January 20, 2025 • 26 mins
This episode shares our travel plans for 2025, including family trips to Europe, new puppy challenges, and credit card strategies for maximizing travel. We discuss life updates, budgeting tips, and our adventures in making travel a family affair.
• Life update: introducing our new puppy, Maui
• Upcoming trip to Christmas markets in Europe, exploring Paris, Strasbourg, and Cologne
• Planning spring break travels in Paris and Spain
• Summer plans for Oceanside and adjustments due to Hyatt renovations
• Strategy for credit card usage to accumulate travel points
• Exploring new travel apps for budgeting and trip planning
• Goals for the podcast: reaching more families with travel inspiration
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, friends, Today's episode is all about what's
coming up in 2025, including thetrips we've got on the calendar
, our credit card strategies forthe new year and also a couple
of fun life updates.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:27):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Hello, welcome back.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Welcome back.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So today we are going to be covering a smorgasbord of
things, including what we'vegot coming up in 2025 as far as
trips, kind of how we'rethinking about our credit card
strategy for this year and,spoiler alert, we've already
gotten our first card approvalof the year, which is exciting,
and then also a few changes tosome trips that were already
booked that we were kind offorced to make, and a couple of
(01:39):
new apps that I'm going to betrying out this year.
So a bunch of random,miscellaneous charcuterie board
of items today.
Anything to add.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
No, just the fact that I like charcuterie boards.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, okay.
Do you want to share our firstbig life update that is going to
make traveling a little moredifficult?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
yes, so over the christmas break we decided to
get a puppy yep, well, we didn'tjust we decided a few months
back.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, yes, but it was yes, a christmas gift for for
the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We surprised them and it was a great, great surprise.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, so we have a.
What is he?
10 weeks old now, a 10-week-oldshepherd mix.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
He's only 10 weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, he's freaking huge.
Okay, I checked and he's 11weeks old.
11, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yes, and he's pretty big already and he's got huge
paws.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so he is a shepherd mix.
We got him from a rescue.
He was part of a litter of 10and we're gonna do the doggy dna
test to find out exactly whathe is.
But he looks kind of like ashepherd.
He has like the black and browncoloring.
He just doesn't have the pointyears.
His ears are floppy.
So, oh, do you want to say whatwe named him?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
We named him Maui because he was a chill dog when
we got him, and Maui the islandof Maui is really chill as well.
So, yes, that was the reasoningbehind our yes, that was the
reasoning behind our yes.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So the first time that we saw him, him and all his
litter mates were just snoozingaway and they were maybe six or
seven weeks at that point, andthe people that were running the
rescue and like that werefostering him specifically kept
commenting on how chill all ofthese puppies were.
(03:46):
And so when we brought him home, his name was max.
That was the name that therescue gave him and we were fine
with keeping that as his name,but we wanted to let the kids
weigh in and so over the courseof the of his first weekend with
us, we kind of settled on maui,because he is a pretty chill
dog but he's also very smart andso yes.
(04:08):
Maui also happens to be ourfavorite Hawaiian island that we
visited, so yep and when he'sin trouble we call him Maui
Maximilian.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I don't, I just call him Maui.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's his unofficial middle name.
Well, I tried Maui Louise andDwayne was not having it, so
anyways, yeah, but he'sobviously a bundle of energy.
He's very bitey right now.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Shoes on everything.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
As all puppies do, but German Shepherds especially
do.
So, um, we have an added layerof trip planning now because we
need to find someone to watchhim when we go away.
Uh, so if you're in the EastValley of Phoenix and you like
to dog sit, uh, message me onInstagram.
In the meantime, we've got afew options that we're looking
(05:03):
into, because our first trip iscoming up pretty soon.
So second life update is webriefly touched on this in our
last episode, but we but weended up, impromptu,
spontaneously booking a secondtrip to Europe next year for all
five of us, year for all fiveof us and that is to go see the
(05:29):
christmas markets.
Because I was having severeFOMO watching on instagram
everyone at the christmasmarkets and christmas markets
have been on the top of mytravel bucket list for probably
I don't know eight, nine years,like ever, since I learned about
them.
I like, I'm, am like I have togo there, yeah, so I don't know
much about them.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I mean, I've seen pictures.
They look fun and festive.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I mean, I think the whole idea is it's very like
festive and looks reallybeautiful and you go and you
just eat a lot of food and drinka lot of like mulled wine and
maybe beer, I don't know I'm I'min for that.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
We just have to bundle up.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Um, I also heard they're.
You know some of them arereally fun for kids and they
have like fun kids activitiesyeah, which our kids will take
full advantage of yeah, so Ithink that should be fun.
The super exciting thing andour kids do not know this, so
I'm going to speak a littlesofter is that our flights there
(06:33):
are going to be in businessclass for all five of us, and so
that is exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
That's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
We're going to fly out of Denver, so we will have
to reposition.
It's pretty exciting we'regoing to fly out of Denver, so
we will have to reposition.
But that's not a long flightand I've already bought our
repositioning flights becausethey were cheap, and we will fly
direct from Denver to Paris inbusiness class.
So I'm really looking forwardto that.
Yeah, me too.
Actually.
The cost of that was 212,500miles.
(07:05):
Those were all saver fares onair France, and that's because
all three of our kids are still,or will still be at that point,
under 12.
So under 12, you get 25% offbookings on air France
specifically.
So, um, if we were to go just afew weeks later, our oldest
(07:28):
would not qualify because hisbirthday is at the end of
December.
But we're squeezing one inbefore he jumps to the adult
pricing, and we will.
We will fly into Paris, Then wewill take the train to
Strasbourg, which is kind of onthe France-German border, and we
(07:51):
will stay there for a fewnights.
And then we will take the trainto Cologne and we will stay
there for a few nights and thenwe will fly home from Frankfurt,
I think.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Are Christmas markets only in Germany?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
No, they have them in other places in Europe, but
Germany is like the best ones,and so I wanted to, for sure,
see some of those.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I only know a few words in German Heineken,
heineken, volkswagen, oh my God,that's it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
That's it.
That's two, I wouldn't even saythat's a few.
Okay, so Christmas markets,we've got fully booked.
We've also got coming up inMarch.
We're doing Paris and Spain forspring break, so it'll be a
little chilly, especially inParis, I think, but hopefully
we'll get some decent weather.
(08:45):
I don't really have a tonbooked for that yet.
I'm gonna.
I've got a few things booked inParis, but nothing in Spain, so
I'm gonna book a few things.
You were supposed to look upsoccer games, right?
Oh yeah, football.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Football.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Did you do that?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
No, I did not.
Well, yeah, I just I worryabout the football games there
because they're the fans.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
They're real intense I mean, I know, but I feel like
it would be an experience.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean it would be.
I excuse me.
I would love to go to one.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Well, we'll just have to see if they have anyone.
We're there, um, and then let'ssee over the summer.
Our other update is so over thesummer we have two trips
planned.
One is just for the 4th of Julyweek to Oceanside, and we're
also going to stay at the GrandHyatt Indian Wells for a few
days on our way there.
(09:37):
So that's a new to us property,so that'll be fun.
Our other summer trip haschanged a little.
So we were planning to go toYosemite, which we're still
going to do that part is stillbooked and then we were going to
go to Lake Tahoe and spend afew days and stay at the Hyatt
Regency Lake Tahoe.
However, we got an email a weekor two ago that the Hyatt
(10:02):
Regency Lake Tahoe is undergoingrenovations.
So this is important if youeither have currently
reservations booked or you areconsidering booking it for this
summer.
They are undergoing a majorrenovation and it is supposed to
last until 2027.
At least, it'll probably golonger.
As we know, with these thingsthey always go run over the
(10:24):
timeframe.
Um, but they have closed partof the resort, including the
private beach.
Access to Lake Tahoe is closed,and so if you're visiting in
the winter and you're goingthere to ski, I think fine, no
big deal.
But if you're planning a summertrip, like we were, that's
(10:44):
pretty crappy.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, because I say the private beach there is the
best part of the property.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, so I think what we will do is we're going to
cancel our reservation there andthere's a Marriott also in
South Lake Tahoe and I thinkwe're going to book that and it
probably won't be as nice.
We don't have status withMarriott or anything, but I
(11:13):
think if we can't have the beachand all the restaurants that
are on that side of the resort,I don't really want to spend the
points.
I'd rather wait until it'sfinished and then we can go and
enjoy it fully.
Yeah, so I think that'sprobably going to be our plan B.
Um, so we'll still have thesame amount of time, but instead
(11:37):
of saying it, instead ofstaying at the Hyatt, we'll stay
at the Marriott I think it'sthe Marriott timber lodge or
something like that which is aMarriott vacation club, so you
can get like um, villas thathave like a full kitchen and
stuff.
So, um, yeah, so that's that'sour plan for that.
A few updates um, as far as thepodcast goes, do you have any
(12:02):
thoughts or goals for 2025 onthis podcast?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I just you know we're all about gaining more
attention and listeners, so I'myou know.
Hopefully we can do that.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, that would be good.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Um, so if you're out there listening, share.
Share us with somebody.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, that would be fantastic.
We would so appreciate that.
Um, I would like to have someguests on the podcast this year.
I have a few in mind of peopleI follow on Instagram that I
think would be a good fit.
That are, you know, families offive or more.
I just would like to findsomeone who's doing a trip that
is not on our radar and that wehaven't done, you know, to give
(12:45):
people kind of more insight andoptions into other destinations,
because, at the end of the day,we can only take so many trips.
You know what I mean.
There's just some.
Only so much time in the year,there's only so much pto that
can be approved, so I mean onlyso many points and miles that
you can use.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
True, yeah, because family of five, it takes a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
They go so fast, yeah , so I guess, on that note,
that's a good segue into ourcredit card strategy for 2025.
So, as a quick recap, in 2024we opened do you know how many
cards?
12, 15, it's close.
We opened 15 cards in 2024.
(13:30):
I would like to do somethingsimilar this year, although I
don't know Like that is prettyaggressive and I don't know,
super aggressive, super Likewhen you say that to someone who
, like, has no idea about pointsand miles, I mean they fully
think you are off your rocker,you have lost your mind.
Like what the heck are youdoing?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean here?
Let me just put it inperspective I what?
It's 2025 now, in 2022 I hadzero.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, probably in 2023 too, yeah because in 2020
well, no, 2022 is when westarted, and so so 2023 is when
I opened the first few cards.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So before 2022, I had zero credit cards yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Well, really you still have zero, because I
really have them all.
Yes, Dwayne doesn't ever getthe physical cards.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
I always have to ask her when we're going shopping.
If I'm going shopping by myself, hey, what card should I use?
She's like here use this one oruse yours.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So, anyways, I don't know if we'll be able to do that
velocity again in 2025, but Iwould like to come close if we
can, because we don't have a tonof points right now.
Um, I am, we are going to bepartially focusing on like
stacking and other ways to earnpoints without signup bonuses.
(14:54):
So, for example, we go toStaples or like any office
supply store and we will buyroughly a thousand dollars worth
of the fee-free gift cards andwe use those at costco because,
predominantly they're five timesthe point yeah, it's five x or
five, yeah.
So for a thousand dollars spend,you'll get five thousand chase
(15:16):
ultimate rewards points if youuse your chase inc cash business
, and so we do that roughly oncea month and we use those at
Costco, especially if it's anAmex card that you're working on
your minimum spend for, whichis what has been happening to us
for the last few months We'vebeen.
(15:37):
We had an Amex Hilton, two AmexHiltons actually, and then now
we're working on your Amex goldpersonal.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Because Costco does not accept.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
American Express.
Yeah, so we do that.
We also do Rakuten.
I actually earned 100,000Rakuten points in Q4 of 2024,
predominantly due to Christmasshopping and some stuff I had to
order for work.
So hopefully those will allthere.
(16:07):
A lot of them are pending rightnow.
Hopefully they'll all getconfirmed before the February
payout date, which is coming upsoon.
Um, so we're really justfocusing on kind of building up
points balances, because thenext trip we're going to book, I
think, is Belize for 2026.
And we're going to pay cash for, I think, all of our lodging
(16:32):
there.
Um, for, yeah, because the thepoints options are slim.
There's a Hilton and a Marriott.
That's pretty much it.
I don't know that I want to useour Hilton points because we do
have some, but they're notgoing to go very far because we
need two rooms and so I thinkwe're probably just better off
(16:55):
paying cash.
Is is my thought process thereand we will use points for
flights, but those points aregoing to be southwest points and
they're going to come towardsthe end of the year when we
start working on our companionpasses for 2026 and 2027 yes,
because our companion pass is nolonger yeah.
(17:17):
so we do not have companion passfor this year and we will work
on getting it again at the endof this year.
Part of our strategy is takingit a little bit easy with Chase
for that reason, because we needto make sure we can get
approved for the Chase cards atthe end of the year.
So we'll probably get one ortwo Chase cards each in the
(17:39):
beginning of the year and thenprobably give it a good six
month rest before we open ourfirst Southwest card around
November-ish.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah Sounds like a plan.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
The other thing that's on my mind is so in 2024,
we slowly started adding inHilton points.
So now we each have a Hiltoncard and we have roughly 400,000
points between the two of usand one free night certificate,
which is pretty valuable.
So in 2025, we're going tostart getting some Marriott
(18:16):
points, because there is abucket list Marriott property
that I want to stay at.
It is the JW Marriott MasaiMara, and we are several years
out from our kids being able tohandle a safari, I think,
because it's a lot of time likeon trucks.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
That's in Africa, by the way.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
But I think earning the pointsstarts now, because it's a lot
of points and we need two roomsand then we still have to pay
cash for the fifth person.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, so that's on the radar.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That's on the radar, and we're just going to start
slowly accumulating points forthat now in in the hopes that in
a couple of years we will haveenough points.
What else?
Oh, okay, the last thing on mylist is there are two new apps
that I am going to try out thisyear.
So the first one is calledtravel spend and it's basically
(19:21):
just an app that keeps track ofyour spend while you're
traveling.
I haven't even downloaded ityet, but I am going to try to
use that this year to get abetter idea of what we're
spending on like food andexcursions, and all of that
Because I keep a loose like Ihave a loose idea in my mind and
I assign it in our budgetingsoftware, but I don't like,
(19:45):
sometimes I forget, and so I'mexcited to try that out because
I think it'll give us a goodpicture of exactly what we are
spending.
Um, and then the other app iscalled wander log, and this is
an app that can help you to planyour trips.
Um, previously we have usedtrip it, which I'm I have liked
(20:07):
and I do like that it syncs withyour email confirmation, so if
you get, like, a flightconfirmation email or whatever,
it will automatically populatein the TripIt app, but I do find
it kind of tedious when you areplanning, like trying to add in
activities and excursions everyday.
I find it kind of notuser-friendly.
(20:29):
And so Wanderlog is another appsimilar to TripIt that does
those things, but I've heardit's better for the actual
planning part of the trip, andso I am going to download that
and try that out and compare andI will report back.
Wanderlog also does have like abudgeting tracking type thing,
(20:50):
so maybe you can do it all inone app.
Maybe I don't need both, butI'm going to try out both and we
will see how it goes.
And then the only other thing isfor 2025 is we are starting to
book for 2026 travel.
So I I'm pretty sure we'regoing to do Belize for our
spring break.
(21:11):
We're thinking about Scotlandfor summer 2026.
Originally we were thinkingYellowstone and maybe we'll do
both.
I don't really know yet.
I don't know how much timeScotland will take, but my mom
really wants to go to Scotlandand our parents aren't getting
any younger, so I think it'simportant to prioritize that
(21:36):
first.
And she's a big Outlander fanso am I actually.
I'm just not fully caught upyet on all the seasons, but
she's read all the books and nowshe's watching the show and so
she really wants to go toScotland.
So we're considering that forsummer and then fall I have no
(21:59):
idea Like I think it would befun to go back to somewhere in
Asia, but I don't know.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I think it's a good plan we got.
I mean, 2027 is still quite aways away.
This is 2026 we're talkingabout Belize Scotland, we got to
plan trips for us.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, that's the one thing we don't have planned for
20, even for 2025 yet is agetaway for Dwayne and myself.
We try to do at least one everyyear.
Last year we were reallyfortunate and we got four One
big one and then four like welland one of those was, yeah, just
like one day well, they wereall.
Well, I guess flag staff wastwo days, the other two were
(22:41):
just one day came and was morethan that no, no, I know I'm not
talking about.
I said one big one and threesmall ones, gotcha.
So, yeah, um, we are probablygoing to go to cabo.
That is probably going to beour trip this year, but we don't
have it booked and I don't know, maybe I'll be able to book it
(23:02):
this week.
You have to check with yourwork schedule first, because we
have a like a two month windowwhere we don't have any trips
planned, so somewhere in therewould be good for us just to go
for like three nights.
It's a two-hour flight, it'ssuper easy, but the downside is
the flights are expensive.
For it being so close, like,the flights are like $600 a
(23:23):
person, maybe more Like.
That's a lot to me.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It is.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And, like Google Flights, says that the price is
typical, because you know it'lltell you like prices are low,
you should book now.
Or prices are high, you shouldwait.
Nope, they're like prices aretypical, book whatever.
So, anyways, okay, so that isour plan Credit cards, aiming
for some Marriott points, tryingto stick to business cards,
(23:54):
because I am currently at 424and you are at 524.
You will drop down to 424, Ithink, in February, but we're
really trying to stay at 424 orbelow to make sure that we're
eligible for any elevated chasebusiness card offers.
Um, and I think the rest of ourcredit card strategy, if I
(24:18):
didn't say this already, isreally going to be based on what
elevated offers are available,cause that's really what I'm
focused on.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
You get the most out of those.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, like the Marriott business card, for
example, right now has an offerof three free nights.
But sometimes they do anelevated offer and it's five and
I would apply if it were fivefree nights, although that
doesn't help us really earn thepoints I want.
But I would potentially usethose in Belize if we could.
(24:49):
But I would potentially usethose in Belize if we could.
So we're we're basicallylooking for elevated offers and
want to make sure that we're ina position to jump on them when
they arise.
Chase also had a really goodoffer last year that I am hoping
they bring around again,because we didn't apply for it
and I regret it.
There was a Chase Freedom offerthat basically matched all of
(25:14):
your annual spend.
I forget the exact offer, butit gave you like three or five X
on all your spend and thenChase would match whatever you
spent at the end of the year.
So some people are earning likethree, four, 500,000 Chase
points from that offer.
I'm surprised you didn't dothat.
Actually, I don't really knowwhy I didn't.
I think there was some kind ofissue with the 524 status
(25:38):
because it's a personal card.
But I'm really hoping it comesaround again this year because
one of us will be getting it forsure.
So that's our strategy Elevatedoffers, as many as we can get.
Build up our point stashes sothat they don't look so sad Like
I think.
Right now I have 940 AmericanExpress membership rewards
(26:00):
points Okay, 940.
That's it.
That's it, and I've earned likeover 400,000 in 2024.
So that's pretty wild.
They're just all gone, thesekids.
They take up so many points.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
All right.
Well, I think that's it.
Yep, hope your new year isgoing as planned and we'll catch
you on the next one.
We will catch you on the nextone.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Thank you.
So, oh, as a side note, thankyou for listening.
We greatly appreciate you.
If you find this podcastvaluable, please share it with a
friend.
Follow us on Instagram attravel party five.
Um, I am the one who's on thereand you can message me at any
time with questions.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yes, so thank you.
Hi, friends, Today's episode is all about what's
coming up in 2025, including thetrips we've got on the calendar
, our credit card strategies forthe new year and also a couple
of fun life updates.
So listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
(00:27):
And I'm Dwayne, and we are yourhosts of the Travel Party of
Five podcast, where we share howwe travel as a family of five
around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Hello, welcome back.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Welcome back.
Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So today we are going to be covering a smorgasbord of
things, including what we'vegot coming up in 2025 as far as
trips, kind of how we'rethinking about our credit card
strategy for this year and,spoiler alert, we've already
gotten our first card approvalof the year, which is exciting,
and then also a few changes tosome trips that were already
booked that we were kind offorced to make, and a couple of
(01:39):
new apps that I'm going to betrying out this year.
So a bunch of random,miscellaneous charcuterie board
of items today.
Anything to add.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
No, just the fact that I like charcuterie boards.
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, okay.
Do you want to share our firstbig life update that is going to
make traveling a little moredifficult?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
yes, so over the christmas break we decided to
get a puppy yep, well, we didn'tjust we decided a few months
back.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, yes, but it was yes, a christmas gift for for
the kids.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
We surprised them and it was a great, great surprise.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, so we have a.
What is he?
10 weeks old now, a 10-week-oldshepherd mix.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
He's only 10 weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, he's freaking huge.
Okay, I checked and he's 11weeks old.
11, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yes, and he's pretty big already and he's got huge
paws.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Yeah, so he is a shepherd mix.
We got him from a rescue.
He was part of a litter of 10and we're gonna do the doggy dna
test to find out exactly whathe is.
But he looks kind of like ashepherd.
He has like the black and browncoloring.
He just doesn't have the pointyears.
His ears are floppy.
So, oh, do you want to say whatwe named him?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
We named him Maui because he was a chill dog when
we got him, and Maui the islandof Maui is really chill as well.
So, yes, that was the reasoningbehind our yes, that was the
reasoning behind our yes.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So the first time that we saw him, him and all his
litter mates were just snoozingaway and they were maybe six or
seven weeks at that point, andthe people that were running the
rescue and like that werefostering him specifically kept
commenting on how chill all ofthese puppies were.
(03:46):
And so when we brought him home, his name was max.
That was the name that therescue gave him and we were fine
with keeping that as his name,but we wanted to let the kids
weigh in and so over the courseof the of his first weekend with
us, we kind of settled on maui,because he is a pretty chill
dog but he's also very smart andso yes.
(04:08):
Maui also happens to be ourfavorite Hawaiian island that we
visited, so yep and when he'sin trouble we call him Maui
Maximilian.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
I don't, I just call him Maui.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
That's his unofficial middle name.
Well, I tried Maui Louise andDwayne was not having it, so
anyways, yeah, but he'sobviously a bundle of energy.
He's very bitey right now.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Shoes on everything.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
As all puppies do, but German Shepherds especially
do.
So, um, we have an added layerof trip planning now because we
need to find someone to watchhim when we go away.
Uh, so if you're in the EastValley of Phoenix and you like
to dog sit, uh, message me onInstagram.
In the meantime, we've got afew options that we're looking
(05:03):
into, because our first trip iscoming up pretty soon.
So second life update is webriefly touched on this in our
last episode, but we but weended up, impromptu,
spontaneously booking a secondtrip to Europe next year for all
five of us, year for all fiveof us and that is to go see the
(05:29):
christmas markets.
Because I was having severeFOMO watching on instagram
everyone at the christmasmarkets and christmas markets
have been on the top of mytravel bucket list for probably
I don't know eight, nine years,like ever, since I learned about
them.
I like, I'm, am like I have togo there, yeah, so I don't know
much about them.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
I mean, I've seen pictures.
They look fun and festive.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
I mean, I think the whole idea is it's very like
festive and looks reallybeautiful and you go and you
just eat a lot of food and drinka lot of like mulled wine and
maybe beer, I don't know I'm I'min for that.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
We just have to bundle up.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Um, I also heard they're.
You know some of them arereally fun for kids and they
have like fun kids activitiesyeah, which our kids will take
full advantage of yeah, so Ithink that should be fun.
The super exciting thing andour kids do not know this, so
I'm going to speak a littlesofter is that our flights there
(06:33):
are going to be in businessclass for all five of us, and so
that is exciting.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
That's pretty exciting.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
We're going to fly out of Denver, so we will have
to reposition.
It's pretty exciting we'regoing to fly out of Denver, so
we will have to reposition.
But that's not a long flightand I've already bought our
repositioning flights becausethey were cheap, and we will fly
direct from Denver to Paris inbusiness class.
So I'm really looking forwardto that.
Yeah, me too.
Actually.
The cost of that was 212,500miles.
(07:05):
Those were all saver fares onair France, and that's because
all three of our kids are still,or will still be at that point,
under 12.
So under 12, you get 25% offbookings on air France
specifically.
So, um, if we were to go just afew weeks later, our oldest
(07:28):
would not qualify because hisbirthday is at the end of
December.
But we're squeezing one inbefore he jumps to the adult
pricing, and we will.
We will fly into Paris, Then wewill take the train to
Strasbourg, which is kind of onthe France-German border, and we
(07:51):
will stay there for a fewnights.
And then we will take the trainto Cologne and we will stay
there for a few nights and thenwe will fly home from Frankfurt,
I think.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Are Christmas markets only in Germany?
Speaker 1 (08:06):
No, they have them in other places in Europe, but
Germany is like the best ones,and so I wanted to, for sure,
see some of those.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I only know a few words in German Heineken,
heineken, volkswagen, oh my God,that's it.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
That's it.
That's two, I wouldn't even saythat's a few.
Okay, so Christmas markets,we've got fully booked.
We've also got coming up inMarch.
We're doing Paris and Spain forspring break, so it'll be a
little chilly, especially inParis, I think, but hopefully
we'll get some decent weather.
(08:45):
I don't really have a tonbooked for that yet.
I'm gonna.
I've got a few things booked inParis, but nothing in Spain, so
I'm gonna book a few things.
You were supposed to look upsoccer games, right?
Oh yeah, football.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Football.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Did you do that?
Speaker 2 (09:01):
No, I did not.
Well, yeah, I just I worryabout the football games there
because they're the fans.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
They're real intense I mean, I know, but I feel like
it would be an experience.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean it would be.
I excuse me.
I would love to go to one.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Well, we'll just have to see if they have anyone.
We're there, um, and then let'ssee over the summer.
Our other update is so over thesummer we have two trips
planned.
One is just for the 4th of Julyweek to Oceanside, and we're
also going to stay at the GrandHyatt Indian Wells for a few
days on our way there.
(09:37):
So that's a new to us property,so that'll be fun.
Our other summer trip haschanged a little.
So we were planning to go toYosemite, which we're still
going to do that part is stillbooked and then we were going to
go to Lake Tahoe and spend afew days and stay at the Hyatt
Regency Lake Tahoe.
However, we got an email a weekor two ago that the Hyatt
(10:02):
Regency Lake Tahoe is undergoingrenovations.
So this is important if youeither have currently
reservations booked or you areconsidering booking it for this
summer.
They are undergoing a majorrenovation and it is supposed to
last until 2027.
At least, it'll probably golonger.
As we know, with these thingsthey always go run over the
(10:24):
timeframe.
Um, but they have closed partof the resort, including the
private beach.
Access to Lake Tahoe is closed,and so if you're visiting in
the winter and you're goingthere to ski, I think fine, no
big deal.
But if you're planning a summertrip, like we were, that's
(10:44):
pretty crappy.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, because I say the private beach there is the
best part of the property.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Yeah, so I think what we will do is we're going to
cancel our reservation there andthere's a Marriott also in
South Lake Tahoe and I thinkwe're going to book that and it
probably won't be as nice.
We don't have status withMarriott or anything, but I
(11:13):
think if we can't have the beachand all the restaurants that
are on that side of the resort,I don't really want to spend the
points.
I'd rather wait until it'sfinished and then we can go and
enjoy it fully.
Yeah, so I think that'sprobably going to be our plan B.
Um, so we'll still have thesame amount of time, but instead
(11:37):
of saying it, instead ofstaying at the Hyatt, we'll stay
at the Marriott I think it'sthe Marriott timber lodge or
something like that which is aMarriott vacation club, so you
can get like um, villas thathave like a full kitchen and
stuff.
So, um, yeah, so that's that'sour plan for that.
A few updates um, as far as thepodcast goes, do you have any
(12:02):
thoughts or goals for 2025 onthis podcast?
Speaker 2 (12:06):
I just you know we're all about gaining more
attention and listeners, so I'myou know.
Hopefully we can do that.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, that would be good.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Um, so if you're out there listening, share.
Share us with somebody.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, that would be fantastic.
We would so appreciate that.
Um, I would like to have someguests on the podcast this year.
I have a few in mind of peopleI follow on Instagram that I
think would be a good fit.
That are, you know, families offive or more.
I just would like to findsomeone who's doing a trip that
is not on our radar and that wehaven't done, you know, to give
(12:45):
people kind of more insight andoptions into other destinations,
because, at the end of the day,we can only take so many trips.
You know what I mean.
There's just some.
Only so much time in the year,there's only so much pto that
can be approved, so I mean onlyso many points and miles that
you can use.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
True, yeah, because family of five, it takes a lot.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
They go so fast, yeah , so I guess, on that note,
that's a good segue into ourcredit card strategy for 2025.
So, as a quick recap, in 2024we opened do you know how many
cards?
12, 15, it's close.
We opened 15 cards in 2024.
(13:30):
I would like to do somethingsimilar this year, although I
don't know Like that is prettyaggressive and I don't know,
super aggressive, super Likewhen you say that to someone who
, like, has no idea about pointsand miles, I mean they fully
think you are off your rocker,you have lost your mind.
Like what the heck are youdoing?
Speaker 2 (13:50):
I mean here?
Let me just put it inperspective I what?
It's 2025 now, in 2022 I hadzero.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, probably in 2023 too, yeah because in 2020
well, no, 2022 is when westarted, and so so 2023 is when
I opened the first few cards.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
So before 2022, I had zero credit cards yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Well, really you still have zero, because I
really have them all.
Yes, Dwayne doesn't ever getthe physical cards.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
I always have to ask her when we're going shopping.
If I'm going shopping by myself, hey, what card should I use?
She's like here use this one oruse yours.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So, anyways, I don't know if we'll be able to do that
velocity again in 2025, but Iwould like to come close if we
can, because we don't have a tonof points right now.
Um, I am, we are going to bepartially focusing on like
stacking and other ways to earnpoints without signup bonuses.
(14:54):
So, for example, we go toStaples or like any office
supply store and we will buyroughly a thousand dollars worth
of the fee-free gift cards andwe use those at costco because,
predominantly they're five timesthe point yeah, it's five x or
five, yeah.
So for a thousand dollars spend,you'll get five thousand chase
(15:16):
ultimate rewards points if youuse your chase inc cash business
, and so we do that roughly oncea month and we use those at
Costco, especially if it's anAmex card that you're working on
your minimum spend for, whichis what has been happening to us
for the last few months We'vebeen.
(15:37):
We had an Amex Hilton, two AmexHiltons actually, and then now
we're working on your Amex goldpersonal.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Because Costco does not accept.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
American Express.
Yeah, so we do that.
We also do Rakuten.
I actually earned 100,000Rakuten points in Q4 of 2024,
predominantly due to Christmasshopping and some stuff I had to
order for work.
So hopefully those will allthere.
(16:07):
A lot of them are pending rightnow.
Hopefully they'll all getconfirmed before the February
payout date, which is coming upsoon.
Um, so we're really justfocusing on kind of building up
points balances, because thenext trip we're going to book, I
think, is Belize for 2026.
And we're going to pay cash for, I think, all of our lodging
(16:32):
there.
Um, for, yeah, because the thepoints options are slim.
There's a Hilton and a Marriott.
That's pretty much it.
I don't know that I want to useour Hilton points because we do
have some, but they're notgoing to go very far because we
need two rooms and so I thinkwe're probably just better off
(16:55):
paying cash.
Is is my thought process thereand we will use points for
flights, but those points aregoing to be southwest points and
they're going to come towardsthe end of the year when we
start working on our companionpasses for 2026 and 2027 yes,
because our companion pass is nolonger yeah.
(17:17):
so we do not have companion passfor this year and we will work
on getting it again at the endof this year.
Part of our strategy is takingit a little bit easy with Chase
for that reason, because we needto make sure we can get
approved for the Chase cards atthe end of the year.
So we'll probably get one ortwo Chase cards each in the
(17:39):
beginning of the year and thenprobably give it a good six
month rest before we open ourfirst Southwest card around
November-ish.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah Sounds like a plan.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
The other thing that's on my mind is so in 2024,
we slowly started adding inHilton points.
So now we each have a Hiltoncard and we have roughly 400,000
points between the two of usand one free night certificate,
which is pretty valuable.
So in 2025, we're going tostart getting some Marriott
(18:16):
points, because there is abucket list Marriott property
that I want to stay at.
It is the JW Marriott MasaiMara, and we are several years
out from our kids being able tohandle a safari, I think,
because it's a lot of time likeon trucks.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
That's in Africa, by the way.
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Oh, yeah, yeah.
But I think earning the pointsstarts now, because it's a lot
of points and we need two roomsand then we still have to pay
cash for the fifth person.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, so that's on the radar.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That's on the radar, and we're just going to start
slowly accumulating points forthat now in in the hopes that in
a couple of years we will haveenough points.
What else?
Oh, okay, the last thing on mylist is there are two new apps
that I am going to try out thisyear.
So the first one is calledtravel spend and it's basically
(19:21):
just an app that keeps track ofyour spend while you're
traveling.
I haven't even downloaded ityet, but I am going to try to
use that this year to get abetter idea of what we're
spending on like food andexcursions, and all of that
Because I keep a loose like Ihave a loose idea in my mind and
I assign it in our budgetingsoftware, but I don't like,
(19:45):
sometimes I forget, and so I'mexcited to try that out because
I think it'll give us a goodpicture of exactly what we are
spending.
Um, and then the other app iscalled wander log, and this is
an app that can help you to planyour trips.
Um, previously we have usedtrip it, which I'm I have liked
(20:07):
and I do like that it syncs withyour email confirmation, so if
you get, like, a flightconfirmation email or whatever,
it will automatically populatein the TripIt app, but I do find
it kind of tedious when you areplanning, like trying to add in
activities and excursions everyday.
I find it kind of notuser-friendly.
(20:29):
And so Wanderlog is another appsimilar to TripIt that does
those things, but I've heardit's better for the actual
planning part of the trip, andso I am going to download that
and try that out and compare andI will report back.
Wanderlog also does have like abudgeting tracking type thing,
(20:50):
so maybe you can do it all inone app.
Maybe I don't need both, butI'm going to try out both and we
will see how it goes.
And then the only other thing isfor 2025 is we are starting to
book for 2026 travel.
So I I'm pretty sure we'regoing to do Belize for our
spring break.
(21:11):
We're thinking about Scotlandfor summer 2026.
Originally we were thinkingYellowstone and maybe we'll do
both.
I don't really know yet.
I don't know how much timeScotland will take, but my mom
really wants to go to Scotlandand our parents aren't getting
any younger, so I think it'simportant to prioritize that
(21:36):
first.
And she's a big Outlander fanso am I actually.
I'm just not fully caught upyet on all the seasons, but
she's read all the books and nowshe's watching the show and so
she really wants to go toScotland.
So we're considering that forsummer and then fall I have no
(21:59):
idea Like I think it would befun to go back to somewhere in
Asia, but I don't know.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I think it's a good plan we got.
I mean, 2027 is still quite aways away.
This is 2026 we're talkingabout Belize Scotland, we got to
plan trips for us.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Yeah, that's the one thing we don't have planned for
20, even for 2025 yet is agetaway for Dwayne and myself.
We try to do at least one everyyear.
Last year we were reallyfortunate and we got four One
big one and then four like welland one of those was, yeah, just
like one day well, they wereall.
Well, I guess flag staff wastwo days, the other two were
(22:41):
just one day came and was morethan that no, no, I know I'm not
talking about.
I said one big one and threesmall ones, gotcha.
So, yeah, um, we are probablygoing to go to cabo.
That is probably going to beour trip this year, but we don't
have it booked and I don't know, maybe I'll be able to book it
(23:02):
this week.
You have to check with yourwork schedule first, because we
have a like a two month windowwhere we don't have any trips
planned, so somewhere in therewould be good for us just to go
for like three nights.
It's a two-hour flight, it'ssuper easy, but the downside is
the flights are expensive.
For it being so close, like,the flights are like $600 a
(23:23):
person, maybe more Like.
That's a lot to me.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It is.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
And, like Google Flights, says that the price is
typical, because you know it'lltell you like prices are low,
you should book now.
Or prices are high, you shouldwait.
Nope, they're like prices aretypical, book whatever.
So, anyways, okay, so that isour plan Credit cards, aiming
for some Marriott points, tryingto stick to business cards,
(23:54):
because I am currently at 424and you are at 524.
You will drop down to 424, Ithink, in February, but we're
really trying to stay at 424 orbelow to make sure that we're
eligible for any elevated chasebusiness card offers.
Um, and I think the rest of ourcredit card strategy, if I
(24:18):
didn't say this already, isreally going to be based on what
elevated offers are available,cause that's really what I'm
focused on.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
You get the most out of those.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Yeah, like the Marriott business card, for
example, right now has an offerof three free nights.
But sometimes they do anelevated offer and it's five and
I would apply if it were fivefree nights, although that
doesn't help us really earn thepoints I want.
But I would potentially usethose in Belize if we could.
(24:49):
But I would potentially usethose in Belize if we could.
So we're we're basicallylooking for elevated offers and
want to make sure that we're ina position to jump on them when
they arise.
Chase also had a really goodoffer last year that I am hoping
they bring around again,because we didn't apply for it
and I regret it.
There was a Chase Freedom offerthat basically matched all of
(25:14):
your annual spend.
I forget the exact offer, butit gave you like three or five X
on all your spend and thenChase would match whatever you
spent at the end of the year.
So some people are earning likethree, four, 500,000 Chase
points from that offer.
I'm surprised you didn't dothat.
Actually, I don't really knowwhy I didn't.
I think there was some kind ofissue with the 524 status
(25:38):
because it's a personal card.
But I'm really hoping it comesaround again this year because
one of us will be getting it forsure.
So that's our strategy Elevatedoffers, as many as we can get.
Build up our point stashes sothat they don't look so sad Like
I think.
Right now I have 940 AmericanExpress membership rewards
(26:00):
points Okay, 940.
That's it.
That's it, and I've earned likeover 400,000 in 2024.
So that's pretty wild.
They're just all gone, thesekids.
They take up so many points.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
All right.
Well, I think that's it.
Yep, hope your new year isgoing as planned and we'll catch
you on the next one.
We will catch you on the nextone.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Thank you.
So, oh, as a side note, thankyou for listening.
We greatly appreciate you.
If you find this podcastvaluable, please share it with a
friend.
Follow us on Instagram attravel party five.
Um, I am the one who's on thereand you can message me at any
time with questions.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Yes, so thank you.
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