Category Archives: Trip Planning

Coming Up: Our Last Trip of 2012- Louisville & Nashville

Trip Planning,
a map with a blue line
Image edited from mapquest

For the first time Kim and I do not have the same winter break. She is off during the holidays and I am off towards the end of January. We usually go away during our winter break so why should this year be any different. I decided to take one day off so we could get in a long weekend trip.

I wasn’t looking to spend money on a flight so this is where my Southwest Airlines points came into play. I earned Companion Pass status (good until 12/31/13) so any flight I book- with points or cash, my companion (Kim) flies for free. The only thing we pay is the tax.

While looking into places to go, nothing was really standing out. I would’ve loved to visit Portland, Oregon, Seattle or California but the prices of these flights were astronomical. To book a flight to any of those destinations, I would’ve had to use up all of my points- over 100,000. Definitely not my idea of a great value. (I plan to turn my SW points into at least 3 round trip flights.)

This led to my next group of places to consider. This group was narrowed down to three options- Charleston, Dallas or Nashville. As I debated where to go, the amount of points needed to book the flights started to change (as did the availability of decent flight times).

After comparing flight times and points needed for the flights, Nashville was the clear winner.

Continue reading Coming Up: Our Last Trip of 2012- Louisville & Nashville →

Our Upcoming Trip- The Lakes to Locks Passage & Saratoga

Trip Planning, Trip Reports, , ,
a lake with mountains in the background

Back in April I attended the EscapeMaker.com’s Local Food and Travel Expo. (You can read about it here) At the event I chatted with representatives from many local tourism boards.

One booth really stood out due to it having a National Geographic logo attached to it’s banner. The booth I am referring to represented the Lakes to Locks Passage which is a scenic byway between upstate New York and Quebec, Canada. It is New York’s only “All American Road” and features the interconnected waterway of the eastern part of the state.

Continue reading Our Upcoming Trip- The Lakes to Locks Passage & Saratoga →

Our Upcoming Trip To South Dakota

Trip Planning, ,
a map of south dakota

We’re leaving early Wednesday morning on our second trip (flying) with Lucas. I originally wanted to go to Europe but didn’t feel that it was worth the money or miles for a one week trip.

We decided to visit South Dakota instead.

I usually would not decide to stay in the US and pass up the opportunity to visit another country but this time it made a lot of sense.

Continue reading Our Upcoming Trip To South Dakota →

Our Upcoming Trip to Barbados- Thanks Capital One!

Trip Planning, Trip Reports,
a credit card with a blue background
While deciding where to go on our first trip in April with our newborn son Lucas, my wife and I figured it was time to use our Capital One points.
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We each earned 110,000 bonus points from the Venture Card with the mileage match offer last year. To qualify for the offer we had to send in a statement from an airline showing that we had 100,000 miles or more in an account. We received the 100,000 mile match plus 10,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 in the first 3 months.