How You Can Score Another FREE National Park Pass

 

Do you have a fifth grader? If so, you now qualify for a FREE National Park Pass. Before today, the FREE pass was awarded only to 4th grade students, but now it has been expanded to include fifth graders too. 

So if you took advantage of the FREE pass last year when you had a 4th grader, well, now I'm assuming your child is in fifth grade and qualifies you again. 

Nice! 

There are 421 National Parks in the US including Yellowstone National Park pictured above and entry fees vary from just a few dollars to $35 per day. So the pass is a huge savings and it's good for the car not just for the people inside. 

Last year, we visited three National Parks in one trip, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons, the pass saved us hundreds of dollars. 

To get the pass for your 4th grader, you need to click on the official site, but for your 5th grader, you can just print the voucher and place it on the dashboard of your car. 

If you don't have a 4th or 5th grader, the pass sells for just $80 per year and is good for 12 months (the month you buy it in and the entire year). There are several days a year that are fee-free days too like Veteran's Day. 

Incredible Chase Sapphire Preferred 80,000 Bonus Offer Ends Sunday

 

Probably the highest ever bonus offer we have ever seen for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, 80,000 points ends Sunday. Wow! 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be worth up to $1,000 in travel or right now, $925 in FREE groceries. 

So who is eligible for this card? According to Chase, if you have never held a Sapphire credit card before, you are eligible OR if it's been at least 48 months since you have held a Sapphire credit card, you are eligible. 

The fine details include a $95 annual fee which is not waived for the first year and $4,000 minimum spend in the first three months. 

The Sapphire Preferred is one of my favorite travel cards because Ultimate Rewards points are so flexible. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines plus several hotel chains. You can also use them in the Chase travel portal with a 25% bonus. Through the end of the month, you can also pay yourself back by using the points at a 25% bonus to erase grocery purchases. 

How You Can Earn Bonus Miles On Your Holiday Purchases

 

If you follow my blog, you know how much I love shopping portals! It's FREE money. And now, the airlines are offering bonus points on your purchases when you click through the portals. So how does it work?

Think of a shopping portal like Target or Costco, it's a collection of stores on the shelf. Except the difference is that you get a bonus every time you choose to buy a product. The retailers agree to offer cash back or points or miles bonuses in exchange for being displayed on the store shelf. 

Most of the airlines American, United, Southwest, Jet Blue, Spirit, British Airways, Delta, Alaska, Virgin Atlantic have portals. Hotels like Choice and Wyndham have portals. Amtrak has a portal too. And then Chase Ultimate Rewards, Wells Fargo, and Barclays have portals and then there are the cashback ones like Rakuten. I use cashbackmonitor.com to find the best percentage normally when I make a purchase OR I'll use the portal to top off an account. 

However, during the holidays, the airline portals launch bonus promotions that are great to take advantage of. 

The bonus right now can earn you up to 5,000 bonus miles!  

United - spend $100, get 500 bonus miles 

             spend $500, get 2,500 bonus miles 

             spend $1,000, get 5000 bonus miles 

Southwest - spend $100, get 500 bonus miles 

                   spend $500, get 1000 bonus miles 

                   spend $1000, get 3,500 bonus miles 

Plus United is giving up to a 1,000-mile bonus if you are a new shopper. So next time, you go to make an online purchase, check those portals first, and watch the miles/points/cash back add up.

If you use my link for Rakuten, a cashback portal, you get a $30 bonus when you make your first purchase! 

Activate Your Lyft Pink Membership by Oct. 31

 

One of the many benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is a one year FREE membership to Lyft Pink. Now Chase has extended the membership another five months. Lyft Pink membership includes preferred pricing, priority airport pickups, exclusive offers with one year of complimentary Lyft Pink, a minimum value of $199, when you or your authorized user activates with a Reserve card by March 31, 2022. Lyft Pink will be registered in the name of the cardmember who first activates the benefit. To receive the Lyft Pink benefits, the enrolled cardmember must use their Reserve card to pay for Lyft rides.

 If you activated your membership already then you do not need to do anything. If you did not activate it yet, you need to do that before October 31, 2020 by logging into your Chase account and clicking on the Ultimate Rewards dashboard. 

The Sapphire Reserve comes with the following benefits:

• Flexibility with Ultimate Reward Points 
• 1.5 value in the travel portal 
• $300 travel credit 
• $100 global entry credit 
• Priority Pass Lounge membership 
• FREE Lyft Pink membership
• FREE Doordash Pass 

I value Lyft Pink membership at $199.  You already get 10x points through March 2022 when you use your Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay when you ride Lyft

If you feel like the Sapphire Reserve's $550 annual fee is out of your comfort level, then opt for the Sapphire Preferred credit card. Right now, it is offering 80,000 Ultimate Reward points for a $4,000 spend with just a $95 annual fee. This card offers the most flexibility since you can transfer points to hotels and airlines plus cash them in for cashback. 

Chase Adds Peloton Membership Benefits

 

Yet another benefit added to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred credit cards. These two cards are already my favorite due to the benefits and flexibility. You can check out the benefits and the difference between the two cards here. 

Now Chase is adding a benefit where Sapphire Reserve card holders receive up to $120 in statement credits on either Peloton Digital or All-Access Memberships through December 2021. Chase Sapphire Preferred card holders receive $60. Memberships must be bought directly from Peloton.

Yet another reason to apply for one of these cards especially while the 80,000 bonus is being offered.

Marriott Extends FREE Night Certificates Until August 2021

 

According to our friends at FrequentMiler.com , Marriott Bonvoy is planning to extend FREE night certificates earned with a credit card to August 2021. Not all certificates qualify however. Any certificates that were extended already so ones that were originally scheduled to expire in 2019 will not be extended. But any certificates with current expiration dates of 2020 or through July 2021 will be extended to August 2021. 

That's great news! Marriott says the adjustment will be made on December 11th, 2020 so keep an eye on those certificate dates. 

Marriott also announced that the points expiration date has been extended to August 2021.

If you don't have a Marriott credit card yet, the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card is currently offering an amazing 5 nights FREE with a $5,000 spend in the first 3 months. There is a $95 annual fee on this card. This bonus could be worth up to 250,000 points if you cashed in the points for 5 nights at a category 5 or category 6 standard or even a category 7 off-peak. 

Which Airline Should You Travel On Right Now

 

Some of us are staying put, but after 7 months in our homes, lots of us are ready to travel or need to travel to take care of loved ones or to bring loved ones home. So the question is which airline should you fly right now?

Since it changes day by day, I will share my experience flying recently on two different airlines and I'll run through the policies at the other airlines. 

Recently, I flew on Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. My daughter flew on Delta Airlines so I'll run through those experiences first. 

Southwest Airlines is not selling the middle seat through November 30th so that's a huge plus. Since you get to choose your own seat on Southwest, they are boarding the plane just 10 people at a time and making sure passengers know that there is enough room for everyone to have an aisle or window seat. That extra space just made me feel safer and lowered my stress level. Seats in the waiting area were also marked off so people could socially distance. 

On board, the flight attendants handed out a glass of water and a packaged snack. I thought the glass of water was a bit strange, I would rather have had a sealed bottle, but I bring my own water anyway so it wasn't an issue. The airplane felt and looked clean though I bring natural sanitizing wipes to clean my space. Check out my post about some places you want to clean that you wouldn't think about. 

Some people have said they are concerned about direct flights and most flights on Southwest are not direct. I changed planes at Baltimore Washington International and it was pretty empty. 

Another flight I took recently was on American Airlines. Totally different experience. The flight was packed, in fact, as we were boarding, the flight attendants alerted us that every seat would be filled. Argh. 

The flight attendants handed us a bottle of water and snack as we boarded. Once onboard, the plane felt very cramped and small. For me personally, the flight attendants seemed to invade my personal space several times. When we changed planes in Charlotte, North Carolina, the airport was jam-packed with people. Once we exited the American terminal, the crowd dispersed, but yikes. I wish American would think of staggering arrival times and gates. 

My daughter flew Delta Airlines and said it was great. She had a whole row to herself on all the flights. They handed her a snack bag with water and a few packaged goods as she boarded. 

At this point, all airlines require masks on board. If you forget, they some at the gate. The masks must be real masks (no holes, no bandanas, no filters). Right now, Alaska, Hawaiian, Jet Blue, Delta and Southwest are the only airlines blocking the middle seats. 

The bottom line is fly if you feel comfortable. There have been very few reports if any of flight attendants or passengers getting sick.