How You Can Vacation in South America For Pennies

 

My family and I just returned from two weeks in Chile and Argentina. This was a redo trip from a vacation that was supposed to happen in March 2020. That trip was going to be almost FREE so the question was could we repeat it almost three years later and still do the trip for almost FREE. The answer is yes. 

I'm going to break it down for you so you can see how I do it and hopefully see how you could do it for your family. 

I believe everyone can play this game and travel for almost FREE. 

I start planning big trips like this one almost two years in advance. Why so early? You need time to earn the points and miles and then the airlines open flight reservations approximately 330 days in advance. Depending on when you want to travel especially if you are looking at summer or the holidays, you need to be ready with your points/miles when those reservations open. 

How You Can Vacation in South America For Pennies 

For this trip, we were planning to travel over winter break. It's high season so I needed to be ready. 

The first thing I do is figure out what airlines fly to the destination. In this case, I targeted American Airlines. Between American miles and Marriott points, I had collected enough miles to fly our family of five one way to Santiago, Chile. I looked at several dates and it looked like I could find flights for 30,000 miles one way from San Diego to Santiago, Chile. 

You can see below if you click on the calendar, you can look at the entire month and pinpoint which days offer the best value. Right now, you could fly to Santiago for just 22,000 American miles one way. 

But the return from Buenos Aires was showing 50,000 to 100,000 miles on American. The key is to be flexible with dates and cities. So I tried multiple cities and dates and nothing. 

So I started looking at other airlines. I checked Avianca, United and Delta. Delta Airlines was showing returns for 25,000 miles pretty consistently. 

I decided to target Delta Airlines and start figuring out how to collect those miles. All of us had various amounts of Delta miles already due to flights over the years, earning miles with Airbnb and other random promotions. But only a few of us had the full 25,000 miles needed. Marriott points transfer to Delta Airlines at 3:1 with a 5,000 point bonus for every 60,000 points. So I could top off with Marriott points and bam, 125,000 Delta miles gets all five of us home for FREE. 

As soon as the flights open up, I book them. Now I will book one way flights when they open and then book the return when that opens. So for two weeks, I will sit with flights to the destination and no flights home. It's a bit nerve racking, but has worked for me every time. 

Once I secure the flights, I move onto accommodations. For our family of five with teens and young adults, Airbnb seemed like the way to go. In South America, Airbnb are very affordable and with the Chase Pay Yourself Back program allowing you to erase Airbnb purchases with points, it was a no brainer. Unfortunately, you can no longer erase Airbnb purchases with Chase points. BUT you can still erase Airbnb purchases with Capital One points. 

I booked Airbnb in Santiago, Mendoza and Buenos Aires and erased all of them with Chase points. Check out how to combine your points onto your Sapphire Reserve credit card to max out the value. 

For tours like this Tango lesson in Buenos Aires, I booked through Viator, Trip Advisor and Airbnb experiences. The ones I booked through Airbnb, I went ahead and erased with Chase points. I paid for the Glacier trek with my new Southwest credit card which will help me reach the minimum spend and earn the Southwest companion pass. 

I also leveraged some points on the Capital One Venture X credit card to erase a few travel purchases. 

There were a few flights we took during the trip. I booked those through the Capital One travel portal and the Chase travel portal so I could either use points or erase them with points. 

I will continue to erase dining purchases through the Chase Pay Yourself Back program for the next 90 days. 

All in all, flights and accommodations were FREE. Some tours were FREE. Some meals and taxis will also be FREE. 

Grand total for five people for two weeks in South America comes to approximately $3,000 out of pocket and that included the expensive mini trek on the glacier. If we had paid instead of using points, this trip would easily have cost $15,000. Does it take some planning? Yes. Does it take some time? Yes. But it is worth it, I think so. 

That's how we do it at almost FREE family travel. 

 

Almost FREE travel is the name of the game! And as the year winds down to a close, there are some things you may want to do before Dec. 31st. And if you are working on your Southwest Companion Pass along with me, keep using that card for all your purchases, but watch that minimum spend threshold. 

Here are my top 5 recommendations: 

• The number 1 thing is to use up any benefits that may be ending at the end of the year. 
• At this point, we believe that Chase is ending the pay yourself back program benefit to erase Airbnb purchases, dining and the annual fee with points. You may want to check to see if you have any eligible charges that you can "erase" or make some purchases that you can "erase" before the end of the year. 
• When I went to erase my Airbnb purchases this morning, I saw the grocery purchases were listed again, but at 25% value instead of 50%. So I would recommend erasing those dining and Airbnb purchases immediately to get more value out of your points. 
• Remember to move any points over from your freebie cards like the FREEDOM or INK cards to your higher redemption value cards like the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve. 

Top 5 Things To Do This Week Re: Points And Miles 

• Number 2 - Did you use your travel credits? Check to make sure any credit card travel credits, vouchers, points or miles do not expire at the end of the year. You should be tracking this on a spreadsheet so it's easy to see. 
• Number 3 - I use the end of the year or the beginning of the new year as a time to do a review of all my cards. I decide which ones I would like to keep for another year and which ones I would like to cancel. Remember Southwest allows you to get the bonus once every 24 months and Chase Sapphire once every four years. Capital One is a once in a lifetime bonus. 

Top 5 Things To Do This Week Re: Points And Miles 

• Number 4 - I always use the end of the year or beginning of the new year to set some travel goals for the year and for the following year. Will you travel mostly domestic or international? Do you anticipate some special travel events in the coming year? What are your travel goals for this year and next? What points or miles do you need to accumulate to reach those goals? Now is the time to plan. 

• Number 5 - Before you cancel any cards, be sure to check the benefits. Do you have a Global Entry credit to use before you cancel? How about those Southwest early boarding passes or upgrades? 

The end of the year or January are great times to review strategy and goals. The key to this game is planning early and taking advantage of opportunities. 

Enjoy the holiday season! 

Happy Holidays!

 

Happy Holidays from all of us at almostFREEfamilytravel.com! 

We hope that you enjoy the break and keep working towards earning that Southwest companion pass. 

We have almost reached the minimum spend on both Southwest credit cards, but I will wait until after January 1st to actually hit the minimum. 

The number one mistake people make is hitting that spend too early. Though the close date has passed and we are probably safe, I want to be 100% certain. 

We will chat again in the new year and I can't wait to celebrate with you as we see those Southwest companion passes drop into our account. 

Happy Holidays! 

90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Bonus on No Fee Ink Cards - Wow!

Small Business Saturday just passed and in honor of that, let's talk about one of the best offers I've ever seen for the Chase Ink Business credit cards. The two FREE cards are offering 90,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus and the $95 annual fee card is offering a whopping 100,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points as a bonus. Wowza! 

I'll run down the difference between the cards in a minute, but first, I have to share with you why I love Chase Ultimate Reward points and what you can do with all those bonus points. 

This past summer, I took my family to Ireland, you can check out my blog to read all about this amazing country and people. 

But I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to erase the cost of all of our Airbnb stays during the trip, much of our dining and one plane ticket. I love these points because of how flexible they are. You can transfer them to dozens of airlines, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG. You can erase purchases just like a Capital One card. You can buy travel with them in the Chase Travel Portal. Plus if you have a Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card, you can combine your Ink CUR points and get even more value. 

So what's this new offer all about? and which card should you choose? 

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited  - No annual fee! 1.5% cash back or 1.5x points on every purchase. 

The Chase Ink Business Cash  - No annual fee! 5% cash back or 5x points at office supply stores, phone, internet, and cable. This is the card I have had for years! 2% or 2x points at gas stations and restaurants and 1% or 1x points at everything else. 

The Chase Ink Business Preferred  - $95 annual fee. 3% cash back or 3x points on shipping, advertising on social media sites, internet, cable and phone services and travel. 1% or 1x points on everything else. 

Look at the types of purchases your business makes to determine which credit card makes sense for you to leverage your spending for maximum points. And remember, your "business" doesn't have to be a Fortune 500 company. A business can easily be selling items on Etsy or Ebay, freelance services, property management, vacation rentals and more. 

You can hold all of these INK cards at the same time, but you can't get the bonus on any of these cards more than once every 24 months. 

And you can transfer your the CUR points from your INK account to your Chase Sapphire Preferred or Reserve card and bam, almostFREEfamilytravel. 

Amazing! 

Please consider using our referral ink if you apply for any of these credit cards. Thank you for your support. 

Last Few Days To Apply for the 75,000 Southwest Bonus

If you haven't applied for the Southwest Airlines credit cards yet, you are running out of time. The 75,000 point bonus offer expires December 5th. If you have been following my posts, you saw that I applied for the Southwest Performance Business credit card AND the Southwest Priority personal credit card. 

The Southwest Performance Business credit card comes with an 80,000 bonus when you spend $5,000 and the Southwest Priority personal credit card comes with a 75,000 bonus when you spend $3,000. I break down the difference between the cards here.

Hefty minimums for sure, but with property taxes, college tuition, holiday shopping and more coming up at the end of the year, it's doable. Plus we don't want to reach the minimum spend until after the December statement closes or January 1st so there's plenty of time. 

We are timing it so that we earn 135,000 Southwest points in the 2023 calendar year and earn the valuable Southwest Companion Pass for 2023 AND 2024. 

The Southwest Companion Pass is a BOGO on ANY Southwest flight as many times as you want for up to two years. And you can change your companion up to 3x per year. 

I applied for the Performance business card because I already have the Premier business card and got the bonus earlier this year. You can hold two business cards at the same time though before the annual fee comes up again, I will cancel the Premier business card. I also need to renew our Global Entry next year and this card comes with a $100 Global Entry credit. If you don't have the Premier yet, I recommend that one because the minimum spend is just $3,000 instead of $5,000. 

I applied for the Priority personal card because it's the best deal. The annual fee is $149, but you get a $75 Southwest credit so that brings the fee down to just $74 and you get 4 upgraded boardings. I will keep this card for two years so it's worth it for all those Southwest flights I plan to take. But all of the personal cards have the same bonus right now so it's really up to you which one you choose. 

Once I reach the minimum spends on these cards, I will earn 80,000+5,000 on the Performance card, 75,000+3,000 on the Priority card plus 10,000 bonus points for having a Southwest credit card. The total will be 173,000 Southwest points which puts me well over the 135,000 points needed for the companion pass. 

Woohoo! That's how we do it here at almostFREEfamilytravel.com. 

Now I just need to figure out where I'm going on my next trip! LOL

If you are playing along and earning your companion pass along with me, please let me know by emailing me at almostfreefamilytravel@gmail.com or posting a comment below. I would love to help you through the process. 

And please consider using my referral link when you apply for your new Southwest cards. 

Time is Running Out To Apply for the 80,000 Bonus on the Sapphire Reserve

This offer ends December 1st. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

This my favorite card by far! 

What can you do with 80,000 Chase Ultimate Reward points? 

So many things. 

• For one, you can use them in the Chase Travel Portal where the Chase Sapphire Reserve makes the points worth 50% more. 
• You can also transfer them 1:1 to dozens of airlines including United, Jet Blue, Southwest and more. 
• You can transfer them to Hyatt, Marriott and IHG hotels at 1:1.
• Through the end of the year, you can use them to erase Airbnb and dining purchases. 

Chase says the value of 80,000 CUR points is $1,200 towards travel. But it could be more if you play your cards right. 

For my recent trip to Ireland, I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to cover my daughter's round trip flight which I booked through the Chase travel portal for 30,000 points. 

I erased all of our Airbnb stays at 50% value for 50,000 points and I erased most of our dining with another 30,000 points. 

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card also comes with a $300 travel credit so we used that to erase parking and a portion of the rental car. 

Now this card is offering 80,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card. 

The other benefit is that you can transfer CUR points from your other credit cards to your Reserve card and then redeem them for 50% more. Woohoo! 

This card also comes with a $100 Global Entry credit, Priority Pass lounge access and FREE Dashpass membership, Instacart+ and $10 Go Puff monthly credit. 

The card does come with a hefty annual fee of $550, but as long as you use the $300 travel credit, Global Entry and lounge access, it will be worth it. 

Couple of important notes about this card. If you already hold the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you are not eligible to apply for the Reserve card. You can only hold one at a time. However, your spouse, partner or other family member could apply for the Reserve card. You can also only earn the bonus on the Reserve once every four years. 

If you decide to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, please consider using my referral link. 

 

How To Maximize Your Southwest Companion Pass

 

You are either waiting for your new Southwest Credit Cards to arrive like I am or you are still on the fence thinking about applying for the cards. Well, let me show you how you can maximize your Southwest Companion Pass. Maybe that will persuade you to push the button on your application. 

I had the Southwest Companion Pass for 6 years and then let it lapse last year.

 So upsetting. 

Remember the Southwest Companion Pass is a BOGO on any Southwest flight anywhere Southwest flies. All you pay is the $5.60 taxes for the companion. To earn the pass, you need to collect 135,000 Southwest points in a calendar year. Then you get the pass for the year you collect the points and the following year. So the best plan is to earn the pass as early in the year as possible so you can use it for almost two years. We show you the best way to earn the pass here. 

In the six years that I had the pass, here's are some of the places I took a companion with me for FREE saving me thousands of dollars. 

How To Maximize Your Southwest Companion Pass 

Some of the trips I took with the BOGO pass: 

San Diego - Washington DC - several times 

San Diego - New York - several times 

San Diego - Cuba 

San Diego - Fort Lauderdale 

San Diego to Boston 

San Diego to Buffalo/Niagara Falls - six times 

San Diego to Chicago 

Detroit to Raleigh 

San Diego to Raleigh - several times 

San Diego - San Francisco 

San Diego - Salt Lake City 

San Diego - Seattle 

San Diego - Spokane

I'm sure there are more flights, but that's all I can remember right now. 

How To Maximize Your Southwest Companion Pass 

So when I get my next pass in January 2023, where am I planning to go?

Well, my youngest child is starting the college search so we will check out colleges, fly back again for admitted student days, fly back again for move in, and fly back again for family weekend. 

The next oldest will be graduating from college so the pass will help to get the family there for graduation. 

Then I looked at the list of countries Southwest flies to that I have not visited yet: 

Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Belize, 

Maybe I'll add a trip to those too to tick off more countries visited. 

Of course, Hawaii is always fun and Puerto Rico is on my list too. If you haven't been to Costa Rica, Southwest flies there too. Turks and Caicos and the Grand Caymans were intriguing, but they are British territories so they don't add numbers to my countries visited list. But I hear they are beautiful. 

New Orleans is, of course, always a winner! 

So many fun places to visit and once you have the pass, it's affordable and even almost FREE. Woohoo! 

If you are ready to apply, check out this overview of the cards to help you decide which one is right for you and please use my referral link.