10% Cash Back at Aloft Hotels with Wells Fargo Credit Card-Expires 9/30

 You can get up to $57 back.  But hurry, the offer expires 9/30 so book and pay now.  So please check your accounts to see if you have this offer.

Happy Travel

T-Mobile Tuesday Offer-$30 off Rover.com Services-Good until 10/22

 For T-Mobile users, this Tuesday 9/24 there is a $30 off savings available for booking Rover.com services.

You have until 10/22 to use it so that definitely makes it more usable.   This should definitely be stackable with the various Chase offers out there.

This is a great opportunity to save money on taking care of your fur baby while away.

Happy travels!

Viator 10% Cask Back at Rakuten 9/22/24-Stack with Amex Offers

 Today, 9/22/24, Rakuten is offering 10% cashback at Viator.

This should stack nicely with Amex offers.  I have on our Delta card a $20 back on $200.

Either savings is nice.  Both combined are really pretty sweet.

Happy travels!

Earn 3X Points from 10/1 to 12/31 at IHG Brands of Atwell, Avid, Even, Garner & Voco

 As the title says, IHG has a promotion for its Atwell, Avid, Even, Garner and Voco brands.

It should stack nicely with the 3K for two nights promotion.

The combination of the two promotions allows you to get a solidly better return than normal booking a room for cash.  I wouldn’t book a room just to get these points but this does give a nice boost.

If you don’t already have an IHG card, please consider using this link for a referral for me.

Thanks and Happy Travels!

Some Wells Fargo Travel Deals Expiring 9/30/24-Hilton Gardens, Six Flags and Renaissance Hotels

 If you have any Wells Fargo cards, check them for offers.  I see the following expiring 9/30/24.

Hilton Garden Inn, 10% cash back, up to $65.

Six Flags, 15% cash back, up to $30.

Renaissance Hotels,  10% cash back, up to $75.  

This is a great way to save on a season pass at Six Flags.  

You can also get 2% cash back at Mr. Rebates on Renaissance Hotels.   Please click on my referral link for Mr. Rebates.

Mr. Rebates

Calpak Evry 8 Piece Luggage Starter Bundle-Normally $545 On Sale For $180 at Costco

 I found this fascinating deal on a luggage set at Costco.  This normally goes $545 and gets great reviews.

Plus you are buying it from Costco and they have an incredible return policy and mind-boggling good customer service.

Since it is from Costco, you really have very little risk.  If we didn’t already have plenty of luggage we would definitely be looking at this.

Happy travels!

Wyndham Credit Card Enhanced Sign-Up Offers and Various Other Wyndham Promotions

 Wyndham has enhanced SUBs for their credit cards as I write this. While they are not the best ever bonus, they are an increase over their standard rates.

If you regularly stay at Wyndham, one of their credit cards might make a lot of sense.  It allows you to get a higher level of rewards when you book directly.

As for which credit card, the Earner+ at a $75 annual fee probably offers the best value. For the $75, it gives you 30K extra points which could be worth hundreds of dollars and certainly more than $75.

Aside from the credit card bonuses, there are other ways to save.

My Amex Green has $100 back on $500 on select Wyndham properties.

As for other discounts, here are my thoughts:

When you go to the Wyndham home page to book for the first time, you should get a pop-up for a first time booking discount.  I have been seeing this at a 10% discount.  That of itself is at least a decent discount.  You do have to sign up for text messages. But it might be possible to stack this with the Amex discount and get some really solid savings.

You might also be able to stack a 10% discount from the text sign-up with their credit card. If you can stack this with a purchase on the Wyndham credit card that again would provide a lot of return.

I personally don’t have a Wyndham card or participate in Wyndham Rewards but that is because their particular line-up of hotels does not match our spending and travel habits.  I also can’t vouch for the stacking, only for the individual savings.

But with over 9000 properties, there is no doubt that they do fit a lot of people’s needs and preferences.

Happy travels!

Delta Flash Sale to the Caribbean, Bahamas and Mexico until September 12

 This also stacks with the Delta credit card 15% point discount!

For us, we can fly from Grand Rapids, Michigan to the Turks and Caicos for 22,100 points plus $124 USD.

That really a bargain compared to the $606 USD they are asking for the flight.

I would book earlier rather than later with a deal this hot.

Happy travels!

3 Piece Hardside Luggage Sets on Sale for $72 or Less

 Last year we bought a three piece luggage set on sale at Home Depot for $150.  A year and a half later it still looks good.

We have been thinking of buying another large suitcase and I again took a look at Home Depot. I was shocked to see that they have a variety of 5 piece sets for $100 and 3 piece sets for $80! They also have a Labor Day coupon for 10% off until 9/5, lowering the price for a 3 piece set to $72.

While not the biggest name in luggage,we have found the Hikolayae luggage to be built well enough and it can take some abuse. As a test, I pushed one of our pieces down the stairs.

As you can see, it came through just fine. I do want to be clear, we have only had this luggage a year and a half but it certainly seems fine so far and we are looking forward to many more years of service.

You can also stack this sale with other things like cashback sites and/or discounted gift cards.

And remember, the discount code ends on 9/5 so please act quickly.

Happy travels!

Check Your Chase Offers: 10% back at Rover.com up to $25 and $20 back on a Costco Membership

 We use Rover for pet sitting our dog, so this is an easy $25 in our pockets.  

We already have a Costco membership. But if you don’t Costco has all sorts of great travel oriented deals through Costco Travel and buying things like gas, luggage, gift cards and more.

Capital One Venture Card-75K Points plus $250 Sign Up Bonus Review-Sign up Bonus Promotion Ends 9/9/24!!!

 We are going to Egypt in 2027 to see the Total Solar Eclipse and are planning on paying for the flight using points.  The 75K point SUB has always been appealing but the $250 travel credit made this an offer we had to take. (Please use this referral link for me please. Thank you!) As for the value of the points, this trip is going to be about $10K for the airfare but points is only about 312K so 75K points are worth about $2300!

But what about the card benefits outside of the awesome SUB?  The card has a number of benefits:

• TSA Precheck or Global Entry Credit up to $100
• Doubles warranties up to 24 months on items with a manufacturer’s warranty of 24 months or less
• Purchase protection for lost or stolen items up to $1000/$25000 per year
• Car rental coverage - this is secondary coverage that kicks in after your primary coverage 
• Lost/delayed luggage coverage
• Various trip trip cancellation / interruption / accident coverage 
• 5 points per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars purchased through their portal
• 2 points per dollar on everything else
• Various perks for hotels in their Lifestyle collection that include $50 experience credit per stay and upgrades and late checkout when available 

This card has an incredible appeal with its SUB, but is it worth keeping?  That is a very personal question.  

I personally feel that being in at least two, if not more of the various travel credit card ecosystems of American Express, Chase, Capital One and Citi is a smart move.  All of them have different strengths and weaknesses and having a diverse field of cards to drawn on is very powerful and versatile.

I also believe that having a card that gives 2 points per dollar or 2% dollar cash back on all purchases outside of special categories like travel or groceries is a must have.

So this card ticks those two boxes.  And in our particular case, the high return on points for our Egypt flight means we will keep the card at least until that flight is paid for and booked.

But of there are other travel cards out there.The Chase Sapphire Preferred  has the same fee and various travel perks.  IMHO its greatest strength over the Venture Card is that it offers primary rental car coverage.  That is, the coverage kicks in before your own auto coverage.  That is definitely a respectable perk.  The $50 stay credit every year for travel booked through their portal is also nice.  Plus redeeming points through their portal gives a 25% bonus and it allows you to use accumulated points from a Freedom card through their point transfer partners.  And I would say for most people in the US, Chase has a better variety of transfer partners.

But the Chase has some weaknesses.  Outside of travel and dining, you only get 1 point per dollar.  Also, no TSA Precheck or Global Entry credit. Plus if you book multiple hotel stays in Capital One’s Lifestyle collection, you can get the $50 credit and other benefits repeatedly.  Depending on your travel habits, that could really add up. We generally stay at IHG properties in Chicago but we are planning on trying at least one if not a couple of the hotels in the Lifestyle collection. With the great return on points and the various perks it really seems like a fun thing to do!

In the end, everyone has to make their own choices on their own preferences and needs. There is no doubt the Capital One Venture card has a great deal of appeal if for no other reason than a great sign-up bonus that has been made even better with the $250 travel credit! Plus you can also have both the Venture and Venture X card if you want.

Good luck and happy travels!

How we saved over $2500 on our New England 9 day road trip

 Next year we are having a dog sitter watch the house and the dog and we are taking off to New England for a road trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary.  There is some math here so be patient but this is how we saved money on the trip:

For car rental, we shopped around and the 2nd best rate was Costco Travel at $442.  Capital One Travel was $389, a savings of $53.

For our lodging,  our first night in Boston was $437.  But I got a Capital One Venture Card  (please consider clicking on my referral link) with the 75k Point and $250 travel credit sign-up bonus (SUB).  Plus the card gives us a $50 credit per stay.  Now we did pay an annual fee of $95 but that still gives us a savings of $250+$50-$95=$205. And we might be more likely to get an upgrade from using Capital One’s Lifestyle Hotel Collection.

Our second night in Boston was paid with our Delta card which has a $150 Delta Stays credit so that is more money in our pocket.

Our flight on Delta would have normally been $794 plus $140 for luggage=$934.  We paid $427 by using our annual free companion ticket. The annual fee on the Delta Card is $350 so our savings are $934-$427-$350=$157. Plus the card gives us Priority Boarding.

Next, we have five nights of stays at various IHG properties.  Paying cash would set us back $2694 but we used points we bought at half price and three credit card anniversary nights.  Figuring in the annual fees and the cost of the points, we are paying $1274, saving us a whopping $1420!

In addition to our IHG cards, we also have the Marriott Brilliant.  While that card has a $650 AF, you get $25/month dining credit, so the net costs is only $350. Plus you get Platinum status that gives you lounge access where available and free breakfast.  For the sake of simplicity, I will assume breakfast will cost us $30.  We are booking the Newport Marriott Resort and Spa.

The card gives us up to 85K for a room and we have well over 100K points in our account to top it off with so the savings are $839+$30-$350=$519!

The savings we get from the Marriott card are pretty substantial since we get free breakfast at a variety of Marriott properties every time we stay at one.  Plus having the IHG and Marriott cards give us extra points when we do pay cash.  Both these cards have various other perks that I will discuss in other postings.

I also plan on discussing the Capital One Venture Card in a future post.

Happy travels!

Welcome to Cheapskate Travel Tips

My lovely wife and I enjoy both travel and a comfortable middle class lifestyle.  But we have some ambitions for travel and to help reach those ambitions we have worked hard at maximizing our value.

This means buying points on sale to reduce our costs, being members of organizations that offer discounts for travel and taking advantage of promotions and sales.  Credit cards are also important. They give points/cashback, upgraded status with perks, free luggage on flights, free anniversary nights at hotels, sign up bonuses (SUBs) and more.

We also shop for the best value in luggage and accessories and we strive to learn how to pack better and make the most of our vacation time.

I plan on using real world examples of how we succeed and hopefully some of our readers will give us tips now and then.

We certainly don’t know everything but we always strive to learn and improve ourselves.