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The Very Best Gingerbread House

2023-12-25T15:00:00.001-05:00

Gingerbread house decorating is a great opportunity to encourage kids' creativity and can engage them during a busy time of year. Most gingerbread houses taste terrible, or require painstaking baking, cutting, and assembly. Thanks to a friend a few years ago, I discovered the very best way to make a gingerbread house.

This cake recipe is absolutely delicious, and could be eaten all by itself. It's dark, dense and loaded with spices. And when baked in a Gingerbread House Bundt Pan, it’s the perfect base for decorating. This recipe makes just the right amount of batter to fill the pan and make one house at a time.

Older kids will take part too because access to candy in volume virtually guarantees an audience. I usually bake 1 cake per kid participating but depending upon the group, I've found that two kids can usually share one house and work together. However many you make, plan the right amount of cooling time for each cake.

With a couple of these cakes, some frosting and supplies, and you will have the start of a great new Christmas tradition.

Ingredients

No-stick baking spray with flour

3/4 cup of water

9 tablespoons of butter, cut into cubes

1 heaping cup of dark brown sugar

1 heaping cup of unsulphured molasses (not blackstrap) (each jar makes enough for 1 and 1/2 cakes)

3 eggs

2 and 2/3 cups of flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

6 teaspoons ground ginger

2 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Candy for decorating is up to you but here are some of my favorites: Vanilla frosting, Andes mints, Dots, Frosty Nerds, Hershey Kisses, Twizzlers, and M&Ms.

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the interior of the pan well with baking spray.

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan, then stir in the butter until melted. Beat in the brown sugar and molasses until smooth, allow to cool a bit. Temper the eggs into the cooled mixture.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a large bowl. Once combined, pour the liquid mixture into the big bowl and fold together. Do not overmix; it's okay if the batter is not perfectly smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan and flip it directly onto a large plate. I recommend cutting strips of parchment paper and putting them under the cake edges so they can be pulled away after decorating is complete. Use that frosting as glue and get decorating!

Experiencing peak Hamilton? Recommendations for related content

2017-12-23T09:49:00.003-05:00

Updated July 7, 2019 with Items 5 and 6

One of my favorite experiences of 2017 was seeing Hamilton on Broadway. I knew next to nothing about it going in, other than it roughly being about our founding fathers told in some sort of rap/hip hop format.

And that the tickets were hard to get.

In the car on the way down we ready the synopsis on Wikipedia. That was helpful and I'd recommend reading it before you go.

But as Michelle Obama has said it was the best piece of art I've seen.

Me: What part of @HamiltonMusical is best? The music, lyrics or story?

10 yo: The story. Everything supports the story.
— Robert Dwyer (@RobertDwyer) July 14, 2017

Once you've seen it you'll likely be thirsting for more. Here is some content I'd recommend checking out.

Item 1: The Soundtrack

This was basically all I listened to for six months after the show. I probably could have saved money by cancelling my Spotify subscription and just buying the soundtrack.

The alliteration, consonance and density of lyrics is off the charts with instantly infectious melodies I haven't tired of yet.

If you don't have a streaming subscription you can probably find it on YouTube. Or sign up for a free trial of Spotify (link to the soundtrack). Amazon Music (link to the soundtrack) is a pretty cool alternative because the lyrics scroll by while you're listening.

There's also the Hamilton Mixtape which I'm personally not a fan of but might be worth checking out if you've really got it bad.

Item 2: Hamilton's America on PBS

This is good stuff. You can try to find it on YouTube. Or catch a rerun on DVR. Or maybe catch it OnDemand. The best way I found was to watch it on the PBS streaming service. You can get access to PBS streaming for a $5 donation to your local PBS station. Then you have to call and cancel it. Kind of a pain but worth it.

Item 3: Hamilton Drunk History on Comedy Central

Also terrific with Lin-Manuel Miranda getting sauced and telling Alexander Hamilton's story. Again, you can try finding it on YouTube but the best way I found for this one was via a Hulu trial subscription.

Item 4: The Ron Chernow Book

The genius of Hamilton is most evident in how Lin-Manuel Miranda took a long, dry, boring book and crafted such a concise and compelling story. I've been working my way through the audio book on Audible for months now. It has been a chore. I don't think I'll finish, but maybe you will.

Item 5: The Hamilcast Podcast

A terrific podcast that's hosted Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, Andres Forero, Carvens Lissaint, and more.

Item 6: The Hamilton Exhibition

Currently in Chicago, The Hamilton Exhibition is a walk-through attraction that invites further exploration of the facts behind the musical and the liberties taken to concisely tell the Hamilton story. I thought it was worth the price of admission for enthusiasts of the musical.

Bottom line

One of Hamilton's greatest achievements is how it inspires further exploration of a subject that's otherwise likely not on our radar screens.

If you're in a position to see the show in person I can't recommend enough how worth your time and money it will be.

One more thing

I'd love to see Disney turn this into an attraction. I say that not out of irreverence but as high praise for what could be the most compelling way to inspire new generations to seek out more information about the stories surrounding our nation's founding.

Say a live show at The American Adventure at Epcot's World Showcase? Throw in a related boat ride (a "row across the Hudson at dawn"?) and it would be amazing.

It's not that crazy of an idea if you consider Lin-Manuel Miranda's involvement with Disney (Moana and the upcoming Poppins reboot).

So, What'd I miss? What other content would you recommend for someone who hasn't seen Hamilton yet and is forced to Wait for it? For those who need Hamilton Non-stop?

Going all-in on Walt Disney World: On-site Trip Report

2016-08-29T07:45:00.001-04:00

We're just back from our first all-in 100% Disney Parks family vacation. Although we've visited Walt Disney World several times over the years, and Disneyland as well, we've almost always stayed semi off-site in one way or another.

My absolute number one upscale family friendly resort in the country, Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World (full review) served as the benchmark. We stayed there the past two years and although it was amazing, I couldn't help but wonder whether we'd enjoy a Disney Deluxe Villa even more.

I mean, when the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom are over and you exit the park what could be better than avoiding the crowds and walking right back to your room rather than battling the crowds to board the monorail, bus or boat?

Selection Process

We chose a 1 Bedroom Villa at Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort for its proximity to the Magic Kingdom, separate bedroom and living area, 803 square feet of space, in-room laundry and full kitchen. This Disney Deluxe Villa is mostly occupied by Disney Vacation Club members, but when booked directly through Disney it provides more flexible cancellation terms and daily housekeeping.

According to Touring Plans, rack rates in 2016 for a 1-BR Villa with a "standard" view go for $655-$996/nt. Ouch! Making matters worse, Bay Lake Tower Villas are almost always excluded from Disney's reliable 20-30% off promotions and free dining offers. The rate during our stay was somehow $582/nt when I booked it 6+ months out so the best I could do was leverage the Citi Prestige credit card 4th night free benefit, bringing the per-night cost down to $436/nt.

$436/nt is still very expensive, and significantly more than the Four Seasons Orlando which thanks to their own 4th night free promo for these dates was $344/nt. If I could stack Citi Prestige 4th night free with Four Seasons 4th night free (which I believe will be possible when Citi Prestige starts pricing its 4th night free based on the average room cost per night rather than the cost of the actual 4th night) that would knock the Four Seasons down to $258/nt. Plus, when booking through the Citi Prestige Concierge as a Four Seasons Preferred Partner Hotel that would mean daily free in-room breakfast (amazing), room upgrade, and a $100 spa credit, making the Four Seasons an amazing value, especially relative to Disney Deluxe accommodations.

That math, combined with the luxury of Four Seasons, is what's driven our past stays there. But this review is about going all-in on Disney. So let's get to it!

See also: What Disney benefits do and don't convey at Four Seasons Orlando

Pre-Arrival

Customized Magic Bands arrive 30 days prior to depature
Nobody makes planning a vacation more fun than Disney

I don't think anyone makes planning a vacation more enjoyable than Disney. As the certified family vacation planner in our group it was an absolute pleasure planning our trip from beginning to end. Some may find the sheer number of options and the decisions you're invited to make overwhelming (where would you like to eat lunch on Thursday six months from now?) but for me, it was fun interacting with the trip and I enjoyed seeing it play out during our stay.

I booked our lodging 8 months out, which afforded the opportunity to make dining reservations 180 days prior to our arrival. This benefit, along with being able to book FastPass+ reservations 60 days out was probably the most tangible and useful benefit of staying at a Disney hotel.

Interacting with the reservation through the My Disney Experience website and app before (and during) our trip was a delight. At any moment I could see our itinerary for the trip including resort, dining, and FastPass+ reservations to craft our trip and keep track of what we'd booked. Compared to, say, a self-crafted urban/European adventure it was a relaxing walk in the park for this dad.

One minor rough edge that could use improvement is the scheduling and integration of their complimentary bus to/from the airport (their so-called Disney's Magical Express). When I booked the room, I did it through the Citi concierge. So they were my "travel agent". And that being the case they were the ones to notify Disney which flights we were on. We of course didn't have airfare booked when I booked the hotel so it was on me to update Disney with this information. However, I didn't realize this until just a week before our trip (because all indications were that our trip plans were "all set" according to the My Disney Experience website) and even when I updated this information on a separate website our plans didn't show that the bus reservation was linked to our stay. All was well when we arrived at the airport however, so it was a minor nit in an otherwise impressively integrated planning experience.

Arrival

Text notification that our room was
ready ahead of schedule. Plus, upgrade!

We didn't check bags so we didn't get to experience the magic/potentially anxiety inducing experience of letting Disney transport your luggage directly from baggage claim to your room.

We first entered the Disney bubble when we scanned our Magic Bands at the Disney Magical Express staging area at the airport. Things went off without a hitch and within 10-15 minutes we were on our way to our resort.

Unfortunately, when staying at Bay Lake Tower you're the fourth and final stop on the bus route which means it takes over an hour to get to your hotel which is magical or moderately annoying depending on whether you're in a hurry. For us it was no big deal since we were arriving early and we weren't using park tickets the first day.

And to my delight we got a text message from Disney updating us on the status of our room. Check-in isn't guaranteed until 4 pm. I appreciated that they sent us a text at noon saying our room wasn't quite ready yet because it gave me confidence that they'd keep me informed of the status so I could make adjustments to our schedule if needed. Then just as we were nearing our hotel they followed up and said our room was ready! Awesome.

As we entered the lobby we were greeted with a friendly "Welcome Home" and a cast member confirmed that our room was ready and our Magic Bands would get us into the room. Pretty amazing.

Room

1 Bedroom Villa at Bay Lake Tower

We booked a Standard View room because I'm always hesitant to pay a lot more for a view, but I was pleased to see we were on the 12th floor in room 8235 which is a Lake View room. The money shot at Bay Lake Tower is a view of the fireworks over the Magic Kingdom with sounds piped in over the TV but I hear the Lake View rooms are overall more enjoyable because you're not just looking at a parking lot all day. I don't know about that but I thought the view was very nice.

What I was looking for in the room was to combine the spaciousness of Four Seasons Aviara (full review) with proximity to the Magic Kingdom. And while the room wasn't nearly as spacious as a villa at Aviara it was very comfortable. Two full bathrooms, well carved up to enable concurrent showering/preparation. In-room washer/dryer to minimize the amount of packing needed for the trip. A full kitchen (hardly used) but with built-in dining table that was great for breakfast. And a separate bedroom with easy-to-use fold out sofas for the boys. Two of them so no fighting! Tremendous.

Hotel Overall

View from room 8235 at Bay Lake Tower

I had concerns going in about Bay Lake Tower's overall resort feel. I knew that the hotel had "only" a pool and waterslide vs acres of family friendly lounging and entertainment options at the Four Seasons. But the low level of service at the pool was disappointing.

At the Four Seasons when you enter the pool area you're immediately greeted and set up with towels and chaise lounges, provided menus, water and attentive food & beverage service. At Bay Lake Tower, there's none of that. Towels are available, and the pool thankfully wasn't that crowded. But you're on your own.

There's a bar nearby where you can fetch your own drinks with limited food options. And there are towels you can grab (thankfully you don't need to present your room key for each towel you take). On the bright side there are lifeguards there so you don't have to keep quite as close of an eye on your kids as you otherwise would at an unattended pool. And a waterslide which kept the kids interested for a while.

But overall, Bay Lake Tower isn't much of a resort. Try the Polynesian or Grand Floridian if you're looking for more of a resort feel on the monorail.

Dining

If there was one thing that stood out for me on this vacation it was how much I [planned for and] enjoyed the dining experience. Growing up going to Disneyland in Anaheim, my idea of a good meal was an Astro Dog in Tomorrowland. Or maybe the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square if you were fancy. So it's taken me a while to adjust to the idea of Disney food being a good thing.

But on this vacation it really fell into place for me. This wasn't at all an amusement park/junk-food driven vacation. But rather more of an immersive themed dining experience. It takes some research and planning to experience it but my goodness - we had some tremendous meals on this trip that I thoroughly enjoyed.

See, when you've got young kids the thought of enjoying a meal with them - where they not only behave but enjoy them in an appropriate manner alongside you is something that's hard to attain. Now that our boys are 11 and 9 it's something that we've been able to experience; but only in fleeting and exceedingly rare moments.

One of those moments was last year at the California Grill. I highly recommend avoiding the temptation to go straight to the parks on the day of arrival and instead build up the anticipation by visiting a resort hotel near the Magic Kingdom for dinner. I was half-concerned that a follow-on visit here would be a disappointment but if anything this visit exceeded the amazingly high expectations I had based on last year's visit.

Here's a run-down of the restaurants we visited on this trip, rated on a 100 point scale...

California Grill: 100 points

The Peach Salad at California Grill
No salad has a right tasting this good

Our server commented that "he'd eat here twice before eating anywhere else on property" and I agree with him. Simply put, this is the best upscale family-friendly dining experience I've found anywhere in the world (let alone The [Disney] World). Upscale yet comfortable. Inviting menu with something for everyone. The view of the Magic Kingdom and the sunset/fireworks are the most unique thing about this restaurants but the food, service, ambiance, and overall experience are the reasons I'll return.

Pork Two Ways with
Grilled Tenderloin, Goat Cheese Polenta, Mushrooms, Laquered Belly, Country Applesauce

Try the Oak-fired Filet of Beef with Buttery Mashed Potato, California Delta Asparagus, Wine Merchant Sauce -or- the Grilled Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta, Mushrooms, Lacquered Belly, Country Applesauce.

'Ohana: 95 points

Me enjoying a Lapu Lapu at 'Ohana
Visiting the Polynesian felt very similar to a trip to Hawaii

A visit to 'Ohana within Disney's Polynesian Village Resort felt every bit as "authentic" as our visit to Hawaii earlier this year. That's as much of a dig on typical Hawaiian hotels as it is a compliment to the Polynesian.

Everything is served family style and there are no choices to be made so the food comes quickly, abundantly, and deliciously so it's hard to find a sad face in the room.

Tip: Pair it with a visit to Trader Sam's Grog Grotto to complete the experience.

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper's Canteen: 93 points

The award for best new restaurant goes to...
Skipper's Canteen!

A new and welcome addition to the restaurant-poor Magic Kingdom, Skipper's Canteen is hurting for business due to it's lack of legacy/nostalgia booking. And also for it's "challenging" menu.

Themed as the place where Jungle Cruise skippers eat their meals, the menu is exotic and interesting. But we were all able to find something we enjoyed. Surprisingly affordable too.

I loved the Vegetable Curry with Coconut Rice and Naan. And the Nile Nellie's Noodle Bowl with Duck my son ordered was tremendous too. Avoid the "A Lot of Steak" Salad though, unless you're sure you'll like the Coriander-Mint dressing (or ask for a dressing substitution).

Great service here as well.

Tip: Make your reservation here right after a FastPass on the Jungle Cruise to complete the experience.

Biergarten: 92 points

This was a successful attempt to remind us of our time in Germany last summer. I thought the menu would be more challenging for our group because if someone asked us "what are some of your favorite German dishes?" I would be stumped. But I was surprised I enjoyed so many of the options on the buffet.

Here you're seated with others at long tables like you'd find in a German beer garden, and we had a great time with the family we were paired up with. I wondered whether Disney intentionally tries to pair up families with kids around the same age. Our boys and theirs compared notes on Pokemon Go for the 2nd half of the meal while we chatted and had a great time enjoying the faux Oktoberfest evening vibe and German oompah music.

It's sometimes difficult to find a situation where everybody in the family is having a good time at the same time but that's the point of Disney vacations in my book, and it happened here for sure.

I took WDW Prep School's tip (incredibly helpful podcast for planning your Walt Disney World vacation) and ordered a liter of Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweisen. I though it was delicious, and you might too if you like refreshing fruit beers. Purists would surely prefer some of the other beers on the menu.

Teppan Edo: 88 points

The main attraction at Teppan Edo is the hibachi,
but the sushi is very good too

The quality here is solid, and the slight language barrier with the servers and other restaurant employees helped heighten the experience. But if you have a decent hibachi restaurant in your town you can probably get 90% of the experience for half the cost. Still, this was an enjoyable visit to a well-done pavilion in World Showcase.

50's Prime Time Cafe: 88 points

I was surprised how much we enjoyed this restaurant and it was all because of how well our server, Gary, played his role as a fun uncle with keys to Dad's liquor cabinet. I prepped the boys so they knew not to place their elbows on the table and to take their caps off, and Gary was sure to chide Mom for violating the rules and me for trying to interfere with with the kid's orders.

Hollywood Studios is a tough place to find a good meal as well, and if you're tired of The Brown Derby (or don't want to spend that much on lunch) give this place a try.

Be Our Guest: 86 points

They've put a lot of thought and attention into this restaurant, and it's one of the hardest reservations to get in Disney World. I thought the build-out was impressive, and the ordering experience on a touch-screen interesting, but the cafeteria-like setting and overall food quality brought this down a notch. The Grey Stuff is delicious however so it's worth a try if you can snag a table.

Disney Transportation

The most challenging part of the day is getting back
to your resort after fireworks, made more
challenging by early monorail closures

I was thoroughly unimpressed with Disney transportation on this visit. One of the things that pushed us towards staying at a Disney hotel, specifically one on the monorail, was that it would make getting to and from parks more pleasant.

This proved true the first couple days of our visit when we rode the monorail to the Polynesian for dinner. But we found walking to and from the Magic Kingdom to be less of a production than taking a one-hop on the monorail.

The "Magical" Express was a bit slow and a nuisance (if it weren't for UberX being outlawed for arrivals at MCO I'd just self-fund future stays via Uber).

But the biggest disappointment in Disney on this trip was the way they'd choose to shutdown the monorail from Epcot back to the Magic Kingdom-area resorts at park closing. As things were, you had to take a monorail from the Contemporary to the Ticket & Transportation Center, change monorails, then continue on to Epcot. This was fine on the way to Epcot but getting back was another story.

Epcot's World Showcase is invariably where we choose to finish the day due to cooler temperatures and abundant appealing restaurants. But each night we left Epcot we found the monorail was closed at 9p even though it was supposed to be open until 11p.

This was a major disappointment because now if we wanted to get back to our hotel using Disney transportation we'd have to wait in a LONG line for the bus to the Ticket & Transportation Center, then catch a monorail to the Contemporary while fighting crowds exiting the Magic Kingdom trying to get back to their resort hotel.

We opted for Uber instead which at $7 was a tremendous value. It was just disappointing to discover that the monorail wasn't running because had I known in advance I would have picked up at Uber at a resort near World Showcase (Beach Club or Boardwalk) rather than tromping across Future World. Plus, finding Uber/Lyft pickup points is a stressful nuisance.

From prior trips, I knew the busses were a pain. I was pleased to see they installed signs at some pick-up points predicting how long it would be until the next bus came. But look at the sign below. If you were trying to get to Hollywood Studios, what would you infer from the fact that there was no predicted time for the next bus to Hollywood Studios? I'd infer that there were no busses going there today and I might have to take the monorail to the Ticket & Transportation Center.

But no, the time board was just flaky and didn't have an anticipated time for many of the destinations for some reason. It would be better if the predicted time was "< 20 minutes" if the next arrival time was uncertain, yet the busses were running at that time. The bus arrived about 15 minutes after we got there, which was fine. But if they're going to have signs predicting arrival times you'd think they could get them working helpfully.

What time is the next bus to Hollywood Studios?
Who knows...

If there's one thing Disney could do to improve the experience for me, it would be to make Uber pick-up/drop-off easier at their parks.

Park Experience

One thing I was interested in assessing was how much more we enjoyed the parks as a result of being so close to them. The idea of "bopping back and forth" between the room and especially the Magic Kingdom was appealing to me, and on prior trips staying "offsite" at the Four Seasons getting to and from the parks spontaneously turned out to be more than an ordeal than I preferred. Because taking their bus to the Ticket & Transportation Center then taking the monorail or a ferry took a lot longer than I'd prefer.

Although it sure was nice to be able to walk to and from the Magic Kingdom in about 10 minutes from Bay Lake Tower it wasn't the game changer I hoped it would be. The first day at the parks we were able to sleep in a little later since we didn't have to account for additional transit time. Similarly, being able to walk back to the room for an afternoon swim and/or nap was great. And being able to walk home after the fireworks was sure nice (that's the absolute darkest/ugliest part of any Disney Parks visit in my book).

But I dunno. Staying close to the Magic Kingdom wasn't the game changer I hoped it would be because a) You invariably visit parks other than the Magic Kingdom and b) Those other parks aren't as nearby as the Magic Kingdom and c) The Disney busses are grueling enthusiasm crushers.

Having Extra Magic Hours was nice the one morning we used it. But at the Magic Kingdom, where rides are most plentiful, only half the park opens early so the upside is limited.

Having Magic Bands actually was pretty nice. Magic Bands serve as your room key, a means for charging things to the room, and your FastPass+ reservation holder. I felt like I was forgetting something leaving the room with only a Magic Band and my phone. But it all worked out brilliantly. And yeah - we probably did buy more stuff because we could conveniently pay for it quickly with a Magic Band (charged to our room). But a Disney Gift Card works just as well for purchases. And park "tickets" (now also the size of a credit card) combined with room keys for non-Disney hotels aren't much of a hassle either.

I thought I'd buy a souvenir t-shirt and have it sent back to the room, just because I could. But even that didn't quite work because I opted against buying the shirt I was interested in mid-day.

In the end, the overall park experience for us wasn't significantly heightened as a result of staying at a Disney hotel. But if you're the type who maximizes Extra Magic Hours and spends the whole day in the parks staying on-site may make a bigger difference.

Departure

The night before depature they delivered pick-up info for the Magical Express. I was impressed that they printed out boarding passes, complete with TSA PreCheck and jetBlue Even More Room Seats confirmed, based on the departure information we provided. Nice touch! That saved us some time at the airport, but we didn't really need it because the Magical Express departed a full 3 hours before our flight.

And surprisingly the Contemporary was the first stop for pick-up on the way back to the airport. So we were last to be dropped off and the first to be picked up which means nobody spends more time on the bus than guests at the Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower. No biggie but it's quite inefficient versus catching an Uber.

Bottom Line

When I got the bill from the hotel I was surprised at how large the sum was. Even though our airfare was separate, we purchased our park tickets ahead of time, and we paid for many of our meals with Disney Gift Cards the final tally was astounding. Perhaps the Magic Bands had performed their duty and we made more elective purchases than we usually do.

Perhaps my mental bookkeeping felt like the overall cost of the vacation was less when it was more compartmentalized and seeing "everything" as one bill from the hotel made it hit home.

But the room was undeniably expensive. Probably indefensibly/unjustifiably so.

If I had to do it again (who am I kidding, we will do it again) I'd probably be more flexible in my choice of Disney hotel and stack Citi Prestige 4th night free with a Disney hotel that's eligible for a deep discount and/or free dining.

But if that didn't materialize I'd be right back to the Four Seasons and/or I'd check out the Ritz Carlton or Waldorf Astoria using points. Variety is nice even if it's not always the absolutely "best" choice.

I did enjoy this vacation tremendously and I'm sure that once the minor negative marks are forgotten I'll be reminding the family on a weekly if not daily vacation how awesome our 2016 trip was.

I might even start poking around at another Disney Cruise since enough time has passed that I've forgotten some of my frustrations with them.

Drop me an email, ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer or Instagram @RobertDwyer if you'd like connect.

Trip Report: Visiting the "real" Sea World

2016-07-11T09:35:00.002-04:00

My boys offering Tilikum their popsicles
Sea World Orlando
January 28, 2010

For as much of a Disney Parks fan as I am, some of my absolute favorite family vacations have included visits to Sea World. There's just something about the combination of shows and pacing of a visit there that's suited our family incredibly well over the years.

Everyone has had a good time, and while there are a variety of things to enjoy at Sea World the theatric Shamu orca shows have certainly been the highlight.

I enjoyed visits to Sea World San Diego growing up. I wasn't bound and determined to become a marine biologist by any means but I was amazed by how the whales performed. Orcas are some of the best looking animals in the world and to see them put on a show up close has never disappointed.

Once I had kids of my own the show really impressed me in new ways. I don't know if it was the quality of the production or what, but when I took our boys, 4 and 2 at the time, to see the Shamu Believe show at Sea World San Diego in 2009 I was totally unprepared for how it affected me.

I'm not much of a cryer at all - perhaps once every few years or so. But by the time the show was over me and my 4 year old were sobbing on each other's shoulders. There was something about the amazing show the orcas and the trainers put on that day combined with the messaging, as Hallmark corny as it may have been, that struck a chord with me. Part generational, part connection with the whales, part inspiring kids to be the best they could be. Sea World knocked it out of the park with that Believe show.

My 4 year old and I sobbing on each other's shoulders
after watching the Shamu Believe show
January 2009, Sea World San Diego

We haven't been to Sea World since the release of Blackfish in 2013. Not necessarily because I've bought in fully to the message in the film. But I've felt like I wanted to learn more about orcas in the wild before I could be enthusiastic about visiting them again in captivity.

See, I don't consider myself a true animal lover. Or really a whale fanatic in general. There's just something about orcas that really fascinates me. And I can't trace that interest back to anything other than my visits to Sea World over the years.

So I'm torn: On one hand Sea World is responsible for my interest in orcas. On the other hand keeping orcas in captivity is particularly cruel given what their lives are like in the wild versus how they live at Sea World.

After the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau in 2010, I started following the controversy surrounding orcas in captivity and specifically at Sea World more closely.

I read Death at Sea World and took note of this piece which recommends a visit to the "real" Sea World in the San Juan Islands north of Seattle over a visit to Sea World parks. Have a look at this quick video:

When the opportunity arose for a summer family vacation to the Pacific Northwest, I was sure to include ample time in our itinerary to try to see orcas.

Turns out - it's quite difficult to spot orcas in the wild.

I did as much I think as any reasonable parent could to put their family in a position to see orcas in the wild in the Pacific Northwest. Were we successful? Did we have a good time? Read on...

Ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor

We left our hotel in Seattle around 10a bound for Anacortes, the nearest ferry departure point to the San Juan Islands. Our destination was Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. I made reservations well in advance and arrived right on time without incident for our 1 hour ferry ride.

First off, I'd highly recommend getting a car even if you're staying in Friday Harbor because other parts of the islands are most conveniently reached via car.

I was hopeful that we might spot an orca on our ride out on the ferry. The woman pouring wine at Chateau Ste Michelle (a nice quick tasting stop not too far out of the way) said we probably would - she had in the past.

Unfortunately, we did not see any orcas on the ferry ride. Oh well. It was a long shot. It was a fun, calm, and beautiful ride through the islands to our destination.

Cost: $90 roundtrip for a family of 4 including car.

Lime Kiln State Park

Lime Kiln State Park is sometimes called "Whale Watch Park" because it's so popular with tourists who want to catch a glimpse of the orcas cruising by. A lot of things I'd read, including the piece linked to above, seem to imply that there's a very good chance you'll see orcas while visiting Lime Kiln State Park.

We were not so fortunate.

Lime Kiln State Park
8:00a July 6, 2016
No whales

I first visited for about an hour around 8a the first morning after we arrived. There were a couple other enthusiasts roaming the shore hoping for a glimpse and chatting about orcas, salmon population, and eco system effects on the orca population. But no whales appeared.

We came back with our families later that afternoon and stayed for a couple hours. There was some excitement in the air as the J Pod of Southern Resident Killer Whales had been sighted in the area a few days prior. And they'd been seen 100 miles north hours earlier in the day. There was some speculation they might cruise by at any moment so we kept up hope. But after a couple hours with no whales we left, a bit disappointed.

Lime Kiln State Park
2:00p July 6, 2016
No whales

From the looks of things, sightings at Lime Kiln have been rare in 2016. Like 5 days in the past two months rare. As compared to 2015 which had 22 days with sightings at this point, that's quite a drop in action. But even so - the whales don't pass by Lime Kiln at all most days even in a good year. So there's a very good chance that if you sat there all day from sun up to sun down that you wouldn't see an orca. That's long odds compared to seeing an orca at Sea World.

Whales last sighted 3 days ago?
I don't like our odds here...

After an unsuccessful visit to Lime Kiln I was starting to get discouraged.

Fortunately, we had our best chance for sightings yet to come with a whale watch cruise booked the next evening.

Cost: $10/day for parking. $30 for a season pass.

Whale Watch Cruise

Before our trip I did some research on whale watch companies out of Friday Harbor. There are quite a few companies to choose from, but I was surprised at how there weren't a ton of time slots to choose from. In fact, many of the smaller companies were booked up on some days a couple weeks in advance.

I ended up going with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching on a 4p cruise. They sail out of Snug Harbor on the west side of the island, about a 20 minute drive from Friday Harbor. They had the #1 ranking for activities on Trip Advisor for Friday Harbor so I went with them even though they were pricey at $129 per person. On the bright side they have just 6 passengers per boat along with a naturalist and the captain.

The morning before the cruise we checked out The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor. It was fun, if a little dated, but mostly orca focused so it hit the spot. Overall, I was struck with just how primitive our knowledge of orcas is. I mean - in the '70s Sea World was legally rounding up and capturing orcas in these very waters for their shows. Now they're ending their orca breeding programs and planning to end theatric shows? Amazing how quickly things can change.

Worsening my apprehension about an expensive and disappointing whale watch cruise was the forecast for rain that evening right about the time our cruise was set to start. This combined with the fact that not all of the whale watch expeditions were successful in seeing orcas had me quite concerned I was setting up for a $500+ bust of a whale watch cruise. But we soldiered on!

We departed out of Snug Harbor
Last chance to see orcas

We arrived at the appointed departure point with plenty of time (didn't want to miss it) at the lovely Snug Harbor Resort. It was the four of us plus a nice couple from Miami on the boat.

Captain Alan briefed us on safety but the question we all wanted answered was: "What are the chances we'll see orcas?" He played it cool. To my [growing] concern he said the morning expedition did not see any orcas. But they did see a Humpback! "Big whoop," I thought to myself. If I don't see any orcas it's going to be a sad sight...

Shortly before taking off he shared good news about our chances for seeing orcas: They'd been spotted right at the entrance of Snug Harbor moments ago! We were going to see killer whales!

Me and my 9 year old
Primed to see some orcas

As soon as we got out of the harbor we could see a collection of other whale watching boats about a mile away. The captain kicked it into high gear and we joined the pack in about 10 minutes. Moments later, it happened. We saw our first orca in the wild!

Orcas! J-2 Granny (I think) and another J Pod whale

At first I felt a sense of urgency to make the most of this precious moment. I mean, earlier that day we were learning about the J Pod's matriarch "Granny" and here we were 200 yards from her? Of all the places in the ocean, we found her? Amazing.

As the evening unfolded we'd see about 15 distinct killer whales breaching, tail slapping, spy hopping, and generally putting on an amazing show for us.

The fact that the J Pod was right outside the harbor where we started our whale watch cruise was tremendously fortunate. I mean - if they were an hour away we would have spent two-thirds of our time getting to them and back to the harbor. But as it was we spent almost the entire 3 hours with the whales. It was fantastic.

L-87 Onyx with his straight 5' dorsal fin

Keep in mind that by law, boats can't intentionally motor to within 200 yards of a killer whale. The best you can hope for is a scenario where the captain kills the engine and a killer whale decides to make its way over to your boat.

More commonly, you're cruising on relatively calm waters at the same pace as them watching them glide along the surface of the water, exhaling powerfully and audibly through their blowholes, and generally putting on a surprisingly good show while they're hunting for salmon.

I intentionally posted these grainy photos taken with my iPhone so as not to oversell how close we were to the whales. If you want to see some great shots taken with a telephoto lens, head over to this Nature's Keeper's Facebook page. The photographer, Heather MacIntyre, was the guide on our cruise. She did a tremendous job explaining what we were seeing and maximizing our experience out on the water.

I shot a couple of videos.
Here's one on Twitter showing a mama and baby breaching back to back.
Here's one on Instagram showing the pod traveling together with a big breach. Wait for the splash at the end.

It was so exciting being out there on the water not knowing what they might do next. Might we get super close to one? Might they jump really high out of the water like at Sea World? The spontaneous mystery of it makes every cruise unique. You never know what you're going to see.

I sat on the front of the boat the entire time, not noticing until about two-thirds of the way through that it had been raining pretty heavily. I did not mind one bit.

Overall, it was a truly amazing experience. Worth every penny and then some. I'd gladly pay to go again in a heartbeat - if we were guaranteed to see orcas!

Cost: $129 pp (cheaper options are available on boats with more people)

Bottom Line

So was it worth it? Absolutely, for us. Getting to see orcas in their natural environment was something I've wanted to do for a long time and I'm so glad we were able to. We had a great time doing it together as a family.

But what if we hadn't seen orcas on the trip? Or if we only saw them in the very far off distance with little impact? I think my feelings would have been quite different, both in terms of whether it was "worth it" and in terms of my current feelings about orcas in captivity.

If we hadn't seen orcas on this trip, I would have left feeling like I tried very hard to "do the right thing" and see orcas in the wild instead of at Sea World and ended up disappointed. I think I would have felt a bit more like there's a reason for Sea World. They make seeing an orca a sure thing and that's an opportunity that most people don't get.

Seeing orcas in the wild was a more educational experience that sparked a different kind of curiosity than I left with after seeing them in captivity. Whereas after seeing them at Sea World I thought they were "amazing" I'm now feeling even more curious about the eco system challenges orcas face in the wild. Why are sightings of the J Pod down so much this year? They say it's because of a dangerously low supply of salmon - why is that? Do dams need to be opened? Is the area overfished? What are the implications of righting those situations? So many questions.

In the end, I still see merit in what Sea World has done with their orca shows. If it weren't for them, many of the most effective proponents for orcas might not have gotten their initial inspiration. Sea World has certainly heightened awareness of orcas and other sea animals over the years - if they're not permitted to continue providing this kind of spark, where will our next generation draw its inspiration from?

Will we go back to Sea World? Gosh, I don't know. I mean - I love seeing orcas any way I can. But after seeing them so healthy and vigorous in the wild it would be depressing to see them in captivity with their collapsed dorsal fins, decaying teeth, and general lethargy from being cooped up in small pools for years.

You know what I'd like to see? I'd like to see Sea World take it to the next level with an immersive resort right on the ocean in the Pacific Northwest. Create some huge sea pens where a semi-controlled environment would enable them to serve as a rehab hospital for sick orcas and ones that have formerly been in captivity. Combine it with amazing on-shore exhibits and guaranteed opportunities to see orcas in an environment that enables them to get out and explore a bit and I'd be there. It could be amazing if done well. And it's not as far fetched as you might think.

But I don't know... It sounds kind of like Jurassic Park. And we all know how that ends.

I really hope Sea World can find a way to continue to inspire the public to have a greater appreciation for sea animals - especially orcas. But in the mean time, if you get a chance to see orcas in the wild I'd highly recommend it.

Review: Seasons Restaurant Chef's Table at Four Seasons Aviara

2016-06-05T16:39:00.001-04:00

California charcuterie and cheese plate

Last year we visited the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara just as they were putting the finishing touches on a multi-million dollar renovation. The place was already great, but the aim of the renovation was to make the Residence Club a complete vacation destination with its own spa and signature dining experiences.

Read more: Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara Family Friendly Review

What we saw looked amazing. An ambitious culinary renovation was the centerpiece of a broader expansion of the Residence Club's Meadows lobby, spa, and gym.

But since they were days away from opening the restaurant we weren't able to enjoy it until a recent visit Memorial Day weekend.

I'm glad we were able to return because it was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had.

Residence Club

The Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club is located in Carlsbad, CA about a 45 minute drive north of the San Diego Airport. We've been coming here for years and it remains one of our favorite family friendly vacation destinations.

Here's a quick video overview:

Seasons Restaurant

Seasons Aviara looks exactly like renderings predicted it would - gorgeous

In 2015 they opened Seasons Aviara. From their website:

"Designed to be the culinary epicenter of Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara, Seasons Restaurant delivers farm-to-table cuisine with an emphasis on seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant’s California-inspired fare takes shape via multiple distinctive dining experiences including an interactive chef’s table inside the working kitchen, a signature one of a kind Kitchen Counter experience, and a well-appointed private dining room. Bask in the natural light with its custom glass ceilings and relax over handcrafted cocktails and a wine list featuring the best Californian winemakers."

It's worth noting: Seasons Aviara is a private restaurant for the owners and guests of Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara only.

Bar area at Seasons Aviara

Chef's Table

Our menu for the night (click to enlarge)

In my experience, there's something special about staying at or visiting a Four Seasons. It's like magic can happen at any time. As soon as we walked into the lobby it was as if everyone who was working there knew who we were. "Enjoy your dinner," was said with a smile from a clerk behind the front desk at check-in. "Right this way, Mr. Dwyer," and "welcome to our Chef's Table."

The Chef's Table is set in the kitchen on a long wooden table which comfortably seats 6-10 people, perfect for family style dining. The experience costs $49 for adults, $25 for kids - a spectacular value considering you can pay $20 for burgers poolside at some high end resorts.

Couples or smaller groups might enjoy the Kitchen Counter experience, which I'm told features a more adventurous on-the-fly menu. Either way, you'll enjoy the view of the pool and courtyard area of the Residence Club's Meadows area during your meal.

Chefs Table and Kitchen Counter
Overlooking the Meadows pool area

The Chef's Table is family style, which is a format I normally don't care for. Unless I'm dining with my family! Which I was. A few days prior to your reservation you'll be asked to select a couple salads and a couple entrees for your group. These choices are then expanded upon with the Chef's selections for the day. Here's a sample Chef's Table Menu.

As we were getting settled and selecting some beverages a little Four Seasons magic kicked in. Our server advised that he had a special beverage for my sister. It seemed a little out of the blue, but we were amazed and delighted they'd picked up on a comment my sister left on their Instagram about one of their signature drinks. The Four Seasons somehow made the connection between our reservation, my sister joining us [different last names], and the comment she left on Instagram - and followed up by serving her the drink she asked about. Impressive.

2013 Failla Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Outstanding

The wine list was mildly California focused, but not exclusively. We started with a bottle of rosé Cava (from Spain). Markup was reasonable, I thought. Like this 2013 Failla Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (pronounced FAY-luh) at $54. The wine was spectacular [93 points for me] and a at a very fair price considering the wine that retails for $34.

We started off the evening with a plate of charcuterie, cheeses, nuts and fruit. The California-shaped serving board set the tone nicely for the focus of the restaurant, and accompanying flatbread made for a very nice start to the evening.

For our menu choices, we kept things pretty conservative with wide appeal. The Caesar salad was terrific - the grilled and chilled lemons were a nice touch. The Strawberry Lettuce Leaves salad with compressed strawberry, manchego, spiced pecans, and lemon verbena vinaigrette was outstanding. Kind of reminded me [in a very good way]of the L'Occitane lemon verbena soaps they've had in the villas - a scent I always associate with Four Seasons Aviara.

Strawberry Lettuce Leaves salad

Between the salad an entree courses, the Chef's Whim was a delicious surprise. They laid paper down the center of the table and left us wondering what they'd surprise us with. Local Langostino Lobsters was my guess, but I was wrong. Check out the look of surprise on my 8 year old's face as he sees what's coming out. Priceless. Spoiler alert: If you plan on going there I'd leave it a surprise, but if you're curious check out this video to see what it was. Really enjoyable.

The surprised look on my 8 year old's face when he
saw what the Chef's Whim was: Priceless

For our entree selections, we went with the Grilled Wild Salmon with Israeli couscous, baby squash, and confit cherry tomato, and the New York Steak Frites with chive aioli and caramelized onions.

I don't have any pictures of the entrees unfortunately, because a plate of juicy steak landed on my lap while being served. They were so gracious about the accident - stuff happens. It says a lot about how great this dining experience was when I spent 10 minutes in the bathroom with club soda trying to get my clothes clean and it was still one of the most enjoyable dining experiences I've ever been a part of.

We finished up strong with an Ice Cream Party featuring house made ice cream with all the fixings. Tremendous. The kids enjoyed the meal as much as we did which makes me so happy when it happens. Reminded me of our time at the California Grill at Disney World last year. Everyone in the family focused on having a truly good time together. Can't beat that.

Ice Cream Party, toppings not pictured but were included

After dinner we made our way to the nearby poolside fire to chat and enjoy each other's company a little more. A true spectacular evening at a very special place.

Poolside fire at the Four Seasons Aviara Meadows

Bottom Line

Seasons Aviara is spectacular addition to the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara. Ambitious conceived, masterfully implemented, upscale yet warm and inviting, family friendly, and a great value.

My rating:
5 out of 5 Stars: Perfection

In order to dine at Seasons, you need to be an owner or guest at the Four Seasons Residence Club. You can stay at the Residence Club by renting a villa directly from Four Seasons or by renting a week through an agency or from a private party. Learn more at SeasonsAviara.com.

Questions? Comments? Ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer or Instagram

Park Hyatt Aviara Resort Review

2016-05-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

Setup service at the Family Pool (click to enlarge)

We're on our way back from a tremendous Memorial Day weekend at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort. Although "May Gray" weather was present most of the time, we had a wonderful stay. From beginning to end the quality of the hotel and the level of service here was very high. We'll be back...

Overview

Park Hyatt Aviara public area

The hotel is one of just 138 to earn both a AAA Five Diamond rating and a Forbes Five Star rating (so said our shuttle driver). Although this was the fifth Park Hyatt we've stayed at this year (Paris, NYC, DC, and Chicago were the others) this was our first visit to a Park Hyatt Resort.

This particular Park Hyatt used to be a Four Seasons hotel. However, in 2010 ownership ended its management contract with Four Seasons and brought in Hyatt to run things. What we have now is a property where the adjacent Residence Club is still managed by Four Seasons and the hotel is managed by Hyatt.

See: Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara Family Friendly Review

When I first heard the news that the hotel was going to be a Hyatt my reaction was: "Downgrade". However, I don't think I appreciated that the Park Hyatt level within the Hyatt lineup is positioned similarly aesthetically and in terms of overall quality as Four Seasons.

Most people (other than points & miles hounds) don't understand Hyatt's brands very well (Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, garden variety Hyatt, etc) so don't feel bad if you're not familiar with them. You're not alone!

Park Hyatt is their luxury level, and although it doesn't consistently deliver the way Four Seasons does, some Park Hyatt locations are very nice. So, in hindsight Park Hyatt was a natural fit to take over the Aviara hotel.

I'm a huge fan of Four Seasons and although I'd never stayed at the Four Seasons Aviara hotel proper I enjoyed the amenities the hotel offered in conjunction with Four Seasons Residence Club stays. On a week-long stay you could "mix things up" a bit and visit the hotel pool, take the kids over to the game room, and enjoy golf/tennis clinics for a nominal fee.

Although the relationship between the hotel and residence club has improved in recent times, the two now operate as completely separate entities. For example, you're not welcome to use the pools at the hotel if you're staying at the residence club and vice versa.

So this review is going to be from the viewpoint of a guy who's stayed at the Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club with his family in the past staying at the Park Hyatt Aviara hotel for the first time, with some observations on how well Hyatt Diamond status conveys at this property.

Booking

Since we've got Hyatt Diamond status this year and I was in the market for something fun to do Memorial Day weekend I had a look at the Hyatt Regency in Newport, RI. We live in Boston so it would be a short but traffic-laden drive. I didn't like the way availability was shaking out there so I had a look at Aviara. And everything fell neatly into place for a trip to San Diego.

But if there's one thing I've noticed about Hyatt's loyalty program it's this:

Every booking experience is an adventure.

Some properties have ample award availability, others do not. Some have ample Diamond Suite Upgrade availability, others do now. Some allow you to upgrade a points booking with cash, others do not. Sometimes you get a different answer if you call the hotel vs calling the Diamond Gold Passport desk. If you like puzzles you'll love tinkering with the Hyatt program.

For Memorial Day weekend, paid rates were running around $349/nt. Since Aviara is a Hyatt Category 5 hotel (7 being the highest) it costs 20,000 Hyatt ponits per night OR 10,000 points + $125/nt. I initially opted for the Cash + Points option hoping to apply a Diamond Suite Upgrade certificate to the stay.

When paying with points, the $30/nt resort fee
is waived and there is no tax on the stay

Unfortunately, that suite upgrade award space never materialized. Although there were Park Suites available for our dates and Park Deluxe Suites as well - the Park Luxury Suite was not available. And in order to use a Diamond Suite Upgrade at this property the Luxury Suite needs to be available. And it's hardly ever available. How convenient. I've seen similar shenanigans at other Hyatt properties (I'm looking at you, Park Hyatt Chicago).

It's this kind of carving up of room categories and what feels to me like strategic blocking of award space that has me less than enthusiastic about chasing Hyatt Diamond requalification, as amazing as it can be.

See this thread on FlyerTalk for a listing of the suite categories for each property that needs to be available in order to use a Diamond Suite Upgrade.

Arrival

The hotel charges $35/day for valet parking and we didn't need a car during our stay, so I decided to hire a car service to and from the San Diego airport for around $100. It worked out great. We arrived quite late so while we were about 20 minutes away from the hotel I called to request they make up the queen foldout sofabed so our boys could go straight to bed. They did and it was much appreciated.

I was a bit "on guard" while checking in since our stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago was rough in terms of recognizing Diamond benefits (we had to fight for eveything we got). However, upon check-in at the Park Hyatt Aviara we were kindly briefed that as a Diamond member we'd receive:

Complimentary Full American Breakfast Buffet at the California Bistro (for up to 4 registered guests per room, $35+ value per person and including gratuity, this cannot be taken as room service at this property unlike other Park Hyatts)
Food & Beverage Amenity (we opted for a cheese plate and a bottle of red wine)
Best Available Room (within room category, we were upgraded to a standard room with an obstructed view of the pool)
Complimentary Newspaper (even I who appreciate the novelty of reading the newspaper while on vacation didn't opt to take advantage of this, and shouldn't that be available to all guests?)
Complimentary Turndown Service (again, shouldn't this be standard at a five star hotel?)
Complimentary Internet Access (worked very well all over the resort grounds)
Complimentary 4:00 pm late checkout (based on availability but not useful to us on this stay)
Complimentary Spa facility access (surprisingly nice, a $30 value)
30% point bonus on eligible spend (always nice, too bad alcohol is excluded)

Room

View from a 3rd floor "Pool View King" room.
Definitely obstructed, but whatever.

We've gotten some really nice suite upgrades at Hyatts so far this year (Park Hyatt NYC is incredibly refined, and there's a lot of leverage to be had at the Hyatt Regency Maui for example). However, the standard room at the Park Hyatt Aviara served us well. With a very nice large bathroom, king bed with a foldout queen sofa, and outdoor space I was perfectly happy to save our suite upgrade for another stay.

The bathroom is remiscient of those at the Four Seasons Residence Club (which I really like). The room appears to have gotten a meaningful facelift in the past few years, but its styling isn't as contemporary as most Hyatts.

The mattress was a low light for me, and a weak spot for Park Hyatts in general in my opinion. Most Park Hyatts have a rather firm bed that almost has a platform feel to it. And that's fine. But at Aviara I experienced a pillow top mattress that seemed to have large depressions in it that resulted in my feet being higher than my body and left me in an awkward position all night. Not good.

Another weak spot: Although they have in-room Illy capsule-based espresso makers they provide powerdered Coffeemate as a creamer. I'd prefer a liquid creamer. Note that there's Keurig coffee at the front desk before 6:30am and complimentary Illy drip coffee outside the California Bistro starting at 6:30am.

Overall, the room was very good but not quite outstanding.

Food & Beverage

Poolside wood fired pizza oven.
Pizzas were innovatively conceived, perfectly prepared, and absolutely delicious.

If there's one thing that's consistently impressed me about Park Hyatt it's been the food & beverage program. Not just the breakfast (I'll get to that in a minute) but so many Park Hyatt properties feature restaurants you might want visit even if you're not staying at the hotel. The Back Room at the Park Hyatt New York and the Blue Duck Tavern at their Washington DC properites come to mind - terrific.

The brunch served at the California Bistro is outstanding. I remember eating here back in the day when they offered a Friday night Seafood Buffet where in an effort to maximize value guests regularly risked allergic reactions while ingesting copious amounts of shellfish.

Blueberry Crumble Danish were only outdone by Strawberry Cronuts

The pastry chef at this property, from France I'm told, is amazingly talented. Highlights at the buffet included Strawberry Cronuts [wow!], Blueberry Crumble Danish, and Peanut Butter and Chocolate Croissants. Other venues on site benefit from his talents. For example, in the Spa they've got shortbread or macarons on a rotating basis.

Also, the weekend we were there they featured personal s'mores setups poolside. With service for four and the components prepared in house (there's that pastry chef again) they were a very enjoyable novelty.

Each night on the holiday weekend they had a special dinner offering poolside. We loved the wood-fired pizzas prepared right next to our table and delivered by the chef himself. Terrific.

I'd like to be able to buy Cali Creamin' on the east coast
but that would kill the novelty

The beer assortment poolside featured a lot of local brews - including one of my favorites: Mother Earth Brew Co Cali Creamin' Vanilla Cream Ale. It's one of those things where I wish they'd sell it on the east coast but as soon as they did the novelty would be gone.

We stopped in for a drink at The Argyle Steakhouse, down by the Aviara Golf Club. A very nice spot. Seems newly remodeled to a very high level recently. We had a simple plate of french fries that were as good as I can imagine fries being.

Simple french fries at the Argyle Lounge after golf were amazingly good.
Can this place do no wrong?

We didn't visit the hotel's fine dining venue (Vivace) on this visit, but prior visits it has been spectacular. I highly recommend it. You're welcome to dine at the Park Hyatt restaurants while staying at the Residence Club, but not vice versa.

Overall, the food & beverage options at this property delighted across the board.

Activities

Enjoy complimentary use of the driving range and putting green
at the Aviara Golf club while staying at the Park Hyatt

A strength of the Park Hyatt Aviara is its scale and the breadth of actities they're able to offer, especially when occupancy rates are high.

Golf

The Arnold Palmer designed 18 hole Aviara Golf Club hosts the LPGA Kia Classic. It is a gorgeous golf course. I didn't have time to play it on this visit [hotel guests get preferred tee times] but instead took my boys down to hit some golf balls at the driving range. Normally reserved for those playing a round of golf that day, range access is included in the resort fee.

Pro Tip: The Citi Prestige credit card comes with 3 free rounds of golf annually and 4th night free at hotels. The Aviara Golf Club is included in the list of courses in this program and it's a great redemption since a rates can be as high as $230 per round.

They treated us like VIPs at the Aviara Golf Club
Complimentary loaner clubs - even for young lefties!

I called down and they set me up with complimentary loaner clubs for me and my boys, even a perfectly sized left-handed set for my 8 year old. We enjoyed driving the cart over to the range and hitting balls off turf rather than the synthetic mats they're more accustomed to. After that we putted for a bit and grabbed a drink at the Argyle Lounge while regaling in the fine service we experienced.

The tennis courts also looks to be a great value. Court time on one of six courts (two of which are clay), racquet rentals, and balls are said to be included in the resort fee.

Golf and tennis clinics for adults and/or kids are offered on select days as well.

Spa

I'm not a big spa guy so I had a special reporter do a visit and provide her thoughts.

If you happen to have Diamond status with Hyatt (or have a friend who will share their status with you as a "Guest of Honor") be sure to visit the spa.

Even if you are not springing for any spa treatments, check in at the spa desk where they will ask your shoe size then assign you a locker with appropriately sized sandals, plush robe, bottled water, jewelry bag, and laundry bag. After changing in to the robe, stop by the coed "relaxation room" aka the solarium where you can get hot herbal tea, fruit-infused ice water, dried fruit, fresh peaches, mixed nuts, and either freshly baked shortbread cookies or assorted French macarons (cookie/macaron selection seems to be on a daily rotation).

Lounge in the comfy chairs with palm trees and a slight breeze while enjoying the treats. Next head to the spa area for some time in the dry sauna, steam room, and jacuzzi tub. Note: These areas are "clothing optional" and not co-ed. After you are done, jump in the shower and use the eucalyptus spray on the walls to create an aromatherapy shower while you use the provided amenities (shampoo, conditioner, shave cream, razors and shower gel.) After using the blowdryer take a quick trip back to the solarium if it is macaron day then head out to enjoy the rest of your day. Oh, and the fitness center looks well-equipped if you wanted to add some exercise to your spa experience.

Visiting the spa without a treatment normally costs $30, but Diamond guests get it for free. It's almost like a secret lounge. Almost.

Diamond guests get complimentary Spa access.
Useful if it's chilly outside or you just want a healthy light snack. Secret lounge?

But we spent most of our time at the pools and the game room.

Adult pool and bar overlooking the Batiquitos Lagoon

I'm pleased to report that the standard of service the Four Seasons offers poolside largely conveys at the Park Hyatt. As soon as we entered the pool area we were set up nicely with lounge chairs and umbrellas poolside. The chaise lounges were covered with large white towels and additional towels were provided for drying off. Additional towels, if needed, were plentiful and easy to fetch. Food & drink menus were provided along with ice water for each guest.

Ample lounge chairs even when the hotel was at 90%+ capacity
Cabanas [that nobody uses] set back away from the pool - I like it.

Cabanas are available to rent but I didn't see a single one in use. Thankfully, the cabanas were set behind the free lounge chairs (further away from the pool). I appreciated this setup because, in contrast and as a point of comparison, at the Fairmont Kea Lani the space right around the pool was dominated by cabanas that were quite expensive, largely undifferentiated vs lounge chairs, and hardly used. With the hotel at near full occupancy the pools were crowded but not unplesantly so. The crowd was well behaved and our kids made friends with others their age.

We really enjoyed the game room downstairs. The games aren't state of the art or anything but they are complimentary and include two billards tables, two foosball tables, three Xbox stations, a shuffleboard table, and a couple of classic upright video games kept us entertained for hours.

There is a fee-based Camp Hyatt program for kids ages 4-12 [quite expensive at $90-$165 a day, especially considering it was previously complimentary when this was a Four Seasons] which we didn't take advantage of. Our kids are technically within the age range most hotel kids clubs are said to handle, but lately I've found them aimed too much towards the lower end of the age scale. We poked our head in the club just to see what it was like. It looked nice, but the kids in the program were quite young. Perfect for those with younger kids but not for us anymore. The semi-supervised tween/teen ("The Hideout") at the Four Seasons Orlando is great for our kids now - too bad more hotels don't offer something like this.

Read more: Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Review

The pool area featured live entertainment each night around 5-6:30 which was surprisngly good. I rarely find live entertainment to be a value add at places like this (too loud/not good/not a fan of the genre, etc) but Lee Coulter in particular was great.

Personal poolside s'mores with house made graham crackers and chocolate.
Perfectly complements a dive-in movie.

After the music finished up they fired up The Good Dinosaur as a dive-in movie. The screen was a little hard to see before the sun went down, and it was getting quite chilly by then so we enjoyed our s'mores then headed up for bed, tired especially due to the 3 hour time difference.

It's worth noting that this hotel is not on the ocean. Although there are distant views of the Pacific, the hotel isn't even particularly close to the ocean. They do offer a beach shuttle and chair rental service for I think $15/day. And complimenatry shuttle rides to nearby attractions like the Carlsbad Premium Outlets are available as well.

In the past we've visited nearby theme parks while staying at Aviara, but for a holiday weekend that was a definite "pass" for us. Disneyland is theoretically just an hour and six minutes away and although I jokingly threatened the kids with a visit [I'm the biggest Disney fan in the family] a Disney Park visit on Memorial Day weekend sounds like a death move.

At less crowded times of year Legoland is very close by in Carlsbad. And Sea World isn't too terribly far (are we allowed to be fans of Sea World again now that they're ramping down their orca programs?) but I wouldn't recommend visiting on weekdays due to traffic in both directions.

Overall, there is just a ton of fun stuff to do at and nearby this resort. We all had a great time.

Bottom Line

Six years after being converted from a Four Seasons, the Park Hyatt Aviara remains a high end true family friendly resort hotel. The service standard is very high and interactions with staff was uniformly outstanding with a genuine "it is my pleasure" attitude. Unlike the Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club next door, the Park Hyatt Aviara can be booked using points.

Although both properties have their strengths for family vacations I think the Residence Club is better for week-long stays (it feels like every day is Saturday and there are no chores) the Park Hyatt nicely fills in the gaps for shorter stays with more flexible booking terms.

Award availability at the Park Hyatt (for standard rooms using all points or cash + points) is quite good, but access to suites is limited - perhaps artificially so by the hotel since they've carved out a unique class of suites with few rooms. It's a solid use of Hyatt points at around 2 cents per point, but far from one of the best redemptions out there.

That said I'll gladly return to both the Park Hyatt Aviara and the Four Seasons Residence Club as well. We've enjoyed every single visit to the area and it continues to be one of my Top 3 Vacation Destinations.

4.5 out of 5 Stars: Outstanding

Follow me on Instagram where I've been mostly posting travel related stuff lately or on Twitter (also @RobertDwyer) where I tend to talk more about points, miles & wine. Or drop me an email if you want to keep it on the downlow.

4 Unusual Ways to Save Money at Whole Foods Market

2015-10-18T19:03:00.002-04:00

Whole Foods Market has a reputation for costing more other grocery stores. While it may be true that Whole Foods commands a premium relative to conventional grocers, a lot of people decide it's worth it. If you do your regular grocery shopping at Whole Foods Market here are 4 ways I've found to save money on your purchases...

1. ApplePay with Discover [20% back]

Through the end of 2015, Discover is offering 10% cashback on all ApplePay transactions, capped at $10,000 in purchases. On top of that Discover is offering to double the cashback the first year for new account holders. If you're an existing Discover card holder you can call them and ask for the double cashback promo to be added to your account.

Not a Discover cardholder? Here's my referral link. $50 for you, $50 for me after your first purchase:
http://bit.ly/1Lws0k6

2. Earn by Microsoft [5% back towards the Microsoft Store, on top of credit card rewards]

This is a program where you connect your Visa/Mastercards to the Earn by Microsoft rewards program. Rewards can be redeemed for merchandise at the Microsoft Store *on top* of the rewards your credit card earns. That's stacking, and you know I love stacking.

The program is currently offering 5% back at Whole Foods. And 10% back on Starbucks reloads.

At the Microsoft store you can buy an XBox 360, laptops, and Microsoft software. I'm not immediately in the market for any of these, but if I had a few hundred dollars racked up in savings I could surely find it useful at some point.

Here's my referral link. $10 for you, $10 for me:
https://earn.microsoft.com/?borrfc=r_EKM

Earn by Microsoft is currently only available in MA, AZ, and WA.

3. Get a credit card that bonuses grocery stores [5+%]

This is kind of a foundational tip (rather than an unusal one) but grocery stores are a commonly bonused category of credit card spend. American Express has a number of cards that heavily bonus grocery spend - especially their "Blue Cash" cards which comes in a few different varieties. Which one to get depends on how much you plan to spend at grocery stores (and gas/drugstores which are also bonused).

If you're going to spend a lot at grocery/gas/drugstores, the Blue Cash from American Express [no longer actively marketed by AmEx, try opening in an Incognito browser window if the landing page doesn't come up for you] bonuses offers 5% cashback after spending $6,500 per year. The best thing about this card is that the 5% is capped at a generous $50,000 in annual spend.

If you're going to spend less than $6,000 annually at grocery stores, the Blue Cash Preferred offers 6% cashback at supermarkets, capped at $6,000 annually. But the card comes with a $75 annual fee. If you spend $6,000 at grocery stores at 6% that's $360 which makes the annual fee worth it.

I prefer the high $50,000 cap of the "old" Blue Cash from American Express.

Another option is the Wells Fargo Visa Signature which offers 5% back on gas/grocery/drugstore the first 6 months you have the card. That's a relatively short timeframe, but there's no spending cap and earned points can be redeemed for cash back OR are worth 1.5 cents per point when redeemed for air travel through their portal. That's 7.5% back towards mile-earning air travel AND it can be stacked with Earn by Microsoft since it's a Visa. Great card.

4. Buy Whole Foods gift cards [10+% savings]

Last December in Massachusetts, Whole Foods sold their own gift cards at a 10% discount if you bought $500 or more. This is an example of where "time shifting" can save you money. If you paid in December for future purchases you'd save 10%. We'll see if the deal comes back again this year.

Another thing you could do is "category shift". For example, if you have a credit card that bonuses spend at office supply stores (like the Chase Ink business credit cards) you could buy Whole Foods Market gift cards at office supply stores and earn 5 Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar you spend. Ultimate Rewards are worth a penny a piece towards cash back. Potentially more [much more] if redeemed effectively by transferring to their travel partners like United, Hyatt or Southwest Airlines.

If neither of these angles work for you, you can always buy Whole Foods gift cards from a gift card reseller to save around 10%. You have to tote around/keep track of gift cards but depending on how much you save it can be worth it.

Update: 11/9/2015 Bonus! American Express is running a targeted AmEx Sync deal for $10 off $60.

Question of the Day: What other ways have you found to save money on purchases at Whole Foods Market?

Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara Family-Friendly Review

2015-04-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

Palmera Pool at Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara

For my money, Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara is one of the best luxury family-friendly vacation values in the United States. We just returned from a week at Aviara - the fourth time we've visited in the past decade - and I wanted to share with you what I share with friends who I talk to all the time. With so many vacation options available, we return to this property again and again even though we now live on the other side of the country.

Why Four Seasons Aviara?

Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara is a high end hotel timeshare in Carlsbad, California about 30 miles north of the San Diego airport. Aviara is one of several Residence Clubs in the Four Seasons portfolio, but is by far the largest and one of just two that are viable for week-long or shorter stays.

Four Seasons Residence Clubs combine the quality, service, and amenities Four Seasons Hotels are known for with spacious villas that make them ideal candidates for family vacations.

Aviara is an appealing destination for its near-ideal climate and proximity to southern California attractions. Legoland, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, and Disneyland are all within an hour's drive. But the resort is so nice we often find ourselves relaxing by the pools and enjoying the spacious 1,600+ sf accommodations rather than exhausting ourselves driving all over the area.

2 Bedroom Villa Floorplan

When we're staying at Four Seasons Aviara I feel like every evening is Friday night and every day is Saturday. And there are no chores. I love it.

History

In the 1990s Four Seasons Founder Isadore Sharpe was visiting Palm Springs and noticed other hotel brands getting into the timeshare business. Hilton, Marriott, and Disney were all building successful timeshare businesses and Sharp thought Four Seasons could do it even better.

It makes sense, right? The timeshare market has historically been kind of dodgy. But when hotels put their mark on a property it gives you a sense of the standards they have and makes you more comfortable staying at unfamiliar destinations in their portfolio.

Aviara was the first Four Seasons Residence Club, followed by Scottsdale at Troon North. There are other properties in the portfolio (currently Punta Mita, Costa Rica, Jackson Hole, Vail and Florence) but the others are more like fractionals where owners commonly purchase multiple rather than single weeks. As a result, Aviara and Scottsdale are two properties to look into if you're interested in visiting these areas and you like the idea of Four Seasons quality with space to accommodate a family.

Aviara itself is a master-planned community with single family homes, condominiums, and apartments. The community is manicured and a delight to walk around, but I never would have discovered Aviara if not for Four Seasons.

In the late '90s Four Seasons developed both a hotel and the Residence Club at Aviara. But in 2010 there was a parting of ways between the owner of the hotel and Four Seasons. Unlike other hoteliers, Four Seasons doesn't own any of the properties they manage. They typically enter into multi-decade management contracts and own a small fraction of the property so they have some skin in the game.

The owner of the Aviara hotel evidently didn't like the agreement they had in place with Four Seasons and opted to break their contract and enlisted Hyatt to manage the property. In 2010, the hotel became a Park Hyatt - their top mark for resort properties around the world.

The Residence Club continues to be managed by Four Seasons.

But the split was unfortunate for Residence Club owners and guests who would no longer have access to hotel amenities like the hotel spa, tennis courts, golf course and pool. On our last stay in 2013 we were still allowed some hotel access. But on this stay in 2015 the only hotel amenity we were able to enjoy were the restaurants.

Today

When General Manager Demi Ortega arrived at Four Seasons Aviara in 2012 he set out to establish the property as a complete and self-sufficient private residence club. The Residence Club is just finishing a $6M renovation that captures this vision.

See: Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara debuts $6M renovation

There are three areas within Aviara. From top to bottom elevation-wise: Osprey, Summits, and Meadows. As part of this renovation, the Meadows area is extensively transformed. The Meadows lobby, where guests register upon arrival, was completely reconfigured and redesigned with a modern, Spanish Mission-inspired design. The gym was completely redone and now offers open-air yoga classes overlooking the new Palmera Pool. A new Driftwood Spa was developed complete with a nail salon and a full menu of spa services guests staying at the Four Seasons would expect.

The most exciting component of the renovation is the arrival of the new Seasons restaurant. Before the Hyatt split, in-villa dining was prepared within the hotel kitchens. Since the split, room service and poolside dining was prepared at small kitchens adjacent to the pools. It was a rather makeshift affair and the breadth of the menu was limited. But the debut of Seasons promises to make dining a strong suit of the property.

Rendering of Seasons restaurant at Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara
See more...

On this most recent visit, we met with Executive Chef Jonathan Sudar for a walk-through of the new restaurant spaces and kitchen a couple weeks before they were scheduled. It's going to be something special. Whereas the current menu gets tiresome after a couple of meals, the dining areas at Seasons could potentially keep things interesting for an entire week.

The space starts with a new coffee area with light breakfast items. This will be flanked by a retail wine component. Table service dining at Seasons will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner in an amazing new space (see concept renderings here). The new menu will feature seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.

The most innovative concept is the new "Taste the Senses" experience. Reminiscent of a chef's table, the fully renovated space opens up to the Palmera pool and the kitchen, offering guests either a front row seat at one of six tall chairs or a community table that can be booked for a group of twelve. This would be a really nice celebratory component of a week-long stay. Imagine an exhibition kitchen with a view of the pool.

Once this renovation is complete, expect the same design aesthetic to be implemented at the Summits which is headed towards being the more kid-friendly of the two pool areas. In addition to the Club 760 kids room, look for a splash pad, small playground, and renovated gym in the future.

Notes from a Recent Stay

This was the first time we visited since the full split from the Park Hyatt. The grounds and room were immaculate and as gorgeous as ever. Upon arrival I'm always amazed at just how incredibly nice the place is.

Villas at Osprey within Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara

We were greeted with complimentary sparkling wine and the kids got water bottles. We requested and received a 2 bedroom unit in the Osprey section of the property with distant Pacific Ocean views and a small grass yard the kids enjoyed. The aromatic plantings, especially in spring, make walking around the property a real treat.

Highlights

Highlights of this trip included security, the housekeeping staff, and their social media team.

On our first morning there, my 10 year old son stepped on and got stung by a bee on the pool deck. I thought at first he was just frightened because he stepped on a bee but right away I could see the bee's stinger in his foot and the area around it swelling up. I asked a pool attendant for some ice to help with the swelling. They obliged and then within just a few minutes, at 8 am no less, a security guard with an amazingly kind bedside manner arrived with a sting kit. Thankfully my little guy isn't allergic to bees and the topical pain killer they provided really helped him feel better quickly. The security guard even called later in the day to personally check up. Outstanding service. Classic Four Seasons. You never know how you're going to need service at a hotel.

Housekeeping was consistently outstanding. The villa was spotless as usual upon arrival and well-timed with when we were out of the unit. Daily housekeeping is a rarity at timeshare properties and it is so nice to walk into a tidied-up villa each afternoon. Units are equipped with a washer/dryer which makes light packing for a week-long family trip a breeze. On the third day of our stay we started the clothes dryer before leaving for the day. When we returned our clothes were neatly folded on our bed! I could get used to that. So nice.

Their social media team, a new addition for this free-standing Residence Club, was ever on the lookout for ways to delights guests who engage with them on social channels. They picked up some chatter about how we enjoyed a visit from the Ice Cream Man at their Chicago property. And wouldn't you know, on the third night of our stay, build your own ice cream sundaes were delivered to our room after dinner with a note from them. Nice!

Review: Four Seasons Chicago With Kids

But is it Family-Friendly?

We were visiting during Massachusetts spring break in mid/late April which is not a vacation week for California schools. As a result there were very few kids on property. So few in fact that some of the activities we'd enjoyed in the past weren't offered. Daily nominal-fee activities like magic shows for the kids didn't occur. Due to the split with the Hyatt, the kids golf clinic wasn't an option any more. Basically, the only family-friendly activity were the [fantastic] S'Mores event and open daily access to Club 760, an unsupervised kids room with Xboxes, Wii, computers and train table for the smaller set. It works well for kids in the 8-14 year old range I'd say, after they've enjoyed the pools but grown ups might want to relax a little longer. It's a welcome addition for sure, and during peak times some counselor-driven activities are offered.

There's still plenty for families to do however. The pools are always a hit with us. The signature Four Seasons pool setup conveys here and pool service was generally very good. Upon entering the pool area, we were almost always greeted immediately and set up with towels over comfortable lounge chairs, provided ice water and menus, and attended to graciously for however long we visited. For younger guests there are 1-foot deep pools at both Summits and Meadows.

Toddler pool at The Summits

Kids Club at The Summits

While we were there, the kids were on their own at Club 760. Which is mostly fine for older kids, except for when there's a problem with a gaming console or the kids are curious where to find other titles to play. For this it would be nice to have some minimal staffing nearby at the Summits even during off-peak times. As it is, you have to call a concierge down at the Meadows which is a long walk or shuttle ride away which isn't so convenient for minor requests.

The kids were minorly disappointed they couldn't enjoy some of the amenities the Park Hyatt now controls near the Meadows. There's a small playground, croquet lawn, and tennis courts that are now off-limits. On prior visits, they also enjoyed a game-room up at the Park Hyatt hotel but on this visit, they couldn't take advantage of this due to the split.

This playground and some other kid-friendly amenities
are now exclusively for Park Hyatt guests

So if I step back and look at this through the lens of it being a kid-friendly property it's lost a step compared to prior years. And it's nowhere near as entertaining as the Four Seasons Orlando with its lazy river, dueling waterslides, pools, complimentary Kids for All Seasons program and more.

See: Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Review

But what Four Seasons Aviara continues to offer is gorgeously appointed villas with a refined residential feel, outstanding pool service, and proximity to southern California attractions in a part of the country with incredible year-round weather. These characteristics appeal to us with young kids who often travel with other family members on vacation.

With the continued innovation and improvement at the property, we'll be back. Hopefully again and again.

Getting There

Carlsbad is about 30 miles north of SAN and just under 100 miles south of LAX. One way to play it is to fly into LAX, visit some attractions there for a few days, head down to Aviara, then fly out of SAN.

When to Visit

This year we visited in April and for us the weather was nearly perfect. Each day started with substantial cloud cover but as the marine layer dissipates it became sunny and warm enough to enjoy the pool with high temperatures around 68F. Cloudier/cooler days were perfect for visiting outdoor attractions.

We've also visited in December and February and at those times we were still able to enjoy the pools most days. But on some days it was quite chilly and we were mostly bundled up in towels enjoying the ambiance rather than sunbathing.

As humans we're quite finicky in terms of allowable variation in temperature for ideal weather. But for my money San Diego weather is as good as it gets in the continental US. It's almost always a good time to visit Aviara. Here's a listing of the average monthly high temperatures in San Diego.

Things to Do

It's worth noting that Four Seasons Aviara is not on the beach. It's not even particularly close to the beach. It takes about 10 minutes to drive to the Carlsbad beach from the resort. And since I'm not a fan of lugging chairs/towels/umbrellas to the beach when I could be enjoying poolside service I've never gone to the beach in the four times we've visited Aviara.

For me, a perfect day at Aviara starts with a cup of coffee and a little web browsing. Then a walk around the beautiful masterplanned community down to the Batiquitos Lagoon. Then head out for a light-duty attraction like the Scripps Aquarium, Seaport Village, or San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Hit a restaurant for local specialties like fish tacos, Mexican food, or the latest burger phenomenon. Then back to the pool for an afternoon swim or nap. Then enjoy a glass of wine in our villa with some music in the background as the sun goes down. Then dinner - usually casual take-out from a nearby eatery like Daphne's California Greek.

Once a week I'd do something bigger like Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, or Legoland.

See: Tips & Tricks for discounts at Legoland and Four Seasons Aviara

Or a Padres, Angels, or Dodgers game. Once a week (usually the first night we're there) I'd do in-villa dining. And once a week I'd visit Vivace at the Park Hyatt. I really enjoy taking in the wonderful AAA Four Diamond (here's their list) dining experience just steps from the Residence Club. Our most recent visit to Vivace was even better than we remembered it. So elegant, so good.

Booking your Stay

One of my favorite things about the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara is the many ways you can book the property. Depending on how long you'd like to stay, and how long in advance you want to book, you might be better off renting from a Residence Club owner or booking directly through Four Seasons Hotels. Here are some of the best ways I've found to book a stay...

If you're a planner or need a specific week because of vacation restrictions I'd say you're probably best off renting a week from an owner. If you're doing this for the first time you'd probably be most comfortable working with a broker. I've happily rented from timeshare broker TRI West before. Owners list their available weeks with them, the owner pays the broker a commission, and if you can find a week that works for you at a price you like it can potentially be a great deal. Although you do have to pay up front, you don't have to worry about getting fleeced by an unscrupulous scammer since you're working with a broker. The biggest risk is that you book a prepaid week and if for some reason you can't make it, you're out of luck. You could potentially try to get them to rent it to someone else but I'd say the chances of that working out well are low.

Once you get comfortable renting through a broker you might find better deals working directly with an owner. You can find rental listings on sites like VRBO and eBay but I like finding listings through RedWeek. RedWeek connects timeshare owners with people who want to rent or purchase. There's a nominal fee to join RedWeek as a renter but it's free to browse listings. There's an option to add a third party broker to rental/resale transactions on RedWeek but I've never done this and have instead worked directly with owners/brokers who list on RedWeek. I typically send half the rental amount to the owner then the remainder when I've been notified by Four Seasons Owner Services that the week has been transferred to me. Once the transfer occurs you're treated like a first rate owner for the duration of the experience. It's great. Here's the listing page for rentals on RedWeek.

My target price for a week-long 2BR rental is $2,000-$2,500. Rates tend to run higher in the summer. When comparing rental rates from an owner to Four Seasons directly keep in mind that when renting from an owner, taxes are included.

Tip: You can sometimes get amazing deals via RedWeek on short notice. Subscribe to alerts for your favorite properties especially if your travel dates are flexible.

For shorter stays it's worth considering booking directly from Four Seasons Hotels. A percentage of the inventory is available as a hotel booking and the property often offers 3rd night free deals which can significantly decrease the price of a stay. Most commonly they rent studios and 1 bedroom units, but 2 bedrooms may be available if you call. Check here for rates, availability, and offers.

When renting from Four Seasons directly you have more date and cancellation flexibility.

A tempting angle to stack with a direct hotel booking is the 4th Night Free benefit that comes with the Citi Prestige credit card. The card has a very high annual feel but the signup bonus and ongoing travel benefits make it a no-brainer if you like to travel.

See also: 10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best all-around travel credit card

It has been especially handy for us to arrange concurrent visits with family through a combination of booking methods. For example, if we have a week planned far in advance, nearby family can easily book a long weekend around the same time. And we can enjoy getting together for meals in larger villas and spending time by the pool together.

Bottom Line

Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara continues to be a vacation destination we look forward to visiting again and again. If you're looking for luxurious accommodations and Four Seasons service in a residential setting in southern California it is absolutely worth considering. The property is absolutely gorgeous.

I wish there were more Four Seasons Residence Club properties like Aviara around the world. The reason I say that is because it provides a way for us to enjoy a week away in a space that comfortably accommodates us at a price I can justify in my mind.

That said, there are some fantastic Four Seasons Hotels (like Orlando) that provide a bit more in the way of family-focused amenities. You just have to give up the space Aviara offers and depending on your travel dates adjust your budget expectations.

That said we'll continue to work Aviara into our vacation rotation because every single member of our family has had a truly great time each time we've visited. It's become a special place for us and that makes each visit even more special.

Update (6/5/2016): We had a chance to go back and visit Seasons Aviara restaurant a year later. It was spectacular. Here are my thoughts on their Chefs Table.

Questions or comments? Ping me on Twitter @RobertDwyer or drop me an email.

Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite family-friendly vacation destinations? Here are 3 of my favorites.

What Disney Benefits Do and Don't Convey at Four Seasons Orlando?

2014-10-07T21:13:00.000-04:00

Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World

Although Four Seasons Orlando is technically within Walt Disney World, the benefits of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel don't 100% convey. Understanding which benefits do and don't convey is important when deciding whether to stay at a Disney Resort or another property. The answer depends on what's important to you.

See also: Full Review of Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World

Here's a list of benefits of staying at a Disney Resort. I thought it would be useful to discuss each of these in a little more detail.

See also: Going All-in on Walt Disney World - On site Trip Report

Disney Benefit: Complimentary Airport Service (doesn't convey)

Disney provides ground transportation in the form of Disney's Magical Express which is a motor coach that goes from the Orlando airport to Disney World hotels. An additional benefit of this service is that they can collect your bags for you and deliver them to your hotel room. This can be nice if you come dressed for your day and you can head straight to the parks while you wait for your room to be available.

Personally I find this approach to be a potential point of anxiety. Leaving the airport without your luggage and hoping it's collected and delivered your hotel is a bit disconcerting. And checking bags in the first place is increasingly a source of additional cost. I prefer to pack light, carry all of our bags on the plane, and take matters into our own hands.

Pro Tip: Get there using points & miles earned with flexible rewards credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred

To get to Four Seasons Orlando from MCO you can pay for a bus, rent a car, take a taxi, or arrange for a town car. We went with a town car in part due to the unavoidable valet-only daily parking fee (I think it was $24). I emailed the resort and they made the arrangements. We met our driver at baggage claim (he had an iPad with our name on it) and he took us and our bags directly to the hotel. Our flight got in at noon, and we were at the pool by 1:00 pm thanks to an early check-in. Total cost: $155 plus gratuity.

We requested and received an early check-in at the Four Seasons thanks in part to booking our reservation through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel agency.

Both forms of transportation (the Disney Magical Express and the towncar we went with) are operated by Mears. On one hand you get right into the Disney experience with the Magical Express. On the other you get a more efficient, private experience with the town car.

Advantage Disney, but I really prefer the town car approach.

Disney Benefit: Complimentary Resort Transportation & Parking (doesn't convey, but Four Seasons has their own motor coaches)

One of 2 Four Seasons motor coaches. Always right on time. Never crowded.

To get between their parks and hotels, Disney offers a combination of busses, boats, and monorails. No single resort is near all of the parks though, so it's key to select a resort based on location, you'll likely find yourself using a variety of Disney resort transportation options.

Even if you're not staying at a Disney Resort Hotel you can still take advantage of the Disney transportation options. For example to get between Magic Kingdom and EPCOT you can take a monorail. Or to get between any two theme parks you can take a bus. They key difference in transportation options between various hotels is getting to and from your first/last park of the day.

October 2014 Four Seasons Orlando bus schedule.
Pro tip: Snap a picture of it with your smartphone upon arrival.

Here's another bus schedule, from August 2015:

Four Seasons offers their own private motor coaches that travel on two circuits. One goes between the Four Seasons, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, then back to the Four Seasons. The other goes between the Four Seasons, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. I appreciated that the Four Seasons bus runs on a schedule (whereas it's not always clear when the next Disney bus comes in my experience). So although the Four Seasons bus not come as frequently as the Disney busses, if you plan ahead a bit you can catch it without much standing around.

Advantage Disney (depending on which hotel you stay at) but the Four Seasons motor coach is uncrowded and runs on a reliable schedule.

Disney Benefit: Extended Theme Park Hours (doesn't convey)

Each day one of the Disney parks opens early or stays late for Disney Resort guests. This benefit is not available to Four Seasons Hotel guests. It's a bit surprising actually since this benefit does convey to Dolphin/Swan guests (a Starwood property also within Disney World) and even to the Hilton Orlando by Downtown Disney.

For park warrior types that hit each park early to avoid long lines at marquee attractions this may be a deal breaker. But for those visiting just a few parks during a visit, or if you're not into hitting parks right when they open this may not be that big a deal.

Keep in mind that on days when the Magic Kingdom opens early, the entire park doesn't open early. For example last year when we had Extra Magic Hours (since we stayed at the Swan) we wanted to hit Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain yet Adventureland and Frontierland didn't open until the regular park opening time. And on nights when EPCOT stays open late you can easily stay late even if you're not staying at a Disney Resort hotel - you just can't go on any rides. Since you'll probably be there to eat and watch fireworks this may not be a problem.

Still, it's nice to get in early to parks with long lines at rides you want to go on. So...

Advantage Disney.

Disney Benefit: MagicBands (doesn't convey, but...)

MagicBands are a newish invention whereby rather than having a plastic card with a magnetic strip and RF ID that stores your park tickets and FastPass+ reservations you wear the equivalent on your wrist.

I don't mind using my card. Draw.

Disney Benefit: FastPass+ (conveys, but only 30 days out)

FastPass is a handy invention whereby you can make a "reservation" to go on a popular ride within a 1 hour time slot. It used to be that you had to visit the attraction and get a paper ticket to come back later. With FastPass+ you can make reservations without going to the attraction using your smartphone. Or you can even book FastPass+ reservations before you arrive at the park. Months in advance in fact.

Disney Hotel guests can make FastPass+ reservations 60 days out, Four Seasons guests can book them 30 days out.

I was bummed when I discovered this but quickly realized I wasn't enjoying planning our trips so much so far in advance. Dining reservations are one thing but deciding which days to visit which parks ahead of time (what if it rains? what if we're tired?) let alone which time to go on which rides was too much for me.

Advantage Disney for planners. Otherwise no big deal.

Disney Benefit: Disney Dining Plans (doesn't convey)

I'm not a fan of Disney's dining plans. I prefer to just pay for what we eat. We don't always spend the entire day at the parks, and sometimes we get by with just snacking (for example at the Magic Kingdom where compelling food options are scarce).

That said I know some people who get a lot of value out of the Disney Dining Plans so if they work well for you and it's part of an enjoyable vacation experience where you pay for your meals and snacks up front it's definitely something to be aware of because the ability to purchase a Disney Dining Plan is contingent on staying at a Disney Resort Hotel.

Our stay at the Four Seasons included room service breakfast each day for two adults. A bountiful, beautifully presented affair delivered to our room each morning right on time. Our kids would typically order pancakes or waffles for $6 plus tax and delivery charge which we'd supplement with bits of our feasts. Worked out great. Nice way to start the day.

In-room dining at Four Seasons Orlando

I know I wouldn't typically spend $100 a day on breakfast but this does help soften the blow of the Four Seasons room rate. We also received a $100 food & beverage credit to be used throughout our stay thanks to the Preferred Partner booking.

Disney Benefit: Resort Hotel Entertainment (doesn't convey, but Four Seasons is better)

Depending on the Disney Resort Hotel you're staying at, they may offer outdoor movies, pools with slides and such. They might also consider character breakfasts a piece of resort entertainment.

Character breakfasts are available at a number of Disney resorts and even within the parks. They're not typically exclusive to guests of that hotel nor to Disney Resort Hotel guests at all. We visited the one at the Grand Floridian a few years back while staying off-property. It was okay. A bit hectic as you'd imagine with a heavy carb/calorie laden buffet.

Four Seasons offers a character breakfast at their Ravello restaurant with Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie. The food selections are terrific with fresh berries, local fruits, cheeses, and honey. Eggs/omelettes made to order and charcuterie. It's terrific.

But really when it comes to resort entertainment I've never seen anything like Four Seasons Orlando. A lazy river, splash pad, a teen hangout, rock climbing wall, waterslides, you name it. What was so impressive about it was that there's something for every age group. And it never feels crowded.

Advantage Four Seasons.

Disney Benefit: Legendary Disney Service (Four Seasons service is better)

The service at Disney Hotels varies, but the service at the Four Seasons is unparalleled. They're never stuffy or pretentious. They just intuitively know how to give each guest what they're looking for.

Just a couple examples of what I'm talking about...

Say you want to visit the pool. At some resorts you need to present your room key to get a towel or two. And if you're lucky they'll bring you reliable food & beverage service after that. At the Four Seasons as soon as a guest enters the pool area you're greeted by an attendant that sets you and your family up with towels over your chaise lounge or cabana, extra towels for drying off, ice water, and a menu. Then they come back and check on you in a non-annoying way at regular intervals.

Another example: On the morning we were checking out of the Four Seasons there were 3 other people checking out at the same time. And a couple of spouses standing behind them. I was behind the spouses for about 15 seconds and yet another desk clerk appears out of nowhere and apologizes for the long wait. Contrast this with queues to check-in at some Disney properties. Have you ever seen the lobby at the Grand Californian? It's a beautiful craftsman inspired lodge where people practice the art of waiting in line.

In my experience Disney does a great job running theme parks. Outside of that I have some concerns...

Advantage Four Seasons.

Disney Benefit: Childcare (not really an explicit Disney benefit, but Four Seasons is better)

This isn't necessarily a Disney Resort Hotel benefit so to speak but some Disney Hotels do offer kids clubs and it is a big differentiator if you have young kids.

All hotels say they can arrange for private babysitting. But I don't know anyone who has actually taken advantage of that. However, I know a lot of people who enjoy a kids club if it's presented in a way that's easy to take advantage of. Some Disney hotels have kids clubs. And Camp Dolphin (at the Starwood Swan & Dolphin) offers 2 hours free if you dine at one of their hotel restaurants. That's a decent option and you don't even have to be staying at the hotel.

Amazing counselor to child ratio at Kids for All Seasons
Counselors even know which team Messi plays for!

But the Kids for All Seasons program takes it to another level. Open from 9-5 each day you can drop your kids ages 4-12 off for complimentary supervised play. With the lazy river, waterslides, and pools it took our guys a couple days to be interested in KFAS but when the saw they had all the latest gaming systems there it provided a nice afternoon relief to the blazing hot sun. And an opportunity for us to visit the adults-only pool area.

Advantage Four Seasons.

Conclusion & Recommendations

The Four Seasons Orlando isn't for everyone. But if you're planning a trip to Disney World and you're considering some of the pricier Disney Resorts I'd highly recommend checking whether the Four Seasons might be a better option for you.

In conjunction with no-expiration park tickets and every other day park visits we returned from our Disney World vacation more rejuvenated than prior Disney Parks visits. It felt, finally, like a vacation.

For more information and to check rates visit: http://fourseasons.com/orlando

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Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter (@RobertDwyer) with questions or comments.

Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Review

2014-10-07T11:24:00.001-04:00

Our guys enjoying the Splash Zone

In the past couple years we've taken family trips I've felt that, if combined, would produce the perfect vacation. We stayed at the Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara (review) north of San Diego, visited Disneyland and (separately) Walt Disney World. One thing Disney does really well is theme parks. What Four Seasons does really well is hotels. With the arrival of Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World the perfect combination was realized: Four Seasons lodging with Disney Parks.

See also: Going all-in on Walt Disney World - On site Trip Report

Booking

Four Seasons likes to operate at the top of the pricing range in any market which they operate. Disney sets the mark high with their Deluxe resorts. When I checked rates, Four Seasons Orlando was around the same price as Disney's BoardWalk Inn. Here's a useful rate comparison of Four Seasons Orlando to other Four Seasons and Disney Deluxe Resorts from Touring Plans.

You see, for as much as I like Disney Parks I've got my concerns with them as a hotelier. Four Seasons on the other hand has blown me away with their style of service each time we've visited one of their properties.

See: These Disney Cruises Infuriate Me - Why do I keep booking them?

For the the dates we visited in early October Four Seasons Orlando was $545 per night. But they were offering a third night free promotion which would bring the price down to $363 a night if booked in 3 night increments. A four night stay works out $408 a night. Since the BoardWalk was booking for around $500 a night before discounts this was a rate I could justify in my mind.

One thing people might not realize when booking high end hotels like Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Peninsula, etc is that although discounts on these properties are hard to come by you can often stack the best available offer with additional promotions offered as benefits through certain credit cards and/or travel agents.

For example the American Express Platinum Card offers a Fine Hotel & Resorts program where you can get benefits like free breakfast, early check-in/check-out, a $100 food & beverage credit and more on top of the best package a hotel might be offering.

See also: Mandarin Oriental Boston Review

If you don't have an AmEx Platinum consider establishing a relationship with a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel agent. It should cost you nothing additional to book your stay through them and some great benefits like complimentary daily breakfast and an additional food & beverage credit will convey on top of the best available rates. I booked through Brownell Travel. Drop me an email if you'd like a referral.

See also: Four Seasons Chicago with Kids

Pre-Arrival

One thing I love about the Four Seasons is how easy they make it to communicate with them. They never make you feel like you've contacted the wrong department. They just take care of your request no matter how you've routed it.

For example I considered booking ground transportation from MCO to the resort through a discount offered on MouseSavers. But the deals were on the order of $10 so I just contacted the Four Seasons via email in their response to inquiry to see if they could do anything to make our stay more comfortable. They arranged a towncar for $155 round-trip which is on par with what it should cost. Without any additional intervention on my part and just a moment to compose an email ground transport was taken care of.

Similarly I secured a reservation for a character breakfast at the resort. A quick email in response to their outreach is all it took and the reservation was secured.

How many times have you talked to a business and they told you that you needed to route your request to a different department? That never happens at the Four Seasons. They just take care of it.

With 443 rooms the Orlando property is the largest Four Seasons Hotel

Arrival

In my experience, nobody orchestrates an arrival better.

As an aside I will say that hiring a town car or taxi gets you on property faster than renting a car or taking Disney's Magical Express. Our flight got in at noon and we were at the hotel by 1 pm. And down at the pool moments later.

Upon arrival we were greeted with the customary "Welcome to the Four Seasons" and the bellmen took our bags. We were escorted to the front desk to check in. While I was taking care of the details my wife and kids checked out the Disney planning desk and Disney World touch screen flat panel they have set up nearby. The desk agent escorted us to the elevators and we were headed up to the 10th floor.

We reserved a standard room and received a modest upgrade to a Golden Oak View room.

Room

Golden Oak View Room with King Bed and Pull-out Sofa

Although our room was technically "just" a regular hotel room with a combined sleeping area and adjacent bathroom, it was quite large (500sf) and extremely well appointed. Although the exterior of the hotel is set in a Spanish revival/Tuscan motif to match the Golden Oak residential community it is situated within, the interior is trendier and more contemporary. The appointments felt comfortable yet rich and sophisticated to me.

Bathroom with double sinks, soaking tub, shower, and WC

The bathroom had double sinks, separate tub and shower and water closet. An in-mirror TV ensured our kids could watch cartoons while showing/taking a tub after a day in the pools. And I could watch SportsCenter while shaving.

Well good afternoon to you in-mirror TV!

The bed is insanely comfortable and the overall in-room experience is carefully designed to provide the best night of sleep of your life. After days visiting the parks or relaxing by the pools I slept the sleep of angels and wondered what we could do to make our bed at home more like the one there (we've already got the pillows).

Rounding things out were toiletries from C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries, a Bose Soundlink bluetooth speaker (that you could use to stream high quality music from your smartphone), and robes for every member of the family - even little ones for the kids.

Just when we got done gawking at the room our luggage arrived. They've got the timing down perfectly. We debated heading over to the parks for the afternoon but we were drawn to the pools to check out what the resort had to offer.

Property

Family-friendly Explorers Pool

The pool area includes a tranquil adults only pool, a kid-friendly family pool, an impressive splash pad for younger kids, an incredibly fun lazy river, and dueling 242-foot waterslides.

Cabana use was complimentary during our stay but will go for $200/day

What pleased me most about the expansive pool are was how there was something for everyone. If you wanted to set yourself up in a shady secluded area near the lazy river you could. If you wanted a sunny spot near the pool area that was available too.

Lazy river featured a great mix of slow and fast portions

What I was thinking as we were enjoying ourselves was how I could see every member of every family I know finding something fun to do somewhere at the resort.

Dueling 242-foot water slides are perfect for racing. Again and again and again.

During our stay we experienced pouring rain, blazing heat, and surprisingly chilly morning temperatures. We enjoyed the pools under almost all of these conditions but I think its value would be at its peak during the warmest months when the parks are unbearably hot.

Service

The biggest area where Four Seasons differentiates itself is how it offers personalized intuitive service that anticipates guest needs effortlessly. It's really quite amazing.

For example, in the pool area when a guest enters the area they are consistently greeted by an attendant and "set up" with towels over chaise lounges and additional towels for drying off. Fresh ice water is provided and a food & drink menu is provided. No pressure, but they check in every 15 minutes or so to see if there's anything they can offer. Contrast this with other resorts where you're lucky to get a couple towels and occasion drink service. The difference is amazing.

Nobody "sets you up" better than Four Seasons

Probably the most striking difference between the Four Seasons and Disney properties is the utter lack of crowds. The hotel wasn't at capacity when we visited (all of the rooms aren't even built out yet) but I get the sense that even if it were at 100% capacity it still wouldn't feel crowded. There were so many chairs in the pool area. And not just rows and rows of chairs - all kinds of little pockets where you could set up depending on your mood and interest in getting sun, shade or a nap.

Another example of the Four Seasons service standard: When we were checking out there were a few other couples also talking with desk clerks. After 15 seconds or so yet another desk clerk appeared an apologized for keeping me waiting. For 15 seconds? No worries. But if you compare this to some high end Disney resorts where long waits aren't unusual - the Four Seasons difference is striking.

The resort offers their Kids for All Seasons program on a drop-in basis from 9-5 each day. The counselor to child ratio is incredible. If there are just a few kids there they tailor the activities to the kids liking. When there are more kids they operate on schedule with group activities like water balloons, swimming, and outdoor activities.

Kids club features a volcano and an amazingly high counselor to child ratio

What I liked best about the Kids for All Seasons program is the amazingly easy drop-in nature of it. Our first day there the kids were checking out the property and didn't have time to think about checking in.

Outdoor games included foosball, billiards and table tennis

The second day there we spent the whole day by the pool. By around 2 pm it was very hot out and we were all ready for a break. We dropped them at the kids club and headed over to the adults only pool. The chaise lounges were even more comfortable there and I felt asleep poolside for, I think, the first time ever. It was truly paradise.

Tranquil adults only pool features cabanas with double chaise lounges

Every single person we interacted with at the resort was amazingly kind and friendly in a non-stuffy kind of way. More notably than anything the Four Seasons Orlando, within the Golden Oak community within Walt Disney World, is an enclave within an enclave that provides peaceful retreat after a hectic day at the parks.

Dining

Our room rate included daily breakfast for two adults. We chose to take this as room service and added reasonable $6 choices for the kids which resulted in a very nice start to the day. Passing around the in-room iPad mini to make selections the night before was fun and each morning breakfast was deliver precisely at the requested time.

Room service breakfast

The poolside dining options were served up by their "PB+G" restaurant (pool bar & grill). During our stay I tried the fish tacos, the burger, and an off the menu pulled pork sandwich. For me, the burger was best. At $20 it was pricey as you might expect but very much worth it.

Outstanding $20 burger with a nice assortment of beers available

Twice a week they offer a Disney character breakfast featuring Mickey & Pals. We did a character breakfast at the Grand Floridian a few years back and it was a hectic gut-busting affair. In contrast the character breakfast at the Four Seasons featured fresh berries, local cheeses, honey, and fruits. Appealing charcuterie and eggs/omelettes made to order made it one of the more enjoyable meals we experienced.

The buffet was beautifully laid out. They even had a section set up for kids at their height so they could see and select items for themselves. Brilliant!

Kid-friendly section of the Ravello buffet - presented at kids' height

Highly recommended, but I think I made a tactical mistake with the character breakfast given the package we booked. That morning we didn't take advantage of our daily breakfast and although the resort made it clear the character breakfast wasn't included in the free breakfast offer I thought they might knock $32 off our bill (or some accommodation for the complimentary breakfast we didn't enjoy in-room that morning). When I asked about this at check-out I was told that the character breakfast was excluded from the free breakfast offer so I let it go. This was my only minor point of disappointment in our stay.

Character breakfast with Goofy & Pals was a hit!

The resort is incredibly family-friendly. When we checked in they gave the kids "passports" that they needed to get stamped at each area of the resort. Once they filled their books up they could redeem them for tokens for free gelato at Lickety-Split.

Kids earn a free gelato for getting their FS Orlando "passports" stamped

While relaxing by the pool I asked to see a wine list for the main resort restaurants that hadn't opened yet. (In case you didn't know I've written a wine blog since 2008). Our attendant tracked one down and I had a look just for fun. I was pleased to my wine of the year a few years back - Cigliuti Serraboella Barbaresco. And as any good list should - Juan Gil was available. Whew - I don't know how I'd survive otherwise. ;)

Nice list, especially for Italian and Spanish reds

A Cuban restaurant (at the adjacent Tranquilo golf course) and a Brazilian Steakhouse are coming soon. We'll have to go back to check them out!

Conclusion & Recommendations

At a cost that's in line with Disney Deluxe Resorts and accommodations, and amenties and service that are far beyond, I consider Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World to be a value. All things considered it is a nearly perfect family-friendly luxury resort.

But I was thinking what could possibly make it better? A private beach on the ocean I guess. You look at some of the best beachfront resorts in the world and that obviously isn't possible in Orlando. And while Orlando is great it doesn't have the exotic feel of say Hawaii or the Maldives. And it doesn't have the residential feel some rental options offer.

But for what it is I think it's nearly perfect.

My Rating:
98/100 points
5 out of 5 stars

I'll hope to go deeper into comparisons between this resort and other splurge-worthy options and discuss which Disney Resort benefits do and don't convey when staying at the Four Seasons in future blog posts.

I'd love it if you subscribed for updates.

Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter (@RobertDwyer) with questions or comments.

Go to Michigan!

2014-04-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

This is a post by 9 year old Sam Dwyer

Sam with his largemouth bass fresh out of lake Osterhout

Dedication

This book is dedicated to My Dad because he takes me on these vacations, pays for them and plans them so I made this in return for him.

Introduction

Go to Michigan! (not in the winter!) Yes I know it shares a border with Canada and in the winter it gets fffrrrrreeeeezzzzziiiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggg! Brrrrrrr. But in the summertime it gets really warm and it’s nice in South Haven (If you want you can call it South Heaven!!) Because it has a tropical environment with a harbor, marina, pier, a small shipyard, (yes a small shipyard!!!)

A sign at the jet ski rental place

And then at the harbor there is Jet-ski rental, speedboats, yachts and fishing boats. Plus there two beaches. The south beach, and the north beach. And two lighthouses. the red one which is older and is red, and there is a newer one that's green and has a small beacon that flashes on and off and the red one has a big beacon that goes round and round. The red one is on the north beach side and the green one is on the south beach side. Did you know that cruise ships from Chicago docked there! There’s also a pirate ship that goes out to sea and shoots a cannon into lake Michigan and sails back to the dock! Ok it might be a little hard to fall asleep but they only do it once. “But where do you sleep?” you ask well there are condos and summerhouses. there are lots of good ones including ones that are right next to the beach and the harbor!

Entertainment

The Mayor of South Haven riding in a car at the parade

In South Haven (or heaven) there is lots of fun entertainment. There is a parade where they throw candy, blueberry picking, cherry picking, fireworks, and much much more.

The Pirate Ship leaving The Harbor

The pirate ship is awesome because they go out to sea. Just plug your ears because they shoot a cannonball out of a cannon off the side into the water! People gather up on the piers and watch them shoot it. Now if you want lots and lots of fun then rent a jet-ski! Just think about it. If you buy one then you will pay a lot more money plus you need to give it oil and fuel and get it fixed plus you need a trailer to carry it around. So it’s totally worth it! Yes I know that the water can be pretty cold but it usually not too too bad. You can also just rent a bike and zip around. I've even seen people who got a moped and sped around. Wow that sounds really fun!

Dining and Food

Sam and his mom at Clementine's

In Michigan “where will you eat” you ask. Well, there is lots of good restaurants like Clementines which is the most fine dining in South haven by my opinion. They also have the best onion rings in South Haven. Ok that’s also by my opinion too! Then there is Su casa which means your house in Spanish. They have the best tacos in town.

Everyone at Subs n' more

At Subs n’ more they have okay pizza, great subs, cheesy french fries and FREE CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! okay they don’t really have free candy they just have a broken jelly bean machine that gives you free candy. We go there because it’s right behind our condo so we just take the elevator down to the underground parking garage, walk up the stairs, walk past the trash room, past the pool, out the back of the condo, across the street, across the parking lot, and in the back door. Can you believe all of this food? i better take a run! What if you want to make your own food? You can go to the Village market which is an everyday supermarket. looking for seafood?

Captain Lou's

Then go to Captain Lou’s. I think they have fresh fish caught off the pier! If you just want to get something basic they have Taco-bell and Domino's pizza.

Everyone on The Idler

The opposite of that is the Idler and it is a restaurant and bar on a boat! It’s in the harbor and has great food. But what will you do for breakfast? Well, you can go to the Golden brown and get the best and only doughnuts in town. “What’s for dessert?”

Will getting to eat a Pig's dinner

Well you can go to Sherman’s dairy because they have the best ice cream in the universe!!! Wow can you believe how much food there is!

The People

The people in Michigan are really upbeat and kind they are never mean to me. Hmmmm let’s think there’s lot’s of sun so there happy. I’m not surprised because of all the good stuff!

Shopping

In Michigan there’s lot’s of shopping from dollar stores to sporting stores. Here's great advice: DON’T GO TO FAMILY DOLLAR OR DOLLAR GENERAL!!!!!! Because at Family dollar everything is expensive (so it’s not a dollar store) and it’s dirty so don’t go there and at Dollar general It’s just expensive (so it’s not a dollar store either.) If you're looking for a good dollar store then go to Dollar Tree (don’t worry it’s a genuine dollar store.)

A nice patch of fresh Michigan blueberries

Like blueberries? Well then there’s a place for you! You can go to The Blueberry Store. everything there is made from blueberries. From blueberries to blueberry gum-balls! If you like sports visit Dunham's sporting goods. They have great sports stuff to play with.

Transportation

In Michigan how will you get around? I mean transportation is really important. Well, it depends on how you get there. If you get there by plane it’s about two hours. If you get there by car and take breaks to rest at hotels it will take you about 48 hours!!! If you don’t want to pay much then drive because all you have to pay for is tolls and fuel. It’s worth it because you see landmarks on the way. If you want to pay more and have it take less time then go on a plane. The only way to be able to drive around to get places in South haven is to get a rental car. Just rent from Hertz. But if you can find a good deal and do a bit of research then you can just get it. And that’s how you will get around

Weather

In Michigan the weather is nice. Usually in summer the weather is hot and nice so don’t forget your sunscreen. But too much humidity brings a summer storm but that’s not too bad. Just bring along an umbrella. But in the winter it’s always cold or snowing. And that’s the weather report!

Exercise

The red pier in the morning

Okay so remember all that food? Well, you don’t want to get overweight do you? If you don’t I recommend that you take a walk through the harbor or down one of the piers to work off last nights desert. For a real athlete you can run down the red pier and then go over the drawbridge and down the green one and back to the condo!

Will skimboarding

You also can boogie board and skim board. But don’t worry it’s not salt water so no sharks. No salt just sand. And that’s why you should go to Michigan!

Ending

So if you want to go to paradise then just stop reading and plan a trip to Michigan!

Acknowledgments

Thank you Matthew for giving me ideas for chapters, writing “Go to Bahamas” and reading this over for me. And for Mason for looking at me while I typed this up. And to Mrs. Theriault for liking this and saying I could just type this instead of making me write more persuasive stories. And last but not least My Dad for taking me there!

10 Lessons Learned While Racking up 1,000,000 Points & Miles

2014-03-23T17:20:00.002-04:00

Points & miles has been an area of interest I've been exploring the past couple years. I'd estimate that you can make roughly 10-20%+ of your annual income in deeply discounted travel by navigating this space. And it's one of those things where you can get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the work so it's worth learning about even if you don't make it a hobby.

I'm naturally predisposed to playing this game. I'm open to considering any deal - just tell me the terms and I'll let you know if I think it's a good deal. I also think I'm genetically predisposed to it. My 99 year old grandmother has an upright electric organ in her living room. Over the years every one of her children and great-grandchildren have enjoyed playing on that thing. And she got it by, you guessed it: Signing up for a checking account.

In the past year I've leveraged a variety of techniques to earn 1,000,000+ points and miles. I wouldn't say it's "easy" but I will say that anyone who is interested in this game can do it. As long as you're 18, have a job, and a good credit score (more here on whether signing up for credit cards hurts your credit score) you can start playing this game. Just start slow, read a lot, and do what you're comfortable with.

See also: 10 Reasons why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is my favorite travel credit card

Here are 10 lessons I learned on the way to 1,000,000+ points & miles...

1. Credit card signup bonuses are where it's at (and there is more leverage in points & miles than cashback)

Say you spend $3,000/month on credit cards. If you get 2% back on all your purchases that's $720 a year - hardly enough to fly a family of four on a single vacation.

A better use of your credit card spending is towards meeting minimum spending requirements on new credit cards. The signup bonuses are more lucrative for travel rewards cards than cashback cards and there are more of them. Plus, when it comes time to redeem points & miles there is potentially more leverage in points & miles than cashback. Cash is king but it takes a lot of cash to fly internationally - especially in premium cabins. Points & miles make these things possible so there's more leverage in points & miles than cashback.

That said, there's nothing wrong with working some cashback into the mix if you have a card that earns 5% cashback buying cash equivalents. You can then take that cashback and either buy travel if the price is right or buy points & miles if award availability is favorable. More on this approach here.

2. The path to what you want is often counter-intuitive

If you're in the market for a rewards credit card, you'd think it would make sense to get co-branded credit cards from companies you enjoy doing business with. Say for example you enjoy going to Disney and flying JetBlue - you'd think it would make sense to get a Chase Disney card and the JetBlue AmEx. That's actually a rather poor approach.

It's not that the cards themselves are so terrible (trust me I've had them both). It's more a mater of there being better options out there. And each credit card you apply for takes up a "slot" from each issuing bank. And each credit card you apply for requires a hard credit pull which temporarily diminishes your credit score.

When I first started out in this game I didn't want to rack up a bunch of United miles to fly in the grey cramped seats on the back of their airplanes for vacation. But I found I could United miles to fly in premium cabins to Europe on Lufthansa. Great deal!

Conversely I could use Lufthansa miles (obtained by signing up for a Barclays Lufthansa Miles & More credit card and transferred from the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest program) to fly on United domestically in First Class for just 17k miles each way (a much better deal than 25k each way United charges). Similarly I could transfer American Express Membership Rewards to Singapore Airlines for 40k roundtrip domestically on United in First Class.

Or I could use British Airways Avios to pay for short haul domestic flights on American Airlines. Or Avianca Miles to fly on Star Alliance partners. Or credit Star Alliance flights to Aegean Airlines for Gold status. The list is goes on and on.

More than anything, it baffles me when a company has a credit card that isn't even the best option to use when spending money with that company. For example, it's better to use a Starwood Business card to pay for a Hyatt stay than a Chase Hyatt card. Bizarre. Co-branded card really should be the best way to pay for transaction with the company.

As a consumer, it pays to figure out the most common angles for high value redemptions for the travel you want to enjoy.

3. Getting a feel for historical signup bonuses is important (so you know when to pounce!)

If you sign up for a credit card for a 40k bonus and the next day you see an offer for the card for 100k you'd be mad you only got 40k. Some credit card companies will retroactively give you the heightened signup bonus within a reasonable timeframe (Chase) but many (like American Express) do not. So it's important to catch a signup bonus at a historical high.

Furthermore, some credit card companies will only give you a signup bonus for a given credit card once per person lifetime. Credit card companies frequently create new "products" (and sometimes a Visa or Mastercard variation of a card constitutes a new product) but still - there are only so many cards out there so when you do sign up for a card you'll want to make sure you caught it at a high point.

I don't know of a good resource out there that tracks these things over time. I think a site that charted standard and targeted signup bonuses of the most popular cards would be tremendously useful. But I bet credit card companies disallow that in their affiliate terms so the most likely people to do this can't without losing their lucrative affiliate relationships with banks.

One way I've tried figuring out if a given credit card has ever been offered with a higher signup bonus than what's currently available is to perform Google searches for logical increments above what's now available. Say for example the Chase Sapphre Preferred (great card) is available with a 40k signup bonus. I'd do a Google search for "chase sapphire 50k" or "chase sapphire 100,000" (dare to dream!). Often these searches will turn up now expired offers. But if they weren't too long ago I'd get the feeling the heightened bonus might come back.

For now, the best way to get a feel for historical signup bonuses and stay informed of heightened bonuses is to follow the Boarding Area blogs (and a few of your other favorites) and read FlyerTalk. Especially this thread. It would be hard for something to sneak past if you follow those two.

4. Get to know the easiest, most reliable ways to manufacture spend

"Manufacturing" spend is buying things on your credit card that can easily be converted to cash. One of the greatest manufactured spend schemes of all time was when the US Mint sold dollar coins with free shipping and allowed them to be purchased fee-free with credit cards. You could buy them and deposit them at your local bank again and again, racking up as many miles as your credit limit, back, and patience would allow.

Manufactured spend is most useful when applied towards meeting minimum spending requirements on new credit cards without spending more than you otherwise would. For big spenders or those with high levels of reimbursed spending they can put on their personal credit card manufacturing spend isn't needed. But credit card issuers have been increasing the minimum spending requirements of their most lucrative cards. For situations like this, manufacturing spend can be handy.

There's an entire FlyerTalk forum devoted to Manufactured Spend. Vanilla Reloads purchased at CVS and liquidated through Bluebird is a current favorite. Amazon Payments is probably right behind that. And there are many many more ways to manufacture spend for those interested in making this an ongoing hobby.

Learning how to manufacture spend isn't necessary. But it sure beats spending more than you otherwise would to rack up points & miles.

5. You never know how plans might change (so diversity and flexibility is key)

When I first started collecting points & miles it was with the intention of getting the family from Boston to Munich for European Delivery. You can save quite a bit on a new car this way but if you spend $6k to fly 4 people the savings goes out the window. Since I wanted to use points & miles to get us there I started to focus on racking up United miles so I could fly on their Star Alliance partner airline Lufthansa. I'd need 60k x 4 miles (240k) to get there.

But while working on earning those miles I noticed a lot of other heightened credit card signup bonuses. I went for them, and things have turned out great for the most part. Especially ones with flexible redemption options like Chase Ultimate Rewards, AmEx Membership Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (which can be transfered 20k to 25k airline miles through a ton of partners).

Worst case, Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards can be converted to cashback or gift cards worth around $0.01 a point. But the highest leverage redemptions come from transferring flexible points to airline partners for premium cabins awards. So these programs provide the best of both worlds: A floor value of a penny a point and upside beyond that if you can find a great reward redemption.

It may be possible to spread things around too much if you have just a few points & miles in a bunch of different programs. But as long as you have enough critical mass to get a reward ticket I don't see any harm in diversifying. The majority of the trips we've taken the past two years weren't on my radar screen two years ago. Especially since points & miles have enabled trips I wouldn't have otherwise been able to justify in my mind.

6. Award charts can change at any time, and they represent a best case scenario

In the past couple years almost every airline and hotel program has devalued their loyalty program in some way. People hem and haw about it when this happens, suggesting the airlines need to make it easier to earn points if they're going to increase award costs. I'm thinking to myself: I can get signup bonuses for a Chase United card, a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Freedom, a Chase United business card, and multiple Chase Ink business cards that all transfer to United - and someone wants United to make it easier to earn miles? You can fly your entire family to Europe or Asia on credit card signup bonuses alone and consumers are arguing for more? I don't get it but I understand it: When a loyalty program changes beneath you while you're working towards a reward it stinks.

Yes, United devalued their premium cabin redemptions on partner airlines. But they're still a good value. High quality partners, above average award availability, and tons of ways to earn miles without stepping on a plane. We're still in a golden age for credit card signup bonuses.

But finding award availability can be challenging. And this is the part that can still drives me bonkers. I feel like if I rack up enough points & miles for a certain reward and I've got a reasonable amount of foresight and flexibility I should be able to get the reward. For example, if I'm willing to rack up 300k AA or UA miles to fly from Boston to Hawaii in Business/First class some time during my kids' school break (plus or minus a few days) a year ahead of time I should be able to find that award. And sometimes, even looking very far out and having date flexibility certain awards aren't available.

Some airlines are better than others. This chart does a fair job of comparing award availability at saver levels on various carriers. For the most part - I think they get it right. Keep this in mind when considering which miles to collect.

7. Your points balance may outpace your available vacation (if so, go for the premium cabin redemptions)

One of my favorite things about points & miles is how it enables travelling in Business or First Class. For some reason, most airlines charge a lot more for Business/First when paying with money. When paying with miles premium cabins aren't nearly as much of a premium. And award availability is often better in Business/First which makes justifying the splurge easier. This is a rather irrational thing to "like" about points & miles - I admit it - but who doesn't want premium service at a deep discount?

Now, some might say Business/First isn't worth it. That they'd rather have two vacations instead of one. I see their point. But since time off work and school is limited for us, and I figure I'd rather burn miles I have now than hoard them while they devalue beneath me I figure I might as well earn 'em and burn 'em. I can always earn more miles later. Or if this gravy train stops I can pay cash or take different vacations that don't involve long distance flights.

8. Strategies when feeding a family

It's hard to rack up enough points & miles to fly a family on multiple vacations each year, especially when travelling at peak school vacation times.

The good news is each adult can separately apply for the same credit cards and both can receive the bonuses. Even if someone is an authorized user on a given credit card they can apply for the card on their own and qualify for the bonus. So any sign-up bonus discovered can be taken advantage of twice as many times as it otherwise would which makes times spent reading about this stuff more efficient.

Typically, one person is more interested in playing this game than the other. In cases like this I find it convenient to sign up the less interested partner for cards with lower spending requirements and fewer cards in general. And I'll limit the number of cards my less interested partner has at any given time to 2. For example: "Use this for gas and groceries, and the other for everything else." Then swap them out when new cards come in.

I'll add myself as an authorized user to help meet high minimum spends, but a word of caution before you add yourself as an authorized user on all of your spouse's cards: The balance on the card will show up on your credit report so when you're ramping balances to meet minimum spend it could negatively impact your credit score at an inopportune time! To avoid this problem, only add yourself as an authorized user when absolutely necessary and pay the card off a few days before the statement closes.

9. Set dollar and time thresholds

A long time ago I created a "$20 rule". I wouldn't stress myself out about any transactions that were less than $20. For example, if I bought something at an out of the way store and was overcharged $5 for the item, I wouldn't invest a lot of time or effort to rectify the situation. If I could just submit a claim online or send an email - fine - but I wouldn't get in a car and make a special trip for something unless it was worth more than $20. It just isn't worth the time.

As it comes to chasing points & miles I think about things like this at well. It's super easy to stop at a CVS as part of my normal activities and takes less than 5 minutes to grab a few Vanilla Reloads a few times a month. So I gladly do it. But schemes involving trips to Wal-Mart and the Post Office and interacting with people who look at you like you're doing something shady are non-starters for me. I just won't go there.

My point is that you should set a dollar threshold beneath which you won't sweat a transaction that's gone awry. Or perform a point-earning activity that takes too much time relative to what it pays. Milenomics has done a great job expanding on this and more.

10. Consider: Where would you go if travel was nearly free?

One of my favorite things about playing the points & miles game is it gives me a chance to constantly be planning (and dreaming about) awesome family vacations. Once you take away the financial restrictions associated with paying for air travel and hotels it enables a whole new level of vacationing.

But it's kind of like saying you wish you could write the next great novel if only you had the time. The thing that's hard about writing a great novel isn't time off work: It's really hard to write a great novel. Similarly with travel - I found I was planning many of our vacations assuming airfare cost a certain fixed amount. Once that gets paid for, and I can viably consider literally the entire world it opens up some incredible possibilities. Now I'm more concerned with flights being too long (rather than costing too much) or subjecting the family to a locale that's too foreign or exotic as to induce travel anxiety.

But if you (and your family) can reasonably travel to anywhere you want in the world at deep discount, where would you go? It's a really fun question to consider.

And for now, credit card companies are willing to pay to fly the world in premium cabins if we're willing to sign up for their cards and meet the minimum spends. It's probably not going to last forever but for now I'm enjoying the ride.

Continue reading: "Lessons learned while (trying to) redeem 1,000,000 points & miles".

I'd love it if you subscribed to keep informed of future updates.

Questions or comments? Drop me an email or ping me on Twitter: @RobertDwyer

(Image courtesy of millbill.com)

Related Reading:

Credit Card Companies Invite us to Refer Friends...for Inferior Signup Bonuses? (and how to work around the situation)

2013-12-04T08:42:00.001-05:00

Chase and American Express offer some of the best credit cards available in the market today. They've got generous sign-up bonuses and reward ongoing spend. They like to get more people to sign-up and use their cards because many of them carry an annual fee and they all generate swipe fees.

In order to encourage more people to sign up for their cards, banks offer affiliate links to websites which meet their criteria. You need to have a lot of traffic, and a professional website aimed at their target market. Family blogs like this don't qualify. Even high quality travel websites don't always qualify - you've got to have sufficient traffic for them to want to maintain a relationship with you. This is different than the Amazon model where almost any website can become an affiliate - they just pay at a higher percentage for sites that refer more revenue-producing traffic.

If you're like me and you talk to a lot of family and friends about which credit card sign-up bonuses are best there's another option besides affiliate links and that's Refer a Friend programs. Both Chase and American Express offer these options but there's one a catch:

The signup bonuses are almost always inferior to the best available option.

What kind of friend would refer a friend for a bad offer? This is a terrible way to run a referral business. You want to refer a friend for a great product with a great signup bonus.

I wish the credit card companies provided ways for referrals of the best offers. I'm sure this is a common complaint of affiliates as well: "Give us the best links if you want us to promote your products."

There's nothing I can do to change this, but I can offer up an assessment of the current referral offers available for some of the best credit cards out there along with suggestions of how to work around the problem to get the best signup bonuses -and- a referral bonus as well.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Chase offers a referral option for some of their cards, for certain cardholders. If you have this card you can check whether you're eligible to refer friends here: http://chasereferafriend.com

Chase invites you to refer your friends -
for an inferior signup bonus!

Refer a Friend Offer: 40k Ultimate Rewards (this is my referral link)
Better Offer: 40k + 5k for adding an authorized user, $95 annual fee (this is the standard link)

Workaround: None. If you refer a friend for the 40k offer the best you can do (with a lot of persistence) is get Chase to match the 5k authorized user bonus.

Guidance: If you're averse to arguing about signup bonuses go for the 40k + 5k authorized user bonus. You can probably go through a referral link and then request a match on the 5k authorized user bonus, effectively getting both the referral bonus and the 5k authorized user bonus. There was a 50k offer with a $125 annual fee for this card for a while there but it seems to be gone now unless you call in.

American Express Premier Rewards Gold

American Express offers a referral option by logging into http://americanexpress.com then Rewards - Refer a Friend. If you're eligible you should see this:

AmEx's referral program also has inferior offers
sent through emails you can't customize

The way AmEx does referrals is a little quirky. You have to send an email to your friend which includes a personal link. Since it's new to me I'm unsure if the resulting link in the email can be used by multiple people. But since the referral links for the best available offer for the Platinum and Gold cards I wouldn't recommend using them anyway.

All three of these cards are terrific - but only if you catch a peak signup bonus. Even then you may want to consider which cards to apply for concurrently because AmEx blocks signup bonuses for products from the same family. For example, if you currently hold a gold card you can't get the signup bonus for a platinum card. More on strategies related to this in a future post. (subscribe for updates)

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k
Better Offer: Card Match or Targeted 50k

Workaround: None. In my experience AmEx is not friendly about matching better bonuses. I even had to fight with them to get the standard 25k bonus on the AmEx SPG I signed up for this year.

Guidance: Check https://www.creditcards.com/cardmatch and/or log into http://americanexpress.com in an incognito browser window then go to Cards - Learn About Charge & Credit Cards - Your Special Card Offers

American Express Starwood Preferred Guest

25k might seem like a weak signup bonus compared to the big numbers other cards offer. But it's because Starwood points are very valuable. I'd estimate their worth a $0.02 a piece so even a 25k signup bonus isn't bad. Starwood points can be redeemed at their properties at favorable rates and - perhaps strangely for a hotel loyalty program - they can be transferred to a ton of airlines at a 20k to 25k ratio. Then, for example, you can redeem those points on Lufthansa for 34k roundtrip domestic flights within the US on United. Crazy, right?

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k (my referral link)
Better Offer: None right now. Best signup I've seen lately for this was 30k this past fall.

Workaround: Sadly, this is the only card of the bunch where the referral signup bonus is on par with the current best offer. If you're in the market for this card now, 25k isn't a bad signup bonus. I'm not sure whether use of a referral link (that I generated by emailing the offer to myself) will make me eligible for a referral fee. But it's worth a shot.

This is a really strange way to design a referral program (email only? what about Facebook and Twitter?). If you'd really like to make sure I get the referral bonus (5k) drop me an email and I'll send you one.

Chase Freedom

As I mentioned in this post this is a great card with no annual fee.

Refer a Friend Offer: 10k Ultimate Rewards
Better Offer: ~~20k Ultimate Rewards~~ (expired)

Workaround: Apply through the refer a friend link. Then when you're activating the card (or shortly after via secure message) ask them to match the 20k offer. Chase is good about this in a case like this where the signup bonus has increased and the offer is otherwise identical.

American Express Platinum

I wouldn't apply for this card for less than a 50k signup bonus. For even semi-frequent travelers the $450 annual fee is easily justified by lounge access, $200 in airline incidentals (or gift cards twice a year), Global Entry (worth $100, good for 5 years and includes TSA PreCheck), and its Starwood/Hilton/National status (which can be matched to Hertz Five Star).

Refer a Friend Offer: 25k Membership Rewards
Better Offer: Targeted 100k (but hard to come by)

Workaround: None.

Guidance: Check https://www.creditcards.com/cardmatch and/or log into http://americanexpress.com in an incognito browser window then go to Cards - Learn About Charge & Credit Cards - Your Special Card Offers

Conclusion

I understand that banks have to abide by regulations in place to avoid consumers getting duped by unscrupulous characters. But I wish they'd learn from how Amazon sets up its affiliates program. Almost anyone with a website is eligible to participate in the program. The more products you sell, the more your referral percentage goes up.

This seems like a bright way to run an affiliate program because as small sites grow they're already familiar with your program. And with social media we're all potentially affiliates aren't we?

I hope this is helpful in navigating your way to the best sign-up bonuses while, in some cases, maintaining your referral bonus as well.

Pasta Genovese alla Nonna

2013-11-18T19:41:00.001-05:00

Showing me the tricks of her trade, 2003

These days my sweet little Nonna remembers the faces of the people she loves but much else is just a haze. Now that she doesn't cook, I am so grateful that 10 years ago I stood beside her in the kitchen and watched her make one of my family's beloved dishes. To this day, mention of it makes my husband and my father's eyes light up.

"Genovese" is what she always called it, though, there's no basil to be found. This one is authentic from her childhood and is absolutely perfect for a cold Fall or Winter night. This pasta sauce is "peasant style" which is the polite way to say it uses very inexpensive ingredients. From humble beginnings come memorable cuisine. It also happens to be super simple and one you should put on your must-try list.

Pasta Genovese

2 lbs. of onions sliced thinly into strips

1 and 1/2 lbs. boneless chuck steak (cut the meat into 4 large cubes and remove visible fat)
1 lb. hot linguini cooked in salted water
Parmigiano Reggiano to taste

Cover bottom of a dutch oven or thick pot with olive oil

Warm the oil, season meat with salt and pepper, then brown the meat on medium high

Cook for 5 minutes then add the onions.

Add 1 cup of beef broth and bring to a boil,

Turn down heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 2+ hours, until meat is easily falling apart into sauce.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over hot linguini with lots of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

I hope you enjoy a small part of the legacy that is my sweet little Grandma.

Maximizing the Value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Credit Cards

2013-10-19T21:49:00.004-04:00

Key Link: Sign up for the Chase Freedom for a 20K bonus (regularly 10K) for a limited time

I've had the Chase Freedom credit card for many years but it wasn't until just recently that I explored (and figured out) how to maximize its value. In its simplest use, the card offers 5% cash back on quarterly rotating categories and 1% on everything else with no annual fee.

That in itself makes it a good card to keep forever since the average age of your credit card accounts and the age of your oldest account has a meaningful impact on your credit score.

See also: 10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the Best Travel Credit Card

But there are two key concepts you need to understand in order to take the value of this card to the next level:

Trick 1: Pair it with an annual fee based Chase Ultimate Rewards card to enable quick conversion of points earned on the Chase Freedom into more-valuable-than-cash airline and hotel points

For many years I'd convert the points earned on my Chase Freedom into cashback. Cash is king right? Not necessarily. If you also have a fee based Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred or the Ink (business) cards you can combine the points earned on the Freedom with the points associated with your fee based card to transfer them to airline/hotel travel partners with favorable award availability and redemption levels like United and Hyatt. It pains me when I look back at my lowly past redemptions.

This makes Ultimate Rewards worth more than a penny if you like to travel and can redeem them effectively. For example, if you transfer 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points to United for a roundtrip ticket to Europe that would normally cost $1,600 that's a redemption worth $0.026 per point. This is much more valuable than redeeming for cashback. And the values get even more attractive when redeeming for premium cabin flights - especially internationally.

That's why I get excited about 5x Ultimate Rewards points (as opposed to 5% cashback). It's almost like 10+% back if you can redeem them effectively.

Trick 2: Maximize the 5x Categories by Category/Time Shifting and Manufacturing Spend

With the Chase Freedom, each quarter you can earn 5x (capped at $1,500 in spending) in rotating categories. That's 30k points per year for just $6k spent annually. Here are the categories for 2013:

A normal person would look at these and think "Hmm - I spend quite a bit on gas and restaurants. I should be able to get some nice 5x rewards." But in order to maximize these categories there are a few simple tricks you can leverage.

First, consider drugstores. Have you seen the massive gift card racks they have at drugstores like CVS? You can buy merchant gift cards for retailers like Amazon, gas stations, retailers and more. This is called category shifting. You spend money at drugstores (on gift cards) for 5x back and you spend the gift cards elsewhere.

Time shifting is when you buy these gift cards for future use. You want to maximize the $1,500 for the quarter but you're not going to immediately use the gift cards. So for example you buy retailer gift cards at a gas station when that's the bonus category -or- gas gift cards at Lowe's when that's the category and use them over the next couple months.

I'm personally not a fan of time shifting because I don't like to prepay for stuff. I prefer to "manufacture" spend. For example, at CVS they sell Visa gift cards and various "reload" cards that, for about a ~1% fee can generate bonused spend then be quickly liquidated. Since you're getting 5x (actually 10+% thanks to Trick #1) you can easily stomach a 1% fee. You then take these near-cash equivalents and liquidate them using various techniques. Loading Vanilla Reloads to Bluebird then paying bills (even your mortgage) or the credit card bill itself is the simplest and longest running scheme around. It sounds crazy at first but if you're interested it's not that difficult at all.

Sign-up Considerations

First, know your credit score and what goes into it. Read Does Churning Credit Cards Damage Your Credit Score for more info. If your credit score is south of 720 I'd work on improving your score up before playing any games with credit card sign ups.

Then, there are different things to consider depending on your credit history and the current cards you carry. If you've applied for a credit card within the past 90 days, especially another Chase card, I'd wait until 90+ days have passed before signing up for another.

If you already have a lot (as in, like, more than 6) Chase credit cards, especially if you've signed up for them within the last year, you might want to hold off on signing up for more. Chase allows users to have an indeterminate number of their cards but at some point you start to hit a wall with them. You can usually swap out a card you're not using when you apply and sometimes it requires a call to their reconsideration line if your application goes pending or is denied.

But you need to be choosy when picking your Chase cards because they have a ton of great ones and you only have so many "slots" with any one bank. I think the Chase Freedom is worthy of a slot though because:

It has no annual fee (so you can keep it forever and use it to build up your credit score)
It earns valuable and flexible Ultimate Rewards points (when paired with a fee based Chase card)

Sign-up Strategies

Again, everyone's situation is different. But here's what I'd do in terms of signing up for the Chase Freedom and Chase Sapphire Preferred with some family and friends in mind at various stages in life. Remember - you've got to have a fee based card to unlock the potential of the Chase Freedom card.

Young Single

I'd go for the Chase Freedom first to start building your credit history. Since it has no annual fee you can keep it forever and banks like to see that you've had one or two long standing credit cards in your portfolio.

Once you start accruing some points and are within striking distance (40k) of a desirable redemption sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Within the first year of having the Sapphire Preferred (before the annual fee hits) transfer the ponits to United, Hyatt, or other travel partner.

Single with Established Credit

Tough call here. There are so many great cards out there and if you're running enough natural spending through your credit cards (due to reimbursed business expenses and "other stuff") you can probably justify the annual fee of the Sapphire Preferred ($95). I'd go for the Sapphire Preferred first and supplement with the Freedom down the line when you have a better feel for how valuable Ultimate Rewards can be.

Married

This is really the sweet spot of the Chase Ultimate Rewards scheme. You can transfer points to your spouse without a fee so you only need to have one fee based Chase card per family. That means you can each have a Chase Freedom which effectively gives you $3,000 per quarter you can earn 5x with plus you can each have a Sapphire Preferred (one of which you'd likely cancel the first year after receiving the signup bonus).

On top of this, you can add each other as authorized users (if desired) to one another's cards. Typically, I find that one of the two partners in a marriage are interested in points and miles. The other just goes along and is willing to tolerate it. For situations like this, add the point junkie as an authorized user of the cards with bonused spend categories that have a quarterly cap so they can do the hard work for both spouses.

Caution: Adding a person as an authorized user of a card will make the balance and usage of that card appear on their credit score. So only do this in cases where it's worth it. For me, it's worth it if 1) The card gives you points for adding an authorized user (the Chase United card gives 5k) or 2) The card continually needs to be accessed to rack up points and miles in bonused categories.

Advanced Maneuvers

Do you have a small business? Even a fledgling one? Have you ever thought of starting a fledgling one? The Chase Ink business cards that carry an annual fee also earn Ultimate Rewards, come with a lucrative 50k point sign up bonus and earn 5x at office supply stores and telecom services. The 5x at office supply stores presents a perpetual category shifting opportunity. These cards pair brilliantly with the Freedom and Sapphire Preferred, but to minimize fees you only need to carry one fee based Chase card per family any time you want to transfer to airline/hotel partners.

You could sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred and then the Chase Freedom and earn a signup for both. Then, I've heard you can "downgrade" the Sapphire Preferred to a fee-free Sapphire variant of the card OR a second Freedom card and have both a Freedom MasterCard and a Visa. This could effectively give you even more ceiling with which to earn 5x in rotating categories and would be worth pursuing so long as you have one fee based card you can use (either your spouse's or an Ink business card). I haven't tried this maneuver yet so I can't comment on how it's working recently.

If you sign up for the card through the link below I'll get 5,000 points for referring you and you'll get 10,000 points. I wish I could tell you that you could sign up yourself then refer friends or your spouse to get additional miles. But the current Chase Refer a Friend promotion is only available to existing cardholders as of the date the promotion started. Hopefully they'll run this same promotion down the road and you too can earn referral bonuses. But if you had a Sapphire Preferred -or- a Freedom before this offer started running you can refer your spouse or your other friends and family. To see if you're eligible to refer go here and enter your name/zip/last 4 digits on your card.

Conclusion

The Chase Freedom card is a terrific card to get if you like to travel and don't mind interacting with your cards enough to maximize its value. By pairing it with a fee based Chase card like the Sapphire Preferred you can maximize the value of the points earned with the no fee Chase Freedom card.

Key Link: Sign up for the Chase Freedom for a 20K bonus (regularly 10K) for a limited time

Feel free to drop me an email if you have questions.

10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the Best Travel Credit Card

2013-09-02T20:21:00.003-04:00

Key Link: Get 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in 3 months on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card

I've spent a lot of time researching and refining my strategy related to credit card signup bonuses this year. I've shifted away from a mostly cashback approach in favor of travel rewards after realizing I was leaving a lot of money on the table. I took the time to research how credit cards affect my credit score and learned that signing up for new cards can actually help my credit score in the long run.

I saw that I was able to refinance our mortgage without incident even though I'd recently signed up for a bunch of new credit cards. After racking up a bunch of points and miles in my first round of card applications I realized it was important to build a foundation in points programs that have flexible redemption options because you never know how your travel interests might change in the future and it's good to keep your options open.

See also: Maximizing the Value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Credit Cards

When I talk to friends and family about this interest I get mixed responses. Some people just don't want to bother with it. They've had bad experiences trying to redeem miles for free flights when they want to travel or they're just not interested in interacting with their finances in this way. Others really are interested and quickly catch the bug and are just a few steps behind me exploring this space. And finally there's the rest of you who are interested in "getting 80% of the benefit for 20% of the effort". They want the condensed summary: Just tell me what one thing I should do right now.

For this group, I think a "once a year" churn strategy is in order. Each year sign up for one or more new cards and then re-visit whether the card is working well for them when the annual fee comes due.

And if you're going to sign up for one card this year I think the best card to get is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. The card comes with a 40,000 "point" signup bonus after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months. The best way to use those points is to transfer them 1:1 to airlines like United, Southwest, or British Airways. Or to hotel partners like Hyatt and Marriott. Or even Amtrak. So rather than locking yourself into one airline or hotel partner you have access to many.

And if you can't find reward availability on the dates you want to travel you can redeem them for travel on any airline at a 20% discount. Or you can just cash out at a penny a point. It's really the best of all worlds.

Here's 10 reasons why I think the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best travel credit card...

1. Flexibility

You never know what life is going to throw at you. You may be living in one city where there's a dominant air carrier then unexpectedly move to another part of the country. You might have a new baby in the family and want to take it easy on the travel for a while. That's why I like this card - you can find a reward option that suits your needs. The best way to use the points is towards international airfare. But even if you can't use the points for that you're still getting good value out of them.

2. Transfer Partners

Their list of transfer partners isn't the longest, but they've established relationships with key partners: United, Southwest, and Hyatt. They're each great partners because they have some of the best award availability in terms of being able to redeem award travel at "saver" levels with reasonable advanced notice. For the most part, their partners haven't devalued their award redemption schedules. And their partners are well diversified for international and domestic travel.

3. Sign-up Bonus

Ultimate Rewards are worth a penny a point towards cash back. They're worth more if you transfer them effectively to travel partners. If you book a flight from the US to Europe on United worth $1,500 for 70,000 that's 2.5 cents per point which would make the sign-up worth $1,000. The key here, on top of the generous sign-up bonus, is flexibility.

4. Bonused Spend Categories

The card earns 2x at restaurants and on the broad "travel" category. 2x at restaurants is really nice in itself plus airfare, hotels, taxis, parking and more are included in the travel category so this is much nicer than just "airfare" (like the AmEx Preferred Rewards Gold car) or "hotels" (like the Chase Ink business cards).

5. Access to the Ultimate Rewards Shopping Portal

Certain Chase cards are included in the Ultimate Rewards shopping portal where you can earn extra points on top of the regular points you'd otherwise earn on the card for initiating online shopping transactions through the Ultimate Rewards portal. Check http://cashbackholic.com and http://evreward to make sure you're maximizing your value when shopping online.

6. No Foreign Transaction Fees

When using your credit card outside the US some cards have foreign transaction fees and others do not. This card does not. That's a good thing.

7. Turbo Charge your Chase Freedom Ultimate Rewards Points

If you happen to already hold a Chase Freedom card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred makes an excellent partner. Whereas with the Chase Freedom card you can only redeem your points for gift cards and cashback, once you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card you can redeem all of your Ultimate Rewards at maximum efficiency. Specifically you can transfer the points earned on the lucrative rotating 5x Freedom categories towards airline/hotel transfers.

8. 3x at Restaurants on the First Friday of Each Month

This is a recent addition but a tasty one. On the first Friday of each month you'll earn 3x points (instead of the usual 2x points) at restaurants. This is a great reason to enjoy a special dinner out once a month. You can earn this more than once each first Friday - breakfast, lunch, dinner and even gift card purchases at restaurants can qualfify!

9. Heavy Duty Metal Card

This is totally subjective but everyone who receives this card notices - it's really substantial. All things equal I'll take it as a card benefit. When/if you cancel they send you a postage-paid return envelope to safely dispose of the card because it cannot be shredded. It's kind of like a really heavy bottle of wine - it doesn't guarantee a superior product but it does suggest that the producer wants to denote quality.

10. Provides Multiple Ways to Rack Up United and Southwest Miles and Points

One of the best things about Chase's tie-ups with United and Southwest (they issue their cards exclusively) is that points earned through the Sapphire Preferred card can be stacked with points earned through the United and Southwest cards. So if you want to fly a family for free you can sign up for both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the United/Southwest cards. This isn't possible with programs like JetBlue and Virgin America where it's hard to earn miles through credit card sign-ups beyond their own card.

Conclusion and Recommendations

So there you have it - 10 reasons why I think this is the best travel rewards credit card to get.

The $95 annual fee is waived the first year. After the year is up see whether the card benefits outweigh the annual fee. I think they do - but be sure to call and ask for a retention bonus after about 11 months. If you don't like the card benefits you can downgrade to a no annual fee version of the card and the 40,000 Ultimate Rewards points - and all the bonused spend you've racked up - will be yours to keep.

Key Link: Get 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in 3 months on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card

Questions or comments? Let me know by dropping me an email or pinging me on Twitter: @RobertDwyer

Further Reading: Maximizing the Value of the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Freedom Credit Cards

Tips & Tricks for Discounts at Disneyland Resort, Legoland, Sea World, and Four Seasons Aviara

2013-02-24T15:19:00.000-05:00

We're just back from a fantastic trip to Southern California and I'd like to share what I found for discounts at the theme parks and resorts we visited. It drives me bonkers when I leave money on the table by not taking advantage of the best discount possible, and it never ceases to amaze me how some of the best discounts are the most peculiar.

Our profile: Two adults, two kids (8 and 5 year old boys as of this post) travelling from Massachusetts for a week-long stay. We're not going back to California again this year (as much as I'd like to) so annual passes, for the most part, aren't viable for us. I've entertained some annual passes that work for parks in California and Florida but haven't found them to be tremendously advantageous for our situation.

Read on for the best discounts and angles I could find and let me know what you've found that works better!

Disneyland Resort

Without a doubt, Disney Parks are the hardest places I've found to get discounts. Kind of like Apple, they do a fine job of maintaining the integrity of their pricing structure by minimizing the availability of deep discounts.

One angle I considered during the booking process, that has the potential to work for a variety of situations, is buying Disney gift cards at a discount. Target had a deal going last year where you'd get a $10 Target gift card if you purchased $50 worth of anything in the store, and gift cards qualified. It was a high involvement slightly shady technique (how many trips to Target would you have to make, and how many $50 gift cards would you have to redeem when you arrived at the hotel?) but 20% off your entire Disney vacation had people willing to do crazy stuff. Read more about it here in this massive thread on DIS Boards.

Also, though it's not the best redemption rate, many credit cards let you use points for Disney gift cards. Disney gift cards can be used at Disney Parks, Disney Cruise Line, and at Disney Stores across the country. Nice broad usability, unlike iTunes gift cards (for example) which can't be redeemed at the Apple Store.

Lodging

The lodging portion of the Disney stay is probably one of the easier parts of the Disney vacation to get a discount on. 20%-30% offers seem to come up fairly regularly. I think I got 20% off the room by way of a promotion code my sister in law shared with me.

Staying at a Disney Parks hotel seems to put you on a list for future offers, and it also gets you into the parks early. With Extra Magic Hour, guests staying at one of the Disneyland Resort hotels (Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier) get into either Disneyland OR California Adventure an hour earlier than the general public.

Main Street USA during Extra Magic Hour (wide open)

Cars Land during Extra Magic Hour
(quite crowded and it got worse from there because
Radiator Springs Racers opened late)

Park Tickets

We bought park tickets bundled with our hotel stay and they accounted for 60% of the total bill. As much as I wanted to get a discount on park tickets I didn't see a significant angle. Perhaps a few dollars off with AAA. The model with park ticket pricing is the longer you stay the cheaper it is per day. But the longer you stay the more you spend on food and merchandise (not to mention lodging).

Food and Merchandise

One angle is to get the Disney Dining Plan but I don't like to lock us into anything. What if the kids are sick and the day gets derailed? Or what if I want to grab something quick off site? I like to keep our options open so I didn't go for a meal plan. So we just ate a la carte.

But upon returning home, I just realized I left some money on the table here. We have an old no annual fee Disney credit card that gives you 10% off a lot of the restaurants and retail shops in Disneyland, including several we spent quite a bit of money at. I was confused about which venues it worked for in the past, so I filed the card away and haven't been using it. But if I were to do it again I'd bring the card with and give it a shot.

Good post: 10 Ways to Save Money on Food at Disneyland Resort

Park review: Fantastic. Disney continues to run their parks very well and we all enjoyed Disneyland a bit more than Disney World 3 years ago due to the kids being a bit older and more into it.

Related reading: These Disney Cruises Infuriate Me - Why Do I Keep Booking Them?

Legoland

This was our first visit to Legoland so I wanted to see how we liked it before buying a multi-day or annual pass. This thread on DIS Boards about Legoland Coupons/Discounts pointed me to my local Toys 'R Us to find a free child ticket to Legoland with the purchase of an adult ticket on the back of $3.99/$4.99 Chima/Batman toys. How crazy is it that their $4 toys have a great coupon like this and their $100+ toys don't have much of anything to reward you for a massive purchase?

This "buy one get one" kind of discount works great for our situation and is much better than a percent-off coupon. I hear they have these at Target too. But if you find yourself in line at Legoland without a coupon, here's a Pro Tip: Buy one adult ticket and go into the park. Go to The Big Store (the Lego Store within Legoland) and look for these toys and coupons. As of February 2013 they had them.

A good thing about these passes is that for $20 per ticket you could upgrade everyone's visit to a 2nd day.

Free child ticket to Legoland with paid adult
on the back of $4 Lego toys

Park Review: Quite disappointing. Our kids love Legos but I felt like we were there for them rather than to enjoy our vacation with them. A few of the rides did a good job of integrating Lego themeing but many attempts felt half-hearted. Once the whining started I didn't feel much motivation to stick around.

The park makes too many attempts to grab additional money for attractions once inside. Carnival games and such were sprinkled throughout the park so they couldn't be avoided en masse. A mini-golf course for $5 per person particularly annoyed me: I paid at the gate!

Also, I was disappointed I couldn't use my Lego VIP card for purchases within the park. Lego VIP cards give you 5% back towards future purchases. They said the card couldn't be used because the parks weren't owned by Lego. They parks are now owned by Merlin.

The Volvo Driving School and the Police and Fire Academy were cool but we left at 12:30 and didn't feel the need to come back for more.

Sea World

I was seriously tempted to buy the Sesame Place Super Grover Pass late last year when it was 25% off. Sesame Place is owned by the same folks that own Sea World, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove. It entitles you to admission to Sesame Place (which I might never go to) but provides a cheaper way towards an annual pass to all of the Sea World Parks (San Diego, San Antonio and Orlando) plus free parking at Sea World, discounts on food and merchandise, and reserved seating at shows.

The best time to get an annual pass is in the fall when it's good for more than 12 months, especially considering that's when the Super Grovers are maximally discounted. I can see us going to San Diego and Orlando in the same 14 month period perhaps as many as 3 times so I'll keep this option in mind for future years.

The best single-day discount I could find was 20% off at the gate (not available online) with a Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards card. This discount isn't widely advertised but I confirmed it by calling Sea World ahead of time. It was still valid as of February 2013. If you don't have a Rapid Rewards card number you can get one for free and print it out before you go. My Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa happens to have my Rapid Rewards number on it (and it also happens to offer a highly usable 50,000 point signup bonus - more on that and 270,000 other signup bonus points here).

No discount on parking ($15), food (kind of mediocre but I do like Dine with Shamu if you haven't done it before, especially if you're visiting the Orlando park which includes all you can drink Budweiser products in 16oz aluminum bottles which sell for $6.99 each in the park otherwise) or merchandise (quite fairly priced compared to Disney in my opinion) with the Southwest angle so factor that in when going the single-day route.

20% off with Southwest Rapid Rewards
Regularly $78 adult/$70 child

Park review: Absolutely fantastic. This is the 4th time we've visited a Sea World and it has been thoroughly enjoyable every time. Something about the pacing of the parks (shows/exhibits/a few rides) and my affinity for marine mammal shows that seems to work out well for us. Your mileage may vary of course.

Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara

Poolside at Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club

This place is absolutely, without a doubt, the best family friendly luxury resort value in the United States. This was the third time we visited and although the adjacent hotel is now a Park Hyatt rather than a Four Seasons, the experience at the Four Seasons is still first class.

The first time we stayed it was on a timeshare preview weekend directly through Four Seasons. I was so "under the ether" I was ready to plop down $25k+ per week to buy one but Deanna talked me down off the ledge.

I'm glad she did because timeshares are a much better buy in the secondary market, and Four Seasons Residence Clubs have a very high maintenance fee on the order of $2,400 per week per year.

The next time we rented through TRI West - a timeshare broker who has a lot of units at Aviara for rent and sale. It was an easy transaction and went off without a hitch.

This time we went through a private party on RedWeek.com. TRI West was asking $2,395 and I was able to get a week in a 2BR from an owner on RedWeek for $2,150 for the week. A fantastic value for 7 nights in a 1,600sf villa that includes Four Seasons service.

If you'd like to stay for less than a week or want to keep the transaction simple you can book directly through Four Seasons.

What I've found while ~~obsessing over~~ watching rental weeks at Aviara is that if you're date flexible and/or opportunistic in when you visit, you can snag a week for less than the annual maintenance fees. Why would you pay to own when you can rent for less? You shouldn't. And that's why we rent. Until rental prices start trending significantly north of the maintenance fees plus property tax I'll continue to be a renter.

Or maybe I'd be a buyer if Four Seasons builds out their network of Residence Clubs to include more properties you can trade into (Scottsdale is the only other location that's viable, although they do have other Residence Club locations which are more true fractionals).

Four Seasons Aviara 2BR Villa Floorplan

Four Seasons Aviara Residence Club Review: Perfect once again. Paradise on earth. I'll follow-up with a full review of Aviara specifically. Subscribe for notifications of new content.

Other

I was pretty proud of myself when I bought a couple pretzels for the kids at Wetzel's Pretzels at Seaport Village, used my AAA card for 10% off and got parking validation. But then my sister-in-law found a FourSquare check-in that led her to a discount booklet that included buy one get one free pretzels and other discounts.

Another option to consider if you're planning to visit 3 or more attractions in the San Diego is the Go San Diego Card available on Costco.com. I liked the savings associated with this card, and it includes all of the big attractions like Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. But the clock starts ticking as soon as you visit the first venue and you have to visit others on consecutive days to get maximum value out of the card. I like days of rest between visiting big attractions, and I don't like to lock us into something ahead of time (weather/sickness contingencies) so I skipped this option.

Question of the Day: What angles did I miss? Let me know for next time - I'd love to go back in a couple years!

Does Churning Credit Cards Damage Your Credit Score?

2013-02-03T15:42:00.001-05:00

One of the first things level headed friends ask me when I mention signing up for credit cards (for bonuses) is whether their credit rating will be damaged by playing the game.

It's a smart thing to think about. Our credit scores, and the ability to leverage credit to our advantage, is one of the most important assets we have (the most important being the earning potential our talents afford us).

In researching a bit how credit scores are determined I was surprised how much of what I thought I knew about credit scores was based on hearsay. Or folklore. Or a random collection of tidbits I'd heard over the years.

For sure, I think most of us will be totally fine if we, basically, "behave" when it comes to credit. Take on a responsible amount of debt, pay our bills on time, and have just a few credit cards.

But when you mention signing up for credit cards for bonuses, instinct tells us this will be bad for our credit ratings. Is this true? Let's take a closer look at what's good and bad about signing up for a new credit card.

First, signing up for a new credit card results in a "hard pull" of our credit score. This in itself knocks down our score a few points. But credit scores tend to recover from these checks after a few months.

If you're approved for a new card, it does two things:

It increases our total credit line
It decreases the average age of our accounts

Increasing our total credit line typically helps our credit score rather than hurts it because it's good to have a small percentage of our total credit line in use. If the total of our balances is low compared to how much credit we have access to it's a good thing for our credit rating.

Decreasing the average age of our credit card accounts is bad for our credit score, and it's a real concern when applying for credit cards for signup bonuses.

Here's who goes into determining a credit score (from My FICO):

Our credit cards are just one portion of our borrowing portfolio. A mortgage is of higher importance than credit cards and with lending standards tightening I wouldn't be willing to risk the ability to qualify for a mortgage by fiddling around with credit cards. Even if we already have a mortgage, it's important to have a good credit score in case a refinance opportunity pops up.

Automobile loans and leases are also important. But if your credit score is good, even in spite of signing up for a bunch of credit cards, you're likely to qualify for the most favorable automobile loans and leases.

A consideration adjacent this:

Should we cancel an old credit card (with no annual fee) which we never use? No! Absolutely not. Doing so would decrease the average age of accounts.

So, it's important to:

Understand what goes into determining your credit score
Get your credit report and make sure there's nothing on there you're not expecting
Monitor your credit score with a service like Credit Sesame or Credit Karma
Space out your signups over time
Pay your balance in full each month
Keep your balances low with respect to your overall credit line

Since I do these things I feel comfortable that signing up for credit cards (for bonuses) won't damage my credit score.

In fact, if I wasn't knocking down my credit score a bit by applying for credit cards one could argue I'd be leaving money on the table. How high do our credit scores need to be after all? Just high enough to get the most favorable loan terms. We don't get a bonus for a credit score higher than 760.

It's kind of like in college where there's no difference between barely scraping by with an A and getting the highest A in the class. You'd be better off getting the lowest A possible and devoting your precious resources to other endeavors.

Here are some links for related reading:

I'd love it if you subscribed to Casa Dwyer for future updates.

Lessons Learned on the Way to 270,000 Points & Miles

2013-01-26T13:26:00.002-05:00

Related Reading: 10 Reasons the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best all around travel rewards credit card

As I was saying last week I've decided to wade into the credit card signup bonus game, primarily as a way to reduce our travel expenses. I previously employed a mostly cash back approach but after researching this a bit found I was leaving a significant amount of money on the table.

For my first set of "moves" I wanted to start out slowly (and simply) to get a feel for how well this works for me. I wanted to be sure to accrue points/miles with things we were sure to use. And I wanted the points/miles to be for things I wanted to use.

Here's what I mean by that. The thought of having a bunch of United miles so I could fly the family across country in the back of one of their planes in cramped grey seats (they've got the shortest pitch in the industry) while experiencing their signature surly service left me cold. I like flying JetBlue, Virgin America and Southwest with the family domestically and the longer the flight, the pickier I am about the carrier.

But what drives me especially bonkers about legacy carriers is when I can't use miles to travel on the dates I want to travel or without using a ridiculous amount of points.

So this suggestion from Travel Summary - REALLY know what you want - REALLY resonated with me.

I thought about the trips we'd like to take in the next 2 years and came up with a short term goal -and- a long term goal. The short term goal is to have flexible nearly free travel on direct flights to domestic destinations on carriers we like.

So first I signed up for the JetBlue AmEx for a 20,000 point signup bonus. The $45 annual fee is waived the first year, and the minimum spend is $1,000 over the first 3 months.

Next I signed up for the Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier card for its 50,000 signup bonus. The $69 fee is not waived the first year, and the minimum spend is $2,000 over the first 3 months.

In hindsight the JetBlue signup bonus is pretty anemic and the card isn't very strategic, but I really like JetBlue and I'm sure I'll use the points.

The Southwest card however is pretty valuable on its own for the 50,000 points. But a thing I really like about Southwest (in addition to their favorable fee schedule) is their award flight availability. Have a look at this chart of how frequently reward seats are available on each carrier. It's not your imagination that Southwest points are actually usable and your US Airways and Delta points are not!

Another thing that's enticing about the Southwest card is that if you get a Southwest business credit card you can earn another 50,000 points and then if you spend $10k on the two cards combined you'll (possibly) qualify for a Southwest Companion Pass for each flight you take through the end of next year. Lots of maybes here, and lines you may not want to cross but that could be a really nice overall situation.

So I was pretty content for the time being and wanted to wait and see how things went with these cards.

Then this deal popped up just a couple days later. An AmEx Platinum with 100,000 Membership Rewards points for $3,000 spend in 3 months and an AmEx Gold for 50,000 Membership Rewards points. The Platinum has a hefty annual fee of $450 (not waived the first year) but provides some great benefits like airline lounge access and reimbursement of airline fees of $200 per calendar year which some are using to get gift cards reimbursed for effectively $400 over the one year you'd have the card. Again, another line that feels wrong to cross.

But I was approved instantly for the Platinum and went for the Gold while it was still available. The Gold's $175 annual fee is waived the first year and the minimum spend is $1,000 over the first 3 months. I was instantly approved for that too.

I hear it's advisable to sign up for batches of cards no sooner than every 91 days so my approach here broke that rule. And I signed up for 3 personal AmEx cards within the span of 3 days. But the AmEx Platinum/Gold offer vaporized the next day and since this is my first foray into this realm I think it's okay. That's one of the benefits you have if you're new to this game - you've got presumably a healthy credit score and you haven't gotten signup bonuses for the best cards yet.

The Membership Rewards points haul is nice, but it wasn't really a direction I wanted to go necessarily. Their program offers a lot of options but there's a "catch" with many of them. You can convert your points to airline miles but American isn't one of the partners you can transfer to. You can fly American if you transfer the points to British Airways Avios but they charge massive fuel surcharges when flying to Europe. However they don't charge fuel surcharges when booking on American for flights within the US. Confused yet?

You can't transfer Membership Rewards to United but you can transfer them to other Star Alliance partners like Air Canada, Singapore, or All Nippon. But they charge fuel surcharges when flying to Europe, unless you're flying United. But if the flight is Lufthansa booked through Air Canada or Singapore or All Nippon there is a fuel surcharge. All in all it's a puzzle I'm still trying to figure out.

But I was done going for signup bonuses for a while for sure. Or so I thought.

Until @TravelSummary told me about this deal. 50,000 United miles for transferring $100k worth of investments over to Fidelity. We had some money sleeping in mutual funds with Vanguard so I transferred those over. Fidelity makes it really easy to do this transfer. It took about 20 minutes online with guidance over the phone. Further, I didn't have to liquidate the securities (and realize a tax consequence) in order to earn the bonus. The deal used to be even sweeter (and sketchier) before they addressed some loopholes but I'm still pretty happy with 50k miles for little effort or impact - not even a credit inquiry for this one.

Remember when I said I didn't want United miles for domestic travel? I don't. But I do want United miles so I can fly on Lufthansa to Europe at some point to pick up a BMW on European Delivery. That's one of my long-term goals for points and mile redemption. European Delivery can be a great deal especially if you don't have to pay for flights. And having United miles is the best way to fly from Boston to Munich on Lufthansa. This game gets complicated!

Just when I thought I was done for a while I found this summary of brokerage signup bonuses. $500-$1,000 (or more) for transferring over your old 401k to a self-directed IRA. I remember these signup bonuses from back in the late '90s when everyone was a day trader but they're still around. My goodness - I've been missing out on all kinds of money!

So there you have it 270,000 points/miles in my first wave of moves. There are some annual fees involved but overall the outlay is, I think, reasonable for the points and miles if I can use them efficiently. I know from previous personal experience that if I redeem the points inefficiently/unwisely I'll burn through them in a hurry and get very little value out of points. I'll try to be smarter with my redemptions going forward.

In hindsight I probably could have made some more strategic first moves. And I know I've only learned (at best) 10% of what there is to know in this space. But you've got to start somewhere and I'm looking forward to my next set of moves in a couple months.

It takes patience to meet the minimum spend each card comes with and wait for the miles and points to come through. In fact, none of the cards I've signed up for have paid their bonuses yet - though AmEx did mistakenly charge me the $175 fee that was supposed to be waived the first year. You've got to stay on top of this stuff. It's like navigating the tax code.

I'll write more as I go along and I'll look forward to comparing notes. I know some of you have concurrently caught the points and miles bug, and I know a lot of us are looking for ways to get 80% of the benefit with 20% of the effort. I'll keep a lookout for those opportunities and share them as best I can.

Further Reading: Does churning credit cards damage your credit score?

I'd love it if you subscribed or followed me on Twitter so we can keep in touch.

Wading into the Credit Card Signup Bonus Game

2013-01-21T20:46:00.000-05:00

Each January I find myself taking the opportunity to assess our financial situation to see if I'm doing everything I can to make the most of our good fortune. After exploring the world of credit card signup bonues the past couple months I've found that I was leaving a significant amount of money on the table utilizing a mostly cashback approach to credit cards.

With a little work, I don't think it's too hard to earn roughly 10% of one's annual income in nearly free travel by navigating the credit card signup space effectively.

Here's how I came to this conclusion...

Family vacations are something I think about every day, and one thing that's been bothering me lately is the escalating cost of airfare. Relatively mundane domestic tickets with reasonable advanced notice were coming in at more than $400 per ticket. Rip off!

With 4 tickets to buy each time we take a family trip, a swing of a $100 or $200 per ticket can have a huge impact on the cost of our vacations. And being blocked from attaining family vacations is something this deal hound will not tolerate. :)

With this in mind I thought to reassess my longstanding aversion for miles/points based credit cards. My preference for the past few years has been cashback based cards. For quite a while I was happy with the American Express Blue Cash card in conjunction with a Chase Freedom Visa. Neither carry annual fees, and they each offer between 1 and 5% cashback. The AmEx offered 5% back on gas, groceries and drugstore purchases and 1.5% back on all other purchases once $6,500 in annual spend was achieved (1% prior to that). The Chase Freedom offered 5% back in rotating quarterly categories and 1% on everything else.

The main thrust of this strategy was to:

Avoid annual credit card fees
Maximize cashback by placing spend on the optimal card
Use that cashback to reduce credit card bills

That seemed to work pretty well for us for a while. Things weren't overly complicated. You just needed to pick the best card for the purchase and in all you'd potentially drive your overall cashback north of 2%.

I'd estimate that about a third of our gross income was being funneled through credit card purchases. To share an example of how beneficial (or not) this approach was, for an annual income of say $100,000 about $3,000 per month ($36,000 annually) was going through credit cards. Of that $36,000 if we earned 1% cashback we'd get $360.

If we were really savvy and aligned our purchases with 5% cashback categories frequently we'd bring in 2-3% of $36,000 each year - about $700-$1,000 annually. This was a nice clip for not doing much of anything really so I thought we were doing pretty well.

Until I looked at what we might be leaving on the table by not taking advantage of credit card signup bonuses.

About a year ago I saw an offer pop up for a Capital One Venture credit card that paid a $1,000 signup bonus. Wow! By merely changing the card we used we'd earn $1,000 plus the card offered 2 "points" per dollar. Each point could be used to "erase" travel purchases which was virtually a cash equivalent for us so this card was a great one for us for the past year. It carries an annual fee after the first year but at this clip it was worth it because it effectively increased our average cashback percentage. So I was inclined to stick with it for another year.

But I was hungry for more lucrative signup bonuses like this one.

Even the Venture card doesn't offer a 100,000 point signup bonus any more. I think it's down to 10,000 points. As I looked around I found a number of moderately attractive signup bonuses, but they were mostly for airline/hotel cards and programs like Chase Ultimate Rewards and AmEx Membership Rewards.

I'd grown skeptical about miles/points based programs because the provider can devalue the points at any time by changing the terms of the program. And finding flights/rooms when you want them for a reasonable amount of points can be elusive.

I also wondered why anybody in their right mind would prefer points vs. cashback.

But in looking at this game closely over the last couple months I've come to understand how earning points can indeed be more lucrative than cashback. And how signup bonuses can be worth more than either.

By applying a variety of techniques in the example $100,000/$36,000 scenario I described above I think it is/would be fairly easy to go from $1,000 cashback to an effective $10,000 back in nearly free travel realized through a combination of credit card signups and other techniques.

10x leverage - that gets my attention.

Further Reading: Lessons learned on the way to 270,000 miles and points

Here are some concise and helpful resources which I think would be useful in quickly getting up to speed on how to navigate this interesting space:

Travel-Summary.com:

The Points Guy:

Maximizing credit cards for free travel

If you're thirsty for more the next action I'd recommend is subscribing to the collective BoardingArea.com blogs in your feed reader.

And if you've really got it bad poke around the FlyerTalk forums.

I'll look forward to discussing this further. I'd love it if you subscribed to Casa Dwyer for future updates.

Posted with Blogsy

Sweet memory from Christmas past

2012-12-27T16:48:00.000-05:00

As a little girl, one of the joys of Christmas was receiving a box of cookies from my father's mother, my Grandma Eleanor. Every year she boxed up and mailed an assortment of treats, and each year, there was a new variety she tried out. Some years we liked them, some years we didn't (ever had a black walnut? yeah, not a fan.) As years went on, she wisely repeated some old standouts. The arrival of that much-anticipated box always meant a batch of my absolute favorites, which came to be known in our house as 7 Layer Cookies. After she passed away, I found some of her original recipes, and this one was on a yellowed newspaper page from The Blair Press dated December 7, 1976. Turns out the newspaper's name for them was Holiday Magic Cookie Bars. Call them what you want, but these are super-easy and always a holiday hit!

Thank you Grandma for the recipe, and those sweet memories of childhood.

Grandma Eleanor's 7 Layer Cookies

6 tbsp butter

1 and 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

1 can sweetened condensed milk

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

5 and 1/2 oz butterscotch chips

3 and 1/2 oz sweetened shredded coconut

1 c chopped nuts

Put butter in a 13x9 pan and then into the oven while it preheats to 350 degrees. Once melted, make sure the bottom of the pan is coated. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly over the butter. Pour milk evenly over the crumbs. Top with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut and nuts. Press down gently. Bake for 25 minutes or until light brown. Allow to cool and cut into 24 bars.

Enjoy!

10 Frustration Reducing, Money Saving, Life Improving Tips and Tricks for New Parents

2012-11-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

I remember being at the hospital the morning after Sam was born 7 years ago. As I was walking the halls my eye caught something I'd never noticed before: A brochure for a college savings program. It's amazing how your perspective changes and things that were never on your radar screen suddenly become important.

Now that we're through the preschool years and moving on to the next stage I thought it would be helpful to share some idea for new parents that worked well for me.

First, subscribe to Amazon Prime. Reducing the number of errands you have to run will be more valuable than ever plus you get some free video content. If you're not a Prime subscriber yet check out Amazon Mom - even if you're a dad. You just need to have a little one in your life. Great deal.

Here are 10 frustration reducing, money saving, life improving tips and tricks for new parents:

1. Small Screwdrivers

You're going to be opening and repairing a lot of toys over the next few years. This set has come in incredibly handy almost every week.

2. Button Batteries

The first time the batteries go dead on one of their little toys and you try to buy replacements at CVS you'll know why buying these in bulk off Amazon is one of the best deals going. Super-expensive locally and super-cheap online with fast free shipping even without Amazon Prime (since they're tiny and can fit in a standard envelope).

3. Battery Tester

Once the kids get old enough to start repairing their own toys, you might find that as soon as a toy doesn't work they think the battery needs to be replaced. So they'll set aside the old batteries and install new batteries and the toy still doesn't work. After a while you get these little piles of mixed up batteries and it's unclear whether they have remaining charge. A battery tester like the one below will test primary and rechargeable AA, AAA, and 9V batteries. Works great.

While we're on the topic of batteries, I dabbled with rechargeables but found they'd often wind up in a seldom used toy so I'd have to buy more and more rechargeables to keep up. I found buying Kirkland (Costco) AAs and AAAs the best way to go. No shortcuts here that I could find.

4. Re-manufactured Ink Cartridges

Kids love to print. Even after engaging them in a discussion about how expensive ink and paper is and remind them of the environmental impact of needless printing they'll still want to see their creations come to life.

To maximize household tranquility and minimize financial, impact buy affordable off-brand ink cartridges. For our printer, I can get 2 or 3 replacements for each color for 1.5x the price of a single cartridge - a massive savings. Check the seller ratings and go for it. Even if a few of them don't work you'll come out way ahead.

5. Buy Refurbished Apple Devices

A top of the line iPod touch (5th generation) goes for $299. They still sell the 4th generation for $199 with 16GB. Right now Apple is offering an 8GB 4th generation iPod touch for $129. This is an ideal price point for a device that will sometimes allow you to finish your meal in peace, and you won't have a heart attack if your kid drops it on the floor.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod/ipod_touch/8gb

6. Books

Chances are you'll likely receive books as gifts so without much effort you'll have an ample supply of bedtime reading material. The single most requested bedtime book? Richard Scarry's Best Storybook Ever.

Related: Best bedtime routine recommendation we received from a pediatrician that worked? "If you come brush your teeth you will get 3 books. If you don't come now, you'll lose a book."

There's also this fantastic Richard Scarry Christmas book:

7. Best Affordable Toy

Automoblox. Less than $10 shipped for these super-high quality toys are the best $10 toy for a 5 year old boy I've found:

8. Best Expensive Toys

Legos without a doubt. They provide so many hours of quiet, interactive building, but man are they expensive. You can drop $100 at the Lego Store in a second. Oh well, having boys we're lucky - no interest in American Girl.

Best Lego value I've found? The Lego Creator Lighthouse Island. Not only are lighthouses super fun but the Creator series allows the set to be assembled 3 different ways. Pro tip: If you lose the instructions, read them from an iPad from a site like this.

9. Movies

I thought I had this all figured out when I started buying used DVDs of their favorites. But you know what I discovered? They never want to watch something we own. Owning a movie makes it no longer a favorite!

So what to do instead? Ditch the DVDs (they're annoying to keep track of and get scratched) and get a streaming device like a Roku, an Apple TV ($85 refurbished) or both. Rent from Amazon (some titles included with Prime) and watch it on the go on an iPad.

10. Best Holiday Tradition

The candy strip. My mom shared this tradition with us, I loved it, and it's working very well for us. On halloween night when they've returned from trick-or-treating and they're pouring over their haul ask them to count out 25 pieces of candy. Take those 25 pieces of candy and set them aside until December 1st.

Then, create or buy (I've seen these at Home Goods) something they can hang on their wall with 25 pockets in it and place a piece of candy in each pocket. Let them enjoy one piece of candy each day in December rather than gobbling it all up in the week or two after Halloween.

Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite money saving tips and strategies for raising young kids?

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Review: Boston iPhone Repair

2012-10-13T20:36:00.001-04:00

Ouch, right?

I've never been a fan of protective cases for iOS devices. Why take a device whose design Apple has relentlessly thought about and cloak it in a bulky mediocre plastic protective case? Well, the reason is you want to reduce the chances that your expensive highly subsidized device is going to accidentally be smashed.

Like this iPhone 4S which had both sides shattered due to an accidental drop.

When faced with a smashed up iPhone what are our choices?

Ride it out and wait until you're eligible for an upgrade. Doesn't work well when glass shards cut your finger while trying to ride it out.
Go for an early upgrade. Depends on where you are in your upgrade cycle. If you're eligible for an upgrade you'll still likely want to get the damaged phone repaired because it carries significant resale potential. If you're somewhere between brand new and eligible for an upgrade you might be eligible for a reduced price upgrade (like $449 for a new iPhone 5).
Go beg for mercy at the Apple Store. I hear they'll give you a new [refurbished] iPhone 4S for $199 if you trade your old one in. Not the greatest option in the world but at least you'd be getting a clean device, a new battery, and the reliable comfort of Apple standing behind the phone.
Get it repaired. That's what I did and that's the subject of this blog post.

A Google search for "iphone cracked screen" predictively revealed "iphone cracked screen repair boston". I was primarily looking to get information on Apple's policy for out of warranty replacement but I was intrigued by what might be available for repair options in Boston. So I checked out Boston iPhone Repair's excellent blog post here: http://www.bostoniphonerepair.com/archives/339

In that blog post they lay out in reasonable terms whether it's worth it to have your device repaired vs. taking it back to Apple and begging for mercy. I liked how they rolled and their 5 star average Yelp rating looked solid. Their site estimated $90 for repair of a cracked front screen and $40 for the back. Compared to $199 plus tax at the Apple store this sounded like a good deal. So off to Boston iPhone Repair for a 2:00 pm arrival.

They're just east of Harvard Square right across from the Inn at Harvard on Massachusetts Ave on the second floor of this building:

Upon arrival it was just what I was hoping for: Two competent guys sitting behind the counter ready to repair my busted device right then and there. No waiting.

Ned -- on the right in the photo below -- is the founder of the business and a ringer for Mark Zuckerberg who claims to not understand Twitter. He started Boston iPhone Repair four years ago as a come-to-you business. Now they're right across the street from Harvard, so the Zuckerberg resemblance is particularly uncanny and the efficiency with which they can repair iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads is hard to beat. In the time I was there a half dozen happy customers came and went. One customer was turned away for an iPod touch repair they felt would be better served by a visit to the Apple Store.

They looked at my device and told me it was normally $90 to repair the front glass and $40 for the back but since they were both busted he could repair both for $120. Cash, check or PayPal. It would be done in 30 minutes. Would I like to proceed? Heck yeah!

I had my 7 year old with me so half the fun was watching the pros dissect the iPhone. These guys know what they're doing.

But it's kind of like watching your wife have a C-Section. You're a bit curious and interested in the procedure at first, but about half way through it you're just praying for a positive outcome.

30 minutes into it I started to get a little worried. The technician asked for some alcohol. "Alcohol? What for?" I started to get concerned. Like a worried father, I started hovering over the operating table.

8 minutes later I was presented with my pristine repaired iPhone 4S. A success!

However, the phone said it was "Searching" for a signal. I placed a test call to my phone and it went through. I mentioned this Searching business to the technician and he pulled the SIM card out and re-inserted it and it was as good as new. No issues since. Works perfectly.

I brought the repaired iPhone home and presented it to my wife. You would have thought it was a bouquet of flowers. This was her first iPhone and she doesn't like technology, but coming from a BlackBerry she loves her iPhone. And she was glad to have it back in good working condition.

I love it when a small business does exactly what they're supposed to do and I pay them a fair price for doing something I couldn't have done as well as they did.

So check 'em out - highly recommended:

Boston iPhone Repair in Harvard Square
http://bostoniphonerepair.com
@BostoniPhoneFix

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Photos: 2013 Honda Accord Test Drive

2012-09-15T17:22:00.001-04:00

The redesigned Honda Accord is set to hit dealerships September 19th. Bernardi Honda in Natick, MA got some in a few days early so I headed over today for a test drive.

2013 Honda Accord EX-L V6 Sedan

The 2013 is said to be a complete redesign, and it is indeed a brand new model. But to those familiar with the prior Accord -- as I am since we've been leasing a 2010 Accord EX sedan for two and a half years -- it feels like more of an incremental improvement. A very nice incremental improvement.

2013 Honda Accord Sport Sedan

The trim levels should be familiar to long-time Honda fans. An LX, an EX, an EX-L, and an EX-L V6 are available along with a new Sport model priced just south of the EX, and a loaded Touring model. The Sport lacks a moonroof but includes 18" alloy wheels, dual exhaust tips and a spoiler.

To my eye, the rear styling is a nice change from the prior model. They probably could have done more to catch my attention on the front - I think it looks almost identical to the 2010.

The new Accord offers some very nice standard features. It's amazing how much a single little feature -- like an AUX input for audio from your mobile phone -- can change how much I enjoy a car. All new Accords come standard with Bluetooth integration, AUX and USB inputs, rear backup cameras, dual zone climate control and more. Compared to our 2010 Accord EX which lacked external temperature display for example, the 2013 is very nicely equipped.

2013 Accord Sport Interior

The view of the dashboard from behind the steering wheel is significantly revamped, mostly for the better in my opinion.

I took a 2013 Accord Sport sedan out for a test drive. It comes with cloth seats which I thought they were a bit more comfortable than the prior model. A bit firmer in a good way. Touch points are nicely trimmed in leather and the car feels very comfortably sized with a touch of new technological splash.

If there's one complaint I have about our 2010 Accord, it's that the car is a bit slower than I'd like it to be. Even when you really give it some gas it doesn't have very good throttle response from say 10-45 mph when you're merging with traffic.

The 2013 boosts horsepower slightly while also improving mileage so I was looking forward to seeing if it was any more powerful. I'd say it felt about 10% more powerful. Which is probably enough to give us what we need but not necessarily what we want. This is an Accord after all.

One other unique feature in the 2013 is its Continuously Variable Transmission. I've never driven one of these before - and I think this is a first in the Accord. I was expecting the car to never feel like it's shifting but the net effect is that it felt to me like it was holding its current gear for a long time under heavy acceleration.

Separate from the CVT is a Sport mode which can be selected just south of "D" when selecting which gear you'd like to drive in. And separate from this is an Econ button to the left of the steering wheel that can be used, presumably, to improve mileage. I think these are welcome additions but I'm not sure I'd like to think about these things and would prefer the car to adjust automatically to provide the best mileage possible while giving me power when I need it.

They also had a 2013 EX-L on the lot. I thought the EX rims looked a little lackluster compared to the Sport's, and not quite as stylish as the outgoing model:

2013 Honda Accord EX-L

Pricing looks to be very modestly increased compared to the outgoing model. The 2013 Sport sedan I drove stickers for just $24k. I think that's a lot of car for the money.

2013 Sport Window Sticker

Full details on pricing, colorization options, and packages is set to arrive this Wednesday, September 19th.

I'm also considering a new 3 series or a used 5 series. Long shot considerations include the VW Passat and the Hyundai Genesis. I'd be a trading in a used 2003 325i -and- terminating a lease on our 2010 Accord 6 months early. Discounts on the new model are said to be hard to come by - but isn't that always said to be the case when you're on the buying end of a car transaction?

Bottom Line

I think the 2013 is a very nice redesign of a very reliably good midsize sedan. I'll look forward to learning a bit more about them and seeing if we can work out a deal I can't refuse.

Question of the Day:What do you think of the new Accord? Leave a comment below or ping me on Twitter: @RobertDwyer

Further Reading: How to lease a new car for a rock bottom price

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Who and How Much: Wellesley Window Cleaners

2012-08-14T21:24:00.001-04:00

Every time I get a quote for a home repair or maintenance item it seems to cost twice as much as I think it should. I recently had this experience as I requested quotes to clean the windows in our 1,800 square foot home.

We've got 10 double hung windows on the second floor, and 10 more on the first floor. Also on the first floor, we have 24 casement windows, 4 skylights, a sliding glass door, and a front door with glass and sidelights. The majority of the windows have screens and the casement windows have removable grids.

The first quote came from a local franchise of a nationwide window cleaning company: $390. I thought this was a little high so I called on Service Magic to see if we could do better.

Service Magic (now Home Advisor) is an interesting business. You submit a request online and they try to match you with service providers in your area who reach out and arrange a time to come by for a quote.

I submitted a request for quotes at 4:00 pm on a Tuesday and within 10 minutes 2 companies called to set a time to stop by for a quote. By 6:00 pm two of the providers visited our house and provided a written quote. Amazingly quick - these guys know they're being price compared and there are other firms competing for the business. The quotes were in the $350-$365 range.

The next morning a third firm stopped by when we weren't here and left a quote for $220 along with a brochure and a business card. I was skeptical that the lowest quote would be the best, but after comparing ratings on Service Magic for each of the providers, the cheapest guys had the best overall rating. And the homeowner reviews gave me confidence it would be a solid experience. So I called Rise and Shine Window Cleaning and scheduled an appointment for the coming Monday morning between 8 and 9 am.

That Monday morning I got a call at 8:00 am letting me know they were on their way and shortly thereafter Leoni and Giancarlo Carvalho -- brothers and owners of the business -- showed up in their totally legit-looking signed window cleaning van.

Window cleaning is a bit of a tricky industry and looking back, I had to think a bit why it took me so long to have this done. I say it's tricky because on one hand it seems like tedious but simple work. All it takes is some Windex and paper towels, right? Wrong. It takes ladders, scrapers, solvents, know-how, skill and much more. Furthermore, nobody likes strangers in their house. If we're lucky, we've found housecleaners we trust. Going through that again with window cleaners is a bit of an adventure. But it's worth it because after 5 years windows and screens can get pretty dirty.

When the guys showed up they politely introduced themselves and described how they'd like to do things. First they'd remove all the screens from the inside, then they clean the outside of the windows, then the inside.

We've got a no shoe policy in our house so I asked them if they could wear shoe covers while they were inside. They said of course - they always do that. We've had contractors over for much more expensive remodeling projects who didn't show that kind of respect for our home. Nice touch.

So I went about my work from my home office and they set out cleaning the windows. They were quiet, and efficient and polite...I really don't think I could be any more pleased with window cleaners.

About half way through the project I took a break to see how they were doing. It dawned on me just how much work this is and how I could have spent 3+ weekends on this project and still not achieve the results they did in 4 hours. They quietly moved furniture away from in front of windows and replaced it exactly where it was. They scraped away built up debris on windows that would have taken a lot of elbow grease otherwise. They removed, cleaned, and replaced screens without breaking a single thing. I'm sure I could have busted $200 worth of stuff bungling the job on my own.

I had a conference call towards the end of their time here so I left a check for them knowing I'd be happy with the job they did. I love it when I do my job while professionals do their job better than I possibly could. These guys were fantastic. And what a difference clean windows make. Absolutely sparkling clean and clear. Well done.

These guys were great. Absolutely highly recommended. 5 out of 5 stars.

Check 'em out:
Rise and Shine Window Cleaning

And check out Home Advisor too while you're at it.

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