Get $10 Off Amazon With Your Citi Card

Some people are reporting that they are seeing this targetted offer when they open the Amazon app. The offer has been extended to December 15th if you are one of the lucky ones to be targetted.
Be sure to read the fine print since only items bought from Amazon are eligible and only certain Citi cards are included in the offer.
Good luck!

Win Southwest Miles In California Drawing!

Beginning today, Southwest Airlines is giving away millions of points, but just to California residents. If you live in California, you should register. There is a daily drawing that increases every day and week. 
The giveaway lasts for the next 30 days and you can spin the wheel every day. Plus they are promising local events with additional point giveaways. 
Here's the fine print

All Rapid Rewards® rules and regulations apply. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of CA, 18 + who are Rapid Rewards® Members. Ends 11/30/17 at 11:58 p.m. PT. Click here for Official Rules, including multiple methods of entry, odds, and prize descriptions. Void where prohibited.

I received notice of this by targetted email, but here's the link to register. 

Good luck! 

Earn Airline Miles With Groupon!

Add Groupon purchases to the list of ways to earn airline and hotel miles. This offer came through email today. A check of the Groupon website and I couldn't find the program. But if you go to the specific airline or hotel website and check the shopping portal, Groupon will be listed. 

The offer is to earn 3 miles per dollar spent on Groupon. But check the fine print for exclusions. This is the fine print from American Airlines. 

Not eligible on purchases through Groupon Freebies, Groupon Coupons, Groupon Invitation Only Deals, Donations deals and Student discount offers. Other restrictions may apply. Not eligible on orders placed through Groupon mobile app. Offer eligible on Getaways at time of travel. Not eligible on Beats By Dre, Apple iPad and Bassboomz Portable Speaker purchases. Not eligible on FANDANGO, Starbucks, Sam’s Club or HP promotions. Not eligible on MRKET Picks and Student Program Discounts. Not eligible on shipping, handling, gift­wrapping or packaging fees, taxes, rebates, credit card processing fees, and other charges. Not eligible on chargebacks. Not eligible on purchases made with coupon or discount codes that are not found on this site.

Airlines included are Alaska, American, Jet Blue and United. Hotels included are Choice, IHG and La Quinta. 

As you know, I love shopping portals so this is just another way to earn miles for purchases you would make anyway. It's free money and it's how we do it at almost FREE family travel! 

**If you do not have a Groupon account yet, please use my referral link. Thank you for your support. 

United LAX - Singapore For $177

United just announced today its new non stop flight on the Dreamliner LAX to Singapore. In honor of this 18 hour flight, it is offering $177 one way on Tuesdays and Wednesdays next month. 

The return is $208. Flight leaves at 8:55pm and arrives in Singapore at 6:50am the following day. 

It's amazing deal if you would like to hop over to Singapore or use it as a gateway to Southeast Asia. 

The Dreamliner is an amazing plane with tinted windows and all the latest gadgets and technology. 

Plus the Singapore Airport is a great place to spend some time. It has a movie theatre, butterfly garden, children's play area, massage chairs, koi pond and many restaurants. 

We spent a full 8 hours in the airport a few years ago. Check out the photo below. 

Massage chairs 

Koi pond

If you are thinking about heading to Singapore or Southeast Asia, jump on this one. It will sell out quickly. That's how we do almost FREE family travel!

IHG Point Break List Announced Today

Every quarter, IHG announces a select list of point break hotels.  Point break hotels are offered at 5,000 points per night. You have to move fast because they sell out, but you can cancel the reservation and get your points back. 

Check out the new list for October 30, 2017 - January 31, 2018. If one of these hotels falls inside your travel plans, it's a great deal. IHG hotels include Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites. Some of these hotels include breakfast. 

I was able to book a point break hotel earlier this year in Edison New Jersey when we visited Rutgers University. No breakfast, but it only cost me 5,000 points. I had collected the points over the years by staying in a few random hotels and participating in a contest. 

You can get 80,000 IHG points by applying for the credit card. There is a $2,000 minimum spend and the $49 annual fee is waived the first year. 

Obviously, if you used 80,000 points on a point break hotel at 5,000 points per night, you are talking 16 nights in a hotel. Wow! That's how we do almost FREE family travel.

45,000 Starwood Bonus Offer Ends 11/1

The Starwood American Express Business card is one of my favorites. Starwood points are the most valuable out there because you can transfer them to 30 different airlines and Marriott hotels plus you can use them for Starwood hotels. If that's not enough, when you transfer 20,000 points to most of the airlines, you are awarded a 5,000 bonus. United Airlines is the exception. The transfer for that airline is 3:1 so I do not recommend using the points on United. That being said there are workarounds if you like to fly United.
The latest offer ending 11/1 is for 45,000 Starwood points. My previous blog post I wrote about ways to use those 45,000 points in New York City. But you can use those points anywhere in the world.
The other perk of the business card is free access to the Sheraton Club anywhere in the world. The club offers complimentary breakfast and happy hour. The happy hour is so generous that we have eaten dinner there.
Figure if your hotel is paid with points and you get FREE breakfast and dinner, that's what I call a good deal.
The spend is a bit high 25,000 Starwood points for $6,000 minimum spend and another 10,000 points for an additional $4,000 spend. If you completed the $10,000 spend, you would earn 45,000 Starwood points. The $95 annual fee is not waived.
But if you have your property taxes coming up or tuition payments or any other big purchases on the horizon, this might be a good deal for you.
By the way, any business will qualify. If you sell items on Ebay or rent your house on Airbnb or anything else, you will most likely qualify.

**If you decide to apply for this card, please use my referral link. Thank you for your support.

How To Stay For FREE In New York City!

New York is a great place to visit with so much to do, but for family travel, it is one expensive city! So if New York City is on your bucket list, here are some great options to cut the price. One option is to take advantage of the Starwood American Express Business card. The offer ends November 1st so don't delay on this one. The offer is for 25,000 points for $6,000 spend and if you spend another $4,000 in 6 months, you get another 10,000 points plus the 10,000 that you earned. So you would end up with 45,000 Starwood points. The annual fee of $95 is waived for the first year. 

It's a big spend, but if you have property taxes coming up or other big expenses like college tuition payments, this might be a good deal for you. 

What does 45,000 Starwood points get you in New York City? Since my focus is on family travel, I look at hotels that offer value like 4 or 5 people in a room and breakfast. 

My first choice here would be to use the points for the Sheraton Times Square. Each night costs 12,000 Starwood points. A perk of the American Express business card is access to the club which offers free breakfast and happy hour. The happy hour usually includes beer, wine and heavy appetizers.  Our family has used the happy hour several times as dinner. If you use 12,000 points for a hotel, breakfast and dinner in New York City for the entire family, that's almost FREE family travel. 

Starwood points also transfer to dozens of airlines and to Marriott at 1:3. I used awardmapper.com to check out hotels in New York City. Marriott hotels were around 40,000-80,000 points per night. If you transferred the 45,000 Starwood points to Marriott, you would have 135,000 Marriott points. If you found a hotel for 40,000 points per night, you would have 3 nights paid for. 

The other option is to transfer the 45,000 Starwood points to an airline. Most of the airline partners offer a bonus of 5,000 points for every 20,000 Starwood points that you transfer. So your 45,000 Starwood points could net you 55,000 American Airlines points for example. 

That's enough points for 2 round trip tickets from LAX to New York City. 

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

*If you decide to apply for the Starwood American Express Business card, please use my referral link. It's the same offer you would find online, but you will be supporting my blog and my mission to help families travel for almost FREE. Thank you!