Travel cheap. Save money. Have fun.
FatWallet is the most reliable cash back portal that I have come across. They are very good at tracking your purchases, and rewards post quickly.
What I like most about it is the ability to use any credit card I choose for my purchases, without having to worry about whether rewards will post.
Since I opened my account I have earned over $100 in cash back rewards.
I am stepping off the credit card application merry-go-round — for the time being.
Here are 8 reasons why:
1. I am still holding unspent gift cards. I acquired a number of gift cards to meet the minimum spend requirements for the Chase Ink Plus rewards credit card I opened last year. These include ITunes, Starbucks, Amazon, and Trader Joes gift cards. I have about $500 of credits on these various cards that I want to spend down before incurring another minimum spend requirement.
2. I need to give my credit score a break. My credit score took a hit from numerous credit inquiries and from lowering the average age of my accounts. A hiatus from credit card applications will allow my accounts to mature and give my credit rating a chance to recover.
3. I can meet my immediate travel needs with points/miles already in hand. My family has lots of travel planned for this summer, but with 180,000 points/miles in the bank, I should be able to finance about half a dozen cross-country flights. At a recent Frequent Flyer University conference, the advice from the experts was to use your miles to protect against program devaluations.
Yup. Amsterdam to Boston on … gosh was it Pan Am, or TWA, or some other airline that doesn’t exist any more? They were promoting their new route with an inaugural fare of just $50.
It was 1978 and I had graduated from college and was bumming around Europe on an Interail Pass. I started in London (thanks to Freddie Laker) and over a period of five months had made my way down to Greece and was heading back North. I was backpacking and staying in youth hostels and having a great time.
Priceline typically allows several free rebids when bidding for rental cars — that enable you to increase your initial bid without waiting the usual 24 hours. These rebids are accomplished by changing the preferred car size.
Portland Travel Tips provides a step-by-step walk through showing how to bid for car rentals on Priceline. One tip he mentions, that I have not seen elsewhere, is to enter an initial bid of $1 daily rate. A pop-up window from Priceline will advise that your bid has a low chance of acceptance and will suggest an alternate rate, providing an additional data point to inform you bidding. Never bid the suggested rate, as you always will be able to do better.
Gadling now reports that Priceline is now allowing fewer alternate car sizes as free rebids. However, he suggests a workaround: click on the link to “Update Itinerary” in the upper righthand corner of the screen, and adjust your pick up or drop off time by 30 minutes. The car rental companies will not hold you to an exact time so this technique potentially allows you to make at least two additional free rebids for your desired category of car.
If you have tried bidding for rental cars on Priceline, please consider sharing your experience with our readers.
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There is a new wrinkle in my continuing saga with the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® travel credit card. This credit card allows you to earn points or “miles” on purchases, and to redeem those points for statement credits on qualified travel purchases. The card offers a ten percent bonus on points redemptions, awarding travel purchases a payout of effectively 2.2 percent.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Barclay’s now allows partial redemptions of travel charges on their Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.
What’s the lowest price you’ve ever paid for a hotel room on Priceline?
How does $28 for the Extended Stay America in Research Triangle Park sound to you? Granted this hotel isn’t luxurious but it is located right across the street from from my business meeting at the Marriott where rooms are going for $159 a night.
Another great option for bargain travelers.
This mini-series explores stellar properties available through Priceline’s opaque bidding process.
Part 1: The Carolina Inn, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Part 2: Little America -Salt Lake City, Utah
Part 3: Destination Resort Overlooking the Hudson River, Tarrytown, NY
There are no guarantees in life, and certainly no guarantees on Priceline, but if you do your research you can often land a very good deal at a top-rated luxury property.
The Little America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City is one such gem that frequently pops up on Priceline for the lowly price of $53 per night.
This is probably the classiest hotel I have ever stayed in.
The corridor walls are covered in brocade fabric. There is a large fireplace in the wood-paneled central lobby and there are several elegant shops.
The rooms are enormous and comfortable, with real wood furniture, real wool carpets, and beautiful draperies and upholstery. There is a dressing table and an enormous tiled bathroom with a large tub and a separate shower. Rooms with king sized beds have a separate living room area. It is just a very classy place.
If you are hoping to avoid the highway rest stops on a road trip from New York to Washington, DC — there’s a great little place to eat at the halfway mark.
Price’s Seafood, in Harve de Grace, Maryland is a rundown crab shack on the waterfront in the quaint town of Harve de Grace, just past the Hatam Bridge.
This quintessential Maryland crab house is not fancy, but the crabs are great. You can eat inside or on the porch. They put heavy brown paper down on the tables — just as it should be. Crabs are seasonally priced.
Yelp.com has a deal that gives you $10 off a purchase of $20.