Rewards Letdown--Choice Hotels

When we signed up to earn hotel rewards with Choice Hotels, we really thought we were entering into a good program. In addition for the month of April, if you stay two nights you earn a free night.

Ah, but if only it was that simple! For instance, we stayed one night in Henderson, NV. We earned 790 points for a hotel stay costing 79.99. The second night we were in Anaheim California. We stayed three nights in Anaheim at 71.99 the first night and 79.99 the second and third nights. We should have earned 2290 points. Since it was the second night stay, they automatically put in the bonus points....we got a total of 7300 points for Anaheim.

If you read the "Freeville advertising" you initially believe that after two nights stay you would earn 8000 extra points for Comfort Inn and 6000 points for some of the lower cost hotels.

This is not true. Choice Hotels will add enought points to EQUAL 8000 from your first PLUS second stays. For instance, we received 790 points in Henderson and 2290 points in Anaheim, so they added 4910 points to equal 8000. Not much of a bonus considering the advertising.

I went back and read the advertising. It's not how I read it the first time, but I can see how they are adding the points now. What a disappointment, really.

"If it seems to good to be true!"

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Family Friendly Road Trips: Rest Stops

This is the first in a series of articles on how to make your road trip more family-friendly.

Our family took three road trips this summer: one 135 miles one-way, one 600 miles one-way, and the most recent was 1250 miles one-way. Over the last few years, we've taken quite a few road trips and with each one I grow more impatient and frustrated with places that are not family-friendly.

First, let me give you an idea of our challenges. We have four children ages 6.5 yrs, 4.5 yrs, 2.75 yrs and 10 months. This inevitably means frequent bathroom breaks, many snacks, and a really filthy car. It's also a challenge with entertainment as children so young have a much more difficult time doing "road trip activities." I'll cover activities in a future post.

Aside from food breaks, bathroom breaks are the biggest concern on the actual trip. As much as I'd love to say we only took breaks during our gas station stops, it couldn't be farther from the truth. Our strategy was to drive at least an hour and a half before we stopped.

Rest Stop Strategy:
1. For a simple bathroom break, the rest stops right off the highway (not an actual exit) work really well. Surprisingly, they were most often cleaner than fast food restaurant or gas station bathrooms. They also provide little distraction so that you can get back on the road quickly. Most also have green areas for the kids to run around for ten minutes, if needed.
2. Try to avoid fast food restaurant bathrooms. Unless you're stopping to eat there, it's a big distraction as the kids always want something. The bathrooms are also unreliable as to their cleanliness.
3. Limit Drinks. Yep, it sounds horrible! But just like any human being, boredom often means endless sipping on a drink. For our kids, we fill their cups at every stop with about 4 ounces of water. It keeps them well-hydrated, but not so much water we're stopping every half hour.


Our favorite rest stops:
Occasionally we come across really fabulous rest stops. Here are a couple. If you have one, post it in the comments and I'll add it to the list.
1. Cody, Kansas. Just off of I-70 on the south side, there is a large "Travel Stop." It has a gas station, Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, convenience store and NICE bathrooms. A huge bonus for us was a fenced in Playground! We had a picnic dinner and the girls ran off some energy. After our stop, we managed 3.5 hours in the car all at once.
2.

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