I generally believe there are three reasons to apply for and keep a credit card.

• First is any welcome offer on the card.
• The second reason is if the card has attractive spending categories.
• The final reason is any ongoing benefits you receive for having the card.

Most credit cards check at least one of these boxes, but it’s rare that a card will check all three. The card_name, with its current welcome offer allowing you to bonus_miles, checks maybe 2 and a half. It has a great welcome offer and excellent ongoing benefits. The rewards you get from ongoing spending are okay but not extraordinary, though Chase has made some nice updates like adding 5x on travel booked through the Ultimate Rewards portal and a $50 annual hotel credit. Still, the welcome offer alone makes it worth considering.

Outstanding Welcome Offer

The biggest reason to get the Chase Sapphire Preferred card right now is that its welcome offer is at an increased level. The Chase Sapphire Preferred was one of the first credit cards I ever got, and the signup bonus was 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points. That was 6 or 7 years ago, and over time, the welcome offer on the Sapphire Preferred has gradually continued to go up and up. First we saw 50,000 points, then 60,000 and then 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points. We have seen it go as high as 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points but I don’t know if or when that offer will ever come back.

Now you can bonus_miles_full And if you have a spouse with a Chase Sapphire Reserve card, it could be worth even more. And even better, you can often get even more value by transferring to Chase’s travel partners. Like the time I turned 100,000 Ultimate Rewards points into a $6,500 train trip.

Earning Ultimate Rewards points

Here is the earning potential while using the card_name

• 5x total points on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 Annual Ultimate Rewards Hotel Credit.
• 2x on other travel purchases
• 3x points on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout and dining out.
• 3x points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs).
• 3x points on select streaming services.
• 1x points on all other purchases

Combining Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

Another great reason to consider signing up for the card_name is the ability to combine Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You can combine your Ultimate Rewards points that you’ve earned on different cards, and you can also combine points with authorized users on your account. That makes it fairly straightforward to combine points between spouses / partners as well.

The reason this is so important and valuable is that the value of your Ultimate Rewards points depends on the card that you earn them on. If you only have a no-fee Chase card like the card_name or card_name, then your points are only worth 1 cent each. But if you have a premium card like the card_name or card_name, then your points become worth 1.25 cents per point. So if you already have a lot of Ultimate Rewards that you’ve earned with a Freedom Flex or other no-fee Chase card, then applying for the Sapphire Preferred not only lets you bonus_miles, but it makes all of your EXISTING points worth 25% more. Having a premium Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred also unlocks the ability to transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to Chase’s hotel and airline transfer partners.

Points for those who have the card_name are worth 1.5 cents per point. Unfortunately, you can’t hold both the Sapphire Reserve and the Sapphire Preferred at the same time. But if you have a spouse or partner who does have the Sapphire Reserve, then you should be able to combine points with them. That might make the welcome bonus worth $1,000 or more.

Primary Car Rental Insurance

Another great reason to have the card_name is for the car rental insurance. Like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Sapphire Preferred has outstanding car rental insurance. Paying for a rental car with the Sapphire Reserve saved my parents nearly $1000 when they ran into problems with their rental car. The best part about the rental insurance with the Sapphire Preferred is that it’s primary, unlike the insurance with many other credit cards. That means that it comes into play before you would be required to make a claim with your own auto insurer.

Other card_name Benefits

Besides primary car rental insurance, some of the other benefits that come with the card are:

• Earn up to $50 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Unlock 1:1 point transfers to Chase’s hotel and airline travel partners
• Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance
• Baggage Delay Insurance
• Earn 5x points on Lyft rides through March 31, 2025
• Complimentary access to DashPass
• $10 monthly statement credit from Gopuff.
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ if you activate by July 31, 2024. Plus, Instacart+ members earn up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• No foreign transaction fees
• annual_fees

If you use the $50 hotel credit, that more than cuts the annual fee in half

The Bottom Line

If you’re eligible to get the welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you should highly consider it. This is one of the best offers that we’ve ever seen, on any card. In order to be eligible for the bonus you must:

• Be under Chase 5/24
• Not be a current cardholder of any Chase Sapphire card – aka the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Not have received a new member bonus for any Sapphire card in the past 48 months

KEY LINK: card_name – bonus_miles_full annual_fees

If you have any questions about this offer or want to talk over how it might work for you, please email me at dan at pointswithacrew dot com. I am more than happy to talk to anyone about this or any other offer and how it might work for you.

Are you planning on applying for the Chase Sapphire Preferred with its outstanding welcome offer? Leave a note in the comments.

Buying Shinkansen Tickets

You can buy Shinkansen tickets in advance, and if you’re traveling during a popular season or during rush hour, you might consider buying your bullet train tickets in advance from the Japan Rail website. To ride the shinkansen bullet train, you need two kind of tickets. First is the regular passenger ticket that tells you car, seat, etc. Then you need an express ticket that allows you to ride the actual shinkansen bullet train. You can also pay extra for a reserved seat as well as for a “green car” ticket (first class).

Because we were traveling during the offseason and in the middle of the day, we just bought our tickets at the station (in our case, Shinagawa Station). It was JPY14,720 in total, or about USD$107 per person.

Waiting For The Shinkansen Bullet Train

The shinkansen trains come pretty regularly throughout the day (I think every 30 minutes during the day?), and so we had about 10 or 15 minutes after we bought our tickets before it was time to make our way through the platform. You put your ticket in the turnstile to even get access to the shinkansen section of the train station. We went down to a lower level to platform 23. We were on Nozomi 37 that departed at 13:37.

Here’s the video of our Tokyo to Osaka Shinkansen Bullet Train arriving at the station.

Shinkansen Bullet Train Tokyo to Osaka Review

There is plenty of room onboard for luggage and to stretch out. Because we had bought our tickets so close to the departure of the train, we were not able to select a window seat, so we were next to each other in the middle and aisle. At one point a conductor did come by and check our tickets, and there was also food that was available for purchase, though we just ate the lunch that we had purchased at the train station before we boarded.

There was Shinkansen bullet train wifi available for free. The speeds were fine when it worked, but it was a bit finicky and kept kicking me off and making me reconnect.

The total time between Tokyo and Osaka on the Shinkansen Bullet Train was about 2 hours 30 minutes. There were a few stops along the way where people got off and on.

The Bottom Line

Traveling on the Japanese Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka was a bucket list item and definitely an experience to remember. Buying tickets was easy to do in-person at the train station, though you can also buy tickets online beforehand. These bullet trains go about 200 miles per hour and take about 2.5 hours to get from Tokyo to Osaka.

Have you ever ridden the Shinkansen Japanese Bullet Train from Tokyo to Osaka? Share your experience in the comments below

The Conventional Wisdom – Don’t Stand Up

This was a topic recently covered by both View From the Wing and One Mile at a Time, and I thought I’d add my 2 cents. The conventional wisdom that I’ve seen says that you should not stand up as soon as the plane lands (or rather, when the plane arrives at the gate). The idea is that we’re all going to the same place, so just wait your turn until everyone ahead of you has deplaned. I’ve even seen people get super aggressive about it (at least in their words) – talking about how they will physically try to stop someone who tries to advance down the aisle “out of turn”

And I do understand the conventional wisdom here, and if this is how you like to approach things, I have no problem, as long as you are expeditious at getting your own bag out and deplaning as quickly as reasonably possible.

4 Reasons To Stand Up When The Plane Lands

Here are 4 reasons to stand up when the plane lands:

1. I’ve Been Sitting Down For Hours

The first reason is that I’ve already been sitting down for hours, depending on how long the flight was. I want some extra time to stand up, stretch my legs and just get more comfortable. I can’t understand why anybody would have a problem with my doing this.

2. It Gives More Room To My Seatmates

Of course this really only applies if you are in the aisle seat, but as soon as we get to the gate, I will usually unbuckle my seatbelt, stand up and step out into the aisle.

(SEE ALSO: I used to be on #TeamWindowSeat… then this happened)

Doing so gives more room for my seatmates in the middle and window. Depending on what else is happening, they may not be able to also get into the aisle or even stand up completely, but they can also scoot over, stretch out some and maybe more easily get their personal item ready for deplaning.

Delta A321 from Delta.com

3. It Speeds Up The Deplaning Process

If there’s room, I will also usually get my carryon out of the overhead bin and put it down in the aisle in front of me. I think that generally will help speed up the overall deplaning process. I try to place it (and myself) in such a position where I am not blocking anyone else’s ability to get out into the aisle. Slow de-boarders are probably one of my biggest traveling pet peeves. So many people seem to treat the deplaning process as a total mystery. “WHAAAAT? IT’S MY TURN TO GET OFF? OH OKAY LET ME STAND UP AND FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO….”

4. It (Maybe) Gets Me Off The Plane Faster

Okay maybe this is the most controversial of the reasons, but in some situations I think it also helps me get off the plane faster. I generally am not one who tries to rush to the front of the plane, pushing past people in an attempt to be “first”. But I have also been on planes where I stand up and literally NOBODY for 5 to 10 rows in front of me gets into the aisle, even after I wait for awhile. So in that situation, I don’t think it’s a problem to slowly walk towards the front of the plane while there is empty space in front of me, until someone else in a row ahead of me gets out into the aisle. When that happens, I stop and let them out and then continue waiting.

The Bottom Line

I mean, this is the Internet, so I don’t expect to change anybody’s mind here. But I just thought I’d share my thoughts on why I prefer to stand up as soon as the plane gets to the gate. I also would not have a problem with everybody following this philosophy, even though it might slow me personally down. As long as you are aware of your surroundings and get off the plane as quickly as you can when it’s your turn, it works for me.

What about you? Do you stand up as soon as the plane gets to the gate? Or do you wait in your seat until everyone in front of you has deplaned? Leave your strategy in the comments

Universal Studios Japan Cost

We decided to book a 2 day ticket at Universal Studios Japan. Originally we were going to buy a 1.5 day ticket (where you can get in at 3pm on one day and then all the next day), but when our flights changed, we ended up with 2 full days at Universal Japan. I did not find anywhere cheaper to book the ticket than directly through the USJ ticketing site, where each of our tickets cost JPY 16,300 (about USD$124).

Universal Studios Japan Review – Where To Stay

There are a variety of different hotels within walking distance to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. We booked the Osaka Hotel Universal Port Vita which was about a 5 minute walk to the front gate of Universal Studios Japan. There are also a few hotels (Park Front Hotel at Universal Studios Japan or the Hotel Kintetsu Universal City) which are inside the Universal Studios Citywalk and a little closer (and more expensive). And of course, Universal Studios Japan is very convenient to the Universal City station on the Osaka Japan Rail line, so you can stay anywhere you want and take the train.

Super Nintendo World Review 2023 –

My family and I have been to Universal Studios Orlando a few times, and there is a lot of similarities between the two parks. We spent most of our time at Super Nintendo World, which is one sub-area of the park. There was a bit of time that we weren’t able to be in Super Nintendo World due to the timed ticket entry (see below), so we did go to the Hogwarts area for awhile.

This was very similar to the Hogwarts area in Universal Studios Orlando. There were the 2 main rides (Escape from Gringott’s and Hagrid’s Motorbike) that were basically the same as their Orlando counterparts. The theming inside Gringott’s was nearly identical, and Hogsmeade was also very similar.

How To Get Into Super Nintendo World (Timed Ticket Required)

Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan requires a separate (free) timed ticket. Supposedly you can reserve times in the app, though I personally was not able to get that to work. Instead, each of our two mornings we would race to the kiosks inside the park where you could get a Super Nintendo World timed entry ticket. You have to scan your park tickets and then you can reserve a time (either “first available” or a later time in the park).

We were there at a fairly not-busy time, so both times we were able to get in with only a 45 minute or so wait. I imagine that on busier days the wait might be longer.

On our second day, we got in even earlier and when we went to the Super Nintendo World entrance, they even let us in a few minutes before our scheduled time.

The theming at Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan is amazing, and it starts with the entrance, where you enter a “pipe” to enter into the world.

Are Super Nintendo World Power Bands Worth It?

One of the big features of Super Nintendo world are the Power Bands, which come in six different varieties.

If you’re wondering if Power Bands at Super Nintendo World are worth it, the answer is definitely yes. Most of the attractions require the Power Band, and it won’t be nearly as fun if you don’t have one. If you’re only going to get one Super Nintendo World souvenir, then a power band should be the one to get. There is a station right at the entrance where you can buy one, but a pro tip is that you can just go into the actual area (through the pipe) and buy one at any of the shops inside, and you might have a slightly shorter line. The cost 3800 JPY (about USD$31), which is actually slightly cheaper than the USD$40 cost at Universal Hollywood.

Inside Super Nintendo World, you can use your power band to “hit” coin blocks, battle enemies and do other tasks.

They have a “roulette” section where you hit your power band on each of 4 blocks to get either a mushroom, fire flower, raccoon or star.

There are different “stamps” that you can get by completing different tasks. For instance, you get one stamp for playing the roulette game above, and then one for getting each of the different types of power ups. Similarly, you get stamps by playing the musical notes in six different colored songs as well as a few secret songs. We ended up not doing the secret songs because we couldn’t figure out exactly how to do them.

This is all tracked through the Universal Studios Japan app, where you can compare your progress against others as well as help your “team” win challenges. The overarching theme is that you have to collect 3 “keys” before defeating Bowser Jr. in one final battle (you can see that we already completed that in the top right). There are 5 different key challenges that you can do, and each one has different “levels” that you can do, so the more that you do them, the harder that they get. So if someone ahead of you looks like they are struggling with something you completed easily, keep in mind that they might be on a different level.

Again, it is totally worth it to get a Super Nintendo World Power Up Band – I would say that it is pretty much required to get the most out of your time at Super Nintendo World. One thing I would say is if you have multiple people in your group that maybe not everyone needs one (especially adults). We only got the one for my son and I felt totally fulfilled just playing along with him.

Super Nintendo World Japan Review – Food

There are a few snack shops inside Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan, but the big restaurant is Kinopio’s Cafe (Toad’s Cafe). An important thing to keep in mind is that they also use timed tickets / reservations, so you’ll want to get a timed ticket 90 to 120 minutes (or maybe more on busier days) before you actually want to eat.

There is a line even once you get into the cafe, and it takes another 30 minutes or so (at least) before you actually get your food. We went with Mario’s Bacon Cheeseburger as well as sharing some of Princess Peach’s Cake.

Also, one thing to note is that apparently it is considered rude in Japan to ask for substitutions on food, which it took us a few times to realize :-). We asked for no mushrooms or pickles on our burgers and they looked at us funny and even had to call a manager over to enter in the customized order. So YMMV on that one.

Getting Absolutely Destroyed By Rain

There are two main rides in Super Nintendo World – Yoshi’s Adventure and Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge. Both of them are going to have very long lines. Like I said, we were there on a not very busy day and it was still over an hour for both of those rides. On our second day, it started raining while we were in line for Yoshi’s Adventure. The waiting area is all inside, but the ride itself goes through inside and outside sections, while you’re in a car that slowly moves on a track.

We got on the ride and it just started POURING. Then, right after we came out of a “pipe” (indoor section), the ride stopped. And we were just getting absolutely DESTROYED by the rain. Looking behind us, the car right behind us (maybe 5 feet behind) was still in the pipe and covered from the rain but we were just getting pounded with rain. We weren’t quite sure what was going on or if the ride was stopping. I tried to see if we could get out but we were still locked in by our lap bars. Finally after a few minutes they made an announcement but….. it was in Japanese so I couldn’t tell what was going on.

Eventually they started the ride back up. When we got back to the main area, everybody was apologetic and gave us some towels to dry off with.

The Bottom Line – Universal Studios Japan / Super Nintendo World Review

We had an amazing time at Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. It was great fun, but I definitely recommend making sure that you spend the extra money for a Power Up Band. Without having a Power Up Band, you’ll miss out on a lot of the fun of Super Nintendo World.

Have you been to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan or Universal Hollywood? Leave your experience in the comments below

• “the ones that stole everything from my house”
• “The guy who was renting it drank himself to death”
• someone tried to make meth and LSD in one

But anyways, I did something that made me feel really idiotic at my recent Airbnb stay in Athens

My first Airbnb in Athens

This is actually a story of my first Airbnb stay ever – too many hotel points I guess!  I felt like I got a pretty good deal – with a coupon for new users, I got 4 nights in Athens near the subway and the Acropolis for $138.03 (which I wrote off with 13,803 Arrival miles)

I mean look at the actual view from our balcony!

Arriving in Athens

After our flight was delayed, we ended up getting into Athens about 4 hours later than scheduled, at about 5:45 local time. I had been in communication with our host, and he was very responsive.  He messaged me that he had to go somewhere at 6:45pm, and a friend of his would meet us at the apartment and let us in. By the time we got our rental car and out of the airport and made our way into the main part of Athens, it was a bit past 7pm.

We pulled up to the address and had a bit of trouble finding parking (only on-street parking).  Originally we found a spot right across from the apartment, but there were some construction workers doing something to the road.  They started talking to me, in Greek of course, and I (of course) had no idea what they were saying.  I figured it was possible that I couldn’t park there, so I decided to find a different spot.  It took many circlings of the block but we eventually found a spot a few streets over.

We walked back to the apartment, rang the buzzer, and walked up to the 5th floor.  I wasn’t quite sure where we were going but thankfully the host’s friend met us there and showed us around.  His English wasn’t great but it was okay.  He gave us the keys and we were set

Perhaps we should have paid more attention when he was explaining the keys…

Then…. problems

We decided to go walk by the grocery store (right across the street) and check out the neighborhood.  We locked the door with one of the keys and headed out.

But when we got back, we tried to unlock the door with what we thought was the right key, in the upper lock (where we had locked it)

But turning the handle didn’t seem to open the door, and in fact we eventually turned the handle so far it came completely off! At this point we emailed the host asking for help.

Then we figured we would wait for him down on the street.

ONLY TO DISCOVER THAT MY SON HAD ACCIDENTALLY LEFT THE KEYS IN THE LOCK OF THE DOOR UPSTAIRS!

(and we were locked out of the building and couldn’t go get them)

Solving the problem

We couldn’t reach the wifi, and I was still having trouble connecting my phone to the Greek cell network to get Internet and texts (why does the Sprint International Plan always seem so complicated?!?). So we had no way to know if our host was responding to our message or not.

After a bit of dithering, we walked down the block, bummed the wifi password off of a local coffee shop and logged on.  Our host had been VERY responsive – he had sent like 6 messages trying to help diagnose the problem and offered to come over.  We took him up on that and within 5 minutes he was over and showing us how to use the door.

I felt awful that we had made him come show us how to of all things open the door!  It turned out that we were using the wrong keyhole.  We both swore that we had used that keyhole but none of the keys had fit, but of course when the host was there, everything worked perfectly 😀

It was an auspicious start to a great Athens vacation

What is the dumbest thing you’ve done (or seen done) in an Airbnb? Leave your thoughts in the comments

This rule is so obvious it’s not even explicitly listed in our 8 travel safety tips that will make you think twice while traveling or the 6 more tips for traveling safely  What was it? What did I do that was so bad?

I left our backpacks in our car while we parked on the street

Why I’m so stupid

I mean, this is general advice that is not even specific to traveling – generally a good thing to do WHEREVER you go. Also because our rental car is so small, it doesn’t have a trunk, which is where I usually stick my backpack when I don’t want to carry things.  Perhaps it wouldn’t have been such a bad thing to book a “standard” car after all….

I of course feel stupid and know that it’s entirely my fault.  I actually even SAW the backpacks in the back seat when I locked the car but mentally thought “Oh well there’s nothing valuable in those”.  The problem, of course, is that the THIEVES don’t know there’s nothing valuable in them.

It does give me a bit of a smile to think of the thief back in his “hideout”, looking through my junk (see below) and getting angry :-).  It’s kind of like how I joke that my biggest concern if someone were to break in my house would be all the damage to the walls and house that they’d do after getting mad that they wasted all their time breaking in to find mismatched, borrowed and old junk 🙂

What did we lose?

Thankfully, I did follow some of our other travel safety tips, and kept my most important things either on my person or back in the room.

As far as we can tell, we lost:

• Various cell phone chargers, accessories and adapters
• My favorite international power adapter
• 2 ponchos
• 1 nicer plastic water bottle
• My son’s jacket
• Our travel mascot Mario

• Glasses case
• Earphones
• Our copy of Exploding Kittens 🙁
• And of course, the 2 backpacks themselves

All in all, an annoyance to be sure but it certainly could have been much worse.  My son’s cell phone charger was still plugged in to the car’s USB port and our books on CD were still the car.

Our passports were in my pockets, and my laptop and charger were back in our room.  So at least I don’t have to deal with getting a passport in one day to make a flight

Thankfully this will be a life lesson that was not TOO terribly painful to learn

“My grandfather has about 600k American Express Membership Rewards points. The family is trying to figure out what to do with them in the case he passes away in the near future. We have the option to sell them to point brokers, but wondering if it’s possible at all to transfer his points into my account and I can “hold” them for the family as we need them later on.”

It might be an uncomfortable topic but it’s great that Ronnie and his family are already starting to think through their options. It’s easier to make a plan before death than have to scramble to figure it out later. After brainstorming with Dan and chatting with an American Express representative, here are three main options.

Transfer Points to Airline or Hotel Partners

Membership Rewards can be transferred into airline or hotel program accounts in the name of primary account holders OR authorized users. If you aren’t already an authorized user on the account, talk with the account holder or someone who has power of attorney and go through the process to get added.

Before you start transferring, make sure you think about which airlines will be easiest for your family to fly. Also, familiarize yourself with the miles expiration policy of your chosen airline in case the miles sit for awhile.

Take Over the Account After Death

American Express is one of the few banks that will allow you to take over the account of someone who has died by becoming a new Basic Cardmember. To be eligible, the account must be a valid account (not all card types will allow this), the account hasn’t been closed for more than a year, the account cannot be 60-days or more past due, and the new Basic Cardmember must pass a credit review.

You will also have to take over any debt on the account and submit information for a credit review. This would allow you to keep the points in a Membership Rewards account which would give you more flexibility.

It’s important to note that I only verified that this is an option with American Express. More information about the process can be found here along with contact information if you have more questions about if your account qualifies.

Keep Account Open After Death

One last option to is holding off on alerting American Express about the death until you  transfer or use the remaining Membership Rewards points. If you are an authorized user, you will still be able to transfer to your own accounts without worrying about points expiring as long as the card stays in good standing.

There is a higher risk of identity theft if you do opt for this solution. There is also a chance that important notices could be missed if the mailing address isn’t correct.

Do you have experience with trying to get miles and points transferred prior or after death? What did you do? Share in the comments!

Speaking Spanish in Peru

They speak Spanish in Peru (obviously), and in Urubamba itself, there were not very many people that spoke English at all.  Many of the staff at our hotel itself did speak decent English but out in the town itself it was all Spanish all the time.  Same thing went with all of our drivers as we went throughout the Sacred Valley

I served 2 years as a Mormon missionary in the Dominican Republic, and at that time, I was completely fluent in Spanish.  But…. that was 25 years ago.  And while I had some reasons to speak Spanish soon after I returned home, I haven’t really spoken Spanish much at all in the past 15 years or so.

Still, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to communicate decently in Spanish while in Peru (SEE ALSO: Surviving Peru with my gringo Spanish).  Yes, there were definitely times when I was missing some vocabulary and/or stumbling over exactly what I was trying to say, but for the most part, I was able to understand and make myself understood.

Explaining miles and points in Peru

Until the subject turned around to miles and points.  Carolyn and I were sitting in a local restaurant, having a little lomo saltado

It was just a mom and pop shop (literally when we got there, they had to call the guy who turned out to be our “waiter” from across the street where he was hanging out), and since we were not really in prime tourist season, we were the only ones there.  So we had a fairly long conversation with him. We talked about family, travel and a variety of subjects.

When he found out that we were staying at the Tambo del Inka hotel, he commented on how expensive it was.  And it’s true, even compared to other Western-style hotels, the TdI is definitely a “luxury” hotel.

(SEE ALSO: How hotels define themselves – what’s the difference between upscale and upper upscale? )

(SEE ALSO: Tambo del Inka review – hotel in Sacred Valley Urubamba Peru)

And while I understand that even though I don’t consider myself “rich”, comparatively to most Peruvians I probably am.  So I was wanting to explain that we hadn’t paid cash for the hotel rooms.  But where to even start, given that most local Peruvians don’t even USE credit cards.

I ended up starting with talking about credit cards, and how every dollar that you spend on the credit card got you “points”.  And that there were tricks to getting lots of these points, and you could use them to pay for hotels or other travel.

I’m not sure I got the message through 🙂

What about you?  Have you ever tried to explain miles and points in a foreign language?  How’d it go?

Lessons learned from my hotel fire alarm procedures

My family of 8 was not in adjoining rooms (boo!) so I was in one room with my 3 sons, while my girls and wife were across the hall.  In hindsight, there were a few things we could have done better to follow hotel fire alarm procedures

• We were pretty slow getting out.  I think that’s probably because in the back of my head I knew there was about a 2% chance (if that) of this being an actual fire
• We took the wrong (further) staircase (hey at least we remembered not to take the elevator!)
• My wife didn’t grab her phone / wallet or anything like that (though I did).
• I’d say that fewer than half of the guests evacuated.  We milled around the hotel for awhile, and then the guy at the front desk was like “Hmm I think it’s a false alarm”, and we all went back inside.

This is similar to my discussions about whether you should take your bags in an airplane evacuation.  First I thought you could, now I’m convinced you should not (unlike these guys)

Of course, whenever there are problems, I think about compensation – in this case hotel fire alarm compensation. Don’t hate me please – I’m already steeling myself for the angry comments :-P.

The case AGAINST hotel fire alarm compensation

So the very first thing that comes to mind AGAINST the idea of hotel fire alarm compensation would be that I’d imagine in most cases, it’s not really up to the hotel if someone pulls the fire alarm.

And I don’t know that every minor thing that goes wrong has to equal compensation.  Sometimes it’s just a matter of “life happens, sometimes it sucks, deal with it”, right? 🙂

The case FOR compensation for a hotel fire alarm

On the other hand, there are a few other things to think about.  If you’re following hotel fire alarm procedures and requirements, I would imagine that it’s fairly unlikely that it’s an actual fire alarm pull and much more likely that it’s a glitch in the system.  Perhaps I’m naive but I’d imagine that in most cases it’s not someone pulling the fire alarm in the hotel (though I’m sure that happens).

Also I do feel like the hotel has some responsibility to ensure that you have a restful night’s sleep.  That’s what you’re paying for, right?

In the end…

I mentioned something about the hotel fire alarm in the morning when we went down to breakfast.  I was curious to find if they had any more information about what happened.

I was underwhelmed by the response by the front desk clerks.  The lady mentioned that she wasn’t there overnight and didn’t know what happened and… that was it.  I wasn’t necessarily expecting her to just give some of compensation for the fire alarm, but I was disappointed that she wasn’t more apologetic.  I mean a fire alarm going off in the middle of the night and impacting everyone’s sleep is a BIG deal (especially if you’re traveling with kids as I was).  I would have appreciated an apology, even if it WAS completely out of the hotel’s control (and again, for this specific instance, nobody told me at all what went on)

I asked if they were giving any hotel fire alarm compensation and she said not that she was aware of.

Readers what do you think?  Is hotel fire alarm compensation ever warranted or expected?  Or should you just “suck it up”?

I know I am! Our family is counting down the days until our summer vacation when we head off on our annual cross-country road trip and hit up some of our favorite beaches.

From days spent boating around my in-law’s little lake to our time spent scavenging for shells on the big water, there is nothing our family loves more than a vacation on the beach. But, before we head out, I always make sure to create a detailed list of everything we need to stay safe and have fun.

Here’s a list of all the essential beach items you’ll want before heading on your getaway, along with some ideas for fun beach activities your family can enjoy together.

What to Pack for a Family Beach Vacation

What you bring to the beach will depend on what you plan to do (lounge on the beach and build sandcastles vs boogie boarding or surfing), the age of your kids, and the forecasted weather (is there a risk of rain?). Regardless of your situation, here’s a list of essentials:

• Sun protection – including sunscreen, sunscreen lip balm, sunhats, cover-ups, and a beach umbrella  
• Something to sit on – blanket, mat, or beach chairs
• Safety items – life jackets, water wings, pool floaties, first aid kit
• Bug spray – depending on where you go and the time of year, the bugs might be bad 
• Sand toys – buckets and shovels for building sandcastles
• Water toys – boogie board, surfboard, snorkel, fins, beach ball
• Entertainment – books, magazines, or something to listen to 
• Camera – for capturing family beach vacation memories
• Cooler – for meals, snacks, and cold drinks 
• Beach attire – swimsuit, beach shoes, wet suit, and a swim diaper if you have a baby or toddler 
• Beach towel – make sure you bring something to dry off with 
• Shelter – an easy-to-assemble beach tent to protect you from the sun or rain
• Clean-up stuff – don’t forget a plastic bag for any garbage and some baby wipes to clean dirty little faces and hands
• Beach bag – you’re going to want to bring some kind of beach bag or backpack so you can carry all of your stuff to and from the beach. Also, consider bringing a dry bag to put all of your wet swimsuits in. 

Beach Activity Ideas for the Whole Family 

Everyone has a different idea of what they want to do at the beach. I would love to sit on a beach chair, with a book in one hand and a cold drink in the other but … I have two small children — it’s not going to happen. Luckily, there are tons of other activities we can do at the beach with our young kids, including:

• Swimming  
• Building holes and sand castles
• Looking for seashells
• Look for the best swimming spots 
• Watching the boats on the water
• Playing “I spy”
• Flying a kite
• Blowing bubbles
• Going for beach walks
• Playing kickball
• Enjoying a beach picnic
• Fishing 
• Doing a scavenger hunt
• Playing miniature golf 
• Watching the sunset 

If you have older kids, you can add some additional activities to the list:

• Surfing 
• Boogie boarding
• Beach volleyball 
• Taking photographs 
• Playing ultimate frisbee
• Bocce ball
• Building a beach fire
• Bird watching
• Paddleboarding 
• Kayaking 

Safety Tips for a Family Beach Vacation 

To ensure you have a fun and safe beach trip, consider teaching your kids these safety measures before starting your vacation. 

Water safety 

First, whether or not your children know how to swim, it’s important to talk to them about water safety. You can teach older kids about the dangers of a rip current and tides and the importance of respecting the water. You can talk to your younger children about never venturing into the water without you and having their life jackets securely on their bodies. Also, discuss what they should do if there is a problem and point out where the lifeguard stands are if there are any lifeguards on duty. 

Sun safety 

Remind your kiddos about the sun and how important it is to lather up with sunscreen and wear sun-protective clothing. Make sure everyone is reapplying after time spent in the water. Also, teach your kids to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration and to take breaks from the sun when they are feeling too hot. 

Storm safety

Talk to your kids about what they should do in the event that a storm rolls in. Make sure you check the weather before heading to the beach for the day so you know what to expect. 

No shallow diving 

If your children are old enough that they are diving, teach them that you never dive into the water until they know how deep it really is. Diving into shallow water can result in a serious neck injury. It’s best to jump into the water feet first until you know what you are dealing with. 

Watch out for jellyfish

Make your children aware of the type of aquatic life they may encounter in the water. You can teach them about what to do if they are stung by something like a jellyfish. 

Watch for debris in the sand

Depending on how clean the beach is, you might want to have your kids wear beach sandals or water shoes to avoid stepping on glass or other debris that could be hiding in the sand. 

Are you ready to hit the beach?

Before checking out your favorite prime beach spots, be sure to make a beach vacation list with all of the must-haves for your family beach vacation. Creating a list and checking it twice will help to prevent any missed items or packing mistakes. No matter what, don’t forget your camera, you are going to want to capture some of the fun in the sun moments you share with your family. 

And while a beach vacation is all about having fun and making memories, it’s also important that your entire family is well versed on beach safety, especially if you aren’t used to being on the water. Taking a few minutes to discuss water safety and remind everyone to apply sunscreen and drink lots of water can help to avoid any minor or major beach safety issues.