Inspiration and Tips for Traveling the World

strategy for points and miles

My Current Strategy for Earning Points and Miles through Online Shopping Portals

December 3, 2019

I recently did a post on using online shopping portals to earn airline miles without flying.  That post was followed up with an article on earning cashback via shopping portals.  In this article I share my current shopping portal strategy and why I’m choosing this approach.  Over the years I’ve earned both airline miles, and cashback.  My current focus is this:  Earning Membership Reward points through the Rakuten shopping portal. Rakuten (formerly called Ebates) is best known as a cash back site, but now offers the option to earn Membership Reward points.  Membership rewards are the flexible point currency of American Express, and great for what I like to do, use them […]

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CNB Crystal Infinite Card

Quick Tip: Consolidate Your gogo wifi passes prior to closing your CNB Crystal Visa Infinite credit card

November 27, 2019

CNB has recently slashed benefits on their Crystal Visa Infinite credit card.  Christmas is pretty much cancelled.  As a result, when the annual fee comes around, many card holders may chose not to renew their card.  Here’s a quick tip:  Consolidate Your gogo wifi passes prior to closing your CNB Card Each CNB card comes with 12 gogo passes. We have a total of four CNB cards (3 authorized users) so collectively we have 48 passes.  Prior to cancelling the cards, we went to the dedicated page on the gogo website and loaded all the passes into a single gogo account.  A separate gogo account is […]

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Chez Janou, A Quintessential Parisian Cafe

November 25, 2019

Chez Janou is a provencal bistro within walking distance from the Bastille in Paris.  We arrived between the lunch and dinner hours and took a seat under the brightly covered awning. As the peripheral noise of the hustle and bustle disappears, we ordered our favorite coffee drinks, a cafe creme and an americano.  There were no interruptions except for the occasional, and I mean occasional wait staff that comes by to check on us. As the cool afternoon breeze rustles the leaves of the vines by my table, I start to daydream about this magical and incomparable place that is […]

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online-shopping

Earn Cash Back When Shopping Online

November 21, 2019

Do you shop online? If so, maximize your money by shopping through an online portal. Online shopping portals reward you for using their portal as the starting point for your online purchases. This reward comes in the form of cash, airline miles or other reward currencies. I recently did a post on earning frequent flyer miles by using an airline’s online shopping portal. In this post we’ll look at earning cash back. Earning Cash versus Airline Miles Through Online Shopping Our blog is about travel, so why would someone who likes to travel, consider earning cash instead of airline miles? […]

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Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

November 21, 2019

The opulent, iconic and pink two-story French seaside mansion called Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is on the Cote D’Azur in France.  Baroness Beatrice de Rothschild built the villa in 1905.  After her death it was donated to the Academie des Beaux Arts.  Pink is my favorite color so we had to stop and see this beauty for ourselves.  It did not disappoint! With its nine distinct gardens, it will take a bit of time to see it all.  Most popular and photographed is the picturesque French Garden with the pink villa in the background.  Many a picture of the French […]

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Earning Airline Miles Without Flying on an Airplane

November 14, 2019

Looking to increase your airline points and miles but don’t do a lot of flying?  Airlines are willing to help you out!  If you shop online, there’s a way to earn points without flying. Just start your online shopping by making a quick stop at the airline’s online shopping portal, then proceed to your favorite online stores. In exchange for using their online shopping portal, airlines reward you with frequent flyer miles. They get a commission for sending shoppers out into the world wide web, and you walk away with points and miles.  It’s a way to earn airline miles without flying on […]

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Ordinary People Traveling to Extraordinary Places

cafes and alleyways about us

Our passion to travel takes us to cafes and alleyways around the world. From neighborhood cafes in Paris to a street market in London, we’ll take the road less traveled to hidden gems, new experiences and mouth watering eateries.

Whether it’s your first time abroad or you’re an accomplished traveler, we’ll share inspiration and tips for traveling the world.  Let’s pack our bags, grab our passports, relax in our seats…we’re now ready for take off!

 Mike and  Mariah