How to EASILY Know Your Hotwire Hotel
I used to think Hotwire and Priceline bidding were useless, but due to some recent changes, you can easily know exactly which hotel you’re going to get and therefore the value
Reflections on Karlovy Vary and my first film festival
Having concluded the first part of this trip, and safely ensconced in the Executive Lounge at the Hilton Prague Old Town, I thought I’d share some reflections on the Karlovy
Shop Talk: Chasing Deep Discounts on Disney Travel & Missing the Big Picture
Welcome to another edition of Shop Talk where we discuss what’s going on in our personal points & miles space and highlight what we think is interesting in the broader
PSA: Verify American Express Sign Up Bonuses (Before Spending)
Today’s post comes out of a comment I left a few months back on Robert’s Hilton Amex Double Dip post. For the past few years I’ve been making sure to
Episode 85 – Return of the jonk (Milk run, Croatia, AirBnBs, and more)
Episode Description
Jonathan Khoo (@jonk) returns to talk a bunch of destinations, AirBnBs, Vegeta (not the anime character), 737s, and more!
Episode Notes
Alaska Milk Run
Croati..
If you're reading this, hopefully I'm in the Czech Republic
I’ve heard that our top scientists, in their wisdom, have determined that people enjoy the anticipation of a holiday even more than they enjoy the holiday itself. I’m no scientis..
Using Great Circle Mapper to Find Flight Distances
Today I’ll expand on a site that everyone needs to get familiar with for booking award travel. Great Circle Mapper (www.gcmap.com) is a site so embedded in award travel searches ..
Marriott Travel Packages are getting more expensive (also maybe more valuable)
I saw Spencer Howard post on Twitter a seemingly-official (or at least well-spoofed) document listing the new prices of Marriott Hotel + Air packages when the combined Marriott, ..
Shop Talk: Is it too Late to Start Earning Frequent Flyer miles?
Sam: I’d like to turn our standard Shop Talk format on end today. Instead of a guest post, or our usual banter I wanted to discuss a question that’s been
Hotel benefits by length of stay
The other day I was looking at hotels for an upcoming weekend trip with flexible dates. I settled on a convenient Hilton property, and was immediately annoyed that I only
Keep a Bank of America Card Open for Free Museums
For a long time, Bank of America (BOA) has sponsored free museum days in the US. Currently, select museums throughout the country are free to BOA cardholders on the first full w..
Transfer Starpoints to Amtrak Guest Rewards before August 1, 2018
For many years I was a booster of Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to Amtrak Guest Rewards, due to their zone-based redemption system which made it possible to get 3 or
My (boring) Citi shutdown story
For the past few years, I’ve carried three credit cards issued by Citibank:Double Cash;Dividend Platinum Select;and AAdvantage Platinum Select.These are all middling credit cards..
Follow Our Road-Trip In The Mountains Of North-East Mexico!
I’ll be posting videos every day for the next few days on the TravelisFree Instagram Stories (and eventually Facebook). Hopefully lots of beautiful clips of waterfalls, and more ..
Episode 84 – Guatemala and living in a non hub city with Becky Pokora
Episode Description
Becky Pokora returns to the podcast after her big move to talk one of her favorite countries, Guatemala. We then discuss the best ways to travel when living in
Shop Talk: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in This Game.
Welcome to another edition of Shop Talk where we discuss what’s going on in our personal points & miles space and highlight what we think is interesting in the broader
Do this now: register for 2018 3rd quarter bonus categories
With July 1 right around the corner, it’s time to make sure you’re registered for quarterly bonus earnings on some popular no-annual-fee credit cards.Chase FreedomAfter a great f..
JW Marriott Chengdu – Low Category City Luxury
A few months ago, I wrote about Le Meridien Chiang Rai, then a category 2 SPG redemption (now cat 3) for a luxurious 5-star resort tucked away from the bustle. Now I’d like to t..
Potential US Bank Gift Card Fraud Spotted in the Wild
I hate that I have to write a post like this (again), but I would be remiss if I didn’t put this warning out there. Years ago there was an
Absolute versus relative redemption values
In Wednesday’s post about passing on the current IHG Rewards point sale, I mentioned that it’s not enough to get good absolute value from a points redemption if you’re not
PSA: Iberia.com hates Google Chrome. Use Internet Explorer
I am writing this in hope of saving you a few hours of your life in frustration. At least for me, Iberia.com is very buggy in Chrome and Firefox. It wouldn’t let me login 95% o..
Targeted: American Express Business Gold 75k/$5k Offer
Today I’ll go over an excellent targeted 75k Offer for the American Express Business Gold Card that’s starting to show online on some American Express account login pages. This o..
First flight on Southwest – lessons learned and tips
So I finally flew Southwest for the first time and my hot take is that I don’t really understand why people have such strong feelings about it. Before my flight