Hi Reader,

We hope your July was everything you needed it to be! This summer has flown by & gone terribly slow all at the same time, if that's even possible??

If you're squeezing in any last minute summer travel before the season wraps up, we've been busy refreshing content on the blog that might help! Things like our 7 day cruise packing list - carry on only, obviously - plus our fav excursions during a Mediterranean cruise, kid friendly things to do in Hilton Head, or a quiet getaway at Cape San Blas.

We also have two brand new blog posts: 9 Day Itinerary for London, Amsterdam, & Paris & 4 Day Amsterdam Itinerary: A Guide for First Timers.

HIGHLIGHTS YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT BELOW

📝 Going down the points & miles rabbit hole

🇻🇳 Info on our Vietnam women only group trip

🧳 Amanda reviewed popular carry on luggage

☕ Kayla found a new coffee shop she loves & went to a world cup game to cheer on Egypt!

✈️ WE'RE LEARNING POINTS & MILES FROM SCRATCH

Full transparency: we have been leaving money on the table for years.

Three years of consistent travel and we've redeemed one or two free hotel nights & one or two free flights. That's it. The more we learn about points and miles, the more we realize how much we've been missing and we're done leaving money on the table.

So we're starting from scratch and figuring it out in real time, and we want share everything we learn with you as we go.

Here's what we know so far:

• Points add up faster than you think when you're actually paying attention to your card benefits. In just two weeks Amanda has gained 2,000+ points simply by checking the daily offers on her Capital One card before making regular purchases.

Here's how it works: before making your purchases, check the Capital One app for that day's offers and apply them before checkout. They have online & in store offers.

Current examples of live offers: CVS 20x miles, Panera 10x miles, Columbia 35x miles, Etsy 9x miles, Lyft 10x miles, Dollar General 15x miles. These rotate daily and take about 30 seconds to check.

• Most credit cards offer significant sign up bonuses - the Chase Sapphire Preferred recently ran a promo of 100,000 points when you spend $5k in the first 3 months. So if you know a large purchase is coming (new furniture, home improvement, or say, joining our Vietnam trip 👀), it can be worth timing a new card application to put that spend toward the minimum and earn the bonus more sustainably. For context: 100,000 Chase points can be worth $1,000–$1,500+ depending on how you redeem them. That's an international flight. Possibly two.

We are just getting started down this rabbit hole and Amanda is already building spreadsheets. We want to turn everything we learn into a practical resource for travelers like us, so we need your help.

Reply to this email with your favorite points and miles resources, tricks you swear by, or creators you follow - we're collecting everything and building it into something useful to share back with the whole community.

GROUP TRIPS

🇻🇳 Vietnam Girls Trip: We have 12 spots left! So far we have 2 sets of sisters, 2 couples, 3 solo travelers & one of the women who came to Egypt with us in March, and we're looking for more ladies to join us!

We're completely obsessed with this itinerary. We are doing a food tour, going on sampan boat rides through UNESCO sites and caves, a bicycle ride past ancient temples, a hike up a mountain that is dotted with stone dragons, a cruise in Halong Bay, and so much more. It's going to be un-pho-gettable.

👯 WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

We've been working nonstop on the final details of our upcoming group trip to Egypt. Our fav part of the last minute push has been hours of convos trying to plan super intentional welcome gift bags for the ladies joining us 👀 (This is the first time they're hearing about them - SURPRISE!)

Researching for our Vietnam group trip - everything from souvenirs to spa treatments to food. You know we're type A planners, and we're trying to find alllll the fun things for our group to do during our down time.

And spending LOTS of time on the phone together because we won't see each other in person for 49 more days 🥲

Amanda recently shared her thoughts on carry on luggage (watch the review here or shop her favs here).

Kayla discovered a new coffee shop that she loves just outside of Atlanta & went to a world cup game to cheer on Egypt!

Kayla It's been BUSY. I went to Hilton Head with my family, where I ate a lot of delicious seafood, visited my favorite thrift stores, and got stung by jellyfish (10/10 do not recommend). My daughter started Kindergarten, and we've been celebrating her 5th birthday! In between the big life moments, I went to FIFA Fan Fest in Atlanta to cheer on Egypt in their match against Argentina. Sadly, Egypt lost and it was brutally hot. But it was an incredible environment to be in, and I had a ton of fun. AND, I ran into one of the ladies from our last Egypt girls trip, who was also cheering for Egypt! So this is your warning that if you come on one of our group trips, you might find yourself cheering for a country other than your own at the next world sporting event.

Amanda I’ve been in St Louis for 8 months now & only have 2 months left before I move again (place still TBD!). You can see my ratings on some things I've done here, but some of my favorite local finds have been butter love skin body butter (they ship!), making a scented candle & trying new restaurants (Saucy Porka, Gramophone, STL Steak & Cake and Tin Roof)! Reply to this email with your STL recs & I’ll try to fit them all in before I move again!

❤️ HELPFUL RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 We have a 58 page Edinburgh Guidebook and map companion that has everything you need to plan your dream trip to Edinburgh!

✈️ Want to be in the know on the best flight deals from your home airport? Going.com has free and paid membership options. We love that you still book directly through the airline. Going just tells you the deals and when to book (plus you can set flight alerts!).

🛡️ Faye is our fav travel insurance. Full transparency, it's not the cheapest option on the market. But they offer protection for trip interruption, damages, and injury / illness. And they have quick turnaround times on claims + excellent communication. You get what you pay for, and this is one service we recommend all travelers pay for.

🛍️ Wanna see what items we're using in our own travels? Check out our Amazon Storefront and ShopMy collections. We only recommend the products we actually use and love - because that's what besties do.

🫶 Don't forget we have a whole travel blog dedicated to helping YOU plan your trips! If you've got an upcoming trip planned, check to see if we've written a blog post about it.

From our suitcase to yours,

Kayla & Amanda

​The Stickered Suitcase​

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