Tag Archives: Award Travel

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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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A Tale of Two Citi Strata Elite Credit Card Applications

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Good afternoon everyone, I hope your week is going well. First, a quick nod to the bookworms and literary buffs who caught the reference to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.  Now let’s fast forward to this century.  In mid-December, Laura and I both applied for the Citi Strata Elite Credit Card because we were hoping to triple dip the annual benefits ($300 Hotel Credit and $200 Splurge Credit) in December 2025, January 2026, and again in January 2027 before the $595 annual fee was due. Unfortunately, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” in terms of instant approvals.

The Results

My application: instant denial.  Laura’s application: pending.

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Don’t Let your Hilton Free Night Certificate Expire: Call to get a 2 Week Extension

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Good afternoon everyone, happy Friday! Today I wanted to share a quick tip that might save you from losing a very valuable free night certificate. If you’ve ever earned a Hilton Free Night Certificate from a credit card, you know how valuable they can be toward a hotel stay. Unfortunately, those certificates also come with expiration dates and those dates may not line up with your travel plans.  Recently, I had a Hilton Free Night Certificate that was set to expire on February 10.  Instead of rushing to use it on a nearby hotel, I decided to call Hilton (1-800-446-6677) and see if there was anything they could do.  After explaining the situation, the rep offered to extend my existing certificate by 2 weeks.

To find your certificate and expiration date, log into your Hilton account, click your name in the top right corner, and scroll down to the Rewards section.  You should see when your certificate is set to expire.

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