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outdoor bathtub

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Small Luxury Hotels of the World is a group of almost 600 hotels in more than 90 countries that are independently owned and luxury-minded. If staying in a chain hotel isn’t your thing, and you like a unique experience, these hotels are perfect! They are smaller than chain hotels, averaging about 50 rooms, and offer […]

hotel bedroom

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My latest stay in Greece was on the island of Crete at the Marriott Domes Zeen Chania Resort. My daughter, Kelly, had stayed there earlier and really enjoyed it. I wanted to stay in Crete, so I chose it as our destination. Crete is a huge island, and there are many different chain hotels to […]

Hotel, pool and palm trees

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Credit cards that offer points that can be redeemed for hotel stays are an important part of our points and miles journey.  Sometimes, we get a card and don’t want to pay the annual fee, but did you know that there are hotel credit cards worth keeping every year? I have several that I get […]

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Hyatt Globalist status is the most coveted hotel status out there, and for good reason. While it normally takes 60 qualifying nights with Hyatt to reach it, I managed to earn it in 2023 without staying quite so many nights. Here’s how I did it….   First, a Recap:  What Is Included With Hyatt Globalist […]

Screenshot of Travel Hacking Mom podcast

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In this episode, Alex, Pam, and Jess share their recent adventures at two Secrets Resorts. These all-inclusive resorts can be booked with Hyatt Points and can be a great deal! Listen in as they break down their stays at two of them. Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on YouTube   Hey there, […]

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Dreaming of a trip Down Under? What if you could stay at luxury hotels for $0? I recently returned from a trip to Australia, where my stepdaughter and I spent five nights in wonderful Melbourne. We took a page out of Pam’s book and did some hotel hopping while we were there, too. Here’s how […]

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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 […]

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When it comes to Hawaii, you really can’t go wrong. But on a recent trip to Maui with my 9-year-old daughter, stayed at the Hyatt Regency Maui and the Andaz Maui. We stayed three nights at each of these kid-friendly Maui hotels. I guess Pam is rubbing off on me with her hotel hopping! Here’s […]

White hotel with blue water in front of it

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We’ve talked about how we keep our hotel credit cards that come with free night certificates each year because we can book a room for at least double the annual fee. Our hotel cards are credit cards for which we don’t mind paying an annual fee. Let’s go over booking with free annual night hotel […]

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IHG has dynamic pricing which means that as the cash price increases, so does the points price. While we prefer the predictability of an award chart, the nice thing about IHG is that if the points price decreases, you can modify your booking and get points back! It’s basically like re-booking flights on Southwest Airlines […]

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My family recently returned from a trip to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.  This place has been on my radar ever since my mom, Jess, and I went on a 2-night work trip here back in August of 2022. The resort was just as great as I remembered, and I am happy to report it […]

Large tower in center of many streets

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Our trip to Paris on Points and Miles came about because I needed a destination for 5 days after taking a dream flight with Singapore Suites to Frankfurt. Now Frankfurt was not a planned destination at all. The goal was the Singapore Suites flight before needing to be in London on October 10th. Suites are […]

Street in Paris

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Alex and I decided to do some hotel hopping on a trip to Paris to see what our favorite recommendations would be for our readers. Changing a hotel every one or two days may sound horrible to some of you, but we like to check them out. Here are the results of our Hyatt hotel […]

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Paris is a bucket list destination in and of itself. But add in a chance to stay at the Park Hyatt Paris, and I was counting down the days to our trip for months! If you can believe it, the stay was even more magical that I had imagined. Let’s dive into what makes the […]

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I remember many years ago staying on the Big Island in a timeshare and visiting the Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort. I thought it was the coolest resort ever and vowed to stay there “someday”. That “someday” finally arrived and here is my Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort review – was I as awestruck as before?   […]

White hotel with palm trees

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Everyone loves to use credit card points and miles for a stay in Hawaii so here is my Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa review. I recently used two 50K certificates + 6,000 points each night to book it for two nights. This resort is especially nice for families although the rooms have two doubles instead […]

hotel and palm trees at sunset

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Alex and I love the Marriott Wailea Beach Resort in Maui. Once we missed each other’s stays by 2 days and it was on purpose. She has crafted the greatest travel tip of all time – having a mom come babysit so she and Mitch can get away! So, I watched her four active boys (we […]

Hyatt regency Maui couple

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Every year, Hyatt seems to have an offer for a fast track to Hyatt Globalist Status. It might be corporate-sponsored, as Jess did her first time, or a public announcement.  This is how it works. Enroll in the program Stay at a Hyatt and checkout The challenge is activated with that checkout (Jess said that […]

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One of the biggest struggles when it comes to traveling to Europe as a family is the room occupancy limits at hotels in many cities. But what if you could get 50% off the standard rate of the second room? We did just that on a recent trip to London using the Hyatt Family Plan rate. […]

Boats in blue water

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I just saw a deal about purchasing IHG points with a 100% bonus. I have to say, that usually, purchasing points doesn’t make sense. We talked about purchasing points in a previous post but I’m wondering, does it make sense this time? I’m working on a $15,000 minimum spend on The Business Platinum Card® from […]

Swimming pool surrounded by palm trees

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I love my hotel credit cards and keep them year after year due to the free annual night certificates I get when I renew them. Recently, I had a Marriott 50K annual certificate that I needed to use in a couple of months. I was already meeting my sister and stepmother in San Diego for […]

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Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.