How to Redeem your Barclaycard Arrival Plus Points

Posted on May 22, 2014 by wpengine

This post may seem a bit elementary to you, but the objective here is to show you how easy it is for you to use the points that you’ve recently banked from picking up the Barclaycard Arrival Plus credit card.  Once you meet the spending requirement you’ll have over 40,000 points to redeem for your travel expenses.

Link:Barclaycard Arrival Plus World MasterCard®

Check out this list of some of the best places that you can use the points from the Barclaycard Arrival.  If you’re a romantic trying to score some points with your sweetheart, read up on Brad’s post about how you can use the points from the Barclaycard Arrival for some hotels that you’ll never forget.

It’s kinda like an indulgence without a cost.  You know that you shouldn’t be spending $106 to visit the Kennedy Space Center, but it feels so good in the moment.  You just log in to your Barclaycardus.com account and make the purchase disappear.  Man, if real repenting in life was only this easy!

Steps to Using Your BarclayCard Arrival Plus

First you’ll need to log in to your Barclaycard account by going to www.barclaycardus.com.  travel rewards credit card It should look something like this when you go to the website.

Next you’ll want to Click on “Manage Rewards” which is found on the right hand side of the page.  (see below)

Using Arrival Plus Points

From there you’ll want to click on “Travel Statement Credits.” It has the picture of paradise, heaven, umm maybe bliss… Well, you get the picture.

credit card rewards There are a couple of things to remember when you’re trying to redeem the points from your newly acquired Barclaycard Arrival:

  • Minimum purchase price is $25
  • Must be redeemed within 120 days of the expenditure
  • Purchase must meet the requirement of being a travel-related expense.
  • You must use the points for an awesome unforgettable trip to somewhere completely awesome.

Next you’ll see a list of travel related expenses for which you can redeem your ridiculously awesome Barclaycard Arrival Plus points.

using points

In my case I had 34,174 points in my account before completing this redemption.  I wanted to use some of my points for the tickets that I purchased to see the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Wait a minute, yeah you heard me right.  I totally used the Barclaycard to cover the entrance to see some awesome exhibits about rockets, history, and space.  Yeah.  Why don’t you have this card again?

using bank points

I chose “Redeem Now” from the above screen, which brought me to my shopping card of free stuff.  They show you how many miles you have, how many you’re redeeming, and what you’ll have left for your next trip.

10% Points Back

Now that I used 10,600 points for an trip to space, (the closest I’ll get to space for a little while) the kickback dropped back in my account.  Once I’ve erased the $106 entrance fee to the Kennedy Space Center you’ll see a credit on your credit card account for the amount of $106.

travel creditI also used this card to cover the cost of the rental car that we used on the trip to Florida, which also shows as a credit on my account completely washing away the cost of the rental car.

Now I’m back to the drawing board.  I’ve still got roughly $250 on this card and once I meet the spending requirement on my newly acquired Arrival Plus I’ll have almost $700 in purchases to erase.  It’s really that simple.  Once you’ve made the travel expense you can go in and erase the expense from your history.

 

 

 

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Posted in Barclaycard, Credit Cards, How to Wanderlust | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Three Almost-Free Romantic Getaways

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Brad Christensen

I have long been an advocate, even an evangelist, about the importance of traveling as a couple. I see the opportunity to discover new things, people, and places as a perfect way to keep your relationship with your spouse fun and exciting.

Every time I attend a wedding, I always write in the guest book, “May there always be magic.” But I have no doubt that there will be times when there won’t be magic at all.  The comedian Jim Gaffigan explains what it’s like to raise 2+ children like this: “Imagine you’re drowning… and someone hands you a baby.” Boy is that ever true.

The everyday grind of life will wear away what the two of you had to begin your relationship – freedom, adventure, and excitement – and nothing will return that to your marriage like travel.

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Nicole and I love to reminisce about our travels together.  We tell the story about her, 6 months pregnant, fainting at Chichen Itza.  A Mexican ambulance came rushing over and I had to stop them from giving her an IV. When we went to London and left our son at home, she was still breastfeeding, but she forgot her pump and had to endure a 24-hour flight with no relief (she’s going to kill me for telling you that story). On our last trip to Italy, we made friends and had great conversations with people from Texas, New York, France, Australia, and Germany.  All of these are experiences that just wouldn’t come to us in our everyday life – they give us a chance to rediscover ourselves, and each other.

The list of reasons other couples give us for not traveling is long, but the one we can most easily rebut is the old “it’s too expensive” statement.  Seeing how we’ve now applied for 38 credit cards and accumulated more than 2.5 million frequent flyer miles, the cost of our travels is now almost non-existent.  When we can book RT flights from SLC to Italy for $81, all of the sudden a lot of barriers come down.

If you’re thinking it’s about time for you to have a romantic getaway, here are a few ideas on how you can do it the almost-free way.

Chocolate and Intercourse – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

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With a lead in like that, I’m sure you’re already excited.  Well, this couple’s getaway won’t leave you disappointed.  There are so many things to do in the Harrisburg/Hershey/Intercourse areas for adventure, history, culture, and everything.

  • You could have a stagecoach ride in Intercourse (but please note that what I’m not exactly recommending intercourse in a stagecoach ride – though it doesn’t sound like a bad idea, either).
  • You could tour Hershey World and treat your sweetheart to some sweets.
  • You could enjoy the Amish culture and food.
  • You could tour nearby Civil War battlesites.

Use 40k Frontier Airlines Miles to fly both of you there and back – you can get all 40k points by spending $500 within the first three months and paying the $69 annual fee on The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®.

Stay at the Inn at Westwynd Farm, an idyllic bed and breakfast on a 37 acre farm. (~$160/night for a total of about $480, mostly reimbursed by the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®)

Re-live “The Notebook” – Charleston, South Carolina

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If “The Notebook” wasn’t the greatest love story that ever existed, I’m not sure what was (And don’t say “Romeo and Juliet,” because, while romantic, it was so damn tragic).

You and your lover can re-live the story of Noah and Allie in all its love-crazed fervor.  I’m not encouraging you to hang from a ferris wheel, but I am encouraging you to:

  • Enjoy a rowboat ride in Cypress Gardens – the scene from the movie.
  • See the white house with blue shutters on Wadmalaw Island and other plantation homes.
  • Enjoy some delicious Southern cooking.
  • Kiss in the rain.

To fly, use the 50k AA miles you get from the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® after spending $3k in the first 3 months to book 2 RT flights to Charleston.

Stay at the Plantation Oaks Inn (~$110/night with money to spare for a rental car with the $440 travel reimbursement on the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®)

Sand and Sunsets – San Diego, California

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San Diego may very well have the best weather in the country, so spend your time outdoors.  We found you a fantastic mountain resort where you can relax in peace and quiet, but still have access to all the San Diego area has to offer, including:

  • Kayaking into the La Jolla sea caves.
  • Enjoying a production at the Moonlight Amphitheatre.
  • Spending an evening in the old gaslamp quarter.
  • Building sandcastles on the beach.
  • Watching the sun set into the Pacific Ocean, every night.

To fly, use 40k Frontier Airlines Miles to fly both of you there and back – you can get all 40k points by spending $500 within the first three months and paying the $69 annual fee on The Frontier Airlines World MasterCard®.

Stay at the Welk Resort in Escondido (~$150/night, mostly reimbursed by the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®).

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Which would you choose? Do you have any other ideas?  Please share them with us in the comments!

Posted in American Airlines, Barclaycard, Domestic travel, Frontier | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Best Travel Rewards Cards in Each Category Right Now

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Brad Christensen

The fact is, we want you traveling.  There’s nothing we’d love more than a guest post a week from one of you, telling us how you’ve unlocked the world by taking advantage of frequent flyer mile deals. If there’s ever any way we can make it clearer or easier for you, we hope you’ll ask.

In that spirit, I going to tell you which of the currently available offers is best right now.

“Best” is always a subjective term. The reality is, depending on exactly what you’re after, one card could be much better than another.  For example, if Frontier doesn’t fly out of your city, maybe even a great offer on that card wouldn’t be any good for you. But I know how people tend to like to have it boiled down and easy.  So, here’s my attempt at laying out the “best” available cards at the moment.

Best Airline Card

There are two problems in the airline mile world right now – they want too dang many miles for award ticket redemptions, and they have hardly any availability at the lowest levels. Especially since integrating with US Airways, I’m finding that American Airlines has both the lowest redemption levels, and the most availability at the low levels.  AA is what took me to Italy last year, it’s what took WorldWanderlusting friends to Dublin right now, and it’s what will take me to Peru and Hawaii later this year – all at the lowest redemption levels and with a fair amount of availability.

Wouldn’t it be really nice, then, if some of the best offers out there were for cards that offer AAdvantage miles? Well, we’re in luck.

AAdvantage miles

Some serious value in American’s Award Chart

We always advocate using credit cards only to make purchases you would otherwise make with cash, check, or debit, so sometimes higher minimum spending requirements aren’t practical for everyone. If, however, you’re in a position to spend $10k in the next 3 months on a card, you’re going to want to pick up the Citi Executive AAdvantage World Mastercard. Why? To start with, it’s because of the massive 100k point bonus after meeting that spending requirement. It does charge an annual fee – a big one – $450, but the offer also includes $200 cash back, along with Admirals Club Membership.

If that spending requirement is too steep, try on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card with a 50k bonus after spending $3k in the first 3 months.  Get one for your spouse, too, after the first 3 months and 6 months of spending $1000/mo on credit cards will net you over 105k AA miles – that’s more than 2.5 trips to Europe, 3.5 trips to South America, or 3 trips to Hawaii.

Best Hotel Card

Staying one night in a hotel is always a bit of a bummer – you have to pack up as soon as you wake up, and who wants to do that?  At the same time, staying at the same place is a little tedious after a while.  I find that the sweet spot on a touring trip is 2 nights.  How cool would it be if you could book one free night, then get a second free night, free?

We mapped out this tour using CC hotels all around England.

We mapped out this tour using CC hotels all around England.

Well, you can.  It’s as simple as having the US Bank Club Carlson Premier Visa. With this card, in addition to Gold Status (Hello Upgrade!), whenever you use your Gold Points to book a Country Inn and Suites, Park Inn, or Radisson hotel through their program, your last night is free.

So what would really be nice is if it would come with some points to get you started taking advantage of that sweet deal. Hmm… well, how d0es 85k sound after spending $2500 in the first 3 months sound? They will ding you for the $75 annual fee up front but who’s gonna cry about that when your 85k will get you 5+5 nights in a category 2 hotels in Great Britain, Florida, or South Carolina?

Best Bank Points Card

I see Bank Points as a way to “connect the dots” between free flights and free hotels.  As such, there are programs that are great for making transfers to other loyalty plans, and programs that offer cash reimbursement.  Both of these have their place, too.  Sometimes you just need a few more points to top off a frequent flyer mile account – maybe bumping a United balance from 55k up to 60k.  For that kind of thing, the Chase Ultimate Rewards Program is great, but if we’re talking about a day-in and day-out usage card that you can really rock on and get some miles built up, I’m going to steer you in the direction of the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.

For starters, the way to use this card is far easier than any other program – no calculating the value of various flights only to find that they’re unavailable – no limitation to specific hotels in lower categories.  It is plain and simple – this card allows you to use points to reimburse your travel expenses.  That in and of itself is great, but it gets better – you accumulate those points at a total rate of 2.2% cash back for travel.

Brad and Nicole aboard the Norwegian Spirit

Brad and Nicole aboard the Norwegian Spirit

If you’ve got your flights and your hotels covered, but you’re trying to make your almost-free vacation almost freeer, get a ride on the Barclaycard Arrival.  Just put that car rental expense on it and reimburse yourself with some of the 40k points (equivalent to $400) you’ll get after spending $3k in the first 3 months. No disappointment on an up-front annual fee on this one.

If you’re thinking “free flights are great and all, but what I’d like is a free cruise,” welcome the Barclaycard arrival to port.

If you’re the kind that likes hotel rooms and all, but what you’d prefer is a quaint agriturismo, a bed and breakfast, or a room in a castle, enter the Barclaycard Arrival.

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Maybe this will make it a little easier on you.  We just hope you’re planning some great vacations for this summer and beyond.

Thanks for wanderlusting with us.

Posted in American Airlines, Barclaycard, Citi, Club Carlson, Credit Cards, Cruises, Hotels | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

60k Ultimate Rewards with Chase Ink Plus/Bold

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Brad Christensen

If you’ve been contemplating getting a travel rewards card for your business, Chase just made the offer a little sweeter on their Ink Bold Charge Card and Ink Plus Credit Card.  Historically they’ve offered 50k Ultimate Rewards once you meet the $5k spending requirement within the first three months, but for now they’ve bumped that offer to 60k -likely for only a limited time.

These are both cards that I’ve gotten long ago, and sadly Chase won’t award more than one bonus for each card, so I’ve had my fun with these ones, but that doesn’t stop me from telling you about them. (That said, when I got each of these cards, they were Mastercards, but now they are promoted as Visas – there’s a chance I could re-up, and with this offer, I may just do that).

60k ultimate rewards

Probably a limited time offer

To begin with, the difference between the two is simple. The Ink Bold is a charge card, which means the balance must be paid in full every month. The Ink Plus is a credit card, which means you could make a minimum payment and actually use the card as credit.  Where our policy in managing cards is never to use them as credit, but only as a purchasing instrument for things you would otherwise only buy with cash, check or debit, that means they are essentially the same thing.

Both cards do have an annual fee of $95, but it is waived the first year.  Neither carries any foreign transaction fees, and in both cases, for now, the bonus is 60k Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5k in the first 3 months.

This is a generous bonus on a pair of cards that are extremely useful, particularly for business owners who have a lot of office and fuel expenses.  This is because the cards offer 5x points for every dollar spent at office supply stores and on cable, internet, and phone. They also offers 2x point for every dollar spent at fuel stations. Putting all of your business expenses on either card could be a very points-lucrative proposition.

But let’s start by just looking at the bonus. By the time you spend your first $5k on the card, some of your purchases will likely have been in the multiplier categories and let’s just say you had accumulated 8k Ultimate Rewards – then your 60k bonus hits and it’s time to start thinking travel.

These Ultimate Rewards Points are very handy because they are so flexible.  Where loyalty points are divided into Airline miles Hotel points, and Bank points, these are bank points that can spent like cash, or transferred to a number of different programs.

Just to illustrate, I’ll offer some ideas as to how you might be able to put these points to good use.

  1. Transfer to British Airways for some great deals on short-hop flights on partner airlines like American, Alaska Air, or  LAN – I love this idea and we’ve posted about some of the best ways to use British Airways Avios – 9k RT from SLC to LAX means these 68k points could get 7.5 people on a flight like that. LAN is great for flights from Lima to Iquitos (for my Manventure), or Lima to Cuzco. WorldWanderlusters Doug and Aly used BA Avios to fly from London to Dublin, too – another great use.

    babes at the beach

    My wife and 4 friends flew RT to LA with 50k BA Avios

  2. Move the points to Southwest Rapid Rewards to use in conjunction with your Companion Pass – This is what I’m doing!  We’ll be getting 2/6 of us to Florida with my SW companion pass.
  3. Plan a Rail Vacation on Amtrak – Redeeming points to book Amtrak tickets is also relatively simple.  They’ve divided their route map into 3 distinct zones.  Stay within a single zone and your one-way coach ticket is 5,500 points (4,000 if you stay within the northeastern sub-zone from Virginia Beach to Montreal).  If your trip will take you into a second zone, you’ll be looking at 8,000 points and a third elevates the cost to 10,500. You could use very few of these points to arrange for quite the traincation.

    Amtrak with Ultimate Rewards

    Amtrak Travel Zones

  4. Transfer points to IHG, then take advantage of Pointbreaks – Every quarter IHG offers up hotel rooms in specific places for a mere 5k points a night.  Your 65k UR points could get you 13 nights in any of these hotels.
  5. Spend the points like cash on Chase’s UR Travel Portal – Forget about having to worry about the point systems and simply use the points as cash at a rate of 1:1.25 – your 68k points will net you more than $900 towards flights or hotels through their online system.

These are just a few ideas, but the possibilities are endless.  There are so many places these points could take you – especially if you have some ongoing business expenses that will help you keep your UR account flush with points.

Here are just  a few more things to consider:

  • These points do disappear if you cancel your card before transferring or spending them – keep that in mind before you decide to call in and cancel.
  • You could also just get pure cash back with your points, though the value isn’t as great that way.
  • Sheldon and I don’t get any commissions on this card (or hardly any others any more), but we’re still promoting it as always because the opportunity for you is abundant.
  • If you’re reading this and wishing you had a business so you could apply, read this post from Million Mile Secrets on ways you may qualify to have a business credit card – it’s less than you might think.

We appreciate you wanderlusting with us and we’d urge you to go Like our Facebook Page if “almost-free travel” is something that appeals to you.

Posted in Chase, Ultimate Rewards | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

3 Credit Card Run- 100k AA Miles, 40k Barclaycard Arrival, & $250 Cash

Posted on May 1, 2014 by wpengine

It had been too long.  I woke up on Saturday morning and without really thinking about it and applied for 3 credit cards in one day.   The reaping was fruitful with a 3/3 success rate! I’m so excited about these three cards let me show you which cards I got.

1. Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®

We’ve posted numerous times about this card. They recently upped the spending requirement on it, but the card is awesome. Here are some of the noteworthy reasons to get this card:

-Enjoy 40,000 bonus miles after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days — that’s enough to redeem for a $400 travel statement credit toward an eligible travel purchase.
– Earn 2X miles on all purchases
– Get 5% miles back to use toward your next redemption, every time you redeem
– Miles don’t expire as long as your account is open, active and in good standing
– No foreign transaction fees on purchases made while traveling abroad
– 0% introductory APR for 12 months on Balance Transfers made within 45 days of account opening. After that, a variable APR will apply, 16.99%, 20.99% or 23.99%, based on your creditworthiness. There is a fee for balance transfers.

 

For other posts about this card read:

 

2.  Citi Executive AAdvantage World Mastercard

Application Link

We’ve posted about this card before.  It never really interested me in the past because the bonus was a boring 30K American AAdvantage miles.  That isn’t anything to get excited about, especially when it comes with a $450 annual fee (not waived).

App o Rama

You know the card is BIG when it arrives like this on your front porch!

However, the new offer that came around was for 100k AAdvantage miles, plus they gave you a dollar-for-dollar credit for your first $200 in expenses, which essentially made the annual fee $250.  That is much more palatable, espeically when you consider it gives me 100k miles and lounge access to all American Airlines and US Airways airport lounges.   Basically for $250 you’re getting 2.5 off peak trips to Europe.  Yeah that’s a steal if you can’t read between the lines.

The big problem here is the spending requirement.  Unless you have a business that spends tons of money, or you’re super rico (of which I’m neither) this card is extremely difficult to meet the spending requirement.  Fortunately I’ve got a friend who spends a ton on a credit card each month for his business and he helps me out from time to time when I need to meet big spending requirements.

3.  American Express SimplyCash Business Credit Card

Link: American Express SimplyCash Business Credit Card

Amex SimplyCash

American Express SimplyCash

I got this card back when they offered an initial bonus of $250.  The card has some strengths that really made me like it:

  • No annual fee
  • $250 Bonus (expired)
  • 5% Cash back at U.S. office supply stores
  • 5% Cash back on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers
  • 3% Cash back on the category of your choice from a list of select categories- Restaurants/Gas Stations/etc
  • 1% Cash back on all other purchases

Basically I saw this $250 bonus wiping out the $250 annual fee on the Citi Executive Card. If you look at it that way I ended up with:

  • 100,000 AAdvantage Miles
  • Airport Lounge Access for a year
  • 40,000 Arrival points ($400)

Not bad for a 3 card run.  It loads up my AAdvantage account in anticipation of future trips that are yet to be planned, but surely to be taken. If you were to get three cards today which cards would they be?

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Posted in American Airlines, American Express, App O Rama, Barclaycard, Citi, How to Wanderlust | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Manventure: The Great Amazon River Raft Race (And Machu Picchu)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Brad Christensen

I’ve made it no secret that I’m an avid follower of the ArtofManliness.com blog, and I find no shame in saying that I’m always working on my manliness.  If you follow the blog, you know there’s far more to it than the physical aspects detailed in popular posts like “On Taking a Punch,” and “Learn How to Shave Like Your Grandpa.” In fact, the better part of the blog is dedicated to virtuous characteristics like industriousness, self-reliance, honor, and courage.

I’ve been reading Brett McKay’s “Manvotionals” book, which details each of these virtues by reflecting on writings throughout the centuries, and it’s inspired me to test my mettle with a physically challenging adventure – a “Manventure.”

You might recall the story of “My Fight with Mount Kilimanjaro,” which is probably the closest thing to a “manventure” that I’ve done in some time. It was physically and emotionally taxing, exhausting, even. It was the kind of journey that made me feel painfully alone, and yet buoyed up in brotherhood. It pushed my limits and gave me time to be introspective on a level that everyday life never allows. And it’s something I need to do again.

A Manventure in Peru

Deep in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon lies the city of Iquitos – a city, which despite being entirely inaccessible by roads, is home to nearly 400,000 people. This year, for the 16th year in a row, tourism authorities there will host “The Great Amazon River Raft Race.” Teams of four from the world over will compete in a race that requires participants first to construct a raft from logs of balsawood, then to float the mighty river some 118 miles over the course of three days.

Iquitos Peru

Photo Courtesy Peruthisweek.com

That’s an awfully short description of a monumental challenge that will no doubt test the wits of many. If you’re as intrigued as I am, and you’re tempted to test your toughness and testosterone, too, you can learn more by reading the description from the Dawn on the Amazon blog which is promoting the event.

But, knowing me, you’re also aware that I wouldn’t be on board with something like this if there weren’t a way to do it almost for free. So let me tell you how I’m doing it.  Booking my trip to Hawaii shaved off 70k AA miles, but, having accumulated them “a-la-chubby-kid-under-the-pinata,” I still have about 38k left. If you need to top off your account, there’s an offer for 50k AA points on the Citi® Platinum Select® / AAdvantage® World MasterCard® and an offer for 100k AA points on the Citi Executive® AAdvantage® World EliteTM MasterCard®

How to use AAdvantage Points

A flight to South America for 30k points and $73

Not only is AA the points-cheapest airline out there, their availability is also phenomenal.  I looked at the dates in September and I could fly to Peru almost any day for a mere 15k each way.

But the one wrinkle is that those flights only take me to Lima, and I need to get to Iquitos.  LAN is, of course, the go-to airline in Latin America, due to the fact that I can make bookings with British Airways Avios through their partnership.  Because it’s less than 649 miles away, it will only cost me 4500 Avios each way.  I have some Avios, but to get more, I’ll just transfer some Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Fly to Iquitos

4500 each way between Lima and Iquitos

I could spend some time in Lima, too and call this a full-scale manventure, but there’s something about visiting Peru that just doesn’t seem right if I don’t make it to Machu Picchu, so I thought I’d see if I could pull that off, as well. Sure enough, I can book flights to Cuzco the same way and spend only 9k more Avios for a flight that would otherwise cost me $338.

Cuzco

My Brother’s Shot of Machu Picchu

I’m still weighing whether I’ll be able to pull off the 4-day trek up the Inca trail, or if I’ll have to take the train to Aguascalientes to cut the journey down to 2 days, but either way, on top of a trip down the Amazon on a self-made raft, this is going to make for an epic tale of manly accomplishment. If I’m able to do the Inca trail trip, I’ll wind up spending at least $600 on that part, but if I shave it down to the shorter trip, I should be able to get it done for less than $300.

As you might expect, I’ll stay in a free hotel in Lima – probably the Sheraton Lima Convention Center, which I can book for 3-4000 SPG points. In the end, I’ll spend no more than $700-1000 for a trip that would normally cost 2-3 times that, and that way I’ll get to prove my manliness 2-3 times more often.

What “Manventure” would you like to take? Can we help you plan to do it almost-free?

Disclosure: The number of cards for which we’re offered a commission when people apply through our site are fewer and fewer all the time.  What that means is that any more, we’re pretty much just running this blog as a hobby.  The only way we’re paid is in seeing your satisfaction when the ideas we talk about are transformed from Wanderlusting to Wandering.  If you’d like to write a guest post for us and tell the world how you’re traveling almost-free, please email worldwanderlusting@gmail.com and let’s arrange to make it happen.  Thanks for wanderlusting with us!

Posted in American Airlines, British Airways, Fun Travel Stories, Hiking, Manventure, South America | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Host a Worldwanderlusting Travel Seminar in Your Home

Posted on April 25, 2014 by wpengine
travel seminar

My wife and I went to Europe for 12 days at a cost of $900.

Brad and I have loved spreading the word about traveling for less.  In fact, we were just visiting about it the other day and Brad came to the conclusion that “WorldWanderlusting has become part of my identity.”  We laughed a bit about it, but then realized that it was true.

Teaching others how to be a WorldWanderluster brings incredible satisfaction.  Believe me, Brad and I don’t make millions from this blog.  In fact, the primary reason that we continue to blog is to share our passion with others.  The world has changed, and very few banks even pay commissions when helping others sign up for credit cards.

Sharing is Caring

Remember the last awesome restaurant that you tried?  Did you go back to work and tell all of your co-workers, or did you keep it to yourself.  More than likely, unless you selfishly didn’t tell them because you didn’t want to wait in line next time you go, you told all of your friends about the wonderful meatballs at the local Italian restaurant.

Life is all about sharing wonderful things with others.  Thanks to Brad I’m an eternal fan of Mountain Dew and Boise State football.  My aunt Teri showed me that the Mariners are the best team in the MLB, and my cousin Jeramie taught me about the Chicago Bulls, Dr. Pepper, and 80’s music.  These individuals showed me the light and helped me to find things that I’m passionate about in life.  Why shouldn’t travel be the same way?

One of my really close friends, Trevor, is responsible for teaching me to love travel.  My first international trip was to visit him in Barcelona, and since then he’s dragged me to Thailand, Costa Rica, and other spots too.  He taught me to love travel, now I turned around and taught him how to do it more often for less money.   This passion for travel that he gave to me has inspired thousands of our readers, in particular: You.

Remember that ‘Whatever goes around comes around.” Just make sure that you give out good things, so other good things can come back to you.  Now is your chance to give back to others when it comes to travel.  We want to invite you to host a WorldWanderlusting seminar in your home.

Twin Falls, Idaho Seminar

Earlier this week Brad did a WorldWanderlusting seminar in Twin Falls.  A devout follower offered their own home as the meeting place, and even facilitated the discussion.  More than 20 people participated in the event, and many were enlightened to the way of free travel.

This gave our follower a chance to really share this wonderful information with her friends and family.  No pressure for anyone, this isn’t a timeshare now! 🙂

Travel resolution

We took our son to Panama for $900.  You can too!

Host a WorldWanderlusting Travel Seminar in Your House

If you’re passionate about WorldWanderlusting, and if you’d like for Brad and I to help facilitate the discussion for a travel seminar in your home, let us know.  In some cases we might be willing to travel to your home and help you to share the ideas with your friends.

We might not be able to make it to Hong Kong by tomorrow or anything, so don’t expect any miracles, but we’re willing to consider the options to figure out how we can try to make it happen.

If we can make it happen, we’ll strive to bring some handouts and make the presentation exciting (how could a presentation about travel be anything but exciting?)  You find the people, set the venue, and we’ll pick the date together and we’ll try to make it happen.

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