Friday, March 26, 2021 Greetings! Sorry I’m a day late sending this newsletter but that’s life with two kids under five at home. It’s also one of the reasons I haven’t finished my Santa Barbara stories from last week’s watershed road trip but stay tuned as I'll be publishing them soon! FYI: The photo above was taken last week in Santa Barbara at the Goodland Hotel.
First, some good news: This week, my brother made a surprise visit to our 92-year-old dad in Florida and it made his year. Look at his face hugging a grandkid for the first time in over a year!
How To Protect Your Ticket to Travel: Get Your COVID-19 Vaccination Card Laminated For Free
If you get my Daily Travel Tip, then you already know that you can get your vaccination card laminated for free via a promotion from Staples and now Office Depot. Staples has extended their promotion's end date and Office Depot has one-upped their competitor. Here are the details and coupon codes for both stores. No purchase necessary.
How To Get A Krispy Kreme Doughnut Every Day For Free in 2021
Here’s a promotion that gives people even more reason to get vaccinated! Krispy Kreme is offering anyone who has gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson a free Original Glazed doughnut per day for the rest of 2021. No purchase is required but you do have to show proof of your COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card to receive the offer (stickers don’t count). Here are the deets.
Smart Tips Made Smarter
Thanks to a couple of readers for making two of my recent popular tips even better! I've updated both both posts with a better website to use for the car rental tip and an even easier way to take a screenshot with an iPhone.
-Always Do This Before Renting a Car
-Genius iPhone Hack: How to Take a Full Page Screenshot on an iPhone
84 Things in Travel You Need to Know This Week
As seems to be the norm lately, there’s been a ton of travel news this week and it’s mixed. If you’re in the U.K. summer travels are looking bleak. If you’re in the U.S. then they’re looking up unless the mutations mess everything up. Fingers crossed we escape a third wave.
The large cruise lines have created an interesting workaround to start sailing soon. Oh and expect flights, hotels and car rentals to keep going up in price. It's all in this week’s 12 Things in Travel You Need to Know Today, which I round-up each day and keep for seven days before deleting ... that's why there's 84! Click the link below to get all these stories.
12 Things in Travel You Need to Know Today - Yesterday's TSA Checkpoint Numbers
- American and United Extend Deadlines On Unused Flight Credits
- Hawaii vacation rentals performed better than hotels in February
- Celebrity Cruises Announces June Sailings to Greece
- Disney reportedly unveils Disneyland expansion plans
- Cruise ships to be kept away from St Mark's Square in Venice
- China tells countries to stop accepting special British passport from Hong Kong
- WATCH: Airline passenger 'who appeared to attempt to open an exit door' pinned in seat
- You don't need to quarantine after traveling if you're vaccinated, health experts say, but you should still take precautions
- Driver, with child in car, charged in death of motorcyclist in 130 mph race, detectives say
- Spring break woman found dead at Cancun resort, investigation launched
Coronavirus: Thailand to reopen Phuket to vaccinated tourists from July 1 - Dangerous Covid-19 variants could mean all bets are off on the road to normalcy, expert warns
Read all 84 stories here in today's travel news round-up.
Credit Card Deal of the Week
Major welcome bonus alert! Earn 130,000 bonus points at this top hotel chain along with Gold Status, Priority Pass, free weekends, and more.
In Case You Missed It
Get Your Favorite Food Indulgences Delivered Straight To Your Door I just recently used this website for the first time and during a pandemic especially, it's brilliant since we can't travel and visit our go-to restaurants. You can get your favorite food indulgences from restaurants, delis and bakeries across the country shipped overnight to your door. It also makes a great gift. Check it out here and get a $15 credit towards your order.
A Brilliant Reader Travel Tip: How to Protect Your Belongings on a Road Trip
We recently ran a few tips last week about road trip safety (Tip 1, Tip 2 and Tip 3). One of them prompted a reader to write in with his genius tip that had never crossed my mind before. Bill P. shares what he and his family do when taking a road trip. He says: I’d previously spent a year in Europe before our marriage and have been many times so my family has generally profited from my past mistakes. Here is a tip that works for us. With six of us traveling, typically from point to point with tourist stops on the way, we have a lot of luggage. So, we bring a ... Read Bill's tip here.
When Can We Travel Safely?
This week, I wrote about how disappointing it was that the CDC's new guidelines for those who have been fully vaccinated still discourage travel. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see multiple cautious doctors disagree. Here's when they think it's safe to travel and when I will be comfortable.
When can you travel to Europe again? Why buy plane tickets and reserve a car now?
Another busy week for the travel industry and I just wrote a post on why you might want to buy your plane tickets today for spring and summer travel. Also, when will you be able to travel to Europe again? Read it all here.
Hands Down the Best Beach Toy for Kids
After one toss, my son was hooked. He seriously would not stop asking for one and he’s never done that before and since then, I've had countless readers email or tweet me to say how much their kids love it. Here's where to get it ... and it's inexpensive, too.
This Week’s Travel Contests | 
