Tide and Tan Travel

09/08/2024

DELTA FLIGHTS WITH POINTS/MILES 🛫

Do you prefer Delta when you fly? I do

Do you have a Delta credit card and enjoy the free bags? I do

Do you feel special to get 15% off your SkyMiles because you have a card? I don’t…let me explain.

Delta is my favorite domestic carrier, but they charge a ton for points and miles compared to many other airlines. They are part of the Sky Team alliance like Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic.

TRIP PLANS

Let’s take a pretend trip to London 🇬🇧 on April 4th. We’ll go with economy to keep it cheap.

Delta has a few options, but we’ll focus on 2.

Nonstop flight on a Delta plane for 90,000 miles or 76,000 miles with a Delta cc + $6.
One stop on a KLM plane for 90,000 miles (no discount for Delta card) + $6.

SAME FLIGHTS, BOOKED THRU PARTNER AIRLINES

What if we book with Air France?

Same nonstop flight on the Delta plane for 33,500 miles + $32.20. ✅ ✅
Same one stop on a KLM plane for only 20,000 miles + $120.90

What if we book with Virgin Atlantic?

Same nonstop flight on the Delta plane for 25,000 miles + $302.80.
Same one stop on a KLM plane for 25,000 miles + $178.00.

DECISION TIME

I see Air France as the winner. 👏 🎉 👏Fewer points and not a crazy fee. In fact, you could upgrade to a higher cabin class and still be less than Delta. If you fly on Delta’s plane you still get your baggage perk with your Delta card!

HOW TO GET MILES WITH OTHER AIRLINES

I find the best way is to get a travel card from Chase or Amex that is NOT a co-branded airline card. You then have a ton of airlines you can transfer the points to. If you stick with Delta, you are locked into overpaying for flights.

My example was an international flight, but I have booked with Air France and Virgin for flights to Miami and Austin. Not all flights are available, but you can shop around and find the deals. 👍🏻 👍🏻

See my profile for a link to apply for a card with Amex or Chase. Message me if you want guidance on the best cards.

05/08/2024

05/08/2024

24/07/2024

Utopia of the Seas began sailing last week. It’s not quite as big as Icon, so it comes in as second largest. This ship specializes in weekend trips of 3 and 4 nights, but does sail up to 6. If you want to experience the newest ship from $500 a person, let me know.

23/07/2024

17/07/2024

It’s been almost 20 years since a cruise line has sailed out of the “City of Brotherly Love”. Norwegian Cruise Line has announced that it will begin

17/07/2024

17/07/2024

I didn’t know this a few years ago. Are you getting the full value of what you’re paying for?

16/07/2024

Wanna be one of the first to sail?

13/06/2024

Let's create a perfect day for you and your family on Coco Cay!

Send a message to learn more

29/05/2024

Memorial Day pricing is still going on for most cruise lines. Message me for a quote!

29/05/2024

Just a reminder on how to start the casino matching game. You need the Wyndham Business Earner credit card. It’s $95 a year and comes with a decent amount of Wyndham points after your minimum spend. The crazy benefit is you get 8 points per dollar on gas! Great gas card to have. Each year, after February 1st, you can match your Wyndham status to Caesars online. It can take a couple of weeks to update on your caesars account. Once you verify your Diamond status, it’s time to head to Vegas to a Caesars property.

Since we were already going to Vegas to cash in on our free rooms at Resorts World, I looked into what promos were going on with status matching. I went to Harrah’s to pick up my new Diamond card. This gives you no resort fees, free parking, a few free nights at Atlantis Resorts in the Bahamas and $100 dining credit. The trick with their dining credit is that it has to be used all at once, so if you don’t spend the full $100 you lose the balance. We ventured to Guy’s Vegas Kitchen and I enjoyed a massive burger and cheesecake. No complaints from me besides my calorie intake.

Wynn Resorts is having a great match to Caesar Diamond now through May 31st. I matched to Wynn and got spa credit and dining credit, but the dining is only good in my birth month. The real reason I wanted to match to Wynn was for a free cruise with Holland America. The trick here is that it’s not completely free, you do have to stay 2 times during the year to have that perk kick in. We extended our trip and stayed 1 of those nights now. This is another expensive resort with rooms in the $5-700 range on a holiday weekend. Fortunately, I had Chase points and used those for a great redemption. Wynn status does come with free parking, but you do have to pay the resort fees. You also get 20% off their show Awakening. It was top notch and I would see it again!

Another short term status match going on is at Fontainebleau. If you have Wynn status, you can match over there. It also comes with $150 dining and $150 spa credits. I got my card, but we’ll redeem when we go back for our other stay at Wynn. Just a tip on the spa redemptions. They seem to be booked several days out, so if you are going book them before your trip so you can cash in on the perk.

So, we’ll return for another stay at Wynn to get the free cruise. Haven’t sailed with Holland America before, so I’m excited for a new adventure.

29/05/2024

My next piece of casino status matching.

One of the benefits of getting Prime status with Oceans is 2 free nights at Resorts World in Vegas. Yep, I called them up and there were no blackout dates, so they let me book over Memorial Day weekend when the rooms were going for $500+ per night. They matched me to their Genting Rewards program, which waived resort fees, gave me free parking, $100 dining credit and $100 free play.

The resort was great! The cool thing with their dining credit was that it could be used in small amounts until you spend the full $100. They have a food court with reasonably priced food, so we didn’t even use it all up. 5 star resort for free! See my previous post for the path to get Ocean status in Atlantic City.

16/05/2024

I just helped someone book a cruise. This will be the 1st of 2 cruises she is doing that month. Sounds like a great way to live - cruise, revitalize, repeat.

Where do you want to visit? Let's talk and get it booked!

24/04/2024

Did you know that Royal Caribbean actually recommends that you book with a travel agent? Contact me to book with any cruise line and I will work with you to customize your dream vacation.

02/04/2024

Can you really get a free cruise? Yes, but it will require a credit card fee and some travel, so maybe not 100% free.

Step 1 - get the Wyndham Business Earner credit card from Barclays. Great card for Wyndham Resorts and earns 8% on gas. Currently has a sign up bonus up to 100k points. There is a $95 annual fee.

Step 2 - once you have Wyndham Diamond status from having the card, you can match that status to Caesar’s. You do this online with a quick search. It takes a couple of weeks to show up.

Step 3 - once you have Caesar Diamond Status, go to Vegas or anywhere with Caesar Entertainment Properties. You can get your physical membership card at guest services. This will give you free parking, no resort fees on their properties and a multi night stay at Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas. You can do this every year you have the Wyndham credit card.

Step 4 - travel to Atlantic City (sorry it’s not convenient). First stop is at Hard Rock to match your Caesar status to Hard Rock Royalty (don’t forget your Caesar Diamond Card).

Step 5 - Take your Rock Royalty Card to Ocean Casino. You’ll then match to Ocean Prime. You’ll get a free t-shirt, a 2 night stay at Resorts World in Vegas and a free cruise from MSC! This expires on June 30th each year and then you have to be inactive for a while before you can rematch. I haven’t done that yet.

What are the cruise options and how does it work? You can take any MSC Cruise that is 10 days or shorter, if it’s within the year from July 1 - June 30. You have to call a number to book and pay $400. You will then get the $400 back in onboard credit. They cover cruise price, port fees and even gratuities.

We are currently enjoying a 7 day Greek Isles cruise.

One more thing, once you have status with the casinos, you can match to several cruise lines and they may give you low casino rates. We’ve never sailed MSC, but I was matched to Gold Status - priority tender boats and a gift.

There is no referral for the Wyndham Business Earner card, so this is just free advice. Enjoy! No gambling involved in the path to a free cruise, but you do get credit of $25-100 per status match if you went some free play.

Forgot to mention that Caesars gives you a $100 celebration dinner each year for one of their restaurants. So even if you just do the Vegas match, you get some good perks.

01/04/2024

$11,726 for 2 Business Class tickets from New York to Paris seemed a bit steep. How about $400 in taxes and 119k points? Sold!

Normally most points will transfer at 1:1, but you can watch for a sale and score more. American Express had a promo to transfer Member Rewards to Air France at 1:1.3, so we took the 30% mark up. 92k became 119,600 with AF.

The lay flat seats were amazing and allowed us some decent sleep. We chose individual window seats, so we could see the French countryside while landing and we were mostly going to sleep, so we didn’t need to talk. They provided a coat hanger and would take your coat. Then, there was a pillow and blanket. Inside the cupboard were noise canceling headphones and water. Soon they came around with a little toiletry bag to include lotions, toothbrush, eye mask and socks. The 3 course meal was amazing, as well as the breakfast the next morning. Yes, they brought around a cool washcloth for bed time and hot one for wake up.

The last couple of pics are of the lounge in New York. You can get there with status or by just flying business class. There were 2 large buffet lines, to include soda, juice, wine, etc. There is an included spa, but it was closed. We found a coach and sat and relaxed for our flight. We went to our gate to see tons of people, but found our queue for business class and skipped over everybody.

Truly, this was just $200 per ticket out of pocket. We racked up the points by getting the right cards and using them for our everyday spend. Having cards that provide Global Entry/TSA Pre-check make it even better.

We did book Delta flights from SLC to JFK. Since Delta and Air France are partners we were able to check our bags all the way thru to CDG and didn’t have to deal with them in New York.

If you want card recommendations or guidance on using points for a dream vacation, let me know.

20/03/2024

Holland America’s Anniversary Sale!!! 🚢🏖️

20/03/2024

Princess Cruises up to 35% off, reduced deposits and guests 3&4 are free!

12/03/2024

Always a great time for a Carnival Cruise…

17/02/2024

Not highlighting a specific cruise line because they all have some great sales.

15/02/2024

CRUISES: Did you know that using a travel agent to book a cruise is free to you? That's right, the cruise line actually pays us for our customer service. As an agent, I often can find a better deal than booking directly with the cruise line.

CREDIT CARD REWARDS: I'm sure you've heard of the big banks like Chase, American Express, and Capital One. Or maybe you've seen the cobranded cards like Delta, Marriott, Hyatt, and others. There are so many cards that earn points. How do the points work? Did you know that some points are far more valuable than others? I've done extensive research and have booked several trips on points. Happy to help guide anyone in the world of points for travel.

Are you ready to travel? Hit me up!