How You Can Earn A Bonus 1,000 American Miles Fast

 

Shopping portals are one of the best ways to earn miles without stepping on an airplane. Most of the major airlines and hotels have them. There are also a few cashback portals like Rakuten.com. Think of shopping portals as an online marketplace of retailers. Every retailer agrees to give you a discount so it can be included in the marketplace. It's a win-win for you and the retailer. 

The retailer gives you a discount in the form of miles or cash back. 

It doesn't cost you anything and it's a great way to earn miles without flying. 

Sometimes, the portals will add bonuses in the form of extra miles per purchase or per total money spent. 

How You Can Earn A Bonus 1,000 American Miles Fast

Right now, American Airlines is offering a Spring Cleaning Bonus. 

Spend $100, earn 500 bonus miles 

Spend $300, earn 1,000 bonus miles 

Pretty sweet! This offer ends March 16th. You don't even need to spend the $100 at the same store or even in the same purchase. You just need to spend a total of $100 before the deadline. 

Rakuten.com which used to be Ebates just launched a new credit card with a bonus offer of $30. The card earns 3% bonus back on all purchases through the Rakuten.com shopping portal and 1% back everywhere else. Now I wouldn't recommend this because you don't want to waste a credit pull on a small bonus like this. There are a lot of more valuable bonus offers out there and better long-term credit cards in my opinion. But if you are a big Rakuten.com fan or just looking for cash back, maybe this is an option for you. 

If you do shop at Rakuten.com, please use my referral link, you will get a bonus $20 back on your first $20 purchase. 

Earn 1,000 United Bonus Miles With Just One $25 Purchase

 

Want 1,000 bonus United miles fast? Just download the United Shopping Chrome extension, make one $25 purchase, and bam, 1,000 bonus miles. Pretty easy. Just make sure you do it by March 15th. 

Shopping portals are one of the easiest ways to earn miles and points without flying. More than 900 retailers agree to be listed in the marketplace in return for offering bonus miles when you purchase items. These are purchases you would make anyway so why not get the extra miles. 

That's how we do it here at almostfreefamilytravel.com 

Southwest Companion Pass Bonus Offer Ends March 10th

 

Hurry, the amazing offer from Chase and Southwest ends March 10th! The offer is good on any of the personal Southwest credit cards, the Plus, Premier and Priority. I'll break down the pros and cons of each card below. 

Regardless of the card you choose, the offer is:

• Spend a minimum of $5,000 within 3 months 
• Earn 30,000 Southwest points 
• Earn a Companion Pass good thru Feb. 2022

The Companion Pass is one of the best perks in travel. It is good for BOGO travel on any Southwest flight for the length of the pass. In this case, it's BOGO travel through February 2022. 

Think trip to Hawaii and take your spouse, child, friend for FREE. You can use it as many times as you want and you can change your companion three times. I have had the companion pass for the past 6 years and it has saved me thousands of dollars. 

Normally, you need to earn 125,000 Southwest Rapid Rewards points in a single calendar year to earn the pass. 

So which credit card should you choose?

• Plus Card: $69 annual fee, 3,000 points on your anniversary, 
• Premier Card: $99 annual fee, 6,000 points on your anniversary,  no foreign transaction fees
• Priority Card: $149  annual fee, 7,500 points on your anniversary,  $75 Southwest credit, 4 upgraded boardings, 20% discount on drinks, Wifi on board Southwest, no foreign transaction fees

All the cards earn 2x points on Southwest purchases and 1x points on everything else.

Personally, I think the Priority card is the best deal since you get the $75 credit, the annual fee is actually reduced to just $75 which is less than the Premier. However, you get more points on your anniversary plus the upgraded boarding passes.

If you decide to jump on this offer, please use my referral link. It doesn't cost you anything and it will help me continue to bring you amazing travel tips. 

A Touch Of Disney Extended At Least Another Two Weeks

 

If you have been missing fun times at Disneyland, there may be an opportunity soon if you have some patience.

Disney is opening California Adventure for A Taste of Disney. Taste is a ticket-only event opening March 18th. No rides and no shows. But for $75, you can eat at the restaurants, visit with the characters, buy merchandise and take photos. Parking, food and beverage is included. 

Some of the popular California Adventure restaurants will be open and you can book reservations at others. Disney will even bring a few popular food items from Disneyland over for sale at the event. 

A Taste Of Disney will start on March 18th and run Thursday-Monday from 12pm-8pm. 

Everyone 3 years old and up needs a ticket.  

Tickets went on sale today and quickly sold out. However, Disney has announced it will extend the run and tickets will become available on a rolling basis. 

Disneyland closed on March 12, 2020 and only just reopened the parking lot as a vaccination super station. 

So if you are really missing the Disney experience, you can have a taste if you have some patience and persistence. 

Live In California? Alaska Airlines Wants To Give You A FREE Flight

 

If you are a California resident and do NOT have an Alaska Airlines mileage plan yet, you are in luck! If you are one of the first 25,000 to sign up by March 3rd, 2021, Alaska Airlines will give you a FREE flight almost anywhere in California. 

According to the website, all you have to do is pay taxes and fees from $15 each way. 

Joining the Mileage Plan is FREE so there is no downside. 

I already have an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account, but my daughter does not. So I registered her with her email and bam, success. Alaska says to keep an eye on my inbox for the discount code to arrive on March 5th, 2021. I'll keep you posted. 

Alaska says it will email a discount code to those who sign up and are qualified on March 5th. The FREE flight ticket is only good for the person who opened the Mileage plan account. The code is valid for travel through May 26th, 2021 Monday - Thursday only and only for flights within California. 

Once ticketed, the flight cannot be canceled or changed or it will be forfeited. 

If you are already an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan member and a California resident, you are eligible for the Safety Dance promotion which is 30% off coach base fares or 10% off First Class fares listed on alaskaair.com. You must purchase your ticket by 11:59pm on March 3rd, 2021. Travel is valid between March 22nd and May 26th, 2021.  The discount is valid on all flights except Hawaii. You can use the discount for up to 7 people traveling together. 

Off The Beaten Path Hikes in San Diego

 

If you live in San Diego or plan to travel to San Diego once things return to a more normal state, you will want to file this post away in your notes. I'm going to tell you about two off-the-beaten-path urban hikes that a lot of locals don't know about. 

Both of these hikes are moderate and probably not the best for small children. 

The first hike called Ho Chi Minh Trail or Saigon Trail rewards you with the view in the above photo when you get about halfway. From this point though, you have to shimmy between the rocks to reach the beach down below. It's a bit challenging. 

I've done this hike twice and I'm not embarrassed to say I stopped at this point. 

Beautiful views and a satisfying hike. 

The entrance to this trail is between two homes on La Jolla Farms Road across from UCSD. It's easy to miss. There is plenty of parking. You can also park at the Torrey Pines Gliderport and walk down the hill. 

Once you reach the bottom if you choose to hike all the way to the beach go right to check out the nude beach. 

The second off-the-beaten-path hike is called Seven Bridges. This hike is basically flat through urban areas, but it's a 5.5 mile long loop. During the hike, you cross seven urban bridges including the longest Quince Street bridge pictured above. Most of the bridges are marked and some feature historical plaques. 

The path is well documented on this website. There is plenty of parking in Balboa Park directly across from the first bridge so that's a good place to start the hike.

My favorite bridge was number 6, the Vermont Street Bridge. This bridge features quotes and puzzles like the one pictured above. It's truly inspiring! 

You can easily get to San Diego from anywhere in the US by flying Southwest Airlines. Right now, all three Southwest credit cards are offering a 30,000 point bonus with a companion pass. You can research the different cards here to see which one is right for you.  The companion pass is an unlimited BOGO pass on any Southwest flight for one year. It's the best perk in travel. You can read about the offer and companion pass here. 

It's a fantastic offer that ends March 10th, 2021. If you decide to take advantage, please consider using my referral link. 

 

Why You Should Do This First Before You Shop Online

 

With much of the country plunged into a deep freeze, you may opt for shopping online. But before you press that purchase button, listen up! You need to do something before you press the buy button that could double or triple your points, miles, or cash back. 

It's called shopping portals and they are my favorite! Most of the airlines have them, some of the hotel chains, some companies, and there are even independent cashback portals. There are even a few portals that will direct a percentage of your purchase to your favorite charity, think Amazon Smile and the Benefit app. 

So how do they work? Easy think of it as a giant marketplace, all your favorite retailers agree to be listed in the marketplace (free advertising for them) in exchange for giving you a percentage of your purchase back in the form of points, miles, or cash. 

I just got an email this morning letting me know that I have a big, fat check heading my way from Rakuten.com used to be Ebates.com. 

This is cashback on things I would have bought anyway....think pet food, printer ink, clothes, household items, and my favorite, flowers. For example, one of my favorite portals that you can only shop at with a personal referral offers 48% back on flowers. Wow! Makes sending flowers to my mom for Valentine's Day a bit less expensive. 

Here's how it works: if the flowers are $45, then the portal tracks my purchase and will send $22 back to my account as cashback. Yep, $22, incredible. 

Now some portals offer hotel points or airline miles like Southwest, United and American Airlines back when you shop and others offer cashback like Rakuten. If you use my referral link for Rakuten, you will get $25 extra cashback on your first purchase. 

You can also use the site cashbackmonitor.com to compare offers from the different portals. I switch which portal I use based on the percentage or points for that specific purchase OR if I am trying to top off an account OR if a portal is offering a bonus. If you are strategic, you can earn thousands of points/miles or cashback. 

Be very careful that you don't accidentally click out of the portal before you press the buy button. Sometimes, I will click through to the portal once I have everything in my cart just to be certain. 

This is FREE money, points, and miles and FREE or almost FREE is how we roll here!