Recently, I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake City in Salt Lake City, Utah. The purpose of this trip was some family time with family from London, along with Alex’s family. My daughter, Lindsey’s husband, was in Salt Lake on business, so we made that our main base and naturally, wanted to stay at […]

Today, I had the option of two different Venture Mile redemptions for my trip to Italy next Fall. I have a multi-city trip planned starting in Rome, on to Lake Como, and finishing in Cinque Terre. In Rome and Lake Como, I will use Hyatt hotels for my stays, but there are no chain hotels […]

British Airways Avios are a great way to book flights because three transferable currencies transfer to them (AMEX, Ultimate Rewards, and Capital One). The other transferable currency, Citi ThankYou Points, transfers to Qatar Airways, which also uses Avios (and you can transfer Avios between Qatar and British Airways once you link them), so essentially, you […]

I’ve found a new place to position myself for flights to Europe. I had to find last-minute flights to Europe this summer and ended up positioning through the Calgary Airport. I was pleasantly surprised and hope to do it in the future. You might also consider it a place to position as it is not […]

As much as I love Turkish Airlines, it can be a pain to book a companion’s flight. We’ve been needing a post on booking for someone else with Turkish miles for a while – here it is. For most airlines, you can book a flight for another person without any problem or extra step. However, […]

Our latest reader success story to Spain using points/miles comes from Meghan. Here it is in her words: Our son is in a dual language program with Spanish.  We are trying to travel, at least once a year, to a Spanish-speaking country to help him build his real-life skills (especially since Mom & Dad aren’t […]

Recently, we went out of town to watch our grandson’s soccer tournament. Luckily, we have credit card points so it made it an easy decision to tag along on Alex’s family trip to Idaho Falls. I can’t even imagine how much people spend when they use cash to go out of town for their children’s […]

It’s no secret that Hyatt is our favorite program to earn points for because of their outsized value. When you can stay at a luxury Hyatt for 40K points per night versus paying double or triple that for a Hilton, Marriott, or IHG hotel of the same caliber, it only makes sense. Many of our […]

The Grand Canyon is a massive natural wonder located in Arizona, USA. It is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River and is a popular destination for nature enthusiasts and tourists from around the world. Our Friday Family Vacation is to the Grand Canyon National Park.   How to Get to the Grand Canyon: […]

In this episode, Jess and Alex break down one of the greatest deals in travel – the Southwest Companion Pass. Learn how you, too, can make it part of your award travel strategies! Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on YouTube   Welcome back, travelers! It’s just Alex and Jess here today. Pam […]

Booking domestic United flights through Turkish Airlines can save you a ton of points. It’s also been a painful process recently because it has required either calling Turkish Airlines or emailing a ticket office. Well, up until now that is! You can now book Star Alliance award flights via the Turkish Airlines website. Here’s how […]

Well, I’m back to hotel hopping again. My sister and I are on our annual girl’s trip and are starting in the Big Apple. You know me, I can’t help hotel hopping (although we aren’t hopping around on the rest of our trip). There are so many hotels in NYC to stay at, and I’d […]

I recently returned from a trip to Australia, and I had the pleasure of flying Qantas business class from LAX to Sydney (and back). So, what did I think? Keep reading to find out…   The Redemption Australia has been at the top of my bucket list for years, but I’ve been holding out for […]

One of my favorite cities worldwide is Rome, Italy—and it’s not just because of the gelato and pizza! Rome is a city rich in history and culture. It is home to iconic landmarks such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Pantheon, which can provide a fascinating educational experience for both children and adults. […]

We know that award travel is much more complicated than just earning points. We get it, and it is for us, too! However, knowing some airline redemption sweet spots can help make things a little less complicated. We have covered many of them in individual posts, but it’s time to put them all in one […]

Our favorite hotel points are Hyatt points because of the outsized value we get from them. One Hyatt feature we love is how easy they make it to combine Hyatt points with another Hyatt member. You don’t need to be related to them or live in the same household—as long as you’re both Hyatt members, […]

Living on the East Coast, a family road trip through New England is a dreamy way to spend your summer vacation. We spent almost 2 weeks in August traveling in our minivan with three kids on a road trip from Boston to Prince Edward Island, Canada. The first leg—from our home in Upstate NY to […]

There is a place that just sounds so bougie to vacation in and I’ve never been there—the Hamptons. Maybe if I do a post about it, I might make it happen someday. Let’s do a Friday Family Vacation to the Hamptons so we can all feel bougie!   Flights You used to be able to […]

We talk about having Hyatt Globalist status so much that many of you may think you HAVE to get it. Absolutely not! We will be the first to say that it may not be worth the effort for many people. While we love it and always plan to have it, this (and everything we talk […]

My husband, daughter, and I recently took a road trip from Houston to Chicago. There are so many hotels from every brand imaginable in Chicago, so when we decided to stay downtown for four nights, I had quite a difficult decision to make. Ultimately, I decided on the Thompson Chicago. Here’s what we thought in […]

Recently, Alex and I flew KLM business class for the first time. This flight was from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam. Our final destination was Villa Orselina, near Locarno, Switzerland, but this flight offered us a convenient way to get to Europe for low cost. After landing in Amsterdam, we took EasyJet (a cheap European […]