The National Parks Are Slowly Reopening So What Does That Mean

I was reading the latest on the virus this morning and the trend seems to be going towards spending time outdoors. As the stay at home orders are being lifted, the National Parks might be your best bet for travel and staying healthy. 

As if on cue, the National Parks announced this week that they will be reopening on a limited basis. Acting National Park Service Director David Vela says that visitors should anticipate a different normal as many parks will reopen in phases with social distancing guidelines. 

The National Parks Are Slowly Reopening So What Does That Mean

Grand Teton National Park 

You can check the status of individual parks on this website.   Last summer, we visited Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and the Grand Tetons. 

For the most part, restrooms, trails, boardwalks, and gas stations will be open. But the parks will be opening in phases so not to overwhelm neighboring towns. Check with local hotels and home rentals to see if they are taking reservations. 
Camping may be a great alternative. Campgrounds are opening on a limited basis. You can search availability and make a reservation at Reservation.gov
For food and dining, grocery stores should be open and some restaurants will be offering takeout. 

Like Marriott? Check Out The New Discount Offers

There are a few great promotions starting this week if you are looking to get a deal on Marriott Bonvoy points. Marriott Bonvoy points are flexible since not only can you use them at least a dozen hotel brands like Marriott, Sheraton, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, and Fairfield Suites. Residence Inn, Springhill Suites and Fairfield Suites offer FREE breakfast and rooms big enough to accommodate a family of 5.

You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to nearly 40 different airlines like American, United, Singapore Airlines, and Aer Lingus. Marriott Bonvoy will also sweeten the deal by giving you a 5,000-mile bonus when you transfer 60,000 points. Nice!

Three Marriott Bonvoy promotions starting this week

Starting May 11th, Marriott announced a 20% bonus on purchased gift cards. So if you buy a $100 gift card, it will only cost you $80. This promotion will end on May 17th. You can buy up to $5,000 per day. Gift cards can be used for hotel reservations, spa treatments, dining, and more. But keep in mind, some Marriott brands do not accept gift cards.

Starting May 18th and through June 20th, Marriott will offer 60% bonus on purchased points. This is the best ever deal on Marriott points. The last biggest bonus was 50%. This might be a great way to rack up some points for future travel. Right now, there are no expiration dates on Marriott points, but keep in mind that usually, the points expire after 24 months. In order to take advantage of this promotion, your account needs to have been open for at least 30 days.

On May 18th and 19th, Marriott will offer 10% discount on Homes and Villas by Marriott. This program has not gotten a lot of attention mostly because it doesn't usually offer the best value. But just like Airbnb and Vrbo, it might be a good alternative moving forward to hotels.

When you buy gift cards, points or make a reservation on a home rental, be sure to use your Marriott Bonvoy credit card so you earn more points on your purchase. If you don't have a Marriott credit card yet, please use my referral link to support this blog.   You will get a bonus when you reach the minimum spend and I'll get a referral bonus. Win-win.

Wyndham Offers 40% Bonus on Points Purchase

Through May 11, Wyndham Rewards is offering a 40% promotion when you buy points. Wyndham is one of my favorite hotel loyalty programs. Most of their hotels offer FREE breakfast which is key for me as a family of five. 

The other reason I love Wyndham is that they have great properties in Europe with their partnership with Ramada. A few years ago, we stayed at the Ramada City Centre in Prague. The hotel featured a huge breakfast and our two rooms cost just 15,000 points per night each. 

Wyndham also has a fantastic property in New York City called the New Yorker which used to cost just 15,000 points per night but has increased to 30,000 points per night.

The other reason I like Wyndham is their simple three-tier point system:

7,500, 15,000, 30.000 points per night. The brand includes some all-inclusive properties as well so you can really get some value out of the points. 

Now Wyndham is offering 40% bonus if you buy points. I don't recommend doing this if you are just starting out with Wyndham, but if you need to top off an account, it may be worth it. I topped off my account by paying just $13 for 1,400 points which gives me enough points for another FREE night. This promotion ends May 11th. 

I'll be ready when we are able to travel again! 

Did you Get This Email From Southwest Airlines? Congrats!

If you already have a Southwest Airlines companion pass, you probably got a pretty exciting email in your inbox recently. The Southwest companion pass is one of the best perks in travel. It is a buy one get one FREE plane ticket on Southwest Airlines good for two years. To earn the pass, you need to earn 125,000 points in a single calendar year. You can check out the best ways to earn the pass here. 

Due to Covid-19, Southwest Airlines extended all current companion passes from December 2020 to June 2021. Woohoo!  In addition, Southwest Airlines also gave every member 25,000 companion pass qualifying so right now, you only need 100,000 points to earn it. Again, you don't need to fly to earn points. 

The good news is that you will get the value out of your companion pass once we fly again. 

Earn More Points On Your Grocery Shopping If You Have These Credit Cards

Chase and Marriott have increased the number of points you can earn on grocery shopping purchases right now. Since most of us are cooking at home, you may be spending more at the grocery store. And collecting as many points as you can is the way to be ready when travel is available again. 
The Chase Sapphire Reserve and the United Airlines co-branded cards will increase 5x to earn 5 points per dollar and the Sapphire Preferred, Southwest Plus, Premier, Priority, Hyatt co branded, Disney co-branded and many others will earn 3x points. 

The following Chase cards are offering 5x points on groceries:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• United Club Card
• United Club Infinite Card
• United Presidential Plus

The following Chase cards are offering 3x points on groceries:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
• Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card
• British Airways Visa Signature Card
• Disney Premier Visa Card
• Hyatt Credit Card
• The World Of Hyatt Credit Card
• Iberia Visa Signature Credit Card
• IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card
• IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Employee Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card
• United Explorer Card
• United MileagePlus Card
• United MileagePlus Awards Card
• United MileagePlus Select Card

The increased offer up to $1,500 is available through June 30, 2020 and you do not need to register.
Grocery stores include mainstream, delivery like Instacart and smaller local stores, it may not include warehouse clubs or discount stores. 
Marriott announced earlier this week that it will increase many of its co-branded cards from Chase and American Express to 6x points at grocery stores. This offer is available from May 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020. The offer is valid for purchases up to $5,000. You do not need to enroll or register for this promotion. 
Here is the list:

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card
• Other Marriott cards that are no longer open to new applicants
• This does NOT include the Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex

So it may be time to review which credit cards you use when you head to the grocery store. 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

One of my favorite rewards programs is the Chase Ultimate Rewards. These are points you earn with a number of Chase credit cards including the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Preferred, FREEDOM, Ink and FREEDOM Unlimited. There are pros and cons of each card depending on your goals. You can read my past posts to research specific cards, but here I am going to focus on the rewards program as a whole. 
Ultimate Rewards are just one of a few programs that are not tied to any one airline or hotel brand which means flexibility. You can transfer reward points at 1:1 to most airlines and hotels except Marriott Bonvoy which is 1:3:

Different airlines that include: 

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways
• Jet Blue
• United
• KLM
• Southwest
• Air France
• Emirates
• Iberia,
• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Atlantic.

Different hotels include:

• IHG
• Marriott
• Hyatt

Once you transfer to an airline or hotel, you can use these points to book on partner airlines or transfer to another program. For example, if you transfer Ultimate Reward points to Marriott Bonvoy, you can then transfer those same points to dozens of different airlines like American Airlines. Pretty awesome, right? And it gets even better because Marriott Bonvoy will give you a 5,000 mile bonus for the transfer. 

What Are Chase Ultimate Reward Points And Why You Want Them

Another way to use the Ultimate Reward points are to book through the Chase travel portal. If you hold a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card, you get better than 1:1. Sapphire Preferred credit cardholders get 1:1.25 value and Sapphire Reserve holders get 1:1.50. Let's check it out. 

In the portal with the Sapphire Reserve, the Springhill Suites in Durham is listed at 13,155 points per night or $197.33. If you booked the same hotel straight from Marriott, it would cost you 20,000 points per night or $158.90 per night. 
So if you pay with points, you get more bang for your buck by using the portal, but if you paid cash, you would be better off booking straight from Marriott. However, if you transferred Chase Ultimate Reward points to Marriott and then booked your room, you would really get a sweet deal. 

Look at this:
Ultimate Rewards transfer to Marriott Bonvoy at 1:3 so you would only need approximately 6,750 Ultimate Rewards points to equal 20,000 Marriott points and boom, FREE night. 

Flexibility is key to this program. You can earn Ultimate Reward points pretty quickly too as most purchases earn 1 point per dollar, but travel and dining earn more. 
When things are uncertain in travel like right now, I like the idea that I can accumulate points in a flexible program and be ready when I can travel again. 

Get Bonus Hotel Points Next Time You Order Delivery

Yet another way to rack up some big bonus points right now. Wyndham is offering 3,000 bonus points if you use this link for your next order from the delivery service Doordash. 
Now through May 4, new DoorDash customers can get 3,000 Wyndham Rewards bonus points after placing your first eligible order. You can also earn 500 points for every eligible order you place in the U.S.
Wyndham changed its loyalty program last year to a tiered structure so hotels start at just 7,500 points. Plus if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred credit card and you link it to Doordash, you will get FREE delivery.