“Extra Money” for a Traveler Stuck in a Mom’s Body: A Guest Post from Christina

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Brad Christensen

This is a guest post from WorldWanderluster Christina (who also happens to be my sister-in-law).  We love guest posts so much, that we’ll happily send our readers a $25 giftcard for sharing their almost-free travel stories. If you’d like to write one, please keep it between 500 and 1500 words, attach some good pictures and email it to worldwanderlusting@gmail.com.

I love to travel. I always joke that I’m a traveler stuck in a mom’s body, because not only do our kids make things complicated, but we never seem to have that elusive thing called “extra money.” My husband’s family lives across the country from us, and we love to visit, but at around $450+ per ticket, it’s an expensive trip to make – which is precisely why we hadn’t visited in almost 4 years.

Brad, one of the brothers from World Wanderlusting (who also happens to be family – he is married to my sister-in-law) has been nudging me about this whole ‘traveling for free or nearly free’ thing for quite some time. I tend to be very skeptical, because as they say, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” But our curiosity got the best of us and we both signed up for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard and the Southwest Rapid Rewards cards (no longer offering the 50k point bonus). Once we met the minimum spending requirements and received our bonus miles, we booked tickets for our family of five (with one lap baby) for $180 out of pocket. We then used one of our Arrival cards to reserve a car rental, which we reimbursed ourselves for with points (~$250).

Utah Mountains

Mountains in Northern Utah – not like anything we’d see out East

Our flight took us from Providence to Salt Lake City, with one stop in between. Once we arrived in SLC, we headed to get our rental car to make the 3 hour trip to Idaho Falls. We were surprised with a free upgrade to a minivan, which definitely sweetened the deal! The drive up from SLC was a gorgeous one. I love New England, having lived here most of my life, but it’s so much fun to visit different landscapes. We did live outside of Boise for a little over 2 years, but I’ll never tire of seeing the mountains.

I always felt like a family vacation is an oxymoron (because really, as a stay-at-home mom, you are bringing your work with you!) but we love to create memories with our children We stayed with my sister-in-law Nicole, and her husband, Brad, who just came back from their family getaway to Florida.

The weather was beautiful all week, so one of the days we packed up the kids and visited Lava Hot Springs, an indoor/outdoor pool, splash park, and water park all rolled in one. The water is comfortably warm, so even my youngest son enjoyed it. And really, how many people from New England do you know have ever bathed in a geothermal hot springs pool?

Christina and Justin at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone

Christina and Justin at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone

On Friday night, we did a double date and took the scenic drive to West Yellowstone, Montana to see the musical “Les Miserables” at the Playmill Theater. I had no idea what to expect, having seen many musicals and plays, but never one at a theater so small. It turned out to be a blast! The actors in the play were also the ushers, chatting us up and walking us to our seats. The room was small and intimate, allowing the production to really come to life. At intermission, the actors and actresses sold cookies, fudge, water, and ice cream floats, which I thought was a really fun twist. The singing was way beyond expectation, it really was out of this world! We are considering making a trip to the Playmill Theater a tradition whenever we visit. I highly recommend it.

One afternoon the girls in the family were treated to tea & lunch at The Stillwater Mansion, a beautiful Victorian tearoom located in Idaho Falls. The house itself was built in the 1800’s and is decorated with rich Victorian style. Our hostess took us one by one into a small back room where she dressed us in fancy hats, shawls, gloves, and jewelry. We were each called to our seats where the table was set with fancy tea cups, plates, and decorations. We had a lovely, relaxing lunch and tea time. The food was delicious and our hostess had even catered to my food sensitivity. While we were enjoying dessert, she told us of the different meanings of flowers, and how the fans ladies carried in the Victorian era were also used as a means of silent conversation. I believe the tea was my daughter’s favorite part of the entire trip.

All the girls at the Stillwater Mansion

All the girls at the Stillwater Mansion

There were lots of memories made on our trip. Our kids were able to spend lots of time playing with their long-distance cousins, and we thoroughly enjoyed time spent with family. We were able to attend a family reunion, which hasn’t happened in years. I can honestly say that we were able to enjoy ourselves even more, knowing we didn’t have to spend an arm and a leg to visit. The vistas were beautiful, and the company fun…what more could you ask for?

As for us, we are believers! We are already keeping an eye out for a card that will allow us to fly out for nearly free again next year. I have to thank the Christensen brothers for putting together this blog to share their wealth of information, and allowing us to literally save thousands of dollars. We have already booked our next trip – a four-day getaway to the North Carolina coast at the end of July to celebrate our 10th anniversary, and we look forward to seeing where our travels take us in the future!

Posted in Barclaycard, Guest Post | Leave a comment

How Double your Credit Card Sign Up Bonus (for most people)

Posted on June 26, 2014 by wpengine

Call me boring, but there is an exhilarating feel when you hit the final “submit” button when you apply for a credit card.  The moments feel like hours as they make a final decision as to whether or not you’ll be accepted for the 50,000 point bonus.  Finally the acceptance screen arrives and you bring out the champagne to celebrate.  The only thing sweeter would be a double bonus, but how do you double the credit card bonus?

The Need for Double Credit Card Bonus

Credit Card

Credit Card (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

These celebrations pale in comparison to those that will happen when you take your (next to) free vacation.  The problem for a lot of people comes when they have 2, 3, 4, or more children and they want to take a family vacation.  Getting flights for two people is great, but when you’re looking for flights with a family of 6 people, that just ain’t cuttin’ it.

Those who have larger families find themselves in a struggle trying to use enough points and miles to severely reduce the cost of their upcoming vacation.  Sometimes it takes some creativity, but definitely worth the savings so let’s review some of the great ideas.

How to Double the Credit Card Sign Up Bonus

Ok, I know you’re expecting me to pull an elephant from a hat here, but that probably isn’t going to happen.  We see a lot of our worldwanderlusters missing out on big bonuses.  The best way to double your credit card bonuses is to apply for the same card for both you and your spouse.

We’ve written before about how a stay-at-home spouse can also apply for a credit card using the household income.  This is awesome.  It means that you can not only get 50,000 miles for the primary breadwinner, but you can also pick up 50,000 for the spouse, which now gives you 4 airline tickets.  Now you’re just paying for two, or if you pick up another card, sometimes you can get all six of you for just the cost of the taxes.

Don’t delay, and don’t hog all of the cards for yourself.  Make sure you’re splitting your applications between both spouses to maximize the bonuses!

Double the Credit Card Bonus (with time)

Living on Credit Cards

Living on Credit Cards (Photo credit: Images_of_Money)

Some credit cards will issue the same card to you (with time restrictions) time and time again.  Right now there are people who are taking AAdvantage of the Citi Executive World Mastercard and they’ve picked up the card 3 times in the last six months.  Have they paid $750 in annual fees.  Yes.  Does that sound painful, yes indeed.

The flip side is thinking about it this way:  with their 300,000 AAdvantage miles they’ll be able to take 7.5 people to Europe during the offseason and they’ll only have to pay for the taxes.  When was the last time you heard about someone who took five and half kids to Europe for $750?

Not all credit card issuers will give their bonuses multiple times.  Chase will only issue a bonus per card once.  American Express just changed their stance and now only allow one bonus per card per person.  Jump on the bandwagon an double the credit card bonuses before the well dries up.

Other Ideas on how to maximize your sign up bonuses

Some of these ideas might work for you to help you take more vacations for less.

  • Fly on separate airlines.  Nothing says that you have to all fly on the same plane to get to your vacation spot.  Plus dividing up the kids might reduce the amount of refereeing that you’ve got to do as a parent.  Why don’t you fly on Southwest with two kids, and let you sweetheart take the other two children on US Airways.  Brad talked about an incredible way of doing this with the companion pass that comes with the USAirways credit card.
  • Make sure you’re getting all of the cards- Did you know that there are 4 different Southwest Airlines credit cards?  That amounts to 200,000 Rapid Rewards points, which is easily enough for six airline tickets.  Take our advice that we just wrote about an you can have up to 400,000 Rapid Rewards.  Believe me, if you can’t take all 6 of you on a couple of vacations for that many points then you’re doing something wrong.
  • Use a Low-Cost-Carrier– These are huge in Europe and Southeast Asia.  These airlines abound and offer very low cost options.  Of course you aren’t going to get a drink of water for free, and they might charge you for the use of the seatbelt, but they’re cheap.  Plus you can use the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World MasterCard® points to help cover the cost of the flight.  If you go on the right weekend you can get flights for ULTRA cheap to awesome destinations.

How else do you double your credit card bonus?  Please share with us.  Thanks for Worldwanderlusting with us!

Posted in Credit Advice, Credit Cards, Family Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The New Way to Get $400 in Free Travel

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Brad Christensen

Having spent the last three years signing up for a total of 39 credit cards to accumulate millions of frequent flyer miles and points that have been turned into tens of thousands of dollars in free travel, I have to be honest in saying that I’m somewhat surprised to continue to find new opportunities to replenish my free-travel point stash.

In the time we’ve been doing this, we’ve seen Barclaycard, an offerer who was outside the market for the first few years, recently come forward with some fantastic travel rewards cards… so much so, that when we wrote our post on “The best travel rewards card to start WorldWanderlusting,” it was the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard that we promoted – highlighting how easy the concept was of using the points – a simple travel purchase reimbursement, rather than the more complicated algebra of mile and point equations. If you don’t have it already, it’s a great card.

four-hundred-dollars-21111103Many of our followers, anxious to lap up $400 in free travel, signed themseleves up for the card, spent the $3000 over three months to obtain the bonus, and then repeated the process with their spouse as the applicant.  We love hearing stories about how these cards have helped people go on their first cruise, rent cars, and book entire vacations.

In the meantime, Capital One, another credit card offerer which had been relatively quiet in the travel rewards world, has stepped up their game to put a 40k bonus on their VentureOne card – basically matching the Barclaycard offer for $400 in free travel after spending $3000 on the card.  When you consider that each dollar you spend on the card nets you 2% in travel reimbursement, you’re actually looking at about $460 in free travel, and that’s something we can’t help but get excited about.  Naturally, then, we want to help you spend it.

How to spend your $460 on free travel

IDA to LAX

An Allegiant Airlines Travel Package – As a cheap travel enthusiast, I can’t help but be excited about allegiant airlines.  I’m one who will gladly wear three layers of clothing in mid-summer and pack everything I need in a small backpack in order to spend no more than the $60 each way they charge for flights. When flights ar as cheap as they are on Allegiant, $460 will take you a long way!  Here’s what I cooked up:

Just looking through dates of when we could fly out of Idaho Falls, I found a weekend in August that would cost about $292 for two round-trip flights to Los Angeles.  I could add two adult tickets to Universal Studios for $184.  All in, I’d be looking at a total of $16 out of pocket for the two flights and theme park entrances.  At that point, the cost of my vacation would consist only of what I’d pay in hotel, food, and whatever other entertainment we choose.  (Mind you, I’d be using other points for my hotel anyways – see how fun this is?)

Bahama cruiseA Vacationstogo.com Last Minute Cruise – Cruises are an incredible way to travel, and the value is just insane.  You get your lodging, food (as good as it gets), entertainment, and transportation for what you might otherwisepay for only one of those categories.  Add to that the fact that these puppies get extremely discounted the closer you get to the sailing date, and you’ve got a real bargain on your hands.

Why don’t the two of you take off on this 4 night cruise through the Bahamas?  Even by the time you include taxes, your free $460 will be roughly enough to cover the two of you for 4 nights – food, lodging, transportation, and entertainment!  You can’t live this cheap at home!

An Exotic Car Rental – This is “mad money,” the kind you don’t mind spending on something you’d never otherwise splurge for. But let’s just say you wanted to do something out of character and have some fun.  Midway Car Rentals in Los Angeles has lots of exotic car rentals for anywhere from $100/day to $1000/day.  You could have this mini-cooper convertible for two days and still have money to spare.  This is about your savvy in prudently using miles and points enabling you to do the kinds of things you thought you’d have to rich to be able to do.Mini Cooper convertible

Now, as you well-understand, there are countless other ways you could spend your free $460, but you can’t spend it until you have it, and you can’t have it until you get the card and meet the minimum spending requirement. This is a card you need to have excellent credit in order to be approved for.

We don’t have a direct link to the card, but you can learn more about the Capital One VentureOne card using this link.

We always take very seriously the idea of applying for credit cards, and we want all of our readers to know that we never advocate using credit cards for “credit,” but only as purchasing instruments – ways to use money that you already have, in order to obtain the maximum benefit from credit card offerers who are hungry for your business.  We always tell people never to spend money they don’t have on a credit card, never use it for purchases you wouldn’t otherwise make with a debit card, cash, or a check.  All of these free benefits are great, but they pale in comparison to paying months and years of high-interest.  Please don’t fall into that trap, but do join in on the idea of prudently using credit applications to enable you to do the things you’ve always dreamed of.

Posted in Allegiant, Capital One, Car Rentals, Cruises | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Buy One Flight, Get Four Free: A $900 Family Vacation for Five

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Brad Christensen

Sheldon wrote an excellent post about the greatest gift you can give your spouse, one that won’t wither, or be consumed and then disappear – the gift of travel and the memories that come with it.  And if travel is great to bring a couple together, wouldn’t it also be great to bring a family together?

The most exciting piece of travel is the discovery – new places, people, and ideas that stimulate your mind, and sharing it with the people you love is a singular experience.

I just returned from a family vacation to Florida, where we took a cruise to some incredible white sand and blue water beaches, invited the kids to explore the history of space travel at the Kennedy Space Center, and brought to life the wizarding world of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  It was such a great time together, and while there were times when I wondered if it was all worth it, we were all so pleased to have created memories that none of us will ever forget.

Carnival Glory

Our family took a cruise out of Miami

Tallying up the cost of what it would have been without the WorldWanderlusting secrets of almost-free travel, though, I wondered how any family would ever be able to afford to do something like that. For someone without the savvy to acquire frequent flyer miles, the flights alone would cost at least $600 for a total of $3000 for a family of five. Most families would have to spend years saving and that would barely cover a third of the total cost by the time you paid for food, lodging, and entertainment.

Grand Turk

Belle played with stingrays at Gibbs Cay

But what if you could get flights for five to some amazing place for less than $900? Would that not be a game-changer?  Would that open the door to a whole new world of opportunity?  Would your family be able to do far more?

Almost everyone plays the frequent flyer game to at least some degree.  But a lot of people think that the only way to accumulate miles is to fly, and that the free flights can only come once every several years. But as the faithful followers of this blog know, we’re accumulating miles like they’re going out of style, and traveling for free multiple times a year.

Snorkel St John

Westley was a snorkeling fiend at Trunk Bay

In fact, I’m going to show you how you can apply for a single credit card and then obtain 5 flights and only pay for one of them.  It seems downright silly that it’s even possible, but it is because I have done it and it’s awesome.

Even though US Airways is merging with American Airlines, for a limited time, you can still get The US Airways Premier World MasterCard®. It’s offered by Barclaycard and the features include 40k points after your first purchase, a 5k point discount on reward bookings, and a companion pass that allows you to add up to 2 companions to a ticket for $99 each.

You will be on the hook for an $89 annual fee, but that’s a whopping monster of a bonus for a small price when it comes right down to it.  The end result is this:

You’ll be able to book 2 flights within the US with the 40k points, Pay for a ticket for yourself and then add two companions for $99 each.  Depending on the cost of the one flight you do pay for, for less than $900, you’ll be booking 5 tickets within the US for a net cost of less than $200 each. If that weren’t enough, the card also gets all of you free baggage!

Universal Studios Harry Potter

The kids loved their visit to Hogwarts Castle

It’s far more simple than you’d imagine and US Airways flys almost everywhere, so there’s no shortage of opportunity.  You could follow in our footsteps and take the family to Florida.  You could go to New England in the fall.  You could take the kids to Nashville, or Branson, or to the dozens of free museums in Washington DC.  No matter which of these or the many other options you choose, you’ll be making the kinds of memories that no amount of time can wipe away.

And in the unfortunate case that you can’t find time to take your family on this kind of vacation, those US Airways miles will eventually roll to American, where 40k miles could take you to Europe or Northern South America… the possibilities are endless.

But this is an offer for The US Airways Premier World MasterCard® that won’t be sticking around forever.  At some point, they’ll shut down the card as they continue the merger and there probably won’t be much advance notice. Where there’s not a minimum spending requirement – you get the points after your first purchase, it boils down to a question of whether it’s worth it to you to pay $89 for a slate of benefits that will get you five flights for a fraction of what you’d expect to pay.  If there’s a family vacation in your future, this is the way to do it.  If there’s not a family vacation in your future, this is a way to put one there.

 

Also, if this idea is one that makes sense for you, would it also make sense to sign up your spouse and do the same thing all over again? Do you see where we’re going with this?  Now you know why we’re constantly WorldWanderlusting…

Where will your US Airways free flights take you?

 

Posted in American Airlines, Barclaycard, Family Travel, Florida, US Airways | 27 Comments

6 Reasons Why This Is The Best Gift You Can Give Your Spouse

Posted on June 6, 2014 by wpengine

Will your gifts wither and die?

A dead bunch of roses lies outside a family tomb.

A dead bunch of roses lies outside a family tomb. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What is the best gift you can give your spouse? You probably assumed that this post would begin with a chocolate heart, or if you were really thinking hard it would be about a Cadbury’s Chocolate Heart on Valentine’s Day.  Wrong.  How about a dozen roses…..Wrong again.  These things all fade.  The chocolate goes to the hips (except on my wife who looks stunning) and the roses wither.  Then they go in the garbage.

Love is Like a Cactus?

Brad, my cohort on writing this blog, once bought his wife a cactus and left his wife a note that said something like, “My love for you is like a cactus.  Strong and resilient.  Nothing like roses that die.”  Well guess what, the cactus probably ended up in the garbage one day when it was accidentally bumped and spilled all over the floor.

The truth is many gifts that we give to our spouse either end up on our hips, or withers and ends up in the garbage.

Diamonds are forever is BS!

My own work,but it's a different camera.

This is what we call a very smart marketing ploy.  Watching one commercial from DeBeers has caused you to think that diamonds are forever.

But I’m here to tell you diamonds are forever, unless you lose one.  Then they’re gone forever.  Ask my wife if her diamond is forever.

The Best Gift You Can Get Your Spouse is…..Travel

You wanna give her something that she’ll never forget?  Take her on a trip!

  • Does it wither: NO
  • Does it get lost: NO
  • Does it fall off the counter: NO
  • Does it end up in the garbage: NO

Let’s review 6 Great Reasons that traveling with your spouse is the best gift that you can give:

1.  Travel Creates Unforgettable Memories:

Pictures are a powerful tool of time travel. In fact, it is probably the best form of backward time travel we have ever devised.

Remember the time you watched an incredible sunset from an island no larger than a McDonald’s restaurant?  Or the time that we walked up and down the streets of Phuket looking for mangoes and sticky rice?  What about the hourlong foot massages in Vietnam after a long day on our feet where we both fell dead asleep?

Get off the couch and start making some serious memories.  The chocolate will get eaten and the diamonds can get lost, but travel creates memories that will never fade.

2.  It breaks up the everyday monotony that runs (ruins) your life:

If You wake up and the dishes are still in the sink, the laundry baskets are full, and the lawn needs mowed.  You are like every other person around you.  Trapped by the world that surrounds you and owns you.  Getting away from that mold and the responsibilities allows you to remember that you’re not just roommates anymore.

3.  It stops you from having a Cell Phone Date:

best gift for spouseUnless you’re still sporting a really cool Nokia flip phone you’ve probably experienced this one too.  You finally decide to get a babysitter for the kids (which you never do because it is expensive) and you head out to your favorite restaurant.  Before the meal is served you’ve checked your Facebook feed 17 times and equally as many looking at your email. By the time the meal is over you’ve spent 3/4 of the time looking at the iPhone.

Getting out of this zone allows you to forget about your phone (especially if you leave the country).  Put the phone away and instead of staring at someone else’s picture of a romantic kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower, take your own picture.

4.  Get in a Fight:

For some reason travel seems to bring out the fight in couples.  Usually these aren’t the fights that end relationships, but the fights that help you to strengthen the relationship.

best gift you can give your spouse

Our friend Mike blogs at 1000fights.com.  The whole premise of his blog is that he and his wife go on trips together and somehow end up in fights on their trip.  These fights help them to understand each other better, and sometimes cause you to talk about things that you would otherwise sweep under the rug.

On your next trip, get in a fight, then make up!

5. It’s Romantic to Travel Together:

 

romantic Couple

Spending a Romantic Moment in Verona, Italy

Come on, admit it.  You’ve always want to have sex on the beach.  Well this one might come as shocker, but you’ve actually got to be on a beach to make that happen.  Unless you’re from San Diego the beach is pretty far (plus San Diego might not be the best spot for this event).

Remember the dating days when every moment counted?  You didn’t want to separate for school, work, or anything else.  You loved spending time together.  It was romantic.  Now that life has happened all the romance has disappeared.  Don’t wait until the kids leave the house for romance to come back in.

Strolling through a romantic city with you sweetheart’s hand in yours can produce sparks that you haven’t seen since you first started dating.  Go make some sparks and start a fire!

6.  Because Accumulating More Stuff Sucks-

I know it is crazy, but I kinda enjoy going to garage sales.  The idea of rummaging through someones stuff is disgusting to some people, but I find it interesting.  The best garage sales are the ones from people who lived somewhere for 50 years, and they’re finally moving into an assisted living where they can take 5 things with them.

As you sift through the stuff you realize that tons of the “stuff” that you need is something that you really didn’t need.  It wasn’t necessary at all.  Believe me, I’ve been to Haiti and I know many people that don’t have much “stuff.”  They are completely happy without 37 boxes of Christmas decorations and 4 varieties of Christmas trees.

When the day comes that you move into an assisted living facility you’ll get to choose 5 things to bring with you, but your memories will always be with you.

This year when you’re thinking of gifts.  Think outside the box of chocolates and think about taking a trip.

 

Posted in Travel Tips, Travel Tricks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Great New Offer on The US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®

Posted on June 3, 2014 by wpengine

With too dang much bad news, it is nice to see that some of the cards are upping the ante.  Recently the The US Airways Premier World MasterCard® bumped its bonus from 30,000 up to 40,000.  Let’s review this card quickly so you can see if this card makes the list of cards that you want to get soon.

Benefits of the The US Airways Premier World MasterCard®

There are quite a few features of this card that make it attractive.  My four favorite features are:

  1. 40,000 Dividend Miles after first purchase (and paying the $89 annual fee)
  2. Free Checked Bag for all flights booked on US Airways for yourself and up to 4 companions on the same itinerary. (New Benefit)
  3. Redeem flights for 5000 fewer miles on USAirways.  (This benefit ends at the end of 2014)
  4. One Companion certificate good for up to two guests on USAirways operated flights for up to $99 each plus taxes and fees.  (This benefit ends at the end of 2014)

Premier World Mastercard

Many of the other features are great, but definitely not something that gets me excited like a Thanksgiving dinner:

  • One Complementary USAirways Club day pass (Kinda cool walking in there being the youngest guy in the mix)
  • Check in at First Class Counter
  • Priority Boarding
  • Some deal on balance transfers (please avoid doing this)

What does 40,000 Dividend Miles Get Me?

You’ve probably seen offers for 50, 60, or even 100k miles in the past, so this one won’t knock your socks off, but it will get you excited when you see how far it can take you.  Their award chart is pretty standard, but has a few sweet spots.

What really makes the 40k points cool is the fact that you have the 5k point reduction on all reward travel.

dividend miles

Here is what you can do with all those points!

That means that a trip to Central America or the Caribbean would only cost you 30,000 Dividend Miles.  That’s pretty sweet.   You can see how the 5000 point discount really helps lower how many points your flight will require.

When was the last time you spent $89 for two flights within the United States?

I know.  I know.  You’re depressed about paying the $89 annual fee that is NOT waived for the first year.  There isn’t much worse than paying something for nothing, but that isn’t the scenario when it comes to this card.

What Credit Report does BarclayCard use?

We’ve talked about credit in the past, so don’t let me bore you with all of the details, but there are three different credit bureaus:

  • Equifax
  • Experian
  • TransUnion

You want to make sure that your credit pulls are as equally distributed as possible amongst the three bureaus.  Most of the cards pull from Experian, but BarclayCard usually uses TransUnion, which is great because it helps with the distribution of your credit pulls.

For more information, check out our page about how becoming a worldwanderluster can affect your credit.

Current Offer for the US Airways Premier World MasterCard

The The US Airways Premier World MasterCard® is on its way out the door. When the merger is completed between American Airlines and US Airways, this card will disappear.  As many cards only allow you to pick up the bonus one time per card, it is definitely worth considering this card now before it disappears.

NorthWest Airlines and Continental Airlines are now gone.  So are their credit cards.  As the airlines work toward consolidation there are less cards to get out there.  Don’t let an offer pass you by that you wish you would have scored.

Posted in Barclaycard, Credit Cards, Mastercard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

3 Reasons You MUST Visit the Kennedy Space Center

Posted on May 28, 2014 by wpengine
Kennedy Space Center

The ORIGINAL Atlantis Space Shuttle. This thing has been to Space 33 times!!!

It melted my heart tonight.  My (almost) three year old son tonight told me something as we loaded up in the car to run a few errands.  His focus normally lasts about 4 seconds, and he is on to the next thing.  He seems to forget things like his old man, but this memory must have stuck.  He said, “I want to be astronaut daddy.  I want to fly in a rocket.”  I knew that I  had made the right choice in taking him to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Ready for Takeoff

Max is flying the Atlantis

Of all the things that we did on our recent vacation to Florida, the one that stuck the strongest was the Kennedy Space Center.  It wasn’t DisneyWorld, nor was it SeaWorld.  The beach didn’t score as high, nor did the swimming pool.  His souvenir Atlantis space shuttle has been to the moon and back with all of the mileage that he has put on the shuttle since the Eagle landed at home again.

Not only was the Kennedy Space Center memorable for my son, but it was for me too.  It was probably the best thing that we did on the trip.  The history, patriotism, and sheer determination that the whole department is out of this world (knee slap).  Here are three BIG reasons you need to visit this important location:

1. Patriotism-

Look.  I was born in the 80’s.  I wasn’t around when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made the maiden voyage to the Moon.  Many of you weren’t either.  Neither did I participate in the feelings of competing agains the Soviets in the race to the moon.     The history has become part of our nation.  If you’re like me, and you didn’t enjoy those early space moments, you probably don’t know much about them.  It is worth researching and learning about the history behind our space exploration.

Apollo Space Trip

This is the Saturn V. You can’t really realize this size of this thing until you see it.

They’ve done an excellent job at adding a patriotic feel to the presentations.  Some of JFK’s quotes are cited in a few of the video clips and by the end of the presentation you’re about to bust out your best version of “God Bless America.”  (Everyone around me better be glad that I refrained.)  Visiting the Center will deepen your appreciation for your country and give you a better appreciation for those who gave their lives in pursuit of space travel.

2. NASA isn’t an acronym for Nerdy Astronaut Science Aspirer-

Being from Idaho, it’s not like too many kids in my first grade class worked at NASA. I remember some kids in elementary school who wore NASA shirts and always talked about math problems that I still couldn’t solve.  I felt like they were dorks, but really they were smart.  It’s cool stuff to learn about the physics, science, and marvel that goes into space travel.

Obviously you’re not going to spend a day there and receive your Masters Degree in Astrophysics, but you will learn a lot about tons of cool stuff.  That is one of the big reasons that I enjoy traveling.  Here’s one to try on for size.  They build the rockets and shuttles in one building, not on the launch pad.  Do you know how they move the precious cargo from the assembly to the launch pad?   Here’s a hint:  They don’t throw it in the back of a Ford F-150.  They have a couple of crawlers that span the distance of a major interstate highway and take up both sides.  See the picture below:

KSC

This is the road that the crawler takes (both sides).

Yeah, so they have to have two of these things that travel at the same snail speed taking the loaded rocket to the launch pad 39.  Did you notice that the “Slowway” wasn’t paved with asphalt, but it was made of rocks?  Didn’t you throw rocks as a kid and they’d spark when they hit the ground?  Can you imagine tons of sparks with a rocket loaded with fuel?  Probably would last as long as a Britney Spears marriage.  Those rocks are special rocks that won’t ever spark regardless of the pressure put on them.  Cool, right?

Space Shuttle

Launch Pad 39

3.  The Kennedy Space Center is half the price as DisneyWorld-

The Moon

A Moon Rock

You won’t be surprised to learn that I trembled when someone told me the entrance was $50 per person.  I shutter at the cost of everything, so this was no exception.  That’s why we have this blog.  I was bummed at the entrance fee, but a few of the family members who went with us shamed me for feeling that way.  They explained that I had been willing to pay $100 to DisneyWorld, but wouldn’t shell out $50 for this?

In the end, they were right, and I was glad that they encouraged me to go.  Plus it was awesome when I came back from the trip and actually used my Barclaycard Arrival Points to offset the cost of the entrance fee, so it was really just parking that we had to pay for a day of excitement.

We spent almost as much time at the Kennedy Space Center as we did at DisneyWorld.  There is a ton to see, and I could have really spent another day at the KSC.  They’ve got a lot of history there and tons of information if you’ve got the time to read each of the displays. Toting around two children under 3 usually results in stopping them from setting off another rocket.

Basically this place is a MUST see.  If this doesn’t start pumping 4th of July feelings into your bloodstream, then maybe you should renounce your citizenship.  This place is definitely worth the drive, and easily worth the entrance fee.  Have you been to the Kennedy Space Center?  Did you enjoy your visit?

 

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