Roundup of some of the great travel stories out there over the past week or so:
- Great post from Eric at Travel Codex about how to plan a successful itinerary to Europe
- In the travel hacking space, we tend to focus on airline and hotel points, and not much is said about car rental loyalty programs. I’ve written before about how Avis has tried to change the price when I add my wizard number, asked why renting cars always seems like such a scam, and how to get top loyalty status (For FREE!) at many rental programs. Though I will say my last rental car experience was a good one – the lady at the Avis counter commented on the great deal I was able to get – saying “I’ve been renting these cars for $100 / DAY!“). Drew at Travel is Free has a great article about how to maximize Hertz rental car points.
- The city of Dallas is reaching out to federal court regarding a Southwest vs. Delta dispute at Love Field (DAL)
- Our family of 8 recently took an Amtrak train trip from Ohio to Denver. Here’s 4 reasons why our Amtrak train trip was a blast … but here’s why I’ll probably never travel Amtrak again.
- One unruly United passenger, on a Rome to Chicago flight, forced the plane to layover in Belfast, and all 269 passengers were forced to spend the night on the airport floor... This one was especially poignant for me, as we are flying Rome to Chicago on our way back from Europe this fall (though on American Airlines)
If you still need more travel news, you might be interested in the last roundup post: A rifle at the airport, “mysterious” airline cargo, free club access, all-inclusive resorts, 37 days in Hawaii and changing your name to avoid airline fees!
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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 
Just found your blog and love it! I’m a big fan of national parks, and I recent enjoyed your last trip report. I’m planning on using Choice Hotel points for my next national parks trip. Do you have a post with an overview of the process? Can I transfer points online? Or do I have to call in? How long does the transfer take (I’ve heard weeks).
Hi Katie! Thanks for reading! You can check this post about transferring Amtrak points to Choice hotels, but there is a catch. You need to either have elite Amtrak status (unlikely), or you need to spend $250 on your Amtrak credit card (which isn’t currently offered). I got that card just before they stopped offering it and that’s what I did. Supposedly the card is going to be offered again at some point
Lucky for me, I do have the AGR CC, and I just finished the required $200. Once you initialized the transfer, how long did it take for the points to show up in your choice account?
It says it will take 4-6 weeks, but it took maybe 10-14 days?