Travel Rinse Repeat Roundup April 25th, 2012

Welcome to the next edition of The Travel Rinse Repeat Roundup from Kansas, USA! I’ve been traveling throughout the great Sunflower state, from Kansas City (which is actually primarily in Missouri) to the college towns of Lawrence and Manhattan, to the cities of Wichita and Topeka and finally ending up right back where I started in KC. I expect to be spending a significant amount of time working in Wichita over the next month or two, so of course I’ll be looking for the interesting, the unique, the beautiful, and the delicious here in America’s heartland.

Today’s header image is of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri from the Liberty Memorial.

The Travel Rinse Repeat Roundup is where I provide site news, useful links, updates on old articles, interesting info, and whatever else might be on my mind. There are a lot of updates to get to since the last roundup, so let’s get started…

Top Travel Blog Reads

Suzy Guese – Jackson Square Wishes You Were Here – New Orleans is one of my favorite cities, and to a certain extent, my second home. I loved Suzy’s take on one of New Orleans’ most iconic locations. Her exploration of Jackson Square culminates with a visit to Cafe du Monde for beignets and cafe au lait, one of the iconic New Orleans food experiences.

Grounded Traveler – The Aquarium Effect of Sightseeing – Ever been to an aquarium to look at fish only to feel like they’re all blending together after the first few tanks? Andrew equates this feeling to a similar phenomenon in sightseeing that he calls ‘The Aquarium Effect.’ How many cathedrals, castles, and temples can one see before they are no longer exciting? In this post, Andrew deals with this issue and offers tips on how to help combat it.

Quirky Travel Guy – Why I Won’t Visit Museums That Don’t Allow Photography – Scott discusses why he’ll never go to museums that don’t allow photography. I can sympathize with him; I was once thrown out of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for taking a picture.

Travel Junkette – Diving with Thresher Sharks – Malapascua Island – Despite getting seasick on the way out to the dive, Susan finds peace, beauty, and a more settled stomach once under the sea. And while she was below the surface, she came face to face with the thresher shark!

Travel Rinse Repeat Around The Web

Finding the Universe

Laurence (a former fellow-management consultant) over at Finding the Universe runs an excellent series where he interviews other travel bloggers about their best travel blogging tips. I provided my views on the time management aspects of blogging while working a full time job, my experiences running this site so far, and the one thing I would do differently if I were starting Travel Rinse Repeat all over again. Check out the post here: Travel blogging tips from the experts: Travel Rinse Repeat

A New Mega-Bonus Miles Credit Card

(For full transparency, I receive absolutely NO money if you end up signing up for this credit card. I am not an affiliate.)

As I wrote in the last roundup, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa credit card (my favorite travel credit card) dropped its hefty signup bonus from 50,000 points. The sign up bonus now is 40,000 which is still enough to get roundtrip tickets to Central and South America on United Airlines.

But the big news is the release of a new signup bonus with the British Airways Visa Signature card – 100,000 British Airways Avios miles with signup. However, there is a catch. Cardmembers only receive 50,000 points after the first purchase with 25,000 more bonus points credited once the user reaches the $10,000 spend threshold and another 25,000 miles added once the user reaches $20,000 in spend.

 

Realistically, only big spenders will reach the 100,000 mile bonus on this card. But even the 50,000 mile sign up bonus is enough to make up for the loss of the Chase Sapphire Card.

Also, it should be noted that you don’t have to use British Airways Avios miles solely on British Airways flights. BA is a member of the one world alliance and therefore the miles can be used on any of their partner airlines – American, LAN, Qantas, Air Berlin, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and more.

Upcoming Travels

Those who follow me on facebook are already aware of this, but for those of you who don’t, I’m excited to announce that in May I’ll be attending one of the great sporting events in America – The Kentucky Derby! I’ll be headed to Louisville, Kentucky for the Run for the Roses – the most exciting two minutes in sports. I’ve never been to a race before but I’m excited to take in all the excitement and atmosphere at one of the largest sporting spectacles in the country.

Alas, I will not be sitting in the famed ‘Millionaires Row’ with the rich and famous. Instead, I’ll be in the infield with the masses. I’m looking forward to getting dressed up, drinking mint juleps, eating burgoo, and soaking in Kentucky culture while there. Aside from that, I’ll continue working in Wichita with a planned visit back to Atlanta for a week (it’s almost peach season, after all)

I have a few other trips in the works (including a special international announcement) so stay tuned!

Similar posts:

1. Travel Rinse Repeat Roundup – April 1st, 2012
2. Travel Rinse Repeat Roundup – February 19th, 2012
3. Travel Rinse Repeat Featured On ‘A Dangerous Business’
4. The First Post: The History Behind Travel Rinse Repeat