Category Archives: Airlines + Miles

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My Online Passport Renewal Only Took 2 Weeks (Full Timeline & Process)

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Good afternoon everyone.  Almost a year ago, I received an email reminder from the US Passport Renewal system notifying me that my passport was due to expire in June 2026. Since Madison was born in August 2025 and we didn’t have any international travel planned for the next couple of years, I decided to wait until the expiration date got a little closer before starting the renewal process.  I recently completed the online passport renewal process, and the experience was surprisingly fast and easy (spoiler alert: it only took 2 weeks!)

Getting Started with Online Passport Renewal

To begin the process, I visited the official Travel.State.Gov website and went to the Renew Your Passport Online page to start the process.

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Travel with Grant is Officially a Teenager & Other Life Updates

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Good afternoon everyone, and Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate! Back on May 1, 2013, Travel with Grant was born. I can’t believe it has already been 13 years. Where did the time go?!

This past year has been full of life-changing events, especially with the birth of my daughter, Madison, in August 2025. She is already 9 months old now. She hasn’t been on an airplane yet, but we have taken a few road trips up to Sacramento and down to Monterey and Carmel. She even enjoyed her very first hotel stay at the InterContinental The Clement Monterey on Cannery Row, just steps away from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Madison with her Sea Otter from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
P.S. We found her missing sock too!

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Redeeming Wells Fargo Rewards Points: My Plan of Attack

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday! This morning, I was looking at my Wells Fargo account and trying to decide what my long-term strategy (aka my plan of attack) should be for my stash of 62,320 Wells Fargo Rewards Points.  If you were a former Bilt Card 1.0 member, then there is a good chance your card was converted to the no annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph Credit Card.  I also currently have the $95 annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Credit Card.  Before I share my strategy, let’s quickly review the bonus categories and transfer partners for the Wells Fargo Rewards program.

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Breaking Up with My AMEX Coupon Book: No More Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-Annual, or Yearly Credits

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. I recently read a great blog post on Frequent Miler about maximizing American Express credits and it made me realize that there are a ton of AMEX credits out there right now with various frequencies (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and yearly). After reading the blog post, I took a look at my current American Express credit card lineup and it hit me… I don’t have any of those credits anymore and I’m not sad about that.

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My Favorite Underrated Wells Fargo Autograph / Journey Credit Card Feature: Transfers Starting at 1 Point

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Good afternoon everyone and happy Friday! A warm welcome to any former Bilt Card 1.0 members who may have found their way here. By now, you’ve likely received your no annual fee Wells Fargo Autograph Credit Card and are wondering: What should I do with this card, should I keep it?

While the Wells Fargo Autograph offers decent bonus categories, my favorite feature is something far less flashy, but far more useful to me: you can earn transferable points and move them to airline and hotel partners without paying an annual fee.  This is a huge deal if you ever need to top off an account with fewer than 1,000 points. There are no minimum transfer amounts, which means no orphaned points stranded after a redemption.  That combination is wonderful, but not very common in the miles / points space.

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