Travel Hacking for Single, Repeated Destination???

[Cutebug]

I was reading over Steve's Travel Hacking post again and thinking, that sounds fun, but what if my goal is to just return to the same place over and over and over?

Also, not sure if I want all those Credit Cards to build up points... and not sure I can even get them since I'm in Canada...

So.. does anyone know how to travel hack from Vancouver, BC to Portland, ME over and over and over again????

Normally I spend around $700/ trip, taking the worst possible flights (Red Eyes, 2-3 transfers) and I still don't get to go as often as I would like... and now my credit cards are maxed out :/ My trips are 10 hours of overnight travel, 36 hours or less in Maine, and another 10 hours of travel, landing at midnight and getting up for work at 7am the next morning. AWFUL.

Now you're asking, why on Earth are you going to MAINE over and over and over???? Are you insane? Well, yes, but that's not why. I accidentally fell in love with someone who lives there (oops!) and now I'm in a lame long-distance relationship.

Any tips?

[msuroo]

Also, not sure if I want all those Credit Cards to build up points... and not sure I can even get them since I'm in Canada...

This is sort of the definition of "travel hacking". CC companies offer huge sign-up bonuses for getting one of their cards - if you play the system right you can sort of rotate through them getting lots of bonuses. It takes pretty good credit and a lot of financial discipline, though. The miles you earn that way you are free to do whatever you want with - crazy round the world adventures or back and forth to BFE - whatever floats your boat.

Unfortunately, if your credit cards are already maxed out - I wouldn't advise signing up for more. That's just setting yourself up for trouble. Are you earning miles on the trips you are paying for? YVR-PYM will earn you 6000-8000 miles round trip depending on the connections. Depending on the airline, that's good for a free ticket every 4-5 trips. Not to mention elite status pretty quickly, which can be nice for baggage fees, missed connections, etc.

[Cutebug]

Thanks for the reply, msuroo.

I was hoping there were different types of "Travel Hacking", as there are different types of computer hacking! (Back door/ guess the password...)

I definitely don't want to apply for more credit cards. I am NOT good with money! lol

Air Canada has a points program, but can be expensive, so not sure how well it evens out. If any other, less expensive, airlines have frequent flyer miles, I would definitely consider exclusive use of one airline.

Usually I just take whatever combination is cheapest on www.cheapoair.com - sometimes 2-3 different airlines per trip!