heat and crowds, ice cream is always a winner. I think we ate ice cream in every city we visited and for a couple of our meals. The best ice cream in Paris is Berthillon Ice Cream. It's located behind the Notre Dame.

 One of the things I love about travelling is the unexpected. We stumbled on this wall of love near the Dali Museum in the Montemarte section  of the city.

There is a memorial ceremony every day at 6pm at the Notre Dame for the fallen soldiers. It's definitely something to see.

To navigate Paris and save money, I highly suggest using public transport and buying either a pass or a book of rides. You will save a ton of money. We ended up buying a 10 pack for 7.80 Euros. Huge savings over spending 1.80 Euros for each ride!

 And then we hopped the Eurostar from the Gare Du Nord for the next part of our trip in London. I'll write a separate post about how to buy tickets on the Eurostar and our experience.
For our 3 day stay in Paris, flights were free, hotel cost $250 and included breakfast, Museum Pass cost $45 each, transport $20 and food. We sat down for one nice lunch that set us back about $50. Other than that, we lived on crepes and sandwiches and ice cream.
That's how we do it at almost free family travel!

The Secret Thing You Can Do When Your Flight Is Cancelled

                             

Imagine our surprise as we walked off the plane in Vienna, Austria, looked at the connecting flight board and saw that our flight to Los Angeles was cancelled.
For a moment, we were stunned. Then we moved to action. Where should we go and how was the airline going to rebook 500 passengers? And after 3 weeks in Europe and 3 kids who were ready to go home, how were we going to convince them that this was just another part of the adventure?
"To the service center," the customer service representative told us and off we went with dozens of other passengers.
We took a number at the service center and sat down to wait. The lone customer service representative at the service counter called out a number. We could see this was going to take awhile. So we called Austrian Airlines customer service using Skype.  Skype allows you to make calls to any landline, cell or Skype for pennies anywhere in the world. I always leave a few bucks on my Skype account just in case. This is the secret!
The customer service representative on the phone was able to make a new reservation for us on the same flight the next day. He told us we still had to wait for our number to be called so we could get vouchers for the hotel, food and taxi and to retrieve our luggage and to get new boarding passes, but we had a confirmed reservation.
Success!
About an hour later, our number was called. The customer service representative told us immediately that there no flights available until the following afternoon. Then she looked up our tickets and smiled.
She said "Actually I see you are already booked on the 7am flight. Good job!"
She handed us vouchers for our hotel, food and taxi and directed us to baggage claim. "Enjoy Vienna," she told us.

Hipster hotel in Vienna, Austria

Within an hour, we were sitting in a hipster hotel in Vienna enjoying our lunch courtesy of Austrian Airlines.

Is Amazon Fresh Worth It?

This past week, I finally gave in and tried Amazon Fresh. Recently, I have begun streamlining my trips to the store so I can spend more time on my income producing activities and with my family. I stopped going to Target and Walmart and now shop exclusively online from the largest online wellness store in North America. Better products, more affordable and more efficient.
I have been looking for an equally affordable way to get my groceries.
Since we were in Europe and would rather not stop at the store on the way home from the airport, I decided now was a good time to try Amazon Fresh. We are Prime members.
I signed up for a 1 month free trial. The regular monthly price is $14.99, this is in addition to your $99 Prime membership.
Then unless you spend at least $40 on your order, Amazon Fresh will charge you $9.99 for shipping.
So, of course, I set out to spend $40.

You can see the prices vary. Some are a "good deal" others are overprices compared to what I could spend at Trader Joes or Sprouts.
And I struggled to spend $40. The 5 pound box of spinach that I usually buy was unavailable so I had to buy spinach in .99 bunches. My preferred milk was actually $1.00 cheaper than at the brick and mortar store. The 18 pack of eggs was not available so I settled on a 2-12 packs.
I ended up throwing in a couple boxes of cereal to increase the total to $40. Set my delivery time for 6pm-9pm (that was the latest delivery available) and we wait.
When we arrived home from the airport, two Amazon Fresh coolers were sitting on our front porch.
Nice!

We unpacked them and everything was cold, but we our bananas were missing. Huge bummer since we were looking forward to enjoying our fresh juice in the morning and the bananas were a key ingredient.
I called Amazon Fresh and they immediately offered a $1.58 refund for the missing bananas which didn't really help the situation, but I suppose it was the least they could do.
Next time, I logged into my Amazon account, I noticed a $5.00 credit also so I guess that was their way of apologizing.
So the bottom line, the service served its purpose. I might use it again in the future, but for right now I'm going to cancel my free trial.