Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Have You Earned Your Southwest Companion Pass Yet?
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Trekking A Glacier In Patagonia Is A Once In A Lifetime Experience
One of the most incredible once in a lifetime experience is trekking a glacier in Patagonia. The trek on the Perito Moreno Glacier departs from the town of El Calafate in Argentina. There are flights to this small town on Aerolineas Argentinas from the AEP airport in Buenos Aires and other cities in Argentina. There is very limited award availability on Aerolineas Argentinas. Instead I booked this flight through the Capital One Travel portal and then erased it with points.
The tour to the glacier is an all day event so don't plan to fly in or out on the same day. This tour is also weather permitting so you may want to give yourself some extra days if possible. Though many tours sell the mini trek, the only company actually operating the tour is Hielo y Aventura. You can book directly with that tour company or book through a third party like Viator. No matter where you book or what tour company is listed, all the tours end up with Hielo y Aventura.
Plan to spend about $250 per person for this adventure, but it's worth every penny.
This company is top notch. They pick you up at your hotel with a mini shuttle around 7:30am. They advise you to bring warm layering clothes, jacket, good walking shoes, water, sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat. You also need to bring your own lunch and money for the national park entrance fee.
The mini shuttle runs around town picking up all the customers and then drops them off at the tour bus. Once all the customers arrive, the bus leaves for an approximately 1.5 hour drive to the Los Glaciares National Park. At the entrance to the park, customers are advised to go inside and pay the entrance fee. We were told many times to bring 5,500 pesos per person, but at the entrance, they accepted credit cards. You may also be able to pay online in advance.
Once the group is ready, the guides teach you how to hike the glacier in crampons. It's pretty intuitive and easy to follow. And then you are off heading up the side of the glacier. The guides position themselves in front and back of the group ready to lend a hand. i found them extremely attentive and passionate about their work.
Then back to the crampon station to remove the spikes and a short walk back to the base to eat lunch. The boat ride back involves a drive by the glacier for a different view. The bus makes one last stop at the viewing platforms for yet another different view of the glacier. The ride back to town takes about two hours and then mini shuttle shows up to deliver passengers back to their hotels.
The day ran like clockwork, this company is a well oiled machine. This experience is not to be missed and definitely earns a place on the top of the bucket list.
If you pay for the trek using your Capital One Venture X, you may be able to erase it as a travel purchase. Also check Capital One for a discount offer if you book through Viator.com. I got 8% back which equaled almost $90. Woohoo!
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
How You Can Vacation in South America For Pennies
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Top 5 Things To Do This Week Re: Points And Miles
- 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.
- 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?
Saturday, December 24, 2022
Happy Holidays!
Thursday, December 8, 2022
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.
Saturday, December 3, 2022
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.