Quick Points: The benefits of adding a relative as an authorized user

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kelsey Frampton, a 21-year-old business student from Fresno, California, who's studying in Barcelona. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

The Cycladic island of Ios is a rocky, mountainous environment of winding roads sometimes blocked by herds of bleating goats and sleepy villages hugging cerulean coastlines. In the 1960s, backpackers discovered the nearly untouched island and it became known as a hippie haven, hosting all-night beach parties, with a handful of cheap bars operating in the Chora (main town). A few decades later, nearby Santorini and Mykonos began to outshine their neighbor, attracting hordes of tourists each summer and investing in new developments. Meanwhile, Ios only got electricity across the entire island in the 1970s and most residents here are goat herders or farmers. Today, Mykonos has taken the nightlife crown and both it and Santorini have become severely over-touristed. Ios on the other hand, remains a quiet, mostly undeveloped paradise.

This series of articles about credit cards, points and miles, and budgeting for travel is brought to you in partnership with The Points Guy.

Redeeming points for free hotel stays is a great way to save money on your travels. But what's even better is maximizing your redemptions so that you get an award night for no points at all.

Girl dinner doesn’t have to be basic. And if you know someone who indulges in girl dinner on a regular basis, this gift guide will help them make the most of doing the least, deliciously of course. Whether it’s specialty tinned fish, internationally sourced snacks, gourmet pasta or dishware that make girl dinner feel gourmet, these girl dinner gifts from around the world elevate the humble meal to a truly gift-worthy occasion.

New York is 400 years old, yet constantly evolving. Its distinct neighborhoods have become world-famous, and even to New Yorkers, these neighborhoods often seem to be from another time, another place, although just a few subway stops away.

With a new year approaching and new resolutions in mind, learning a language is one of those items that often appears on many personal lists. Travel experts and language institutions regularly publish surveys on the best destinations to do so, echoing the simple fact that in our interconnected, “globalized” world, the ability to communicate in more than one language opens new opportunities, experiences and understanding.

You might think Magic Kingdom is the be-all and end-allof the Christmas season at Disney World, with highlights including Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, holiday parades, holiday fireworks, and snow raining down on Main Street USA.

U.S. hotels added workers in October, though fewer than they had in the previous month.

At TPG, we talk a lot about using shopping portals to earn extra rewards when you shop online. But if you constantly forget forgetting to use one, we get it. Sometimes, that one extra step doesn't seem worth it.

There's an expression about two ships passing in the night. The full quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ends, "So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak to one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and silence." Times change and technology moves us forward. In the literal sense, it happens with airliners every minute of the day as jet airplanes zoom past each other in opposite directions. Just as often, modern airplanes are headed the same way, figuratively flying on top of each other, separated vertically by several thousand feet.

“My favorite state has not yet been invented. It will be called Montana, and it will be perfect.” Abraham Lincoln said this shortly after Montana became a United States territory, but about 25 years before it became a state. It is also one of the things that stayed with Senior Video Producer Matt Paco well after his weeklong trip to Montana to film the video for this year’s Best in Travel.