I had a streak in college when I “broke bad.” I was a straight-up kleptomaniac for about a week. \u00a0I went from being the kid who felt immense guilt over yoinking a pack of bubble gum, to a guy who shamelessly stole Christmas gifts for every member of his family. It started out with stuffing a pair of snowboarding mittens into a box of boots I was already buying. \u00a0It was a dishonest, homemade version of “buy-one-get-one-free,” and I justified it despite knowing it was wrong.<\/p>\n
At the peak of my depravity, I walked into an office supply\/shipping store and picked up a $24 Rand McNally Road Atlas off the shelf, walked back to the back of the store, put it in a large envelope, and paid $4.50 to mail it to myself.<\/p>\n
While I’ll admit that I’m still a little awestruck by my own clever methods, I’m not proud of those days. \u00a0And while I’m as value-conscious as I’ve ever been, I’m a reformed man. \u00a0At least, I think I am. \u00a0You see, now I get my “five-finger-discount” on the biggest of my spending categories – travel – and I get it by understanding and using loyalty point programs.<\/p>\n
It doesn’t sound as flashy, but I’m telling you, it’s a colossal heist. \u00a0Here’s a taste. In the past three years I’ve stayed 49 free nights in hotels. \u00a0I flew my family of six to Panama for $261 out-of-pocket. \u00a0My wife and I just returned from a 2-week trip to Italy that we booked for 40,000 points and $81 each. I could go on and on, but you’re catching the vision.<\/p>\n
You see, most people think they’re already playing the frequent flyer mile game… but they aren’t even in the stadium. \u00a0There is a world of travel-hacking out there that would astonish you… and the fact that you have an Alaskan Airlines credit card is only getting you started. There are people like me who are hoarding loyalty points aggressively (chubby-kid-under-the-pi\u00f1ata style) and I want to invite you to become one of them.<\/p>\n
Here’s my Five Finger Formula:<\/p>\n
The first key to taking advantage of loyalty programs is, of course, to understand them. It’s not nearly as intimidating as you’d think. \u00a0To begin, know that there are essentially three forms of travel rewards you can accrue:<\/p>\n
Now that you know that there are programs in each of these categories, consider that you can obtain points a few different ways:<\/p>\n
You don’t need to go out and sign up for a bunch of credit cards right away, but there is no harm in enrolling in the loyalty programs for airlines and hotels.<\/p>\n
Do yourself a favor and create a single username and complex password that you’ll use to register for all of the programs. \u00a0Email yourself the account numbers once you’ve registered and keep them in a special email folder. \u00a0By doing this you’ll also be piped into special promotions they’ll email from time to time.<\/p>\n
Also, this way you’ll always be ready in case you happen to fly on an airline you don’t normally use or stay in a hotel you weren’t a member of.\u00a0Commit that you won’t allow opportunities to fall by the wayside. \u00a0I have friends who are crazy about travel and yet somehow they allowed 17,000 miles to go uncaptured after flying to China without registering for a program. [gagging sound] \u00a0Don’t do that to yourself.<\/p>\n
Also, create a stream of ongoing points and miles education by subscribing to some blogs. Obviously we’d welcome your subscription to WorldWanderlusting.com<\/a> and we’d urge you to check out MillionMileSecrets.com<\/a> and the forums at Flyertalk.com<\/a>. This way you’ll always be aware of what’s happening in the Miles and Points world.<\/p>\n Maybe you’ve already got some built up… perfect, that’s a good start, but good is an impediment to great. \u00a0I want you to get a taste of what it feels like to be empowered by an awardwallet that is brimming with opportunity.<\/p>\n My favorite “getting started” strategy right now is to begin piling up points with the Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard<\/a>. \u00a0It’s super simple to redeem the points – just reimburse yourself for travel purchases. The up front bonus is healthy – you get $440 in free travel after spending $1000.<\/p>\n Aside from that, make a determination about which programs best suit you. \u00a0If you fly Southwest Airlines often, search out some ways to pile up Southwest Rapid Rewards. \u00a0If you love staying in Starwood Hotels, get the Starwood card that offers a bonus of enough points to stay as many as 8 nights in Category 2 hotels after meeting the minimum spending requirement.<\/p>\n This is easily the most challenging part – travel points are currency, and as such, their value is variable. The most confusing element for people is the concept of “miles.” \u00a0They’re referred to as such because historically airline miles have been accrued on a “miles-flown” basis. But with most programs redemption has little to do with distance flown. Because I always think in terms of maximum value, these figures are for the lowest possible redemption for each program. \u00a0You can pay much more in points than this, but these are baseline figures for the lowest amount you can get away with.<\/p>\n Here’s how redemption breaks out for most airlines:<\/p>\n You can research each program on their individual websites, but we consolidated the links in our Using Airlines Miles<\/a> page.<\/p>\n But getting free flights is just the cake. Free hotels? Now that’s the icing. The variance on hotel points is far greater, so it’s nearly impossible to create a value system that runs across systems.<\/p>\n The first thing you need to understand about hotel points is that all hotel chains divide their hotel properties into categories. \u00a0The higher the category, the more points they call for. In most cases, Category 1 hotels are very few and far between. \u00a0I always like to look at programs in terms of how many points it takes to redeem for a Category 2 hotel – that gives you a good baseline value to compare across the board.<\/p>\n Approximate points required for 1 night in a Category 2 hotel:<\/p>\n Now, you’ve got a stash of hotel and airline points that you’re greedily counting like Scrooge McDuck. \u00a0All you need is a way to tie it all together – is it too much to ask for free car rentals and cruises too? No, it’s not, in fact. \u00a0You can pull this off with Bank Point programs that have a portal that allows you to book these things for free, or that provide reimbursement for travel purchases. \u00a0In many cases you can also transfer these points to hotel or airline programs to top off your accounts when you need a little boost.<\/p>\n Here are the major bank point programs:<\/p>\n Overall, the points are ultimately worth to you what you value them for. \u00a0If you never want to go on a cruise, maybe the Barclay Arrival points aren’t all that great for you. \u00a0If you stay with friends or rent vacation homes, maybe you’re better off to focus on airline miles over hotel points. The important piece is that you know what you want and go get them.<\/p>\n All this is for naught if you can’t figure out how to use these points you’ve been gathering. There’s always the good old fashioned way of calling in, but unless your a pro at interpreting broken English and waiting on hold excites you, you’re going to want to book online.<\/p>\n I keep track of all my points in various programs with www.AwardWallet.com – it’s a handy tool that keeps me organized and feeds my wanderlust when I need a pick-me-up.<\/p>\n Every program has an online portal and booking with points is not much different from normal reservations.<\/p>\n We’ve done a number of instructional videos on our Youtube Channel, but fiddling around with it yourself is really the best way to get it accomplished.<\/p>\n When booking the most important rule is to be flexible.\u00a0This is the real secret to using loyalty points efficiently. \u00a0I always tell people, “If you want to use frequent flyer miles to go to Hawaii from December 23 to Jan 2nd and stay at a specific hotel, there’s a chance you could do it, but it’s going to completely drain you. If you want to go to someplace with a nice beach in the wintertime and stay in a clean hotel, you will be amazed by how much you can do with how little.”<\/p>\n Travel (real travel, as in, going places that are not occupied by cartoon characters) is about experiences. \u00a0It’s about learning and living and loving. \u00a0It’s about adventure and risk and excitement… and you don’t get any of that if you aren’t willing to break out of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n Your frequent flyer adventures will be so much cheaper, so many more, and so much more memorable if you’ll be willing to take what opportunities present themselves, rather than prescribing a necessary plan that they must conform to.<\/p>\n Here’s an example: \u00a0Every quarter Priority Club releases their list of\u00a0Point Breaks hotels<\/a> – properties they let you stay at for 5,000 points\/night. \u00a0Since I have 85k, I could stay in one of those puppies for as many as 17 nights. \u00a0Looking through the list I think, “Hmm…a Staybridge Suites in Valley Forge, PA… isn’t that where General George Washington knelt and said a humble prayer before leading the Continental Army to victory?” Guess who just booked a trip to Pennsylvania?<\/p>\n As with any journey of a thousand miles, just as Lao-Tzu said, this one begins with a single step – a step in the direction of almost-free travel. \u00a0Commit now to do more than casually collect frequent flyer miles and points. \u00a0If you’re doing it right, it will feel like stealing – the exhilarating part, without the guilt. \u00a0Just like travel itself, it’s something you’ll never regret.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I had a streak in college when I “broke bad.” I was a straight-up kleptomaniac for about a week. \u00a0I went from being the kid who felt immense guilt over yoinking a pack of bubble gum, to a guy who … Continue reading 3. Get Some Points Coming<\/h2>\n
4. Know How to Value Them<\/h2>\n
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5. Know How to Redeem Them<\/h2>\n
In Summary<\/h2>\n