Earn “Extra” Club Carlson Points via Online Shopping

Earn extra points shopping via Club Carlson app
Earn extra points shopping via Club Carlson app

Club Carlson is out with an update to its app that includes a new feature called “Extras.”

The “Extras” feature allows you to earn Club Carlson points if you initiate your online shopping in app.

At launch, only a few online businesses are participating.

  • Delivery.com:  8 points per $1 spent
  • Jet:  6 points per $1 spent
  • eBay:  6 points per $1 spent
  • iTunes:  6 points per $1 spent
  • Groupon:  10 points per $1 spent
  • SeatGeek:  10 points per $1 spent

Certain types of purchases are specifically excluded so be sure to read the terms and conditions extra carefully.

With the exception of Hilton, most hotel chains do not operate online shopping portals.  Club Carlson’s in app “Extras” feature, while not the most lucrative offer, may be of interest to some.

“Visions of the Future” Travel Posters From NASA

NASA's  Vision of the Future Travel Poster

You’ve got to love the retro/futuristic travel posters published by NASA.

NASA’S Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) has published ten new posters in their “Exoplanet” series.

These awesome graphic posters are “out of this world.”

The new posters can be downloaded for free on the JPL website.

NASA explains their poster series this way:

“As you look through these images of imaginative travel destinations, remember that you can be an architect of the future.”

NASA's  Vision of the Future Travel PosterFor instance, the Mars poster:

“imagines a future day when we have achieved our vision of human exploration of Mars and takes a nostalgic look back at the great imagined milestones of Mars exploration that will someday be celebrated as “historic” sites.”

Check out all the posters on the JPL website.

 

200 Posts in the Queue

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

First off, you may have noticed that my pace of blogging has fallen way off lately.

I’ve learned it’s hard to blog when traveling, particularly when internet access is spotty.

Then, there’s always a lot to catch up on when I get home.

Stick Around, There’s More to Come

I have some 200 unpublished posts in my queue.  Some are first drafts, some are ideas that I want to write about, and others are merely titles.

The unfinished posts are on topics such as these:

  • Ten Reasons Why I Loved the Radisson Blu Le Metropolitan in Paris
  • Spontaneous Travel, the Oregon Coast, and Rest Stop Hotel Coupons
  • A Weeklong All-Inclusive Vacation for $600
  • Fun Things to Do with Teens and Tweens in Helena, Montana
  • Why Paris is a Priceline Bidders Paradise
  • Evolution of a Points and Miles Blogger
  • Three Easy Day Trips from Paris
  • Some of My Favorite Place-Based Blogs
  • DIY Foodie Tour of the Latin Quarter
  • Where to Stay on Sanibel Island
  • What is the Open Skies Biz Bed Experience Really Like?
  • The Best Frequent Flyer Program for Budget Domestic Travelers
  • Zion to Bryce Revisited

What I want to write about may not be what you want to read about.  Sometimes I feel like this blog is all over the map.

As I consider the future direction of the blog, I am open to reader suggestions.

Feel free to drop me a line, or share in the comments!

$25 In The Can — StarKist Tuna Class Action Settlement

$25 cash or $50 in tuna?
$25 cash or $50 in tuna?

Did you purchase a can of StarKist tuna between February 19, 2009 and October 31, 2014?

If so, and you are a U.S. resident, you may be eligible for a $25 cash rebate as a result of a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit charged that some 5-ounce cans of chunk light tuna and solid white albacore tuna contained less fish than required by federal law.

The settlement gives consumers a choice of $25 in cash or $50 in tuna vouchers.
You can register for the settlement on this website.  You don’t need a receipt, but you need to swear that you purchased the tuna fish.
Be sure to read all the fine print before submitting a claim!

On Seeing a Doctor in Paris

Pharmacies are everywhere in Paris
Pharmacies are everywhere in Paris. Photo via Google maps.

We were about 80 miles outside Paris, in the little medieval town of Provins, when I realized I was sick.

We cut our visit to Provins short, so I could get back to Paris to seek medical attention.

This was not a big deal except that it was the afternoon of July 13, and the next day was a national holiday — Bastille Day.

I telephoned a pharmacy near our hotel, and the pharmacist gave me the name of a local doctor that sees patients on a walk-in basis.

The doctor’s office was in a typical Haussmannian apartment building near Place Victor Hugo in the 16th arrondissement.  The building had wooden doors large enough for a horse and carriage to enter.  There was a small brass plate on the door.  We rang the bell and the doctor buzzed us in.  It was 6:59 p.m.

We entered the doctor’s suite and ventured down a curved hallway to the waiting room.  Several other patents were waiting, holding their French national health insurance cards.  There was no receptionist and no nurse.  At 7:45 p.m., the doctor called me in, the last patient of the day.  He gave me a prescription which I was able to fill in the neighborhood pharmacy before everything closed for the holiday.

The cost of the doctor visit:  35 Euro, payable with a credit card.  The medicine cost 7.50 Euro.

This is a bit less than the copay for an urgent care visit at my HMO.

If You Need to See a Doctor in Paris

Asking a pharmacist to recommend a doctor is a good first step.  Many doctors in Paris see patients without appointments.  If the pharmacy is closed, they often post information about another nearby pharmacy with extended hours.

In researching this post, I came across couple of resources that may be of some help:

Reste en bonne santé!

Orange is the New Sim Card for Paris

Orange Sim Card
The Orange Holiday Plan provides mobile coverage in Paris.

After dropping our bags off at the hotel, the first thing we did when we arrived in Paris was to head over to the Orange mobile phone store.

My husband and I both have the El Cheapo T-Mobile cell phone plan, which does not offer international coverage.

He has an android, and I have an unlocked iPhone.

For 40 Euros each, we purchased Orange Holiday Sim cards, to give us mobile coverage on our vacation.

Orange Holiday Mobile Phone Plans:  Two Weeks for 40 Euros

The Orange Holiday Sim cards give you access to a prepaid plan good for two weeks.

For 39.99 Euros, you get:

  • a French phone number
  • 120 minutes to call from Europe to the U.S. (and any other country in the world)
  • 1000 texts, from Europe to any country
  • 1GB of mobile internet in Europe
  • Free access to Orange wifi hotspots
  • An option to purchase a top-off card
There are a lot of Orange stores all over Paris.  The technician inserted the Orange sim in my iPhone and checked to make sure it was working properly.  I was good to go!
The feature I was most interested in was mobile internet access.  In most areas, 4G service was the norm on my iPhone.  This was especially convenient for looking up information on the fly, such as transit routes, and museum locations and hours.
For a one-time charge of 40 Euros, we were able to feed our internet addiction while in Paris, yet retain our cheap monthly plan of $30 per month at home.
What’s your mobile solution when traveling abroad?  Please share in the comments below!

A Nostalgic Gift for Oz Lovers

This Is Australia 2015 Wall Calendar
This Is Australia 2015 Wall Calendar

Do you remember the books of Miroslav Sasek?

His children’s books with quirky illustrations inspired a whole generation of children to travel.

Several of Sasek’s iconic children’s travel books have now been published in wall calendar form.

The most recent edition for 2015 is This is Australia.

It would make a nice holiday gift for the Australia fan.

2015 Wall Calendars featuring imaginative drawings by Miroslav Sasek are also available for these cities:

This Is Australia 2015 Wall Calendar
I love the classic illustrations by Miroslav Sasek.

The calendars appeal to people who like classic, whimsical illustrations.

If you frame the images from the calendar at the end of the year it would make a nice tableau.

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks if you choose to use them!

How Secure are Mail Orders from Gift Card Mall?

How Secure are Your Purchases from Gift Card Mall?
How Secure are Your Purchases from Gift Card Mall?

Gift Card Mall is an online vendor of various gift cards.  They sell directly, via Ebay, and they service other sellers such as office supply stores.

To enhance security, Gift Card Mall typically mails the card in one envelope, and an “activation code” in a separate envelope.  The activation code is needed to register your card online, or to use the card to make purchases.

In theory, this practice makes sense.  If someone steals a gift card from your mailbox, they will not be able to use it without the activation code.

How Secure are Mail Orders from Gift Card Mall?

Recently, I purchased a gift card from Staples. The card arrived promptly in a plain envelope from Gift Card Mall.

However, when I tried to register the card, I was informed that the card had not been activated.

After several days, I still had not received the activation code.

I called Gift Card Mall in inquire about what to do.  The customer service rep asked me for some identifying information, such as my street address, and the order number.  This information was sufficient to validate the gift card.

The hitch is that all this identifying information was contained in the enclosure that came with the gift card.

So if someone had stolen the envelope, they would have all the information needed to activate the card, sans an activation code.  Here’s a link to report any suspected mail theft to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Is mail theft something that you worry about, or am I just being paranoid?

Fabulous Deal on Price’s Seafood Restaurant

Save at Price's Seafood in Harve de Grace, MD
Save at Price’s Seafood in Harve de Grace, MD

Update:  Deal Extended.  $16 for $40 of crabs with coupon code:  Save 20% off sitewide with code SUMMERSTART. Valid 6/19/14 12:00 am ET through 6/21/14 11:59 pm PT. Restrictions apply.

I’ve raved about the sweet crabs at Price’s Seafood Restaurant in Harve de Grace, Maryland before.

This bayside restaurant serves up bushels of crabs and other seafood specials.  It’s not fancy, just a genuine crab shack by the Chesapeake Bay.

Price’s Seafood restaurant is a great midway stop if your driving between New York and Washington.

LivingSocial Deal on Price’s Seafood

LivingSocial is running a fabulous deal where you can get a voucher for $40 worth of seafood for $20.  (Please note that the terms of the offer exclude Fridays and Saturdays.)

But you can do better than that!

 Price's Seafood on the Chesapeake Bay
Price’s Seafood on the Chesapeake Bay

If you collect United Mileage Plus points, you can get 6x points by going to LivingSocial via the United Shopping Portal, and an additional 15 percent off with coupon code UNITED15.  

You must act quickly because this offer expires today, June 16, 2014!  You’ll get the voucher for $17, plus earn 102 Mileage Plus points in the bargain!

100 points isn’t worth much, but can be useful if you need a transaction on your account to keep your miles from expiring.

Alternately, if you go through the cash back shopping portal at FatWallet, you can get 10 percent cash back.  I have had very good experience with FatWallet.  They track all your purchases and the cash back posts fairly promptly.  With this route, you’ll get $2.00 cash back on your purchase.

Hat tip to Just Another Points Traveler.

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks if you choose to use them.

Dulles Flyer: See Air China’s Inaugural Flight into IAD

Inaugural Air China Flight to Dulles June 10, 2014
Inaugural Air China Flight to Dulles June 10, 2014

Dulles International Airport (IAD) in will welcome Air China’s inaugural arrival from Beijing to Washington, DC on Tuesday June 10, 2014 with a special ceremony.

Twenty-five lucky members of the public will be invited to view the aircraft landing and the ceremonial water arch of Air China’s first flight into IAD. 

In addition to viewing the landing of Air China’s first flight, guests will attend a VIP Ceremony and ribbon cutting at the Main Terminal.

Would you like to be a part of this exciting event?

Click here to enter for a chance at an invitation.  Entries must be received by 10:00 a.m. Friday, June 6, 2014.

Participants will be transported via mobile lounge to the airfield.  Upon conclusion of the landing and aircraft parking, the mobile lounge will return to the Main Terminal where participants are invited to attend the Air China Inaugural Ceremony.

Air China will offer four nonstop flights per week to Beijing beginning June 10, 2014.