$50 or $70 off $100 bookings at Airbnb

Want something different than the typical hotel room?  Why not try Airbnb? You can rent a room or an entire house. Airbnb is located in 190+ countries. So why do I bring this up now?  I was checking my American Express credit card and I noticed an offer to get a $50 statement credit if I spend $100 on my next Airbnb booking by 12-31-15.  Not a bad deal.

If you don't already have an Airbnb account you can save an additional $20 off your first qualifying stay (generally $75 or more, except holidays) by clicking on my link here and setting up an account.

Log into your American Express account and scroll to the section that says "AMEX Offers & Benefits" to see what offers you have available.  Not every AMEX card has the same offers but why not check your offers out.

Take a survey and earn Jet Blue points

Last month I wrote about how to earn 50 miles on United Airlines by taking a one minute survey.  Well, Jet Blue has joined the survey business too. You can earn 400 TrueBlue points by clicking here and signing up at Points For Surveys.

I don't fly Jet Blue that often but I enjoy being able to earn points without even flying.  The nice thing about Jet Blue is there is no expiration for True Blue points.  I already completed my first survey.  Why not try it?

Great Emirates Safety Video

Thanks to blogger, "One Mile at a Time," I came across this safety demonstration video by Emirates airline personnel.  The difference is this safety demonstration took place this past Sunday, October 25, at a stadium in Lisbon in front of 65,000 fans.  It is not your typical safety video.  Hope you enjoy this and have a great weekend.  Happy Halloween

Great job Emirates airline!

Uber and SPG Partnership

This past weekend I had friends visiting from New York.  They were staying in Portland at a SPG branded hotel.  They happened to mention they take Uber everywhere.  I asked them if they were aware of the SPG and Uber partnership. They were not so I thought I would mention it in my blog.

You can earn one Starpoint for every dollar you spend with Uber. You earn even more Starpoints while staying at an SPG hotel.  Just sign in and link your accounts here and complete one qualifying SPG stay.

For those with elite status with SPG you can earn even more points during your SPG stay.

Hotel Groups

In my travel class last week we discussed the importance of airline alliances and signing up for airline mileage cards.  Tuesday we discussed signing up for hotel frequent stay cards.  To make it easy to sign up I have attached the following links.  Just click on the name of the hotel in red.  The hotel names listed directly below the hotel name in red are all part of the same family.  For example, if you stay at a Courtyard hotel, you will show your Marriott card.

Marriott

Residence Inn, Courtyard, Springhill, Ritz Carlton…

IHG

Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza…

Starwood

St. Regis, Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridian…

Hyatt

Andaz, Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency…

Hilton

Waldorf Astoria, Double Tree, Conrad, Embassy Suites…

BestWestern

VIB, Executive Residence

I am sorry if the links do not work on a mobile device.

Would you take a one minute survery to earn 50 United miles?

I belong to the Opinion Miles Club.   The Opinion Miles Club allows me to take surveys while earning United Miles.  I got an email today saying I could earn 50 miles for a one minute survey.  I know 50 miles may not seem like a lot.  The best part is if you belong to United MileagePlus frequent flyer program by doing surveys you can keep your United miles from expiring. United miles expire 18 months after the last activity.  Activity does not mean having to fly on a United flight.  Completing a survey is considered activity.

If you don't belong to the United MileagePlus frequent flyer program just click here first and get your United airlines frequent flyer number first.

Once you belong to the MileagePlus program click here to sign into the Opinion Miles Club.  You can even earn 300 miles by joining and completing your first survey.

Are you flexible?

On Tuesday in my Clark Community College travel class we discussed the importance of being flexible in order to save money on travel.  Are you the type of person who plans all your travel months in advance or the type of person who says, "Take me to the Caribbean anytime the price drops below $200."

I want to list several search options that are available for the flexible traveler. Depending on your travel criteria are three different websites.  Just click on the links to check out your available options.

Criteria:

Destination (Google Explore)
Trip duration (Google Explore)
Airline Alliance (Google Explore)
Destination/Duration/Price Alert (Adioso)
Price      (Kayak Explore)
Weather (Kayak Explore)


 Kayak example: I asked to travel for $200 or less with the weather over 70 degrees.

Google example: I asked for a flight 3-5 days in duration on the Skyteam alliance anywhere in the   USA. Below shows two of several examples.

Adioso is a great website to set price alerts.  Have a place you want to go, don't care what time of year it is,  but the price is to high, try Adioso. Example below:

Breast Cancer Awareness and American Airline Miles

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  American Airlines is a partner with the Susan G. Koman Foundation.  Previously American Airlines  awarded 10 airline miles for every dollar donated to the Susan G. Koman Foundation.  During the month of October American Airlines will award 20 airline miles for every dollar donated, with a minimum $25 donation.  Why not earn airline miles while supporting a great cause?

Click HERE to donate now.

American

As our first-ever Lifetime Promise Partner, American Airlines offers AAdvantage® customers the opportunity to receive AAdvantage® miles for every dollar donated to Komen through the Miles for the Cure program. Traditionally, Miles for the Cure donors receive ten miles per dollar donated but, from October 1-31, 2015, American Airlines is conducting a special bonus offer of twenty miles per dollar donated through the Miles for the Cure program. Donate today! - See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/Donate/MilesfortheCure.html?terms=donate#sthash.wEsxtEy5.dpuf

As our first-ever Lifetime Promise Partner, American Airlines offers AAdvantage® customers the opportunity to receive AAdvantage® miles for every dollar donated to Komen through the Miles for the Cure program. Traditionally, Miles for the Cure donors receive ten miles per dollar donated but, from October 1-31, 2015, American Airlines is conducting a special bonus offer of twenty miles per dollar donated through the Miles for the Cure program. Donate today!

- See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/Donate/MilesfortheCure.html?terms=donate#sthash.wEsxtEy5.dpuf

As our first-ever Lifetime Promise Partner, American Airlines offers AAdvantage® customers the opportunity to receive AAdvantage® miles for every dollar donated to Komen through the Miles for the Cure program. Traditionally, Miles for the Cure donors receive ten miles per dollar donated but, from October 1-31, 2015, American Airlines is conducting a special bonus offer of twenty miles per dollar donated through the Miles for the Cure program. Donate today!

- See more at: http://ww5.komen.org/Donate/MilesfortheCure.html?terms=donate#sthash.wEsxtEy5.dpuf

100 Free Marriott Points

If you are willing to answer six easy questions you can score 100 Marriott points.  I love Marriott hotels and have platinum status so of course I took the survey.  While Marriott points currently do not expire they can close your account due to inactivity.  In February of 2016 Marriott is changing the rules and points will expire after 24 months of inactivity.  So here is your chance to keep your account open.  Just click on this link.

$35 Hotel Rooms

I love IHG.  IHG is the Intercontinental Hotel Group. The most common IHG hotel is the Holiday Inn.  IHG has what is known as "5,000 point breaks".  A person who has IHG points can get a room for only 5,000 points which translates to $35.  IHG selects certain hotels throughout the world for their point break list, which is constantly changing. 

Click on this link to see what deals are out there for bookings through October 31, 2015.

Entertainment Book + Ebates= A Great Deal

The Entertainment book has lots of great coupons for restaurants.  But it also has deals on hotels, car rentals and airlines.  Right now many Entertainment books are only $5.00.  While this sounds like a great price, if you go to Ebates.com first you will get 17.5% back.

If you don't already have an Ebates account.  Please consider using this link

This deal is for a limited time so don't miss out.  Go to Entertainment.com

Upcoming Travel Class

For any of my readers in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area, I will be teaching a 2 hour seminar on how to travel more and spend less.  This is the second time I have taught this class.  The last class filled up and had a waiting list.  The class is $49 and is taught through Clark Community College.  My goal is to teach you enough information in 2 hours that you will more than get your money back from what you learn about travel savings.  As of today, there are only 4 spots left in the class so hurry and sign up now.

When :  July 20, 2015

Time:     6:30-8:30 PM

Where:  Clark College Downtown Campus

               500 Broadway, Vancouver, Wa. 98660

 

To register click here.

How to Get A Refund

Welcome back Clark Community College Students:

The following websites will help you get a refund if prices go down.

Yapta: to monitor if airfare prices go down.

Tingo: Hotel booking site, refunds you if price drops after you book.

Dreamcheaper: Not a hotel booking site, but monitors if the price goes down.  You determine a percentage to give to the company if the price goes down.

Autoslash: Booking site or tracking site to determine if car rental prices go down.

I hope all the class participants enjoyed the class and have learned how to travel for less! This is the final class blog so be sure to travel, travel, travel!

Websites to Check for Air Travel

For all those participants in last week's Travel for Less class through Clark Community College I have put together a quick guide to the various links we discussed in class.  This will save you time and headache as everything will be accessible in one place.  Just click on the link and you will be taken directly to the website.  This is the last blog for class participants.  Feel free to read some of the past blogs and pick up a few tips that may not have been discussed in the class.

Favorite site to CHECK airfare: Matrix
Booking Site for flexible fliers: Adioso
Booking site for international travel: Vayama
Booking site for penny pinchers:  Priceline

Free Entrance To National Parks This Weekend

It is National Park week and this weekend you can get into those National Parks that normally charge a fee for FREE.  Check below for other free dates.

On Monday I will continue another blog for the students of Clark Community College.

Award Wallet Free Upgrade

Yesterday, hopefully everyone signed up for airline frequent flier cards.  Today you need to keep track of them.  For the first ten users here is the award wallet upgrade coupon I mentioned in my class at Clark Community College.  If you use the code please leave a message in the comment section so I will know when they are all gone. Award wallet is a great way to keep track of all your airline miles and hotel points to keep them from expiring. The website also lists promotions tailored to the cards you enter.

Click on award wallet and use the code : free-unhxna

Have a great weekend!

Quick Sign-Up for Airline Frequent Flier Cards

Clark College students here is a quick place to sign up for the major airline frequent flier cards.  Remember I am not talking credit cards but frequent flier cards. All you have to do is click on the name of the airline.

Alaska Airlines
Delta Airlines
United Airlines
American Airlines
Southwest Airlines

Remember what you learned about alliances and how you can earn miles without ever flying!

Online Shopping Malls Mean Cash, Miles and Points

Thanks to everyone who attended last nights Travel For Less class offered through Clark Community College.  I hope you learned a lot and are ready to start saving on your travel adventures.  As promised, I have attached some web site links to what was taught in the class.   All you need to do is click on the hyperlink.

Who doesn't want to save money?  The first place to start to find which business has the best rebate: Evreward   The best part is this website is not just limited to travel!

My favorite cash back site is Ebates (remember if you refer two people and they make a purchase you will receive $50).  Disclaimer: Attached is my referral link.

Another cash back site is Mr. Rebates . This one was not mentioned in class but you will see it as an option if you start with Evreward. Sign up and compare Ebates to Mr. Rebates for which online shopping will give you the best return.  

Sign up for my email and you will receive further information tomorrow from last night's class. 

Travel Seminar April 14th, 2015 in the Portland, Oregon Area

For any of my readers in the Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington area, I will be teaching a 2 hour seminar on how to travel more and spend less.  The class is $45 and is taught through Clark Community College.  My goal is to teach you enough information in 2 hours that you will more than get your money back from what you learn about travel savings.  As of today, there are only 7 spots left in the class so hurry and sign up now.

When :  April 14, 2015

Time:     6:30-8:30 PM

Where:  Clark College Downtown Campus

               500 Broadway, Vancouver, Wa. 98660

To register click here

If you can not attend on April 14, 2015 a second class will be taught on July 20, 2015.

Hope to see you there.