IHG Releases Its New Point Break Hotel List

The 3rd quarter IHG point break hotel list is live. Every quarter, IHG releases a list of hotels called point breaks. This means you can redeem anywhere from 5,000-15,000 points per night for these hotels which should offer a discount.
The new list offers some interesting picks:

At 5,000 points, I found the one in Syracuse intriguing since my daughter goes to school nearby. However, I would have to buy the points since I only have 893 points and the hotel costs less than $100 per night.
However, if you have points sitting around or if you have Chase Ultimate Reward points, you can transfer them to IHG and take advantage. A few years ago, I used 5,000 and booked the Crowne Plaza Newark off the point break list. Pretty sweet! 

At the 10,000 per night level, it got a bit more interesting. Now you have choices in Canada, Peru, Mexico, and outside of New York City.

And at the 15,000 per night level, you have more choice including Paris and Venice. These book up fast. You can only book 2 nights and you have to book them by October 31st, 2019. You can always cancel so it's better to book now.

Why United Airlines Miles Won't Expire Anymore

San Blas Islands, Panama

When you start to collect miles and points on different airlines, it can be challenging to remember which ones expire and when. You can always top the accounts off by using shopping portals, but you have to actually do it before your points expire. You can check out my prior post when I accidentally let 8,000 United miles expire. Quite a bummer!
Some programs like United were letting you buy back expired points, but it was hardly worth it unless you had quite a haul that expired.

Now United is joining Jet Blue and Delta and getting rid of expiration dates entirely.
Starting today, your United miles will never expire. Woohoo!

Here are the rules for some other airlines:

• American Airlines miles still expire after 18 months of inactivity. 
• Southwest and Alaska expire after two years of inactivity. 

Interesting fact, 25% of airline miles go unused or expire and billions of dollars of miles never get used at all. If you don't fly, you can redeem miles and points for products, gift cards and more through the airline's website. You will get a better value if you use them for airline tickets, but it's better than not using them at all.
So put those miles to work for you! 

Flying In/Out Of SFO In Sept? You May Want To Change Plans

United Airlines which operates about 45% of the flights in/out of San Francisco International Airport is issuing travel waivers for any tickets purchased for Sept 7 -26 due to major runway construction. 

On the airline's travel notice webpage, it states 

"The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will close a major runway for repairs from September 7–26, and we expect it’ll cause flight cancellations and delays. We want to help, so we removed some flights from our schedule and rebooked customers to help reduce any disruptions to their travel plans.

We’re also offering a travel waiver that gives you flexibility to change your flight or connect in a different city. We will continue to work with other airports to rebook connecting customers through those cities while the airport runway is closed.

We recommend changing your flight or allowing more time to get to and from your destination. If that’s not possible, make sure you’re checking your flight status before you head to the airport."

If you have plans to fly in/out of SFO during this period, you may want to change to an early morning flight before construction begins or connect through a different airport. Be sure to check the fine print on the travel waiver link depending on when you purchased your ticket. 

Good luck! 

Last Chance To Score 130,000 Hilton Points

You only have a few days left to be approved for the American Express Hilton Surpass credit card. This card comes with a whopping 130,000 Hilton Honors points! And the deadline to be approved is August 28, 2019. 

You can use Hilton Honors points at all the Hilton brand hotels which include Hampton Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Curio Collection, Hilton, Tru, Homewood Suites and more. 
Personally, I love Hilton because the Hampton Inn includes breakfast and can fit a family of 5 in one room. The international hotels offer amazing value for families. 

Krakow, Poland remains of the medieval city wall

For example, we stayed in a Hampton Inn in Krakow, Poland for just 5,000 points per night. For that price, we got 2 rooms for the 5 of us. The stay included a huge buffet breakfast that included desserts, fruit, eggs, meats, cheese, salads and much more. 

We also stayed in a Hampton Inn in Panama City, Panama. This hotel cost just 10,000 points per night and also included a huge buffet breakfast and a lovely rooftop pool. 
It's almost like they are paying us to stay with them. Crazy, right?

What can you do with 130,000 Hilton Honors points? You could splurge and use these points for 1 crazy night at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, CA. I'll talk about that in my next post. This tool from Hilton can help you find the category 1 or 2 hotels.  A quick search showed a lot of them located in Turkey, China, and Mexico. 

Once you have the Surpass card, you are also eligible for Hilton's 5th-night free bonus. Stay four nights and you get the 5th night FREE so you can stretch your points even further. 

Here are the details on the American Express Hilton Surpass card 

• 130,000 points
• $4,000 minimum spend in 3 months 
• $95 annual fee 
• FREE weekend night reward 
• 12x points at Hilton Hotels
• 6x points at restaurants, gas stations, and supermarkets

If you would like to apply, please use my referral link. This helps to support this blog. Thank you! 
And that's how we do it at almostFREEfamilytravel.com 

Hike Through History In The Sierra Calif. Mountains

For more than 50 years around the turn of the century, the Sugar Pine Railway operated steam engines to haul lumber along the Stanislaus River in Central California. Now it boasts an amazing easy hiking or biking trail with a gentle 3% incline and a walk through history. 

The trail is lined with posts that mark historical highlights. You can pick up a guide at the Mi-Wok Ranger Station. 

The railway spans 70 miles with more than 400 miles of branches so this is just a small 5-mile span. But it's beautiful as it hugs the river and ends in a meadow. Much of the trail is also shaded. There is limited parking at the trailhead on Fraser Flat Road. Check with the ranger in the winter to see if the road is open. 

How Southwest Makes It Easy To Change Your Flight

Reason #5 that I love Southwest Airlines! If you want to change a flight, it's FREE and EASY. No change fees, no penalties, no nothing and you can even switch to another flight and get a credit. Wow! 

Here's how to do it: 

1. Log in to your account

2. Click on my travel 

3. Click on change flight 

4. Select the flight you want to change 

5. Southwest will show you the options and what the points or dollar difference is

6. Select your new flight and bam, done. 

So you can see above, if I change this flight, it is going to cost me more points. Southwest will automatically adjust your account to reflect the diffference. If it's less points, Southwest will credit your account. You don't even have to pay another $5.60. Amazing. 
I check upcoming flights a few times just to see if I can save some points. You can rebook the same flight if the price/points has changed. 
If you have a companion pass and have booked a companion on the flight, you will need to cancel the companion ticket first (write down the confirmation code so you can reapply the $5.60), rebook your flight and then add your companion again. 
Still easy, but one more step. 

How I Scored 3 FREE Tickets To See A World Famous Glacier

The world-famous glacier, Petit Moreno in Patagonia, Argentina, is a spectacular site. It is one of the only glaciers in the world that is expanding rather than retracting. And tour companies have started allowing visitors to trek on the ice using crampons. Since we are going to be in Chile and Argentina next year, this seemed like a great add to the itinerary. 

But the determining factor for us is always can I get our family of 5 there without breaking the bank. 

This stop involved a few logistics. First, I had already booked award travel tickets for our family into Santiago, Chile and out of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had not booked the flight between those two cities yet, but an American Airlines rep said I could book the flight for 10,000 miles for each ticket. 

Okay, not too bad, but I decided to play around a little bit with flights from Santiago to El Calafate, Argentina which is the closest airport to the glacier. 

Here's an interesting surprise. 

• Flights from Santiago to El Calafate run about $259 round trip. 
• Flights from Buenos Aires to El Calafate run about $250 round trip. 

Obviously, it would be a waste to use miles to get from Santiago to Buenos Aires and then pay for flights to El Calafate. I called American Airlines back and found out there are no award tickets from Buenos Aires to El Calafate. Bummer. 

Next option, If you have been following my blog, you know that I was approved for the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card recently. I had waited for years to get that card so I'm excited. Now, I reached the $4000 minimum spend and was awarded 50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward bonus points, woohoo! 

Those bonus points are worth about $750 if redeemed in the Chase Travel Portal and $500 if used for cash back. You can also transfer those points to airlines at a 1;1 ratio. 

So what if we look for flights from Santiago to El Calafate round trip in the portal. Look what we found, the flights run $259 if you pay cash, but just 17,266 points. The point value is less because a benefit of the Sapphire Reserve is that your points are worth 50% more when you redeem them in the portal.

Here's where it gets a bit tricky. You need to book all your tickets at the same time to make sure the entire family is on the same flight. Only some of the flights are offered on the travel portal. I can book 3 tickets using points through the Chase Travel Portal and buy two tickets through Aerolineas Argentinas. If I use my Capital One Venture card to pay for the flights, I may be able to erase them with points anyway. If I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card to buy the two tickets, I will earn 4x points for the purchase or use the $300 travel credit to erase one of the tickets. Remember to create a loyalty account for any flights you buy so you get credit for those miles. 

The bottom line is that you have to be flexible and look for alternatives when traveling as a family. We had a lot of flexibility in the this trip and were able to look for the cheapest dates to travel to the glacier as well. One other tip, when booking excursions or tours, use your Capital One Venture card, if it codes as travel, you can erase the purchase making it FREE. 

*Please use my link if you decide to apply for the Capital One Venture card, you will earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000. I will earn a referral which will helps keep this blog running. Thank you for your support.