Marriott Warning About Possible System Outages

The day has finally arrived....the merger of Marriott and Starwood reward programs. In advance of the merging of the reservation systems, Marriott is warning about possible system-wide outages August 15-19.
In addition, any outstanding Marriott vacation package certificates will be on hold temporarily until the new guidelines are announced.
Just a fyi, if you are trying to use the system.

Yes, You Can Travel To Cuba On Your Own!

It was the playground for the rich during prohibition and then it was cut off from the world for 40 years. Now, Cuba is open for tourism. In 2016, former President Barak Obama opened the gates for Americans to visit Cuba. Several American airlines including Southwest, Jet Blue, Delta and others raced to provide service.
Americans flooded into Cuba and though, Cuba welcomed the business, it wasn't ready to receive so many tourists at one time.
But the Cubans are resourceful and very quickly, they figured out how to service the American tourists.
And just when they figured it out, President Trump changed the rules. Now, most Americans believe the door is shut once again.

But I'm here to tell you that you CAN travel to Cuba on your own and not on an expensive tour. In the next few blog posts, I''m going to share with you how to do it. I just got back and it's a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people who want and need Americans to come back and visit.
And now is the perfect time, the infrastructure is in place and Starbucks is not there yet.

There are 11 categories that you are allowed to visit Cuba. You can read in-depth on each category here. But, for most of us, the "support for the Cuban people" category will be the best fit. There used to be a 12th category, "the people to people" category. But that's the one Trump eliminated in October 2017.
Under the "support for the Cuban people" category, you are mandated to stay in casa particulares or with host families. You are also required to eat at family-owned restaurants or paladares.  More on what those offer and how to book them in the next post. The Department of State has published a list of hotels and restaurants owned by the Cuban government that are off-limits for Americans.
The idea behind the category is that you are engaged with the Cuban people and not sitting on a beach drinking a pina colada. If that's what you are picturing for your vacation, then pick a different island in the Carribean.
In 2016, American airlines were allowed to fly directly from the US to Cuba. United offers nonstop flights from Newark. American offers nonstops from Charlotte and Miami. Jet Blue offers non stop flights from Boston, JFK, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. Delta offers nonstop flights from Atlanta. Southwest offers nonstops from Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. Check google.com/flights to find the one that works best for you.
We flew Southwest because I had a companion pass. There are only two flights a day from Fort Lauderdale so coming from the west coast, we spent the night going and had a long layover returning. But I was able to use points for the flights and my companion flew FREE.

When you book your flight, you will be prompted by the airline to buy a visa for $50 and to declare your category. When you pick up your visa, you will be asked again to state your category. I recommend buying your visa from the airline. It streamlines the process.
Other than those two times, no one ever asked me again. I brought my itinerary with in case someone asked, but no one did.
Your airplane ticket will include the mandatory health insurance required by Cuba.
But even with the additional charge for insurance, flights from Florida are approximately $100 each way.
In the next blog post, I will talk about how to book your casa particular, money, wifi and other important travel issues for your trip to Cuba.

Final Days To Get 3 FREE Nights At Wyndham

You just have one day left to snag a 45,000 point bonus from Wyndham. What can you do with 45,000 Wyndham points? A lot. Every room at Wyndham's 8,000 properties worldwide costs 15,000 points so 45,000 points gets you 3 nights at any Wyndham. 

For example, I used 60,000 points last summer to stay 2 nights in 2 rooms at the Ramada in central Prague. The hotel was centrally located and included a huge breakfast. Hotels in Prague can run upwards of $250 per night. So, those 60,000 points were a $1,000 value. 

The Wyndham credit card has a 30,000 point bonus after your first purchase and a 15,000 point bonus after you spend $2,000 within 3 months. 

This offer ends 8/10/18. There is a $75 annual fee which is not waived the first year. 

What does "Extra Time" mean on Southwest? A lot

On our recent return trip to Cuba (watch the blog for several articles on Cuba travel), we learned something about the boarding process at Southwest. "Extra Time". Let me back up. We tried to check in from Cuba for our Fort Lauderdale to Kansas City leg, but the WIFI is very sketchy so we were not able to check in until we landed in Florida. 

Yep, that means we got the dreaded C boarding group. 

The Southwest agent felt bad for us since we had been up early, had a long layover in Florida and still many hours of flying to reach our destination. 

So she told us "I'll put extra time on your boarding pass so you can board after the A boarding group and before the family boarding". What?!

To be honest, I had never heard the agents announce an extra time qualifier when calling different boarding groups before. But I heard it this time. 

And the agent told us she couldn't book us with more time on our Kansas City flight, but that we should talk to the boarding agent at the gate and see if he/she could add it. 

When we arrived in Kansas City, we talked to the agent there and bam, she added it to our boarding pass too. 

I'm not suggesting you should ask for extra time, but it's good to know the options if you are ever faced with a situation where you may need a bit extra time to board. 

Why Travel Reward Credit Cards Are Awesome!

Imagine buying a plane ticket and then erasing the charge from your credit card bill. What? Yep, for you newbies, this is the deal from several travel reward credit cards. The 3 most popular cards out there are the Capital One Venture, Bank of America Travel Rewards and the Barclays Arrival Plus. 

With all 3, you get a sign up bonus, earn points for charges and then "erase" travel charges with your points. No blackout dates and travel charges are low budget airlines, train tickets, airbnb, car rentals and more. 

Let's go over the differences between these cards : 

Capital One Venture offers 2x points on everyday purchases, 10x on hotels booked through hotels.com and a 50,000 sign up bonus for a $3,000 minimum spend. Fee waived the first year, $95 fee after that. 

Bank of America Travel Rewards offers 1.5x on everyday purchases, 20,000 sign up bonus for a $1,000 minimum spend. No annual fee. 

Barclays Arrival Plus offers 2x points on everyday purchases,  60,000 sign up bonus for a $5,000 minimum spend.  $89 annual fee, not waived the first year. 

Depending on your spending habits or if you have a big purchase coming up, you can decide which card makes the most sense for you. When we traveled to Costa Rica, I charged our plane tickets to the Barclays card and then erased two of them. Yep, BOGO. That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel.

New Southwest 65,000 Bonus!

Southwest just launched a new personal credit card with a 65,000 mile sign up bonus! And the bonus counts towards the companion pass (a BOGO free pass for flights). Amazing. But, of course, there is a catch so let's break it down. 

Southwest currently offers it's Plus and Premier personal credit cards which typically come with a 40-50,000 sign up bonus with a $3,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months. 

Southwest also offers a Premier business card with a 60,000 sign up bonus and $3,000 minimum spend in the first 3 months. 

You used to be able to apply for two personal cards and the combined sign up bonus got you super close to earning a companion pass, but Southwest changed the rules and you can't do that anymore. You can still apply for the business card and a personal card as long as you are not a current cardholder of any personal Southwest credit card and have not received a sign-up bonus in the past 24 months. 

This new personal card, Southwest Priority card, offers a 40,000 sign up bonus after you spend just $1,000 in 3 months and another 25,000 bonus when you spend $15,000. You have 12 months to make the additional spend. 

The Priority card has an annual fee of $149, but comes with a $75 credit on Southwest and a 7,500-anniversary mile bonus. It also comes with 4 upgrade boarding passes which could be an important perk if you value the "A" boarding group. 

As far as the companion pass goes, the bonus from the Priority card does count, but you cannot hold another personal Southwest card or have received a sign-up bonus in the last 24 months. 

So if you are new to the game, you could open the Priority card and the business card and get super close to earning a companion pass. However, the personal cards fall under the 5/24 rule so keep that in mind. 

Remember, earn the companion pass early in the year so it will be good for that year and the entire following year. That's almost two years of BOGO travel. Woohoo! 

Get A Price Break On IHG Hotels

IHG released its new list of point break hotels. This is a list of hotels that IHG releases each quarter that offer us an amazing deal. They are usually out of the way or hotels that need to drum up business, but sometimes you will find a hidden gem or it will just work out with your travel plans. 

Last year, I was touring colleges with my daughter and the Crowne Plaza in Newark, New Jersey was on the list for just 5,000 points per night. Woohoo! We happened to be in Newark so we jumped on it. Can you say FREE? 

IHG hotels includes brands like Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge and Crowne Plaza. This latest list is good through stays on September 30, 2018. 

If you don't have any IHG points, you can buy them through this link. If you use those points to buy a night for 5,000 on the point break list, it will have cost you $45. Check availability before you purchase the points. 

Check out the new list and book early if anything fits your travel plans.