Miles and Points, Family, Mainz

I wasn’t sure if I should write about this, but it does relate to my message somewhat. Last week I had one of the worst scares of my life. My father-in-law picked up  my daughter from school and brought her home. He thought he saw her go inside my house. Then I got a phone call from him asking if  she was doing OK.

I said she wasn’t home, to which he replied that he dropped her off 10 minutes ago! My front door was locked so I knew she couldn’t have gotten inside. I ran  outside and she was nowhere to be found. It just happened that we had contractors working on the roof and my daughter was gone. The feeling I had is impossible to describe. Its like you can’t breathe and someone is ripping your heart out at the same time.

Fortunately I found her eventually. She was just sitting in the lawn chair, watching strange men working on our roof. Turns out , she knocked on the door and I couldn’t hear her because I was putting my son down for his nap. So she decided to entertain herself by watching all the action.

It made me think how very often we take things for granted , and how precious our families are. How easy it is to get caught up in things that really don’t matter all that much. Miles and points are great, but don’t let them take over your life. Thats me talking to myself, by the way.

Trip report.

2009, Mainz, Germany

This was just a short layover on the way to visit my family in Belarus. Since I haven’t been to Germany before, I really wanted to make the most  of my first stay in this country. We settled on Mainz, an old historic town not far from Frankfurt international airport. Yes, we could have stayed in Frankfurt itself, but I am not a fan of “modern” when I’m in Europe.

I decided on Hyatt Regency Mainz, which had the best reviews on Trip Advisor. I normally look for small hotels with character, but Hyatt seemed like a good choice, especially with an 18 month old child. Some small hotels don’t always appreciate kids and all the “fun” they bring with them. I really wanted to get a room with a view of the Reine, but the cost was 295 dollars per night. Not happening.

Instead I purchased  a Hyatt certificate for 143 dollars on their website. I also saw that Hyatt was offering to sign up for their Gold Passport membership and get several months  of complimentary Diamond status.We’ll take it! As a result we got a fruit platter and a complimentary upgrade. No mattress runs needed. Not that there is anything wrong with that! The stay was nice, but nothing spectacular.  I find Hyatts a bit utilitarian for my taste. The view from our room was tough to beat, though.

The city’s claim to fame is the fact that Guttenberg lived here and printed his first Bible. I was very excited to visit the museum and actually see it in person. We also attempted to have  dinner at a local old  eatery, but had to leave due to our child being exhausted from the craziness of flying and time zone change. Overall, we made the most of our short stay and got to experience a quintessential old German town with the very first printed Bible to boot.

Miles and points.

1)  Premier Miles and More card 50000 miles sign-up offer expires on December 15th  I wrote about it in my “Best deals” page. The offer pays me commission.

2) Wyndham credit card sign-up bonus is increased to 45000 points. Its from Barclay’s, so you will probably have to pick which of their cards suits your family’s needs best at the moment. The offer pays me no commission. CLICK HERE

3) Between now and the end of the year you can get a bonus 20 dollar card with every purchase of 100 dollars worth of gift cards to Carrabba’s. LINK  Check  your favorite restaurant website, to see if they participate in a similar promotion.

4) The details on US Airways/American merger are announced. I planned to do a post, but Mommypoints summarized very nicely what I wanted to say, probably much better than I would anyway.  LINK to her post.

5) Right now you can purchase Amex gift cards from BigCrumbs and get cash back. Plus, with a code HOLIDAYCC4 your fees are waived. Be aware, some banks may charge a cash advance fee, though reports are, Chase currently doesn’t. Basically, you make money by buying money. Hat tip to Milenerd.

6) Via Canadian kilometers, there is invitation-only (pays me no commission) Alaska Airlines Visa Signature sign-up bonus of 50000 miles after 1000 spent in 3 months, annual fee not waived. Its a very good offer from Bank of America. Be aware, you may be approved for non-signature version that comes with a lower bonus. So, apply at your own risk. LINK