Promotions Archives - Dads Who Travel

October 2, 2017June 14, 2018

SAS Kids Fly Free Promotion

Traveling with our kids has been one of the greatest joys in my life. Unfortunately, even though kids don’t take up much room, the airlines still charge full price for a child’s seat on the airplane. So, when I read about the SAS Kids Fly Free Promotion, I became really excited.

Do Kids Fly Free?

In the United States, kids fly free from birth until they turn two years old. Once they turn two, then you need to buy them a ticket.

And don’t think you can fool the airlines by lying about your kid’s age. Even when your child is a newborn, they will request a birth certificate when you check in for your flight.

Some parents choose to buy their children seats before they have to so that the baby or toddler has more room to move around. However, I’m pretty frugal, and we didn’t start buying tickets for our kids until we had to. In fact, in the months leading up to our kids turning 2 years old, we flew almost every weekend because we knew we’d soon be buying additional tickets for the kid.

SAS Kids Fly Free Promotion

With the SAS Kids Fly Free promotion, each adult can bring up to 8 children with them to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, or Finland. Children have to be 11 years or younger to be eligible for this promotion.

You will need to buy an adult ticket, but each child is only charged the cost of taxes.

SAS Kids Fly Free. Flying SAS to Stockholm January 2017 — Flying SAS to Stockholm January 2017

Kids Fly Free Promotion Details

For this promotion, you have to book your flights by October 5, 2017, for travel between November 1 through December 19, 2017 or January 8 through May 31, 2018.

You may depart from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Newark, or Washington, DC to cities served by SAS in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, or Finland.

Children must be accompanied by a passenger who is at least 16 years old. The site does say that children ages 6-11 can also travel as unaccompanied minors, so there are a few conflicting details.

I can imagine what kind of disaster it would be for a 16-year-old to watch 8 kids under the age of 12!!! Heck, I wouldn’t even want an adult to fly solo with 8 kids under the age of 12.

All children must have their own passport. Don’t worry, it is totally easy to apply for a child’s passport. And I recommend that all kids get Global Entry to speed up their wait through customs when re-entering the US.

You need to have a letter of consent signed by the child’s parents if 1) both parents are not going on the flight or 2) someone other than the child’s parents is the responsible adult. To be safe, I would have this letter of consent notarized. I flew with Timmy to Stockholm, Sweden in January 2017 and didn’t have a letter of consent, but it would have been safer if we had one.

For full details, you can visit the SAS Kids Fly Free promotion website.

Sample flight using SAS Kids Fly Free promotion

I looked at a sample flight from Los Angeles to Stockholm in November 2017 using SAS Go Saver fares and the total taxes per child was only $51.09! What an amazing deal!!!

SAS Kids Fly Free promotion LAX to ARN November 2017 — Sample fare for adult and 8 children from LAX to Stockholm.

Dad Says

Traveling with kids is a memorable experience. And with promotions like this SAS Kids Fly Free, it makes exploring the world much more affordable! I don’t recommend taking 8 kids by yourself, but you certainly can.

Will you be taking advantage of this promotion?

July 28, 2017June 14, 2018

Earn Miles With Back to School Shopping Bonus

It is that time of year where summer vacation is half over and thoughts turn towards getting ready for the new school year. Timmy doesn’t start school until the end of August, but some families start in just a week or two. We all need to do some back-to-school shopping. Timmy’s 1st-grade list includes 17 very specific items that we need to shop for. Luckily, we know how to earn rewards with back to school shopping bonus opportunities to maximize the airline miles we’ll earn to get us that much closer to the next vacation!

Using Airline Portals For Shopping Bonuses

I highly encourage you to use shopping portals to earn miles, points, or cash back for any online shopping you do. However, during back-to-school shopping and holiday shopping, it is even more important to do so because of the extra bonuses that you can earn.

Keep in mind that these bonus miles and points are in addition to the points you normally earn using the shopping portals and any rewards you will earn from your credit card.

Southwest Airlines back to school shopping bonus

Southwest Airlines is offering 2,000 Rapid Rewards bonus points when you use their shopping portal and spend $550 online. You’ll need to spend at least $125 to trigger the lowest bonus of 250 points.

The Southwest Airlines back to school shopping bonus is available through August 18, 2017, and details can be found here.

American Airlines back to school shopping bonus

American Airlines back to school shopping bonus is very similar to the Southwest Airlines promotion. With American Airlines, you’ll receive 2,000 AAdvantage miles when you spend at least $500. To earn the minimum amount of miles (500 AA miles), you need to spend $150.

The American Airlines back to school shopping bonus is also available through August 18, 2017. For more details and to start earning, click here for the American Airlines shopping portal.

Dad Says

If you’re going to spend the money anyway, try to get the most value you can from your hard-earned money. When it comes to back to school shopping, use an online portal to earn extra rewards and pay attention to bonus opportunities where you can earn

July 24, 2017June 14, 2018

How to get a free car seat from Hertz

One of the problems when traveling with children and renting a car is what to do about car seats. You can struggle with bringing the car seats on the plane. You can check them with the airlines and risk paying a baggage fee. Or you can rent a car seat from the rental car company for a pretty hefty amount of money. I’m going to share with you how to get a free car seat from Hertz as well as some other options.

Bring a car seat on the plane

I personally don’t like this option for small children because it is just one more thing that you need to bring on to a plane.24 With airlines cutting the seat pitch (distance between seats), it is harder and harder to squeeze anything reasonable into your seat.

Plus, car seats can be pretty heavy and bulky. And if your children fall asleep on planes like my kids do, the last thing you want to do is try to carry a sleeping child, your carry-ons, AND a car seat!

If you MUST bring a car seat on a plane, consider a car seat travel belt that will allow you to strap the car seat to your suitcase to more easily transport it to and from your flight.

free car seat from Hertz Car Seat Travel Belt — Image courtesy of Amazon.

Luckily, Timmy is old and big enough where we can easily carry his booster seat with us when we travel. So, that’s a reasonable option. However, for Scarlett, there is no way I would carry her car seat on to the plane.

Check the Car Seat with the Airline

If you want to bring your own car seat, the best option is to check it with the airline. However, be careful of airlines that charge fees for luggage. Luckily, most airlines waive fees for car seats and strollers, but check with your preferred airline BEFORE booking your flight! That’s one of the reasons why my preferred airline is Southwest. You can check two bags per person without any fees (as long as your bag is 50 lbs or less).

If your airline does charge for checked bags, consider getting the airline’s co-branded credit card that will waive fees for checked bags. My approach is that, if you need to check one bag, might as well save yourself the hassle of carry-on luggage and check them all. You’re going to be waiting around baggage claim anyway.

You don’t want to have to lug around a car seat, right? So, do what we do when we bring a car seat. Get a rolling car seat bag that is ideal for carrying not only your car seat, but also diapers, wipes, and a bag full of dirty kids clothes (when coming home from vacation, obviously).

free car seat from Hertz Wheelie Car Seat Bag — Image courtesy of Amazon.

This bag has shoulder straps to easily carry it while keeping your hands free, you can pull the handle like you would a rolling suitcase, or you can attach it to your suitcase and roll it around. Super simple and convenient.

Rent a car seat from the car rental company

Renting a car seat is a decent option when you’re traveling for just a couple of days. However, those daily charges of $10-$30 a day can really add up quickly! If you’re getting a really good deal on the rental car and using airline miles and hotel points for your stay, splurging a few bucks to avoid the hassle can certainly be worth it.

However, did you know that you can get a free car seat from Hertz?

How to get a free car seat from Hertz

When you’ve decided that it’s time to rent a car seat instead of carrying one around like a pack mule, there are a couple ways of getting around paying for the car seat rental.

When booking your car rental, use Hertz and the AAA promo code 1805452 to have the car seat fees waived. We used this promo code when we traveled to Orlando for Scarlett’s 2nd birthday. We brought Timmy’s booster seat and used the free rental for Scarlett to save money and have one less thing to carry around with us through the airport. For this AAA benefit and so many more, check out the AAA benefits your membership buys you.

free car seat from Hertz Hertz #1 Club Gold Orlando

As an alternative, if you can’t get a free car seat from Hertz, trying contacting the local AAA office to borrow a car seat. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll have to figure out how to get to the AAA office with your child without a car seat. Not all offices offer this service, so please call ahead to confirm that they offer this service to members.

If you’re a member of the National PTA, you can use the promo code 1929580 to have the car seat charges waived as well.

Click here to use our referral link for the best deals directly available from Hertz. When using either the AAA or National PTA promo codes, just remember that the Hertz location may ask for a membership card or other confirmation of membership in order for the discount to apply.

Dad Says

Rental car fee add-ons like car seat, insurance, or fuel surcharges really add up. We avoid renting a car whenever possible during our travels. But, some destinations are difficult to explore without a car. Consider getting a free car seat from Hertz during your next rental by using the promo codes discussed above. It’s a great way to save money, stay safe, and reduce the amount of stuff you need to bring with you on vacation.

July 16, 2017April 2, 2018

Kids Bowl Free All Summer

We normally talk about traveling with kids (with or without Mommy) on this site. But the reality is that most families don’t have the time or money to travel all the time. So, here’s a great idea for family fun that won’t break the bank. With this special promo, kids bowl free all summer! There’s no cost or catch. Basically, bowling alleys know that an adult has to go with them and kids get hungry and thirsty, so that’s how they’ll make their money.

Bowling Is Good Family Fun

On Friday night, we took Scarlett to the “date night” at her school. Instead of leaving Timmy there also so Anna and I could have an adult date night, we had a “Timmy Date Night.” Ever since Scarlett was born a couple of years ago, Timmy hasn’t had the same attention as he did when was an only child. Anna and decided it would be a good idea to have “dates” with each kid by themselves every so often.

Timmy was extremely excited when he found out about our plans and given the choice between bowling and mini-golf, he picked bowling.

And you could just feel how happy Timmy and Mommy were after they both threw strikes!

After bowling a couple of games and sharing a pizza, we stopped for some ice cream to share at home after we picked up Scarlett from “date night.” We’re looking forward to taking Scarlett on our next bowling adventure!

Luckily, we found a kids bowl free all summer promotion where Timmy and Scarlett can bowl more often.

Kids Bowl Free All Summer

To sign up and have your kids bowl free this summer, click on KidsBowlFree.com and select your state. In California, there were 54 different bowling alleys available! And I found one that was really close to our house.

Check your state, and I’m sure there will be some great choices available to you and your family.

When you sign up, your kids bowl free all summer up to 2 games per day! The age requirements vary by bowling alley, but our bowling alley allowed children ages 15 and under to participate.

Each week, you’ll receive an email with your coupons. Just print them out and bring them with you to the bowling alley. It is that simple.

The Fine Print

Some bowling alleys charge for shoe rentals. So, consider buying your own if you’re going to bowl a lot. I saw several pairs of boys’ bowling shoes in the $20-$30 range on Amazon.

This year, the free bowling started in early June and kids bowl free all summer until September 3, 2017.

You do need to re-register again each year so your kids can bowl free all summer, so set a reminder on your calendar to register June 1 of next year.

Parents Aren’t Free, But There’s Still A Great Deal

It’s awesome that kids bowl free all summer, but you can’t send a 6 and 2-year-old to the bowling alley by themselves, right? That’s where the bowling alleys make some money. They know that parents will go with the kids. But, there’s an inexpensive way around that too!

Parents can also bowl each day with this promotion for a flat fee of $34.95. With this payment, you’ll also receive 2 free games of bowling per day, just like the kids.

If you use our referral link and the promo code “JULY5” you’ll get the Family Pack for only $29.95!

Not bad, right? Bowling a couple of games can easily set you back $10 a person (or more) for an adult. That means you can cover the cost of the Family Pack in just 3 visits (or quicker if both Mom & Dad go!).

Dad Says

The kids bowl free all summer promotion is pretty sweet. You may need to pay to rent bowling shoes and the occasional drink and snack, but that’s a cheap price to pay for some awesome family fun. I’ve signed up and we look forward to taking Timmy and Scarlett for some fun and laughter at the bowling alley this summer.