If you’re a new reader, please raise your hand by leaving a comment below! This week I was fortunate enough to be seen and heard in the news all over the world; and that matters because I want to make travel better for everyone. The most common feedback I hear is that all these tips and tricks seem too hard, too much work, too complicated and just are not worth it. I was in the news because my wife and I took a private jet for free, and have more business class flights for pennies coming up than I can count. You really can too and it’s really worth it…
It Really Starts With Frequent Flyer Accounts
Aside from amazing flight deals and the occasional promotion, the number one way to save money on travel, fly up front or stay in luxury, is to collect airline miles, hotel points and credit card points. Even if you’ve never flown an airline or slept on a hotel chain’s mattress, having a free account with as many as you can think of will put you on great footing going forward. When you’re always earning, you’re always locking in opportunities for upgrades and savings.
Don’t Look When You NEED, Look All The Time…
Sign up for a blog reader like Feedly, Newsblur or Flipboard, where it will put all the stories from every site I recommend into one page you can view at any time. It’s all the best info out there, condensed into one easy to read place. I follow lots of sites and I do so well out of this stuff, because I look for opportunity every day. Every day I browse ViewFromTheWing, The Flight Deal, SecretFlying, LoyaltyLobby and more, to see what crazy opportunities and promotions exist for using points and miles, finding cheap flights, business class flights, amazing hotel stays or free miles and points.
Always Be Earning Something…
You don’t have to become a spreadsheet keeping maniac like some travel bloggers, but you should always be earning points, miles or loyalty rewards. Something as small as earning free Starbucks rewards makes a difference. Imagine what a difference having a free vacation can make! The best and easiest way to earn is to turn your daily habits into miles, points and bonuses. If you can, carry at least one credit card that earns airline miles, hotel points, or points you can transfer into either. If you can’t, just be sure that whenever you travel, dine out, or order stuff online, you take advantage of the opportunities to earn points by going through the free airline programs that exist. Of course, never forget to enter a frequent flyer number whenever you travel. Every point counts. There’s some good info on that HERE.
You Really Can And Should Earn Miles For Online Shopping, Eating, Paying Bills, Ordering Wine…
People almost laugh when I tell them all the ways they can earn miles, but they’re all true. Even if you don’t have a rewards earning credit card, if you buy anything off Amazon, Nike, Ebay, Macy’s or any of the other million websites you might shop on, just for clicking over from your favorite airline’s webpage to your favorite shop, you can earn at least 1 mile per dollar spent and sometimes more than 20. Think of what buying a Macbook would get you if you got 20 miles per dollar spent! It’s the same for dining out, where almost every airline has a program where you can earn miles just for eating out at hundreds of thousands of restaurants. You just need to look.
Set Goals, Be Ready To Travel…
A lot of people get wrapped up in tunnel vision. They are only interested in one airline, or one cabin. Maybe you’ve only flown coach before, that’s totally fine, just don’t be afraid to make the jump if an amazing opportunity presents itself. Don’t be afraid to try new places, new airlines, new hotels, new tricks, new apps. Most importantly, go with the flow. If you are planning a mega trip for 10 years from now, and your airline messes up how you use miles, change course, and cash them in in an optimal way before it goes downhill. We live in the best time to travel, where almost everything we could ever want is a click away.
