Welcome to Helsinki (photo by Winnie Tseng)
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A year ago we accumulated ~140,000 IHG points thanks to 2 different quarters worth of IHG Accelerate promotions and a credit card signup bonus.
Finally I get to put some of those points to use, and then replace them all again.
“How do you plan extended trips through multiple countries?” is a question we get often.
Sometimes people even ask us to plan their trip for them… which I’m happy to do for a nominal 200% commission.
For those who are less brazen or aren’t into paying triple, I can do the next best thing… here are the process and the tools that we use to plan and organize our extensive travel.
Rainbow of Credit (photo credit, badumtss)
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A little over a year ago, with much fanfare Chase launched a new travel oriented rewards credit card, the Sapphire Reserve.
Despite a seemingly steep annual fee (now $550), we were eagerly among the early adoptees.
After a year of card use, did the benefits exceed the cost? Let’s check (hint: yes, they did indeed.)
Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Spain
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Discounts on the stuff you are going to buy anyway are a beautiful thing.
But time is precious. Even saving 90% on a low-cost item we will only buy once probably isn’t worth much effort. On the other hand, with frequent purchases or high cost items even a few percent savings can be significant.
For us, hotels are one of those frequent purchases, so I have put extra effort into maximizing our discounts. Of course the best discount is free, and it is fairly easy to get free hotel stays. For those nights that we purchase, we typically get 20%+ off (as explained here. This post expands on that content.)
This post reviews some of the nuances of maximizing our ROI on hotel spend. I couldn’t find a good summary elsewhere so I decided to write one myself.
Even if you aren’t interested in saving $ on hotels, the thought process may still be mildly entertaining. If not, come back next post for more good times!
Cycling in Paris (photo credit)
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“You guys are going to Europe for 4 months?! That sounds wonderful, but… isn’t Europe expensive?”
“How are you going to work the higher cost of European travel into your budget?”
“Will you have to miss out on some amazing European restaurants and eat more peanut butter and jelly?”
Since sharing our big 2016 travel plans a few months ago, various forms of these questions have been sent our way.
I prefer strategic lifestyle design to tactical spending plans like a budget. We aren’t going to limit our European gastronomic experiences with an artificial spending ceiling. (Thank you United States Congress for the inspiration!)
Certainly Europe will cost more than budget destinations like Thailand or Guatemala. So how will we pay for it?
The short answer is: I don’t really intend to.
