Everyone knows the story of Victor Frankenstein–a demented doctor who creates new life out of spare parts. Few know the art of travel Frankensteining–assembling the trip of a lifetime out of spare points. In our hobby, thinking differently (not ghoulishly) leads to travel success where others fail.
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Flying the unfriendly skies these days–with baggage fees, overbooking, etc–most of the clouds you see are dark. But this One Weird Airline (sorry, I can’t stop) offers a silver lining. Delays, bumps, restrictions, fees. Take your pick: it’s trite to say flying isn’t fun these days; but the banality of saying so makes it no less true. However, one airline Mandy and I fly strives to make flying, if not fun, tolerable.
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When you see a good thing, it’s worth sharing. I routinely and vigorously recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to friends, family, and co-workers. Why? It’s the best single card for getting started in the miles and points game. Sharing is sweeter when it comes with rewards. Read on to learn how to help yourself and others by referring Chase cards you currently possess–or expect to apply for in the future.
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(Roscoe the dog asking, “can I come too?”)
“That’s all you have?” The crew member was clearly puzzled when I checked-in for my Boston to Bali adventure. Yes indeed. All I had was a small day pack and a larger convertible backpack: one item for under the seat and another for the overhead compartment. This was in the dawn of prehistory when hardly any airlines charged for checked bags. “And you’ll be gone how long?” Two and a half weeks. But it could have been two and a half months. Her expression grew more perplexed. “How?”
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In another post, we explored hotel search tools for travel hacking. In the present, we’ll briefly survey tools and techniques that increase and enhance your free travel skill-set; including five travel hacking tools of note. Note well and enjoy.
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(Kapu means “forbidden” in Hawaiian)
Nearly all of us have made regrettable points mistakes early on, and not so early on, in this hobby. Such is the case generally in life, right? “If only I knew then what I know now.” Or, “I should have known better.” Here’s a list of the top 3 frequent flyer mile and points mistakes and how to prevent them. Each could have its own post, so we’ll just hit the highlights.
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In part I and part II, we learned how credit card sign up bonuses play a significant role in traveling free (or nearly so). In this third installment, we’ll explore an action plan to get started: which credit cards should a beginner go for first? If you’re new and haven’t already, please read parts I and II. Although there may be overlapping information, we assume knowledge from those posts. Less new but things still not making sense? Follow the Roman Numerals enumerated above.
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In Credit Card Signup Bonuses: The Key to Free Travel. A Beginner’s Guide, Part I, we discussed:
In this second installment, we resume our Beginner’s Journey by adding actionable credit card signup bonus travel intelligence; answering the question “How do I really get started?” We also serve up a large heaping of Things You Just Need To Know to your fine self. Let’s do this thing.
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Two prescient friends of ours booked hotels with cash a year before the total solar eclipse. Friends don’t let friends pay cash (for hotels or flights)–but we’re working on them with the hotel points thing. The prescience was, being astronomy nerds, they suspected prices would grow more outlandish as media hype intensified. Booking by phone many moons prior, a puzzled local hotel manager asked why they were making reservations so early. “The eclipse,” they responded. “Huh,” must have been the response. #RevenueManagementFail.
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“The only thing I’ve ever gotten free was 10 chicken wings,” joked a co-worker of mine. The conversation had been about another of my nearly free trips. To where I don’t recall: Hawaii, Rome, Paris, a Greek Isles cruise. Didn’t matter. What did was the notion that nearly anyone could do what I’d done: travel the world practically free through strategically planned credit card signup bonuses.
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As promised in blog post “Dear Hotel Manager: Email Your Way to Free Room Upgrades and Welcome Gifts“, here’s a gallery of various welcome gifts we’ve received in our travels. Undoubtedly, we’ve forgotten to photograph some of them along the way. So think of this as a Selection. Looking forward to seeing what hotels will gift us this September on our Anniversary trip to Japan; the Japanese being famous for gorgeous food presentation.
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In a previous post, we learned how to email hotel managers for free hotel room upgrades. Here, I’ll share some success stories. The point? I want to inspire you to do the same. Then you’ll have success stories of your own to share: with friends, family, colleagues, and, if you’ll have us, My Points Blog. Do so in the comments section below or reach out to us via the Contact page. No textual Deep Dives here–just plenty of eye candy sorted by year. Enjoy. Or try to. Please excuse the poor videography in advance.
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