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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10,000 AMEX Membership Reward Points for Enrolling in Extended Payment Option

Some miles and points take a lot of time and effort to earn. So it’s great when earning miles and points take no time or effort at all! It’s rare, but opportunity does knock from time to time. Here’s one that came knocking recently, and it reminded me to make sure you’re aware of it as well. American Express cards come with an option to enroll in their Extended Payment Option.

This allows you to pay off purchases over time. Now, we all pay off our credit cards every month, right? So we don’t need to USE this option, but I’ve noticed over the years that from time to time, American Express offers Membership Reward points JUST for enrolling your card.

Every now and again, I’ve looked to see if my cards were targeted for these offers. Nope, no luck, until recently, that is. I got this offer on my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card, which I keep for the Centurioun Lounge benefits. I’ll take 10,000 American Express Membership Reward points earned this easily any day of the week. So I enrolled my card.

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24 Fascinating Facts About Passports

Got a passport? Well, of course you do. You’re a traveler and miles/points collector! If you enjoy history and learning about quirky travel topics, this post is for you. There’s a ton to know about passports! Do you know their origin? Do you know which country has the most powerful passport, or the least powerful one? Do you know why passports are certain colors, or that Norway’s passport hides a secret feature? Canada’s passport performs a neat trick, and one passport has a running moose when you flip through the pages! And one country, no matter what, will NOT stamp your passport. Not even for a fee.

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Image source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/galleries/fascinating-facts-about-passports/

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Find the Perfect Routing for your Next Award Flight

Do you have all the time in the world to keep track of all the airlines, the alliances, which airlines are adding flights and routes, and which routes are being canceled? I certainly don’t. I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when United announced its new non-stops to Europe for Summer 2018. Sure, these are seasonal routes, but still, for those of us who work hard accumulating miles and points, this is exactly the kind of knowledge we need to book those award tickets, and book them early. Knowing when award charts open, and seasonal route award seats are bookable, is just not something I’m good about keeping track of. In addition to United’s new Summer routes, United also started daily service between LAX and Singapore and between New York and Buenos Aires. See what I mean? That’s a lot of news to follow. And that’s just United.

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World of Hyatt Partners with IfOnly to Book Travel-Worthy Experiences (Earn & Redeem Hyatt Points)

Hot off the World of Hyatt presses, another new program has just been announced giving us new ways to earn and redeem Hyatt Points! Do you need some inspiration for finding your next travel destination or experience? World of Hyatt members can now book one-of-a-kind Travel-worthy Experiences through IfOnly. These Travel-worthy Experiences, located across several destinations in the U.S. and Europe, is another step in Hyatt’s strategy to engage with high-end travelers.

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Changes to American Express Centurion Lounge Access – Are you Affected?

American Express has made changes yet again to their lounge access policy. So of course the first thing we want to know is what those changes are and will we be affected. I wrote about the American Express Centurion Lounges and asked readers how they were feeling about them. Readers were mixed, with the chief complaint being the overcrowding of lounges. American Express did start limiting the number of guests cardholders could bring in with them, and as of October 2, they’ve made an even more restrictive change.

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Centurion Lounge in Las Vegas – Travel with Grant meetup

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