What's in our wallets?

We currently have 9 credit cards open.  That doesn't mean we carry them all around in our wallets.  We only carry 4 of these around for everyday spending.  Below you will find a quick description of each card:

Chase Sapphire Reserve

This card gets us 3 points per dollar spent on travel and restaurants. And when redeemed for travel those points are worth 50% more. You cannot beat 4.5%!! This card comes with a $450 annual fee but I believe it is worth it. $300 of that comes back in the form of travel reimbursement. The first $300 spent towards travel gets credited back toward your account automatically.  

I also like to use this card when I’m traveling for work. I get to pay for everything but air travel on my personal cards and then I get reimbursed.  Last year Chase was offering 100k points sign up bonus.  They have since reduced it to 50k.  It is still a very good card to have in your wallet.  Here is a link if anyone is interested in signing up for the Chase Sapphire Reserve.  

Capital One Venture:

We use this card for everything but gas, travel, and restaurants. There are some exceptions to this rule mostly for Chase freedom quarterly bonus purchases which I will get to later in the post.  This card gives us 2% back on all purchases.  We have used this card for down payments on cars, any big medical bills, child care, or any other big purchases.  I love using these points to erase travel purchases.  For every $1000 you spend you get $20 cash back.  This 2% can really add up over time and has a low annual fee of $95 starting the second year.  Recently Capital One has added another perk to this card - free TSA Precheck or Global Entry reimbursement.  

Chase Ink Preferred:

We have had this card for many years.  We continue to get 5 points back on everything we purchase in the business category.  These categories include cable, internet, and phone.  We also get 2 points per dollar spent at gas stations with this card.  This card cost $95 annually but the 5x bonus easily makes up for that.  The current offer for this card only gives you 3 points per dollar spent on business categories and no longer gives double points at gas stations. Combine the cash back with an 80k point bonus and this card should be in everyone's wallet.  Read this past post to learn more about business credit cards.  You can sign up for the Ink card here.  

Chase Freedom:

We have also had this card for years. It has no annual fee so there is no reason to close it.  The Freedom gives 1 point per dollar spent on everything.  It also has quarterly spending categories that give 5 points per dollar on the first $1500 spent.  This is a great bonus.  Here are this years categories:

If you are interested in signing up for the Chase Freedom you can find more information here. 


Let's look at an example for a potential points accumulation scenario using the cards described above. 

Family "fun":
Monthly spend:                                 

Groceries                      $500     x  2 Points (Venture)       = 1000 pts
Gas                               $150     x  2 Points (Venture)       =  300 pts
Eating Out                     $200     x 3 Points (Reserve)       =  600 pts
Cable, Internet, Phone  $200     x 3 Points (Current Ink)   =  600 pts
Everything Else             $1000   x 2 Points (Venture)        =  2000 pts

Let's say this family keeps similar spending patterns year round.  They would rack up $390 in cash back on the venture and 14,400 (= $144) Chase Ultimate Points which could be redeemed for $216 ($144x1.5 if you have the Chase Reserve since you get a 50% bonus) worth of travel.  Now these points would just be from everyday spending.  These numbers don't include any sign up bonuses.  **wife comment this is why I'm not in charge of the cards just the spending!**

If you signed up for all four cards as a family you could accumulate a minimum of  154.5k Chase Ultimate points (85K for Ink, 54k for Reserve, 15.5k for Freedom).  You would also get $500 from the Capital One Venture sign up.  In all a family could sign up for these 4 cards and get nearly $2900 worth of free travel. 

Disclaimer – We are not experts, We are only going off our experiences.  We have followed expert bloggers for years but are not experts ourselves.  DO NOT OPEN CREDIT CARDS FOR POINTS UNLESS YOU CAN PAY THEM OFF IN FULL EVERY MONTH!!!   I may also get a bonus if you sign up through links on this page.  

Cost Report #3 - Ocean City, MD

Today's post is a continuation of our cost report series.  We are back from our trip to Ocean City, MD and we have tallied up the actual costs.  The trip report can be found here. 

Hotels:
Holiday Inn Suites Ocean City
The nightly cash rate is roughly $535 during the peak summer weeks.  The total for our 5 nights should have been $2,675 just for the room!  That is a ton of money.  Luckily IHG hotels, which the Holiday Inn hotel chain falls under, has great offers to buy discounted points throughout the year.  We took advantage of the USTA's Daily Getaways annual deals.  I purchased 200,000 points for $1160.  That was enough for 4 nights.  The 5th night was booked using points I have accumulated of the past year staying at IHG hotels.

Marriott Residence Inn Salisbury, MD
This one night stay cost us nothing since we used our annual free night reward for being a Chase Marriott credit card holder.  We stayed here on the way to the beach.  It was only a half hour from Ocean City and much less expensive compared to staying on the beach.

Total cost for hotels - $1160

Food and drink:
As our kids continue to get older our food costs continues to rise on vacations.  Here is a breakdown of costs for our family of 5:

Fish Tales - $102
Seacrets - $92
Hotel lunch at the pool - $42
Ice cream at Dumsers - $15
Higgins Crab - $95
Dinner on the boardwalk - $52
McDonalds on the road - $19
Panera on the road - $16
Sheetz on the road - $22
Groceries (Walmart) - $130
Beer & Wine - $42

Total Food and Drink cost - $627

Activities & Souvenirs:
Mini Golf - $29
Souvenirs - $30

Total A&Ss - $59

Gas for Mini Van:   $247

Total cost for the trip - $2,093

I was surprised this trip cost over $2000.   We usually try to use points for hotels but we have been saving them for next summers' trip to Hawaii.  Overall for a 6 night trip the cost wasn't outrageous.  I'm hoping our trip to the Caribbean in the fall will cost much than $2000.  Stayed tuned for more information on our upcoming trips.

Trip Report #8 - Ocean City, Maryland

Hi all!  We just got back from the beach and wanted to share our trip report with you.  We have been going to Ocean City each summer for the past 5 or 6 years.  So you will see pictures below from various trips over the years.  Each time we have stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites on 17th. This is probably the best kid friendly hotel on the boardwalk. You may wonder why? 

Pools! Two pools, one with a bar and the other with a toddler boat slide and big windy slide. There is also a zero entry for kids, fountains, a whirlpool area, and a mini lazy river. To top it off for parents they have servers walking around taking food and drink orders. Kids also eat free! Yes FREE!  With each adult meal paid you get 2 free kids meals. The only issue is getting the kids out of the pool long enough to eat. They also have mermaids come swim with the kids and give them glitter tattoos. I’m pretty sure my son thinks he’s dating one of them and that they are totally real! 

Room type! This is one of the only hotels where you can get a two room suite. Meaning a full kitchen and a separate family room with a pull out sofa. For our family of 5 I still think it’s tight but for prime boardwalk location on the beach you aren’t going to find one bigger. To save money we stock up the fridge and cook breakfasts and pack lunches to take to the pool or beach. We even do a dinner in the room one during the trip after a long beach day.  Now this hotel isn't the Ritz but it is perfect for our family. 

And the last reason that the Holiday Inn is the best hotel is the location! Walking distance to the inlet and tons of shops, restaurants and mini golf locations. You can walk the whole boardwalk from here but are far enough out you can’t hear or see the crowds of downtown OC. You’re also a quick drive from the bridge in and out of town. 

Restaurants and places we’ve tried:

Fractured prune doughnuts: A must on every trip there’s one on the board walk two blocks down from where we stay. Melt in your mouth doughnuts covered in yummy glazes and toppings. 

Seacrets: 48th and bay side. This place is awesome! I used to work here so I’m partial to it ha! It’s about 4 blocks long with bay access. When you aren't with kids they have rafts and tables set out in the bay for day drinking in the sun. There are multiple bars and seating for inside and outside dining. It has a real beach feel since most of the restaurant floor  is sand with palm trees all around. They also have great drinks and food! I suggest the crab dip, crab toast, and a dirty banana. But you honestly can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. 

Fishtails: 23rd and bay side. This place also has seating in the sand so wear flip flops. This place gets busier every year! They have fun hammock swings and a big play ground for the kids which is awesome when they get restless.They have a face painter in the evenings as well. If you get their early enough you can see all the fishermen bringing in their catch and checking their weights. The kids meals are served on frisbees which our kids love. I personally like the food at other restaurants more but the atmosphere here is great. I’ve also heard Ropewalk is a similar set up with a playground but we are partial to fishtail because we can walk. 

Mini golf: There is a course just about every block. We’ve played embers on 24th which has great obstacles and visual effects. This year we played nicks with the dinosaurs on 19th. We got a buy one get one coupon from our hotel lobby. Which thank goodness, because it was a bust with kids age 6, 4, and 20 months. We won’t be golfing again until they are older and can stay interested. I suggest you go early because these places get packed in the evening! 

Endless summer surf shop: 38th street. This shop has an awesome snowball stand.  It was the only one we could find in Ocean City. It's a cute little shop with super friendly owner Noah. He also does surf lessons if anyone is interested. 

Maryland Blue Crabs: We’ve come to realize that it’s tough or impossible to pick crabs with young kids. We now order in the morning from where ever we find good sizes for a good price. This year we ordered from Higgins and got 10 supers for $95. We order these for pickup after the kids bed time. One person puts the kids to bed while the other picks up the crabs. We pack a lantern and eat the crabs on the hotel balcony. We can take our time and supply our own beers. It’s not fancy but it works and crabs are a must have!! Friends suggested next time we try the Crab Stop.   

Stayed tuned for a post detailing our total cost for the 6 night trip.  Thanks for reading!

Cost Report #2 - Our out of pocket cost for a 3 night all-inclusive trip to Punta Cana

We are back from our quick 4 day 3 night trip to Punta Cana and we have tallied up the costs.  In our last post we figured our that the cash cost of our trip would have been around $2900.  Here was our total cost in cash:

Delta flights from CMH to PUJ. We upgraded to comfort so the cost of two one way tickets cost us 104k points. This is by no means a good value. I didn’t want to miss an entire day of work and Delta had the latest flight out to PUJ. Normally I wouldn’t spend that many points but it was our only option for the late flight. Southwest return flights cost 20k Points. With the companion pass Kim only had to pay taxes.

Flight taxes $115 each for a total of $230

Hotel: I used 80k Chase Ultimate points for the 3 nights in our swim up suite. You can read more about the hotel in our review below. 

Total cost for hotel $0

Transfer to and from hotel:

I booked through Dominicanplus. The service was good and each transfer was private. We also stopped to get a couple beers on the way.  I highly recommend this company.  

The total after tip and beer was $120 ($60 each way).

Tips at the hotel:

These are for bartenders, housekeeping, and restaurant staff. I believe we spent about $50 over the 4 day 3 night trip on tips. 

Total for tips $50

Spa:

The 50 minute couples massage cost $240 after tips.  You can read more about it below.  

Our total out of pocket cost was $640! 

If you aren't collecting credit card points you need to start right now.  The current Chase Ink Business Preferred sign up bonus is 80k points.  This would be enough for 3 nights at many all inclusive resorts in the Caribbean.  Read this earlier post on how most everyone qualifies for a business credit card.  Here is the link if you're interested in the Chase Ink Preferred Credit Card.    (We may get a few points if you sign up under the previous link).  As I have mentioned before, you should not apply for credits cards unless you can pay of the balance each and every month!

Our review of Excellence Punta Cana:

As soon as we arrived to the hotel which was around 10 we were greeted with champagne and cold towels. I was thinking that maybe being so late we wouldn’t get the full experience but that was not the case! The lobby was beautiful and they had fountains all over the property which gave the place a relaxing sound. The entire lobby, bars, and entertainment area was all open so it created a great breeze and you could hear the ocean. The hotel itself was beautiful and well maintained. There were plenty of bars and restaurants so we never really had to wait in line. The resort was at 80% capacity during our stay. 

Our room was a first floor swim out suite. In my opinion we had the best room! We were around the corner from the swim up bar so we could get there quick but no one could see our patio from the bar. We had a big grass area compared to other rooms and were right across from the floating lounge chairs in the water. Our patio had two chairs and a double beach bed. We could walk right off our back porch into the pool or to the bridge straight to the beach. They had plenty of umbrellas and beach palapas. We never had to play the towel game. We moved from beach to pool to our patio every day. Our room was a quick walk or swim to 3 bars not including the one in our room. The room itself was great nice and updated with a soak tub in the middle and a large glass shower as well. There was maid service and turn down service every day. Each room also had a fun cubby you put your room service dishes that can be cleared from the hall. This way you avoid all the trays sitting in the hall way. We ordered room service the first night; pizza and nachos. The pizza was good the nachos were ehh.. just chips and nacho cheese sauce. 

Our first day ended up being mostly rainy so we spent it at the spa!!! It did not disappoint!! We got a 50min couples massage on special for $190 and I added a mini facial for $20. The whole process started with an hour hydro therapy. This consisted of different showers, saunas and pool jets that massaged your whole body in different ways. Next was a heated chair with a head massage and scented oil facial wrap all before the massage! They really made an effort to make you feel relax and paid attention to detail! 

The beach was beautiful. They did have seaweed and the poor guys raked all day just to start over the next. Seems like a tractor would be a great investment. We were told the recent storms caused the excessive seaweed. We went in the ocean a few times but swam more in the awesome pools and took walks on the beach. Our hotel was secluded which was nice because there weren’t any properties on either side so we could walk either way and not see tons of other people. We also didn’t need bracelets and we didn't have to provide a room number every time we got a drink or snack. 

If I had to come up with a negative it would have been the food. We were always able to find something we liked but some of the flavor was a little bland. We had omelets and Pizza every day which were delicious. But honestly we don’t go to all inclusive resorts for the food. We go to relax and enjoy a beautiful place without having to worry about the cost of everything. 

This resort had the options for you to make it what you wanted it to be. They had shows each nights and pool game activities or you could lay at the beach and nap in the quiet. Like most resorts there was list of daily activities provided to your room and in the lobby.  They had all types of upgrades too to make your trip super romantic if you wanted. They had private cabanas on the beach you could rent with a fridge and champagne. They also had the fun banners for the doors if you were celebrating something like an anniversary or honeymoon. 

For us this trip we wanted to have some drinks, relax and get some sun all of which we accomplished! Everyone was friendly and helpful and at no point did I feel like the service was based on tips. Can’t wait for our return trip!! 

If you want more posts similar to this please follow us!  Where else should we stay in Punta Cana?