Category: Travel Tips
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Turning Airport Layovers Into City Adventures: Amsterdam
In June of 2025, I embarked on my most ambitious and complex points-and-miles trip yet: an adults-only European getaway for me and my partner which involved nine flights in a period of just 11 days. You can read about how I booked this trip here, but in this three-part series, I’m reporting out on our…
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How Credit Cards Can Help When Travel Goes Wrong: My Experience Using Chase Travel Insurance
In February of 2025, I used points and miles to take my 7-year-old son on a bucket list trip to Paris. We had a totally magical trip, including a dreamy stay at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile. Although I booked our trip for four nights, it turned into five when our flight home was canceled…
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How to Write a School Excuse for Travel
I have been an educator for over 20 years, so let me just start by saying how much I value school and education. I believe that consistent school attendance is important. I also believe that travel is an educational experience. Travel presents SO many opportunities for learning; kids get exposure to different languages, geography, modes…
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The Art of the Backup Flight
Have your plans ever been disrupted by a delayed or canceled flight? If you’re traveling for an important event, like a wedding or a cruise embarkation, you really need to get where you’re going, when you’re going. This is also true for positioning flights–when you’re traveling to get to the point of departure for a…
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How to Get Free Hotel Room Upgrades
Room upgrades are a perk most commonly associated with elite status, but it’s possible to get upgrades even if you don’t have status. Ready for the secret trick? Here is it: Ask! Yes, it really is that simple. It won’t work every time, especially if you are traveling during peak times when the hotel’s occupancy…
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When Travel Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonade: Requesting Compensation
Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong, will. While I’m not so much of a pessimist as to apply this to travel writ large, it is true that the more you travel, the more chances there are for travel mishaps. Fortunately, there are things you can do to mitigate your losses when travel…
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How I’ve Made the Most of Positioning Flights
The term “positioning flight” typically refers to a short domestic flight you take to get “into position” for a big international flight. I live in Raleigh, but if I’m trying to get to Europe, I’m going to have a lot more options out of a major hub like IAD, JFK, or BOS (although I actually…
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3 Reasons Award Travel is Better than Cash Travel (Besides the Fact That You’re Not Paying Cash)
1. Award travel is more flexible than travel booked with cash. Although airlines have instituted more lenient change and cancellation policies since covid, most of us are conditioned to think of air travel as non-negotiable. Even now, in order to get the lowest fares, you usually have to book a non-refundable “Basic Economy” fare. It…
Kate's on a Plane 