Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

Our Best (& Worst!) of 2025 Travel!

• Raya & Duane

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We revisit a year of family travel to rank the hotels, flights, and upgrades that delivered real value, and we tell two travel stories that never made it to air: a runaway carry-on on an escalator and a seatmate who ate our snacks. We also reassess elite status and share where we’ll spend points next year.

• best hotels across Barcelona, Cabo, Lake Tahoe, Cologne
• worst stay experience at Thompson Dallas and why
• top suite upgrade at the Seabird with ocean views
• business class joy on the return from Europe
• economy comparisons between JAL and Singapore Airlines
• practical value of Hyatt Globalist for a family of five
• metro over location myths in Barcelona
• stressful escalator mishap and how we handled it
• the strange snack incident on a short-haul flight
• points strategy over pricey short cruises

Happy holidays to you, Merry Christmas, happy holidays to you, your family, and everyone you know. We will be back in two weeks with a fresh new episode.


SPEAKER_02:

In today's episode, which is our last episode of 2025, we are breaking down both the best and the worst of our 2025 travels from incredible hotels and surprise upgrades to the flights and/or hotels we would never visit again. We're also sharing a couple of weird and or stressful travel moments that have never made it on the podcast. So listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

SPEAKER_00:

And I'm Dwayne.

SPEAKER_02:

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcasts, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

SPEAKER_00:

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

SPEAKER_02:

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family, but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

SPEAKER_00:

So welcome to our podcast where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome back to our very last episode of 2025.

SPEAKER_01:

As always, we appreciate you tuning in.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. If I hope that you are listening to this, either wrapping presents or on your way to get some last-minute gifts or whatever. Um, but maybe you're listening to this in the future and it's already 2026. But we appreciate you. We're gonna do a recap today of just some of like the best and worst of 2025. I don't know that there's like a ton of worst, right? But like there's a few things that maybe weren't our favorite. So we're gonna talk about all of that today. I have a very short outline, it is just eight lines.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's a quick one.

SPEAKER_02:

In theory, short and sweet. In theory. Okay, so let me just quickly recap like some of our yes, what were you gonna say?

unknown:

Nothing.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, some of our travels going all the way back because if you are like me, and as I get older, time just feels like it is hurtling forward at warp speed. The other day I saw I said to Dwayne, I said, Hey, what about my like uh I was talking about a football game and I was like, Did did you see that football game that was like, I think it was on Monday? And Duane was like, It was yesterday. The football game was less than 24 hours ago, but in my mind it was five days ago. So, anyways.

SPEAKER_01:

Mind you, she said the game on Monday, and it was Friday, and the game happened Thursday.

SPEAKER_02:

Thursday night. Yeah, I don't know. Anyways, okay, so our travels for the year as a family started in March. We visited Europe, we went to Paris, Barcelona, and Madrid. So, Paris, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Étoile, Barcelona, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt Barcelona, and Madrid, we stayed at the Hyatt Centric Gran Via in Madrid. Um over the summer, we did a couple of different trips. We went to Oceanside like we do every year. We stayed at the Seabird.

SPEAKER_01:

We went Indian Wells.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, yeah, we went to Indian Wells on that trip too. That was our first time there. That's in Palm Springs, so more deserty. We went to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. We didn't really use points for the Yosemite piece, but we did stay at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, which was beautiful. Um, and then I think oh, Dwayne and I went to Cabo for our annual kid free getaway. Yes. We stayed at the Cape, which is a Thompson property by Hyatt. Yes, it was incredible. Yes. Oh, I actually was listening to a podcast the other day where um like the director or like the head of loyalty for Hyatt was on, and they asked her what some of her favorite properties are, and one of them she mentioned was the Cape. And I was like, oh, we've been there. I felt like Elf, like I know Santa, I know him. I was like, oh, I know that one.

SPEAKER_01:

It's top of my list too.

SPEAKER_02:

It was beautiful. And um then fall we went to Japan. So we did Tokyo, Kyoto, and back to Tokyo. We stayed at the Hyatt uh what is the Tokyo one or the Ginza one? Hyatt centric Ginza in Tokyo, Hyatt Place Kyoto, and then Hyatt House Tokyo Shibuya. Um, and then we went to Christmas markets and we stayed, did an Airbnb in Strasbourg, but we stayed at uh Hyatt Regency Cologne in Germany, which was also fantastic. And I'm probably missing a few like weekend getaways here and there because we did a couple of stays at some Hilton properties locally, but none of those would make my best of list, quite frankly. So I don't know about it.

SPEAKER_01:

Like our annual trip to the Grand Hyatt.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, yeah, we did do that. Yeah, we do enjoy that hotel a lot. So yeah, big year of travel. We flew primarily economy on our international trips, but we did fly business class twice, going to and from Europe for the Christmas markets. So I think we can, you know, we flew Japan Airlines, we flew Air France, we flew Singapore Airlines along with a bunch of American Airlines, domestic flights. We didn't fly Southwest at all this year. Yeah, we don't have companion passes this year, and we're we're not gonna have them for next year. So we're just more focused on international travel. But okay, so let's let's dive in now that I've done a quick recap and maybe help to jog Dwayne's memory because he just saw this outline seven seconds before we started recording. Okay, so what would you say was your best hotel of the year? And so there's also a best like upgrade. So maybe try to keep them like separate.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, um, I mean, for me, it's I think it's the cape. Just the location and it helps that we were kidding free. It was like a stress-free weekend. It was short, but I mean it was time well spent relaxing.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, we on this on our trips where we do it with no kids, we really don't make any plans. Or if we do, it's very minimal plans, and then we just kind of see where the day takes us, and it's always so nice because that is not how we travel the rest of the year. So it's always a nice little recharge. The Cape is a really beautiful property. The food is also incredibly delicious, yes, except for the fried chicken.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, Korean fried chicken.

SPEAKER_02:

But it I mean, I was telling someone the other day, it is the most expensive food I've ever seen on a vacation. Yes, not even just at the Cape, but in Cabo in general.

SPEAKER_01:

The Cape is included in that, it was very expensive, but that was where we got the sushi from the pool bar, and it was like a roll, but it cost what?

SPEAKER_02:

It was like$38, I think.

SPEAKER_01:

But it was so good we got it more than once.

SPEAKER_02:

It was so good. And I mean, we live in Arizona, so we don't get the best, like fresh seafood most of the time. So what we try to take advantage when we're you know near the water.

SPEAKER_01:

Shout out to the pool staff there. They were they were great.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, they were. Um, I think that my best hotel of the year was the Grand Hyatt Barcelona.

SPEAKER_01:

That was also up there for sure.

SPEAKER_02:

That was a fantastic hotel. The staff was so kind. Like at one point, our phone didn't work, and we like we didn't even complain about it. We didn't really care. We just said, hey, we can't like order room service because our phone doesn't work, so that's like why we're like coming down here to do it. And then they like wrap they sent us a gift, they apologized for the the issue, and we were like, wait, what is the issue? And then we asked, and they're like, Well, your phone doesn't work. We're like, Oh, yeah, okay. So it was obviously wasn't a too concerning for us, but the breakfast there was so good. The the little pastries that they had, like the little croissants with the shrimp for sure, and the custard inside. I still think about it. The room was stunning.

SPEAKER_01:

The bathroom itself was by far probably one of the nicest, if not the nicest.

SPEAKER_02:

It was like it was incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

The bathroom itself was like another room.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, I think the bathroom was like the size of one of our rooms at the Paris Hotel. It definitely was massive, and it was it was just fantastic. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And that was the the shower that had the rainfall, and it was like you can set it to like regular, like monsoon, I think was the option. And if the month if you had it on the monsoon setting, it was just like torrential downpour on here, which was great.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I really, really enjoyed that property. Um, and they have a Peruvian restaurant on the roof, which was also pretty good. We went there with it. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And the I mean we went at we went at night, but the views were yeah spectacular.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So I think that would be probably my best hotel of the year. That hotel actually gets a lot of negative reviews because it's not near like the touristy areas. But guys, trust us that it was not a big deal at all to take the metro.

SPEAKER_01:

The train station or the subway was like a five-minute walk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

And it was raining most of the time we were there, and it was still completely fine. The hotel had provided umbrellas. Like, don't let the fact that it's not near the touristy areas stop you from staying there because it was a fantastic property.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, this was actually the first property we've been to where the Nutella was on tap.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and we've since been to many others, and we've had to put a limit with our children on how much they're allowed to use, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, great hotel.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, okay. So let's flip the script now. Let's do worst hotel.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I don't know. I was asking right before the podcast. Like, I don't know if I have a worst hotel.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, we do. I do. I know what mine is, and yours is probably the same. It's the Thompson Dallas.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yes. The room was great.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, the room was fine.

SPEAKER_01:

You don't even mention that in the intro.

SPEAKER_02:

I know I didn't. I forgot all about it because that was like a quick trip. We took, we if you're new or have haven't listened to all our episodes, we took our eight-year-old son to Dallas for the weekend because um each of our kids gets to choose a ninth birthday trip, and this was his trip. He wanted to go see a Dallas Cowboys game as a New York Giants fan. That does make me want to vomit, yes, but they played the New York Giants that weekend, so it was a win, it was a win all around, except for the Giants.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was a great game, though.

SPEAKER_02:

It was a great game. We um we stayed at the Thompson Dallas. The room was wonderful, it was a suite, it was on a high floor. We're on like the 17th floor, but the service when we checked in was, I'm gonna say, mediocre at best.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they just weren't thrilled to be there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, they look like they hated their job. And like, I get it. I've worked in hospitality and customer service, I get it, but like we're polite people, so I don't know. Um, and the the street racing at 3 a.m. was absolutely horrible.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it was weird. It would, there was like she said street racing downtown Dallas. Every night we were there at all hours in the morning.

SPEAKER_02:

Like it was and again, we were on the 17th floor, so we should have been high up enough that you think you couldn't hear it.

SPEAKER_01:

But when we mentioned it, it just echoed through the the high rises there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, when we mentioned it to the front desk at checkout, not even in like a complaining way, just in a like, wow, it was really loud. The girl, what did the girl say? She was like, Oh yeah, it was a rough night or something like that. So, anyways, we didn't ask for compensation or anything like that. I like whatever they can't control that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's not their fault.

SPEAKER_02:

But I I wouldn't stay there again. I would stay at a different property. So that's my two cents there. Okay, um, let's go on to best hotel upgrade. So, hotel aside, like even if the hotel was maybe mediocre, what was like the best room or upgrade that we got this year? And we had quite a few.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I mean, off the top of my head, it would had to have been the seabirds.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's mine too, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that room was I thought you were gonna pick the one in Germany. I mean, that was also nice, but the seabirds, because you're right there on the water, the balcony was huge, and the view was again amazing. Like just overlooked, you could you had a almost a 360 view of you had like a 240 view.

SPEAKER_02:

It was incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

Like of oceanside. It was I mean side is one of my favorite places.

SPEAKER_02:

I know we really love going there. I I haven't booked our 2026 stay yet, but I have a plan for I think how I'm gonna try to do it, but I can't do it till January. So we'll see if I'm able to. Um yeah, the seabird is just I can't explain why I love it so much because there's actually a lot about the hotel that's like the pool is really small, you know, but like I just love it there.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. The pool is really small, but I mean the ocean is 20 feet away.

SPEAKER_02:

It's right there, yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, that view. And we got to watch because we were there on the 4th of July, we got to watch the air show literally from our balcony and the flyover. Like they do a flyover there because it's right over the hotel, like directly above us. And the kids were like, thought that was so cool. And then we got to watch the fireworks out there too. And originally they were like, no, you're probably not gonna see fireworks, but we had such a view of everything, like literally, probably 270-degree view, and we saw like four different fireworks displays, including the one at Camp Pendleton, which is just slightly north of the Seabird.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep.

SPEAKER_02:

So it would, that was, I agree. That was absolutely the best one.

SPEAKER_01:

But I mean, we've had so many nice rooms. I mean, again, the Cape.

SPEAKER_02:

The Cape, we had a we used a sweet upgrade award, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um Cologne, Germany.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and I didn't use an upgrade award on that one. They just upgraded us, which was such a nice surprise.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, again, the one in Barcelona, fantastic.

SPEAKER_02:

That was like our first. The one in Barcelona was our first like suite. I think I did use a suite upgrade award, but that was like our first time really utilizing the Hyatt benefits for Globalist, also, because we didn't have it, you know, prior to that. And I just remember being like, whoa, like this is so much bigger and better than a standard room. And you know what? The Grand Hyatt Barcelona, going back to that, another reason I loved it is one night Dwayne went to do laundry, as we do when we travel for two weeks with kids in carry-on only. And I ordered room service for the kids because we were all just tired and it was raining, and they delivered it on a full room service cart, which I think is a lost art. A lot of hotels bring you just like a paper bag full of like takeout containers, but they rolled in a cart with like everything on it, and the kids thought that was cool too. So did I. Okay, um, let's do flights. So let's let's go backwards. Start with the worst flight.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't even, I can't even remember the flights.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh for me, it would probably be the Singapore Airlines economy flight back from Japan. I just felt like I felt like I was sitting in a domestic economy seat.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And the food was not good.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

So that was, yeah. It just, yeah, it felt really cramped. Um and it wasn't my favorite.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, especially because we flew economy on J Japan Airlines on the way there. And that was that was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02:

That was great. That was like if I were, so I wrote down for best flight. I I said that we should do an economy and a business flight. And Dwayne was like, well, we only did business once. I'm like, well, no, it was two flights. It was two Europe and back. And he's like, I don't know. But same true. But the um the Japan Airlines economy flight would for sure be my best economy flight. I would fly that again in a heartbeat. It was comfy. Like the seats were definitely bigger than a regular, like they were bigger than Singapore Airlines economy seats for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

And the bathroom was huge.

SPEAKER_02:

The bathroom was huge, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But that was a flight where they like ran out of food.

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, that's true.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. They like started.

SPEAKER_02:

It was for some reason it always seems to happen to us where we're like, we're always in the middle, but wherever we are, they're gonna start as far away from us as they can, it seems.

SPEAKER_01:

So they ran out of like the main object.

SPEAKER_02:

It was beef. Yeah. And so you had to get fish, but I tried to give you my beef, and you were like, no, I don't want it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So and the fish was not very good.

SPEAKER_02:

No. Well, I mean, yeah. Anyways. Um, so yeah, that would probably so that would be my my worst flight would be the Singapore Airlines from Haneda. Wait, no, which way we flew into Hanada and out of Narita? Yeah, okay. So Singapore Airlines, Narita to LAX, worst economy flight internationally of the year. And J A L, SFO to Hanaida, best economy flight of the year. Yeah. Um, best business class flight. I mean, there's an I don't even need to ask you. It was the the Paris to Phoenix direct flight because it was 10 hours.

SPEAKER_01:

It was a a newer plane.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Doors. We had doors. Yeah. Yeah, that was incredible.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean the kids sat next to the window because they make them sit next to the window. We don't know why. Yeah. But it didn't have a shade. You just like ran your finger along the bottom, and the window like blacked itself out. Yeah. Which I've never seen before.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, pretty crazy.

SPEAKER_01:

It was crazy. Yeah, my kid was like, hey dad, can you put the shade down? And I was like, Yeah. I was like, wait, there is no shade. But yeah, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_02:

That was a great flight. And like I think people always talk about flying business class over to Europe because that's the overnight flight, so you can sleep. And I get that. But like there's something so luxurious about flying business class home where you are at the end of a long trip, you're tired, you've probably been walking 15 to 20,000 steps a day at a minimum, you're exhausted, you're ready to go home, and you just get to like relax for a straight, I mean, 10, 11 hours if you're on the west coast of the US. And it's a daytime flight. So you're awake pretty much the whole time and you get to really enjoy all the amenities of business class. So, I mean, if I had to choose, I would choose to fly it back versus going there. If I could only pick one.

SPEAKER_01:

I was gonna say if I get to choose, I'm flying that every time.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, yeah, but I'm just saying, if I could only pick one, I would choose it back because on the way there, your adrenaline is high, you're excited, you know, like, and then like it's fine. You you stay up the whole day, you're there, and then you go to bed, and then you wake up and you're fine. But like, yeah, but you have to like you have the business class to look forward to the whole trip, right? You don't have to dread the flight going home. So that's my two cents about it. Um, okay, so we've done best hotel, best upgrade, worst hotel, best flight, worst. Flight. Um, oh, the last two things were just like we had a couple of stressful andor weird travel situations that I don't think we've ever talked about on the podcast. And we we were talking about one of them the other day, and I thought, oh, yeah, we should just share that story. Well, one of them is the suitcase on the escalator. Should I share that?

unknown:

Sure.

SPEAKER_02:

This was probably my most stressful moment of travel of the year, would you say for you or no?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Okay, so we have the away larger carry-on bags, and our kids, like our little two kids specifically, our oldest is too big, but our little two like to zoom around on them. So they put the handle down and they lay their their belly on it and their like chest and they superman through the airport. And they're always careful about like people, like they've never run into anyone, like they're always fine about that. But no matter how many times we tell them to stop doing that, they do not listen because it is so fun. And it's like, you know what? Like, I get that being in the airport sucks, like for a kid. Like, I get I get that this is like the joy that you're trying to extract out of this situation. So fine, superman your way through the airport, like whatever. But like then, I just on our trip to Europe this past time, we flew from Denver to JFK and then JFK to um Paris. In JFK, our son got on the escalator with his bag, and the handle was not up, and he is eight years old, mind you. And he was way ahead of the rest of us. So he gets on the escalator and we're all behind him. And as I get on the escalator, I just I see him go, oh no, and his bag is tumbling down the escalator in front of him. And there are people at the bottom of the escalator. And so I am behind him, and there's I have my own bag, and there's nothing I can do to get to that suitcase. So I just I try to warn the people that are at the bottom and I say, like, hey, watch out, watch out. And they turn and they look, and it was like an older couple, and maybe they're like adult daughter, I think. That was like the vibe I got. But again, he so it's them, then him halfway up the escalator, and us like at the top. And I the suitcase did hit them slightly, I think. I don't think it hit them very hard. I think they like stopped it and it was fine. And then our son said to them, sorry. And I'm gonna remind you that he's eight years old. And they yelled at him and they stuck their finger in his face and they said, You don't say sorry. And then they I I was like, Are you okay to them? They yelled back at me that I needed to control my children, and so then I went from concerned to pretty mad, and I was like, He's eight years old, and you're fine.

SPEAKER_01:

So do you have I mean so needless to say, we took his luggage on escalators the rest of the trip. Yes, yes, because I mean, yes, it was an accident. Yes, he probably should have waited for us, but you know, shit happens.

SPEAKER_02:

He's eight. Like, I just he's eight. And what's even weirder is like literally the day before, I think, I had said to both of our little kids, hey, if you are on an escalator with your bag and your bag goes falling down, what do you do? And they were like, I don't know. And I was like, you let it go because I care more about you than the bag. I literally told that to them. So I don't know why. I've never told them that before, but that was maybe my maybe some foreshadowing that I didn't know. So but he couldn't stop the bag because he didn't have the handle up. That's that was the problem because he had been supermanning on it through the airport. So yes, we need to control our children, but also mistakes happen. And so I was really proud of him that he apologized before. I mean, we weren't even near him, and he apologized because he knew, and I think that takes a lot of guts for an eight-year-old, you know, and the fact that they yelled back at him, like I get that they were upset, but he's eight and he's pretty small.

SPEAKER_01:

So that was the beginning of our trip.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, we were like, oh, we're off to a great start. Okay, and then we have another funny story. This happened on our way back from Japan. So we flew from um Japan into LAX, and then we had a few-hour layover, and then we took a flight from LAX back to Phoenix. And on that LAX to Phoenix flight, me and the little two sat in one row, and Dwayne and our oldest sat in another row with this older lady. And when I say older, I mean I think she had to be at least 75, is my guess.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. So we sat down. She was already in her seat. Um, she saw that I was wearing some Jordans. So she's like, hey, you know, I like your, you know, your Concord 11s. That's the name of you. So we started chit-chatting about sneakers. She said her because she also had some, I think she had some like Nike dunks on.

SPEAKER_02:

And again, I just want to reiterate, she's like 75. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So probably maybe even older. Yeah. She's talking about her son, is also her sneakerhead. He has like 200 pairs, blah, blah, blah. And I thought, oh, this lady's pretty chill. She's pretty cool. So we go about the flight. You know, we're tired. We've been traveling all day, so we all gotta go to sleep. Well, me and my oldest do.

SPEAKER_02:

This is the Monday that never ends for us.

SPEAKER_01:

And at one point I woke up back up. So we had snacks. We had snacks in the pocket, it was like gummy bears or something. So we go to sleep, and at one point I wake up, you know, from a little nap, and I see the lady put our snacks back in one of the bags of snacks back into the seat pocket. And I'm like, you know, I'm just getting up and I'm a little groggy, and I'm like, Did she just take our snacks? So then I look at it, the snacks weren't open. So I look at it, I pull the bag out, and it's open. And she's like chewing on some snacks. And I'm like, I look at her and I go, I'm sorry. Are you eating my son's snacks? And she's like, Oh yes, I'm so sorry, I'm so tired. And I'm like, I'm sorry, ma'am. Who who does that? Basically, you know it was just it was just the weirdest thing. So then I'm just like, what? You know, like what why would you do that? Like, if she would have just asked me for it, I would have given her, you know, happily given her some snacks. But the fact that she just thought, these guys are sleeping, I'm gonna grab their snacks, and you know, as if they're my own, I'm just gonna eat them. It was so weird. So weird. Such a weird situation. So, I mean, I I I probably could have been a lot nicer, but I was like, you know, honestly, I was like, you know, who the F do you think you are? You know, just to do that.

SPEAKER_02:

This is all happening across the aisle, and I have no idea. I'm oblivious. I'm with the little two, and I'm just I have no idea any of this is going down until we're off the plane.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I'm sorry if I sound like a prick, but I was just so shocked. Like, I I I couldn't believe it. So then she gives my son money. She's like, I'm so sorry. Here's here's some money for your snack. Here's 10. She gave him 10 bucks. And she first of all, she had like snacks in her hands. She's like, Here, take these back. And I'm like, I don't want those. I don't want your money. I don't want the snacks back. Just like, don't ever do that again.

SPEAKER_02:

But it was so weird. But our 11-year-old did want the money.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so he snacked the money, and I, you know, I let him. I said, you know, whatever.

SPEAKER_02:

So weird.

SPEAKER_01:

So, so weird.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So we still we still laugh about that story because that was just so odd. So she got her$10 bag of gummy bears and I don't know, went on her way, I guess. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Such a weird situation.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Pretty funny though. Um, okay. I think that those are those are our stories. That's all we've got, I think. Anything else that you can remember?

SPEAKER_01:

No, but I mean the Cape, Great Hotel. Oh, yeah. Seabird, great hotel. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

I really hope my my plan for the seabird for anyone. You know what? I'll share my plan after if it works. I don't because Chase just did a devaluation of the points boost, and so and that was a piece of my plan. So let me figure it out in January and then I'll report back on if I'm able to do it or not. But I really hope I'm able to book that again because I really love going there.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, overall, we say that a really a lot of nice places this year.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. If you go back and listen to earlier episodes where we talk about globalist status, and I am, I basically say, like, I don't know that this is worth it for our family specifically. Um, I'll just let you know right now, I was wrong. It is worth it if you're worth it.

SPEAKER_01:

If you're gonna travel as much as we do, it is sweet upgrades, if available, free breakfast for what, four. Usually they just give it all five of us.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's because our daughter's little and cute for now. We'll see when they're grown. But yes. Um, if you're gonna travel like a few decent sized trips a year and stay at Hyatt's, I do think it is worth it.

SPEAKER_01:

Hyatt Regency Cologne, great hotel, yep, great location.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, all in all, we had a really fantastic year of travel, primarily thanks to points and aisles. And I like I just I was looking up a Disney cruise the other day, and I was like, God, it sounds incredible. It sounds wonderful, but like a three to four night Disney cruise where all you do is go to the Bahamas and like maybe their um castaway key or whatever, their like little island that they have for five people is five thousand dollars for three or four nights. And it's like, that's so much money. My friend was like, Do you like draining your wallet? Do you like not having money in your bank account? When I was telling her about this, and I was like, You're right, you're right. I just need to find go somewhere where we can stay with points.

SPEAKER_01:

Five thousand dollars. I mean, I saw somewhere it's cheaper to buy a plane ticket to Japan, go to Tokyo Disneyland, oh yeah, and fly back than it is to fly to Florida, go to Disney World and do the same thing.

SPEAKER_02:

That's uh I think that's a hundred percent true.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, well, also skiing, they say that about skiing too. It's easier to fly to like Europe or Japan to go skiing than it is to ski here in the US because the ski passes are so expensive. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Crazy, crazy, crazy.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, anyways, we we we're rambling now, but thank you for listening to our podcast for the last two years. Happy holidays to you, Merry Christmas, happy holidays to you, your family, and everyone you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Happy New Year.

SPEAKER_02:

We wish you guys an incredibly blessed 2026. Yep, and we will be back in two weeks with a fresh new episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Of who knows?

SPEAKER_02:

Of my choosing that I haven't chosen yet, but I will. Yep. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for listening, thanks for tuning in.

SPEAKER_02:

We appreciate you. Bye.

SPEAKER_01:

Have a good one.

SPEAKER_02:

Bye.