Take a trip on United, earn 2,500 bonus miles

 

If you are planning to travel in the next few weeks by air and on United Airlines, then you will want to listen up! A new targetted United promotion aimed at getting people back on the planes wants to reward you with extra miles. 

Here's how it works: 

1. Register at this link 

2. Book and fly by June 13th 

3. Earn a bonus 2,500 miles 

Your flight must cost at least $150 and must be on United or United Express. The promotion code is T014MA if the link doesn't work. Miles earned through the promotion will not count towards Million Miler status or Premier status. 

Hilton Mega Bonus Offer - 180,000 Points

 

Hilton Honors American Express Surpass is offering a mega bonus of 180,000 points! Woohoo! If you have never had this card before, you might want to jump on this offer. The deal is 130,000 points for a $2,000 minimum spend and another 50,000 additional points if you spend $10,000 total on the card within 6 months.

Hilton Mega Bonus Offer - 180,000 Points 

 

So if you break it down....that's really 190,000 points for a $10,000 spend in 6 months. 

The fine print on this card:

• The annual fee on this card is $95 and it is not waived for the first year. 
• The card comes with complimentary Gold Status at Hilton 
• Earns 12x points on Hilton purchases, 6x points on groceries, gas, and dining. 
• If you spend $15,000 in a calendar year on this card, you get a FREE weekend night. 
• You also get 10 lounge visits with Priority Pass Select membership. 

So you know how big this offer is, let me share with you the value you can get from Hilton points. The photo above is from Berlin, Germany. We took a family vacation to Eastern Europe, highly recommend. In Krakow, Poland, we used 5,000 Hilton points per room per night to stay at Hampton Inn and Suites. The room included breakfast, key for family travel. The hotel is a bit out of town, but it is located right next to the mall and within feet of the trolley stop that goes directly downtown. 

In Warsaw, Poland, we stayed at another Hampton Inn and Suites for just 10,000 Hilton points per night per room. The hotel also included breakfast and was located right across the street from the main train station downtown. 

Two years ago, we spent a few weeks in Panama. We stayed at another Hampton Inn and Suites in Panama City priced at just 10,000 points per night per room. Yes, it included a huge breakfast buffet and featured a rooftop pool. It was located right in downtown Panama City. After a week there, we boarded a catamaran for a glorious week in the San Blas islands. 

Of course, there are also luxury resorts for about 90,000 points per night so if that's your jam, this would buy two nights there. 

I'm sure now you are getting the idea. 190,000 Hilton points can buy you hotel nights for a long time. 

Pretty sweet. 

You may not be traveling right now, but you will do it again soon, and this way you will be ready. 

That's how we do it at almostfreefamilytravel.com Happy traveling! 

American Air Offers Miles Back To Entice You To Fly

There is a new targeted promotion out there from American Airlines. If you are lucky enough to be eligible for this one, good for you. 

The promotion is as follows:

• book an award flight by May 14, 2021
• fly during the months of June or July
• get 400 miles back per flight, up to four flights in total. 

Eligible flights must be on American Airlines and not partner airlines like Alaska. 

If you were targeted, you can find the offer in the “Promotions” tab of your AAdvantage profile. Once you register, a tracker will become available as shown below.

Big Sale on SeaWorld Tickets Extended To May 9

 

San Diego SeaWorld is back open for business. The park has launched a sale to lure visitors. The Spring Spectacular Sale has been extended through Sunday, May 9th. 

• Single specific day passes are $59.99 for adults
• The Fun Card is also back priced at $95.99 for adults. The Fun Card lets you play for a day and then return the rest of the year as much as you would like. 
• The Preschool Fun Card is $20, same idea, but you must visit the park for the first time by May 27th, 2021. 
• CA and AZ K-12 teachers can get a FREE Fun card for 2021. 
• The So Cal Resident pass is also on sale for just $9 per month or $108. This pass is good for 12 months and includes 50% off parking. 

Here's a tip, buy a Silver Annual Pass ($126) which includes FREE general parking for one person in your family. 

The park is open to in-state visitors with proof of residency and out-of-state visitors who can present proof of being fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated is considered at least two weeks past the second dose. 

Once you buy your ticket or pass, you will need to make a reservation for a specific date online. 

Remember amusement parks usually code as either travel or entertainment, so use a credit card that rewards you for travel such as your Chase Sapphire Preferred or your Capital One Venture card.  Both cards are offering amazing bonuses right now! 

Great News! Marriott Extends Expiration Date For Points and FREE Nights

 

Great news! Marriott Bonvoy extended expirations again! Now, Bonvoy points will not expire until March 31st, 2022. FREE night award certificates will not expire until January 3rd, 2022. This is great news for Bonvoy members. 

Remember, points expire after 24 months of non activity. The best way to have activity on your account is with a Marriott Bonvoy credit card. That way every time you make a purchase, you earn a few points and the activity keeps your points alive. 

Through May 12th, you can get a super bonus on any Marriott credit card by using my referral link. 

If you apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, you can get 3 FREE award nights with just a $1,000 minimum spend. If you apply for the Marriott Bonvoy Bold, you get one FREE award night with just a $500 minimum spend. 

Remember, these are purchases you are making anyway and you have 3 months to reach the minimum spend. Pretty sweet! 

Remember to set up auto pay right away because you do not want to pay any late fees. 

I love Marriott Bonvoy points because you can use them for any of the 24 hotel brands in the portfolio and you can transfer them to more than a dozen airlines. Plus when you transfer them to certain airlines, you will get a bonus 5,000 miles. And most of the Marriott credit cards come with a FREE night award certificate on your anniversary. 

Why You Might Want To Jump On This Capital One Offer

 

You may have seen this offer announced this week for the Capital One Venture card. 100,000 points with a $20,000 minimum spend or 50,000 points with a $3,000 minimum spend. I have to admit I got this card several years ago because you can use the points to erase any travel purchase. That means that instead of transferring points to an airline or hotel, you simply use your Capital One Venture card to pay for the purchase and then use the points for a statement credit. Easy. 

Now Capital One has added transfer partners too. And during the last year, it added a benefit so you could use your points as statement credits for takeout, steaming, Amazon and Paypal since not many people were traveling. 

I actually got this card when we were going on a family trip to Costa Rica. By family, I mean extended family trip, you know, like a group of 20 people. The deal was everyone had to pay for their own airfare, but then once in Costa Rica, the trip would be a gift. Pretty sweet! The only other catch is we all had to fly on the same Delta flight. Since I didn't have enough Delta miles for 5 round trip airline tickets, my husband and I each applied for the Capital One Venture card. We charged the plane tickets and everything else to those cards to meet the minimum spend and we ended up getting three of the tickets FREE. 

Now I still like this card, however, I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards better. Here's why:

• Capital One every purchase earns 2 points per dollar
• Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve - most purchases earn 1:1, but dining and travel earn 2:1 and there are categories where you can earn 5:1 if you have Chase FREEDOM, FLEX or INK cards. 
• Capital One points value are 1:1 when you use them to erase purchases
• Chase Sapphire Preferred values points at 1:1.25 if you use them in the travel portal or as a statement credit
• Chase Sapphire Reserve values points at 1:1.5 if you use them in the travel portal or as a statement credit 
• Capital One and Chase offer 1:1 transfer values to airline miles, but Chase offers way more partner airlines and hotels. 

I still think the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve offer more flexibility than the Capital One. Now, all that being said, I have NOT canceled my Capital One and have no intention to do so. You can only get this card once in a lifetime and I'm not ready to give it up. 

If you decide to give this one a go, consider using my referral link. You get the same great bonus offer and I get a little something for referring you and can use it to bring you more great ideas on how to travel for Almost FREE. 

https://capital.one/3dMOtkP

Yes, You Can Win Miles Playing Promotions

 

I'm a sucker for FREE. Yep, guess that's why I write this blog so I can help you take advantage of the points and miles that are offered out there for FREE so you can travel for almost FREE. Lots of people take surveys to earn points and miles, I don't usually go that route. It's time-consuming and a pretty slow way to earn in my opinion. However, I do like to take advantage of hotel and airline promotions. Those I find can be pretty lucrative. They can also help top off an account if you need to stop points and miles from expiring or sometimes even to earn the Southwest Companion Pass. See my past post about this awesome travel perk. 

So the latest promotion is from American Airlines. It goes through May 3rd, you can play once a day, and only takes a few minutes, but can be pretty lucrative. I've already earned 800 American Airlines miles. 

You just click on a few links to earn globe spins. Then spin the globe. If the globe stops on the US, you lose, but if it stops anywhere else in the world, you win some miles. According to the contest rules, there are 230,000 "400 mile" instant prizes, the most common prize since I've won twice so far. But there are also 35,000 "4000 miles" instant prizes. Now we are talking. There also appear to be some memberships and gift card instant prizes as well. 

 Even if you lose the globe spin, you are entered into a grand prize drawing for one million miles. 

For a few minutes of your time, this may be worth it.