Missing the boat…or the card

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Sheldon

So about a month ago an offer was out for a British Airways card that offered 100,000 frequent flier miles just for signing up. For some unknown reason I hesitated in signing up for the card. I decided to wait until the last day because I wanted to space my inquiries as far apart as possible. When the night came I totally realized that the midnight deadline referred to the Eastern time zone. I had spaced it and the offer had closed. I was very disappointed when I realized that I missed the offer, but today I’m even more disappointed.

As I look forward to my next trip that my wife, my son, and I take I’m looking to see how to get there and when to go. The British Airways offer would have been great because it would have sent both my wife and I to Europe with only on inquiry on my credit report. My decision to hesitate completely failed me. I should have gotten started earlier with the offer and I’m sure that I would have gotten approved. My credit score is very good and I’ve never missed a payment. Oh well, I just want to encourage you to think about this. If you haven’t a single credit card in your wallet, then it is time to get started at least. You need history in order to get approved for these amazing offers like the British Airways offer that I missed. Had it not have been for my great credit and the discipline to get a credit card and pay it off every month then I never would have been approved for the 150,000 American Airlines miles or the $1,100 from Capital One.

You need to plan all of this out. You build your credit slowly with a bank credit card that you already have as well as a good “Staple Card.” The staple card is one that has no annual fee, but is used on a monthly basis to build up your credit. Then when the good offers come you will already be established as a responsible person and they will be willing to offer you the “Hot Deal.” Ideally you have a few years of history before you begin churning cards. Remember that a portion of your whole score is based on the length of history established.

As a great “Staple Card” that earns you rewards toward travel we recommend Blue Sky from American Express℠.  I have had this card in my wallet since 2005.  It has been a great card that has many additional benefits.  For every $7500 spent, they reward you with $100 toward some type of travel expenses.  That is 1.33% as a reward, but the best part is that you are required to use it for some type of travel expenses. It can only be reimbursed if you have a travel expense. That way you are forced to spend the dollars on travel. As you can see from my savings post and this one I’m a big fan of budgets and making sure that travel is a part of the budget. I guess that I why I’m able to travel so much.

Posted in American Express, British Airways, Credit Cards | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

America, the no-vacation nation?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Brad Christensen

I feel guilty.  I’m cheating.  Instead of spending a significant amount of time to pen a witty travel story, I’ve lifted one from someone else.  America’s Protestant work-ethic has taught me that this is wrong.  I shouldn’t be playing, I should be working.  It makes me sick that I feel this way.

Don’t get me wrong, I do value a strong work-ethic, but I’ve always believed in working hard, but I bucked my father  in also believing that it should be complemented with a dedicated play-ethic as well. You see, after more than 55 years of life, he’s finally discovering some hobbies outside the realm of work.  Work brought him joy and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I came wired a little different.  I work to live, I don’t live to work.  But that also makes me different than much of America.

This article touches on the ocean of difference in the vacation habits and work vacation allowances between the United States and the rest of the world.  While I don’t believe that federally-mandated vacation time is the solution (in fact, I hardly believe in federally-mandated anything), I do think that it’s time for America to cede economic hegemony to some other workhorse (China seems willing, for example) and for us to do more of what brings us true joy – act on our wanderlust.

Why is America the ‘no-vacation nation’?

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Starwood Preferred Guest

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Sheldon

Paying for hotels is always something that has been difficult for me.  I hate the idea of paying big dollars to stay somewhere for about 9 hours.  Therefore as a result of my cheapness I’ve stayed in some pretty gnarly hotels.  On my recent trip to North Carolina I stayed in a Howard Johnson Express hotel.  The $50 pricetag was the first attraction, but I should have run and hid upon arrival.

The hotel had a “Night Check-in area.”  This was  comprised of a very small room that had a window to the night attendant at the hotel.  The window between the attendant and I was doubtlessly bulletproof.  I paid the $50 with a credit card because they also offered a continental breakfast (not all of these are created equally).  The room had nice new carpet, nice granite counter tops in the sink, but the blanket on the bed was nonetheless 30+ years old.  I was also terrified by the sight of the shower because it looked like I saw a few oysters growing on the wall of the shower. (I wore sandals)

When I crawled into bed I definitely wore socks, shorts and a shirt to bed.  Falling asleep was rather difficult as well.  It was at this moment that I realized that I needed the Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.  The breakfast topped it off in the morning. When I arrived I expected the normal continental breakfast found at most hotels, but it was not what I expected.  The danishes had been there for at least a week and the cereal had not been replaced in at least a  year.  The only two options for cereal were Corn Flakes and Cocoa Puffs. I opted for a bowl of packaged oatmeal as I knew it should be fine.

The Starwood Preferred Guest card offers 10,000 Starpoints for the first purchase.  If you then spend an additional $15,000 on the card you will receive an additional 15,000 Starpoints as a bonus.  This will leave you with 40,000 Starpoints in total.  These points can be transferred to many airlines in 20,000 blocks which also include a 5,000 bonus.  So let’s assume that you get the card, meet the 40,000 Starpoints, that could equal 50,000 miles on an airline.

The hotels that pertain to the Starwood program aren’t going to have Oysters growing on the shower or bedspreads that are 30+ years old.  I recommend the card as it is a great start to your frequent flying adventures.  You can use the card for hotels or for airlines which makes its flexibility unmatched. You can see their hotels at their website.

Don’t forget that they waive the annual fee for the first year and you can call and cancel before the second year comes around.  You can also call and ask for a retention bonus or tell them that you  will cancel. Find out where you would like to wanderlust by checking their hotels that fall in each of the categories.

Posted in American Express, Hotels, Starwood Preferred Guest | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Picture and Currency Question

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Sheldon

A question for our Frequent Fliers:

Where was this picture taken?

What currency do they use there?

If you would like to submit your own photo, please email it to me at Sheldonchristensen@gmail.com.

Wanderlust with us!

Posted in Travel Quiz | 5 Comments

Don Christian

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Brad Christensen

Is it wrong to desire horrible weather at home while you’re away travelling?  A few years ago, Sheldon and I took our wives and another couple to Panama in June.  It was difficult to justify because the weather is often nice in Idaho in June, and a great part of travel is escaping the things you don’t like about home, but $280 roundtrip tickets to Panama City were impossible to turn down.

While we were enjoying the serene and underappreciated historical town of Portobelo, we got news that it was snowing in Idaho Falls.  I don’t quite know which I was more thrilled about – the fact that I stood shores of the bay where Sir Francis Drake, the great British Admiral (or the pirate as he was known to the Spaniards) was buried in a lead casket, or that 2 inches of snow plagued my hometown.  There’s great joy in knowing what you’re missing out on. (More on the Panama trip in a future post).

So as we enjoy the 75-85 degree days in Medellin and the kids play in the pool, I’m more than pleased to hear that our prolonged winter continues back home… as if it could somehow get it out of its system before we return.

Adding to my joy is the discovery of something we’ve never had necessity of, but which has been quite a treat.  Because the society in South America is so stratified, many upper-class families are able to inexpensively hire nannies for their children.  While we are hardly upper-class, we decided to indulge.

Alba, our nanny, did the laundry, swept and mopped all the floors, made the beds and organized the kids’ clothes, played with the kids, made us a delicious spread of soup, sandwiches and french fries for lunch, washed all the dishes and responded to the kids’ demands for snacks and drinks.  And if that weren’t enough, all day she referred to me as “Don Christian”  which, perhaps self-aggrandizingly, I equivalate to “Sir Christensen.”  I know, its vain, but it sure beats being referred to as “Bddaadth,” which is what happens when native Spanish speakers try to say “Brad.”  If you think that’s funny, try telling one that your name is “Earl.”

Wanderlust with us.

Posted in Living Abroad | 1 Comment

Credit Scores to Score Cards

Posted on May 20, 2011 by wpengine

Here is the answer to the question that you’ve probably all been looking for.  What about my credit?

Essentially a credit score is comprised of a few different histories.  Thanks to MyFICO.com for the graphic below.  It  shows how your credit score is formed.  

You can see that your score is comprised of many factors.

  • Payment History:  This is you paying your bills on time.  Your bills include things like credit cards, mortgages, and loans.  All of these contribute toward making your score higher.  Unfortunately the gas bill and the city bill you receive don’t contribute toward this even if you make the payment on time.  However, if you don’t pay that city bill it can negatively affect your score, so it doesn’t help you much, but it can definitely hurt you.
  • Amounts Owed: The amounts owed category has to do with having high balances on your cards and lots of payments on a monthly basis.  Make sure that you aren’t getting even to 50% of your available credit limit on your cards.  Some sites tell you that you can get closer, but just don’t live on the edge.  For example, if your credit limit is $1000,  you shouldn’t spend more than $500 on the card in one billing cycle.  That can hurt you.  Keep the balances low and ideally you would pay them off each month.  After all, it doesn’t do you much good to pay interest if you are trying to get free travel…
  • Length of Credit History: What is the average age of your credit account?  This is affected by how long you have had your average account open.  If you are new to the credit industry you won’t have anything here.  This takes into account your mortgages, loans, credit cards, etc.
  • New Credit: This takes into account the number of recent inquiries on your credit and the distance between each of those inquiries.  It also looks at how much new credit you have vs. what experienced credit you have.
  • Types of Credit Used: This looks at the different types of credit you have established.  There are mortgages, installment loans (e.g. car loans), credit cards, retail accounts, etc.
Our Take:
Look, you need to be smart.  Hopefully you have already begun building your credit and are well on your way to carefully managing it as you hit all of these bonuses and travel for free.  Make sure you always keep you oldest credit card open as it has a great history of payments (hopefully).  Try to open a few different types of accounts so you can build your credit not only by credit card, but also buy other types of credit.  
Make sure you don’t have too many inquiries, but really you can have quite a few and it won’t affect you that much.  I’ve heard that you can have up to 9 inquiries with each of the thee crediting agencies every 2 years.  That could theoretically be 27 inquiries every 2 years.  Make sure you  pay your bills on time and don’t run high balances.  
To help you effectively manage your credit, you can use the services of Credit Sesame.  We don’t have their direct link yet, but here is their website.  It is a personal finance & debit tool.  We should have the link within the week.
Posted in Credit Advice | 1 Comment

Secondhand Vouchers: A garage sale for airline flights

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Brad Christensen

Our goal at WorldWanderlusting is to help you find ways to quench your wanderlust without crunching your wallet. As much as we love the frequent-flyer mile bonuses which come with so many credit card offers and get you free trips like Sheldon’s $900 cheap European vacation, we know that sometimes you’ll actually have to pay for a flight (wince).

Sheldon’s post yesterday about booking a cheap last-minute flight was great. But, as big brothers must do sometimes, I may just have to correct him by pointing out how he could have saved even more. The only thing better than finding a flight for half of what another airline is charging is buying a $400 voucher for $200 to use on that flight.

You may have read my piece on “the bump,” taking advantage of flight overloads to obtain vouchers for future flights.  As much as we may try, however, we won’t get all of those vouchers and some of them will go to people who don’t wanderlust like we do.  Those people often assign a higher value to cash than they do to the voucher, whereas we wanderlusters essentially see a 1:1 exchange ratio.  As a result, you can pick up these vouchers at garage sale prices, especially when the expiration is nearing.

A quick search of local craigslist postings reveals how Sheldon might have saved at least $100 on one leg of his flight. I found an offer for a one way SW voucher for $200 that expires in two weeks.  At this point, the seller would have to be a fool to deny a $100 cash offer.

At any given point, you can find hundreds of these vouchers listed for sale.  Obviously, www.Craigslist.org is a great place to search, and while I prefer to deal locally, there’s little to stop you from buying from someone across the country.  SearchTempest.com is a handy tool for searching all craigslist posts at once.

Most of the vouchers are essentially a code which you enter along with the voucher owner’s name.  You can still book the ticket in your own name.  Now, a word of caution: this does not mean you can be reckless with your purchasing decisions.  You should contact the seller and exercise the same discretion you’d use in any other online transaction.  Using Paypal is a nice way to have at least some recourse if there’s any problem.

Also, as a technicality, these vouchers are generally marked as “non-transferable.”  Again, while you must enter the original voucher holder’s name to redeem it, you should be able to book the ticket in your name.  If you’re considering going this route and you’d like some advice, email me at bradleyjai@hotmail.com and I’ll answer you in disclosure-laden legalese.

Also, when making your offer to the voucher holder, first remember that if they’re selling it, they probably don’t value it very highly to begin with, then remember the “Christensen Rule for Business.” This is a carefully cultured bit of poignant advice has been refined over centuries of tightwadedness.

While such attitudes generally wane over generations, in our family it has done exactly the opposite.  And if it’s any measure of the potency of our penny-pinching, can I just share with you that my father drives a very hard bargain… at garage sales.  Hopefully it will be of some use to you.

The Christensen Rule for Business

It cost 10

Its worth 8

They’d like 6

They’d settle for 4

Offer 2

Nothing pains us more at WorldWanderlusting.com, than hearing “I’d love to travel, I just can’t afford it.”  We write about inexpensive ways for people to get to places they had only dreamed of.  Follow us on Facebook or check out these other great posts:

Wanderlust with us.

Posted in Vouchers | Tagged , , | 6 Comments