The Best Ways To See The Panama Canal

The Panama Canal should be at the top of everyone's bucket list. It really is a feat of engineering that you have to experience to appreciate. And for teens, the canal has it all history, mechanics, and boats, really big boats. The 50-mile long canal was built from 1903-1914 by the United States and turned over to Panama in 1999. 

The impact the canal had on the world's supply chain is incredible. 

So what's the best way to experience the canal?

The easiest way to see the canal is to take an Uber to the Miraflores Vistor Center. It's about 30 minutes outside of Panama City. An Uber will cost you approximately $15 each way. Our Uber driver even volunteered to return at a set time to pick us up. (If you use my Uber referral link, you will get your first ride FREE). Tickets for the visitor center are not cheap, but you get a movie, entry to the museum and the viewing station. The museum is four stories and filled with history, hands-on exhibits, and a movie. Honestly, the new movie which launched in January is very strange, but it's only 20 minutes long. 

Ask the staff when the boats are coming through the locks and head up to the viewing station on the fourth floor early to get a space on the rail. You can return to the museum at any time. 

The food at the museum is overpriced and mediocre so plan to eat before or bring snacks with you. The museum costs $20 for adults, $12 for children ages 6-12 and it's FREE for kids under 6. Plan to spend 2-3 hours here. 

Seeing the locks from the viewing station is good, but traveling through the locks on a ferry is even better. Panama Marine Adventures offers a partial day and full day. Believe me, the partial day is plenty. The company owns the ferry so this is as close as you can get to buying a ticket direct instead of using a tour company. Panama Marine Adventures will pick you up at your hotel and either take you to the marina to catch the ferry or take you by cab about an hour away to the Gamboa marina on the other side of the locks near Gatun Lake. 

Then you board the ferry for approximately 6 hours and travel through a series of three locks. 

To feel the ferry dropping 27 feet and then to watch the medieval lock gates swing open is mesmerizing. I asked my teens if the ferry trip was worth it because it really is 5 hours of nothing and 1 hour of amazing. All three said they would recommend it, but they said to bring a book. Your ferry ticket includes lunch plus coffee, water, and soft drinks. 

Tickets are $149 for adults and $95 for children 6-12. If you look online, you may be able to find some tours that are little cheaper, but make sure the tour includes transport and lunch. The word of the day for this trip is patience. About 80 boats a day go through the locks so the schedule can get delayed. 

Watch for my next post about what to see in Panama City. 

It's Official! The New Name Is.....

It's official. Say goodbye to Marriott Rewards, Starwood Points and Ritz Carlton Rewards and say hello to Marriott Bonvoy. 

The launch is February 13th. Starting that date, you will see the branding across the platform. 

Marriott executives say they chose the name Bonvoy because it conveys the power of travel. 

“Marriott Bonvoy marks an evolution in travel because it represents more than a loyalty program,” said Stephanie Linnartz, Global Chief Commercial Officer, Marriott International. “Marriott Bonvoy is a travel program designed to bring to life our extraordinary portfolio of global brands in 129 countries and territories, while also providing endless inspiration for members to keep traveling and pursuing their passions.”

Linnartz continued, “Represented by a simple, bold and modern logo, Marriott Bonvoy is welcoming and optimistic. Our 120 million members have access to the world’s leading hotel portfolio at the best room rates and member benefits, as well our collection of Moments experiences that bring exploration and discovery of the world to the forefront.”

Since the merger already occurred, you will still login the same way to your account. 

The SPG app will be retired on February 13th so you will need to download the Marriott app which will be rebranded. 

And if you haven't combined your Marriott and SPG accounts already, you should do that now. 

Plus the new tier 8 category is coming in March so if you plan to book a luxury hotel, you may want to explore booking it now. 

Marriott will introduce two new Elite statuses, 

Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite for those who stay at least 75 nights and Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite for those who stay at least 100 nights and spend $20,000 annually. 

For those of us who used Starwood to travel for almost FREE, we will just have to wait and see how this changes our points and miles plans. 

But with all change, there is always good and not so good so we will wait and see. 

How To Use Miles To Get To And Stay For FREE In Panama

Panama has been named one of the top travel destinations for 2019 and for good reason. This country is easily accessible, they use USD as their currency, most people speak English, they have UBER and most major hotel chains, a variety of food and restaurants, and lots to do and see. 

I just got back from 2 weeks in Panama and the San Blas Islands so I'll break it down for you with a series of posts. 

First, let's start with how to get to Panama for FREE, of course. 

Copa Airlines is the official airline of Panama. It is also a member of the Star Alliance and flys direct from Los Angeles, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Boston, New York City and Washington DC. 

Being a member of the Star Alliance means you can use your United Airlines miles to book flights on Copa Airlines. 

I didn't have enough United Miles, but I had enough Starwood points to cover the 35,000 points for each r/t ticket. So my trick was to transfer Starwood points to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program and then book on Copa. You can check out this past blog post for the details. 

However, now that Starwood combined with Marriott, you can actually transfer Starwood points to United Mileage Plus at a rate of 3:1.1 which is a 10% bonus plus for every 60,000 Starwood points you transfer you get a 5,000 point bonus. 

So, if you transfer 60,000 Starwood points, you will get 27,500 United Mileage Plus miles. 

You need 35,000 per ticket for a total of 175,000 United Mileage Plus miles. You can do the math and figure out that you need to transfer 382,000 Starwood points. 

Sounds like a lot, but keep in mind that Starwood is showing points at 3:1. 

Once you secure your airline tickets, it's time to move to hotels. 

I always use awardmapper.com first to see what hotels are in the area. Panama City has tons of hotels. I prefer ones with breakfast, so much easier with kids. 

The Hampton by Hilton Panama City offered a great deal. Each room cost 10,000 Hilton points and you get FREE breakfast. It is centrally located and has a rooftop pool. 

 Bottom line is you need to have a plan and start collecting points early. But once you take that trip and you know that your flights and your hotel are FREE, you can spend on experiences. 

Watch for my next post on what we did in Panama and an amazing timelapse video of going through the Panama Canal. 

Just One Credit Card And Get The Southwest Companion Pass!

Southwest just announced the most amazing deal ever if you are after the companion pass! The Southwest companion pass is one of the most valuable tools out there for family travel. It offers you 2 for 1 airline tickets on Southwest. Here's how it works. You buy or use points for your airline ticket and then add a companion for FREE. The companion must fly with you on the same exact itinerary. You can change your companion three times each calendar year. Your companion can be your mom, your child, your spouse, your friend or anyone else you designate. Pretty sweet, right?
I have had the pass for the past 4 years and flown my companion to Washington DC multiple times, New York multiple times, Cuba and San Francisco. I estimate it has saved me thousands of dollars. 
Usually, you need to earn 110,000 points in a calendar year either by flying, shopping or earning a bonus by opening credit cards to earn the pass, but Southwest is offering a great deal now just for opening a single credit card. 
If you open a Southwest Plus, Premier or Priority credit card by Feb. 11th 2019 and spend $4,000 on purchases, you will earn the companion pass valid through 12/31/19 and 30,000 points. 
Now the one catch and there's always one, the pass is only good through the end of 2019 instead of being good for 2 years which is the norm. But if you are planning some travel this year and especially if Hawaii is on the agenda this year, it might be worth it. 
The difference in the three cards is the annual fee and what you get for it. The Plus is a $69 annual fee, the Premier has a $99 annual fee and the Priority has a $149 annual fee. Before you cheap out and go for the Plus, consider the perks of each card. 
The Priority actually offers you a $75 credit on Southwest, 7,500 anniversary points, 4 upgraded boardings valued at $15 each and 20% off WIFI and drinks. 
The Premier offers you 6,000 anniversary points for $99. 
The Plus offers you 3,000 anniversary points for $69. 
That’s how we do it at almost free family travel. 

How I Earned An Extra 600 Miles By Doing A Little Research

If you read my blog at all, you know how much I love shopping portals. These are basically offering you FREE money. And I love FREE money. The idea is when you make a purchase, one that you will make anyway, you make that purchase through a shopping portal instead of straight from the company's website. The shopping portal then gives you a bonus cash back or extra points or miles for FREE. 
But here's a tip, you need to check several portals to make sure you are getting the best deal. 

My all-time favorite shopping portal is offered by the manufacturer, Melaleuca. However, you can only shop there if you are referred by a current customer. If you would like to be referred, email me. 

If not, several airlines offer shopping portals and, of course, Ebates.com offers cash back. (If you use my link to open an account, you get a FREE $10 and I get a FREE $25 to help keep the blog running). Take a look at this offer from the American Airlines portal. 1200 miles for signing up for Blue Apron, the meal delivery service. 

Then the same offer listed on the United Airlines shopping portal below, but here you only get 650 bonus miles for signing up for Blue Apron. The miles are valued just about the same by both airlines, so that's a huge difference. 

Now if you normally fly United and you never fly American, then even 1,200 miles on American are worthless for you. But if you fly both airlines, you may want to choose American with this offer. 

I use cashbackmonitor.com to check all the top sites for cash back and miles/points offers before I make any purchases. 

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

How I Saved Almost $10,000 In Travel In 2018

One of my all-time favorite family trips was to Thailand. We spent 3.5 weeks on trains, buses and planes swimming with elephants, holding baby tigers, zip lining, swimming, learning to cook Thai food, exploring street markets, enjoying massages and being blessed by the monks. 

Extraordinary family time, culture and adventure. 

And this trip started us on our journey of using points/miles for travel. 

I thought it would be fun to see how much money we have saved in 2018 by using points and miles so here goes: 

1. Washington DC flight round trip on points for me and my son flew FREE with Southwest Companion Pass - $1000 value 

2. Sheraton in DC 4 nights on points, free breakfast in club with Starwood Amex (no longer offered) value $700

3. Salt Lake City flight - one way with points on Southwest - value $100

4. Denver flight - round trip on points - value $400 

5. Boston flight round trip for me and my son flew FREE with my Southwest companion pass - $1,000

6. Cuba round trip with points and my husband flew FREE with my Southwest companion pass - value $1,000 

7. Boston, a second time, round trip flight for me on points and my daughter flew FREE with my Southwest companion pass - $1,000

8. Hotel in Boston for two nights on points - value $600

9. Hotel in New York City for one night on points - value $300

10. Flights to Panama City, Panama on points - value $3,000

11. Hotel and breakfast in Panama City, Panama for 4 nights - value $500

If we add it all up, it comes to $9,700 in savings for a little bit of my time. Yes, I think it's worth it. So now the question is how much will I save in 2019? And will you join me? Because my mission is to show everyone how to do almost FREE family travel. 

Why I Bought 10,000 Hilton Points

Usually, it does not make sense to buy points from airlines and hotels unless you just need to top off an account and even then, it make not be worth the money. 

I prefer shopping portals and other ways to top off accounts. 

However, this past week, Hilton offered an 80% bonus points promotion. Since I have just 593 points left in my Hilton account and my husband has 1,893 points left, we are hardly looking to top off anything. 

But, we are headed to Panama City, Panama on our next family trip and rooms at the Hampton cost 10,000 points per night and we need 1 room for 1 night. 

When I checked my husband's account, Hilton offered him bonus points when he bought at least 11,000 points which would cost $110. 

However, when I checked my account, it offered me bonus points for just buying 3,000 points at a cost of $30. 

So, I bought 6,000 points in the promotion for $60 and got enough bonus points to score 1 room in Panama City.  This move saved me about $60, nice. Why my husband was offered a different bonus structure than I was, I have no idea. But sometimes it pays to have multiple accounts and to check both before making a purchase.
I also made the purchase through the ebates.com portal so I may get a percentage back. As always, if you use my Ebates.com referral link, you will $10 cash back and I will earn $25 which helps keep this blog running. 
That's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com