Semana en España

For our one year anniversary, Tim and I travelled to Spain. Leveraging two weekends, one of which was MDW, we only took 7 days off work. Not to shabby! Additionally, by transferring Chase Sapphire points to Iberia (by way of British Airways), our all-in flight costs were $150 (fuel surcharge & taxes). Round of applause for the Mister. 

Although we did this trip in 12 days, this itinerary is designed for a full week. You can adapt it to your timeframe and interests. We're happy to provide some alternate recommendations - just ask!

As I already mentioned, we flew Iberia Airlines from Boston to Madrid. This route is direct and feels like a very quick 7 hours. From there, we designed our itinerary as follows: 

first stop: Madrid

We started our trip in the country's capital. What was intended to be three nights and three days ended up as four (more on that later). Three days provide plenty of time to see the sights and leave enough room to meander and tapas your way around town, but two could be enough to hit the highlights. You can certainly spend more time in Madrid and take some day trips to Toledo or Salamanca. Note that we also came back to Madrid for a day at the tail end of our trip as our flight was early in the morning.  

numero dos: Seville 

A lack of planning kept us from spending our first day in this beautiful city. Yes, believe it or not, even us expert planners mess up sometimes! The Copa del Rey brought Barcelona and Sevilla FC fans to town and all trains were completely sold out for the day. Sadly, we didn't book ours in advance and were unable to get a seat. After exploring every possible option, we ended up booking a same day flight to Seville using points. This not only helped us save money and time, but also kept us from losing a night of a prepaid hotel,

However, despite saving ourselves from having to get an extra hotel room, we missed the entire day in Seville that we had planned. We recommend spending at least two full days exploring this Andalusian paradise, but certainly more if time allows! We plan to come back and spend at least 2-3 more days exploring Seville. 

third stop: Ronda

Never heard of Ronda? We'll trust us when we tell you it's absolutely incredible. The town itself brings many a daytripper and tour group. However, just outside the town is a treasure trove of small hotels and vineyards. You'll certainly need a car to get around, but plan to spend at least two nights here. It's a short ride - just 1.5 hours from Seville! You can easily rent an automatic at the airport. We even got an upgrade with an English-speaking GPS. 

last stop: Valencia

Before returning to Madrid to fly home, we met Tim's parents in Valencia for 3 days. Valencia can very easily be swapped for Barcelona. We had both traveled to Barca during our study abroad, so we opted for a new city to explore. Each of these cities is easily accessible via short flight from Seville. This was a very leisurely stop for us at three days. We could've easily done two days in Valencia. 

We'll be posting in-depth posts on each of these Spanish locations, so stay tuned for more goodness! Until then, happy planning! 

Wikert's Guide to Maximizing Points

A common misconception people have regarding travel is that you need to travel A LOT to earn enough miles & points for a "free" trip.  Julie and I both have jobs that only require occasional travel, yet we travel multiple times per year using points, sometimes bringing our out of pocket cost down to almost $0.  The secret: we maximize the points we collect through every day credit card spend.

Before I go any further, there are many great credit cards out there offering cash back on your purchases - 1%, 1.5% 2%, etc.  If you are happy to simply use the cashback you earn and apply it towards flight and hotel purchases, that is a fine way to limit your travel costs.  But, if you want to take your hobby to the next level, you need credit cards that allow you to transfer the "points" you earn directly to your airline and hotel loyalty accounts (which are free to set up).  Chase, American Express and Citi all offer cards with this capability.

Here's a brief example: Julie and I use two primary credit cards: Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex EveryDay Preferred.  Note: both of these cards carry annual fees, but I'd argue the fees pay for themselves pretty quickly if you are passionate about travel. I'll save the details for another day. 

Each card has its comparative advantages:

•  Amex EveryDay preferred offers 3 points per dollar spent at grocery stores, 2 points at gas stations and 1 point on everything else (with a 50% point bonus if you make 30 purchases in that month - think coffee, drugstore purchases, etc.)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve offers 3 points per dollar spent on travel & restaurants and 1 point on everything else. Not to mention there's the 100k point sign up bonus which expires January 11th (in lieu of a 50k bonus). 

Let's look at some hypothetical monthly expenses:

• Groceries: $500 per month (2,250 points)
• Restaurants and Bars: $400 per month (1,200 points)
• Gas Stations: $100 per month (300 points)
• All other spend: $1,500 per month (2,250 points)

In the above scenario, you'd earn 6,000 points each month and 72,000 in a year.  This is more than enough for two round trip flights from Boston to Spain, which Julie and I visited last year on points (the flight cost otherwise was $1,500 per ticket).

If you're familiar with the miles and points game, you know I've grossly oversimplified how it works.  There's no possible way to even scratch the surface in a single post.  

That said, there are many points and miles bloggers out there who have been doing this for years. However, many of these bloggers work with credit card companies to promote said cards. I am just merely illustrating how maximizing your every day purchases could lead to free travel and this post reflects my opinion only.