Photography is my obsession and when traveling the world often images just present themselves. Most are random impressions with little context but some seem to suggest at a self contained story. Still others leave me wanting to find out more about what I stumbled upon. Here’s a glimpse of just why we travel…
An Aborigine offers music instruction to a tourist near the Sydney Opera House. I know, but this is legit. These are actually Aboriginal clapsticks, bilma, clappers, or music sticks, and they are a traditional Australian Aboriginal instrument usually used in conjunction with the didgeridoo. They’re also used to maintain rhythm in chants, often as part of an Aboriginal ceremony and often are ornately carved or colorfully decorated.
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Like everything else, the hotel/hospitality industry has evolved over time in size and approach to marketing. They’ve grown from a handful of major names like Hilton and Holiday Inn, each with a reputation based on the market segment they try to serve, into mega-corporations. These newer brands feature large collections of brands ranging from economical to deluxe accommodations. Many of these brands are now multi-national with many being truly global, and because they all offer a range of types and price points their marketing had to change to keep a competitive edge.
Today every major hotel chain has a loyalty reward program with the goal of turning you into a returning guest. Most every program is free to join, but they are all not the same as there can be different rules, earning point rates and comparative point values. In addition there are a variety of other benefits offered from free wifi, freebies on arrival and special discounts. How much you can save depends on your level of travel and how much you’re comfortable spending per night and especially how often you stay in hotels.
What follows are the top five international hotel reward programs that all offer the ability to earn and use the points when traveling internationally. Their scores are based on WalletHub.com scores, calculated for equivalent dollar values.
Wyndham Rewards
WalletHub Score 72.40 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $13.46
For every qualified stay at a Wyndham Rewards hotel or vacation club resort, you’ll earn 10 points per dollar or 1,000 points—whichever is more. Choose how you want to redeem your points with three simple free night tiers—7,500, 15,000, or 30,000 points per night. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Wyndham Grand, Dolce Hotels and Resorts, TRYP by Wyndham, Dazzler Hotels in Latin America, La Quinta hotels, Wingate by Wyndham, AmericInn, Ramada, Baymont, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge and Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham.
Radisson Rewards
WalletHub Score 65.95 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $12.50
Free Award Nights starting at 9,000 points with no blackout dates on Standard Rooms. Members Only Rate – save up to 10% on the best available rate when you book directly on our Radisson’s website. Earn 20 points per US dollar spent on eligible stays. Redeem points for Free Award Nights, airline miles, gift cards, prepaid cards, and more. Brands include Radisson RED, Park Plaza, art’otel, Park Inn and Country Inn and Suites.
Best Western Rewards
WalletHub Score 63.71 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $9.75
The Best Western Rewards program is divided into five levels: Blue, Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Diamond Select. •Worldwide Free Night Redemption • Points Never Expire • BWR® Exclusive Member Rates • Rich Rewards & Incentives – Earn points for redemptions including gift cards, free nights and one-of-a-kind adventures. Incorporates the Best Western branded properties along with, Glō®, Vīb® and Aiden® by Best Western.
Best Western has gone international in a big way and traveling internationally this is becoming our favorite choice in the moderate price category.
Choice Privileges
WalletHub Score 61.99 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $11.63
Enjoy rewards beginning with your very first stay. Stay weekdays for extra perks like coffee cards and online shopping credits. Use your points your way, with reward options like free nights and gift cards. Save with member-only rates and exclusive offers. Elite members also receive bonus points or welcome gifts with every stay. Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, Rodeway Inn, and Comfort, Ascend Hotel Collection and Clarion.
Marriott Bonvoy
WalletHub Score 61.01 Equivalent Earned Per $100 Spent $10.89
Participating properties include The Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis on the luxury side, JW Marriott and Westin in the middle of the range, and MOXY and Element toward the budget end of the spectrum. Cost – Elite Gold no fee, Silver Elite and base level members must pay a flat fee of $10. Marriott Bonvoy Points can be used for free nights, airfare, car rentals, gift cards, and even online shopping.
When traveling with enough accumulated points this is our choice in many large international cities.
Accor Hotels
These hotels are part of an international group with properties around the globe. Their brands represent hotels from economy to luxury and the group is famous for offering special packages at remarkable rates.
Approximate WalletHub Score range 60 to 45. Earn from 5 to 35 points for every $15 spent depending on the reward status and the hotel chain.
The Accor group’s brands welcome you to over 100 countries throughout the world, in over 5,100 hotels for the most unforgettable stays. The group includes Mercure Hotels, Swissotel, Ibis, Greet, Adagio, Jo & Joe, Tribe and Novotel.
In Asia we’ve stayed a number of times at their Mercure Hotels (Singapore Mercure pictured above) and have been very impressed with the accommodations and the value. Their emailed special offers are always worth considering.
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Photography is my obsession and when traveling the world often images just present themselves. Most are random impressions with little context but some seem to suggest at a self contained story. Still others leave me wanting to find out more about what I stumbled upon. Here’s a glimpse of just why we travel…
On the waterfront in Cobh, Ireland stands a statue of a young girl with her two younger brothers. Her name was Annie Moore and her brothers were Anthony and Phillip. They are remembered because they were the first immigrants to enter the United States of America through Ellis Island. The statue and a duplicate at Ellis Island in New York were erected by the Ellis Island Foundation “to forever represent the millions who passed through Ellis Island in pursuit of the American dream.”
On January 1, 1892, Ellis Island immigration station in New York Harbor officially opened its doors and welcomed its first immigrant, Annie Moore, 17, arriving from Queenstown, County Cork (now called Cobh). The 17-year-old Moore set sail from Queenstown with her two brothers on the ship S.S. Nevada. They were coming to America to meet their parents who had arrived in New York two years earlier. The three siblings spent 12 days at sea, including Christmas, and arrived in the harbor on Dec 31, 1891. She was greeted by officials who gave her a $10 gold coin and all three Moore children were reunited with their parents, according to the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation. Moore remained in New York and in 1895 married Joseph Augustus Schayer, a German-American working at the Fulton Fish Market. They were married at St. James Church. She went on to have at least ten children and died at the age of 50, in 1924.
Join us as we visit historic treasures, natural wonders and vibrant cities set against beautiful backdrops that are endlessly changing.
Join Us – We understand that the last thing you may want is more emails cluttering up your inbox, but we promise we’ll work hard to make this worth your while. Give us a try and if we don’t live up to our promise all you need do is click the unsubscribe link in our emails.
Photography is my obsession and when traveling the world often images just present themselves. Most are random impressions with little context but some seem to suggest at a self contained story. Still others leave me wanting to find out more about what I stumbled upon. Here’s a glimpse of just why we travel…
When most people hear Temple Bar they think of a famous pub in Dublin. It is actually a neighborhood on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. So Temple Bar is a place where the Temple Bar Pub is located.
Though the area was originally settled by the Vikings, it was in the 17th-century that the Temple Bar area began to experience some growth. First Sir William Temple, whose house and gardens were located there in the early 1600s is where the area derived its first name. In the late 16th-century the area was mostly marshy land where sand bars built up along the River Liffey. Soon that area of new reclaimed land began to be claimed by various wealthy English families included Sir William Temple and was called simply the Bar. The first mention of the name ‘Temple Bar’ is in Bernard de Gomme’s Map of Dublin from 1673, which shows the reclaimed land and new buildings. So much of the area was owned by Temple and was originally a sand bar.
If you’re ever visiting Dublin, stop by the Temple Bar for a Guinness, a corned beef sandwich and some live music…,
Join us as we visit historic treasures, natural wonders and vibrant cities set against beautiful backdrops that are endlessly changing.
Join Us – We understand that the last thing you may want is more emails cluttering up your inbox, but we promise we’ll work hard to make this worth your while. Give us a try and if we don’t live up to our promise all you need do is click the unsubscribe link in our emails.
Photography is my obsession and when traveling the world often images just present themselves. Most are random impressions with little context but some seem to suggest at a self contained story. Still others leave me wanting to find out more about what I stumbled upon. Here’s a glimpse of just why we travel…
On a windy day in April in Reykjavík it started out freezing but sunny. Later it got cloudy and snowed for a while, then the Sun came out and it seemed to warm up. By late afternoon the temperature again dropped and it snowed again. Such is weather in Iceland. Above is a poster for a clothing company that was displayed on a bus shelter. Seems to say it all…
It would seem to take a particular type of person to live in Iceland. We found this on 66°north’s website and it draws a great picture about living in Iceland. Ísafjörður nests under the steep, almost vertical, mountains of Skutuls fjord that rise directly from the sea. In the winter months – from the end of November to the end of January – when the sun is low in the sky, the inhabitants of Ísafjörður spend their days in the shade of the mountains, without seeing the sun. On the shortest day of the year, the sun makes it over the horizon for less than three hours a day – from noon until it sets just before three o’clock in the afternoon.But even then, surrounded by mountains, the Ísafjörður locals won’t see it until a month later.
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Most visitors to Iceland have come first for the amazing scenery and well over 80% start in Reykjavík the island nations capital. If you’re considering your first visit to Iceland the fastest way to hit the ground running is to take Iceland’s Golden Circle tour. Because of its popularity there are a number of tour company options to consider or you can rent a car and take the tour on your own.
Icelands roads are well maintained, marked and easy to navigate and rental cars are reasonably priced. A one day rental will usually cost less than a tours cost for one person.
The three major sites composing Iceland’s Golden Circle sightseeing route include:
Þingvellir National Park – The park is the location where the Earth’s crust is pulling apart creating new land in its rift valley.
Geysir Geothermal Area – One of Iceland’s more active geo-thermal areas with the erupting Geysir being its centerpiece.
Gullfoss Waterfall – Iceland’s most visited waterfall and unique as it switches direction 90ª half way down.
Most guided tours will usually include a number of additional sights on their Golden Circle circuit.
The rift trail
Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park – There are several places on land where the Earth’s tetonic plates are actually pulling away from each other creating new land. Called a rift zone Þingvellir is the oldest of the national parks in Iceland and geologically sits atop of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The Þingvellir National Park is located in the southern part of the country about a 40 minute drive from Reykjavík . It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that contains the rift, the country’s second-largest lake, the Þingvallavatn Lake (Lake of the Parliament) and the amazing Öxarárfoss Waterfall. It also contains many hiking trails and camping grounds, and while admission to Þingvellir National Park is free there is a charge to park.
Thingvellir National Par
Geysir Geothermal Area – If the name Geysir seems a lot like geyser, the truth is that Geysir is where the name originated. While most of the geothermal area is on private land and there have been attempts to start charging, the area is still free. The oldest accounts of Geysir in Haukadalur Valley date back to 1294, when earthquakes in Iceland caused changes in the geothermal area and created several new hot springs. Geysir is the main geyser and has been measured to reach the height of 170 meters. Seismic activity in the area has effect on Geysir and after being dormant for a number of years, Geysir was revived by an earthquake in 2000.
Gullfoss Waterfall – Just a few miles past Geysir, on Iceland’s Golden Circle route is Gullfoss waterfall. Gullfoss is one of Iceland’s most popular attractions because of the sheer size of the falls and the ninety degree switch the falls takes half way down. There is plenty of parking and the visitor center has a nice restaurant, snack and gift shop with free restrooms.
Other attractions within the area of the Golden Circle include:
Kerið crater lake – is a beautiful volcanic crater lake on the Golden Circle route, filled with blue-green water with black and deep red slopes. It is believed to be an explosion crater formed 3,000 years ago.
Secret Lagoon Hot Spring – features a single pool supplied from hot and cold springs, keeping it at a perfect 100 to 104 °F. Spend time relaxing in the hot springs while viewing the beautiful landscape that includes a geyser spouting jets of hot water and steam every few minutes.
Blue Lagoon – Located in the heart of the Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark and surrounded by moss-covered lava fields, the Blue Lagoon Iceland is a wonderland named one of the 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic in 2012. Once perceived as little more than an unusable byproduct of Iceland’s geothermal energy production, the Blue Lagoon is now water attraction with its warm waters known for their healing, rejuvenating, and nourishing qualities.
The Sólheimajökull and Mýrdalsjökull Glaciers – Sólheimajökull is an outlet glacier of the mighty icecap of Mýrdalsjökull on the South Coast of Iceland. It is one of the most easily accessible glaciers to reach from Reykjavík, just 98 miles away and is a favorite spot for glacier hiking.
The Black-sand Beaches of Vik – Reynisfjara is a black sand beach in Vík and one of the most popular black sand beaches in Iceland. It is located only two and a half hours away from Reykjavík and is worthy of a stop if you are near.
The Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss Waterfalls – Skogafoss is a waterfall at the cliffs of the former coastline. As the coastline receded seaward the former sea cliffs remained. Skogafoss waterfall comes from two glaciers, Eyjafjallajokull and Myrdalsjokull and drops almost 200 feet. From the top of Skogafoss waterfall is an inspiring view out over south Iceland’s coastline. Seljalandsfoss is another well known waterfall in Iceland. It drops almost 100 feet and is remarkably beautiful. If there is enough time add these waterfalls to a trip on south coast.
Hellisheiði Power Plant
There are also a number of good museums and culture sites in Reykjavík along with the interesting Geothermal Energy Exhibition an interactive museum on Iceland’s volcanic processes at Hellisheiði Power Plant, just a twenty-minute drive outside Reykjavík.
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The Intentional Travelers 