Travel Hacking Rebels

[Del]

I am wondering if anyone besides myself is a travel hacker?  If you're wondering what a travel hacker it is using your good credit score to travel the world for free and/or very inexpensively and if you're like me fly for free in first class typically for less than the cost of your coach ticket on orbitz...

 

If you are a travel hacker what bloggers are you following currently?

[paul119]

I currently follow Rick at FrugalTravelGuy, Brian at ThePointsGuy and Darius at MillionMileSecrets.

 

How experienced are you with travel hacking? I'm fairly new to the game, having started last July. Thus far, I've received 8 cards (United Explorer, Delta Skymiles, AMEX PRG, US Airways, Barclays World MasterCard, VentureOne Capital, British Airways VISA and BOA TravelRewards) and am planning to apply for 6 more (at once!!) in a weeks time (2 chase (airtran visa and ink plus), 2 amex (SPG personal and Delta SkyMiles Business, 1 citi (AA Personal Visa), 1 bank of hawaii (hawaiian airlines business)), which will net me a ton more points.

 

I basically have to meet minimum spend the rogue way, since I don't make much cash as it is (English teacher abroad pulling in around 1800 USD a month - contract ends at the end of July, and I'm currently pursuing my own freelance work, which will take a bit of time to get off the ground). So I'm sending 1000 USD via Amazon payments and plan on doing the whole Bluebird thing once I'm back in the States (3 weeks and counting).

[Del]

Just got into the game myself 2 months ago but I've been reading nonstop for the last 5 months, following The Points Guy (TPG), Million Miles Secrets (MMS), Frugal Travel Guy (FTG), Mommy Points, Frequent Miler, One Mile at a time, View From the Wing, and recently consolidated the rest of my bloggers using Hack.Travel (it sends you the feeds from well over 2 dozen bloggers so you don't have to constantly check their pages).  As far as what I've churned so far (churned for my wife too) Chase Sapphire Preferred X2 , Ink Plus X2; United Explorer Card X2; In July I will be churning the Chase Hyatt X2 (4 free nights); Hilton Reserve (2 free weekend nights); Hilton Signature (going to use for my Giftcard churning because of the 5x at drugstores and grocery stores); Southwest Rapid Rewards X2, Southwest Rapid Rewards Business X2 (gotta get that companion pass 110,00 points gets you a card that allows you to buy a ticket for $99 and a companion flies with you regardless of how you purchased your ticket).

 

Bluebird is a gift from the travel gods and hopefully people don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg.  Make sure to order your 100 free checks asap because the offer is going away in August.  For the first churn of cards I needed to hit

 

CSP X2 - $6,000

Ink Plus x2 - $10,000

United x2 - $2,000

__________________

Total $18,000 in 3 months

 

I hit this in 2 months thanks to bluebird Vanilla Reloads/PIN Gift Cards

 

My monthly normal spend (bills i knew i could pay with credit card without a penalty) was only about $500 a month then I was introduced to Bluebird.  Now to quote George Clooney in Up In the Air "I don't spend a dime if it doesn't credit my mileage account" the trick is changing the way you bank.  I used to bank with a credit union now everything is done through Bluebird.  I used to think the only bills I would be able to pay by credit card was my house gas bill, electric, cable/internet, cell phone, car gas, and groceries.  Because of Bluebird I am now able to pay literally everything with a credit card.  That being said I don't have $9000 a month in bills but I was able to hit that because Bluebird has a 5k per month limit and I have one for me and my wife(10k per month).  All I did was go to CVS bought Vanilla Reloads with whatever card I was earning on, sent the money to my Bluebird account, wrote a check back to the bank (just so happens all of these cards are Chase cards) and now the wife and I are headed to either Bora Bora or Hawaii (got a newborn and the thought of a 16 hour flight with is taking some convincing of the wife) over New Years flying first class 6 nights and it only cost $144 (VR cost roughly $8 for every $1000.  18 X 8 =144). 

[paul119]

Damn, that is freakin' awesome man. I'm a young, single male so I'll likely use my points to visit friends across the States/take sweet first-class international flights.

 

I'll be sure to order my 100 checks tomorrow.

 

The next hurdle is get my parents involved. I've already told them I'm planning on helping them each church 3 cards when I get home (get each one the Chase Sapphire, SPG Personal and Barclays) - hopefully the convincing works

 

Can you send me a link for Hack Travel?

[Del]

here you go hack.travel . 

 

In my exploratory phase of travel hacking everyone was skeptical about what i was doing.  They all said it sounds illegal what you are doing its not possible for people to travel in first class for nearly free until 1 friend asked me to help him take a trip to Peru. He wanted to go on a 10 day trip he would be hiking Machu Picchu and then surfing Chicama (the longest left wave in the world).  He had 60,000 Alaskan miles and he was complaining about how his trip was gonna cost him about 2k and most of it was the cost of his coach flights.  He knew he could use his miles but he thought because Alaskan didn't fly to Lima he was screwed and those miles were going to sit there.  I was able to plan his flights for him getting him from LAX to Lima, Lima to Cusco(nearest airport to Machu Picchu) 5 days later Cusco back to Lima, Bus to Chicama (surf spot) 5 days later Chicama to Lima and Lima back to LAX. He did all of that in first class for exactly 60k miles.  His vacation went from flying all around Peru in coach to first class and instead of his trip costing him 2k he spent less than $500 for 10 days in Peru.  All it takes is 1 successful travel hack and suddenly "convincing" people doesn't take much.  Needless to say my surfing buddy has opened a few cards since he got back last month.  

[concretecavewoman]

Just bought my first big points ticket.  Got a BA Visa with 50k points signup special two years ago, started putting most expenses on it and paying it off at the end of each month. 

 

Two years and 180000 points later, I just got two Business Class tickets on British Airways from Seattle to the Maldives for $3700 (essentially just paid taxes/fees/plus short leg of the flight for 20+ hours of flight time)  Face value: $18,000. And pretty minimal effort.

[Del]

Very nice! we just booked our winter vacation with points; 2 first class flights from LA (estimated value of $2200) to Maui and 6 nights at the brand new Andaz (Opens at the end of this month, its a $1000 per night hotel estimated value of $6000) grand total out of pocket expenses (excluding the cost of manufactured spending) $20.  Not bad for 2 months worth of "work".  Sometimes I feel like an interloper at these places because I do not make the amount of money I am supposed to make for the trips and luxury I've experienced.   

[srkelly]

Paul, do you comment on tynan.com? I swear, your avatar photo is super familiar, and that's the main 'travel' blog I read.

 

I've gotta learn to 'hack' travel with credit cards too...I'd like to travel more, and if I'll be spending money anyway, why not make sure the dollars go towards miles? I've gotta get on this.

[Del]

How about our fearless leader being interviewed by one of the travel hacking blogs I follow

 

http://www.extrapackofpeanuts.com/travel-podcast-steve-kamb-nerd-fitness/

[Samathematics]

Hey, guys! I'm planning on taking a Around-the-World trip next year. Just wanted to say thank you for mentioning all the blogs you're following so I can start reading up on how to do it.

 

If you have any not-so-obvious tips, please share!

 

Thanks!

[Del]

I've used almost all of the tips in this video, they work!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gvA670PKaQ

[JessTosterone]

Hi guys!

 

 

jaskdf;ajdfkjasdf MILES. That's how I feel and think all the time. I absolutely LOVE Drew from TravelisFree and Mommypoints. I have a subscription to TPG and MMS but I'm not as big of a fan anymore. I do appreciate TPG and MMS but I feel like they're better for learning the basics and keeping up with the news. TravelisFree is my absolute favorite, especially his United routing rules post. Mommypoints is just plain thorough. 

 

Currently, I'm rocking a CSP, freedom, hilton something (I bumped it down from the Reserve), IHG, and Arrival. I'm only 22 and recently quit my job so I can't afford to do a huge app-o-rama and meet all that min spend. I want to get the club carlson in the next few months for a future Chicago trip, the Hyatt card, and one of the AMEX cards (not sure which one yet). I've been in the game for around a year and a half and it's still my favorite hobby. I want to start my vacation rental business one day

[Godeskian]

I'll bite.

 

I'm in the UK, and most of the travel hacks I've seen rely on the aquisition of US cards and attendant bonus's. Does anyone know a good place to start for a Brit?

[fengor]

I'd be interested in a getting started guide for europeans as well

[juyon]

if anyone got any tips for Quebec, Canada, that would be awesome.

[Cherry Poppins]

Totally new to travel hacking but considering making my first application: http://www.pointhacks.com.au/credit-cards/american-express-platinum-edge-ultimate-guide/

 

I've just paid off my credit card debt (dead money!) and while it's tempting to just live off my fortnightly wage and never have a credit card, I really want to make my money work for me. If I can be disciplined enough to put everything on the AMEX and pay it off in full each month...well, over a year or two those points could add up to a few international flights. Plus, even with the annual fee ($195) it's worth it, as the card includes a free domestic flight each year, which would cost well above that (especially from where I live!)