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Thursday, April 11, 2019

how to get round-trip airfare for a family of 5 for free

As we prepare for our upcoming Disney vacation, one cost I did not have to worry about was airfare. We signed up for the Southwest Chase Visa* where every dollar we spend earns us points we can use on airfare. The best part? If you charge $1000 on your new Southwest Rapid Rewards card within the first three months of opening it, you earn 40,000 points.

When we signed up for the card we easily hit our charge requirement in the first month by charging our groceries, utilities, and gas for our cars. Those 40k miles go a long way if you book the most affordable Wanna Get Away fare. You also earn 3000 points on the anniversary of opening your card and 1 point per $1 charged to your card. Our Southwest Visa is our primary card (we pay it off in full each month) and those points really do add up fast. There is a $69 annual fee, but considering we would have spent close to $1000 in airfare for the five of us, the annual fee is worth it.

Even better? If you book a flight and notice your fare drops in points after you've booked, you can easily rebook the same flight and get refunded the point difference! Simply login to your account on Southwest's website, click My Account at the top, and scroll down to the flight information for the flight you want to change. There is a Change link right beneath that - if you click it you can re-select your original flight and it will tell you what your credit is. I actually just rebooked our flights to Florida this morning because they had dropped in point value from about 8000 points per person to 4186 points per person!
What's even better is you can use your points for more than just airfare--Southwest has a rewards store that includes products ranging from designer clothes and bags to lawn equipment to gift cards for retailers such as Disney, Alamo and Amazon. The 14,875 points I saved by checking the flights daily and rebooking is almost enough for $125 in Disney gift cards. You can roll your savings from rebooking to make your vacation even more affordable! If you travel even once per year, this reward card is definitely worth it, especially since it's been our experience that Southwest is the most family-friendly airline.

*Affiliate link used. Thank you for supporting BMB!

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

prime purchases: disney must-have shopping list{clear

I always love seeing what people are buying these days! Thought I'd join a link-up and share what I've bought for Disney because we moved our trip up to this fall! We hoped to squeak it in right before Star Wars Land opened, but of course they are moving ahead of schedule so now it is opening around a month before we leave! Anyway, after extensive research, here are a few things we've bought this month:

{cooling towels for that hot Florida sun}
{silicone fasteners so our Magic Bands don't fall off}
{clear bags for the stroller to expedite time in security lines}
{misting fan because Florida}

{phone charger bank since you use for phone to check wait times, schedule fast passes, etc.}

{disposable rain ponchos, because unexpected rain storms and who wants to carry around a wet poncho?}
{water filter bottles because rumor has it the fountain water from Disney does not taste great and these can be filled then squired into respective Contigo cups}
{this belt because I can't bring myself to do a bonafide fanny pack and I don't want to carry a purse!}

Other items we are planning on taking into the park include: hand sanitizer, baby wipes/diapers, sunscreen, bug repellent, snacks (granola bars, fruit pouches, etc.), some bottled water (for when we aren't near a fountain), a change of clothes for each kiddo/an extra pair of shoes in case one pair gets really wet, first aid kit and lip balm.

Linking up with Tanya