Family Travel with Points and Miles
I had booked most of the hotels for the trip in the early summer, but as we got closer to the trip, several priorities changed so I had to take advantage of the refundable rates. San FranciscoAs is a normal operating procedure for me, I will periodically re-check the prices of hotels to see if… Continue reading Christmas 2019: Planning – Hotels Take 2
We had our flights booked so we had the dates we needed to fill with hotel stays. We had 5 nights in San Francisco that was definite. Then we had 11 nights to fill between San Diego and Santa Barbara. We often try to plan stays in 5-night increments because when paying with points at… Continue reading Christmas 2019: Planning – Hotels
My wife's sister lives in Toronto and her father was visiting from Venezuela so we decided to make the trek to Toronto over Labor Day, which is also a holiday in Canada. Flight PlanningThere are several flights from Boston to Canada. Most fly into Toronto's Pearson airport which is the larger of the two airports.… Continue reading Quick Trip: Toronto September 2019 – Planning
We had our flights lined up with our first 4 day stop on the Big Island which we had never visited before. We'd then head to Maui for 10 days which we were definitely looking forward to returning to. Big Island HotelSince we were flying into Kona, we concentrated our search on hotels in that… Continue reading July 2019: Hawaii – Hotel Planning
I had made preliminary plans for a trip to San Francisco, but I had made extra care to make sure they were all ones that I could cancel without penalty. Once I had booked the flights to Los Cabos we knew we weren't going to San Francisco. Fisherman's Wharf HotelFirst up to cancel was the… Continue reading April 2019: Los Cabos Planning – Canceling San Francisco
This was going to be a short stay for us. It would only be 4 nights and 5 days. We wouldn't be able to get the 5th night free if we used Marriott points. We were definitely looking to stay in a Marriott due to the benefits we would get from my wife's status as… Continue reading April 2019: Los Cabos Planning – Hotel
Our youngest had a birthday coming up and we gave him the choice of having a birthday party with his friends or going to Great Wolf Lodge. He decided on Great Wolf Lodge so we had a quick trip to plan! What is Great Wolf Lodge?For those that aren't familiar with the chain, Great Wolf… Continue reading May 2019 Quick Trip: Great Wolf Lodge – Planning
Since we were flying Norwegian, we would definitely have to pay for our luggage. When I purchased the tickets I pre-paid for 2 checked bags in each direction. Since we could also each bring a carry on we could plan for that if we needed extra room. Positioning Flight LuggageLike me, my dad can pack… Continue reading April 2018: London – Packing
We were going to focus on using my dads stash of SPG points. He had about 130,000 points which could be converted into 390,000 Marriott points if we wanted to stay in a Marriott branded hotel. At the time SPG and Marriott were still separate loyalty programs with different points currencies, but you you exchange… Continue reading April 2018: London – Hotel Planning part 2
Hotels in Europe can be frustrating. Most hotel rooms in big European cities are for 2 people which is not very family friendly. London is no different so my work was cut out for me. We had 9 days to fill and we wanted to stay in different places. I had just gotten the Citi… Continue reading April 2018: London – Hotel Planning
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