Author Archives: Shelli

About Shelli

Shelli Stein is a health and fitness entrepreneur who travels the world in search of culture, food, and fun! Besides contributing to Travel with Grant, you can find her at Joy in Movement.

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Marriott 2018 Changes: Rollover Nights, Status Buy Back & New Hertz Benefits

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Marriott is making changes for 2018 that are worth noting! Being able to rollover nights in excess of our elite requirements is a great benefit of some hotel chains. But now with Marriott, we’ll have to track nights more closely! Going forward, in 2018 our excess nights earned will no long roll forward into 2019. It was great while it lasted! Do you track your hotel nights closely? If not, and you’re a Marriott loyalist, will you start keeping closer tabs on qualifying nights, or does this change not matter much in your hotel choice patterns?

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Must Read eBook: Disney World Hacks (Giveaway & Discount Code) [Winner Announced]

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Update 12/1/17 at 12pm PT: The winner of the free Disney World Hacks ebook is Susan P with this comment:

Our most memorable bad experience was riding the teacups with my daughter, getting nauseous and puking when I got off. Hate things that go in circles.
My most memorable best memory was my daughter weighing her choices on which outfit to spend her money on. She thought it out well.
Hope to make new memories one day again.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway.  If you did not win, please use GRANT in the promo code field and you’ll get $1 off the ebook price.

Have you been thinking about making all your dreams come true? If you’re a Disney World enthusiast, then I’ve got just what you need! Thank Goofy I found out about a hot off the presses ebook that’s a must read. Have you never been to Disney World and planning a trip, or been there and going again? Even the regular visitor who goes once or twice a year will pick up more Disney World hacks from Dia’s ebook then they can shake a magic wand at.

I just finished reading Dia’s Disney World Hacks ebook and wow, it’s amazing. She is biased both towards value and getting the biggest bang for your buck while at Disney World. She’s honest in admitting that while over-planning can put a damper on your Disney holiday, good planning starts with asking yourself a few questions. The better you know yourself and your family regarding your needs and expectations, the more you’ll enjoy yourself at Disney World. She should know. She’s been there over 20 times!

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Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Park. Image source: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions/frozen/

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What was your Favorite Blog Post Over Thanksgiving Weekend?

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What was your favorite blog post from any blogger you’ve read over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? My choice may strike you as odd, because I’m picking one from Nick at Frequent Miler. He writes about things to keep in mind while shopping on Black Friday & Cyber Monday.

Why is that an odd choice for me? I’m not much of a shopper on Black Friday or Cyber Monday. In fact, people say I’m a retailer’s nightmare because I’m not much of a shopper at all :) So it seems odd to pick this post as my favorite because I’m not AT ALL who Nick is writing for. And yet I really loved his post. It reminded me that while I spent Black Friday with family and wasn’t online much if at all, and Cyber Monday was a travel day for me, many days of the year are good bargain hunting days! That FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) evaporated when I read his post. If I ever do become more of a shopper and put myself in the frenzy of holiday shopping, I can reread Nick’s post to remind myself just how to best approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday!

What was your favorite blog post of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? Let me know!

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Black Friday Starts Now: Enjoy 20% Off Holiday Gifts at Peets.com

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Are you a Peetnik? I could date myself and say I’ve been a Peetnik so long that you could actually travel across the Bay Bridge to the original Peet’s in Berkeley and there was no traffic! We Peetniks love these kind of deals. Even if you don’t take your coffee BLACK, you can still enjoy this Black Friday 20% off deal. Check it out!

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Southwest Monkey Shuts Down after Southwest Airlines Cease & Desist Letter

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A few weeks ago, I let you know about a great new website that allows us to track our Southwest Airlines flights for price drops. It’s called Southwest Monkey. Since that post went live, I’ve been in touch with Pavel, one of the creators. Why? Because I received an email from Southwest Airlines informing me that they had filed a “cease and desist” letter with Southwest Monkey. Not totally unexpected, right? Big corporation, little monkey :(

I contacted Pavel to see what was going on. Here’s what he told me as of a few days ago:

“As you know, we have been approached by Southwest Airlines to close down the service in a form of a few “cease and desist” letters (I believe you have gotten at least one of them). We had until last Wednesday to shut down, but as you can see, we have not complied with the request. We have posted a blog post on our website — https://www.swmonkey.com/blog/cease_desist/ — that explains what happened. We are trying to raise awareness of Southwest bullying and public information issues.”

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