Saving $ At The Airport
How To Avoid Baggage Fees
Airlines That Offer Free Checked Bags
Airline Credit Cards That Offer Free Checked Bags
How To Reduce Baggage Fees
Check Your Bags Online Or At A Kiosk When Flying JetBlue
Saving $ On Meals At The Airport
AAA Discounts At The Parking Spot
AAA Discounts At The Parking Spot
Posted 7/14/2015
How do you get to and from the airport? Our MO is to drive our car to the airport and park at an offsite location like AirPark or the Parking Spot. This usually works quite well despite the fact that you need to leave slightly earlier (then if you were taking a car service) and sometimes you need to wait a bit upon your return to be picked up. (This is only really an issue for us in the winter when its cold outside!)
If you also use offsite parking locations, know that AAA members can save 10% or even more depending on current offers. You can go to AAA.com/TheParkingSpot to view current offers.
One Night In Denver At The Denver Grand Hyatt
Because we had early morning flights home, we stayed the night prior to our flights in Denver at the Grand Hyatt Denver. For this stay, I used one of Rob’s 2 free bonus nights that he got with the Chase Hyatt Visa. Remember, I had trouble using this free night, so resigned myself to using it here. The room would have cost about $250 for the night, so we saved that by using the free night.
This Hyatt was a Hyatt Category 3 property, but I thought is was really nice. It was very modern and sleek. It was centrally located in downtown Denver and was perfect for our one night stay in Denver. That night, we had dinner at a great restaurant, Vesta Dipping Grill that was recommended to us by a friend. Fun night! In the morning before our flight, Rob even went to the gym, he was not that happy with the gym but oh well, at least he worked out!
Our Stay At The Broadmoor
We stayed 3 nights at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. The actual hotel I thought was a little dated, but the grounds and tennis courts, golf courses and spa were gorgeous!!! The setting looked like a scene out of a fairy tale.
I have to admit, Rob and I did a lot of nothing for 3 days. We were gearing up for our hike to the summit of Pikes Peak. I did not even bring my tennis racket to play on those amazing courts. But Rob really liked the gym. We had dinner one night at Summit, one of a handful of restaurants on the property and spent a lot of time relaxing and having drinks in a beautiful setting overlooking the lake.
This hotel is a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts, and its loyalty program is through iPrefer, which you can read about here. I earned about 1,400 iPrefer points on this stay. The only other times I earned iPrefer points was last year on my stay at the Garden City, New York last summer for a 2 night stay for a swim meet. Needless to say, I am very far away from using these points for a free night reward.
Apply for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard HereI do hope to have earn enough Barclaycard Arrival miles to pay for this stay. I need to earn these miles within 120 days of the charge. Don’t forget with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus MasterCard, I earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase and can then redeem my miles for a travel statement credit toward this hotel fare. I will be using this card A LOT over the next few months!
As I do with every hotel, I explored every nook and cranny of the hotel. There is a lot for kids to do. In addition to the golf and tennis, there is a nice pool setting and many other activities. In fact, the hotel has added some new wilderness camps and lodges that look perfect for a family getaway. Colorado Springs is a destination that offers tons of hikes, biking trails, adventure parks, and other outdoor activities. Another stay at the Broadmoor may be in our future.
Earn 80,000 Marriott Rewards Bonus Points When You Get The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Card Or The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Card
Posted 7/13/2015
Till August 31, there is an 80,000! Marriott Rewards bonus offer when you get the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card or the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Business Credit Card. With both offers, you earn the 80,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Click here to access the regular card offer
Click here to access the business card offer
This 80,000 bonus point offer is available to you as long as you have not received a new cardmember bonus for this product in the past 24 months. I just got it—I was 26 months out! 
Don’t forget, with the cards, you earn 5 points for every $1 spent at over 3,800 Marriott locations, including Marriott’s luxury hotel partner, The Ritz-Carlton. With both cards, you earn 2 points per $1 spent at restaurants, on airline tickets purchased directly from the airline, and at car rental agencies and you earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases made with your card. With the business card, you also earn 2 points per $1 at office supply stores, and for Internet, cable and phone services purchases.
Note, unlike with some other bonus offers for this card, the $85 and $99 annual fee for the regular card and business card, respectively, is not waived the first year, but both the $85 and $99 is worth it for 80,000 points! You can Click here to learn even more about the card.
I just Got The Chase Marriott Card Again Along With 80,000 Bonus Points!
I could not pass up a limited time bonus offer for the Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card. The OFFERis to earn 80,000 Marriott Rewards bonus points after you spend $3,000 on purchases in 3 months from account opening. This bonus expires August 31, 2015. This bonus points offer is available as long as you have not received a new cardmember bonus in the past 24 months for the product you are applying for. Guess what, I had gotten a 50,000 bonus point offer about 26 months prior (Whew!) and since then canceled the card when the annual fee became due. So I was ripe to take advantage of this bonus once again!
However, I was a little nervous about not being approved because I just recently applied for and was approved for the Chase IHG Rewards Club Select Credit Card and Chase usually does not approve you for more than one credit card every 6 months. In fact, when I completed my credit application online, I did not get automatically approved as is usually the case but instead was told I would get a decision in 30 days.
But I really wanted these 80,000 Marriott Rewards! So to get around this, I called Chase to ask them to move some of my credit from my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to this new Marriott Premier Rewards credit card. Chase happily obliged. After all, why shouldn’t Chase do this? Chase is not extending me any additional credit, and I am at least going to use this new card to spend at least $3,000 (the minimum spend requirement). The number to call to reallocate Chase credit is 888-245-0625. If you want this card and get deferred, or denied, call this number and speak to them about what it is you want. They are usually happy to approve you if you are only reallocating credit!
Note, with this bonus offer, the annual fee of $85 is not waived the first year as it is with other offers for the card. (Like this 70,000 Marriott Rewards offer). But that did not matter to me. $85 totally worth 80,000 Marriott Rewards points.
Upon Annual Renewal, If Citi Will Negotiate Your Annual Fee, Make Sure You Pay It First And Then Get The Credit Back
As I have posted about a few times now, Citibank will negotiate with you when you tell them that you do not want to pay your annual fee and want to cancel the card. For example, awhile back, I negotiated an offer regarding my Citi/AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. Citi made me an offer in which I need to use the card for 5 purchases of $20 or more over the next 3 months. I did this and the $95 fee was credited back to my account on the next billing cycle.
Another deal I took was was with was one offered through my CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard. In that deal, I needed to spend $100 on the card in over next month for them to credit back $75 of the $95 annual fee. I reluctantly agreed and spent $100. I decided $20 was worth it to me to keep the card, as sometimes there are good spending incentives.
The real reason for this post is that I want to make sure you know that the $95 fee will not be credited back to your account until you fulfill the terms of the offer. So….
If you are going to negotiate with Citi so that you do not have to pay the annual fee, make sure that in addition to meeting Citi’s “demands”, you also pay the annual fee on time. The fee will get credited back to you once you spend what they want in the time period specified.
75,000 AAdvantage Bonus Miles When You Get The Citi Executive AAdvantage Card
Posted 7/10/2015
The usual sign-up offer for the Citi Executive AAdvantage Card is to earn 50,000 bonus Aadvantage miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. But for a limited time, this initial sign-up bonus has increased to 75,000 bonus Aadvantage miles after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months. The annual fee for the card is $450.
Don’t forget, with the card, you earn 2x miles on all American Airlines and US Airways purchases and you earn 1X miles on all other purchases. You get your first bag checked free on eligible bags for you and up to 8 companions. You get Admirals Club membership with the card and you and your immediate family (or up to two traveling guests that accompany you) have access to Admirals Club worldwide locations. (If you purchase membership, this runs about an average of $400 per year for an individual–$450 annual fee is worth it in this case). You pay no foreign transaction fees on purchases when you use your Citi® / AAdvantage Executive credit card abroad. You get Priority Check-in and priority boarding privileges. Lastly, you’ll receive 25% savings when you use your card for in-flight purchases of food, drinks and headset purchases.
More About The Card
Apply For The Card Here
Earn 5,000 United Miles Per Referral For The United MileagePlus Card
Posted 7/10/2015
I just got an offer to invite friends to apply for the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Visa card. Each friend will receive an offer for 30,000 MileagePlus bonus miles after they spend $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. I will get get 5,000 bonus miles for each friend — up to 10 friends — who gets and uses their card by 3/15/2016. I can invite as many friends as I want before 11/16/2015. Last time I invited friends, I got no bites. Not sure if I will try again!!
Earn 1,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles With Golfmiles
Posted 7/10/2015
Recall that you can earn extra airline miles when booking tee times through Golfmiles.com. As a special offer for AAdvantage members, you can earn an extra 1,000 AAdvantage miles on your first booking. That is in addition to the miles you’ll already be earning for booking with Golfmiles. Yook your first tee time at Golfmiles by July 31.