Travel

Financial Literacy Month #5

As we get closer to Spring, are you ready to explore the outdoors? April 19 is one of the days that you can go to a National Park for free. Other days this year are June 19, August 4, September 27 and November 11. We have seen a few but have more to see. Last year we went to Mount Rushmore and Badlands. #JillRussoFoster #FinancialLiteracyMonth

Back To Travel

You know we love to travel. When the pandemic hit, we were home and there was not much travel out of the area. We were left with lots of credits to use, so we are back on the road again. We just returned from a summer trip to the west coast. First time back on a plane in 18 months (might be a record for us).

We did a lot a planning and as some places we wanted to go and see still had reduced capacity, COVID 19 and wildfire restrictions is place.

This is what we experienced going to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park and Fly Geyser at Black Rock –

Airport / Flying – Lots of flight cancellations and changes made flying challenging. Our outbound flight was cancelled, and we were rescheduled on four different flights within a 24-hour period.

Hotel / Timeshare – That went smoothly. From check in to check out, all went well. We found that the cleaning procedures were great.

Rental Car – Prices are rising as inventory is limited. Thank goodness, we reserved months in advance. They didn’t have the size car we booked months in advance, so we were given an upgrade for no additional cost.

Tours – We took one tour that we booked months ago and there was plenty of hand sanitizer. We were a little disappointed about others on the tour not wearing masks in the bus, but we had ours on.

We packed lots of wipes to clean to do our own cleaning. We packed lots of hand sanitizer and used it frequently. It was no problem taking a small bottle through TSA.

It felt great to get away again.

Credit Card To The Rescue

For several years, we were planning this big vacation for this year. We would be visiting several European countries over the course of three weeks. Lots of time and efforts was put into the planning and coordinating with friends we would be seeing along the way. Enter 2020 and the pandemic, and we cancelled everything.

That left us with many refunds / credits to pursue. The airlines tickets were amazingly easy, we cancelled, and miles were returned to our account within days. We have a credit for future travel – easy. Hotels were all booked without a deposit – so that made cancellations easy. Excursions were fairly easy to cancel, although we have credits for one to use in the near future (I hope).

Now on to the hard part. We chose to cancel our cruise before the cruise line cancelled the cruise. We did it before final payment, as we did not want to have our money tied up. Now, we needed to get back our deposit plus some extra charges. We cancelled our cruise more than 90 days in advance, so all was refundable. We understood that refunds were taking quite a while and were patient. The credits started to come in and various amounts. No amount refunded was equal to the charges. So, we totaled up what was owed and started to subtract the refunds, but not all the money was returned. (Thanks to meticulous record keeping, we knew what was owed to us and how it was paid for).

Why is this important? Because when all was done, we were not made whole. We were shorted some of our money paid. We ended up filing a dispute with our credit card company. When you use a credit card for payment you have the added benefit for protection. We were able to provide all the details, original charge information and all the calls / emails to rectify the situation. This is important for your dispute case. Then just this past week, the dispute was resolved by our credit card company and we are all set, and we were made whole.

When you find yourself at your wits end and frustrated, know that your credit card company can help you resolve the situation. Remember this only works if you use a credit card for payment.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

We have stopped buying gifts for each other a long time ago. We don’t need more stuff in our home. We chose to celebrate occasions with experiences.

Our wedding anniversary is next week, but we celebrated early and took a weekend away. We love music and had the chance to go to Eric Clapton’s Guitar Festival 2019 in Dallas – two great nights of music with so many performers benefiting his charity Crossroads. It was an incredible experience.

We were able to do this with many opportunities to save. We were able to use airline miles for the upgraded flight and we earned miles for flying for the next trip. Our hotel points got us an incredible rate of 50% off and the hotel had shuttle service within 2 miles of the hotel. No need to rent a car, pay for parking at the hotel or transportation to the arena.

This was a great way to celebrate and save money in the process.

What Are Your Plans?

Taking time away from your regular routine is good for you.

American’s typically take less vacation than people in other countries. We personally make vacation a priority. It doesn’t have to be some big vacation. It can be a variety of things – from a day off staycation or a weekend away to the trip around the world. Here’s an article by Business Insider about the benefits of vacation.

I have a bucket list of things I want to do and/or see – from 1 day trips and exploring local attractions, to much bigger vacations. For me, I want to see Waterfire in Providence, RI, visit the National Parks all the way to cruising the Panama Canal. What’s on your list?

With Labor Day weekend upon us, what are you planning to do – plan some time that isn’t part of your normal routine and do something different.

Going On The Road

Do you have a summer road trip planned? Maybe you are taking the kids back to school. Either of these situations or jsut in general, here are some tips to keep you and your car comfortable in these dog days of summer.

Read 11 Cool Tips for Comfortable Summer Drive

You might learn something you never knew 0 I did.

Summer Travel For Everyone

As we start to think summer, what are your plans?

Personally, we are planning a few day trips / long weekends. One day trip in the works is to a concert that’s about 2 hour drive each way. This takes some planning – checking out the route and plans for the concert – tickets, parking, the location, etc. Our weekend away is for later in the summer, this involves more planning as it’s out of state to an event. Nver the less, planning comes into play here as well.

With all our plans (and whatever you are planning) for this summer, here are some tips for that road trip from The Hartford for everything from a day trip to driving in a foreign county to prepare yourself and your car to be able to plan ahead.

You need to consider – route maps, lodging, gas, lodging, admission fees, parking and more to work with your budget. Options is what it’s about. For example, route maps have come a long way from the paper maps to GPS to phone navigation apps – all are good choices, but require planning. What’s your preference? Doing your research ahead of time, helps you plan your finances and helps you to stay within your budget.

I’ll keep you posted on our summer adventures. So what’s on your bucket list for this summer (and beyond)?

Take Time For Fun In Your Life

We were away and now back and ready to go. Yes, we took another cruise to the Caribbean on the Celebrity’s Equinox.

We had perfect weather 85 and sunny everyday. We did lots of fun things – relaxing at the pool, watching shows, comedians an magicians. Here are some photos of our day on Sapphire Beach, St Thomas, breakfast on our balcony, our glass blowing experience and more.

Packing Light

We don’t want to pay the checked baggage fee with the airlines, so we try to pack in a carry on.

If I can do it, you can to. Here are some tips on how we pack light:

Pick a color theme – I pick three colors (two neutrals and a color) so that I can mix and match outfits.
Make items do double duty – a pair of sandals can go to the pool and dinner.
Wear you bulkiest clothing – think sweater / coat / sweatshirt vs. packing it.
Consider packing less clothes and doing laundry mid way through the vacation.
Think multiple use items – your phone or tablet can be your camera, e-reader and still be able to check your email vs. all single use items / electronics.

So I wear my sneakers and sweatshirt. We bring a pack a clothesline, clothes pins and laundry detergent to do laundry. My tablet eliminates my need for a camera, book / magazines. I wear my sandals to the pool and then use them in the evening for dinner )shoes take up a lot of room in the suitcase). My pool / beach cover up can be used a as sundresses for dinner. It takes a little organization, but works for me.

Every little thing you can eliminate from your luggage will lessen what you hvae to take and in turn you will have less luggage and avoid luggage fees. One carry on can easily do a week of vacation for me.

Changes Coming To Travel

Thinking about traveling? It’s always on my mind.

Here are some things that you need to know for future plans.

If you are planning on traveling by plane within the US, you may need to upgrade your driver’s license. By October 1, 2020, you will need more than just your driver’s license for identification. You will need an enhanced driver’s license. It’s easy to do, I did this 4 years ago and it was simple. When I renewed my driver’s license, I just brought additional paperwork with me and I was all set. I now have a gold color star in the upper right corner of my license indicating that it’s an enhanced driver’s license. Here’s more information. If you have a passport this will work instead.

Are you planning on traveling to Europe? Right now US citizens can visit most of Europe for 90 days or less without a Visa. Well that’s changing. Starting July 1, 2021, European travel will require approval from the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS). This is for enhanced security requirements. Apparently, you can use this authorization multiple time during a three year period. Here’s more information.

Happy traveling!