Review: Chase Sapphire Reserve

Jocelyn
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Review: Chase Sapphire Reserve

I had been a Chase Sapphire Preferred customer for about four years when the Chase Sapphire Reserve came out. I had no complaints. The 2x points that I received for all travel-related purchases were great, the flexibility I had to use my points for travel was wonderful. So did I need to the Chase Sapphire Reserve? No. Did I want to go from a $95 annual fee to a $450 annual fee? No. But 3x the points on travel-related purchases, the $300 annual travel credit, 100K point bonus and the Priority Pass Lounge access did me in.

So what do I think now that I’m two months in? I love it!

$450 Annual Fee – Yes, this is a big increase from $95 a year. But if you take the $300 annual travel credit into account that’s leaves you with only a $55 difference. Plus the fact that you’ll be racking up 3x the points on travel-related purchases, resulting in more points to spend (at a better rate) in the future.

$300 Travel Credit – I’ve heard this can get slowly credited back to you over time for small purchases, like Uber rides. However, I happened to be purchasing over $300 worth of flights soon after I received my card and by the next day the $300 travel credit had been issued to my account.

100,000 Point Bonus – I’m one of those people who puts everything on their credit card and [almost] always pays it off that month. I see spending money through a debit card as a waste – no one is rewarding you for that! So I hit my $4,000 spend in less than 2 months and a few days later the 100,000 points were sitting in my account. Pretty sweet! I know that I won’t get this bonus every year, but the fact that this bonus points will help pay for 8 nights on my upcoming trip to Chile isn’t anything to shrug your shoulders at!

Priority Pass – What I like about this is the flexibility (especially internationally, you usually have access to multiple lounges compared to say, one United or Delta lounge), the fact that I can bring a guest for free, or even add someone to my account for $75 a year and they can use it on their own, and that this was just an added benefit of the card – not another additional fee. Beware though – this is not automatic and you need to activate this through your Chase Account once you get your credit card. Update: I used this for the first time in November 2016 – I checked out the lounges in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Manila. Log Angeles and one of the lounges in Hong Kong were definitely my favorite – but at the end of the day they all give you a little bit of a quiet escape with free snacks, meals, drinks, etc. and I can’t really complain about that!

Rewards Flexibility – While this isn’t just limited to the Reserve card, I love the flexibility I have with using my points. I can transfer them to a number of hotel or airline partners (if it makes sense) or I can just book rewards through the Chase Rewards Portal at a 1.5 rate. This also means I’m not tied to booking at a Marriott or a Hyatt, but I could end up at any number of different boutique hotels – which can be especially important if you are traveling to a smaller town or somewhere off the beaten track. I do recommend always checking the hotel’s rates on their websites or sites like hotels.com or agoda.com as sometimes you can get a great deal and the valuation on the Chase site is not a good one.

Chase Sapphire Preferred – What did I do with this guy? Well, I knew once I had my Reserve card I wouldn’t be using the Preferred card much anymore and it seemed silly to pay two annual fees, so I downgraded it to one of the no-fee Chase Freedom cards (rather than canceling it and affecting my credit). Make sure you do not just upgrade the Preferred to the Reserve either, or you will lose out on the 100,000 point bonus!

In conclusion, if you’re in the market for a new card (or maybe even if you are not) I highly recommend considering the Chase Sapphire Reserve! Feel free to comment with any questions you may have and I’ll be happy to share my experience!

Cuba: What To Know Before You Go

Jocelyn
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Cuba: What To Know Before You Go

Now that it’s easier than ever to get to Cuba from the United States, articles are popping up everywhere with what you should know and do before going to Cuba. Here is what we found helpful:

  1. Exchange US Dollars into Euros before you go. If you don’t, you’ll be charged a 10% tax when you exchange your money in Cuba.
  2. Bring more money than you think you’ll need. Yes, the mojitos are $2 and there are plenty of other things that are inexpensive in Cuba, but it can still add up! We spent about $100 per person, per day.
  3. Even when you’re on a US website (like Airbnb) your credit card company will know you’re in Cuba and not let you book and pay for one. We ran into this when we tried to book our last night in Cuba while in Cuba.
  4. Everyone knows someone who… has a place for you to stay, can drive you to another city, can take you on a day trip, the list goes on. We relied a decent amount on our hosts helping us out with things and I think it made the experience just that much better.
  5. We enjoyed being off the grid, but if you’re really hankering for the internet, it won’t be too hard to find. Just look for the street corners where everyone is sitting around on cell phones and laptops.
  6. Going with someone who is decently fluent in Spanish helps, a lot. While many people speak at least some English, many don’t, and being able to have conversations with those who spoke more Spanish made a big difference in our time there.
  7. Offline apps (and maps!) were super helpful – we had Tripadvisor Havana City Guide, Triposo, etc.
  8. Always bargain – it was helpful to ask our host how much something would cost so we knew what we should be bargaining down to.
  9. Bring gifts! We heard pens and spark plugs were hot commodities and we were also asked for baseball magazines.
  10. Black market cigars are definitely up for sale. If you want to buy cigars and get them for a decent price, I’d get a good understanding of how you can tell if the cigars are legit or not before you end up with a box of fakes!

Read about our adventures in Trinidad here and Havana here!

Tranquil Trinidad

Jocelyn
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Tranquil Trinidad

The other stop on our Cuba tour was the small town of Trinidad, about 4 hours southeast of Havana. Once there (after a longer than 4 hour, hot and sweaty, taxi collectivo ride) we immediately fell in love with the place and the people.

Where to Stay

I believe there are a handful of hotels in Trinidad, and definitely a few more down by the beach in Playa Ancon, but I’d definitely recommend staying at a casa particular.

We stayed at Luis’ house right on Calle Desengano (follow this road a few blocks up to the main plaza). I would highly recommend staying with him if he has availability. You can check him out here on Airbnb. He was very helpful – from having a scuba instructor come over to talk to us about the visibility (unfortunately it had rained a foot before we had arrived) to booking us a place to stay when we decided to stay for an extra night to arranging a trip to Javira waterfall for us.

The third night we stayed at Hostal La Salernitana which was another great place for 30 CUC a night just around the corner. You can reach them at [email protected] or a number of other websites (Airbnb, Hostels Club, etc.).

Where To Eat

We personally had much better food experiences in Trinidad. Here’s where we recommend!

Son y Sol – one of our favorite places the entire trip. A bit Indian-inspired. We ordered the chicken samosas to start which were on the spicy side and delicious. I had the chicken with red wine as my entree which was pretty good, but not as flavorful as Toby’s lobster with ginger and pineapple (probably my favorite thing I tried all week). They also had live music and lots of antiques in the front of the restaurant as well.

La Redaccion – we sat out back here, hoping it would be cooler than inside. It wasn’t, but there were at least fans. I had the seafood risotto (potentially not the best pick for a hot and humid night, but nevertheless delicious).

El Ranchon – I’m not sure how you’d come upon this place unless you read about it online beforehand, as it was a few blocks south of where everything else was going on on a very quiet and unassuming street. We actually ended up here after meeting a lobster fisherman at the beach and he invited us for dinner – all the lobster you could eat for 12 CUC. Do it. The food was delicious and the owner was so nice and friendly – he also has rooms for rent as well. And, they really mean as much as you can eat. Toby ate at least 2.5 pounds.

Restaurante San Jose – this came recommended from Luis. We unknowingly wandered into an air conditioned room which felt absolutely amazing. We ended up eating lunch here twice. Recommendations – the Cuban and the burger.

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Where To Drink & Dance

Casa de la Musica – you can’t come to Trinidad without hearing about Casa de la Musica and as touristy as it may or may not be, you at least have to check it out for a drink, some music, and some salsa. A live band plays and there are tables and chairs in front of the stage. When they run out of chairs take a spot on the steps. Waiters come by and take your drink order, or you can visit a handful of bars around the area.

Disco Ayala – another place that you’ll probably hear about before getting to Trinidad. A disco down about 30 meters in a cave. After things die down a bit at Casa de la Musica, continue your walk up the hill and head in for a drink. It’s hot, sweaty, the floor was soaking wet (booze, cave condensation, sweat, a combination?) and costs a few CUC to get in (but includes a drink) but just do it. Even if you stay for less than 30 minutes (like we did).

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Bodeguita de Medio – check this place out for a drink and some great live music – maybe even a bit of salsa dancing!

Other bars we visited were La Canchanchara (this had been recommended to us but both times we went by it was pretty empty so we decided not to stay) and the tiniest bar across from a beer garden on Calle Gutierrez. We completely failed at getting the name, but if you find it (seriously the tiniest bar ever with tiny little tables and soccer flags) tell Leandro we said hello!

What To Do

Once you’ve wandered around town a bit (it doesn’t take long to do so) it’s really more about what you can do outside of town.

Javira Waterfall – located in El Cubano National Park, you can walk, bike, take a horse, or just take a taxi there. Reading this, you might think oh, a bike ride to a hike sounds like a great idea…but in reality it is probably going to be really hot and humid. We took a taxi and never looked back. There is a 10 CUC entrance fee and a restaurant and bathrooms before you begin. The hike was about 40 minutes through the forest (crossing the river in knee deep water a few times) before coming upon the waterfall. It was beautiful, the water was cold and refreshing, and if you could handle the current you could swim all the way over to it.

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Playa Ancon – scuba, snorkel or just relax at the beach! We had planned to scuba but a tropical storm had dropped over a foot of a rain on Cuba before we had arrived so the visibility was terrible. We opted for a lazy afternoon swimming in the warm water. It’s a 6-8 CUC, 15 minute taxi ride there and back. There are hotels there, and we found that the hotel next to Hotel Ancon had a little beach bar and even delivered us sandwiches to our chairs. Whether you want food and drinks or not, there are lots of lounge chairs and umbrellas to sit underneath (be prepared to pay 2 CUC).

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There are a few other excursions from Trinidad, other horseback riding adventures and checking out old sugar factories, but we ran out of time.

If you are planning a trip to Cuba I highly, highly recommend making your way to Trinidad. The town is wonderful and the variety of outdoor activities you can do brings a nice change from city life.

Read more about our Cuba adventures on our Havana post, here.

Havana Nights

Jocelyn
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Havana Nights

Once the travel ban to Cuba had been lifted, we knew we wanted to get there before things really started to change. I had been waiting for commercial flights from the United States to start when I came upon a reasonably priced flight from Tijuana. Making the decision even easier was the CBX bridge that would take you right into the airport. We booked our flights to go over Toby’s 40th birthday (coinciding with Labor Day weekend). Broken up between the beginning and of our trip, we had about two full days in Havana which for us was the right amount of time.

Where To Stay

While there are a number of hotels in Havana, we opted to go the Airbnb route. This seemed to be the recommended way to go, so we didn’t even check out hotel prices – although we heard they were quite expensive for the quality.

Vedado – The first part of the trip we stayed at an Airbnb in Vedado. A 5-10 CUC (if you’re not familiar, 1 CUC = 1 USD) taxi ride to Havana Vieja, it had more of a local neighborhood feel rather than being in the middle of lots of tourist spots. This sounded to us but we actually found ourselves just spending extra money taking taxis to Havana Vieja numerous times during our stay – besides one dinner we had in Havana Vieja. Our Airbnb offered to make us breakfast for 5 CUC each morning and all we had to do was let them know what time – eggs, bread, fruit, fresh juice and Cuban coffee – all you need to get the day going.

Havana Vieja – also known as Old Havana. This was the more touristy part of town – filled with lots of plazas, museums, restaurants, bars, government buildings, and the hotels. While yes, a little more touristy, when we stayed here the night before heading back to the states it made it so much simpler to pop in and out of our Airbnb during the day. We stayed at Casa Colonial Del 1715 for 30 CUC, and another 5 CUC per person for breakfast.

My recommendation – perhaps if we had spent a longer time in Havana I would have had more time to appreciate staying in Vedado, but with such short stays it definitely seemed a bit more convenient to stay in Havana Vieja.

Where To Eat

We hadn’t heard anything all that amazing about the food in Cuba so we arrived with low expectations. While some meals weren’t the best – there were a few in Havana that I’d definitely recommend checking out!

El Idilio – this restaurant is located in Vedado in more of a quiet neighborhood. I doubt we would have stumbled upon it had I not heard about it prior to going. The Ropa Vieja was very good, as was their lobster special and the Aguacate Relleno con Camarones (shrimp in a giant avocado). Good prices and was walking distance to where we stayed in Vedado.

Lamparilla Tapas y Cervezas – we stumbled upon this little bar/restaurant as it was a block from our Airbnb in Havana Vieja. It looked much more modern than many of the other bars and restaurants we had come across – we found out it was funded by foreign money. We didn’t up having time to have a real meal there – but the drinks were good, the service was fantastic and the chicken croquettes we had were delicious. If you go you have to ask for Damary – she was our favorite waitress!

Other restaurants that were on our list that we didn’t make it to included Dona Eutimia in Havana Vieja (they were closed until October 1), La Guarida in Central Havana and Cafe Laurent and Atelier, both in Vedado.

Where to Drink & Dance

While neither of us are big rum drinkers, it’s tough to go to Cuba and not enjoy some mojitos and daquiris while listening to live music and watching salsa dancing.

La Floridita – one of Hemingway’s favorite bars and known for their Daquiris, this is definitely a touristy spot, but we decided to pop in anyway. We grabbed seats at the bars, enjoyed a few frozen cocktails, listened to live music and watched a few people salsa dance. While we didn’t need to go back a second time, it was definitely worth stopping in for a drink.

Cafe Paris – a nice little bar in old Havana with cheap drinks and live music.

Rooftop Bar at Hotel Ambos Mundos – climb the five floors (or take the elevator – it was broken when we visited) to the rooftop bar of this pink hotel. Nice views and a relaxing atmosphere, it was a perfect mid-afternoon stop. Most of the rooftop is covered so you get a break from the hot sun as well as protection from any rain.

Bodeguita del medio – another tourist hot spot, we checked out this tiny bar from the outside. It was packed to the brim with people so we never made it inside. It claims to be the birthplace of the mojito.

Sloppy Joe’s – yet another tourist spot, located right off Parque Central, we stopped here for a beverage and some air conditioning before our classic car tour. The bar was recently renovated but still keeps some old charm and is filled with photos of celebrities who have visited throughout the years. As a few others I have mentioned, this was a popular Hemingway spot.

Fabrica de Arte Cubano – located in Vedado, this space was part art gallery, performance center, cocktail bar and snack shack all rolled into one. It is only open Thursday through Sunday, so the last day of our trip was the only day we could check it out. Very unfortunately it started pouring that evening so they shut down the venue for the evening and we didn’t get to experience what so many say is one of the best bars in Cuba. I highly recommend checking it out if you can (and letting us know what you thought!)

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What To Do

Havana Vieja – we spent a good amount of our time just wandering around the streets of Havana Vieja – stopped in different plazas, grabbing a bite or a drink here and there, taking it all in. There is a rum museum as well as a cigar factory you can take tours of (we heard this was cool but forgot you need to book this through a hotel the day prior so we ended up just buying some cigars instead).

The Malecon – more walking! The Malecon is a roadway and seawall that runs for about 5 miles along the coast of Havana. If you take a Classic Car tour you’ll probably drive down part of it, but it was nice to be able to wander along the coast for a bit at our own pace.

Classic Car Tour – make your way to Parque Central (right next door to Havana Vieja) and the classic cars will be lining up waiting for you to choose them. We paid 30 CUC for an hour tour that took us to a variety of stops – they have longer tours as well and will be happy to show you a map of everything you’ll see along the way. Not all of the drivers speak English that well so that’s something to be aware of. You can also book these tours through a hotel or website but it’ll probably be a bit more expensive.

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Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro – it reminded us a bit of the fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico, so on our last morning in Havana we decided to head over and check it out. You have to go through a tunnel to get there, so I don’t believe there are any other options other than taking a taxi (or driving yourself or going on an organized tour). We wandered around, took some photos, climbed to the top of the lighthouse and that was about it. You paid an entrance fee to just get on the grounds and then another fee if you wanted to go inside the fortress. Altogether I think it was about 10 CUC per person. Depending on your level of interest in fortresses, I don’t think this is a must-do, but it was cool to check out nevertheless.

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Learn more about our adventures in Cuba and read about our experiences in Trinidad here!

36 Hours in Portland (Maine)

Jocelyn
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36 Hours in Portland (Maine)

Somehow after 22 years of living in New England, and numerous trips to Maine, I had never spent any time in Portland. I was given the opportunity to go this past weekend for a bachelorette party (sorry, Toby!). It was too quick a trip and I definitely want to go back, but here were my thoughts on what I did get to do/eat/drink!

Where To Stay

We were a larger group (12 total) and at one point had the potential to be even more so we stuck with hotel rooms, as finding a house for up to 20 people can be a tough task! We opted for the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Portland that was a great location – walking distance to a lot of shops, restaurants, bars and the ferry. However, I was blown away at the hotel prices – I know it’s August in New England but $425 a night? If I went again with Toby or a smaller group I’d definitely check out AirBnB.

Where To Eat

Roustabout – we dinner in a private dining room our first night. This was cool, but meant an additional $100 “dining room” charge and a set, family-style menu. The whipped ricotta, chicken marsala and eggplant parmesan were delicious. The Italian cookies for desert were not. They had creative drinks as well – I’d be open to checking it out again if I was able to order off the regular menu.

Union Restaurant – on day two we came here for brunch. You should too. I haven’t even looked at their dinner menu but I would go back for dinner in a heartbeat. The Orange Cinnamon Bun with smoked bacon maple syrup and whipped mascarpone that we got for the table was amazing. I also had the omelet with ricotta and peaches – seems weird but was delicious, and came with some yummy potatoes as well.

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Sonny’s Bar & Famous Food – on night two we didn’t have dinner reservations and with a group this big it was difficult to find a place that could actually fit us all (even for an early seating!). Sonny’s had been recommended to us and after going, I see why. Lots of creative cocktails and yummy Latin food – not necessarily what you might be looking for in Portland, Maine, but their tacos, queso fundido and lobster stuffed avocado did not disappoint. Not in the mood for Latin food? I’d still definitely swing by for some cocktails.

What To Do

Sail! We did a two-hour windjammer sail with the Portland Schooner Co. You can bring your own booze and snacks and it’s a pretty relaxed couple of hours. If you’re really interested in learning a lot about what you’re sailing by though, I might pick a different company (assuming another one exists that is more informational).

Breweries! Unfortunately our self-made brewery tour never happened due to time constaints but we had planned on Rising Tide, Maine Craft Distilling, Bunker Brewing Co. and Oxbow Tasting Room, which are all very close to one another. Next time!

Bars! Being that we were on a bachelorette party (and are all in our early 30s) we hit the bars both nights after dinner. Bubba’s Sulky Lounge was perhaps one of the strangest bars I had ever been to – kind of like dancing the night away in the middle of a flea market (and cash only) but so much fun! It gets to be on the edge of more sketchy neighborhoods so taking a cab or uber might be a good idea. Our other hotspot of the weekend was the Pearl Nightclub, which was also a dive bar on one side so you could pick your poison depending on if you felt like dancing or not!

Too quick of a trip and I definitely will be back – if you have any recommendations for the next time I’m there let me know!

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