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How many of you have heard you will no longer be a How many of you have heard you will no longer be able to travel once you have kids? I find most people who say these things don’t even have kids or if they do they have never traveled with their kids!

I’m not really into counting countries and we enjoy visiting places more than once, seeing the beauty all over the US and right in our state too. You don’t have to travel far to give your kids amazing experiences but you can also take them wherever you want. Y’all know my motto, if kids live there kids can visit!! 

Where have you been that people said you were crazy for taking your kids (or your parents for taking you) but you were so glad you didn’t listen to them and went anyway.

#travellingwithkids #familytravel
Everything you need to know about visiting Chichen Everything you need to know about visiting Chichen Itza, one of the 7 Wonders of the World (SAVE + SHARE this post).

Chichen Itza is 2.5 hours from Cancun, 2 hours from Playa del Carmen, and 90 minutes from both Tulum and Merida.

You can get here by renting a car, booking a private tour on Airbnb Experiences like we did, coming on a tour bus or for budget travelers taking the ADO bus. 

Most tours from Cancun are all day long, leaving as early as 7/8 am and as late as 9 pm drop off. This is because you’ll visit cenotes outside of Chichen Itza and the town of Valladolid. Since we only had 4 days in Cancun we didn’t want to spend a full day on the road but also really wanted to visit so booking private transportation allowed us to skip all the other stops and just go there and back. We were picked up at 9 and back at the hotel by 4 so we could have a relaxing evening.

Current admission is $533 Mexican pesos for adults, $80 for kids 3-12 and free for kids under 3. That’s about $30 US for adults and $5 for kids.

Once inside there is the main attraction that everyone comes to see but there are also other Mayan dwellings and a cenote. I recommend coming with a guide or hiring an official guide once on site so they can give you information on the history.

Have you been to any of the 7 Wonders? If so, which one(s)?

Hubby and I climbed the Great Wall of China together in 2007, Jordyn, James and I have been to the Colosseum in Rome, the girls and I have been to Petra and we all visited Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, Chichen Itza and the Great Pyramids of Giza together!

#chichenitza #7wondersoftheworld
Today is the last day of school and I could not be Today is the last day of school and I could not be more proud of Jordyn! Look at all those awards she racked up at her end of the year ceremony. She’s reading 3 grade levels above hers, was only 9 points away from a perfect score on her state reading test and made the Honor Roll every quarter of the year. It’s time to celebrate, let summer begin!!!
We’ve been to 34 states and while we haven’t v We’ve been to 34 states and while we haven’t visited them all yet these are 4 states you should consider visiting this summer. (SAVE + SHARE this list for inspo)

📍Idaho- Last year we explored Southern Idaho and it blew us away. City of Rocks National Reserve, Kayak to Shoshone Falls, white water rafting, and walking behind Perrine Coulee Waterfall are musts!

📍Alaska- We visited the South East part of Alaska, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan and WOW talk about stunning. You’ll love exploring ice caves, walking on glaciers, canoeing through ice bergs, seeing the volcano and hopefully spotting some bears!

📍Utah- From the famous national parks like Zion and Bryce to the lesser known areas like Kanab, Utah is stunning. You can’t miss sand boarding through Coral Pink Sand Dunes and ATVing through the gorgeous landscape.

📍California- Where else can you surf and ski/snowboard in the same day? California has the most national parks in any state so you know the beauty is beyond amazing. Having lived there for 3 years I’ve explored so many cities and there is something for everyone!!

Would you like me to share my website link for our itineraries for each of these trips in stories? Have you been to any of these? Which state intrigues you the most from this list? What city/state would you like to see us cover?

#visittheusa #bucketlisttrip #travellingwithkids
We have been traveling with our girls since they w We have been traveling with our girls since they were 6 weeks old. Is traveling with kids always easy? Nope! Are there added costs to traveling with kids? Yes! But having status with World of Hyatt has helped elevate our travels, making things a little easier and saving us money, here’s how (SAVE + SHARE this post).

1. Being a family of 4 standard hotel rooms can be kind of cramped. Having status with World of Hyatt means we’re eligible for free upgrades when available including suites as a Globalist.

2. Eating out for breakfast everyday on a vacation starts to add up really quickly. As a Globalist we get free breakfast for 2 adults and 2 children.

3. At hotels with club access Globalists also get free access which includes drinks and snacks, the perfect way to hold kids over until dinner without spending money.

4. I don’t know who decided 9 or 10am was a good time for check-out, hello we’re on vacation, we want to sleep in! Having status with World of Hyatt means you qualify for late check out at 2pm or 4pm depending on your level of status. So whether you sleep in, hit the pool or use the other amenities at the hotel you can enjoy a little longer. It especially helps us when we have flights later in the day.

5. After paying for our hotel room we hate having added fees. Thankfully when you have Globalist status with World of Hyatt resort fees are waived on free night awards and/or eligible rates.

6. Free hotel nights! There is nothing like booking a hotel and not paying a penny! Having joined World of Hyatt we rack up points (on more than just stays) and the higher your status, the more points you earn to get free stays faster.

7. As World of Hyatt members we even earn American Airlines miles on our Hyatt stays, getting us free flights faster to save even more money!

From being more comfortable to finding more ways to earn, you’re missing out if you haven’t joined World of Hyatt!

@hyatt #HyattPartner
4 Ways to Redeem Points at Hyatt Hotels & 7 Ways t 4 Ways to Redeem Points at Hyatt Hotels & 7 Ways to Earn World of Hyatt Points & (SAVE + SHARE):

Ways to Redeem
1. Redeem points for rooms at Hyatt hotels. There’s nothing like experiencing luxury without the cost, so glad I could redeem Hyatt points for this stay with one of the best views of Tokyo.

2. Redeem points to cover your meal at participating restaurants at Hyatt hotels.

3. Redeem Hyatt points to cover your spa treatment at participating spas at Hyatt hotels. 

4. Redeem points through World of Hyatt FIND experiences. With over 200 experiences like cooking classes, tastings, & walking tours there are so many activities to choose from!

Ways to Earn
1. Are you an elite member with American Airlines? If so, you can earn 1 Hyatt point for every $1 spent on AA flights. These are in addition to the normal miles you’ll earn on American, just sign into your AA account & link your World of Hyatt account.

2. Rent a car through Avis & can earn 500 Hyatt points per rental. Just provide your Hyatt membership number when making the reservation & use AWD code K817700.

3. Book a FIND experience by World of Hyatt and earn 10 points per $1 spent. Hyatt offers over 200 experiences such as culinary classes with celebrity chefs, hot air balloon ride in Arizona, guided bike tour over the Golden Gate bridge and more.

4. Even if you aren’t staying at a Hyatt property, if you eat at the hotel restaurant or book a spa treatment you can earn 5 points per $1 spent. We actually ate at a Hyatt restaurant in Kyoto & even though we weren’t staying there I gave my World of Hyatt number & received points!

5. Earn points on everyday spending with a World of Hyatt credit card: 2 points per $1 spent on restaurants, airline tickets, local transit, rideshares, & gym memberships plus earn 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

6. Transfer points earned on other credit cards who partner with Hyatt such like Chase Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve, Freedom Unlimited & Freedom Flex. 

7. Book a cruise with Lindblad Expeditions & earn 5 points per $1 spent.

Are you doing any of these?

📍Andaz Tokyo

@hyatt #HyattPartner
If you visit Lisbon or any mainland city in Portug If you visit Lisbon or any mainland city in Portugal I highly recommend adding a trip to Madeira! It’s an island off the coast of Portugal, actually closer to Africa than Portugal. Here’s how I spent 6 days in Madeira (Save + Share this post):

🇵🇹Day 1: Pool day at my hotel (NEXT Hotel) for most of the day and then I went running up the crazy hills of Madeira to see Funchal by foot.

🇵🇹Day 2: I explored the NW part of the island visiting Seixal Beach, Ponto Moniz, Fanal Forest and Ilheus da Ribeira da Janela.

🇵🇹Day 3: I went on a sidecar adventure where I explored Valley of the Nuns, the Cabo Girão Skywalk, and the fishing town of São Pedro with @madeirasidecartours.

🇵🇹Day 4: Whale and dolphin watching tour but we only saw dolphins. In the evening I did an Airbnb Experience at a locals farm house where he cooked a great dinner where 90% of the items were picked directly from his gardens that day. He also taught us how to make poncha, a favorite local drink. The tour should already be linked in my Maderia story highlights.

🇵🇹Day 5: I toured the SE part of the island visiting Ponta do Garajau, Monte Palace, and ended the day at the most beautiful views from Pico do Arieiro (the shots of me on the clouds).

🇵🇹Day 6: I watched the sunrise from Miradouro Ponto do Rosto and then did an 8 mile hike of Levado do Caldeirão Verde. After the hike I relaxed at the pool!

If you want photos taken in Madeira I recommend @robframing.

Honestly Madeira was everything and I don’t see it dropping out of my top 5 international destinations anytime soon.

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12 Ways to Earn Miles Towards Free Flights

July 18, 2017      Affording Travel

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

Using points and miles is one of the most affordable ways to travel. So how do you earn miles towards free flights? Well honestly you can earn them by doing things I’m sure you do everyday. Wait, I don’t fly everyday, that’s the best part you don’t have to. Here are 12 ways to earn miles towards free flights.

Open Frequent Flier Accounts

If you don’t have a frequent flier accounts for the airlines you travel with, sign up now! Instead of getting one for every single airline you fly use Airline Alliances to your advantage and have all your points from partner airlines go to the airline you think you will fly most often. For instance, Delta Airlines is a part of SkyTeam and includes 20 other airlines. If Delta is the airline you’d most often fly but happen to be flying one of the other airlines in the Alliance you can have your miles earned from those flights added to your Delta Skymiles account instead of the individual airlines frequent flier program that you don’t fly with as often. There are three major alliances: Star Alliance (27 airlines), Oneworld (15 airlines) and SkyTeam (20 airlines). Here you can find the airlines in each alliance.

You May Be Interested in Reading: How We Afford to Travel So Much

Earn Miles through Travel Credit Cards

There are a few ways to earn miles through credit cards: the sign-up bonuses, making traditional purchases, and shopping online through your credit cards shopping portal.

Using Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses to Travel for Free

Credit Card sign-up bonuses can be huge! The sign up bonus for my Chase Sapphire Reserve was 100,000 points which equals to $1,500 towards travel when booked through Chase Ultimate Rewards. We used this bonus to cover our flights for our trip to Thailand. Sign-up bonuses don’t come without a catch, you have to charge a minimum amount to the card within a specific time frame. For most cards this ranges from $1,000 to $4,000 in the first 90 days.

You can meet the minimum spend by charging all of your normal monthly charges to your credit card and paying it off by your due date. For most families if you add up your monthly expenses for gas, phone, internet, cable, groceries, tolls, car insurance, etc., you can easily charge $1,000/month which would have you meet the minimum charge on most cards.

Another way is to time your application when you know you have a big purchase to make. Need to buy a new laptop, camera, etc., wait to charge it on your new card. Already going on a trip? Pay for your flights, hotel, and tours with your new credit card. If your trip falls within the first 90 days also charge all your expenses while at your destination and come back with enough points to get the flights for your next trip paid for. There is no point in earning all these points if you’re going to end up paying interest so only charge what you can pay in full by your due date.

How Charging Everyday Purchases Allows You to Earn Miles

We literally charge everything we purchase with our credit card. Travel credits cards earn you a minimum 1 mile or point per dollar spent. For many cards you earn 2-3 miles/points per dollar spent on travel and dining and then 1 mile/point on all other purchases. Each year we earn at least one round-trip domestic flight for each member of our family based on things we would buy on a normal basis.

Use Online Shopping Portals to Fly for Free

Most travel credit cards have a shopping portal that allows you to shop online and earn additional points. My Chase Sapphire earns me 1 point per dollar for shopping at Target. However, if I shop at target.com through Chase’s portal I’d earn the 1 point per dollar and an additional point per dollar for doing it through their portal. Other stores offer a lot more points such as Macy’s at 3 points per dollar, Sephora at 5 points per dollar and Buy Buy Baby at 2 points per dollar. Chase alone partners with 285 online stores so there are plenty of opportunities to earn points/miles.

These websites provide great information on various travel credit cards and provide comparison tools to find which card would be best for you.

  • www.nerdwallet.com                      
  • www.creditcards.com               
  • www.comparecards.com
  • www.wallethub.com

Shop Online to Earn Miles through Airline Shopping Portals

Credit cards aren’t the only place you can earn miles through online shopping. Many frequent flier programs have their own shopping portal as well. Here are the ones I am familiar with:

  • Alaska Airlines- Mileage Plan Shopping
  • Jetblue- Shop True
  • United- Mileage Plus Shopping
  • Southwest- Rapid Rewards Shopping

You May Be Interested in Reading: 6 Tips on Planning Affordable Vacations

Link Your Credit Card to an Airlines Dining Out Program

Not only do airlines offer shopping portals to earn extra mile, many have dining programs. In addition to earning miles from the purchase on your credit card you can earn miles directly with the airline when dining at participating restaurants and having your credit card linked to your frequent flier mileage account. Each card can only be registered for ONE program but you can register multiple cards.

  • Alaska- Mileage Plan Dining
  • American– The AAdvantage Dining Program by Rewards Network
  • Delta– SkyMiles Dining
  • Hawaiian– Mogl Dining Rewards
  • JetBlue- JetBlue Dining
  • Southwes- Rapid Rewards Dining
  • Spirit– Free Spirit Dining
  • United- MileagePlus Dining

Book Car Rentals/Ride Shares through an Airlines Portal

Many airlines partner with car rental companies or ride shares such as Lyft. If you book a rental car through your frequent flier mileage account you can earn additional miles on that purchase.

    • American Airlines Advantage Members can save on car rentals and earn miles.
    • ​British Airways partners with car rental companies.
    • Delta Airlines partners with car rental companies and ride shares like Lyft.
    • JetBlue offers a special 35% discount by using code AWD # H798506 and 600 bonus TrueBlue points on Avis car rentals of 3 days or more. You can also earn double TrueBlue points on rentals of at least one day at participating Budget locations and earn special discounts by providing your JetBlue TrueBlue/Budget Customer Discount (BCD) number R344900. All you have to do is make your reservation through your TrueBlue account or provide your TrueBlue number at checkout.
    • Southwest partners with car rental companies.
    • United partners with car rental companies.

You May Be Interested in Reading: The Best Websites for Flight Deals

​Book Hotels and Airbnb Stays through an Airlines Portal

If you aren’t loyal to any particular hotel chain earning miles through an airlines frequent flier mileage program might be more beneficial. Instead of having your points for staying at any major hotel chain sit and expire have your point turn into miles with your airline.

  • American Airlines partners with 21 hotel brands
  • Delta Airlines hotel partners.
  • JetBlue allows you to link your Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards and IHG Hotel Group awards program and instead have your points automatically sent to your JetBlue account.  
  • Southwest hotel partners
  • United hotel hotel partners


Delta Airlines also has an exclusive partnership with Airbnb and you can earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all Airbnb stays when booking through www.deltaairbnb.com. Don’t already use Airbnb? Sign-up here and get a $40 credit towards your first stay. Nervous about staying in an Airbnb, read this: 8 Tips to Guarantee a Great Airbnb Experience.

Book Cruises Through Your Airline

Going on a cruise? We had the best time cruising on Royal Caribbean going to their Perfect Day at Cococay. Instead of booking directly with the cruise line or a traditional 3rd party company book through your most used frequent flier mileage programs Cruise Portal. JetBlue, Delta, American Airlines, and United all have one. Remember the extra miles you earn through booking through their websites are in addition to the miles you would earn if also booking with a travel credit card. They will typically match any other promotion you find online and a quick “I’ll just book directly with the cruise line will surely have them waive whatever minimal fee (typically $25) they charge to book with them.

Sign Up for JetBlue Badges

JetBlue is our go-to airline for domestic and Caribbean travel. In addition to earning traditional miles by flying, JetBlue has a badges program where you can earn extra miles for your loyalty. For instance by flying to any one airport 3 times you can earn a bonus of 100 miles with additional mile bonuses at 6 (500 miles) and 10 (1,000 miles) flight milestones. These are all in addition to the miles you would already earn on the flight. There are various ways you can earn badges and they are vary in miles earned. I’ve earned 5,550 miles through the badges program, which is enough for a one-way ticket.

Pool Your Airline Miles

One of the most annoying things about frequent flier mileage programs is many don’t allow you to combine miles with cash. This means when you’re short a mere 100 miles to earn a free flight your only choice is to buy miles, which can be extremely expensive and not worth it and you end up just paying for the ticket in cash.

There are a few frequent flier accounts that let you pool points with your family, earning you free flights faster. When we fly somewhere on one of the airlines below all of our earned miles go to my account and then I can book for anyone using those miles. Airlines that offer family pooling include:

ANA                    Asiana Airlines                    British Airways                    EGYPTAIR

                                          Emirates                    Etihad                             Hawaiian Airlines                       JAL

JetBlue               Korean Airlines                      Qantas                                 Virgin Australia

For details on the program from each airline check out this post by rewardsexpert.

Share Your Travel Stories to Earn Miles

The Barclay Travel Community allows you to earn miles by writing stories about the destinations you’ve been. You can write up to 5 stories per city earning 150 miles for 100 words and at least one picture. You will earn 10 extra miles for each detail you add or for any likes you receive on the post. If you have a Barclay Arrival MasterCard you can link your online credit card account for your miles to go directly there. If you don’t, you can redeem your miles earned for Amazon gift cards. People write about anything here, you can literally take a picture of your local grocery store and write your experience shopping there and earn 150 miles.

Take Surveys to Earn Miles

While tedious, taking surveys online is another way to earn miles without flying. The below airlines all have ways you can do so. Most surveys earn anywhere from 10-100 miles and take 5-30 minutes to complete. I’ve done some surveys while binge watching Netflix when I’m only a few miles short of hitting an award flight.

  • Frontier offers miles through e-Rewards.
  • Jetblue offers points through Points For Surveys.
  • Southwest is partnered with e-Rewards and Valued Opinions.
  • Spirit has Miles for Thoughts.
  • United offers miles for taking surveys through its Opinion Miles Club, e-Rewards, and My Points partners.
  • US Airways offers miles through e-Rewards.
  • Virgin America is partnered with e-Rewards.


There are so many ways to make travel more affordable. From only buying flight deals like our $200 flights to Amsterdam or making small sacrifices to me able to afford to travel frequently. Did you find this article helpful? Please share it to help a fellow traveler!

Disclosure: “Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. The commissions earned helps me offset the costs of running this blog so please support if you choose to purchase, it is much appreciated.”

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Comments

  1. Anecia O. says

    July 25, 2017 at 8:23 am

    I will look into all of this whenever I start traveling.

  2. April Kitchens says

    July 25, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    Why have I not gotten a flyer mile credit card?! Partially because I’m scared of the debt, but If I pay the card off every month, there won’t be debt! I’m always living through your IG though!

  3. Patrice says

    July 26, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    I definitely didn’t know about the last two! I’m definitely going to look into the surveys option, especially since it doesn’t require a credit card

  4. Bryanne says

    July 27, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    Very insightful! I needed the tips especially in this summer season haha. xx

  5. Felicia says

    October 5, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    This is a great post! Very detailed and helpful. I was not aware of the Barclay Travel Community. I’ll be looking into that ASAP.

  6. Kristin says

    October 10, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    This is a great list! I definitely plan to utilize the credit card shopping portal. Thanks for sharing!

  7. Vanessa Grover says

    January 3, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    Thank you SO much for this helpful information. I now have a family of 4 and was wonderfing how can we travel more without paying an arm and a leg for tickets

    • Monet says

      January 8, 2018 at 2:58 pm

      You are welcome Vanessa, there are so many tricks to making travel affordable. I literally never go to Target anyone and buy everything online so I get the points on my CC plus the extra miles by shopping through the portal. Better yet I never buy more than I plan to since I’m not walking down the aisles browsing, I swear Target gets you every time!

  8. Gloria says

    January 7, 2018 at 12:10 am

    Thank you very much for all the awesome tips you provided!! We are a family of 4 as well, we want to travel but just taking a look at tickets give us headache! But I’m sure we’ll be traveling more often with this amazing tips ❤️ Thank you!!!!!!!!!

    • Monet says

      January 8, 2018 at 3:00 pm

      You’re welcome, yes so many ways to make it more affordable. Flight deals will be your savior as a family of 4, we never pay “retail” price for flights with a little flexibility.

  9. Kiran says

    January 9, 2018 at 10:24 am

    So much great info. My husband gets a lot of miles from his work travel. Our bigger issue is the cost of hotels. I like using Airbnb also. But like the convenience of having the amenities that a hotel offers. Like a restaurant downstairs for odd hour meals with the kids. Or a provisions for quick coffee and snacks, and a shuttle service. Do you have any tricks and tips on finding great deals on hotels? Thanks for such an awesome blog. My kids are the same age as yours, and I find it so inspiring!

    • Monet says

      January 22, 2018 at 3:04 pm

      Hi Kiran,
      Since we mostly use Airbnb I don’t have many tips except signing up for hotels frequent visitor rewards or getting a hotel branded credit card. When we do book hotels I use hotels.com and momando.com to see if they have any special rate offers. There are definitely amenities you give up when staying in an Airbnb. Thank you so much for reading, glad you found it helpful!!
      Monet

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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