Miles and points roundup, Florida Keys

I see an interesting trend developing with my blog. Most of my readers are…men. Some are teenage guys, living in Canada. What are they doing reading a SAHM blog in the first place? 🙂 I guess, I shouldn’t be too surprised. I have never been a girly girl and always felt more comfortable around males. Plus I am very much into math, so it makes sense.

But I will try to reverse the trend  just for kicks, and will start including some kids photos. So, to my male readers, and that’s most of you, skip ahead, if baby stuff bore you. To my new female reader, lured in to my blog  by adorable pictures, welcome! See, I’m a momma, just like you!

Blast from the past report.

Photos above: 2009, road trip to Florida Keys, driving on overseas highway. Everyone should do this trip at least once. Stayed at Hawks Key resort near Marathon. We usually get a condo, but found a really good deal for 110 dollars per night on Expedia, about half off their normal rates.

It does pay to look around, because with coupons and discounts sometimes hotel can make sense even for a family. Especially if you only have one child. Resort was newly remodeled and somewhat upscale. They have an interactive dolphin program. LINK to the hotel site.

Drove to Key West to see sunset celebration. Very crowded, but fun. Watch for the guy with trained cats, really neat. Make sure to visit Hemingway house museum. That’s me on the beach with my daughter  in one of the state parks. The second picture is from our room balcony, overlooking the pools. Florida keys are laid back, exotic, yet easily accessible. Go there!

Miles and points segment.

1)   There is an offer for Barcalycard Best Western credit card, with sign-up bonus of 64000 points. LINK to discussion on Flyertalk. I get no commission on it. I think Barclaycard Arrival is a superior offer, but look into this one as well.

2) On a related note, Best Western is running a promotion. You get 1000 dividend miles with a purchase of a 100 dollar Best Western gift card. I value that incentive at 10 dollars. So if you have plans for that hotel brand , you may as well go for it. LINK

3) US FlexPerks card has  increased  their sign-up bonus to 20000 points, up from 17500. It’s good for up to 400 dollar flight. Personally I would pass on this offer and wait and see, if they bring a higher bonus in connection with Olympic games. They did that last year.

4) Via Deal Mommy , Luxurylink is running a promotion on their lodging deals. Don’t be fooled by the name , they have some affordable choices. LINK  to her post on it.

5) Increased Virgin Atlantic card 50000 miles  offer. This may be of interest to families,  who are looking for Hilton points. That’s because you can transfer 1:2 , so you would get 100000 HHonors points. Some popular cities , like Orlando, have some decent redemptions, so check and see for yourself. Another attractive option is the ability to redeem on Virgin America airline flights within USA.  CLICK for more. You can also redeem on award flights from USA to London, but with fuel surcharges.  Read more about it here LINK 

6) Southwest is having a 72 hour sale on their flights. LINK  to Deals we like blog.