There can be little doubt that Europe boasts a plethora of wonderful city break destinations. For a romantic getaway, Paris is the obvious choice; nevertheless, there are many excellent alternatives.  Chief among these is Barcelona, as it offers a buzzing city brimming with culture alongside some beautiful beaches.  For a luxury stay, the El Palace Hotel fits the bill. Featuring a Michelin Star restaurant, spa and fitness room, the hotel is situated right in the heart of the Catalan capital.  Art connoisseurs will be particularly interested to know that Salvador Dali and his wife, Gala, used to live in the hotel’s royal suite, which has been re-named in the great surrealist’s honour.  Highlights in the city include the Picasso Museum, Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia and Parc Güell.

As a relative newcomer on the city break scene, Dubai has more than made its mark.  In particular, its hotels have set the standard by which all luxury hotels worldwide are judged.  However, there is more to Dubai than big, expensive buildings.  The Dubai Museum is well worth a visit to get a feel for the city’s history, whilst Dubai’s myriad world-class golf courses and horseracing venues are a marvel, considering that they have been built in the desert.  Perhaps more predictable are the luscious beaches at Dubai’s disposal, and this only adds to the city’s weekend getaway appeal.  The Jumeirah Beach Hotel offers a variety of swimming pools, luxury service and exquisite facilities; furthermore, its pristine beach is the perfect place to relax and forget it all.

For a city break in Australia, it is hard to look beyond Melbourne.  The city has a vibrant cultural scene, and the CBD (Central Business District), hosts some of the finest shopping and architecture the country can offer.  Situated at the top of Collins Street – one of Australia’s most prestigious boulevards – sits the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.  With its own spa, high-class restaurant and a sophisticated bar, there is no better base from which to enjoy all of Melbourne’s cultural delights.  Particular highlights in the city are the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Melbourne Museum.

American Express credit card holders are entitled to a Welcome Credit when staying at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne for two nights or more.  This Welcome Credit is worth between 50-100 AUD, depending on the length of the stay, and can be used on a range of local amenities and activities.  Furthermore, guests who pay with American Express credit cards earn 2,500 Hyatt Gold Passport bonus points.

Guest Post By Chris

 Yesterday my husband went to the bank and paid off our last bit of credit card debt. I am so relieved and happy. I HATE credit card debt. I think credit cards can be a helpful tool sometimes..let me repeat SOMETIMES…but most of the time I believe it is the root of all evil and pretty much a major reason why our country is where it is today…but I digress. This post is about our accomplishment. Before getting married my husband and I racked up a pretty large credit card bill for a few reasons. A major reason is because we put our entire Greece Honeymoon on the credit card. I wouldn’t trade that trip in for the world, and I am so very happy that my husband convinced me it was worth the money. It’s just that even though we came to terms that it was going to take us a while to pay off (on a 0% APR card of course) when it came time to view that first bill the task was a bit daunting. But we did it! We rose to the challenge. Not only did we have our honeymoon, but we had a few other debts to take care of. One being that each of us entered the marriage with some credit card debt, and two being that although most of our wedding was taken care of financially, there were still some things we just had to pay for…and alot of that went on credit cards.

How did we do it? Well this isn’t a personal finance blog so I won’t go into the specifics (actually I don’t know the full specifics cause my husband made our plan) but I do know that we made sure to get whatever balances we could on to 0% APR cards. That was the most important. Interest is a killer and we wanted to make sure we weren’t losing ground each month. Another big thing was DETERMINATION. No it’s not easy to take money each month and pay off credit cards. It actually sucks. I can think of a lot of other things I would like to do with that money…but I knew, for myself that before we could move forward we had to take care of this debt. This is stupid debt if you ask me. Yes we have a mortgage, yes my husband has student loans from law school and yes we both drive cars…all debt…but credit card debt is debt that we racked up on things we just didn’t need (minus the honeymoon of course).

I am now back on track with my philosophy that if you can’t afford to pay cash (or with a debit) then you can’t afford it. Now, I do believe in taking advantage of promotions for say buying a couch for example…1 year 0% on payments. See that works, because you have a plan to pay it off. You divide how much you have to pay each month to pay it off in the year and make sure you do so. It doesn’t get out of control. So that is an amendment to my rule…a rule that I plan on sticking to.

I am very thankful my husband was on board with me on this. Debt and money can cause so much trouble and so many problems. I figure if we stay out of credit card debt then we are one step ahead of the game. So now we celebrate. We celebrate our accomplishment and we celebrate the clean slate we have in front of us. Now we can focus on our present and our future…not our past debt.

It feels so good to say it! Between our expensive honeymoon to Greece, and both of our extravagances we had a pretty high bill. (but lower than the national averagewhich is shockingly $18,654) This was/is extremely unfortunate but it is what it is. We just had to fix it. And in order to do that we in no way, shape, or form were allowed to add to what we were working so hard to pay off. Although we still had that credit card bill looming over us we were smart. We moved all debt to 0% cards, and my husband worked up what he called a “debt snowball” to make sure our payment schedule was bringing us to our goal as quickly as possible.

I have mentioned in a previous post that I think people need “things” too much in today’s world. Meaning, not the necessities like food and shelter, but material things. Things like clothes, and cars, and electronic gadgets. It’s one thing if you can afford to have these things another thing if you are loading up on debt to get them. I did it…I fell for it…I loved shopping and buying boots, and new clothes for different events..but I gotta tell you, nothing feels worse than paying for it now. The pleasure I had from buying and wearing it quickly faded, and now I’m left with a constant reminder in the form of a bill.

But I’m lucky…I’m young and my husband and I were able to manage our debt. We are now older and wiser and plan never to let that happen again. I’ll admit that I can see the benefits of the 1 year interest free financing for big items…but only if you can do the math and make sure it’s paid in full in that year…but other then that I plan on continuing to be debt free! I can MAYBE agree to putting stuff on credit cards for points or miles and making sure I pay in full every month, but other than that Credit cards are OUT! Debt Free is in!!