TravelWhimsy, our resident photographer, has picked a photo taken during our quick weekend trip to Asheville, North Carolina.

• Where: Max Patch Bald, North Carolina (bordering Tennessee)
• When:  September 2012
• Why: TravelWhimsy writes, “Despite the rain and a rather circuitous driving path up the mountain, we pushed forward with our plans to hike to the summit Max Patch, a small bald known as the “Crown Jewel” of the Appalachian Trail which promised stunning 360 degree views of the Smokey Mountains. This picture perfectly captures the mood of that day – light mist, fresh air, the quiet of the mountains and our anticipation of the promised view as we neared the summit.”

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#1. MétrO

Punch in your starting point and your destination, this app tells you exactly where to get off the train and/or make your metro connections. This app will save you a lot of map-studying time.

#2. Rick Steves’ Audio Europe

When we visited Italy in 2011, we downloaded Rick Steves’ free audio tours onto our iPod Touches.

This time around, Rick Steves developed a free app, which includes the audio tours, transcripts of the tours, and tour maps.

#3. tripadvisor Offline City Guides

We used this app to find a few good restaurants in Paris.

#4. Free WiFi in Paris

We never needed WiFi while running around Paris, but you can check out this site for 250+ free public WiFi spots in the city.

What are your favorite travel apps?

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TravelWhimsy and I are honored to share a photo sent to us by our dear friend and reader Art, who will take us to the old town of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland.

• Where: Schaffhausen, Switzerland (View from the Munot Fortress)
• When:  March 2012
• Why: Art writes, “We went to Schaffhausen for the Rhine Falls, the biggest waterfall in Europe. We thought that it was going to be the highlight of our trip to northern Switzerland, but we were wrong. Munot, Schaffhausen’s symbol, is a circular 16th-century fortress surrounded by vineyards. We took a walk from the main train station through the Old Town and hiked up to the top of Munot. The view was breathtaking, and we enjoyed it even more than the Rhine Falls.”

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TravelWhimsy and I had so much fun beach-hopping in San Diego last November that we decided to take our moms along for another quick weekend trip. This time, we started the trip with a whale/dolphin watching cruise, and were lucky enough to see many dolphins and an 85-foot fin whale, the second largest mammal in the world.

• Where: Point Loma, San Diego, CA
• When:  March 2013
• Why: TravelWhimsy writes, “This past weekend we had the opportunity to go on our first ever whale and dolphin watching cruise with our moms. For those of you who have never been on one of these excursions, the experience is typically 90% wait and watch and 10% (if you’re lucky) actual animal sighting. We were fortunate enough to not only have an afternoon of beautiful, clear weather, but just an hour into the cruise we were swarmed by a pod of exuberant dolphins who swam with the boat for a good several minutes. The experience was pure magic and the air was alive with the electric, joyful energy of the playful dolphins. If you find yourself in San Diego on a sunny afternoon with a few hours to spend, don’t miss this.”

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FFWWW is a forum for all of us to share our favorite travel photos and the stories behind them. As many of you may know, TravelWhimsy and I recently spent 3 fun winter days in Paris. Today, I am excited to share my favorite photo from this trip – a picture taken by TravelWhimsy of the Garden at the Palace of Versailles. The reason why this photo means a lot to me might surprise you…

• Where: Garden of the Palace of Versailles, France
• When:  February 2013
• Why: On the day we visited Versailles, the crowd inside the Palace might have gotten to me, and I remember being a little grumpy throughout the whole visit. Despite the unusually glorious weather in the middle of February, I kept nagging TravelWhimsy – “Do we have to walk all that way to Marie Antoinette’s Farm?” “Why are you taking so many pictures?” “This is not that interesting. They covered all the statues.” “Com’on, let’s hurry and go back to Paris!” Fortunately, the Mrs. just ignored me and my negativity, and kept on going. After we got back to Vegas, I finally had a chance to review all the pictures TravelWhimsy had taken. I was a bit startled when I saw this picture – the moment it captured was so beautiful; yet I managed to have totally missed it! I wish I could haven taken all of it in with my own two eyes, but I am no longer there. This picture will always have a special place in my heart, reminding me that I should never again let anything or anyone get in the way of me truly appreciating every moment of my life.

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This post, listing things not present or emphasized in Rick Steves’ Paris Guide, is meant to help those of you planning your first trip to Paris save some time and money (and maybe points). For our readers who are Paris veterans, feel free to add your tips and suggestions in the comment section.

#1 – Buy the Paris Museum Pass

Paris is supposed to be dead in the middle of February, right? So we thought! Almost every sight was packed and lines were long.

You can purchase a 2-, 4-, or 6-day Paris Museum Pass to ethically cut to the front of the lines (except the line to climb up the Notre Dame Bell Tower). Even if you don’t see a special lane designated for pass holders, just show your passes to the guards/ushers.

If you have to buy your passes at one of the participating sights, choose a lesser-known one to avoid a potential long wait at the ticket office.

#2 – Buy All Tickets/Passes at the Airport

Tourist information desks at both Paris airports sell almost all bus, metro, museum tickets and passes at cost. You can use one of your fee-free US credit cards to pay for your

• Round-trip Roissy bus tickets (10 euros each way);
• 10-pack metro tickets, known as “carnets” (13.3 euros vs. 17 euros when purchased individually);
• Paris Museum Pass;
• Seine River Boat tickets/passes;
• and many other tickets/passes designed for tourists.

Most flights to Paris from the US use Charles de Gaulle airport’s Terminal One. The tourist information desk is located near Terminal One’s exit door #4. Check this airport official page for locations at the other terminals or Orly airport.

#3 – Taking the Roissy Bus and Paris Metro

Get a free city map from the airport tourist information desk or your hotel. Almost all city maps have the Paris metro map.

The Roissy bus is convenient and perfect for those of you without too much luggage. It drops you off at the back of the Paris Opera house (Opera Garnier). You can walk to many of the centrally located hotels, or walk counterclockwise to the front of the Opera building to enter the Metro station. Our ride took only 30 minutes on a Sunday morning from the airport and about 50 minutes on a Wednesday morning to the airport.

Many of the famous sights are within walking distance of one another, but you can easily navigate the Paris metro system with a map and the museum pass guide (each sight showing the closest metro stops).

#4 – You Don’t Really Need Any Cash

I again used my Charles Schwab ATM Debit Visa card to withdraw 50 euros at an airport HSBC ATM, but it turned out that it was entirely unnecessary for Paris. Credit cards are accepted everywhere.

Credit card machines operated by an attendant have the ability to swipe a US credit card without a chip. Vending machines at metro stations and sights accepted my British Airways Visa card (with a chip) without any issues. Check with your credit card companies to see if a card with a chip can be issued. I used three or four of my US-issued fee-free credit cards and didn’t have any difficulty.

#5 – Climb the Eiffel Tower to the 2nd Level before Taking the Elevator up to the Top

Tickets to ride elevators to the top of the Eiffel tower can be purchased online in advance (14 euros) to help you avoid long lines, but you have to choose and stick to a time slot. If you are not sure of your plans, your best option would be to walk up to the first two levels of the tower. Elevators coming down are always free, so you don’t have to worry about walking down.

The climb can be taken at your own pace, and gives you unique views of the tower and the surrounding areas. You can buy a combo ticket for 10.5 euros (climb + elevator from level 2 to the summit), or just a walk ticket for 5 (pay another 5.5 euros at level 2 if you change your mind about going to the top).

#6 – Buy Your Opera Tickets Online in the US

Instead of paying 9 euros to visit Opera Garnier, check the show schedule to buy tickets to an afternoon or evening performance. We purchased tickets to an opera recital performance (Atelier Lyrique) for only 12 euros each about 3 months in advance (directly online with a US credit card). All you need to do is to create an online account. The website lets you preview what you can see from your selected seats.

#7 – You Don’t Have to Blow All Your Points at the Park Hyatt Paris

We took our own advice (given to TravelByPoints reader RK) and had a wonderful 3-night stay at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome.

However, if you plan to do lots of sightseeing during your first trip to Paris, you really don’t need to stay at the Park Hyatt because you won’t get to spend much time at the hotel. Instead, save your two free Hyatt nights (Hyatt Visa sign-up bonus), Hyatt points, or Chase Ultimate Rewards points for a resort, where you’d be spending most of your time on site.

If you have the Priority Club Visa card, you can use your annual free night at the Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel (right across from the Opera Garnier/Roissy bus stop). Or, you can use your Club Carlson Premier Visa to book two nights at a time at one of the few Paris Radisson Blus.

#8 – Buy the Paris Museum Pass

Have I mentioned that the Paris Museum Pass is a must, even if you don’t plan to go to that many sights? The time you will save more than justifies the cost.

Have a wonderful time in Paris!

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FFWWW is a forum for all of us to share our favorite travel photos and the stories behind them. Today, TravelWhimsy has selected a photo and written a two-sentence story, for the sole purpose of making fun of me…

• Where: Mt. Charleston (Las Vegas), Nevada
• When: May 2012
• Why: TravelWhimsy writes, “Mr. Travelbypoints’ first time riding a horse. It’s always good to test your comfort zone every once in a while! (If you could see his face, you would understand what I mean.)” – (Editor’s note: It was TravelWhimsy’s first time, too, and she was no better…)

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• Only travel once or twice a year;
• Don’t mind staying at Country Inns, Park Inns, or Radissons (for free) for your vacation or road trips;
• Would like to minimize the number of credit cards your use on a daily basis;
• Have no time or desire to manufacture credit card spending;

Then, there might be an easy solution. All you have to do is to put ALL your non-bonus category spending on a single hotel credit card.

A lot has been discussed about the benefits of the recently launched Club Carlson Visa cards (see this link for a comparison of the three different versions and this for the fee-free version). The most generous benefit of all four versions of this card is the “Buy One Get One (BOGO)” feature. When you redeem your Club Carlson points for an award stay of two nights or more, your last night is free. To maximize the value of this feature, we would always book a stay of two nights only. If we need a longer stay, we would either hotel hop or have a family member book the next two nights (rinse and repeat if you need more than 4 nights).

This benefit is not the main topic of this post; it only serves as the basis for another less-discussed benefit of the new Club Carlson Visa. You earn 5 points for every dollar spent on the premier or business version of the card. With that BOGO feature, you are essentially earning 10 points per dollar. Most of you are well versed in earnings multiple points per dollar for certain categories of your everyday expenses. If you put all of your family’s non-bonus category spend on the Club Carlson Premier Visa ($1,000 per month?), you are looking at 120,000 points per year for doing practically NOTHING. Those points can give you and your family 13+ free nights at the Radisson Disney World in Orlando (up to 4 people in each room) , or 2+ free nights at a pricey Radisson Blu in an expensive European or Australian city.

I have mentioned in previous posts that a 2% cash back card for some of you might make sense. In this case, your annual spend of $12,000 would give you $240 in cash. I will let you decide for yourself whether you would rather have the cash or the free hotel nights.

The table below compares the Club Carlson Visa to some of the other well-known hotel cards. The imminent devaluation of some of the hotel chains’ award charts has been taken into consideration (updated as of February 21, 2013).

The table purposely avoids comparing the sign-up and/or renewal bonus points offered by the various cards. Since we are on the topic of the Club Carlson Visa, I’d like to point out that the premier and business versions do offer 85,000 sign-up bonus points and 40,000 renewal points every year. If you are able to apply for the business version, you will save $15 in annual fees.

Lastly, the Club Carlson Visa cards are issued by US Bank. If you have never had any of its other credit cards, you will most likely get a pending message. Calling the credit analysts (at 1800-685-7680) doesn’t really help. TravelWhimsy recently got the pending message after applying. The card showed up in the mail about two weeks later.

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FFWWW is a forum for all of us to share our favorite travel photos and the stories behind them. Today, TravelWhimsy and I would like to share a photo taken in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, which shows what life-long love might look like.

• Where: Taos Pueblo, New Mexico
• When: April 2011
• Why:  In celebration of the Month of Love, we bring you one of our favorite snapshots of a couple who epitomize the spirit of love in all its wondrous stages. We had the good fortune to spend a few days exploring the hidden treasures of New Mexico with this dear couple, who opened up not only their home but also their hearts to us. As we pushed ourselves to keep up with their pace and energy throughout the weekend, we were reminded that the true secret to health and longevity is not simply diet and exercise, but also cultivating a heart that is always brimming with love.

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FFWWW is a forum for all of us to share our favorite travel photos and the stories behind them. Today, TravelWhimsy has selected a photo of Rocky and Lucky showing us that we humans are not the only ones who love to travel!

• Where: Mt. Charleston (Las Vegas), NV
• When: October 2011
• Why:  TravelWhimsy writes,”This picture reminds me that we are long overdue for a doggie roadtrip! Who said travel is only for two legged humans? With Spring just around the corner, the weather will soon be ideal for hiking and other outdoor adventures. Rocky is clearly more than ready to go blaze some new trails on the slopes of nearby Mt. Charleston. That’s a Duchenne smile if I ever saw one!

On a separate note, I’m also reminded that this is probably how Mr. Travelbypoints and I look at the start of a typical whirlwind trip. He’s always eager to get going while I’m wishing I had 10 more minutes of shut-eye.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!  We wish you all another happy and healthy year filled with fun travel and experiences to gladden the heart and uplift the spirit.”

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