Favorite Moments : London, Spain + Portugal

March 19, 2015

Every major trip we take, I like to record some of our favorite moments here on Land of Marvels, not only for my own reference to remember but also for all you lovely readers to see what we loved, what the best spots were and to help you plan your own amazing adventure. We were blown away by how much we loved Spain and Portugal and fell in love with lots of things on the trip, but when it comes down to it, here’s my top 5 favorite moments from our 11 days through London, Spain and Portugal.

We’ve been through London many times and we use it often as a stop over in Europe. We usually stay a couple days and try to see some new spots each time, but we had never made it over to London’s Soth Bank until this trip. I had of course heard about it for years, and now I know why. With gorgeous views of the London skyline, this walk along the Thames is a fantastic way to get acquainted with the city. We happened to have a gorgeous blue sky day on our walk and while chilly, it was insanely beautiful. We made stops at the Borough Market and took in views of St. Paul’s and the Tower Bridge and it was such a beautiful quintessential English day.

We arrived in Barcelona after dark and while we saw the view of Sagrada Familia from our hotel the night we arrived, it wasn’t until the following morning when we opened our hotel room window shade and took in the incredible view of the church with our own eyes from our hotel room bed that we were completely blown away.

Nick and I love a good market in Europe and our afternoon at La Bouqeria market in Barcelona did not disappoint. Filled to the brim with food of every kind, spices, meats, vegetables, fresh juices, this market was so inspiring and charming. I longed to buy the meat to bring home and to collect as much of the fresh produce as I could.

Sevilla completely stole my heart and the city will forever be so special to me, but one of my favorite moments there was wandering the windy streets of old Sevilla at dawn, before the street lamps turned off, before anyone was awake, before the dawn colors painted the sky. The tiny streets with the deep navy blue sky overhead were pure magic.

Our final night in Sevilla, Nick and I made our way down to the river that dissects the city and picked a spot amongst the locals on the banks of the water. We picked a spot and Nick set up to take some photos as twilight began to fade. I sat there and watched the sun set beyond the horizon, taking in everything that was happening and in the moment, felt so grateful to be able to experience this incredible world we call home.

Traveling to Spain?

See all of my posts on the country!

How to Pack for 11 Days in a Carry-On

March 18, 2015

This post has been on my mind for a long time and after always getting numerous questions about how we pack for 11-12 day trips in carry-ons, I thought it time to show you a behind the scenes of me actually packing for a real trip. I filmed this video in the days leading up to us leaving for Spain and Portugal, so it’s truly me packing for the trip. You’ll see in the coming days as I start posting about our trip, that the actual outfits in this packing video were what I wore on the trip and it all fit in my Tumi hardside carry-on. And so, here is how I packed for the trip and what I brought with me for 11 days!

Here’s what I brought:

An Envelope of Old Spanish Pesetas

March 17, 2015

First off, even though it has nothing to do with this post, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Since I’m Irish, I feel the need to shout that from the rooftops!

And moving on, before we get full blown into trip posts from our adventure through London, Spain and Portugal, I wanted to touch on something that occurred during our trip and my reactions to it. Two days into our trip my grandfather had a stroke and has been in the hospital ever since. The thing is, a few weeks ago, doctors were actually nervous about him having an aneurysm which in the end turned out to be nothing, only for this to happen just days later.

Two days before we left I saw my grandparents in Portland, where my grandpa handed me an envelope of old Spanish money that he had kept from his travels there years ago, a token of their adventures to extend to ours. In the moment, it didn’t seem all that important, I was grateful of course, but looking back now, it’s a memory that keeps replaying over and over in my head. The thing is, we run round and round working, taking care of our daily lives and running from one thing to another that those small moments are often overlooked, often brushed over. And yet when it really matters, those are the only things that matter at all.

It’s been a rough six months for my family, beginning in the Fall with my mom’s cancer diagnosis and now this, but out of it comes lessons that perhaps only situations like this can teach us. We stayed and finished our trip in Europe even after the news because my mom and aunts were there to help, but also because every day during the trip I would look down at that envelope of old Spanish money and know that my Grandpa would have wanted us to enjoy the experience and to create as many memories as possible.

So as we wandered the streets of Spain and Portugal, as we traveled through the countries and fell in love over and over again with that part of the world, one thought kept coming back to me over and over: we don’t know what the future holds, we don’t know when the hard times will come or what they will entail, so living each moment to the fullest, seeing the world, chasing dreams, following your heart…all those things that are easier said than done, we really must do them. We must explore our world, we must fall in love, we must contemplate this life we lead and we must do them now because we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

I wrote this post sitting on the train from Madrid to Sevilla, as tree groves and small villages flew past the window, as views of vineyards up the sides of mountains and green pastures created a gorgeous view. And all the while, that packet of old Spanish pesetas sat tucked away in my purse at my feet, a constant reminder of what it truly means to live.

Travel Tips : What to Do the Day Before You Travel

March 3, 2015

We are headed to Europe tomorrow for a 12 day vacation through London, Spain and Portugal and we couldn’t be more excited, but there is also a lot of work to do before you leave! I wrote a complete pre-trip checklist last week with general things, but there are so many little things to do the day before, so here is an extended version of that list. So as I’m running around today getting everything done, here’s what to do the day before you travel.

Clean out your wallet and purse. I always go through my wallet and purse and take out all the miscellaneous stuff that collects there in my daily life. Go through and clean out garbage, take out all those punch cards you won’t need on your trip and take out any credit cards that you won’t use while traveling. I usually just keep my Global Entry ID, my debit card and about 3 credit cards that don’t have foreign transaction fees (usually my BA card, my Sapphire Preferred card and my American Express).

Pack toiletries. I wait until right before my trip to pack all my toiletries as most of them I use on a daily basis. Go through and make sure all of them have enough in them for the duration of your trip and see how many plastic bags you’ll need to accommodate all of them.

Do laundry. I always do a few loads of laundry the day before we leave so that when we return, I don’t have added stuff to our already big laundry load after a trip. Make sure you have towels clean for when you get home and do a couple normal loads so that when you get home, you just have to focus on your trip laundry.

Set your mail hold request. This is the one thing that I always seem to forget until the last minute, luckily, it’s a perfect thing to do the day before you leave. Set it to start the day of your trip and end the day you get home. You can do this on USPS’s website and it’s fairly straightforward.

Let colleagues know you’ll be on holiday. Make sure to let your colleagues know you will be on vacation and confirm they have everything they might need from you before you leave. I always answer email while traveling anyways (just so I don’t have a million when I get home) but you probably won’t have access to all your files while you’re gone, so make sure everyone has what they need.

Download all airline or travel apps necessary. I always go through the day before we travel and make sure my phone is stocked with all the travel apps I’ll need. Flying a new airline this time around? Make sure to download their app so you can access flight information and mobile boarding passes. Also add in your flights to Flight Tracker (my favorite for keeping track of flights) so you can see all your flight times and terminal information.

Confirm what time you need to arrive at the airport. Go through all your flight information the day before and confirm how early you need to be at the airport. If you’re checking bags, be there at least 2 hours before your flight. If you carry on like we do, a solid hour before the flight is usually enough for us.

Get excited! One of the best parts of the day before travel is the excitement for the adventure ahead… don’t let the stress of getting everything done overshadow the fact that you’re going on vacation the next day!

Travel Plans You Should be Making Now

March 2, 2015

The year is slipping by us and we’re already in March! It’s semi-crazy to me how fast the time is already going in 2015 but that makes it all the more important to cement your 2015 travel plans in the coming months. Once the time starts going, it’s often hard to really make plans, as life gets crazy and busy, we tend to push things aside. So now is the perfect time to take a weekend and sit down and plan out your travels for the rest of the year! Here’s the travel plans you should be making now…

Book Your Summer Escape

Now is the time to cement those Summer travel plans. With schools out and so many people opting to travel during the Summer, you should be booking your hotels and flights now to get better deals and to make sure you get the selection you want. The longer your wait, the more expensive it will be.

Sign Up for Global Entry

If you haven’t heard of Global Entry, I did a post on it a while ago and you can read it here. In short, this is a government program in the US that basically pre-screens your for security and immigration, so when you go through security, it’s the quick line without having to take off shoes and coats and such. It also allows you to go to a Kiosk at Immigration when returning to the US from overseas, which saves a tremendous amount of time and you never have to wait in the long Immigration lines. It’s saved us so much time over the years, I love this program and more and more airports are becoming part of it, so now is the time to do it!

Plan a Fall Getaway

If you’re looking at a Fall getaway later this year, start figuring out where you want to go and researching flights. We’re looking at a New York escape for our 10 year anniversary in October and I’m beginning to do all the research so I know how much flights are looking like. Now is the time to start planning any getaway you want to make later this year.

Start Looking at Holiday Plans

I know this seems super early, but in all honesty, if you’re going to be traveling over Thanksgiving and Christmas, now would be a great time to figure out where you think you’ll be headed and start looking at prices. If you can get a good baseline of flight costs for a few months now, you’ll know later what you should be paying. Also, if you’re traveling and will need a hotel over Christmas, start planning that now. Hotels book up fast around Christmas time, especially in popular spots, so start looking!

Start Thinking About Spring 2016

It’s never too early to start thinking about next years’ destinations as well… so start brainstorming and making mental lists of destinations you might want to consider for Spring 2016! Let the inspiration flow…

Blogging + Taxes

February 26, 2015

Just a reminder that this is the last week to use the current discount on ad spots! Now through the end of February all Land of Marvels ad spots will be 25% off with code “landofmarvels” so head on over and get yours now!

It’s that time of year: taxes. I did my taxes last week and while going through, something I think that isn’t so talked about in this wonderful blogging community is how the income side of blogging needs to be recorded and worked into your personal income. So as I went through this year and did my taxes, I asked my accountant a few questions about blogging income and how it needs to be tracked to accurately measure how much you’re making and what the cut offs are for what you need to show on your income statements for your taxes. So if you’re making a little bit of money blogging and wondering the same things I was about how to record it, here’s how!

Keep Track of All Expenses

One thing I didn’t do when I first started blogging was to keep track of all the expenses for this website, which though often misleading, there are a lot of expenses! Blogs are expensive to run and upkeep if you’re in it to make money; from website design to advertising to any other services you subscribe to, blogging can be an expensive hobby. That’s why you want to make sure to track every expense so you can write it off. After all, if you’re running your blog like a business, tracking expenses is incredibly important. This includes everything from any sponsorship spots you bought (advertising) to website design costs and everything in between. If you spend money on your blog, keep a spreadsheet of all those costs.

Keep Track of All Income

As is the same as keeping track of your expenses, you should also keep track of all of your income. If you sell ads with Passionfruit (or any other way), or you offer paid sponsored posts, all the income you make from your blog should be tracked. Keep a spreadsheet of when the income is coming in, what kind of income it is and how much you made.

If you make over $400 in a tax year, you should report it.

When I pulled together all my blogging information from 2014 last week to do my taxes, I ended up with just about $150 in profit for the year after all my expenses. My accountant told me that if the income doesn’t go over the $400 mark, you generally don’t have to report it since it’s such a tiny percentage of your overall income. Though if you get over that $400 mark, you need to report it as income on your taxes.

If you start consistently making a good amount over $1000, you should set up a business registration.

Once your blog starts doing consistently well financially over the years and grows to make more money, you should consider setting up a sole-proprietor business and registering it. It’s pretty cheap (in Oregon, it’s only $50 to register) and you don’t have to do much else than that. But if you’re making over $1000 per year blogging, it would be a good idea to set up a business, particularly if you keep growing year after year.

Looking for more posts on Blogging?

See our archives here for Blogging posts.

A Complete Pre-Trip Checklist

February 24, 2015

When we get ready for a trip, especially a trip internationally, I often find myself looking for a complete pre-trip checklist to make sure I don’t forget anything. So here is how I prepare for a trip and what I do at different intervals of time before a big trip – my very own complete pre-trip checklist for you to use as well!

2 Weeks Before

+Figure out what you’ll be packing. I know a lot of people will look at this and say they can do it the night before you leave, but in my experience, a million other things in life will come up right before you leave, so save yourself the headache and the loss of sleep and do this 2 weeks in advance. I go through and grab everything I’m thinking about taking out of my closet, then I go through it and weed it down into however many outfits I need that will fit in my carry on suitcase. I also take photos and write down each different outfit for specific days to make sure I know I have everything I need.

+Save all confirmations. Another thing that will save you so much hassle later, save every confirmation email you have from your bookings. This includes flights, accommodations, experiences, train tickets, etc. Keep a file with all that information that you’ll take on the trip. I also go through and reconfirm everything looks good just to make sure I didn’t forget anything.

1 Week Before

+Get money. I always get some cash in the local currency to where we’re traveling before we leave Portland. If you get it at your local bank, you not only get a better exchange rate most of the time over doing it in airports and you don’t have to pay the fees some of those travel exchange places charge. Plus, it’s one less thing to do when you arrive so you can hit the ground running.

+Alert credit cards. You mostly don’t need to call credit cards anymore that you’ll be traveling internationally but I do confirm if I need to alert them on the websites for the cards that I’ll be taking with me on the trip to let them know I’ll be traveling through the countries on my itinerary. This way, you can be sure that no transaction will get declined due to them not knowing if it’s fraudulent or not.

+Add data plans. Nick and I like to have International data on our phones when we travel for safety reasons and to stay in touch with emails and such. So confirm with your phone provider a week prior to your trip or add it online to make sure it’s all set up.

+Buy toiletry items and check if you need any refills. I like to check a week prior to a trip to confirm what I need to buy in terms of toiletries and small shampoos and such. I also go through and check all my makeup and any other things we travel with to confirm if I need to buy refills or not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten somewhere and realized my makeup was almost empty, only to have to hunt around in a foreign country for something similar. Do this instead before hand.

5 Days Before

+Look at calendar items while you’ll be on your trip. I always like to make sure that if things are happening while we’re away, we take care of them before we leave. Things like family members birthdays or work deadlines, I make sure and buy cards or finish up projects prior to leaving, that way it’s all done while we’re away. This also applies to making sure things like your DVR is set to record things you want to watch while you’re gone or moving any conflicting appointments until after you get back.

+Pack your suitcases. While I like to plan out my outfits about 2 weeks prior to a trip, I don’t usually actually pack it in my bag until about 5 days before. This way it still gives me plenty of time to get everything in there, but also not enough time that the clothes wrinkle or get too smashed. This is also a second round to confirm you got everything.

3 Days Before

+Pay any bills that will be due while you’re away. Bills are one of those things that just happen all month long these days, so make sure any that need to be paid while you’re away, get done before you leave.

+Let someone know where you’ll be. Whether it’s a family member or a neighbor, let people know where you’ll be and a rough itinerary of your trip. This way if something happens, they have an idea of where you are. I also like to let our neighbor know we’ll be out of the country so they can keep an eye on our apartment and let us know if anything were to happen.

2 Days Before

+Get your passports out. I like to get our passports out of our safe a couple days prior to a trip. That way you can make sure they are all good to go and set them out so that you for sure don’t forget them.

+Confirm seat assignments and flight times. 2 days before is a great time to confirm all your seat assignments (before everyone gets on 24 hours previous to check in) and make sure none of your flight times have changed. It’s a great last look at all your bookings to confirm everything.

1 Day Before

+Confirm airport pickups/shuttles. I always like to know how we’re getting from the airport or train station to the hotel ahead of time. A day before is perfect to confirm those arrangements and make sure you know what’s happening once you arrive.

+Pack adapters. Pull out any adapters you might need and pack them.

+Sync devices. This is the one thing I always forget to do ahead of time and then I’m doing it last minute. Sync all your phones, iPads, computers, whatever the day before you leave so it’s done and you have time to confirm that everything transferred over correctly.

Day of the Trip

+Pack chargers. The one thing we need the night before to charge our devices, seem to always need to be packed last. But don’t forget them… that makes for an issue while traveling!

+Unplug cords at home. I like to go around and unplug lamps and random outlets at home when we’re gone just to be safe.

+Set “out of the office” reply. I still answer email regularly while traveling, but I like to let people know I’m technically on vacation so they don’t expect an immediate or lengthy reply. Set your out of the office reply to go live the day you leave.

Travel Tips : The Best Travel Websites

February 23, 2015

Just a reminder that there is only a week left to use the current discount on ad spots! Now through the end of February all Land of Marvels ad spots will be 25% off with code “landofmarvels” so head on over and get yours now!

A huge part of travel is the lead up to a trip, the research, the bookings, the spending hours trying to figure out how you’re going to get from point A to point B without spending an insane fortune. We’ve all been there, sitting behind the computer screen trying to figure out the easiest way to search and book and everything in between and I’m always curious which sites other people use to book travel and what they like about them… so here in no particular order, are some of my go-to sites!

Orbitz

I start my research at Orbitz for a few different reasons. A) I like how their website works, how it shows fares and it’s easy to filter results. It also doesn’t have a million pop ups included in your search like many other travel website. B) A couple years ago when we went to Rome and had a literal Hell of a time getting there due to canceled flights, strikes, you name it, Orbitz ended up giving us back a significant portion of what we had paid for airfare through them even though it wasn’t their fault at all and had everything to do with Air Canada, who I will never fly again after that experience. But my point is, Orbitz took care of us, even when they didn’t have to and I appreciate that and have stayed loyal.

Now I might not necessarily always book through Orbitz, but I do when the prices are right and I definitely always use them for my flight research to figure out what the options are to fly to my destination.

Tablet Hotels

I’m an interior designer in my daily life, so when I travel, one of my favorite parts of a trip are to stay in unique, boutique hotels around the world. One of the bad things about searching for a hotel on sites like Orbitz is that they have everything in the list from Hilton to Marriott to whatever. I’m all about finding that individual property with great design… enter Tablet Hotels. To be honest, I’ve only booked with them a few times because in my opinion Hotels.com (see below) has a better rewards program but I do most of my hotel research with Tablet. Tablet only shows boutique hotels, those cool spots that you love staying at!

Splendia

Splendia is another boutique hotel website that filters out all the chains, but it also offers a bit more varied options than Tablet. If I don’t find something I like on Tablet, I head to Splendia and go through their list.

Hotels.com

As far as booking hotels, Hotels.com is my go-to. Their rewards program is great and has earned us lots of free nights around the world, the website is easy to use, their customer service is fantastic and the large majority of the hotels featured on the site have free cancelation up to 24 hours before your stay. That in itself is so helpful and we’ve used that free cancelation option many a time when things have changed.

AirBnB

If you haven’t heard of AirBnB yet, I’m not sure where you’ve been hiding but it seems to be all over the internet these days, especially in blogging circles. AirBnB lets you rent apartments all over the world for incredible prices most of the time. It does take some filtering to find that perfect place but when there are places like this gorgeous Ile St. Louis spot we stayed in Paris last Fall… have at it!

Rail Europe

When we travel through Europe, we try to do as much transit on trains as possible as it’s so much easier than flying. So when I’m putting together how we’re going to get from place to place in Europe, I head to Rail Europe which encompasses almost all the major European train networks in one website. Granted sometimes their prices are a bit higher, so if that’s the case, I’ll do my research here and head over to the actual train network’s website to book. But having everything in one language and encompassing many different networks on one site always makes train bookings easier.

TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor has been around for a while now and yet it’s still such an incredible source of information. I never book a hotel without checking TripAdvisor first. The key to using this site to your fullest advantage is taking everything written there with a grain of salt. Anybody can get on there and complain about the smallest thing, so realize what’s important to you and just ignore the comments that don’t relate to your own booking. For example, a complaint I see a lot on there is that a hotel is noisy. I skip right past that comment because that to me doesn’t really matter if I can hear noise outside or in the hallways… that’s not a big deal to me as I tend to sleep right through it. But comments about cleanliness or bad staff… those send me looking for a new hotel.

Trainline

Trainline is Europe’s leading train and coach app. They work with 207 rail and coach companies so that customers can travel to thousands of destinations in and across 45 countries in Europe. Their aim is to bring together all rail, coach and other travel services into one simple experience so people can get the best prices and smart, real time travel info on the go.

I Don’t Believe in Bucket Lists

February 19, 2015

I know this might sound strange, but I don’t subscribe to the bucket list idea.

The idea of creating this list of things to do before you die has been around for a while now and especially in the blogging world, it’s really taken root. I began thinking about this a few weeks ago and actually wrote this post en route to Hawaii last month but it’s taken me a while to get it right before posting. After I saw a similar article, I was even more encouraged to post my take on the bucket list idea because I have a lot of thoughts on the matter. So after multiple drafts, here’s why I don’t believe in Bucket Lists…

Sometimes it seems the travel blogging world is just full of counting how many countries you’ve been to and how many points you’ve checked off your list and I have a hard time with that for many different reasons. I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve lived overseas and when it comes down to it, I really couldn’t give you a number of countries I’ve set foot in mainly because I’ve never sat down to figure it out. I couldn’t tell you which places have been bucket list items because I’ve never had a bucket list, just a curiosity and a passion to see the world we call home and live each day I have to the fullest. I’ve never subscribed to the idea that there are a definite number of things I have to do and see before I die or that if I never see the Great Wall of China, my life wouldn’t have been complete. I subscribe to the idea that while yes, there are definitely an abstract number of places that are on my mind that I’d love to see and experience in years to come, but I feel like sometimes the idea of just checking things off a list does an injustice to the idea of travel and exploration in general.

I’m not saying this to go against anyone who loves checking things off a list or lives by the idea of a bucket list, but for me personally, I believe that experiences while traveling that come up randomly, places that inspire you that you never thought would, living in the moment while exploring an unknown place or a place not on your list…those things you can’t necessarily plan for and often just happen while traveling. Those are the things in my experience that are so much more important and so much more worthwhile than having a box to check.

Some of my favorite things I’ve experienced while traveling haven’t been those bucket list items that everyone has like the Taj Mahal or seeing the Eiffel Tower. Those monuments aren’t necessarily the best things to see in the world and are often not as incredible as the lesser known spots that you might skip in order to make it to your bucket list items. For some, places like the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower would be made a priority specifically for a bucket list item to check off, but for me, a place like Udaipur (a lesser known city in India) or the lesser known parts of Paris have been much more substantial and life changing experiences and could potentially be left off a travel itinerary in search of those places everyone knows about.

And so here in lies the rub. Bucket lists in general can serve a purpose to help us get to places in the world, they can push us forward and help us establish goals but there is so much more to the world that just checking boxes off a list of places everyone wants to see or counting the countries you’ve visited. It’s often the unknowns, the places like Udaipur or the back alleys of Paris that are more worthwhile for your life journey, that will show you more beauty and inspiration than many of the boxes on a bucket list. Checking boxes and counting countries is fine if it works for you, but also remember to treat each box as more than just a square on paper. Each place on that list is also a vibrant culture and memorable moments, they are people and places and experiences and sometimes in an effort to get as many checked boxes and see as much as possible in our lives, we forget to look around and take in all the things that are unknown and possibly more important.

Travel Tips : Booking Award Travel

February 18, 2015

Earlier this week, I booked one way tickets for Nick and I to fly from Portland to LA, then LA on to Sydney, Australia for our trip in November for 42,000 Alaska miles and $40 to fly on Qantas. Granted it’s only in Economy class, but still, that is such an incredible deal I couldn’t quite believe it until it was all done and booked. As I was booking it, I thought to myself, I should definitely write a blog post about this topic, booking award travel, since it does usually come with some headaches and it’s helpful to know some of the ins and outs of how to do it effectively. There are lots of other website that have way more information and tips on this like The Points Guy, one of my favorites, but here are a few tips and tricks that I’ve come across when booking award travel, which I’m doing more and more of as of late.

Websites don’t always show how many award tickets are available – so call the airlines.

Websites of the various airlines are supposed to show how many award seats are left or available, but they don’t always actually come through on this. It’s important if you’re traveling with someone else or multiple people, to call and verify how many actual award seats there are. This happened to me booking our Australia flights, as I was booking for Nick and I in premium economy and got to the very end when it finally said there was actually only 1 premium economy seat. So I ended up calling Alaska and having them book us together in economy instead where there was availability.

Using credit cards not tied to Airlines can often be more worthwhile.

One of the things that drives me crazy about booking award travel on certain airlines is that they have hardly any availability and prices can often still be expensive even when using miles. One of my favorite ways to get around this obstacle is using credit card points that aren’t tied to a specific airline, like my Chase points that I earn on my Sapphire Preferred card (which by the way, if anyone is interested in signing up for this card, I have a special targeted email that can get you more points if you email me) and my Business Ink Plus card, both of which I would highly recommend. My points from various cards can be combined and used toward travel on any airline or travel expense anywhere and often the points needed are less than going through specific airlines for specific routes. You can also do the cash + miles option with Chase points, which can be incredibly lucrative and save you lots of money in the long run.

A little side note on using my Chase points as well, you get the mileage from those flight segments in your airline account since it’s booked through a third party, which is fantastic since usually booking through airlines themselves, you won’t accrue that mileage and help you get to elite status.

Book short flights using miles that are hard to use on long hauls.

I’ve talked before about how much I love my BA visa card, but the problem with BA is that there is hardly any availability usually when booking award travel through them and on top of that, their fuel and surcharges are way higher than most other airlines. You might end up paying a bunch of points + $1000’s in fees sometimes depending on where you’re flying, but the trick is, using those BA points on smaller, shorter flights can be a great use. I used a bunch of BA points for our upcoming trip through London, Spain and Portugal for flights in between cities, some even in business class for a steal. Knowing when and where to use your miles is a really important thing to get the most out of them, so do your research.

Favorite Moments : London, Spain + Portugal

How to Pack for 11 Days in a Carry-On

An Envelope of Old Spanish Pesetas

Travel Tips : What to Do the Day Before You Travel