Monday, February 17, 2020
7 Nights in Aruba for Spring Break 2020 for a Family of Four
. . . . And how I saved $5954!
Step 1: Book flights early & shop around for days, departure airports and final destinations
Booked Flight 6 months in Advance (**The day flights were released on Southwest Airlines)
* Standard flight price was $764 per person => $3056 for a family of four
* I booked flights using my Southwest Airlines Frequent Flier Miles
* Cost => 16,468 points per person and $90.55 in fees
= > 65,872 pts & $362.20 for a family of 4
(Note: Fees are higher because the flight is International)
* How I got the points: Chase Southwest credit card offer that had a 75,000 mile bonus that I
had done way in advance of planning my trip.
* Savings ~ $2694
Step 2: Find Lodging. Because I had 6 months before my trip, I could research places to stay using points and sign up for credit card offers that got me the points I needed. This is what I found:
Holiday Inn Resort Aruba-Beach Resort & Casino - 5 Nights
* Standard Cost was $1528 for 5 nights
* We paid $0
* How I got the points: Chase IHG Credit Card that had a 150,000 point bonus offer
* Room was 40,000 points a night plus 1 free night if you booked 3 nights
(a perk of the card) =160,000 IHG points for 5 nights
* Hotel points are great because you generally do not pay anything, even if there
are charges for parking, wifi or resort fees.
* Additional perks of the card included automatic Platinum Status at the hotel (so
possible room upgrade when we arrive) and free Cabana Rentals at the resort!
* Savings ~ $1528
Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino - 2 Nights
* Standard Cost $1732 for 2 nights
* We paid $0
* Signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express that had a 75,000 mile bonus offer and an automatic upgrade to Gold Status
* Room was 35,000 points per night = 70,000 points
* Savings ~ $1732
Getting sign up bonuses on credit card offers
I use to try to include links to the offers I had signed up for on credit cards, but the offers change so frequently that it is impossible to keep them up to date.
** Booking flights on Southwest Airlines
While most airlines allow you to book flights up to 11 months in advance of your travels, Southwest Airlines does it differently. They release their fares in batches, going as far out as about seven months. For Spring Break dates, the low fare flights go quickly, so I mark my calendar so that I can check prices the day the fares are posted.
Weekend in Napa Under $200 per person - Flights, Lodging, & Rental Car
The best way I have found to travel inexpensively, other than using frequent flyer and/or hotel points, is to watch frequent flyer blogger posts. A couple that I always find up-to-date and useful are Million Mile Secrets and Johnny Jet. You have to keep in the mind that when you find an awesome deal, it will go quick, so you have to act fast.
In January while perusing some travel blog posts, Pondering Perks found a non-stop, round-trip flight, from Chicago to San Francisco, on United Airlines, for $144, including all fees! We could not resist so we booked it ASAP. We talked our spouses into going, booked flights for a long weekend in February, and began hunting for lodging. Flight -> $144/person
For our rental car, I went to Priceline, put in a bid for 40% lower than published rates for a standard car ($19/day), and low and behold my bid was accepted! Rental car & gas -> $46/person
First night lodging - We landed late in San Fransisco on a Thursday night and wanted to head toward Napa. We wanted to get out of San Fransisco while traffic was light because most hotels charge more points if you book in large cities like San Francisco. We found the San Pablo Holiday Inn Express, 40 minutes from the airport, for 25,000 points/night which included free parking and free breakfast. Perfect! Friday night lodging and Saturday morning breakfast -> $0
Friday/Saturday Lodging - We booked a room at the Meritage and paid using the $600 travel credit I had on our Barclay Arrival Plus Signature Visa. Friday-Saturday night lodging -> $0.
Food/Tours/Wine - Obviously you will spend money going out to eat, touring Napa and trying out all of the wine! You can spend as much or as little as you want. We booked a group wine tour through Platypus Tours for $100/person and highly recommend it.
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| Hopper Creek |
Summary
* Watch travel bloggers and jump on flights when they are low
* IHG Points - I got 80,000 IHG points, with no fee, after spending $1000 in 3 months with the Chase IHG MasterCard. I used 65,000 miles for this trip and still have 15,000 stored for my next trip.
* Barclay Arrival Plus Visa - I got 60,000 travel credits, equivalent to $600, to pay for anything travel including hotels, car rentals and airfare. My offer had no fee for the first year and I had to spend $3000 in 3 months to get the $600 credit
* Priceline - Wait until you are close to your travel date and place a low bid on your rental car. If your low bid isn't accepted, you can always bid again.
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| CHEERS! |
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Hyatt Credit Card
Pondering Perks just took advantage of the Hyatt Credit Card from Chase.
The big perk:
Free nights at Hyatt properties, worldwide*
Receive 2 free nights after making $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months with the Hyatt credit card. This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months.That is any Hyatt- we have used this perk for our upcoming stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney. The rate for the Park Hyatt Sydney is approximately 1000 AUD per night- ($750 USD per night). Incredible perk and savings!
The Park Hyatt is a 5 star hotel located in the beautiful Sydney Harbor. We look forward to staying there and reviewing it for you. Stay Tuned....coming in August.
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| About 5 years ago- look forward to returning! |
Monday, May 16, 2016
Spring Break 2016- Puerto Vallarta
1/2 of Pondering Perks went to Puerto Vallarta for Spring Break- their first time there!
We stayed at 2 hotels- Dreams Villamagna and Now Amber.
Flights-
Non stop United out of Chicago (ORD) -35K points per ticket
A little delayed getting out of Chicago but they allowed passengers to come up and take a picture with the pilot!
Our First Stop
Dreams Villamagna is located in the Riveria Nayarit area of Puerto Vallarta.
Beautiful views in the Banderas Bay.
We were upgraded to the preferred section of the resort on arrival. This was a nice upgrade as it gave us a private check in and a lounge area that always had snacks and drinks available as well as an upgraded mini bar in our room and wifi in our room (2 devices).
This was a great hotel with a lot of big pools- beautiful infinity pool but even better shallow pool that ended up being perfect for our son to meet friends and toss around a football.
Dining- our favorite was the rooftop sushi bar- great sushi and even better sunset views!
The sea is a little rough- but great for boogie boarding (complimentary rentals available at the hotel)
They had a great kids club-our son meet friends right away at the pool and then they made plans to go to the kids club every night.
Next Stop
Instead of taking a taxi from Dreams to Now- we decided to rent car from the hotel- we rented from Avis and could return to Avis at Now. We wanted to check out a little town called Sauylita (about 30 minutes from Dreams).
Sauylita
this was a great little stop- sleepy little surfing town with cute shops/restaurants. No hotels- just bed and breakfast, inn's and house rentals. And a lot of surf camps!
Now Amber
We arrived to Now Amber and were greeted with a beautiful view from the lobby
This hotel was a Wow hotel- from the lobby, to the rooms, to the kids club, to the restaurants. We were very happy with everything!
Now shares its space with the adults only property next door- Secrets. You are able to go over there for dinner as long as you made a reservation with your concierge (reservations were not needed at Now for dinner). We never made it over there for dinner as the dining at Now was amazing. Our favorite was Castaways- very fresh tuna!
The Spa- located over at Secrets -it is a spa with a full wellness circuit (hot/cold plunge pools, pools with different water jets, saunas, steam rooms). Included with any treatment-you can use the spa pools- or else purchase a spa pass.
Great activities for the kids- soccer, rock climbing, campfires, big screen movies and a great playground. He went to dinner nightly with the kids club and couldn't wait to go back every day.
There was also a teens club that I didn't get a chance to check out but heard they had a great set up for the teens. Pool Tables, Air Hockey, Video Games, Archery and basketball court. They also had their own bon fires and nights out.
My son enjoyed the pool with the slide during the day but also enjoyed all the activities around the pool- giant Connect 4, Foosball tables, Giant Chess and the daily water balloon contest (2nd place!)
Both Resorts were very enjoyable and I wouldn't hesitate to go to back to either one! I can be picky with all inclusive resorts and these both checked off items that are important to me. Kids Clubs, Food and Atmosphere!
I did not use points for the all inclusive so I do recommend using a travel agent, especially one with knowledge in those areas. Using an Ensemble Agent will also allow you to get additional perks at their preferred hotels (early check in/late check out, resort credits and possibly room upgrades).
Until next Spring Break! Already starting to think about it and plan!
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Last minute weekend get away with the kids to Arizona - on perks!
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| Sedona, Arizona |
By around February or March every year I start to get very tired of winter in Michigan. I am always looking at flight prices from the mid-west to anywhere warm. I always have a stock pile of miles on various credit cards too, in case I need a last minute get away! One of my favorites airlines for points is Southwest. Right now there is a 50,000 mile bonus if you sign up for a Chase credit card.
During one of my flight searches I stumbled upon a round trip, nonstop flight from Chicago Midway to Phoenix, Arizona for 12,356 miles. Yup, you read that right. Since I had signed up for the Southwest Chase credit card previously, I had 50,000 Rapid Reward miles already banked in my Southwest account - so I immediately grabbed 4 tickets. For $44.80 ($11.20 fee per ticket), I had 4 flights to Phoenix, leaving - the next day! Ya - sometimes you have to be spontaneous!
My kids got home from school and I told them to pack their bags, because we were going on a mystery trip!
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| Me and my boys upon arriving at our resort! |
After booking the flights (and making sure my hubby was OK with me and the kids leaving town), I started my lodging search. I started by looking at the Hilton, Marriott, SPG/Westin and IHG/Holiday Inn websites, to see if there were any good point deals. I made sure to choose "flexible dates" when I searched, to see what days were the lowest points (and possibly stay at 2 different places, depending on points needed). I lastly tried hotwire, to see if there were any places that were just plain dirt cheap. I always use the website Hotwire Revealed, when looking for lodging on hotwire, to determine what hotel I would end up with if I had booked through hotwire.
Through my searching I found the Point Hilton Squaw Peak Resort for 24,900 Hilton Honors points per night. I loved the resort because it had mountain views and several pools, including one with a lazy river, water slide and waterfall, along with a kitchen, including a full sized refrigerator and microwave. I had enough Hilton Honor points already banked, so I booked the resort with points and $0 in fees! (Hilton often times has 75,000 bonus point credit card offers and sometimes even as much as 100,000 bonus point offers). Because I try to stay at Hilton's whenever I can, we are Gold Members at Hilton, so upon arrival at the resort we were upgraded to a 2 room suite, with a beautiful, large balcony overlooking the mountains and within a short walk to the Hole-in-the-Wall River Ranch. Another great perk that we got to use!
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| Hole-in-the-Wall River Ranch at our Resort |
My last step was to find a car to rent. I generally find the best rental car prices right on the rental car websites (Avis, Hertz, Budget, National, etc). I was able to find a mid-sized car for around $100 for the length of our stay.
After we arrived at the resort, I found a grocery store and planned out meals and snacks for our stay, to try to keep spending down.
We did splurge on a few activities while in Arizona, including a day trip to Sedona to do some hiking and a horse back ride through the desert. Both absolutely amazing along with a great inexpensive get-away that was a much needed break from the blizzard that was going on in Michigan!
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Cave Tour in Cayo, Belize
My husband loves history and one-of-a-kind adventures and I love new experiences, so after reading many reviews on the ATM caves we decided to go for it. We were a bit nervous, but hoped that our status of "average physical shape for our age" would get us through the tour.
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| Lobby at Cahal Pech Village Resort |
We booked Carlos the Caveman Tours and we met at Cahal Pech Village Resort to start our journey. We were both wearing bathing suits, with quick dry shorts and shirts over top and we had both purchased and were wearing "swim tennis shoes" which I thought worked great for hiking in the water. Other people in our group were wearing everything from standard hiking boots to swim sandals and had on long pants and jackets, to shorts and t-shirts. We had bug spray and sun screen on. Sun screen really wasn't needed because we weren't really out in the sun and we did not have any issues with bugs either, so probably could have been OK without both. We were always a comfortable temperature. The temperature inside of the caves and water temperature was always very comfortable.
We brought with us a complete change of clothes, including different shoes, to leave in the van for after the tour, a dry pair of socks to wear for part of the cave tour, and a bottle of water. Nothing else was allowed in the cave.
There is a maximum amount of people allowed in the caves per day and a maximum number of people allowed on each individual tour (which is 8) so you should plan on booking your tour as early as you can. With that being said, the caves were not crowded.
We met our group and I was very pleased to see a women that was probably around 70 years old in my group and her name was Anna. I thought if she could do it, I could do it! The rest of our group ranged in age from a newlywed couple in their mid 20s to a married couple in their 50s.
The tour started out with our group traveling in a van for about 45 minutes down some VERY bumpy roads. I am a wimp and get car sick easy, so I sat in the front of the van and had no issues.
When we arrived at our destination our tour guide fitted each of us with hard hats with headlamps and we were offered life jackets. Anna decided to wear a life jacket and the rest of the group did not. We all put our dry socks in the top of our hats and headed off on the hike.
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| Start of the hike (although this picture is from after the hike, after we had changed our clothes) |
We hiked through the rain forest for about an hour to get to the mouth of the cave. The hike itself is very flat and our group was very leisurely paced, but you do have to walk across rivers to get to the mouth of the cave. All of the river crossings had ropes you could hang on to as you crossed. I found it was easier to just walk on my own.
Once we arrived at the mouth of the cave our tour guide went in first. He would explain to us every step we should take, including exactly where we should put our feet when we were going over rocks. The guide had the safety of our group, along with preserving the artifacts, as his top priority. He had Anna go after him and then the rest of us followed along. You kind of work as a team with your group as you go through the cave. I watched the foot placement of the man in front of me, so whatever he did, I did, and he was doing everything the trained guide told him to do. I knew if he did it and was OK, then I would be OK too.
As soon as you enter the cave you swim a short distance. The swim was an easy swim (and you could have a life jacket on if you wanted) and the water was a nice temperature - not too hot and not too cold. Anna actually said half way through the hike she wished she did not have the life jacket because it was just getting in her way and the swims were easy enough that it wasn't needed.
From that point on we were wading through water, climbing up rocks, swimming every now and then, and squeezing through a couple of tights spots. I am having a really hard time describing the experience because it was so truly different than anything I have done before or probably will do again! The caves were breathtaking. The Mayan Ruins were unbelievable. You really feel like you are back in time getting to peak into a world that you never thought you would experience first hand.
Overall everyone on in our group loved the experience. Something you have to see to believe and I really think it is something everyone should see!
Monday, March 7, 2016
Passports
Did you know it has been 10 years since passports became mandatory for U.S. Citizens to travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
And since passports are valid for 10 years, the U.S. State Departments excepts a surge in renewal requests this year, possibly taking up to 16 weeks to process.
Most countries require that your passport be valid for up to 6 months at time of arrival to your destination.
Check out the State Department Website for renewals.
http://www.state.gov/travel
And check those passports, don't get stuck!
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