Scottevest Cyber Monday 30% Off Sale

Pretty much ALL Scottevest products are on sale through 28 November with promo code Cyber16 and it’s already started!  I use the vests and jackets all the time to carry my tablet/laptop and any heavy books that would otherwise put me over the 7kg cabin bag allowance.  I also keep my docs, credit cards, USB drives, etc in the jacket so if there is ever a need for emergency evacuation, I am already wearing my valuables.

If you aren’t familiar with Scottevest’s pockets, please see my review here.

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Expedia Coupon Deal – $50 Off $200 Booking – Today Only & Works On Prepaid Eco-lodges

This is a great deal for eco-tourists as many lodges can be booked via Expedia and it gives you a chance to save some money.  I would be using this deal myself for next year’s Africa trip if the dates had aligned.  It’s only valid for stays between October 11, 2016 and January 31, 2017 (inclusive).

See full T&C’s on their page.

Here’s an example of a lodge I have my eye on for Livingstone, Zambia (near Victoria Falls & Mosi-oa-Tunya NP).

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The room MUST be pre-paid to use this promo.  Hotels where you pay on arrival can’t accept coupon codes.  This lodge does require pre-payment and the room rate BEFORE taxes is over $100 and I have selected 2 nights on random dates to show the promo.expedia1-5

And here you can see the $50 taken off the total!  I hope they do this promo again next year so I can use it for my actual dates!expedia2

So if you will be traveling before 31 Jan 2017, make use of this deal but hurry!  You only have until midnight USA PDT!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Hotel Offer: $50 off on select hotels 

Coupon Code: AUTUMN50

Qualifying Bookings: This coupon code discount applies only to qualifying stand-alone hotel bookings (not a hotel booking in combination with any other product or offering such as flight + hotel or flight + hotel + car) made online at www.expedia.com that are prepaid at the time of booking (subject to the restrictions set out in the Terms and Conditions below). 

Coupon code value: $50 USD off.

Minimum Spend: $200 USD (minimum spend is the price of the travel reservation excluding any taxes, fees or additional costs). This spend must take place in one transaction.

Redemption Period: 12:01am PDT, to 11:59pm PDT, October 11, 2016.

Travel Period: The travel dates must be between October 11, 2016 and January 31, 2017 (inclusive).

TopCashback’s New Competition – Find Hummingbirds & Win Cash

TopCashback is one of the portals I use for booking hotels and occasionally other purchases and they do have nice bonus offers from time to time.  For the next 2 weeks they are running a cute competition where you find hummingbirds flying on pages of their partners.  You click on the hummingbird and reveal a token which can be accumulated for prizes.  It’s free to play and they give a clue daily so it’s not too difficult.

If you are not a member of TopCashback, I would appreciate if you use my referral link as I get a $10 commission if you earn $10 in cashback on your own purchases.

Rules of the competition are in a pop-up at the bottom of their page so I can’t link it here.  These are the prizes and how many tokens you need to win each one.

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Find a hummingbird like this one carrying a package on a merchant’s page within TopCashback and click on it.

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Your token will be revealed and added to your tally.  So far, I have found tokens in Walmart, Zulily and Macy’s.  They give a clue at the top of the competition page and their Facebook and Twitter pages as well.tcb3

You won’t get rich playing this game but it’s fun, only takes a few minutes and finding hummingbirds is always good!

Ultra-cheap Fares USA – Australia, Won’t Last

I came across this incredible deal in my feed and I thought I would share it since many people may be waiting for the perfect opportunity to visit Australia and see the wonderful birds we have here!

Examples:

Los Angeles – Brisbane: $426
Las Vegas – Brisbane: $468
Los Angeles – Melbourne: $505

Full details of this deal can be found on Secret Flying.

** This is an error fare and sometimes these deals are honored, sometimes the airline cancels them so don’t book any non-refundable accommodation, tours or anything until you are sure the deal will be honored!

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TopCashBack Offers $20.16 Per Referral

I’ve been using TopCashBack (TCB) quite a bit as a portal for booking accommodation (including some eco-lodges!) on Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expedia and sometimes Orbitz.  The hotel rates are the same so you might as well get something back.  I’ve seen cash back as high as 20% but usually it’s around 5-10%!  There is a promotion on until 10 Feb where you get a whopping $20.16 per referral once your referrred friend spends at least $10 using TCB’s portal.  If you are already a member of TCB, you will see this in the “Refer a friend” link at the top and you are already qualified for this offer.  If you are not a member of TCB it’s a great time to join!  If you use my link, I will get the referral bonus and be very grateful!

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Amazon After Christmas Sales & Chase Freedom = Bonus Ultimate Rewards

Most people are familiar with the annual Chase Freedom category bonuses and that every quarter you get a 5% bonus in specific categories but you must activate the deal by 14 Dec.  What you may not know is that until 31 Dec, you will get 10% bonus (if you activated already) in the form of 10 Ultimate Rewards points per $ if you pay for your Amazon.com purchases with your Chase Freedom card!  If you use the link below to start your purchase I get a small commission for which I thank you.  There will be plenty of sales on so it’s a perfect chance to get what you didn’t get for Christmas!
MTTW Link

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And you can start making plans to maximize the 2016 bonus categories!

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Me – A Typical Female Airline Miles User?

I had to laugh at this article.  Men may be from Mars but they have very definite attitudes on how to use – or should I say NOT use airline miles.  According to the article (written by a man), men don’t like to spend their miles, they value the status more than the redeemable miles and they take big pride in having a huge number of miles in their accounts.

Women, on the other hand, adopt a smarter, more pragmatic approach, which usually involves setting a mileage goal for a future free trip, and cashing in the instant it’s reached. These behaviors, he told me, are so entrenched that the airlines’ programs all but rely on them for viability: were men to adopt the same tactic and flood the system with those gigantic unspent balances, many programs would implode.

Well that’s me in a nutshell.  I do save for specific goals, I track my progress on a spreadsheet and once I get enough miles (and enough cash for non-miles/points expenses) I cash them in and start all over again!

You can’t take them with you, they depreciate over time so use your miles wisely and enjoy your travels!

See full article on Conde Nast Traveler.

Shop Small Returns To Australian American Express Cards

American Express Membership Rewards are one of the most valuable tools to getting free airline miles in Australia.  This month is the annual Shop Small promotion.  You can also get some great shopping deals at small businesses all over Australia – $10 rebate on a $20 or more purchase.

Register your cards here and read the T&Cs.  If you have more than one Amex – for example from NAB, ANZ, Westpac, etc then you need to register each card individually.

Then check the map to see what small businesses are participating!  In my experience, the credits post pretty quickly around a day or so.