Christmas at the Ingersoll’s

December 17, 2011 - Rick

Sheraton Keauhou Bay Our Room View

We celebrate Christmas in a very subdued way on Hilton Head Island. On Christmas Eve we make cornbread stuffing for about 700 and on Christmas Day we cook and prepare meals for the Hilton Head Island Christmas Dinner. It’s a tradition we started 17 years ago in Traverse City and continue here in the south.

The crowd is different down here — not so much those in need of a hot meal, but people whose families are gone or people who are unable to travel. We have a lot of seniors here who like the company on the holiday. It’s always a big crowd and hectic in the kitchen. My golfing buddy Jeff and his new bride Carol from Michigan will be with us in the kitchen this year and spending a few days with us during the holiday. Jeff’s recovery from the kidney transplant has been miraculous, but he’s still insisting I give him extra strokes in our golf matches. That’s got to end soon!

After the preparation of the meal, we join the other volunteers for a quick Christmas snack and head home for a nap. Being on our feet all morning in the noise and commotion of the kitchen is plenty for me. The rest of the day is spent just lounging.

We don’t shop much for Christmas. Years ago we decided to give our kids the opportunities to travel, so their presents are airline tickets here and a hotel stay there. They never seem to mind the gift and we get to share their adventures on their return. In fact, this year in February we are taking Shannon, her hubby Chris, and our first grandchild Carter to St. John’s in the US Virgin Islands as their Christmas present. Shannon and Chris will scuba dive, Grandma Katybug will watch Carter, and I’ll be along offering grandfatherly love and support.

We are spending a few days in Hawaii with my sons Andrew from Australia and Aaron from (let’s see… where does he live on Christmas Day?) Michigan, just before the holidays. The only one we haven’t caught up with is Tony, Katy’s son. As a med student at U of M, he’s a hard guy to nail down. The hours they work are unbelievable and we never know until the last minute if he will be off work and able to travel. We have a mobile family and our Christmas has to last for more than just one day.

Katy and I do not exchange presents. Never have. Our marriage and partnership is the best present we ever got and we get to share that one 365 days a year. She did go to the Goodwill store on Hilton Head several days ago and bought some LL Bean slacks and blouses at $3.79 each. We didn’t do much to stimulate the economy this year.

We hope all your travels and plans work smoothly this holiday season. We are certainly looking forward to our holiday family time.

Anonymous

There are plenty of specific tips I'm sure people will list here for what rookies should not do, but maybe an overarching point you can make is whenever faced with a doubt about calling up the company, STOP and THINK about how that could affect the deal for others. Stop and Think before every step you take in this hobby.
I know I accidently called the company once when I was new to this hobby, and may have contributed to killing off a good bargain. I felt very bad afterwards. If I had slowed down just a bit, I would have caught myself.
Anonymous

The novices don't try to be subtle about the miles/points accumulation game, or about the mistake fares/room rates. For example, they would call the airline/hotel to verify the mistake fares/room rates, thereby alerting the airline/hotel to their mistake and killing the lower rates. Another thing they do is try to accumulate in the shortest time span and be blatant about it instead of keeping it at a moderate level and making it a long term thing, thereby benefiting many. Greed and stupidity hurts everyone.
bill

The beginning of the post makes it sound like I would get 100K total MR points – is that correct?

"You get:

$200 reimbursement of incidentals in the remainder of 2011 (watch the timing). I use it for AA gift cards (keep under $100 each). See Flyertalk postings about the Platinum incidental reimbursements. The reimbursements are done on a calendar year: $200 reimbursement of incidentals in the beginning of 2012. Again, I use it for AA gift cards (keep under $100 each)
50,000 Membership Rewards points (special bonus good through the end of December for meeting $1000 spend in three months). Even if you do not use the airline lounges/clubs, at this point the net outlay is $50 ($450 fee, less $400 gift cards) assuming you can use the gift cards for other travel that you would have anyway. You’d pay $50 to get into the Admiral’s Club for one day so that would break even if you were to save even one visit.

Plus, you can get the 50,000 Membership Rewards points, which I’d conservatively value at $500 if not more depending on whether you use it to apply against a ticket or transfer to one of the partners such as BA, Hyatt, Delta, etc. So the use of the lounges/clubs and the Global Entry System ($100 credit for application fee) are all gravy! And if you wait until next November and register for the Small Business Saturday, that is another $25 credit at your favorite local restaurant that takes Amex cards. You typically get the card within 2 to 4 business days of being approved, so it doesn’t take long to swing into action.– Chris N"
Matt

Do I have to specify which airline I want before I will get reimbursed for incidentals? I can't seem to find that option.

Also will it work for Delta gift cards just as American?
John

I hadn't realized that you can transfer MR points to Hawaiian miles, so that's good to know.

I assume you could then transfer the Hawaiian miles to Hilton points. You'd end up with 100k Hilton points (worth more than $450 I'd say) since Hawaiian transfers to Hilton at a rate of 1:2.
lovetotravel

Where do I send my travel tip?
Allred Fam

LOVE your blog and some of the other big-travel-bloggers! I have definitely learned a lot and have just recently had the opportunity to practice a few of the ideas, but am planning on having the time (and a move back to the States will help) to learn all I can about the world of travel-hacking. Also hope to be a "newbie" at the 2012 Chicago conference. The point is- keep up the great info.- it is definitely worth your time and effort- it is a lot of info. at times and with 3 kids running around sometimes it's hard to concentrate and get my brain wrapped around it, BUT this "game" is something that I am super excited about and I owe it to a chance-meeting with your blog!
Anonymous

Shannon: How long are you still going to consider yourself a "rookie"? You might want to consider a new title. Eh, Rick?
Chris

Bill, sorry if it was not clear but under the terms of this offer the total MR points is 50,000. The paragraph starting with "Plus you can get" was meant to discuss the value of the 50,000 MR points. There have been 100,000 point offers but usually they are targeted via email and letters to individuals.
Shannon

I have a post coming out friday on the Platinum Card. It should answer a lot of questions.

Christmas at the Ingersoll’s

Related Posts