See our Advertiser Disclosure here. Back in 2012, we’ve decided to finally visit New Orleans as a family. We had two small kids, so driving seemed like the best option at the time. However, since it takes at least 11 hours to reach New Orleans from our home in central Florida, we opted to break […]
Success: Using My Amex Hilton Aspire to Prepay a Resort Credit on a Future Stay
See our Advertiser Disclosure here. Last month, I wrote a post on how I made out like a bandit on my upgrade from no-fee Hilton card to Aspire version Ironically, when I accepted the offer, I did it because at the time I didn’t have any better options. Plus, the fact that there would be […]
Financial (and Other) Lessons from Current Crisis in Belarus
See our Advertiser Disclosure here. If you’ve been following the news, you probably know that Belarus (where I grew up) is currently going through societal upheaval, following recent elections. Several readers have reached out to me asking about my family, something I appreciate. In this post I won’t be focusing on the political aspect of […]
Why Occasionally Upgrading to Premium Cards Makes Sense for My Family
See our Advertiser Disclosure here. Like many of you, I had big 2020 travel plans that didn’t materialize due to pandemic. We were supposed to go to Hawaii and Japan, and ended up driving to a neighboring state of Georgia instead. C’est la vie. Since I like to plan everything well in advance, I was […]
Why I Have Mixed Feelings about Our Recent Trip to Georgia Mountains
See our Advertiser Disclosure here. After stay-at-home order in Florida was lifted, our daily family life didn’t really change a whole lot. We don’t go out to eat, we avoid the local gym, and we haven’t seen our friends in months. I leave the house to shop at a grocery store, and that’s about it. […]
Here We Go Again: Rebooking My Trip to Japan for 2021
See our Advertiser Disclosure here. Who in their right mind would book an international trip right now? There is so much uncertainty, and who knows when the borders will reopen to Americans. It’s not like this country is a stellar example in containing coronavirus (an understatement of a century). But I started booking award flights […]