New Marriott chart Sept 14

Another big change is coming to the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Whether it's a positive or negative, who knows. Seems like most things with Marriott turn out to be a negative for the customer, but I'll hold off my opinion for now. 

This change involves off peak/standard/peak pricing. Similar to Southwest Airlines, if there is high demand for a flight or hotel room, the number of points you need increases. If there is low demand, the number of points you need decreases. 

The new point chart looks like this: 

Since we don't know yet what will be considered off peak/standard or peak, you may want to book now and then rebook if the points change in your favor. Before Wyndham changed its redemption chart earlier this year, I went ahead and booked our Glacier National Parks hotel and a hotel in New York City. The Glacier hotel didn't change redemption rate at all, but the New York City hotel sure did and it was not in my favor at all. So I got my one hotel night in New York City for 15,000 points. If you booked that same hotel now, it would cost you double at 30,000 points. Big difference.
So bottom line, if you are thinking about booking a Marriott hotel and it is in a popular place or during a popular time of year, you may want to book now just in case.
Good luck!

How You Can Stay 6 Nights FREE At A Wyndham

One of our best family trips was to Peru. This country and people are amazing plus Machu Picchu should be on the top of everyone's bucket list. 

And guess what, this trip was almost FREE. 

We used points and miles for a lot of this trip including our night at the Wyndham Lima Airport.

And now Barclays is offering a 45,000 point bonus on the Wyndham Rewards Visa Signature credit card and waiving the fee for the first year. 

Here are the details:

• $75 fee waived the first year
• $1,000 minimum spend in the first 90 days
• 5x points on Wyndham purchases 
• 2x points on gas, utilities, grocery store (not Target or Walmart)
• 6,000 bonus anniversary points each year 
• No foreign transaction fees 

This offer is a no brainer. Here's how you can use 45,000 points to get up to 6 nights FREE. If you head to Peru, you will most likely need to overnight at the Lima Airport. Most US flights leave early in the morning and most likely you will leave from Lima. But good news, there is a Wyndham hotel connected to this airport just for the weary travelers. 

And you can use points! 

Yes, 15,000 Wyndham points gets you 1 night at the Lima Airport location with breakfast. It's a nice hotel so this deal is pretty sweet. But Wyndham changed it's redemption chart earlier this year and now there are 2,400 hotels that charge just 7,500 points per night.
In the US, they are pretty much what you would imagine. Super 8, Travel Lodge and Days Inn hotels outside of town, but if you are road tripping or checking out colleges, these could save you about $600.
Most include breakfast and most will give you a rollaway to fit a family of 5.
We just stayed in the Super 8 in Kalispell, Montana outside of Glacier National Park. This hotel charges 15,000 per night because it is so close to the park entrance. But they gave us a rollaway bed and breakfast for 5.
You can use the Booking widget to check the list of hotel locations by points.
If you look at international hotels that charge 7,500 points per night, that's where the magic happens.

You could stay all over the United Kingdom for just 7,500 points per night plus breakfast. Heading to China? Wow! There are hotels everywhere for just 7,500. So suddenly your 45,000 bonus is actually worth 6 nights.
Now remember Wyndham brands are budget hotels like Super 8, Travel Lodge, Days Inn, Ramada etc. so you have to keep in mind that the hotel stay is not the experience you are after. It's just a place to lay your head and enjoy a hot shower.

IHG Releases Its New Point Break Hotel List

The 3rd quarter IHG point break hotel list is live. Every quarter, IHG releases a list of hotels called point breaks. This means you can redeem anywhere from 5,000-15,000 points per night for these hotels which should offer a discount.
The new list offers some interesting picks:

At 5,000 points, I found the one in Syracuse intriguing since my daughter goes to school nearby. However, I would have to buy the points since I only have 893 points and the hotel costs less than $100 per night.
However, if you have points sitting around or if you have Chase Ultimate Reward points, you can transfer them to IHG and take advantage. A few years ago, I used 5,000 and booked the Crowne Plaza Newark off the point break list. Pretty sweet! 

At the 10,000 per night level, it got a bit more interesting. Now you have choices in Canada, Peru, Mexico, and outside of New York City.

And at the 15,000 per night level, you have more choice including Paris and Venice. These book up fast. You can only book 2 nights and you have to book them by October 31st, 2019. You can always cancel so it's better to book now.

Why United Airlines Miles Won't Expire Anymore

San Blas Islands, Panama

When you start to collect miles and points on different airlines, it can be challenging to remember which ones expire and when. You can always top the accounts off by using shopping portals, but you have to actually do it before your points expire. You can check out my prior post when I accidentally let 8,000 United miles expire. Quite a bummer!
Some programs like United were letting you buy back expired points, but it was hardly worth it unless you had quite a haul that expired.

Now United is joining Jet Blue and Delta and getting rid of expiration dates entirely.
Starting today, your United miles will never expire. Woohoo!

Here are the rules for some other airlines:

• American Airlines miles still expire after 18 months of inactivity. 
• Southwest and Alaska expire after two years of inactivity. 

Interesting fact, 25% of airline miles go unused or expire and billions of dollars of miles never get used at all. If you don't fly, you can redeem miles and points for products, gift cards and more through the airline's website. You will get a better value if you use them for airline tickets, but it's better than not using them at all.
So put those miles to work for you! 

Flying In/Out Of SFO In Sept? You May Want To Change Plans

United Airlines which operates about 45% of the flights in/out of San Francisco International Airport is issuing travel waivers for any tickets purchased for Sept 7 -26 due to major runway construction. 

On the airline's travel notice webpage, it states 

"The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will close a major runway for repairs from September 7–26, and we expect it’ll cause flight cancellations and delays. We want to help, so we removed some flights from our schedule and rebooked customers to help reduce any disruptions to their travel plans.

We’re also offering a travel waiver that gives you flexibility to change your flight or connect in a different city. We will continue to work with other airports to rebook connecting customers through those cities while the airport runway is closed.

We recommend changing your flight or allowing more time to get to and from your destination. If that’s not possible, make sure you’re checking your flight status before you head to the airport."

If you have plans to fly in/out of SFO during this period, you may want to change to an early morning flight before construction begins or connect through a different airport. Be sure to check the fine print on the travel waiver link depending on when you purchased your ticket. 

Good luck! 

Last Chance To Score 130,000 Hilton Points

You only have a few days left to be approved for the American Express Hilton Surpass credit card. This card comes with a whopping 130,000 Hilton Honors points! And the deadline to be approved is August 28, 2019. 

You can use Hilton Honors points at all the Hilton brand hotels which include Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Curio Collection, Hilton, Tru, Homewood Suites and more. 
Personally, I love Hilton because the Hampton Inn includes breakfast and can fit a family of 5 in one room. The international hotels offer amazing value for families. 

Krakow, Poland remains of the medieval city wall

For example, we stayed in a Hampton Inn in Krakow, Poland for just 5,000 points per night. For that price, we got 2 rooms for the 5 of us. The stay included a huge buffet breakfast that included desserts, fruit, eggs, meats, cheese, salads and much more. 

We also stayed in a Hampton Inn in Panama City, Panama. This hotel cost just 10,000 points per night and also included a huge buffet breakfast and a lovely rooftop pool. 
It's almost like they are paying us to stay with them. Crazy, right?

What can you do with 130,000 Hilton Honors points? You could splurge and use these points for 1 crazy night at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, CA. I'll talk about that in my next post. This tool from Hilton can help you find the category 1 or 2 hotels.  A quick search showed a lot of them located in Turkey, China, and Mexico. 

Once you have the Surpass card, you are also eligible for Hilton's 5th-night free bonus. Stay four nights and you get the 5th night FREE so you can stretch your points even further. 

Here are the details on the American Express Hilton Surpass card 

• 130,000 points
• $4,000 minimum spend in 3 months 
• $95 annual fee 
• FREE weekend night reward 
• 12x points at Hilton Hotels
• 6x points at restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets

If you would like to apply, please use my referral link. This helps to support this blog. Thank you! 
And that's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

Hike Through History In The Sierra Calif. Mountains

For more than 50 years around the turn of the century, the Sugar Pine Railway operated steam engines to haul lumber along the Stanislaus River in Central California. Now it boasts an amazing easy hiking or biking trail with a gentle 3% incline and a walk through history. 

The trail is lined with posts that mark historical highlights. You can pick up a guide at the Mi-Wok Ranger Station. 

The railway spans 70 miles with more than 400 miles of branches so this is just a small 5-mile span. But it's beautiful as it hugs the river and ends in a meadow. Much of the trail is also shaded. There is limited parking at the trailhead on Fraser Flat Road. Check with the ranger in the winter to see if the road is open.