How You Can Spend The Night In An Irish Castle For FREE

 

Want to spend the night in an Irish castle? This is me with my crown and goblet sitting in the bathtub in a real Irish castle near Galway, Ireland. And guess what? It was FREE. I'll give you a tour of the castle and describe the experience and then I'll show you how to stay here for FREE. Don't worry, the owner of the castle got paid. 

This castle is Pete's passion project. This British born, Ireland raised former fashion designer told me his lifelong dream was to live in a castle. Really, who doesn't want to live in a castle? 

He found this former castle in ruins back in 2010 and spent the next 5 years renovating and rebuilding the structure himself. Super impressive, in fact, Pete shared the photos of the build with us. 

This castle is truly a labor of love and it shows. 

Pete actually lived in the castle for a few years with his family until a friend urged him to turn it into an Airbnb to provide an income for his family. 

Pete keeps the price reasonable, he says, to attract the type of person who will enjoy this authentic and quirky castle experience. 

Pete greets every guest at the door and gives them a personalized tour of the castle. It takes about an hour and he shares the history of the project, his story and the unique quirks of the home like the bathtub in the floor. He's had more than 3,000 guests from all over the world stay at the castle.

Check out this video as you walk in the front door of the castle and up the steps to the rooms. The first two floors are bedrooms for Pete's children, the top two floors are available for guests. There is a rope to help with the steps, but obviously, this space is not suitable for those who can't manage lots of steps in a small space. The living space (kitchen, bathroom, living room) is on the third floor and the master bedroom and loft is on the fourth floor. There is also roof access and a few quirky surprises up there that I'm not going to share with you. 

The living room 

The master bedroom and loft above

The kitchen 

The bathroom

Pete reminds his guests constantly that this is an old castle so it's dusty and has spiders and he is right. But it is quirky and unique and so fun! Pete provides electric blankets so it's warm and cozy. There are two double beds plus the couch which my son said was very comfortable. Pete also has air mattresses available if you need them. 

The bathtub is in the living room so keep that in mind. Pete says young kids and couples love it. Families with teens, not so much, except to take photos for Instagram. 

The kitchen is functional. We cooked up dinner at the castle and enjoyed a cozy night of board games. 

One word of warning, Pete told us the toilet seat broke and he decided not to get a new one. The stone on the toilet is what you would expect in a castle - COLD! While at the castle, save some time to explore the grounds. Pete has planted more than 500 trees including a Sequoia and of course, there are cows next door. I won't share most of the surprises Pete has in store for his guests, but he does offer every guest a chance to sculpt their names into the castle. 

Pete's castle is a true treasure and one of a kind experience. On Airbnb, a night in this castle will run you approximately $300. If you decide to go, let Pete know I sent you. 

Now how can you stay at Pete's castle for FREE? Through September 30th 2022, you can use your Chase Ultimate Reward points to erase Airbnb purchases. It's called Pay Yourself Back. 

If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, you will get 25% more points value and if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, you will get 50% more points value. 

So that $300 night in Pete's castle will cost you approximately 21,000 points with your Chase Sapphire Reserve and 25,000 with your Preferred card. 

For more on this program and how you can use it for statement credits, to erase dining, membership fees, click here. 

The great thing about this program is that it is not connected to when you stay at the airbnb, it is connected to when you PAY for the Airbnb. So make your reservation now, pay now and use your points to erase the charge and then stay at the Airbnb next month, next year or whenever. I've already erased several Airbnb reservations for next year. 

That's how we do it at almostfreefamilytravel.com 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, it's my favorite, please use my referral link. 

 

This is what the Dublin Airport looked like last Thursday at 7am. Yikes! Hundreds of people were waiting in line three hours before their flight. This line is for just two Air Canada flights from Dublin to Montreal and Toronto. Air Canada has online check in. 

So my question was why are all these people waiting in line?

I started to look around, listen and ask people what they were waiting in line for. 

The #1 answer: check in baggage

WHAT? 

The #1 Way To Make Your Trip To Europe Go Smoothly This Summer

The Air Canada supervisor told me it looks like this everyday. Oh no. On the other hand, I checked in online for the same flight and had just a carry on bag. Yep, I spent two weeks in Ireland with a carry on bag. 

And I arrived at the airport three hours early, got through security in 15 minutes and had time to visit the Chase Priority Pass Lounge for a bite to eat. No stress, no lines. 

What a difference, right?

But I know what you are thinking. You are probably thinking that you can't even imagine travelling with just a carryon. So I'm going to show you how I do it and then I'm going to share a hack with you. 

In the video, I mention packing cubes, you can find those on Amazon. You can also find small travel size bottles for your toiletries (lotion, sunscreen etc.) and remember you can take as many small bottles as you want so take a few filled with sunscreen. 

But my number one tip is to plan to do a load of laundry on your trip. Most Airbnb's have a washer and dryer and if you are staying at hotels, some offer laundry service or relax in a laundry mat for a couple of hours. No big deal. 

The #1 Way To Make Your Trip To Europe Go Smoothly This Summer

Believe me, spending a few hours doing laundry will save you some major headaches at the airport this summer or worse looking for lost luggage. 

If you do decide to check baggage, use the right credit card to buy the flights and or pay for the luggage. Some credit cards like my favorite Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve offer lost or delayed baggage coverage. 

If you don't have this credit card yet, it's my favorite. Right now, you can get a 60,000 point bonus with a $4,000 minimum spend. Those 60,000 points are worth $750 towards travel. Use my referral link to apply. 

In my next post, I'll show you how I used the Chase Ultimate Rewards points to stay and eat for FREE in Ireland. 

Got the Southwest Credit Card with the 75,000 point bonus? Great job. Now you need to work on earning the companion pass and you are almost there! 

Got The Southwest Credit Card, Now Get The Companion Pass 

What's the Southwest Companion Pass? It's the best travel perk in the business. You get to take a friend on all your trips for FREE for two years. Do you need to read that again?

Yep, it's the best travel deal out there! 

And I'm going to help you earn it. Right now is the best time to earn it since Southwest just announced a 75,000 bonus offer on all of their personal credit cards. 

How You Can Earn A BOGO Pass On Southwest Airlines....Fast! 

I have had the Southwest Companion Pass for the past 8 years. I have used it to take family members to the East Coast many, many times for college trips, family events, vacation and more. 

Plus my husband and I went to Cuba with Southwest. 

You can go to the Caribbean, Belize and Costa Rica too. 

Anywhere Southwest flies, you can bring a friend for FREE. 

Amazing, right?

And with sky high airline prices right now, this is a huge deal! 

Okay, so what do you need to do to get the pass? All you need to do is collect 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year and bam!

But you are probably saying, wow, that's a lot of travel. 

But here's the rub, you don't need to travel to collect points. There are lots of ways to collect points without ever stepping on a plane. 

The easiest way is to apply for the Southwest personal credit card and earn that 75,000 bonus offer. To earn the offer, you need to spend $5,000 on the credit card within 3 months. If you have any big purchases coming up, property taxes, tuition payments etc., put them on that card. You MUST pay off your credit card though otherwise this doesn't make any sense. We do NOT build up debt here! 

You are eligible to apply for this card IF you do not currently hold a Southwest personal card and have not earned a bonus in the past 24 months. If you do currently have a card, then there is a work around. Cancel your personal card, I know it's tough, wait, 30 days and apply for a new card. Easy!

Not sure which Southwest personal card to apply for, I review all the cards here and give you my choice!

Once you reach the minimum on the personal card, there are lots of ways to earn the rest of the points. FYI, you cannot buy points to earn the companion pass. 

Here are the ways:

1. The easiest and quickest way is to open a Southwest Business card. You must spend $4,000 in the first 3 months to earn the bonus 60,000 or 80,000 points. 

2. Fly on Southwest

3. Use the Southwest Shopping Portal - Look for bonus offers at the stores you shop at anyway. Read more to find out how I navigate these portals! 

4. Refer a friend to the Southwest Credit Card 75,000 Bonus Offer = 20,000 points 

5. Answer a survey

6. Use Southwest hotels or Rocketmiles to earn bonus points on hotel stays 

7. Book a rental car through Southwest 

With all of these ways though, be sure you are not overspending just to earn points. Keep in mind with any travel bonus points, the points won't post to your account until you take the trip. 

There you go, FREE BOGO on Southwest for the rest of this year and next year! 

You must start with the 75,000 bonus offer though and that offer ends July 11th so don't wait. 

Please use my referral link to apply for your card so I can earn the companion pass and bring you amazing travel tips! 

Hurry, Southwest Huge Bonus Offer Ends July 11th

The highest bonus offer I have ever seen on the Southwest credit card ends July 11th. So the time to apply is now if you haven't done it yet. 

The offer has increased to 75,000 Southwest points on all the personal Southwest credit cards. Amazing! 

Hurry, Southwest Huge Bonus Offer Ends July 11th

The more amazing part is that you can earn the Southwest Companion Pass which is one of the best travel perks out there by collecting 125,000 Southwest points in a single calendar year. The companion pass is a BOGO pass on any Southwest flight for this year and next year. Wow! 

So this bonus puts you really close. 

The minimum spend is $5,000 in the first three months so if you have a big purchase coming up, you should jump on this offer. This offer expires July 11th 2022. 

The question will be which card should you apply for. Southwest has three personal cards to choose from: 

• Plus 
• Premier
• Priority

The offer is good on all three cards so which one should you choose? Let's break it down. 

A few things to consider:

• The annual fee
• Do you use Early Check Ins 
• Do you prefer Upgraded Boardings  
• Would you use a $75 credit 

I prefer the Southwest Priority credit card with the annual fee of $149 because it comes with a $75 credit so that actually reduces the annual fee to just $74 which is less than the Premier with an annual fee of $99. 

But you could also just go for the Plus with a $69 annual fee and call it a day. 

If you decide to apply for one of these cards, please consider using my referral link so I can continue helping you find the deals and travel for FREE. 

By the way, AlmostFREEFamilyTravel has teamed up with Families Fly FREE to bring more value to you. If you would like to check them out, click here and let Lyn know I sent you. :) I'll be sharing testimonials from some happy members and I'll let you know when I'll be offering webinars. 

How You Can Stay At An Airbnb For FREE

 

After flights, accommodations are the biggest expense when you travel. 

But you have a few more days to cash in your Chase Ultimate Reward points to erase Airbnb purchases. 

It's part of the Pay Yourself Back program on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve credit cards. The program was launched during the pandemic so you could use your points even though you were not travelling and fortunately, it stuck. 

Back then, we could use the points to erase groceries and dining which was pretty awesome. 

Now you can use the points to erase the following:

• Airbnb 
• charitable contributions
• dining (with the Sapphire card only)
• membership fee (with the Sapphire card only)

And the best part is you get a bonus, the same bonus you get if you book travel through the Chase Travel Portal. On the Preferred card, you get a bonus 25% and with the Reserve you get a 50% bonus. 

But the offer ends June 30th, 2022. So don't wait. 

I erased several Airbnb purchases just today at a value of $700. 

I am going to walk you through exactly how to do this. The first thing you need to do before you erase anything, transfer any Chase Ultimate Reward points you have on a Chase FREEDOM or Ink card to your Preferred or Reserve. 

It's easy to "combine points":

• Log into your Chase.com account
• click on the card you want to transfer points FROM
• click redeem points
• then click on the three little lines at the top left
• scroll to the bottom
• click combine points. 

Once you have moved your points to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve, then you are ready to erase your purchases. From the Chase Ultimate Rewards home page, scroll down until you see the Pay Yourself Back promotion. 

Click on the promotion and you will see a list of your eligible purchases. Only purchases made in the past 90 days are eligible to be erased. There is even a handy countdown above each purchase. 

Since I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can see my points are worth 50% more when I use them to erase Airbnb purchases. Just check the box for the ones that you want to erase. I usually start with the oldest ones, but since this promotion ends on June 30th 2022, it doesn't matter. 

You will be able to erase all of the purchase or just some of it so check as many boxes as you want. 

 

The purchases will be applied as a statement credit and it will take about 5-7 days to see that happen. 

Keep checking your Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve accounts too as the June 30th date gets closer or wait until the last day to cash in. After I cashed in 41,000 points, another 9,000 points showed up so I cashed those in too. 

And if you haven't booked your Airbnb yet for a trip coming up, book it and erase it before June 30th. 

This is just one of the reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve are my favorite credit cards. You can read all about how these cards play an important part in my fly FREE strategy. 

If you do not have these cards yet, please consider using my referral link. It costs you nothing, but will award me for referring you so I can bring you more great information about how to FLY free. Right now, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is offering 60,000 points for a $4,000 minimum spend. Those points are worth $750 in the travel portal or if you erase an Airbnb purchase. But hurry, the Pay Yourself Back promotion ends June 30th. 

One of the best benefits of the no fee Chase FREEDOM family of cards is the rotating 5% categories. Every quarter, Chase offers bonus points categories where you earn 5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points on those purchases. The categories include streaming services, Amazon, gas purchases, wholesale clubs and more. 

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are one of my favorites due to their flexibility. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines, a few hotels including Hyatt, use them to buy FREE travel through the Chase Travel Portal or just get cash back. 

How You Can Earn Bonus Points On Gas Purchases

Plus if you partner the card with a Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you increase the value of the points again. Read about my trick on how to do that here.  and which one I prefer. 

Now is the time to activate the bonus categories for Q3. You have until September 14th to activate and it is retroactive, but I usually do it right away. 

The categories for Q3 are:

• Gas Stations - nice way to make up for the high cost of gas! 
• Rental Car Agencies - good for summer travel 
• Movie Theatres - great for summer!
• Select Live Entertainment

Definitely make a note that when I checked the Chase website for clarification on car rental agencies, car rentals booked through travel agencies, discount travel sites, vacation clubs, tour operators or as part of a package will not count. 

If you book through Costco.com which is my favorite way to book, I think it should still count since you pay at the car rental agency and not thru Costco. 

How You Can Earn Bonus Points On Gas Purchases

Live Entertainment includes tickets for in person entertainment like sporting events, zoos aquariums, concerts, theatre, museums, concerts, theatre, tourist attractions, amusement parks, carnivals, bands and entertainers. NOT included in this category are bowling alleys, horse racing, casinos and dance clubs. Ticket agencies selling on behalf of the venue are included. 

So live it up this summer and remember to use your Chase FREEDOM card to rack up the points for future FREE travel! Woohoo. 

If you do not have a Chase FREEDOM Unlimited or FLEX, use my referral link and you will get a $200 bonus when you spend just $500 in the first 3 months. This is the perfect no annual fee card and a great go to card. Plus if you max out the bonus categories and transfer them to your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you increase the value of the points. 

If you don't have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card yet, it's one of my faves. Right now, you can earn a bonus 60,000 points for a $4,000 minimum spend. Not as great an offer as the 80,000 points I told you about last month, but still worth $750 in the travel portal. Please consider using my referral link if you decide to apply. 

By the way, AlmostFREEFamilyTravel has teamed up with Families Fly FREE to bring more value to you. If you would like to check them out, click here and let Lyn know I sent you. :) 

Plus I am launching another program and you are the first to hear about it! I know so many women who want to travel, but are worried about the cost, traveling alone and safety. So I am launching a Beta program and looking for 5 women to join me! 

The program involves Lyn's simple Families Fly FREE process plus a graduation trip using points and miles to get you started on your new travel habit. 

If you are interested, fill out this form to get the conversation started. 

I am offering $200 off Lyn's Families Fly FREE simple system program for this Beta test cohort only (you must sign up for Lyn's program using my referral link to get the discount) in exchange for your feedback on the program PLUS you will have access to graduation trips with future cohorts as my special guest.

Hope you will consider joining me for this exciting new Beta test cohort program! 

 

FREE Mobile App Speeds Up Global Entry

 

If you are heading across the pond this summer and really, at this point, who isn't, right? Expect big crowds, long lines and a zoo at the airport. If you have TSA precheck, that will help with domestic flights. If you have Global Entry, that will help with international flights. 

Now there is a FREE mobile passport control app that might even be better than Global Entry! 

Its the Customs and Border Patrol Mobile Passport Control app and you can download it from Google Play or the Apple App Store. 

Eligible travelers will be prompted to create a profile. You are eligible if you are entering the US through one of the 31 designated airports and 4 seaside terminals. 

Once you enter the US either by plane or boat:

• you select your arrival terminal
• take a self photo
• answer a series of questions. 
• Then submit. 

Once approved which takes just a few minutes, you will receive a QR code. 

Take the QR code straight to a the customs officer for a check and you can sail on thru. 

No need to visit a kiosk or wait in line. 

Important note, you still need to carry your US passport with you. But this app should reduce the time you wait in line. Look for a designated process line for those using the app. 

I'm excited to try this app over the summer and report back to you!