I know that sometimes in the travel world, posts and information come fast and furious, and even I don’t always keep up to date on EVERYTHING that is going on. And I actually spend a good bit of time each day checking in on things – I can only imagine what it might be like for someone who doesn’t spend that time. So periodically I like to take a look back at some of the top stories of the week or month just to make sure all the good stuff gets seen.
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March was a busy month here – during my featured week on Boarding Area I was writing 4 or 5 posts a day (woah!). So I can understand if you missed some – here were some of the top stories for March:
Travel
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4 states!
I took a trip out to Utah for a work conference – while I was there, I took some time to finish up visiting every county in Utah, visited Four Corners monument, wondered if it was ever a good idea to stay at a Rodeway Inn (it wasn’t that bad!) and pondered when hotels can’t seem to get the little things right.
- This month I finally finished up reporting on our trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico (which happened back in January) – you can read my reviews of Old San Juan Puerto Rico and the Condado San Juan Puerto Rico region.
- It’s always fun to play the game of “Is this a road? Or somebody’s driveway?”
- My family is planning a trip on Amtrak this summer – find out how we booked a $6500 train trip (for free, natch!)
- Great recaps of when I visited all 88 counties in Ohio in 24 hours, when I jumped in all 5 Great Lakes in one day (with video!) and a timelapse video of 28 hours driving through every county of the 6 New England states.
- It wasn’t what most people might consider a “5 star” hotel, but it was the first one I’ve stayed at that got 5 stars from me!
- Traveling #hobostyle
- Read about our family’s travel experiences with the essay questions I wrote for Hilton Mom Vacation – I didn’t win 🙁
- Here’s what I’m doing now that US Airways and American Airlines miles have combined
- How to avoid “analysis paralysis” when trying to book awards.
- Would you rather spend 10,000 SPG points, or 50,000 Hilton points?
Family Travel for Real Life conference
I attended the Family Travel for Real Life conference early in March and it was a great time – meeting some old friends, new buddies, and learning quite a bit about travel along the way! I live-blogged the entire conference, and if you missed any of the sessions, check it out!
- Family Travel for Real Life (#FT4RL) 2015 – Bonnie the Frugal Travel Lawyer on “the new Frontier”
- Family Travel for Real Life (#FT4RL) 2015 #2 – Leslie from Trips with Tykes on mastering the International House of Mickey
- Family Travel for Real Life (#FT4RL) 2015 #3 – Jason Steele on the current state and sweet spots in the miles and points world
- Family Travel for Real Life (#FT4RL) 2015 #4 – Kenny from Miles4More on National Parks and off the beaten path family destinations
- Family Travel for Real Life (#FT4RL) 2015 #5 – Shawn from Miles to Memories on immersive travel: family adventures, educational experiences, and ways to give back
Free Stuff
A “tiny” catch to your free trip to Sweden
- 1000 AAdvantage miles for renting a car with National.
- How to get a free trip to Sweden (there’s only one, tiny catch) 😀
- 12,500 AAdvantage miles for changing energy providers
- Copa Airlines is starting a new frequent flyer program – you can get 1000 free miles if you sign up now.
- Chase Freedom refer a friend is BACK! Get 5000 points for referring friends and family to the Chase Freedom card
Mile Matrix
This month, I (finally) introduced the Mile Matrix, an app that attempts to answer the question – “how many miles does it take to go from any country, to any other country, on any airline?” It’s still in beta right now, but I still encourage you to check it out!
- Mile Matrix: Any country to any other country on any airline
- Mile Matrix: FAQs on how to use the app to check the mile price between any countries on any airline
- Using the Mile Matrix app to help a reader travel to Australia
Tips and Tricks
- Here’s a simple trick for when you’re using your British Airways Avios to fly on American or US Airways (to avoid having to wait on hold for an hour with BA!)
- Do annual fees count towards meeting the minimum spend on credit cards?
- An easy trick on how to get top rental car status with several rental car chains.
- 4 ways not to pay the UK Air Passenger Duty when visiting Great Britain.
- There’s been 50 hotels that have disappeared from the IHG Point Breaks List
- Maximizing your ride with the Amtrak zone map
- A simple trick on how to search Star Alliance flights 7 days at a time
- 4 tips for how to survive a red eye flight in economy
- Why you should NOT call the reconsideration line
- Here’s why you want to transfer your hard-earned Chase Ultimate Rewards to Choice Hotels.
- My readers came up with some awesome travel tips in every possible facet of traveling – check them out!
Other awesomeness
- You might be interested in the parable of the 47 mail-in rebates (based on a true story!)
- What’s always in your luggage? See my answers and more!
- When is a “free one way” not really free? It nearly burned me – has the allure of the “free” one way caught you too?
- If you haven’t seen the site roadtrippers.com – you’re missing out!
- Aisle seat or window seat? I’ve got the definitive answer to the age-old question
- Do you travel differently when someone else is paying?
- Why parents of children should NOT give out “goodie bags” to fellow passengers
- How I got 1,000,000 points (and you can too!) and on the other side of the spectrum, how our family eats for less than $1 / meal
If you still can’t get enough, you can check out some of the weekly review posts below:
Best of the week: Best of the week – free money, window or aisle, a trip to Sweden, my $6500 train trip, red eye tips, Mile Matrix, and more!
Best of the week: Best of the week – goodie bags, traveling #hobostyle, reconsideration lines, Delta’s baggage “guarantee”, Copa, daily getaways and more!
Best of the week: Best of the week – how I got 1,000,000 points, top travel tips, Freedom refer a friend, missing Avios, why to transfer points to Choice, and more
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Great post with a lot of great info. Thank you so much for sharing.