Where do You Want to Go?

This summer has been epic for our Daughter.  By definition:  “Slang. spectacular; very impressive; awesome”   Sounds like over kill but I can assure you epic fits.  While she has been off on a mission trip to Lesotho and then learning to be a camp counselor her parents have been working.  She was globe trotting, we ordered pizza and did not even do the dishes every night.

I had some Southwest airlines credit to use by fall. We booked our Christmas tickets and the price decreased after our booking, by over $70 each for Daughter and I.  (Husband travels less so I use the points on his tickets and IF I have to pay I do so on my account to earn more points.)  With Southwest you can re-book and either get a credit or the points back in your account if the price drops.  The credit is good for one year.

Husband was going on a guys fishing trip for almost a week so that gave us girls a guilt free travel pass. So in my mind I had a few places to check out in Florida, Seattle or even back to San Antonio for our girls weekend. I figured let Daughter choose where she wants to go, maybe some place I am not even thinking of going?  The requirements were the location needs to be on a Southwest airlines route and reasonable cost.  Has either Holiday Inn or Club Carlson hotels, and I need to travel from my home airport to get there.  And the sticking point was it had to be someplace that Dad really is not in a hurry to visit.

So she thought for a morning.  Asked a few questions and kept on thinking.  Where did she pick?  (I will be honest and say I really did not see this coming.) Savannah, GA.

That is what happens when you travel without your child, you end up going back to places with them.  Husband and I were here in 2014 for our anniversary, alone.  It was fun but I was in no hurry to go back.  Plus August is HOT! I was not that excited but she sure was!  A long girls weekend in Savannah and throwing in Charleston for good measure.

Savannah. Green Meldrim House

A post shared by Stretchingittotravel (@stretchingittotravel) on Aug 7, 2016 at 6:35am PDT

 

Hilton Hhonors Triple Your Trip Promotion for Fall

Hilton is out with a new promotion that looks pretty good!

Cedar Point Last Blast of Summer Tickets $39.99

Earlier I posted a great deal for people who live in Michigan to visit Cedar Point.  Not to leave anyone out Cedar Point is offering a Last Blast of Summer promotion. The deals is that everyone pays kids prices, so $39.99.  These tickets are good through September 7th, 2015.  Normal gate prices are $62, regular advanced purchase tickets are $49.99 on the website.

Link to purchase is here: https://www.cedarpoint.com/?mobile=0&promoCode=SUMMERBLAST

Michigan Residents Cedar Point Buy 1 get 1 Deal

Michigan Residents get an end of summer Cedar Point deal!

How to get BOGO tickets:
The buy one, get one free offer runs Monday, August 17, 2015 through Labor Day, September 7. You can click on the “Michigan Days” link during that time and buy tickets online. Or you can call Cedar Point at 419-627-2350.

When you add one regular priced ticket at $62 the second free ticket is automatically added to your cart.

Here is the link again: https://www.cedarpoint.com/?promocode=michigandays

Think Summer 2015 Travel

We have a few plans set in stone already for the summer of 2015. Daughter has her big Europe trip to look forward to and we are doing things a little differently because of that.  Next summer will be more weekends away and smaller trips instead.

One of the weekends we wanted to plan ahead was the Chicago Air and Water show in August.  I was able to use points today to reserve us a queen room for both Friday and Saturday nights with no issue.  Not something I could do IF I waited until May or June next spring.

So IF you have some tentative plans for the summer of 2015 go ahead and book now. You can always cancel if things change or a better rate comes along! (Just be sure to book a refundable rate.)

The Hare Brained Road Trip Continues – Milwaukee County Zoo

We had a zoo membership that has AZA reciprocal admission so we used the pass at the Milwaukee County Zoo.  We had stopped at the Jelly Belly Visitors Center in the morning so it was around noon when we arrived at the zoo. It was hot enough that we debated even going to the zoo or waiting for the next morning to visit. Since it was supposed to rain the next day we put on our sunscreen and hit the zoo.

Our admission was free for the three of us but parking was still $12.  IF we had paid admission is $14.25 for adults and $11.25 for kids ages 3-12.  We would have paid $51.75 for the three of us to visit the zoo, glad I paid $12.

As I said it was hot, so we alternated into buildings whenever possible.  In spite of the heat the animals were very active.

We stepped into buildings to break up the heat.

The hippo had the right idea, we needed to cool down somehow.

Club Carlson Visa has an Outstanding Perk!!!!

We are looking at visiting Savannah, Georgia this summer.  I found out there is a Country Inn and Suites in the historic district, it redeems at 38,000 points a night.  That amount didn’t bother me as the hotel runs around $175 a night on the weekend, I would rather use points than pay that amount! After taxes the total is $192.14 a night. Ouch!!!!  (This is why I collect hotel points!)  I would love to stay for two nights but $385 is much more than I am willing to pay.

But with the Club Carlson Visa the 2nd nights redemption with points is waived. Its a free 2nd night on a points stay. So two nights over a weekend in the County Inn and Suites Savannah Historic District would only be 38,000 points total. I am very interested at what amounts to then 19,000 points a night!  Your points go twice as far if you stay in the same hotel for two nights.

Also if you sign up for the Club Carlson Visa the current offer is 85,000 points to start and automatic gold status.  Automatic gold on its own is not to shabby but the redemption perk is the largest value of the card in my eyes.  I think this would be a very good deal for our family.