{"id":4178,"date":"2013-04-21T14:08:50","date_gmt":"2013-04-21T20:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4178"},"modified":"2016-06-14T10:31:23","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T16:31:23","slug":"lds-church-history-tour-free-flights-and-free-hotels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4178","title":{"rendered":"LDS Church History Tour: Free Flights and Free Hotels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Update: The 50k bonus on the Southwest Premier Plus card referenced in this post had been reduced to 25k, but has now again been raised to 50k. These offers\u00a0are always subject to change – all the more reason to seize on them when they’re available. \u00a0 Please comment with any questions.<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Catholics have the pilgrimage from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela – known as the Camino de Santiago<\/a>. \u00a0Muslims have their ritual journey to Mecca. \u00a0And Mormons? We do an LDS church<\/a> history tour. \u00a0But we’re also notoriously cheap and travel is expensive, right?<\/p>\n

No, it’s not… \u00a0not if you’re enlisted in our army of worldwanderlusters – discontent with the \u00a0premise that travel takes place in retirement, we live our lives in the present, and don’t put off for someday what could be done today. \u00a0If you’re like me, though, springing for several thousand dollars for something that will leave me with only memories and cheesy\u00a0souvenirs\u00a0is hard to do. \u00a0It’s far easier when I’m able to get things for free.<\/p>\n

\"Paragliding

Paragliding in the mountains of Colombia<\/p><\/div>\n

But nothing is free, right? \u00a0If it sounds too good to be true, it is. \u00a0And I don’t dispute that, except in this one instance, and I can say that with authority. \u00a0Sheldon and I have been blogging for more than two years, and in those two years, I’ve applied for 23 credit cards, obtained more than 2,000,000 miles and points, and increased my credit score by 27 points from 767 to 794. \u00a0I understand how credit works<\/a>, and I know that if I use my purchasing decisions wisely, always pay on time and in full, I can accrue enough miles to take my family to do incredible things like paragliding in Colombia, visiting the Embera Indian Village in Panama, and now, taking them the LDS church history sites.<\/p>\n

It requires some diligence to understand the programs, and some recordkeeping which mint.com makes very easy. \u00a0It means changing what form of payment you use, but not your spending habits. \u00a0But those are just the means by which you obtain the real life-changing opportunities -the travel experiences themselves.<\/p>\n

So commit, right now. \u00a0You’re enlisting in our army. Sign up for our RSS feed. \u00a0Subscribe to our email list. \u00a0Like us on Facebook.<\/a>\u00a0You’re going to live for today, not for tomorrow, but you’re not going to be reckless with your spending, you’re going to be tactical. \u00a0You’ll allocate your spending to meet requirements that will give you enormous travel bonuses and then you’ll set out to see the world. \u00a0Now, for why you came here.<\/p>\n

LDS Church History Tour<\/h2>\n

I know that not everyone interested in seeing these sites lives in the Salt Lake valley, but for simplicity, I prepared the itinerary out of Salt Lake. \u00a0It shouldn’t vary a whole lot out of any airport served by Southwest Airlines. The sites can be divided into two general areas – the NY\/OH area, and the MO\/IL area. Many people make two separate visits, but we’re going to do it all at once with the miracle of the open jaw flight, combined with a one-way car rental.<\/p>\n

\"MapThe Flights<\/h2>\n

\"wannaSouthwest Airlines Rapid Rewards program allows you to book “wanna get away” fares for 60 points per dollar of the flight value. \u00a0 Chase has been cycling between 25k bonus point offers and 50k bonus point offers on their Southwest cards, but for the time being, you can still get the 50k from the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier<\/a>\u00a0card after spending $2000 in the first three months. \u00a0The annual fee for this card is not waived, so you will nee \u00a0As with any flight, the more flexible you are, the better rates you can get. I just looked for May and was able to get good, short flights at these rates:<\/p>\n