Wow, thanks so much for the many quick replies!
More info for you:
We live in Northern California and are about 1 1/2 hours from the nearest airport (Sacramento), which isn't huge. I often fly to
Disneyland with my friends, so SW has been great for me. I never pay for a flight and I never drive there. DD is now going to be attending school near Disneyland so more SW flights for us. I have an AP to DL and usually pay very little to go there, but dh doesn't like DL very much.
We want to do more international travel, some with the kids and some without as they get older. We went to England last year and had a blast, but it was expensive and I would like to find a way to get some free flights next time. We're planning another trip to Europe next summer, destination as yet undecided.
SW works well for us and we're looking forward to the upcoming Hawaii flights, which isn't bad from the west coast. However, I would like to have a card that earns rewards I can use for other airlines/hotels/etc.
My dh teaches math and I'm a retired English/science teacher. I also have a knitting business; I don't make a ton of money but it's nice to get paid for your hobby. I retired early to care for my dad, who had cancer and Alzheimer's. He lived with us but passed away in January.
We belong to several hotel loyalty programs but we don't often use them. With 5 of us, we usually use something like Airbnb or VRBO. When I go to DL, I generally stay in a Disney hotel (no loyalty program, sadly).
We are an active family and we like to hike, bike, walk, swim, etc. My family would be very bored just sitting around somewhere. We rented an RV this summer and went up the coast of Oregon and Washington and stayed several nights on San Juan island. I have to tell you I do not intend to rent an RV again--definitely not my cup of tea. Loved the trip, didn't love the RV.
DH and I have no joint bank accounts. We married late (40 and 43) and never saw the need to change what we already had, so I have all of my banking, cards, etc in my name only and so does he. He has a large family trust that doesn't include me but does include the kids, and I have a smaller family trust that is the same, and we have a family trust together. We are both on the mortgage and own our vehicles and property jointly. I honestly don't know how this works with credit agencies; if I open an account in my name for instance (I have my own income), does it affect his credit score and vice versa? We both have excellent credit and have no vehicle payments and just a small mortgage.
Since we are both getting older and our family and work obligations are diminishing, I would like to do a lot more traveling while we're in good shape.
I hope I didn't overload you with my personal info! I'll definitely look into the Plastic and Ink cards. Any recommendations greatly appreciated.
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