I absolutely love traveling with my husband.
Anywhere and everywhere! I’ve never been so excited about holidays until I met my husband. Travelling got so much more fun and exciting with him. Wether you are travelling solo or with a companion, vacations and rest are so so important and here’s why:
Psychology Today writes “Vacations have the potential to break into the stress cycle. We emerge from a successful vacation feeling ready to take on the world again. We gain perspective on our problems, get to relax with our families and friends, and get a break from our usual routines.”
Everyone goes through stress at different levels and are stressed out at different amounts. Some, when even talking about taking work off and travelling, stresses them out. Vacations are rest and everyone needs rest.
I turned 30 years young this month and so my wonderful husband came to me with the idea to travel somewhere for my birthday. Of course I thought that was a fabulous idea! We, being travellers already, had some places in mind where we wanted to go. We both thought of Victoria, BC. I went to Victoria when I was in elementary school and my husband also visited Victoria years ago.
So we thought that we would go to Victoria together and view:
Beacon Hill (FREE)
Craigdarrch Castle (FREE to walk around the outside of the castle)
Hatley Castle and Garden (FREE to walk around the outside of the castle)
Now, two years ago I blogged about how we went to Disneyland for FREE. Yes, you read that right. We flew and stayed in California for FREE and it was fabulous! Vacations are fantastic all on their own but let me tell you something, when you don’t have to pay for the vacation you want, that makes vacationing so much easier to do!
I find when I come up with, what I think is a fabulous idea, I sometimes forget the “how to get from A to B”. Here is some math for you:
2 Adults flying WestJet in flex is $1376.00 plus $193.22 in taxes, fees and charges coming to a total of $1569.22. This total just being the flight. No hotel and only for this coming weekend. (EXCITING NEWS: the flights for going to Victoria get cheaper after this weekend) So the cost for people not taking advantages of free offers would be paying over $1500!!! I don’t know about you but, I mean that’s not insane but not the amount I want to pay if I’m “just going somewhere for the weekend”. To me, I’d BADLY have to want to go to Victoria for that price. (That’s more than the cost of my summer vacation plans!)
Have a credit card? Perfect! Then keep reading because if yours isn’t working for you then it is time to switch! (seriously)
Now, the last time I promoted WestJet and RBC I had a reader not like what I had to say. They messaged me saying that I must have been affiliated with them (basically conning people) or they were paying me to talk about my trip (man I would have LOVED THAT!). He criticized me and commented that I was trying to get people in debt! Excuse me, but I am not responsible for my readers financial decisions. However, I do hope that if you have a credit card that you are using it wisely and using it to benefit you! No one took “Managing Money 101” in high school so unfortunately as adults we have to make responsible financial decisions (for ourself) which again leads me to promoting the WestJet RBC Mastercard.
WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard. The card that saves you money on travel!
Rewards:
“Lots of ways to earn WestJet dollars
- Get 250 welcome WestJet dollars with your first purchase11.5% back in WestJet dollars on everyday purchases22% back in WestJet dollars on WestJet flights or WestJet Vacations‡ packages using your card2Go anywhere WestJet flies
- Receive an annual round-trip companion voucher and go anywhere WestJet flies — starting at $991 (plus taxes, fees and charges).^
Redeem for your choice of destination
-
- Canada and the Continental U.S. for $99^
- Hawaii, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for $299^
- Europe for $399^
^Plus taxes, fees and charges
Your first checked bag is free
For the primary cardholder on WestJet flights and up to 8 guests3It’s easy to redeem WestJet dollars
Redeem your WestJet dollars to pay for WestJet flights or WestJet Vacations packages4 — no blackouts or seat restrictions — to destinations across North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Or, let your WestJet dollars take you farther with our new Member Exclusive fares and fly to additional destinations in Asia, Africa, South America and more with partner airlines. The world is waiting for you.”
Since Disneyland we have not flown anywhere. We just didn’t have the time, not that we didn’t want to. We moved and had another baby life was busy and a balancing act! But that makes it even more important to look after yourself, rest and not be stressed out. Take vacation time and make it a priority for you and / or your family.
So remember the $1569.22 I talked about earlier? That was just to fly to Victoria. We also stayed at the hotel Inn at Laural Point. We stayed in an upgraded room because I wanted a fabulous view and a nice big bathtub! The big total of that out being (approximately) $788.49. I’ll let my calculator do the math for you. This trip could have cost an approximate total of $2,357.71.
We had just two short years worth of WestJet dollars saved up (and by “saved up” I mean we didn’t use them because we didn’t fly anywhere) plus the companion fee (FYI it RENEWS EVERY YEAR). We usually fly just the basic plain economy to save money but we had enough WestJet dollars to fly flex and stayed waterfront at the Inn at Laural Point. We used a WestJet vacation package to have both fly and sleep for FREE! It was fantastic. (However yes, as always, we had to pay for taxes – thanks Caesar)
It cost us less then $330 to travel and stay in Victoria. #andthatshowitsdone
That is awesome! We do have a West Jet card:)