In the past whenever I was traveling, I would come home to find that Jeff had thrown out my things cleaned the house and tossed organized my piles of stuff.
It only took me about five years of traveling to get my revenge realize that if I got rid of organized his things when he was gone, he'd stop doing the same.
Things have been good the last few years and Jeff has left my piles alone. Things have taken a different turn...
While at TBEX during the Road Rally (good thing Colorado Mountain Express has free WiFi on their shuttles), I got a text from Jeff that he was going to replace the two tiles in front of the dishwasher that had cracked.
My thought was he could redo the entire kitchen floor, replacing the 12x12 gray Travertine tiles with the 18x18 Beigeish Brown Travertine tiles we now have in the addition and bathrooms. This way the entire house would have the same tile.
His idea, replace the two tiles and the dishwasher.
What? Exactly!
Our dishwasher works fine. Albeit it is old - the previous owners replaced the dishwasher as an added feature when we bought the house over 18 years ago. Sure, it was old and loud, but it did the job and worked fine. Why spend money replacing something that works, when you can use that money for something else, like an iPad....
But, as I was thousands of miles away and not in a position to have more a direct output, I came home to a new dishwasher.
Sure, it's pretty, stainless steel and matches our granite countertops. It's also whisper quiet and we don't have to scrub the plates off before we put them in the dishwasher.
Hmm, I think it may be growing on me....
Win 80,000 HawaiianMiles in Hawaiian Airlines Aloha from contest.
Upload your photo into a destination templates by 11:59 HST on July 4, 2012.
Enter soon to be eligible for weekly drawings of 10,000 HawaiianMiles.
Enter the Aloha from contest here.
Read the fine print here.
On May 15, Radisson launched their Big Night Giveaway (see this post), they also launched the So Go Country promotion for their Country Inns & Suites brand of hotels. With a little creativity I managed to turn one night into 55,134 points. Here's how:
The Country Inns So Go Country promotion awards 44,000 bonus points to the first 35,000 people who register and complete a qualifying stay during the promotion period of May 15, 2012 - July 15, 2012. The cavet: if you're the 35,001 person to register or complete your stay, instead of 44,000 bonus points you only get 15,000 bonus points.
Since this could be a slippery slope, I choose to complete my stay sooner vs later. Plus, there's only one Country Inn & Suites in San Diego. With limited supply and peak travel season approaching, the best rates are now vs later.
I had planned a stay-cation, booking two rooms (I had registered myself and Jeff for the promo). But Jeff reminded me that he was riding up Mt. Baldy on Saturday for stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, the terms and conditions of the So Go Country promo dictate that you have to be physically present at check-in and check-out, so we only booked one room.
But it wasn't a loss since my boys were drug got to experience their first mattress run.
The point breakdown:
I booked into a double Gold Points rate for only $20 more. This breaks down to $0.07 cents a point (which is the standard rate Club Carlson sells Gold Points), not saving any money but not losing either.
As a Silver member in the Club Carlson program I earn a 25% bonus.
Booking online as a Silver member gave me another 2,000 bonus.
By using the promo code mentioned in this post, I got another 2,000 points.
There's a Staples a block from the Country Inn & Suites San Diego North along with a Shell station. I needed to fill up on gas so I purchased Shell gas cards at Staples using my Ink Bold. (nod to Frequent Miler; I haven't paid at the pump since February).
I used my Sapphire Preferred card for dining to take advantage of the 2x Ultimate Rewards points on dining. The same card was used to pay for the hotel, also at 2x UR points.
We had happy hour appetizers at Chili's across the parking lot from the hotel. Then stopped by Extreme Pita (part of the idine program) since it was only 3 miles away to get a few extra miles and points. Since my Sapphire Preferred is also linked to my idine account, I earned 5 miles per dollar spent with American Airlines (my airline of choice).
Here's how:
| DESCRIPTION | POINTS | TYPE |
| County Inn & Suites - San Diego North | 2,750 | Club Carlson |
| Silver - 25% Room Points Bonus | 688 | Club Carlson |
| County Inns So Go Country 44,000 Bonus | 44,000 | Club Carlson |
| Business Rate Double Points Bonus | 2,750 | Club Carlson |
| Online Booking Silver Member Bonus | 2,000 | Club Carlson |
| Welcome Next Stay 2000 Bonus Points | 2,000 | Club Carlson |
| Staples Shell $75 Gas Card purchase | 75 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Ink Bold 5x bonus | 375 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Appetizers | 23 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x dining | 23 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Dinner | 20 | Ultimate Rewards |
| AA Rewards Network | 100 | AA |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x dining | 20 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Hotel stay | 154.78 | Ultimate Rewards |
| Sapphire Preferred 2x travel | 154.78 | Ultimate Rewards |
| 55,134 | TOTAL |
Watch for a full review of the Country Inn & Suites San Diego North to be posted soon.
(George Hincapie not Jeff: I couldn't find one of Jeff on his bike and since I love me some Hincapie, I figured this was close enough. )
Yesterday...
Me: "What are your plans for today?"
Jeff: "I think I'll go for a little 35 mile maintenance ride."
Me: "Hmm, maybe I need a maintenance mileage run...."
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Enter the Royal Caribbean Shell Yourself Contest here.
Enter to win some miles and cash in the US Airways Miles Gift Registry Sweepstakes that begun on May 1, 2012 and ends on June 30, 2012. It will only take a few moments of your time and you could win 100,000 US Airways miles and $2,000, more than enough for a nice vacation. Not a bad investment of your time, don't you think.
It took me 10 minutes to earn 61 entries - half that time was signing into my US Airways account since I couldn't remember my password. Ooops. :) My 61 entries consisted of # 1, # 2, # 4, and # 5.
Here's how to enter:
Enter here. Or if you want to help me earn 5 more entries, enter using my referral link here. After you've entered, leave a comment along with your referral link and hopefully the next person will do the same.
What could be better than winning a 7 day trip to Hawaii? How about a 7 day trip to Hawaii, a Million Hilton HHonors Points, AND $1,000.
Enter the Battleship Ultimate Hawaiian Sweepstakes and you could win a Grand Prize trip for two to Hawaii to explore the islands where Battleship was filmed. Grand Prize will include:
Two (2) First Prize winners will receive:
Enter to win here.
See the 2012 Olympic Games in London this summer courtesy of Chase Sapphire and Visa.
Chase Sapphire and Visa have partnered to offer one lucky winner a 4 Day trip to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, complete with roundtrip airfare, 4 star hotel accommodations with daily breakfast, and tickets to the Olympic Games events.
There are 3 ways to enter the Visa London 2012 Olympic Games Sweepstakes:
1) Automatic Entry: Use your Chase SapphireSM Visa Signature card for all your spending between May 7 - May 31, 2012. You’ll automatically be entered for a chance to win when you make a purchase. If you don't have a Chase SapphireSM Visa Signature, you can still enter.
2) Online: Enter via the Chase Sapphire Visa promo here.
3) Mail: hand-printing your name, address, city, state, ZIP code, and daytime and evening telephone numbers (including area code) on a 3" x 5" card, and mailing, in a #10 envelope with postage affixed, to: Visa London 2012 Olympic Games Sweepstakes for Chase Sapphire, P. O. Box 997, Plainview, NY 11803-0997. Mail-in entries must be postmarked by 5/31/12 and received by 6/7/12 in order to be eligible.
I've entered, how about you?
I posted this on my Traveling Well For Less blog the other day.
Want a million miles and a VIP trip for 4 to Disney World? US Airways is offering just that.
Here's how:
1) Enter their contest between now and June 4, 2012. One entry per person per day.
or
2) Book a 3 Night US Airways Vacation Walt Disney World package including airfare to and from Orlando at a participating Disney property. You will be automatically entered.
The prize:
The catch: This contest is only open to US residents who are age 21 and older.
Enter here.
