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When we had been full-time RVing, we nonetheless cherished taking to the skies and heading on far-off adventures. That included flying to RV overseas in international locations like New Zealand and Italy. Now that we’ve acquired two children in tow, we’re nonetheless part-time touring and taking our household everywhere in the world.
We may by no means have afforded a lot journey in our grownup lives if it wasn’t for “travel hacking.”
Travel Hacking
Travel hacking is the place you be part of rewards applications to earn and redeem factors that prevent cash on holidays. This means saving on airways, lodges, rental vehicles, and so on.
We’re not speaking about cashing in factors to save lots of 10% while you ebook by way of a reward program (which is frequent and in no way price it), however the form of factors that may enable your partner to fly wherever with you free of charge. Heath and I’ve finished this for nearly a decade!
My dad and mom have used Southwest’s reward program for years to fly free of charge, however it wasn’t till we met our pal Chris Guillebeau—who visited each nation on this planet through journey hacking—that Heath and I acquired severe about utilizing these strategies ourselves.
I’m going to stipulate just a few of the most effective methods we’ve earned factors and share with you the cool methods we’ve redeemed them. This publish is fairly prolonged so click on on one of many hyperlinks under to skip forward to the components chances are you’ll be all for:
How to Fly for Free
How to Fly for Free Internationally
How to Stay for Free
How to Score Cheap Flights
Caveat: The quickest, best approach to earn factors for journey hacking is thru bank cards. If you’re horrible at managing bank cards or have accrued bank card debt, this technique isn’t for you.
How to Fly For Free (Domestically)
I’m an enormous Southwest Airlines fan. They are pleasant and useful, they usually by no means cost you for canceling your flight or altering your reservation. Plus, our baggage fly free, which may actually add up with different airways. When we fly home, they’re our most well-liked airline.
Southwest has a rewards program referred to as Rapid Rewards the place you may redeem factors for flights. You earn factors in just a few other ways: by flying Southwest, by purchasing on-line by way of their hyperlinks, or by renting vehicles or reserving lodges with their companions. But the best and quickest manner is thru their bank cards.
We use three Southwest Rapid Rewards bank cards: the Plus and the Premier, provided by way of Chase, in addition to a enterprise bank card.
Since we signed up for these playing cards throughout bonus intervals, right here’s a snapshot of what we earned:
The Plus
- 50,000 bonus factors after spending a minimal of $1,000 in your first 3 months
- 3,000 factors on our anniversary yearly
- 2 factors per greenback spent on Southwest Airlines and companions
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
- $69 annual charge
The Premier
- 50,000 bonus factors after spending a minimal of $2,000 in your first 3 months
- 6,000 factors on our anniversary yearly
- 2 factors per greenback spent on Southwest Airlines and companions
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
- $99 annual charge
The greatest factor with signing up for a journey reward bank card is that you just join throughout a bonus interval or use a referral hyperlink. You can earn round 25,000 factors while you join usually, however when you look ahead to a bonus interval or join by way of our referral, you may earn as much as 80K bonus factors anytime. (Bonus factors differ based mostly on the kind of CC you select/present promotion.)
We signed up for the plus and the premier playing cards on the identical time, which can not make sense on paper. But it meant we earned 100,000 factors nearly immediately, setting us for much more rewards.
The Companion Pass
Southwest affords one thing each different airline NEEDS. It’s what they name the companion move.
Here’s the way it works:
When you earn 125,000 factors in a single calendar yr, you might be given “companion status.”
This means which you can fly one individual with you wherever free of charge till the tip of the subsequent calendar yr. This is why you need to apply for each bank cards above in the identical calendar yr. You are nearly assured to hit companion standing! And when you do that early within the yr, you may have companion standing for nearly two full years!
Once you hit the 125,000 mark, Southwest sends you an e-mail letting you understand that:
- You’re clearly superior and
- You have to designate who you need to fly with you. You can change this individual as much as 3 occasions whereas your companion move is legitimate.
We would pay for Heath’s flight in factors (we had a lot!) and mine was almost free. We need to pay $5.60 per leg, which is the US authorities tax for home flights. (The price could also be extra when you take a global flight, for instance to Mexico, when there are extra charges and taxes concerned.)
To lower your expenses on home flights, Southwest is the most effective place to start out. I can’t advocate it sufficient.
There’s just one small con: They don’t fly in all places, like an American or United. They fly to most main airports and expanded to extra of Mexico and the Caribbean, however you’re positively a trip on this hemisphere.
How to Fly For Free Internationally
We’ve been dreaming of RVing overseas since we hit all 50 states. This is why we signed up for Delta SkyMiles American Express card.
Skymiles is identical sort of program as Southwest’s Rapid Rewards. You earn miles by flying Delta, reserving lodges and leases by way of companions, purchasing by way of their portal, and making use of for his or her bank card.
Disclaimer: When I say we earn miles, this doesn’t imply literal miles. Delta “points” are referred to as “miles.” When we flew from Anchorage to Austin, which is 4,000 literal miles, we earned roughly 1,000 Skymiles. If you’re flying 3,000 miles from LA to NYC, your flight doesn’t price 3,000 miles, extra like 30,000. Miles is only a fancy-sounding phrase for factors.
Here are the small print from after we signed up:
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- 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,000 within the first three months
- A $50 assertion credit score when you make a Delta buy in your first three months
- 2 miles per greenback spent on Delta
- 1 mile per greenback on every thing else you spend
- Bags fly free (saving you $50 a flight)
- Priority boarding
- No annual charge for the primary yr, then $95
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Delta modifications their bonus mile choices usually and from what I’ve seen, they provide as much as 70,000 miles max, often throughout a bonus interval or by way of a referral hyperlink like ours. It’s fairly laborious to catch them on a superb promotion, however completely price it.
The 60,000 miles we earned is the bottom price of a round-trip flight to Europe from America. Their regular bonus of 30,000 miles is a one-way flight to Europe. Either manner, you’re saving lots of or nicely over a thousand {dollars}.
In the previous yr, we earned almost 200K factors, masking round-trip flights to New Zealand and Italy. All we’ve got to pay is our authorities taxes, that are typically a few hundred {dollars} per individual relying on the nation you fly to.
We’ve flown Delta just a few occasions domestically since becoming a member of Skymiles as nicely and actually take pleasure in it. Sometimes they’ve a cart of snacks on the gate ready for you, plus, we get to board early. Not to say simply having the cardboard means we by no means need to pay for our baggage. I’m a fan. They even have a companion move on the Platinum card, however it’s for one flight a yr, not each flight like Southwest. We’ve truly by no means used our Delta companion move now that I consider it…we have to take benefit!
The greatest con with Delta is that it’s an American Express card, which many small companies don’t settle for. When we journey overseas, we’ve observed that it’s actually greatest to convey a Visa or Mastercard as a result of you should utilize it in all places.
You can be taught extra about Delta’s SkyMiles program and their Amex card right here.
Those are our two massive hacks to fly free of charge.
But there’s nonetheless one different hefty expense throughout journey: lodging.
How to Stay For Free
I really like lodges. There’s one thing about falling right into a lodge mattress that’s extremely stress-free.
Heath and I are members of just about each lodge reward program. That’s as a result of becoming a member of these lodge reward applications is free (becoming a member of most airline reward applications can also be free!). We have accounts with Choice Hotels, IHG, Marriott, and Hilton.
But we’ve solely had the bank cards for IHG, Marriott, and Hilton.
I discover lodge teams significantly complicated since a gaggle may have a dozen completely different manufacturers of lodges below their umbrella. For instance, nobody is aware of what IHG means. It’s Intercontinental Hotel Group. They cowl Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Crowne, Staybridge, Candlewood, and so forth.
Basically, regardless of the place you’re going, there’s in all probability an IHG lodge. Then there’s Hilton, which owns Doubletree, Embassy, Homewood, Hampton and extra. Marriott is a minimum of fairly good at tagging on “by Marriott” on the finish of all of their lodges, however IHG and Choice by no means make it clear which lodges they personal.
(And these are on no account the one lodge chains on the market, simply a number of the larger ones.)
We’re in all of the applications and have three lodge bank cards: IHG and Marriott, each provided by Chase, and Hilton, by American Express. We’ve gotten a number of free lodge nights with every card. Marriott used to offer annual free nights however stopped just a few years in the past. Hilton factors landed us three free last-minute nights in London in June, however that used up all our sign-up bonus factors. With IHG, I’ve in all probability gotten 20 free nights. I’ve had it the longest, however basically their factors go longer than some other lodge model.
Of the three, IHG is my favourite.
Here’s what we acquired after we signed up for the IHG Rewards Club Credit Card:
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- 70,000 bonus factors while you spend $2,000 in your first three months
- 1 free anniversary night time every year
- Earn 5 factors per greenback spent on IHG lodges
- Earn 2 factors per greenback spent at gasoline stations, grocery shops, & eating places
- Automatic platinum elite standing
- $0 charge for the primary yr, then $49
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These bonuses have modified lots since we signed up, particularly your elite standing and the annual charge. If you utilize our referral hyperlink, you may rise up 140,000 bonus factors (and see their present promotion interval advantages as these change usually).
This yr (2022) IHG has finished a large overhaul of its advantages, so I’m questioning if the cardboard will nonetheless be price it sooner or later. But when you get the 140,000 bonus factors at sign-up, that’s almost two weeks of free lodge nights, which is the best bonus I’ve ever seen on a lodge card.
Right now, the free anniversary night time every year is why I’ve had this card for nearly a decade. The annual bank card charge is manner decrease than the price of a lodge night time! They are phasing out that profit, although.
Hotels run wherever from 10K factors to 40K factors an evening (in my expertise), so when you select proper, your factors can final some time. You can get simply eight free nights between the bonus factors and the free night time you’re given only for hitting the minimal spend on the cardboard. That’s your whole week-long trip paid for.
Here’s the hidden better part: By incomes 75,000 factors, which you’ll simply do after hitting the minimal spend, you earn elite standing. We hit the “Spite Elite status” after we first signed up.
Spire Elite standing has gotten us upgrades at each lodge go to. Not simply “Here’s a complimentary bottle of water” (which sure, they do offer you), however I’m speaking concerning the candy upgrades. Almost each time we keep at an IHG lodge, we’ve been upgraded to suites and even had entry to govt lounges with free snacks. We don’t ebook or pay for suites. We pay for the most affordable room they’ve, however with our standing, they provide us an automated improve to their nicest room, plus different perks like free breakfast, free drinks from the bar, early check-in, late check-out, and so on.
Like after we acquired to Paris in June they usually gave us a card free of charge wine. It’s the primary time a lodge has ever given me a wine tasting to assist me select my purple:
Essentially, if you wish to stroll right into a lodge and really feel like a queen, this card is ideal for you.
Now, all lodges and airways will provide you with higher therapy for being a member of their reward program (you don’t even need to be a bank card holder), however IHG has given us the largest bang for our buck. Marriott permits you to skip the check-in line when you’re a reward member and Starwood permits you to verify in early. Every reward program has perks. But nobody has been pretty much as good to us as IHG, so I’ll brag on them probably the most.
Keeping Track of Reward Programs
Back in 2013, I began a word on my cellphone that appears like this:
Choice Hotel
#
username:
Southwest
Alyssa #
username:
Heath #:
username:
Hilton Honors HH
And so on and so forth. It’s a really lengthy word all these years later! It shops my Skymiles/Rapid Rewards/Hotel quantity and my username for every account so I can simply reference them. Any time I ebook a flight on Delta, like I actually did this morning, I can simply open the word and duplicate Heath’s Skymiles quantity and even Ellie’s quantity! Yes, even Ellie has her personal account. (Not her personal bank cards, to be clear, however her personal Skymiles account so she will be able to earn factors for each flight. When she turns 18, she will be able to go on a free epic journey of her personal.)
Our (Current) Favorite Credit Card for Flight and Hotel Points
Having loads of flight and lodge playing cards can negatively have an effect on your credit score (particularly when you’re signing up for lots in a single calendar yr or when you’re not paying off your bank cards each month like you need to).
Which is when it’s good to think about a card that will get you factors for each!
Our present fave is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
(You may even see from this publish that loads of the CCs we use are Chase bank cards. I like their app the most effective for managing banking, significantly after we’re overseas.)
At the time we signed up, the cardboard sign-up bonus gave you 100,000—actually the best it had ever been. At the time of writing, it’s at 60,000, which remains to be good, however that promo was critically spectacular. Signing up for any card throughout an enormous promo makes an enormous distinction!
The Chase Sapphire Preferred will earn you factors which you can switch to a number of airways and lodge teams. Currently, you may switch factors with no charge to:
Airline Travel Partners
- Aer Lingus, AerClub
- Air Canada Aeroplan
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards®
- Flying Blue AIR FRANCE KLM
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards®
- United MileagePlus®
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
Hotel Travel Partners
- IHG® Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy®
- World of Hyatt®
I not too long ago transferred factors to our Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards account once I was 10,000 factors shy of reserving flights for our household of 4 to go to Mexico. The course of was very simple and it took round 5 minutes for me to refresh my Southwest account and see that the factors had been deposited.
I really like the flexibleness of this card since it could possibly accomplice with so many firms. If I want a lodge night time and I’m shy just a few factors, I can simply cowl the distinction by transferring factors—making this an important card to have together with my different journey playing cards.
Mistake Fares and Cheap Flight Deals
I really like free flights, however there’s a time for shelling out for a flight.
We love the Faredrop app to seek out ultra-cheap flights from the US to international locations everywhere in the world. Faredrop, created by our associates Kara and Nate, is an app that sends you flight offers on to your cellphone or e-mail. You can set your “home airport” AKA the place you want to fly out of and which area of the world you’re most all for touring to. Then you’ll get updates instantly as their software program finds offers.
Some offers are mistake fares. Mistakes fares are unintentional value errors made by airways. Other offers could also be promotions airways are operating, short-term gross sales, or simply surprising low costs. Deals often solely final a few days (if that lengthy) so that you need to maintain watch in your notifications to see if there are offers on the locations you’re wanting to go to.
For our first worldwide journey with our daughter when she was 4 months outdated, we discovered a Faredrop deal to Italy.
Flights to Venice had been below $500—usually $1,150!
We shortly booked two round-trip tickets to spend a month in Italy. Flights had been below $1,000 for us each, and we paid a nominal charge for an infant-in-arms ticket.
Whenever we’re in search of flight offers however don’t have factors, Faredrop is our go-to useful resource for saving cash.
Heath and I are fairly frugal individuals who like to journey. If you’re fiscally accountable sufficient to repay your bank cards and never accrue debt, I can’t advocate journey hacking sufficient. Heath and I hardly ever pay for flights or lodges, and that could be a nice feeling.
Because we journey as usually as we do, all the annual charges on all of those bank cards are price it.
Do you make the most of journey advantages from bank cards? What’s your favourite? I’m at all times in search of one other whole lot!
Note: We are under no circumstances related to the above firms or banks, we simply actually like flying free of charge and needed to share the love!