More digging under the hood of Choice Privileges
The difficult thing about writing about Choice Privileges is that they have so many properties it can be tough to know precisely where to focus: the 6,000-point Quality Inn in
Complete Map of Club Carlson Hotels
Updated: Aug 23, 2018
This is every Club Carlson hotel viewable by category. Enjoy.
(Click in the top right corner for full screen)
Category 1 = 9,000 points
Category 2 = 15,0..
A positive change to Choice Privileges
A few years back I went on a bit of a kick about Choice Privileges, the loyalty program of Choice Hotels International. My conclusion was that while the program wasn’t
Chase IHG Free night – WAY more availability than Reward nights
I always assumed room availability for the Chase free night certificate and IHG’s Reward/points are the same. Turns out they aren’t. In fact, there can be WAY more availability f..
Comparing Online Award Availability (for AA, UA & DL)
Which airline has the best award availability?
This post will break down award availability for international flights overall, and compare different categories: Economy vs busine..
Episode 88 – Visiting Israel and reselling FROM Israel with Oren’s Money Saver
Episode Description
Oren’s Money Saver returns to talk about tips for visiting Israel, his move to Israel, and most crazily, running a successful reselling business FROM Israel. ..
FlyingBlue Miles Award Map
The problem with FlyingBlue’s replacement of an award chart with a Miles “calculator”, is that you don’t know which flights are the cheapest, until you think to search for the
The Most & Least Touristy Countries [Infographic, Maps & List]
Putting tourist info from places like the WorldBank and country data into spreadsheets, we’re visually displaying four ways of measuring how touristy a country is:
# of Tourists..
Did Barclaycard drop Arrival Plus travel statement credit redemptions back down to $25?
Back in November, 2015, Barclaycard devalued their Arrival Plus card in two ways:they lowered the rebate on points redeemed for travel statement credits from 10% to 5%;and they r..
More great Atlantic City status match promotions (up to 6 free nights?)
All the way back in November, 2016, I took advantage of an Atlantic City Borgata promotion for free slot play and made a few hundred dollars during a weekend trip
How family friendly is Southwest, really?
So I finally tried out Southwest (my impressions here). Ironically, although Southwest gets labeled by many as one of the most “family friendly” airlines, I traveled without mine..
If I were starting a travel hacking blog today
I started this blog (and wrote my always-soon-to-be-bestselling e-book) because I was frustrated at the state of the travel hacking blogosphere. A tiny amount of actual informati..
Episode 87 – Len Testa from Touring Plans talks Star Wars Galaxy Edge at Disney and more
Episode Description
Len Testa, founder of Touring Plans, returns to talk a whole bunch of Walt Disney World topics. We touch on how Touring Plans has had to evolve, how insane
Stupid or liar: why does Ben Schlappig keep telling his readers things that aren't true?
I’d like to briefly enter five pieces of evidence into the record.On April 2, 2018, Ben Schlappig wrote for the first time about about Hyatt’s “Hyatt Prive” travel agent partners..
Six things families need to know about Disney’s Toy Story Land
Disney invited the Traveling Mom and Traveling Dad crew down to Toy Story Land’s grand opening at the end of June, so I got to check out the latest addition
Brandon Asks: Help me Decide How to use Membership Rewards points
This week’s Brandon Asks comes from Ray who asks: I’m fairly new to points and miles. I don’t travel a lot, but I want to travel more. I’ve been collecting Membership Rewards
Storytelling through food
Many have publicly mourned the death of Anthony Bourdain, and the recently-published final interview reignites this discussion. Bourdain’s ability to empathize with his dining c..
Finding value in Delta’s dynamic award pricing
My alternate title for this post was Delta dynamic award pricing is ridiculous, but it felt too click-baity. But that IS how I feel after searching for Delta awards over
How looking at reservations in isolation makes me overpay for travel
There is a mistake I consistently make in my travel hacking practice: I compare every travel purchase I make to its lowest-cost alternative in isolation. For example, take an air..
Episode 86 – Marriott/SPG merger with Ed Pizzarello
Episode Description
Ed from the Miles to Go podcast and Pizza in Motion joins to talk about the Marriott/SPG merger and we answer a listener question about first class products t..
Using Hotel Points for Europe in September? Book Early
For the 2nd year in a row, I’m going to Europe the 1st week in September. The crowd is a bit smaller and temperature has gotten a bit cooler. However, also for the 2nd year in ..
How Prague has (and hasn't) changed in the last 12 years
I first visited the Czech Republic for a semester in the spring of 2006, and I’ve returned frequently ever since then, completing my English-language teaching certificate, enroll..
My Hilton Aspire card referral bonus FINALLY posted – after 4 months
I referred a friend to the Amex Hilton Aspire card back in March 2018. The 25k bonus points showed as earned in my card’s April statement, but it never posted to my Hilton accou..