Frugal Travel Guy

Deal of the Day: Free Trips, 75k Membership Rewards, and More!

2012-02-29T15:05:00.010-05:00

You can get $50 off JetBlue vacations when you use code: LEAP50

American Express is giving a very generous 75,000 point bonus on The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN. There is a hefty $10,000 spend within four months, however. This offer is for today only! If you're on the Hot Deal list you received a notification earlier this morning. Subscribe using the button on the left if you're not on the list already.

You can enter to win a trip to Morocco from West Elm. Value of the trip is ~$15,000!

KLM is giving away a trip for two to Amsterdam.

Here is this week’s Top 20 from Travel Zoo

For our friends to the North: BA & RBC are launching a new card tomorrow ... the RBC® British Airways Visa Infinite Card.

New cardholders approved between March 1 through May 31, 2012, can earn up to 50,000 Avios to use towards a Reward Ticket on British Airways and oneworld® partners, and a Companion Award Voucher when they spend $30,000 CAD in a calendar year. The card also offers more ways to earn on everyday spend and double Avios on BA and BA Holiday spend. Cardholders can also redeem Avios on oneworld partners, BA Holidays, and hotel and car partners. The card provides security when traveling abroad with its 31-day Out of Country/Province Emergency Medical Insurance.

Andasibe to Johannesburg

2012-02-29T03:05:00.039-05:00

A quick recap. Last week I left off having just arrived in Andasibe, Madagascar in search of the local celebrities, the lemurs.

Monsieur Alain, dropped me off at the Vakona Forest Lodge located outside the village of Andasibe and a good 20-30 minute drive down a dirt road just off the main road from Tana to the coast. We've entered into an ecosystem unlike any I've experienced. It is a combination of temperate forest and tropical jungle. The sounds of birds, frogs, and insects lead me to learn more towards the jungle. The Lodge itself is a group of hillside self contained ensuite cabins surrounding the main building in a clearing amongst the lush vegetation. Sorry folks, no hotel points to be earned here.

Just down the dirt road is a place know as Lemur Island. Here a group of six different lemur species can be observed in a semi-wild experience. I'm informed the lemurs were rescued and not able to be returned fully back to the wild. The island itself is in the middle of the Nature Reserve so seems wild enough to me. However it becomes quite clear these lemurs are accustom to people. I hop out of the canoe and am greeted by small Bamboo lemurs. Then the brown lemurs descend upon me in a group of four or five. In moments I've got one on my head and one on my shoulder. A Golden Sifka comes around to inspect me as well. For a minute I stop surrounded by these strange primate-like creatures. (I'm in the jungle of Madagascar with lemur on my head - surreal!)

I hop back in the canoe and the guide takes me around to another spot amongst the watery channel of islands. He gives a quick call and then one by one the famous ring tails we know to associate with the lemur family start to appear amongst the grasses. He pulls the canoe up to the island and two Ring tailed lemurs hop aboard and once again decide to inspect my hair care regime. I don't think they were impressed as they quickly hopped back ashore and darted back off into the grass. Lemur experience number one, tick!

The next morning, Alain greets me at 7am and drive me to the National Park. Along the dirt road we pass through a graphite mine which is beginning to bustle as the villagers begin to arrive for work. As we continue down the road it becomes quite clear the villagers are walking to the mine from the Andasibe village. I confirm this with Alain, who then goes on to state, "long walk." Long walk indeed; these people walk 10 kilometers or just over 6 miles to work, BAREFOOT. I will have a much greater appreciation when I next pick up a graphite pencil. Unbelievable what these people do daily without complaint

We arrive at the National park, and Nesta my park guide greets me. He shows me we have three options for exploring the park in an attempt to locate the largest of the lemur family the Indri. I opt for the full 8km, 4hr trek through the jungle. I didn't come all this way to skimp at the best part. We set off into the thick jungle. Nesta is quite a bit smaller than my 6 foot 5 frame and can easily maneuver through the undergrowth. I struggle to keep up as I'm constantly walking through spider webs, darting around tree vines, and lifting the ferns out of my way.

Out of nowhere this loud whale like calling echos through the jungle canopy. Nesta picks up the pace and I struggle even more to keep up. I catch my breath, sweating profusely, wipe my brow and gaze up towards the tree tops. Nesta has found a family of Indri. The Indri is the largest of the lemur species, nearly 3 feet in length and up to 30lbs. Their black and white markings give them a panda-like appearance. I grab my camera and start taking my best NatGeo shots. Clearly I'm an amateur but still relish the thought of being in a truly amazing experience.

Our trek takes us into the depths of the park and out again. In total we find three groups of Indri families tracking them by their distinct calls. Sweating, battered, and bruised I emerge from the bush exhausted, in need of a shower but completely satisfied with my lemur encounter.

That night an American couple checks into the Lodge and I hear them make mention of a cyclone heading towards Madagascar. I use the crawling Wi-Fi to confirm there is indeed a storm forecast to hit the day I'm meant to leave for Johannesburg. Not ideal at all. I arrange for Alain to meet me at 7am the next day in hopes I can get back to Tana in time to get on the South African Airlink flight to Jo'burg. This proves to be no problem; however once in Tana, the traffic is at a standstill. Saturday markets overflow on to the already congested streets making the 20km (12.5 mile) journey take nearly 90 minutes. By the time I arrive at the airport the heat trapped in the non-air-conditioned car makes me feels as through I was in a slow cooker ready to be served. A $20 change fee is applied to my ticket and I'm set to flee the approaching cyclone and begin the next bit of my adventure in South Africa.

Deal of the Day: New Hyatt Card & Mileage Run

2012-02-28T15:05:00.016-05:00

The Hyatt VISA card no longer requires you to spend $1,000 to receive the two free nights: Hyatt Credit Card You now receive them after your first purchase!

There seems to be another offer for $100 off a new Admiral’s Club membership. It doesn’t appear to be valid for renewals.

[Mileage Run]If you live in LAX/SFO/SEA, you may be able to snag a mileage run to MCI (Kansas City) for <3.0 CPM on DL/AA/UA

Here are Priority Club’s Last Minute Rewards for this upcoming weekend.

The New Ink Bold^SM with Ultimate Rewards

Not on My Dime: Lightning Strikes Twice

2012-02-28T03:05:00.046-05:00

by Howie

Pic Sara took of our plane on descent

As eccentric crazies in this travel game we're typically organized (to some degree). We use tools like AwardWallet to track our points and miles, KVSTool and ExpertFlyer to make sure we're getting the most from those miles, and CreditSesame, CreditKarma, and Quizzle as a free way to keep track of our credit scores.

Our families give us weird looks, but its ok ... they'll happily reap the benefits from our crazy. It works until you forget about someone. Someone that missed United 1K by 1500 EQM, or someone that has never had a credit card ... and is a victim of identity theft. The former was fixed with a quick discussion and education of all of the benefits they were missing out; rest assured she's made United 1K three years straight now ... the latter, is my current challenge. Here goes ...

Last week and this week I'm working from home (yay!) Sara is out on the road and I'm home with our pup. Last weekend I had an uneventful flight up to Massachusetts to see family and friends (I hadn't been in almost a year) and stayed at my parents. We opted Saturday night to head out to some fine international cuisine at The Olive Garden (insert laughs).

View from our seats at altitude

My brother told stories of his three month trip to Japan (I sent him over using 50k AA miles in business class on JAL flight 1 & 2 using a promo they had in the fall), and my mother chimed in saying she wanted a credit card to get her 50k points. Last year I got her and my stepfather 30k SPG each and they're hooked.

The plan when we got home was to pull credit for my mom, stepfather (who was convinced his score was higher than my mothers), and two younger brothers. My mom, stepfather, and youngest brother were all fine. My other brother has no checking account, no credit cards, and no debt ... here come the problems.

Our first attempt to get a credit score was through CreditSesame, but they were unable to retrieve a report. CreditKarma asked a bunch of questions that made no sense in the verification process and we couldn't figure it out (I bet you can figure out where this is going ...), and Quizzle was much the same.

The final thing was to go to TrueCredit and do a pull from there. Much of the same and in the end we can only get the report mailed to us at an address that we've never seen before ... yup, he's a victim of identity theft.

To add insult to injury, my brother suffers from a mental disability. Each of these calls to different credit agencies, and visit to the police department will have someone else in the family having to verify their identity. Hopefully we'll have some progress within the week. I'll be posting a full update along with all the steps we're taking to get through this and resources we're using.

About a decade ago the same thing happened to my mother, except it was much easier for her to get to the bottom of it all as she had an established record. Apparently lightning can strike twice to a family.

Deal of the Day: Help Needed, RCC Winner and Freebies

2012-02-27T15:05:00.005-05:00

NEED YOUR HELP ... Has anyone paid for or know someone that has recently paid for college tuition using a credit card *without* paying any additional transaction fee? Howie mentioned he was able to do this over a decade ago, but I haven't heard lately. If so, how much?

The winner of the United RCC pass is Steve Boyko who posted at February 25, 2012 10:39 PM. Steve, please email me at rick@frugaltravelguy.com with an address to send it off to.

And now for some deals ...

If you’re one of the first 35,00 to sign up, you can get 20% off at Virgin America! It doesn’t say how many they’ve had already.

Peachy Airport Parking is offering free parking until Mar. 31 at their ATL location.

Free Platinum status with Accor Hotels is back.

Condé Nast Traveler is giving away a $25,000 dream vacation!

bloomspot is giving away a trip to Beverly Hills.

Starting March 15, Hyatt will be dropping several airline partners from earning miles for stays and redeem Gold Passport points for miles.

It’s tax season and while we’ve already seen a bonus big bonus offer from Southwest, Mommy Points has summarized all of the offers currently out there! Check it out

Rick's Limited Credit Card Application Choices

2012-02-27T03:05:00.030-05:00

OK, I'm late. It took some time sorting out what was best for Katybug and me this time around. We have had so many credit card successes we seemed to be running out of options. Thanks to all of you for suggesting a few cards we may have passed by.

To start I checked my scores and inquiries.

CreditSesame.com FICO type score is 762, well within the Good Range. 850 is the top score on this range.

My scores and inquiries from TrueCredit.com which follow the VantageScore scale are as such:

Transunion 73 accounts of record, 4 inquiries the last two years and score of 890. Remember 990 is tops.

Experian 94 accounts of record, 18 inquiries the last two years and score of 990. Thats right Top Score

Equifax 72 accounts of record, 11 inquiries the last two years and score of 866

Check your credit scores before applying for credit cards. There are free trial links on the left hand blog column. You are looking for scores of over 700 on the FICO style scale and above 800 on the VantageScore scale. Below those scores, don't waste you time and further lower your score. I can't believe I have a top score on my credit report with 18 inquiries on my report in the last two years, but it is what it is.

Tassojunior suggested the Bank of American Virgin Atlantic Airlines card with up to 65,000 miles. I'm doing it but only for 50K. As I doubt I will renew for the last 15K. The transfer of miles will be 1 to 2 into Hilton Honors points. Result: Delayed Decision

I chose the Mercedes Benz 50,000 point Amex card. I cancelled The Platinum Card® from American Express last week as the annual fee was coming due. Result: Instant Approval

My Barclays card choice is a second shot ;) at the US Airways MasterCard for a 40,000 mile sign up bonus. Many of you suggested you can have more than one, but I've seen emails telling me different. We'll soon see.
Result: Delayed Decision

Chase: I'm stuck and won't pay for the Ritz Carlton card and its huge application fee. My next application churn (90 days from now) I'll throw in a Marriott Rewards® Premier Credit Card as I will be two years since closing my last one, but this time: Nothing from Chase.

Citi I'm in the same position. I've had them all. My only chance is a redo of one of the AAdvantage cards at 50,000 miles but the last time I tried I got the "You've had this card before. Too Bad. So Sad" Some of you get lucky with a second card approval. Katy can and has. I've been shut out. Depending on how the other three apps go, I may give it a try "One More Time"

I'm an experienced successful card churner, now with limited options until we see some new card products offered. For those of you that have not had them all, here are my current suggestions:

Chase Sapphire Preferred^SM for 50,000 Points
The New Ink Bold^SM with Ultimate Rewards for 50,000 Points
Citi American Airlines 50,000 miles or Citi ThankYou Premier card for 50,000 ThankYou points
US Airways Dividend Miles Premier World MasterCard for 40,000+ miles
American Express: The 50,000 point Mercedes card IF you need lounge access, or the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express for 30,000 SkyMiles with no first year fee if you don't.
Bank of America: the Hawaiian Airlines card for 35K and then pick up the Bank of Hawaii Hawaiian Airlines card for another 35K as well to transfer all 1 to 2 into HIlton HHonors points. There is also the Virgin Atlantic card I mentioned above (thanks Tassojunior), also for transfer to Hilton HHonors.

NOTE: I usually apply for Katy's cards on the same day. Being a conservative, I'm going to hold up on her applications with the hope of a few new offers showing up within the next month or two. I have no concrete knowledge of a monster offer in the future. Just hedging our bets.
And in my wallet right this minute:

Chase Sapphire Preferred^SM
Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express
Citi Forward® Card (for our dining spend)

Best of luck to all of you and your next round of applications. Remember, your credit is one of your most important assets. I'll report my success in the days to come.

30,000 Delta Miles No First Year Fee

Sunday Success Story - SkyTeam to Europe

2012-02-26T03:05:00.013-05:00

All of our Sunday Success Stories serve as a living example that all of us average Americans can, indeed, see the world at prices we all can afford. We can do this by working together and sharing our stories. Send your story to me at rick@frugaltravelguy.com. Include your first name and last initial, along with your occupation and a photo, if you wish. - Rick

These successes are so inspirational to me. They keep me going when the naysayers pop up. Imagine what it's like to do this trip -- the sights, sounds, and smells that cost just a few bucks and a few points on a more-than-adequate credit score. Enjoy going along on Josh's trip by reading his Success Story. It could be you! Here's the story ...

Wanted to send you this note for your Sunday success story segment.

My wife and I were looking at going to Europe this fall and doing a multi segment trip. I was going to use SkyPesos left over from the SunTrust bonanza of 2010. Last week we decided upon an MSP-CDG-BOD-FCO-MSP routing with a JFK layover coming home from FCO.

Delta wasn’t showing good (or consistent) award availability on all segments and I had only 248K SkyPesos left to burn. I finally found a decent booking, but it was repeatedly coming in at 305K with $280USD in taxes. I knew I had some Membership Rewards points I could transfer to Delta in order to make it work , but there currently is not any transfer bonus going and didn’t like the idea of going this route on a 1:1 transfer. I finally decided to check out Air France’s availability to see what the pricing would be for the CDG-BOD-FCO segments. I was able to find much more availability than what DL’s site and customer service was saying to be available. After calling DL customer service to price out an award booking of MSP-CDG and then a segment from FCO-(JFK)-MSP, I was able to put the itinerary on hold as it had priced out at 215K SkyPesos and $140 in taxes. I then went to MR’s site to utilize the February Air France FlyingBlue transfer bonus of 25% and transferred the points into FlyingBlue miles.

The next day, when the miles had posted in my FlyingBlue account, I called DL to book my held itinerary. Alas, they had only held the reservation for that day and not the typical 2 day hold I have experienced before. We then priced out the same exact flights I had previously held and was quite surprised when the total booking come up to be 150K SkyPesos with $92 in taxes. Pleasantly surprised with the DL flights, I went to book the AF flights and solidified all the flying needed for this venture.

We are staying 5 nights in Paris, 2 nights in Bordeaux, then finally 9 nights in Rome (with a one night excursion to Venice or Florence by rail). We’ll be utilizing SPG points for the Paris nights, Expedia BRG vouchers to lower the cost of our Bordeaux nights, airbnb.com for the Rome nights and Priority Club points for the Florence or Venice overnight.

All in all, I had read quite a bit on people utilizing partner sites to find award availability and didn’t think it actually worked until I tried this here. Very much glad I spent the extra 90 minutes to do the research and as always, appreciative to the valuable info found here on the blog.

The flights priced out, with taxes, at just a hair over $7K, the hotel nights in Paris and Bordeaux would have cost me $1600 and we would never have been able to afford this trip by paying out of pocket.

Looking forward to even more savings when booking our CAI, BKK, CNS round the world trip in 2014!

Josh.

I Just Couldn't Help Myself

2012-02-25T03:05:00.018-05:00

One of the real joys of my life and this hobby is the people I have met along the way. David B of the Great State of Texas is about my age and an absolute crackup. He is just one of those guys that brings a smile to my face. Dave sent me this video and thought you'd enjoy it.

A day off from Miles and Points today. This was just too close to home and too hard to pass up.

All Right All Right a Giveaway

Comment on the video or anything miles and points related using your first name and last initial. I'll draw for a United Airlines Red Carpet Club pass for the lucky reader.

Deal of the Day: Our Admirals Club Pass Winner and

2012-02-24T15:05:00.039-05:00

First, our winner of the One Day Admirals Club Pass is Jordan B (February 23, 2012 10:54 AM). Jordan please send contact me at rick@frugaltravelguy.com.

Now for some deals...

You can stay in Orlando near Walt Disney World for as little as $99/night

Just a reminder that you can get 1,000 free Rapid Reward points by using Turbo Tax online

Registration for Frequent Traveler University is now open!

You can win a trip for two to New Orleans from American and Community Coffee!

Andrew in Africa this week ... here kitty kitty

Rookie Travel Tips and Our First Family Vacation

2012-02-24T03:05:00.035-05:00

WAHOOOOO I'm On Vacation!

Rookie Travel Tips
with Shannon

Sign up for TripAlertz Deals and Jetsetter , Jetsetter will give you $25 for signing up, its a free flash travel deals site.

As many of you already know we took our first family trip to St. John last week. I was a little anxious about how everything would go in the airports and on the planes and did as much disaster planning as I could. Below is a summary of our trip and what we learned.

The Airports and Flying:
From the TSA website:

"Medically necessary liquids and gels, including medications, baby formula and food, breast milk, and juice, are allowed in reasonable quantities exceeding 3.4 ounces (100ml) and are not required to be in a zip-top bag. Officers may ask travelers to open these items to conduct additional screening and passengers should declare them for inspection at the checkpoint."

I packed powdered formula, oatmeal, empty bottles, bottled water, creams, lotions, liquid Tylenol, liquid gas relief medication, and a slew of other care items in a carry on just for Carter. Through security all they wanted to know was that it was for the baby. We did have a mixed bottle tested for explosives however. No big deal. We left out of the Columbia, SC airport and it was dead so we whisked through security.

I called Delta Airlines ahead of time to ask what they prefer we do with a car seat, base, stroller etc. They said because our car seat snaps into the strolled to make one piece just to bring it all and they would check them curb side at no addition at charge. They pink tagged them with no hassle at all. They also told me if we had a TSA approved car seat and they had an empty seat he could ride in it. Nice. I fed Carter every three hours and he was perfect on the flights. Not a peep. Also many of you commented that people usually enjoy seeing babies and are not normally grumpy about they being around. I found that to be very true. No one fussed at all. On the plane to St. John there were changing tables in the bathrooms but on the way home there were not. It was a challenge to change him on top of the seat but Carter can handle anything.

Darla B., Carter, and Rick

On the way home we were flying late and he was trying to sleep but kept waking up to various noises, one being a small child who's parents were getting her all riled up at 10:00 PM on a tiny plane. She kept screaming and Carter kept waking up. By the end of it he was fussy, but he saved it for the car ride home. I don't blame him, he was so tired of being woken up and moved all over. Next trip we will try to arrive at our destinations before bedtime.

The Westin St.John:

Washing bottles in our room.

We had a decent room with a view of the ocean; but I would never pay $650.00 a night for it, ever. We had adjoining rooms, Rick and my mom had a veranda and a king, our double room on the end was the only one without a veranda so ask about things like that when getting your room. Same room upgrade just different rooms. The adjoining rooms turned out great because we could just open up the door and pass the baby back and forth and when Chris and I went out at night my mom could put Carter down in our room and leave the door open and go watch TV on her bed etc. I would not recommend this resort to anyone with a disability that limits their ability to walk long distances to take stairs. We had no elevator, and were on the 3rd floor so we had to carry a stroller, car seat and bags up and down the whole time. The resort is very spread out and if you can't walk they provide shuttles but you are waiting for them to show and having to tip for each ride so it costs a bit more.

Rick splurged and got a cabana at a discount and it was wonderful. If you can afford the extra expense it makes travel with kids much easier. The cabana had a four person table, television, fridge, safe, four lounge chairs, and a hammock. We could bring all of Carters feeding stuff, including the bottle warmer and leave it there. They brought a crib in and he took tons of naps without me worrying he would roll off something. We also didn't have to go back and forth to the room a thousand times because we had everything we needed.

Inside Cabana #2

We did have a $40 daily resort charge which covered things like parking , Internet, water toys etc. I did enjoy taking out the kayaks and water floats for "free"; older children at the resort were having a blast on a bunch of water trampolines. The service was wonderful throughout the resort. One thing we didn't realize was they have a list of items they can provide you should you forget them. On that list were things like a bottle warmer, diapers, crib, stroller, car seat and on and on. This was a great place to take a family vacation.

The Kids Club Info taken from The Westin's website:

"We will greet your kids with complimentary welcome bags full of treats, to keep them occupied throughout your stay. Parents of infants and toddlers will get their own special bag with Band-Aids, antiseptic wipes, socket covers, and a nightlight.
Located in all Westin resorts, our onsite Westin Kids Club Discovery Room® is the hub of activities for kids ages 4-12. When your kids spend the day at Westin Kids Club, they’ll receive a Discovery Pack® filled with everything they need to explore that destination: a compass, membership bracelet, disposable camera, canteen, and a collectible travel passport.

For the ultimate family vacation, take advantage of the Destination Club package*, filled with numerous perks to help you maximize quality time as a family:

Registration in Westin Kids Club (full day of supervised activities for ages 4-12)
Food and beverage discounts (free for ages 5 and under, 50% off for ages 6-12)
Grown-up time with Parent’s Night Off
Three complimentary weekly activities: Fireside Storytelling, Stargazing and Movie Night"

We could not take advantage of this service yet as Carter is too young but one day we will! Also the flight was only 3 hours from Atlanta and 37,500 FF miles. I think that's a great deal for a short 5 day family get away. It was wonderful!

Travel has become something different this year with our new addition but it is no less of a rewarding experience. I think I will really enjoy showing the world to my children and sharing our travels together. I better get to churning, Carter only has 19 months left of infant in arms.

Shannon, The Rookie

LAST CHANCE Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card

2012-02-23T22:36:00.002-05:00

I just sent out a note to the Hot Deal list with the message below and wanted to post it here in case anyone isn't on the list. You can signup on the homepage ... just to the left of the top post title.

I don't send to this list often, only when it is something worth nothing right away. I just received this information and needed to pass it on to everyone.

The final Continental Airlines flight will take to the skies on March 2nd; after that it'll be United Airlines all the way. As a consequence of the merger, applications for the Continental Airlines OnePass® Plus Card will no longer be accepted after Wednesday, February 29, 2012.

This is a solid MasterCard that provides 25,000 Bonus Miles after first use, and provides another 5,000 Bonus Miles when you add an authorized user within two months and both use the card. An easy 30,000 miles. Spend $25,000 within a year and you get a 10,000 mile bump ... $25,000 in spend the first year nets 65,000.;

WARNING: HERE IS THE DOWNSIDE of this offer: If you take the Continental Card, you are currently restricted from receiving a similar bonus on the United Explorer card. The Explorer offer is currently a higher sign up bonus. We can not assure you if owning this card will prevent you from receiving future sign up bonuses on future United credit cards.

Here's a high level overview of the benefits:

Earn up to 40,000 bonus miles & first year free ($95 value)*
Now with priority boarding privileges on Continental and United flights
Check your first bag for free on Continental and United flights, up to a $50 value
Visit the United Club with two complimentary passes every year, a $100 value
Earn 2 miles for $1 spent on tickets purchased from Continental and United and 1 mile per $1 everywhere else
Your miles don't expire and there is no limit to the number of miles you can earn

In addition to these benefits there are some lesser known ones:

PRIMARY Rental Car Insurance (most cards offer secondary which kicks in only after your own personal insurance)
Price/Purchase/Return/Extended Protection. Premium features with more details at mastercard.us.
Reward Seat Upgrades for Elite Members (book an economy award ticket and be eligible for a free upgrade to first)

Deal of the Day: American Airlines Giveaway

2012-02-23T15:05:00.010-05:00

Don't forget to read this morning's post about us giving away a One Day American Airlines Admirals Club pass.

Hotels, Hotels, Hotels

You can stay at the Park Plaza Hotel & Towers in Boston from $99/night. This hotel is only a few blocks from Newbury Street and Copley Place.

TripAlertz has lowered the price on the Hilton New York to $239/night with a 2-night minimum. This is $10 lower than it had been. If you’ve got some TripAlertz cash saved up, this would be a great way to use it.

Priority Club is having a 50% off sale for award use on 12 properties. Looking forward to see this expanded where I can use it somewhere I'm going :)

UnRoadWarrior is giving away 44,000 Hyatt points

If you have children, you may be able to get a connecting room at a Hilton for 50% off! We could have used something like this in St. John ... check out Shannon's post tomorrow for more on our stay at the Westin.

American Airlines Admirals Club Offer and Giveaway

2012-02-23T03:05:00.006-05:00

I received a snail mail piece from American this past week offering me Admirals Club membership for a total cost of $300 either at a club or online. I fly enough that lounge access is important to me, and with American becoming my carrier of choice I was tempted by this offer. It may work for you.

Online go to www.aa.com/admiralsclub and use promotion code ACDM1Q12 and click the recalculate button for the $50 savings this offer provides. If it indeed works and you fly at least once per month, at $25 per month you are getting access at one half of the daily pass rate of $50 per day.

You have until May 31, 2012 to accept this offer..

And Let's Give One Away, A One Day Admirals Club Pass. Comment First Name and Last initial for a One Day Pass. I'll random draw tomorrow morning.

As another option is the American Express Mercedes Benz Platinum card at $475 per year which also provides lounge access on AA, US Airways and Delta and, at present, a 50,000 membership rewards signup bonus and a $200 airline credit on the airline of your choice. I'm going to get my lounge access for the next year this way. My Platinum card renewal comes due in February. I won't renew and will in fact cancel the card; then reapply for the Mercedes card. I have it on good authority that even though I just got my $200 credit on the Platinum card, I can get $200 more with my new Mercedes card.

Now my only problem in life, is finishing my churn. I got some great tips and suggestions this last week from readers and will be finalizing my plan of attack this weekend. Churn date is now set for next Monday the 27th of February.

Deal of the Day: 20% off flights and Points Galore

2012-02-22T15:05:00.010-05:00

You can get 20% off JetBlue flights within the United States.

Also, don’t forget that you can get 20% off Virgin America when you use your VISA card.

You can earn up to 40,000 bonus miles from Delta by booking a cruise through them!

Million Mile Secrets is giving away 66,000 Hyatt points!

On a cautionary note, Gary over at View from the Wing has a post about his frustrating experience with JetSetter’s customer service regarding cancelled referral credits. Needless to say I will take his experience into consideration when posting deals in the future.

Here is this week’s Top 20 from Travel Zoo

Becoming a Credit Risk - Just a Word of Caution

2012-02-22T03:05:00.022-05:00

This is the third time I have heard this story from a reader. The first time it took several months before his Chase cards were restored. From the outside looking in, without all the details, it doesn't appear the reader has overstepped his bounds ... but we don't know all the parameters the card issuers use to evaluate an individuals position. Remember in the last case the suspicion was that the customer had just paid off his mortgage and was no longer profitable to the bank. I can't say that for sure.

It is always fun to bring news of a new great credit card offer that may save us on our future travel. This is the serious part of a significant factor in our lives, our credit and relationships with the banking community. When I started suggesting credit cards as a good source of accruing miles for future travel, almost four years ago, I was the only one in the niche doing so. From day one I have always preached that your credit is one of your most important assets. Now it seems almost every other blog and every other blog post is about applying for credit cards, which is fine, as it is still the best source of earning low cost frequent flyer miles. But the fact still remains that a home loan, student loan, or car loan are still far more important than messing things up for a few frequent flyer miles.

Err on the side of caution. Consider one less application instead of one extra. Be aware of the Amex Financial Review, and all the card issuer's right to say no. When you ask for a card you are asking for a loan. It is the lender, not the borrower that sets the rules.

Now, I'm sure our reader will get his Chase accounts opened again. And I owe it to our readers to remind you when the opportunities arise, (as this case does), that your credit is one of your most important assets.

The message I received ...

Hey Rick,

I hope this email finds you well. I just wanted to share a quick story that just happened to me and you may warn some of your readers. Until last Friday, I owned 3 Chase credit cards including Freedom, Sapphire Preferred and OnePass. I have respectively owned these cards for 2 years, 1.5 year, and 0.5 year.

I checked my credit last week (it was good, 750-ish) and decided it was time for a new application round. I applied for four cards, from four different banks (CITI, AMEX, BoA and Chase). All were approved but the Chase Southwest personal card. I called them and they told me they had to review it first and could not make a decision right away. When I checked my Chase accounts this morning, they were all closed. I called and was transferred all the way to Chase's "credit gurus" (or so they think... that woman was way too condescending). She kindly but firmly explained that I had become a credit risk as I had too many cards (15) and a too high credit limit compared to my household income ($50,000 CL for $70k+ in household income). I tried to negotiate asking to maybe close a couple accounts or reducing CL on other cards. Nothing to do. All the accounts were closed and will remain this way until I called them back and have them check if they can re-open them based on my credit report changes. It seems that they may be placed on some type hold as she said I could re-open them without re-applying once I've addressed the aforementioned issues.

I have never had a single late payment on any of my cards, my utilization ratio is 5% or less on each card and I apply for cards usually twice a year. Needless to say that I was extremely disappointed for not being contacted by Chase before they closed all my accounts. It felt really wrong. I'm honestly not a big fan of Chase but they have considerable upped their game and have can't pass credit card offers. I will do with my other cards for the time being and may close some of my unused accounts that aren't too much of a factor in my credit history.

Chase has had excellent offers but they might be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

Cordially,
A Loyal FTG Reader

Deal of the Day: Bonus Points & 25,000 Membership Rewards points

2012-02-21T15:05:00.027-05:00

Stay at the Wydham Rio Mar in Puerto Rico for 4 nights for $689/person including airfare!

Hilton is having a non-US sale until Feb. 22.

Southwest is offering double points and double TQPs on flights to and from any California destination, Denver or Atlanta until Mar. 31. You must register for the promotion BEFORE booking a ticket, however. Thanks Deals We Like!

You can get 1,000 BMI miles by completing a short survey. Thanks Ben

You can get 1,000 SPG points by booking a club level room at a Sheraton through May 31. Thanks Gary

American Express has just bumped the signup bonus on the Premier Rewards Gold Card to 25,000. I'll gladly take 3x points on airfare every day.

Not on My Dime: Howie's Friday Churn

2012-02-21T03:05:00.013-05:00

by Howie

Being on the road makes it tough to stay organized and churning cards requires precision. No slip-ups are allowed here. If I forget a bottle of water in my laptop bag when I go through TSA, they take it out, re-run the bag, and I'm on my way. If you mess up a round of credit card applications, you don't get a second chance.

It had been almost a year since our last round of applications so we were way overdue. The plan was three for me and three for Sara. I wanted to leave a little wiggle room for anything that might be coming up in the next few months. What triggered this round was a combination of a targeted American Express Business Platinum card I received in the mail and Sara's need for SkyClub access.

While she doesn't fly as much as I do for work, she had just shy of 50 segments last year. Most all of these were with a peer who had a SkyClub membership (e.g., free access for her), but now she needed her own. She was going to get the Delta Reserve, which would get her access, along with other Delta specific bonuses (MQMs and higher priority on the upgrade list). Rarely does she fly an airline other than Delta due to our location in Savannah, and all of her work travel is domestic U.S.

With our American Express cards selected, we also were applying for the Chase Ink Bold and Citi Thank You Premier cards. At 50,000 points a piece for a sign-up bonus, they're a can't-miss.

Prior to applying I did a check of our three credit scores (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion), which were between 768 and 801. Lucky for us we get each of these scores for free every month. Here's how:

Experian - Credit Sesame. I log in every week or so to see if anything changes. How Credit Sesame works. I also use Quizzle.com (free score / report every six months).
TransUnion - Credit Karma. Same as Credit Sesame for me. Check it every week and update. I like that it charts my credit score.
Equifax - My Credit Union (DCU.org). One of the best financial decisions I've ever made is keeping them my primary financial institution. I get a score on the last Friday of each month. Sara has accounts here, too, so we both get free scores.

Even if you can't get Equifax for free, all of us can get two out of three for free!

Happy with our scores, I started the applications. I did mine first:

American Express Business Platinum - Approved instantly. An excellent start, but it was all work from there.
Chase Ink Bold - Delayed notification. I was to hear within 10 business days. I'm impatient so I decided I would give Chase a call. I called 888-245-0625 (which is the reconsideration line, but it's the line for personal cards). This is also a business card, so I had to call the business application line to find out why I wasn't approved instantly. I was transferred and given the direct number for the Chase business applications / reconsideration line, which is 800-453-9719. These are the people who can do approvals on the spot. After a brief discussion I was approved. The Ink Bold card doesn't have a traditional credit limit structure. They awarded me an initial limit of $10k based on an estimated $1700 monthly spend. However, they review card utilization and if they see higher utilization, they dynamically increase the spending limit. That said, when they do this they also don't have to do a hard inquiry. It is an internal change / process. Something to consider for those looking to start small and grow.
Citi Thank You Premier - Delayed notification. Again, I needed to call. I have to say, I think Citi may have some of the most polite people working for them that I have ever met. A lot of "please," "thank you," and "my apologies" (whenever I was placed on hold). Just a pleasant experience. I currently have three open accounts with Citi with, in my opinion, an excess of credit. This excess did well for me, however. The agent I spoke with thanked me for my continued loyalty and business with Citi. He indicated that he could approve me right now if I were comfortable with moving $6700 of credit from one of my cards to this new one. I indicated that I was OK with that and he approved me on the spot.

I had gone three for three, but it required a little work. One of the things that made me exceptionally happy with these applications is that now I have an American Express, Visa, and MasterCard that I can use internationally without any foreign transaction fees. I like flexibility and this gives me that little bit more.

Sara's applications were virtually identical:

American Express Delta Reserve - Approved instantly. This was the card she wanted most. While it does have a hefty annual fee, we get our return on it.
Chase Ink Bold - Delayed notification. We called up together, and after a few minutes she was approved.
Citi Thank You Premier - Delayed notification. We called up together and after talking with a super-friendly agent and shifting around a little credit, she was approved.

Another three for three -- six in total. We probably could have applied for another card each without issue, but I was concerned with meeting minimum spend requirements while maintaining spend on other cards on which I need to rack up points.

Here's our bounty once we meet our minimum spend:

100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points ($10k in spend by June 8, 2012)
100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points ($5k in spend within three months for each of us)
100,000 Citi Thank You points ($2k in spend within three months for each of us)
30,000 Delta SkyMiles and 10,000 Delta MQM for Sara ($500 in spend within three months)

I'm very excited that we're able to bump up our accounts here. We've never had any Membership Rewards points, and adding to Chase / Citi is excellent for us as we get to further diversify our point portfolio.

Anyone else planning a round of applications? If you've got any questions, please don't hesitate to email Rick (rick@frugaltravelguy.com) or myself (howie@frugaltravelguy.com). We're here to help.

-- Howie

Deal of the Day: Hotel Deals & 500 free miles

2012-02-20T15:05:00.009-05:00

If you’re planning a trip to Thailand you can stay at the JW Marriott near Phuket for $89/night with 3-night minimum. Also includes extras such as daily breakfast and two hour-long massages.

You can stay at the Hilton New York for $249/night with 2-night minimum from TripAlertz! This is a great way to spend any TripAlertz cash that you may have earned with their invite bonuses.

If you haven’t signed up for the Thanks Again rewards network, you can earn 500 bonus miles!

Our Trip Home from St Thomas and Delta Bidding for Bumps

2012-02-20T03:05:00.088-05:00

We had a great time on our first multi-generational vacation with Carter, Shannon, and Chris. Lots of fond memories and photos.

We did take the Westin Ferry back instead of the public ferry and we're glad we did. When we arrived at the airport at about noon chaos abounded. I have never seen such a disorganized mess of cabs, passengers, security lines, and the like. I understand from talking to some of the locals that this is a daily event but it's particularly bad on Saturdays. We got to the Delta counter OK, but the security and customs lines snaked around the whole front of the airport.

I checked us in online while the rest of the gang waited for our luggage to come off the truck that brought it from the ferry. I was offered my first Delta bump in quite some time. The idea of bumping is always possible, but with Carter boy along, the conditions would have to be just right and it would mean splitting up. When the next screen showed up indicating I would have to "bid for my bump," a cold shutter went through me. Don't they realize who I think I am? Don't they realize that I am doing them a favor, and now they have the audacity to ask me to bid lowest for my bump? I was outraged (tongue in cheek) and refused to even engage in the process. Circumstances just didn't warrant low bidding with all the baby stuff we had to carry. I understand the underlying math here, but it will not change my bump philosophy when I'm flying Delta. If I'm not earning at least $100 per hour waiting for the next flight and getting a first class upgrade, I won't be the low bidder. I like the Delta Wi-Fi but this bidding turns me off.

There was no inflight entertainment in our seat backs but the movie was the one that got cut off on the way down, so I got to finish "The Ides of March" with George Clooney. Carter slept most of the way and never made a peep. The time he was on my lap we constantly played with the overhead light switch. It didn't make my seat mates happy, but Carter was calm and inquisitive. We were a half hour late departing and arrived one half hour behind schedule. We still had an hour until the flight from Atlanta to Columbia (we thought).

Our 8:30 departure was delayed until 9:41 p.m. due to the late-arriving crew. What is that all about? It was the last flight of the day, we were in a Delta hub, the flight was the last of the night, returning first thing in the morning, and the plane was sitting there waiting for us to rock and roll.

Carter and I discussed our plan of attack and the idea of him writing a letter crossed our minds. How could they inconvenience a new Delta flyer, way past his bedtime, with only one bottle left in the diaper bag? Based on Carter's poor, unreadable penmanship at five months of age, we gave Delta a pass this time. But he and I agreed we were keeping an eye on them for such future issues. They must of had a reserve crew at the hub ready to move the full plane along. It meant a delay with the following morning flight as well due to the eight-hour rest rules.

Our Meetup with Darla

On the way down to St. Thomas, I was approached by Darla, a faithful blog reader, who recognized me and, thankfully, came up to chat. It was great hearing about how the blog has helped change her life. Darla has been to Egypt, Hawaii numerous times, and she can fly to St. Thomas on business now on miles and points instead of paying out of pocket. That's the great part. The sad part is that Katybug's camera went swimming with her and the photos did not come out of all of us at the plane steps as we deplaned in STT. Darla, I am so sorry. I hope your photos came out as I can't find any on my iPhone and we only four from the whole trip survived after Katy's dip. If you have one, please send it along to us.

Sunday Success Story

2012-02-19T03:05:00.009-05:00

Hello Rick,

A little more than a year ago I Googled "cheap travel" or some other combination of words because I wanted to learn how to take my first affordable overseas trip with my new husband. We didn’t want to spend on a big honeymoon when we first got married because of the cost but decided that a nice trip for our one-year anniversary would be our goal.

We both work for really wonderful nonprofits and find it very rewarding and challenging. The only down-side is that we make modest salaries and work long hours. So I have always been hesitant to spend on vacations – wanting to live modestly within our means and save responsibly for life’s big events (retirement, house, a baby…).

After a few Google searches, I somehow stumbled on your blog and am so happy for what I have learned. In just a few months we are getting ready to take our first big trip together – a vacation that I would have never dreamed of being able to take.

Now, my use of points may not seem like the most strategic to others. In fact, some of my choices may cause some of your readers to cringe (cash back for Ultimate Rewards points --who would be crazy enough to do that!?!). I don’t really have the luxury of debating whether or not to pay cash or use points because, really, we wouldn’t be paying cash and traveling if it weren’t for the points. And we just don’t have the time off of work to take several trips a year, so I am comfortable cashing in a bunch to get one great trip.

Here is how we are taking our *mostly* all-expenses-paid trip to the Big Island in Hawaii.

Flight: Two coach tickets to Hawaii using 70,000 British Airways miles (100,000 Chase British Airways deal; the rest of the miles are covering a flight to my sister’s wedding in Texas).

Rental Car: 15,000 American Airlines miles for a 10-day economy rental car. Savings of more than $375. I consider this a good use of my miles because it saves me from having to pay the crazy high taxes and fees at the Kona airport (Citi Gold Advantage Visa 75,000 AA miles Visa).

Hotel Lodging: 80,000 Marriott Reward points for five nights at the Courtyard King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel (nights go for around $150) and 25,000 Marriott Rewards points for the Marriott Waikola Beach Resort and Spa, which usually runs around $225 a night. (Marriott Premier Rewards 70,000 points for both me and my spouse for a total of 140,000 points.)

Vacation Rental Lodging: Three nights at a private ocean-front cottage on a fruit farm found on vrbo.com at $99 a night + $87 in taxes and a cleaning fee. I am really excited to stay at this private, rural vacation rental. Since it is on the less touristy side of the island where there just aren’t big hotel chains, and all of the Bed and Breakfasts are pretty pricey, we thought this would fit our style nicely. (Using 40,000 points – getting $400 cash back from points -- for the Chase Sapphire Ultimate Rewards 100,000 bump the bonus points from June 2011.)

Activities: Two tickets on a snorkeling excursion ($99 a piece), two tickets to a Laua ($70 a piece), two tickets on a star-gazing tour on the top Mauna Kea Summitt ($200 each), two tickets on volcano and waterfall tour ($70 each). (We're using close to the 100,000 Thank You reward points that my husband and I both got from the Citi Thank You Premier.)

Can you tell I am super-excited for the trip we have planned? So excited that I am almost ready to start planning whatever our next trip turns out to be in a year or two!

Thanks, Rick, for all of the expertise you share daily with readers like me! We will have a drink in your honor on the Hawaii beach somewhere!

-- Carissa L.

Westin St John Virgin Islands

2012-02-18T03:05:00.020-05:00

Typing on the iPad so here goes nothing... With Blogger I can't spell check. First of all the trip with baby Carter was a breeze. The connection time in Atlanta was sufficient, the flight to St Thomas had inflight seat back entertainment and Carter was a perfect angel. I never heard back on my inquiry from the Westin for their private ferry to the resort so we ended up in a cab to Red Hook and then the public ferry to Cruz Bay and another taxi to the Westin. We'll take the Westin ferry back to St Thomas and the short cab ride from Crown Bay Marina to the airport. It is $65 one way per person or $120 round trip. With a five month in tow, we'll pay the extra.

Cab service on St John is by open air taxi which is nothing more than a converted pickup truck. Lots of cabs and the prices are per person. ($6 per head to town)

The resort is sprawling over many acres and really not walkable hauling a baby, car seat, diaper bag and all the stuff but they have golf carts seating about six running around all over so not a big issue. Howie somehow used his Platinum status to get us each upgraded to a distance ocean view room. I've come to realize a room to me is just that a room. I don't really care how fancy of it has all the working fixing you'd expect; phone, TV, Internet, toilet, shower, and bathroom sink. A refrig is a nice extra (yep), but I'm still just a 3 star kind of guy. Shannon checked the rate for the from a couple days before arrival and they wanted $650 per night. NOT gonna happen no matter how nice the room is. These were spacious but had their issues. The phone was sporadic as was the Internet (it was free although). Chris, Shannon, and Carter had a leaky faucet, the maintenance good to just a bit above that. The grounds were very well maintained and all the services were there i.e. water sports, free floating rafts. Nice sandy beach with good hillside views and plenty of umbrellas. The pool was nice, again with plenty of umbrellas and had a bar and refreshments handy for all. With Carter in tow I rented a cabana poolside each day for $80 (normally $150) that offered shade, TV, radio, power for the bottle warmer, a refrig with Evian spritz water (his favorite) and just a bit more privacy. They delivered a crib and we had four lounge chairs a table and hammock as well. Sometimes you just gotta do it.

Meals were resort priced. The breakfast buffet was $26 but there were menu items at $10 and up. Lunch was available poolside or there was a deli within easy walking distance.

The resort fee is a substantial $40 per night which covers the water toys and Internet as it were.

Here are the grades from our four travelers with 1 being never again and 5 absolutely top notch:

Katybug - 3.5
Chris - 3.5
Rick - 3.5-4.0
Shannon - 3.5

Was it worth $650 per night? Heck No. Was it worth 16000 SPG per night? I liked it better with the fifth night free bringing the cost down a little.

Now the big question? Hawaii or St John. It is still Hawaii but the shorter flight times and ticket costs sure make this more doable more often with Carter our grandson. I think we'll still look around the Caribbean for another closer to home alternative.

Photos when I get home and off this iPad.

New Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards Card

•50,000 bonus points after you spend $5000 in 3 months – that's $500 in rewards of your choice, or $625 towards airfare when you redeem online through our Ultimate Rewards booking tool.
•No limit to the number of points you can earn – and points do not expire.
•5X points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually on eligible business purchases.
•No foreign transaction fees and Free Employee Cards.
•No interest or over limit fees.
•No Annual Fee in the first year – that's a $95 savings.

Deal of the Day

2012-02-17T15:05:00.000-05:00

You can get $10 off a roundtrip Wanna Get Away fare from Southwest!

You can stay at the Hilton in Las Vegas for as little as $139 for four nights! You will have to be a member of their Player’s Club, which is free.

You can win up to 1 Million Rapid Rewards points by participating in Partnerpalooza which is Southwest’s promotion until May 15.

Rookie Travel Tips and The Thank You Point.

2012-02-17T03:05:00.016-05:00

by Shannon

How to earn Thank You Points: Credit Cards

Thank You Points are another form of reward that can be used for travel related benefits. Citi cards, such as the Citi ThankYou^SM Preferred Card - 25,000 points - $250 in gift cards ,Citi ThankYou℠ Premier Card - enough for $300 in Gift Cards and the Citi Forward® Card, all allow you to earn Thank You bonus points.

UPDATE: There is a 50,000 point Premier card offer online as well.

Banking

Qualifying Citi bank checking accounts -- Citigold, Citi Private Bank Account, The Citibank Account, Basic Checking, and Student Checking -- earn points as well. Also, when you link bill payment, direct deposit, auto save, savings, money market, mortgage, home equity line / loan, personal installment loan, and/or Custom Credit lines, you can earn more points.

Here is a chart detailing points earning potential for Citi Banking services.

Shopping Online

Like many other programs, if you use your Citi Card to shop on ThankYou.com you have the opportunity to earn additional bonus points. For example, right now Restaurant.com offers 12 points per dollar spent, Target.com is offering three points per dollar spent, and drugstore.com is offering five points per dollar spent.

Using Thank You Points for Travel

You can redeem points for travel related certificates at Avis, Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Hyatt, Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton. The points in this case are worth one cent per point. For example, you redeem 2500 Thank You points for a $25 certificate, 5000 for a $50 certificate, and 10,000 for a $100 certificate.

Maximizing Thank You Points

The Citi Thank You Premier Card seems to have the best travel value in the Thank You points department. So you spend on the Premier Card, maximizing in places where they are offering point bonuses, and also use the banking option to maximize points -- up to 2100 points per month, according to their chart above.

This Card Today:

- 30,000 point bonus after a $2000 spend in 3 months ( $399 towards airfare)
- 1.2 points per dollar spent at supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores, commuter transportation and parking merchants.
- Earn points for miles flown on tickets purchased with the card
- An annual complimentary domestic companion ticket (within the continental USA) and a 15% discount when booking air travel through their travel benefits provider.
-33% more value or 1.33 cents per point when you redeem points for airfare through the travel center.

If you hussel a little you may get the company to drop/waive the annual fee and when cancelation time comes around they will probably offer you some retention bonuses. Use the card to make any airline ticket purchases you have to, stay tuned into the program for chances to maximize points and do what shopping you can online at thankyou.com to get the extra points. Using these strategies you can easily see some Frugal Travel in your future.

The Rookie, Shannon

Deal of the Day

2012-02-16T15:05:00.002-05:00

The Priority Pass, which gives you access to over 600 airport lounges, is currently 20% off its normal price.

You can fly from NYC to SFO for as little as $220 RT from most of the carriers. This fare was available as of 10:30 this morning.

You can earn 3,000 AA miles by signing up for Netflix!

Mommy Points has a great post about earning points for everyday purchases from Amazon!

Here’s a reminder to vote in the Freddie Awards and to vote in the FlyerTalk awards

FlyerTalk and Freddie Awards

2012-02-16T12:05:00.002-05:00

The Frequent Flyer community has two awards programs going on right now.

The FlyerTalk Awards are open for voting through TOMORROW; February 17th.

Voted exclusively by members of the FlyerTalk community, awards will be presented for:

Best Rewards Program
Outstanding Benefit

Airline, hotel and car rental programs will be nominated in three geographic regions:

The Americas
Europe & Africa
Middle East, Asia & Oceania

Voting closes 2/17/12 and winning programs will be notified in March 2012.

Also, The 2012 Freddie Awards voting has opened. You can view the past winners and also vote for your top selections this year.

Please get out and "rock the vote"!