Overtired Mama's Travel Tips and Tricks

I love earning rewards.  In fact, my husband may even say that I'm obsessed with it.  I wouldn't go that far, but I do love to be rewarded for purchases I already make. Rewards programs are not all created equal, so it's a good idea to do a scan of what is available to you and what is worth your time. Let me start by saying - I'm not hear to sway your opinion towards one program over another.  I will speak to the programs I'm most familiar with, but my information is not all encompassing, so be sure you have a good understanding of what's out there and what works best for you. I belong to a lot of loyalty programs - Marriott, Best Western, IHG, Hilton Rewards, Expedia, and the list goes on.  And that's just travel related rewards programs. Don't even get me started on coffee loyalty programs.  But I digress. For hotel rewards programs, I do belong to multiple loyalty programs.  This may seem counter-intuitive, because if you aren&#

While I typically post general tips and tricks on saving money on holiday travel, occasionally, I like to shine the spotlight on different travel destinations. Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Ottawa.  My trip was brief, but what I experienced in my short time there made me want to head back.  Here are some of the highlights from my travels. As many of you know, I'm from Saint John, New Brunswick.  When I'm researching travel options, I'm fortunate that I have many airports to choose from within a reasonable drive.  To my (pleasant) surprise, on this occasion, my cheapest flight options to Ottawa were actually from my home airport.  Bonus!  I had options with Air Canada and Porter.  Porter offers one direct flight from Saint John a day, and Air Canada offers a couple of options to Ottawa, all Air Canada flights do have you transferring at another airport (usually Toronto or Montreal).  I opted to go with Porter, as I had never flown with them before.

Welcome to my blog!  Perhaps you have been here before, in which case, welcome back! My name is Katie, aka the Overtired Mama.  I started this blog many years ago, when my little girl was a baby.  When I started this blog, I didn't know exactly what it was going to be, so it's had a lot of transitions.  My posts ranged from ramblings about parenthood, recipes, product review, crafts, entertainment, and more!  But over the years, the topic that always seemed to make its way in to my cycle was travel. I did some family travel as a child with my family, and traveled with friends as a teen, and I made some amazing memories over the years.  Now, as an adult, I love those moments of making memories while on holiday with loved ones.  Vacation offers the opportunity to connect with friends and family, away from your usual every day stressors and distractions.  That is why I love travel. As my desire to travel has grown, so has my need to budget.  My personal discovery was