Where Have I Been?

As some of you (or none of you) may have noticed, I haven't written in a while. As much as I love writing about travel and food, the reality is that I have a full time job and a house to take care of with Drew. It goes without saying then, that a lot of our time is spent working and a lot of our money is spent on bills and home improvements rather than on travel....meaning that I don't always have something to write about. When I finally do have something to write about, I find it hard to start writing again. However, I do make it my personal mission to ensure we find a way to fit travel in.

This past July, we went to San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico. I had the trip in my sights almost two years prior and wanted to stay at the Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos as we have stayed at Hyatt Zivas/Zilaras in the past and really enjoyed them. However, they can be a little pricey. Not to mention, I really wanted to stay at least 7 nights so that we would have plenty of time to relax at the hotel and enjoy what Cabo has to has offer. The flights from Boston to Cabo can also be expensive.

To save money, we decided to wait it out a year and did the following:

• I took out a Hyatt Credit which, which at the time, had a sign up bonus where if you made a certain amount in purchases on it within the first 3 months, you would get 2 free nights at any Hyatt hotel. There is an annual fee on the card. However, the annual free night at a selection of hotels more than makes up for it. - - and now that I've had the card for over a year, I used my annual free night to book a night in Nashville!
• I waited to book the hotel until there was a 50% off sale. Sometimes the Ziva/Zilara properties offer deals such as getting the 5th night free when paying for 4 nights in addition to 50-55% off. Unfortunately they weren't offering this deal around the time we wanted to visit. 
• I continued to use my Rapid Rewards Credit Card for a majority of my everyday purchases, utilized Rapid Rewards Shopping when shopping online, and took countless e-Rewards surveys to earn enough points for two free round-trip flights. Mind you, we still needed to pay roughly $87 in fees per person but that's a heck of a lot better than paying out of pocket for an international flight.
• I utilized the Southwest flexible dates calendar when booking flights to find the cheapest flights they offer. Although the seats can be uncomfortable (like most airlines), I prefer to fly Southwest when available because they let you bring 2 suitcases, a carry-on and a personal item - all for free! I'm pretty sure they're the only airline that still offers this and the savings can definitely add up. 

Between the 2 free nights and the 2 free round-trip flights alone, we saved an upwards of $2200! I didn't even count the 50% off the hotel as savings because I wouldn't have booked it in the first place if it wasn't 50% off.

Now that I got that out of the way, be on the look-out for my next few blog posts all about Cabo!


DISCLAIMER: I am not licensed to give financial advice nor am I doing so. I am only telling you the methods I used that helped save me money. They may or may not work for you. Also, I make mention of several offers that were available when I researched and planned my trip. These offers may no longer be available and/or may have changed.