Amex AirBnB ordeal - continued...

As I mentioned in my previous post, I only used the gift card partially to book 1 night at an AirBnB in Ohio for my trip. AmEx was supposed to send a new coupon code for the remaining balance within 5 business days based on their terms and conditions.

7 business days later - and nothing...

After a nice conversation with an AmEx representative (yes, this time the person was actually helpful!), I received a new gift card, but was advised to use it only if the reservation is over $100 (the amount of my gift card). Lesson learned, read the small font...

Airbnb eGift card purchased with American Express (AmEx) points warning

I signed up for one of those AmEx gold cards to receive a bunch of points redeemable for gift cards a few months back. Now, a proud owner of promised points, I decided to buy a $100 gift card to AirBnB and book my first reservation.

Interestingly enough, I was not able to apply the amount of my eGift card towards my account as it gave me an error saying that my Gift card was invalid. Looking through the tiny print on my pdf version of the eGift card I noticed that I have to submit the code as a "Coupon Code" instead of a gift card. I successfully made the first reservation.

Now on to the second one... This was not as easy. Every time I would enter the same coupon code, AirBnB would say there was an error. So I called AmEx... After 10 minutes on the phone with the representative arguing with her that you should be able to use a gift card more than once, I was placed on another hold. Finally, she found another level of Terms and Conditions that says:

"You are encouraged to use the value of your Airbnb eGift Card code in a single transaction. However, you will be issued a new Airbnb eGift Card code for any unused residual value via email within 5 business days from the date of your booking using the original Airbnb eGift Card code."

So that means that I have to wait a week (!!!) to get the remaining balance of my gift card! Luckily, this was the last reservation I really needed to make, so I am ok. But I am certainly canceling that card and will not use AmEx at all just because of their poor customer service.

Yes, it is nice to redeem 10,000 points for $100, but make sure you use it all at once or you will have to wait a week for the remaining balance. Additionally, "only one Airbnb eGift Card code can be used per booking and may not be combined with any other Airbnb coupon or discount code." Too many rules? You bet! Nice job AmEx!

Sunset at the beach in Huntington, NY

This is where my Long Island story began - Huntington, NY. I remember renting an apartment with my boyfriend back then and walking to the beach just a few miles away. I recently revisited the area, which is just as beautiful as I remember it, especially during the sunset.

Another beautiful place on Long Island I will miss - Caumsett State Park

Long Island has beautiful parks, some of which lie right on the water. Caumsett State Park is an unbelievable place located on the north shore of the island. I certainly will miss the ocean. Here is a picture I took with my phone:

Bucket list: Montauk Lighthouse in the Hamptons, NY - SUNRISE

My long time bucket list place to visit was Montauk Lighthouse located about 2 hours east from my hometown. Because of heavy traffic in the Hamptons during the summer, I have never dared to drive to the lighthouse. Since summer is still a few months away, but the temperatures are getting higher, I decided to finally fulfill my goal.

But I did not stop there... A sunrise at the lighthouse sounds even better! So my partner and I decided to drive there at night to catch the 6.05 AM sunrise. I don't think I have ever woken up at 2.30 AM to watch the sun rise, but where there is a will there is a way.

While we did not end up going up the lighthouse since it only opens at 8 AM, we were fully satisfied with the sunrise. The main parking lot at Montauk lighthouse is open all the time, so you can park and walk 1 minute to the beach to see what I saw, beautiful sunrise. A different way to spend my birthday weekend :)

... and here is a short video:

One month away from the planned trip: My visit to the mechanic...

Driving cross-country is a big deal... Especially for my little 2006 Honda Civic with 100,000 miles. I have to say that with regular maintenance on my car, I had few problems in the past. The major repair was the exhaust system. This time was different. Changing all the brakes, rotors, a belt, oil and transmission fluid cost me a hefty $1200. I hope this was a good investment and will guarantee a car-trouble-eventless trip.

Why didn't I just transport my car via a tractor-trailer? Well, firstly, I really wanted to go on a cross-country trip, and that requires a car. Secondly, if I wanted to rent a car, it would cost about $1700 plus the cost of shipping my car (another $1700). The decision was clear to me.

Cross-Country Trip NY to CA

A few months ago I was offered a fellowship in Fresno, California. A cross-country trip in the past was a matter of a dream since I never had enough time off to do such a thing while working. This time I had a little over 3 weeks in between jobs to relocate from New York to California and decided to take this opportunity to finally see our beautiful country. While I am a big nature fanatic, I also wanted to see what urban cities such as Chicago and Salt Lake City had to offer. After several weeks of intense planning, I settled on a 2 and a half week cross-country trip visiting both the national parks and major cities.

Traveling alone was a relatively new thing to me. My first trip happened in 2015 to San Diego, CA for a short vacation. I did not know anyone or anything, so I decided to utilize the Couchsurfing network to find people who knew the city and could show me around. It was a great experience and I wanted to continue my single traveling.

Now 1.5 months to graduation, it is becoming real. I booked most of my trips using Airbnb and Couchsurfing. I have some time to figure out how much stuff I can fit in my car without overloading it to be able to enjoy the trip. I have already bought a cooler, something that every cross-country traveler should have, as I found out, to save money on lunches and dinners by stocking up at supermarkets and health food stores. We shall see how that's going to work out.

I am yet to bring my car to the dealership for service to make sure that I will actually make it cross country without major issues.