Category Archives: Trip Reports

Travel with Grant is Moving to the Bay Area this Weekend

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge

Travel with Grant is Moving to the Bay Area this Weekend

Good evening everyone, I have some big news to share.  Yesterday, I accepted a position with a technology company in San Francisco and I will be moving up to the Bay Area this weekend.  I will be staying with my cousin in Walnut Creek (east side of the bay) and commuting via BART daily.  This is a totally new experience for me.  For the first 25 years of my life, I’ve lived at home with my parents.  This weekend will mark the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

What does this mean for the future of Travel with Grant?

I will continue to blog a few times a week, probably less frequently than I do now.  Based on my work schedule, I will probably blog in the mornings and evenings and maybe sometimes on the weekend.

I won’t be able to take as many vacations as I did throughout 2014 (but hey, there are 52 weekends a year which equals 104 days of vacation every year).  I want to meet some NorCal readers and bloggers, so I will try to do a few NorCal Meetups and the occasional OC Meetup back home.  I will still attend as many travel conferences as I can:

  • TravelCon in Anaheim, CA the weekend of February 28 (presenting too!)
  • FTU Advanced in San Diego the weekend of March 6
  • FTU Advanced in Dallas the weekend of April 17

Walnut Creek / East Bay has some of the same grocery stores and pharmacies as Orange County, so my MS opportunities will be similar.  I will need to scope out the local area and see how MS-friendly the stores are.  I will still share some new MS opportunities and deals I discover.   Continue reading →

Dallas Centurion Lounge and FTU Advanced in Washington, DC this Weekend

AMEX Centurion Lounge

Dallas Centurion Lounge and FTU Advanced in Washington, DC this Weekend

This weekend is FTU Advanced in Washington, DC.  FTU stands for Frequent Traveler University and the Advanced means that we will cover more advanced miles and points topics than a basic event.  And for good measure, the DC stands of District of Columbia.  Now that that is all cleared up, I wanted to see if anyone else was going to FTU Advanced this weekend.  Here are this weekend’s speakers:

  • Ben Mutzabaugh, USA TODAY Travel
  • Gary Leff, View from the Wing
  • Ben Schlappig, One Mile at a Time
  • Greg Davis-Kean, Frequent Miler
  • Stefan Krasowski, Rapid Travel Chai
  • Matthew Klint, Live and Let’s Fly
  • Scott Mackenzie, Travel Codex
  • Daraius Dubash, Million Mile Secrets
  • Summer Hull, Mommy Points
  • Ed Pizzarello, Pizza in Motion
  • Chris Guillebeau, The Art of Non-Conformity
  • Matthew Kepnes, Nomadic Matt
  • Randy Petersen, Godfather of Frequent Flyer Miles and founder of online communities Milepoint & Flyertalk

If you read my blog, I’m sure you will recognize most of the other Boarding Area bloggers who will be speaking.  One speaker you might not be as familiar with is Chris Guillebeau; he has been to every country in the world and wrote a book called the $100 Start Up, which was the motivating factor for me to start my blog.  It will be great to hear Chris speak again.  More important that listening to the presentations, I really enjoy interacting with the other attendees.  Everyone has so much travel knowledge that you will definitely learn something new from everyone you speak to.  Learn more about FTU Advanced here.

I am staying at the host hotel, Hyatt Regency Crystal City, on Friday and Saturday night, and then moving down the street to the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel for Sunday night.  I will be wearing my famous / infamous Travel with Grant t-shirt all weekend, so if you see me, come say hello.  For the record, I have several TWG shirts, so I will not be wearing the same shirt the entire weekend, in case you were thinking that.   Continue reading →

Big Lessons from Small Business Saturday (and the Strange Stuff I Bought)

Small Business Saturday Logo

Big Lessons from Small Business Saturday (and the Strange Stuff I Bought)

Depending on when you read this post, I am either doing some Sunday evening or Monday morning quarterbacking and sharing my thoughts from the epic Saturday shopping spree that was Small Business Saturday.  Before I share the strange stuff I bought, I wanted to get a few lessons off my chest.  Here are some tips to increase your success next Small Business Saturday:

  • Not every small business is listed on AMEX’s website, if it is not listed, you will probably not receive the statement credit.
  • Inversely, some small businesses listed on AMEX’s website are out of business or have changed ownership and no longer accept AMEX (happened to me and several other readers).
  • Not every cashier knows how to split payment to use multiple AMEX cards per transaction (sometimes it is easier to just ring things up separately).
  • If you really want to increase your success next year, I would do some homework a few days in advance:
    • Make sure that the businesses you plan on visiting are on AMEX’s website and that they do accept AMEX.
    • Ask them if they know how to split payment.
    • Look around the store and scope out the items you want to buy, so you don’t spend more time than you want/need figuring out what to buy.
    • Be willing to roll with the punches, not every business or cashier know what is going on, so be honest with them and tell them what you are doing.  They may be more willing to help you if they understand what you are trying to do.

With all that said, here are some pics from my shopping spree.  Here is my master spreadsheet with AMEX cards on the left side and purchases on the right side.  I listed the cards from top to bottom in the order I wanted to use them, in case I didn’t max them out.  Save your Bluebird and Serve Cards for the end since you don’t earn any miles/points/cash back on those transactions.

Small Business Saturday Master Receipt List

Continue reading →

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Happy Birthday to Me

Thanksgiving Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday is today, November 27.  Every few years, my birthday falls on Thanksgiving. Some people hate that their birthday falls on a holiday (like Halloween or Christmas), but not me. Every year for Thanksgiving, my family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents drive to Carmel, CA for the week. It is a family tradition that has been going on since before I was born. It is a trip that we all look forward to every year.  Even though most of us live close together and see each other throughout the year, it is always great to have everyone come together for Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for having such a wonderful family and extended family, for good health, for having the best blog readers ever, for travel reward credit cards, and for all the places I have been and have yet to see.  Thank you!

Since there is really no miles and points news to talk about today, I wanted to create a post that was more interactive and engaging.  I have one question that I want each of you to answer: what is the one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you were 25 years old?  It can be about anything, from life, family, school, travel, jobs, finance, etc.  Thank you for sharing your wisdom with me and everyone else who reads this post.

That’s it, go cook your turkey, turn on the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, catch a few football games, and enjoy spending time with your friends and family members.  Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Inside Air Force One at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library

Ronald Reagan Museum Flag Presidential Years

Inside Air Force One at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library

Good evening everyone!  Yesterday on my way to the Holiday Inn Express Solvang, my parents and I stopped at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library.  It is more of a museum than anything else and is located on top of a hill in Simi Valley, CA.  To learn more, please check out the official website.  Here are some pictures from around the presidential foundation.  First of all, the above flags with Ronald Reagan’s picture and presidential dates are right outside the entrance.  As you drive up the hill, you see the first 39 presidents and as you drive back down the hill, you see the next 4 presidents.

As you enter the front doors, there is a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan with his cowboy hat.  I’m not sure what admission costs, my parents bought a yearlong pass last time they were here.

Ronald Reagan Museum Outside Statue

Continue reading →