This was supposed to be a “mid-April” update.  Between the busy season at work, Easter weekend, and the vacation hangover from our recent Miami Beach trip, I have fallen behind.  In this update: another reader success story, a free gas tactic update, and some travel news.

Reader Success Stories

ValueTactics readers Alex and Sarah just returned from their first ever points redemption vacation!  This trip was planned and executed within a short time span.  Just over a month ago I helped Alex plan this spring Florida get-away.

Sarah and Alex cruising in their Camaro convertible rental car. When the flights and hotel are free you can splurge on other aspects of the trip!

They booked the hotel and airfare exclusively with Chase Ultimate Rewards points and other benefits from the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve cards.  I’ll try to coax a whole hotel review out of Alex in the near future.

Free Gas Update

Some of you have asked if I still use the free gas tactic.  I haven’t included my free gas tally in these updates for a while now.  This is partly due to my greatly reduced commute mileage since taking a new position at work a year ago.  But the primary reason is that it’s just not as exciting anymore since Super America cancelled double coupon Tuesdays.

That being said, it’s still a valuable tactic even if it doesn’t add up like it used to.  Twice in the past few weeks I’ve cashed in the “big coupon” for a $0.50/gallon discount.  Both times I brought gas cans to maximize the coupon’s 25 gallon limit.  Including other discounts I get $14.00 knocked off the total for the 25 gallons.

Travel News

Nicoleen and just finished recovering from two hotel stays within a week.  The first was our “staycation” in Minneapolis for our friends’ wedding.  (Congratulations Thom and Pam!)  We used Hilton points to stay at the new Hampton Inn downtown.

Three days later we left for Nicoleen’s surprise birthday vacation to Miami Beach.  We had a blast in South Beach!  Our short vacation surprisingly seemed a lot longer than two nights.  Expect reviews of the hotel and the overall trip to be posted soon.

New ValueTactics Blog Posts

– Surprise Birthday Vacation to Miami Beach! is the post in which I revealed the secret trip I had been planning for months.  Nicoleen was blown away when I told her she would be lying in the sun on the beach on her birthday!

Now you’re updated. Go employ some Value Tactics!