New Bonus Categories For Chase Freedom

The Chase Freedom card is one of my go-to cards that I have had in wallet forever. It is a no-fee card earns 1% back everywhere. But each quarter, Chase announces 5% cash back categories. You can spend in these categories up to $1,500 for combined cash back. So that's $75 each quarter if you take advantage. Cashback categories have included grocery stores, gas stations, Amazon, department stores, internet, cable and more. Now a reader is reporting that a Chase rep told him the Q2 categories will be grocery stores, Chase Pay and Apple Pay. 

You do need to register your card, but you can do it anytime during the quarter and rewards will be retroactive.  The cash back will come in as Chase Ultimate Reward Points. 

We will let you know when the official announcement is made. 

New Way To Use Wyndham Points!

Wyndham hotel group just bought Americinn Hotels. There are about 200 locations of these budget friendly hotels. They offer free breakfast. Wyndham also bought La Quinta, but we don't know the details of that deal yet. 

However, Americinn Hotel loyalty reward program is now merged with Wyndham. So what does that mean? It means for every 1 point you have with Americinn, you will get 1,500 Wyndham points sometime in March. 

Right now, though, you can stay twice at Americinn Hotels and earn a free night at any Wyndham. 

Wyndham hotels are not my favorite as they are very low budget, but there are some all inclusive and international locations that are nice and great deals. 

Last summer, we spent 3 nights at the Ramada in Prague for just 15,000 points each night. It was a steal since Prague can be very expensive in the summer peak season. 

So for almost free family travel, think about staying twice at a budget Wyndham when you are traveling in the US and earning a FREE stay for your next beach or European vacation. 

Amazon Visa Gives 5% Back At Whole Foods

We are starting to find out what types of perks come with the merger of Amazon and Whole Foods. So here's the latest one.....earn 5% back on anything you buy at Whole Foods with your Amazon Visa. That's pretty sweet. 

The Amazon Rewards Visa Signature is a Chase Bank card so you do need to keep your 5/24 status in mind if you apply for this card. 

But it comes with a $50 Amazon gift card upon approval, no annual fees and you will earn 5% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods if you are a Prime member. If not, you will earn 3% cash back at Amazon and Whole Foods, 2% at gas stations, drugstores and restaurants and 1% everywhere else. 

If you have certain types of Prime memberships i.e. student, then you are not eligible for 5% cash back. 

Though I prefer collecting miles and points, this may be a good option if you shop at Whole Foods and Amazon. 

Deal Alert To Hawaii

Deal alert! United, American, Delta and Hawaiian are offering $326+ round trip in economy to Hawaii for dates February - May and August - January 2019. For family travel, some of those August dates may work before the kids head back to school or winter break.
You can try google.com/flights/ to get an idea of price/airline and then book through Expedia.com or directly with the airline.
The prices are for flights around the US Mainland to Hawaii so even if you live on the East Coast, give it a shot. Check out my blog post about how to travel in Maui as a family on a budget for ideas once you get your flights booked!
Good Luck!

Time To Think About Winter Break 2018-19

Most airlines open their reservations 330 days in advance so now is the time to think about Winter Break 2018-19. You can search aa.com and united.com for award travel for Christmas and New Years. However, United is releasing the economy saver awards slowly. The United rep told me that you need to wait another 30 days or so for the economy saver awards to show up. 

I checked yesterday and saver awards were listed for December 30th and 31st. 

Southwest.com and Spirit.com are only booking through September. 

Remember the secret to booking award travel over the holidays is to be flexible with your dates. And call the airline to find out availability. Sometimes the awards don't show up online. So get your points ready and good luck! 

Alaska Airlines Flash Sale Ends Today!

Alaska Airlines flash sale ends today at 11:59pm pacific time. You can click on this landing page and select your departure city to see what deals are available. The flight must be booked for travel between March 6, 2018 and May 16, 2018. There is a $125 change fee. 

Some sample fares include:

San Diego to Salt Lake City for 5K + $6 one way

San Diego to San Francisco for 5K + $6 one way

San Diego to Maui for 15K + $6 one way

Washington DC to San Francisco for 12.5K + $6 one way

Los Angeles to Mammoth for 5K + $6 one way

Dallas Love Field to La Guardia for 5K + $6 one way 

Dallas Love Field to Washington Reagan for 5K + $6 one way 

This can make for cheap family travel. Let us know what you find! 

How I Flew To Costa Rica For Almost FREE

A few years back, we were invited to a completely paid for family vacation in Costa Rica. Woohoo, we said. But the only catch was that we had to pay for our own plane tickets and we had to fly on Delta with the family. 

Now I don't collect Delta miles, it's just not an airline that I tend to fly. Delta is part of the Skyteam Alliance which I also don't tend to fly. You can transfer Starwood points to Delta at 1:1 with the 5,000 bonus for every 20,000 points transferred. But at that point, I didn't have enough Starwood points to fund 5 airline tickets. 

So what do you do? Back then I used the Barclays Arrival Plus card to erase the cost of the flights. Now you have another choice, the Capital One Venture card. 

Here's a look at how the two compare:

1. Barclays Arrival Plus offers 40,000 points after spending $3,000. 2x points on all purchases, 5% back on travel redemptions and the $89 annual fee is waived for the first year. 

2. Capital One Venture card offers 50,000 points after spending $3,000. 2x points on all purchases and the $95 annual fee is waived for the first year. 

The two cards are very similar and offer you a chance to buy your plane ticket and then erase it with points. There are no blackout dates and you can buy on any airline. When we went to Costa Rica, my husband and I each opened a card. He bought 3 tickets and I bought 2 tickets. The tickets count towards your minimum spend. Once the bonus hits, you can redeem the points to erase the cost of the flights. Barclays allows you to erase in $100 increments. Capital One allows you to erase in $25 increments. 

You have 90 days from the date of the purchase to log in to your account and erase the purchase. It's super easy. 

So when we went to Costa Rica, each ticket cost approximately $600 and the bonus is worth about $500 plus the points you get for your minimum spend. So in essence, we bought 3 tickets and got 2 FREE. 

You can only get these cards once so plan carefully.