Hey Reader,
I've basically never sent emails two days in a row, but there are some great time-sensitive deals I wanted to put in front of you. I hope these help you save money and travel better!
WAYB Pico
If you travel with a kiddo who's 2-4 years old, you've probably seen or heard of the WAYB Pico folding car seat. We bring one for our niece when we travel together and it's really a game-changer in terms of portability. This car seat is "fits under the bed on a cruise ship" small but it still passes all Federal crash tests.
Right now you can get yours for 20% off at Bloomingdale's (and Nordstrom too)! Bloomingdale's also happens to be running a special that gives you $25 in rewards for every $100 you spend, so you can turn around and use those in a subsequent order to cover most of the cost of the Pico carry bag. This set would normally run and eye-watering $548 but with all the discounts available currently your total should be $383 - still an investment but much more palatable.
And the best part is you won't have to stress about how you're going to lug a huge, heavy car seat through the airport ever again!
This sale is on through 9/23 but only while supplies last.
(Nordstrom also has some awesome strollers on sale right now too)
BagSmart packing cubes
We are big packing cube users - they help keep everyone's stuff organized and save space when we're back from trips ranging from a weekend to several weeks (or two years!). To me they're one of the most indispensable items of packing gear.
But since the kids (and their clothes) keep getting bigger, we needed a few more packing cubes to hold their stuff. I picked up this set to round out our collection and they've quickly become everyone's go-to!
If I wasn't so "thrifty" I would get each person a set of four in their own color and scrap the ones we've been using for the past decade. But the better option right now is to grab either the black or baby pink set of 6, both currently 30% off!
Southwest companion pass
There's basically no better value in family travel than the Southwest companion pass. (PSA - some of the details in that article need to be updated to reflect Southwest's recent changes, but I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop)
As of this moment, Southwest hasn't announced any changes to the companion pass, so the premise remains the same: accumulate 135k qualifying points in one calendar year and you'll then get to take a friend/partner/kid with you on every single flight for the rest of that year and all of the next one for just the required taxes ($5.60 each way within the US, can get up to ~$120 for flights from Mexico and the Caribbean). My husband and I each have a companion pass and that's how we're able to take the kids on so many getaways!
I suspect - based on nothing but my own speculation and how customer-unfriendly the recent Southwest changes are - that the companion pass is due for a downgrade soon, whether it'll be tied to having status with the airline or limited in how many times you use it.
But for now, Southwest is giving the business owners out there something to be very excited about: through October 22nd, if you open the Performance Business credit card, you'll earn 120,000 points after spending $10,000 in the first three months. Not only can you redeem those points for flights, but you'll earn your companion pass along the way through a combination of your spending and the "boost" credit card holders get. That card also gets you a lot of benefits that take the sting out of the recent changes, like free preferred seat selection and check baggage.
I'll get even deeper into the weeds for a moment here... unless you have winter break travel coming up for which you need the companion pass, you might want to hold off on applying for this card until mid-October. I'm hopeful that around that time we'll have more clarity on any changes to the companion pass, and that will help you decide if you want to put all of the spend on the card in 2025 or if you want to start this year but then do at least $5k of the spend in early 2026 - that would get you a companion pass for all of 2026 and 2027 (depending on what changes come along).
I know this got complicated and details, so feel free to reply if you have specific questions or need clarification on anything!
Flytographer
The Flytographer $50 off sale for first-time customers is still on through the end of September, so I'll leave this info here from last week!
Have you ever looked back on photos from your trips and wished you had better ones? Or maybe you're going back through pics afterward and realize that you took them all and the only proof that you were even there is from awkward selfies. Check and check.
That's why I love using the Flytographer service - it's an easy, reasonably priced way to connect with a professional photographer anywhere in the world to capture your family travels. We've done family sessions in Mexico, Hawaii, NYC and Arizona plus I've done a few others on girls trips and they all turned out great. The list of destinations is huge.
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For the rest of this month, you can snag $50 off your first session with Flytographer. It's less than we would spend for a "fall mini session" in our town, but Flytographer gives you double the length and twice as many photos - plus you get to document your family's trip to an amazing location!
Insider tip: If you want to use this discount but don't know where/when yet, you can use it to buy yourself a gift card and redeem it whenever you want! I've done that before when there's a good sale.
Rakuten
This one is also valid through the end of September!
Speaking of $50, would you like a free $50 check? My favorite cash back portal, Rakuten, is currently offering a $50 welcome bonus for new sign ups! Rakuten gives you a percentage back for every online transaction you make through their portal. It's completely legitimate and I've gotten back over $5000 since signing up many years ago (when it was called eBates).
Here's a simple example of how it works. Right now tour platform Viator is offering 10% back on purchases through Rakuten - the rate can vary from day to day but over the summer Viator was offering 22% and Expedia was offering 10% back. When I book this tour later today, I'll click through and get $15 back in my Rakuten account for my $150 purchase. As long as I have more than $5 in accumulated earnings, I can get a check every quarter.
To get an extra $50, all you have to do is sign up through my link and then click through to do your normal online shopping of at least $50 over the next 90 days. Then they'll add $50 to your balance, which will get paid out with your next quarterly earnings.
This is a great way to save on activities when you travel - you can keep your eyes peeled for those elevated offers and book then to maximize your cashback!
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Here's my little secret: I actually don't earn cash back from Rakuten. I've switched to earning Amex Membership Rewards points instead! If you have any credit card that earns them, you can do this as well. Since those points are often worth more than 1 cent each, I come out further ahead and can use those points to transfer to airlines or hotels.
For straight cash back, I sometimes use TopCashback instead. The rates can be a little higher than Rakuten but there's no sign up bonus for you unfortunately. Those earnings can't be turned into points, but you can usually get a 5% bonus by redeeming for a gift card.
Chase credit cards
These offers from last week are still going strong as well
If you're new to the world of using credit card points to defray your travel costs, welcome! The best starting point for nearly everyone in the US is the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which carries a very reasonable $95 annual fee. For that price you get solid travel protections and the ability to earn incredibly valuable points that transfer to great partners like Hyatt, United, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and more.
Chase has been refreshing a lot of their credit card offers lately, and the Sapphire Preferred is a real bright spot: the annual fee has stayed the same as it's always been, but it now comes with 75,000 points to start you off (while the standard offer used to be 60,000). That's a big win!
When you transfer to partners, those points can easily snag you several nights in a nice Hyatt or a round-trip flight to Europe. There's serious value to be had.
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If you already have a Sapphire Preferred, you can juice up your earnings by pairing it with one of Chase's no annual fee credit cards. These are advertised as "cash back" but they really earn points - if you have a Sapphire, you can transfer them out to partners for extra value.
We actually put most of our family's spending on the Chase Freedom Unlimited because it earns more points on an ongoing basis. But the big news this week is that the no-fee Chase Ink Business credit cards are currently offering 90,000 points as the sign up bonus!
If you're a small business owner - whether that's selling your kids' old stuff on Marketplace, making printables for Etsy or running a blog - you need to get one of these cards right now... or both. I use the Ink Unlimited to earn 1.5 points per dollar on my health insurance and software subscriptions, while the Ink Cash earns a whopping 5x on gift cards at Staples that I can use to cover various other expenses.
Have a great weekend, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions about how you can travel more while spending less!
Safe travels,
Melissa
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