Category: Travel

5 Awesome Ways to Redeem Credit Card Points for Travel

This is the second series in my post about Credit Card points. This post will show you creative and awesome ways to redeem credit card points.

1. Travel around the World on Business Class

This past January, I used 240,000 AMEX miles transferred to Kris Miles to go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world to over 10 countries all on business class seats. Not only did I experience some of the finest seats and experience in the air, I also got to work & relax in incredible lounges, see all the countries I’ve always wanted to visit, and experience something I would have never had an opportunity to do.

The flights alone would have set me back over $16,000 had I paid in cash. You can read more about my trip here.

It was quite an experience and an awesome way to redeem credit card points!

2. Fly your Family Round trip back to Asia

Earlier this year, I spent 210,000 Chase Credit Card points transferred to United to book three round trip tickets for my family to go back to Asia to visit family. Though the flights weren’t business class seats, they were still on my family’s preferred airline – Eva Air. The tickets would have set my family back over $4,000 had they spent cash.

It’s incredibly rewarding to redeem credit card points for other people – especially when it’s for loved ones.

3: Stay in Excellent Hotels for Free!

Just a few weeks ago, my family and I were able to travel cheap to San Antonio where I used my Starwood Points to book a few nights stay in the Four Points Sheraton hotel. The accommodations were very pleasant with a pool, fitness gym, and a beautiful room for our short vacation/work trip. After two free nights, I still have enough points for 3-10 nights in another hotel, depending on how nice the hotel is we decide to book next!

4: Book a Flight for Two Adults + 1 Infant from U.K. back home

I recently had the opportunity to redeem credit card points to book 2.5 (2 adults, 1 infant) round trip flights from London to DFW on British Airways for family. It was about 95,000 miles + a little over $1,000 in fees. It’s been a couple years since they’ve been back to Dallas so it was a joy to do so.

The flights would have cost about $4500 in cash so it was a great value for the mileage used. The total cost even with the mileage was a little more than it could have been namely because of the infant flying.

Because of the baby, I had to make sure the flights were direct and ideally on a better airlines for infants.

For solo travelers or travelers without babies, I’m sure the RT ticket could have been a lot cheaper.

5. Limitless Options

If you haven’t already noticed, I find the most joy in being able to use mileage to help family and friends travel. Especially when it saves them money and gives them the best possible travel experience that I know I was able to book. But really, the beauty of having a lot of miles is the world opens up to you.

Suddenly, you’re able to go anywhere, live anywhere, see and experience almost anything your heart desires traveling on the best airlines, living in the best hotels, and doing all of it without having to dig into your cash.

From personal experience, this is one of the most exciting things to do at an airport – walking around freely exploring while getting some exercise and getting those legs going!

Have you ever had to stay overnight at an airport? Share your tips with us!

 

Having traveled extensively across the U.S. and around the world, I’ve compiled 5 of the most common travel mistakes you want to avoid.

Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way but I hope through my mistakes, you won’t have to go through the same headaches I went through.

1. Not Planning Enough

There is lots of room for spontaneity when traveling and you really shouldn’t have every single detail squared away but unfortunately there are also some consequences for not planning enough.

The most critical consequences usually comes from lack of planning in what essentials to bring, how to get to places, and not taking into account what to expect at the destination you are headed to (whether it be culture, weather, or safety hazards).

2. Overpacking

Not only will it cost you money sometimes on oversize pricing, but the bigger cost (in my opinion) is having your options weighed down. Remember, the more you have with you, the more you are responsible of and need to carry with you.

I would recommend you consider what you absolutely cannot go without and then identify anything in your luggage you can simply purchase if you really needed it on the road. I’ve written a post on what I consider essential when traveling here (link to 5 Things You Absolutely Need When Traveling).

If possible, have a piece of luggage that is heavier and can carry the bulk of your belongings but one that you are ok with losing (I usually store clothes, shoes, toiletries in this bulk bag).

And then have a separate smaller bag (usually a backpack) where you can comfortably take with you 1-2 backup clothing and everything else that you can’t afford to lose (passports, credit cards, electronics).

Why do this? So you can be mobile as much as possible. So you can explore, walk, go to places without worrying about your other set of luggage.

And that is an invaluable blessing to have – to be able to go wherever you want, explore whatever you want with everything you need right with you.

3. Getting Scammed

So many destinations these days are getting flooded with tourists and locals are eager to prey on unsuspecting victims. This can happen in the form of thieves on the street, cab drivers, food and vendor stands, and more. We’ve seen so many forms of scams and the sad reality is scammers are getting more and more creative and deceiving.

The best way to avoid scams in general is to always agree on a price before rendering service or product. This will at least allow you to know what you are paying, even if it is above market value. The other tip is just to always be alert and on guard. The worst mistake is to be unsuspecting and ignorant of the fact that the reality is there are people everywhere wanting to prey on tourists.

4. Getting lost

It will inevitably happen to all of us. At some point you will get lost and will need to pay for a cab to get back or a hotel to stay overnight.

The key is not to panic but to take a few minutes to come up with a new plan. When you act hastily, the consequences will be worse and you may find yourselves in a deeper hole than you started with. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – more often than not, locals and people are willing to help. Just be weary of asking cab drivers to assist your situation as in many places they are not afraid to scam unknowing tourists.

5. Overplanning

Yes, there is the other side and extreme of not planning enough – over planning. This is not so much a loss financially but more so purposefully. Don’t forget to live in the moment, allow some room for spontaneity, and embrace where you are traveling. Sometimes we get so caught up in schedules and details, we lose out on one of the greatest joys in traveling – just simply being able to immerse yourself in a totally different place and culture and take all that in.

 

 

For over half a decade, I traveled around the U.S. putting on events 3-4 times per month. Half of those years I worked for a startup that gave me a limited budget. The other half I operated under my own startup and gave myself a limited budget. Here are some of the lessons I learned in traveling that might save you from breaking

1. Harmonize the Big 3 Expenses

The 3 biggest expenses in travel will almost always be – flights, accommodations, and transportation. Unfortunately, you won’t always find great deals on all 3 but if you’re able to find good options and harmonize all three, you’ll find travel really doesn’t need to be that expensive.

Flights:

Getting cheap flights is all about knowing where to look and knowledge of different airlines and airports. It’s also helpful if you’re flexible with dates. I usually start out my search using flights.google.com. Google has an awesome flight aggregator that searches most of the major airlines and the pricing on any given date. Sometimes you may find some really cheap deals on Spirit, Frontier, or United flights but keep in mind the low budget airlines will have a lot of hidden fees – namely baggage fees that can make the flights as expensive or even more expensive than some of its competitors.

As a general rule of thumb, I would say if you need to check-in baggage, it is usually easiest just to stay away from low budget airlines like Spirit or Frontier.

Be sure to also checkout Southwest.com for their rates as flights can sometimes be pretty cheap on Southwest. Southwest also includes two check in luggages and have one of the more outstanding services in the airline business.

Also, always look for nearby airports (e,g. I have saved over $100 on flight to Oakland Airport instead of San Francisco airport and the drive to the different airports is only about an hour away).

Once you’ve found some great flight deals, don’t book the flight just yet. You want to make sure you can find reasonable accommodations for your travel dates. I have found amazing flight deals before and booked only to find out moments later the cheapest accommodations I could find were hundreds of dollars per night. It’s always safer to have a complete plan before booking all 3 of the major expenses.

Accommodations: 

For accommodations, I actually recommend finding a decent airbnb on (www.airbnb.com). These days it is not only cheaper than hotels, but you also always get a more local experience. We have had a lot of incredibly awesome hosts and of course airbnb has reviews that you can do your research on prior to booking. The only real advantage we have found from hotels is daily house cleaning but if you’re able to keep relatively clean a few days yourself, it is worth more to clean up after yourself than to pay much more for cleaning service.

If you absolutely need a hotel or just want a more luxurious experience, I would recommend priceline.com and try their express deals program or their bid program to get great rates at discounted pricing. Just note those programs are non-refundable.

Transportation: 

Lastly, consider transportation and how you’ll get around your destination. Will there be public transport to take you wherever you need to go? Or will you need to rent a car? More often, you will probably need to rent a car. If you have a Costco card, Costco has a great car rental program that is often cheaper than priceline or the car rental site itself. I would recommend checking both and comparing prices.

Once you know how much you will be spending for the biggest 3 expenses and you are satisfied with it, then you can go ahead and book. Often, the best harmony in all 3 will lead you to not only saving money but having the best possible experience wherever you go.

2. Learn from Others’ Experiences

The easiest way to have an idea of what to expect at your destination is to learn from other travelers experiences by reading tips and blogs. This doesn’t take as much time as you may think and it has proven to be invaluable every place I go. The 2 tools I mainly use are TripAdvisor.comand wikitravel.org.

If you enjoy visuals, YouTube also has plenty of resources with vloggers and travelers who have filmed their experiences at virtually any major destination you can think of. Watching travel videos of destinations has actually been as helpful as some of the other resources on TripAdvisor or WikiTravel.

Often, not only will you have a much better idea of what to expect at your travel destination, travelers also are eager to give tips that will help future travelers navigate through the place better.

3. If at all possible, only bring a carry-on (and backpack)

There are various reasons why – you won’t have to worry about lost luggage, you won’t have to wait for checked baggage. But the biggest reason why you want to travel with just a carry-on is – so you can check-in early. In fact, you can check in 24 hours before your departure.

Why is this so important? Well, if you’re flying business class- you’ll have early access to the lounges (often, multiple lounges under the partnering alliance program).

This is really a lifesaver; particularly if there are times when you just want to work/relax at the lounge for a longer period of time. Lounges are like an oasis in the hectic and tiring world of travel. You get access to premium food, showers, comfortable seating areas, wifi, and even sleeping areas sometimes.

If you have checked luggage, you will have to wait outside the gate until 3 hours before department (when they start checking in people) and will NOT have this luxury.

Believe me when I say, this is a very overlooked luxury you will be thankful you have. Particularly when there are days you don’t want to rush to the airport or even book a hotel; you can stay in the lounge ALL day, work, relax, eat for FREE, shower, rest, and enjoy the features of a lounge when you need it for as long as you need it.

Lastly, in your carry-on: keep things you can afford to lose (clothing, toiletries, extra shoes). In your backpack, keep your valuables + 1-2 pairs of clothing. Why? So you can drop off your carry-on at airport overnight storages, your accommodations, or wherever you need to so you can be more mobile.

And why do you want to be more mobile? So you can move around and embrace more of the destination and culture without having to lug big suitcases around :).

4. Bring an ATM card instead of cash

Everyone has their own preferences in either using credit card, debit card, or cash. But when you travel (particularly abroad) you will inevitably always need local currency.

Credit cards and debit cards often will incur high fees which you don’t want to pay for. And if you bring cash to exchange, you will almost always get bad rates at most exchange places unless you want to go through the hassle of trying to exchange with a local bank.

To combat the challenge of getting local currency whenever you need it, I recommend getting a Charles Schwab account and ATM card. Not only is it free to open an account, but you also get $100 for opening a free account. The best part is you can use your ATM card to withdraw local currency from almost any ATM machines worldwide without any fees. Charles Schwab reimburses all fees from ATM withdrawals worldwide.

This little tip proved to be invaluable when I traveled around the world and needed local currency in each place. This way, you won’t have to carry a lot of cash around with you and you can withdraw just the amount you need. This is important because drawing too much cash creates a problem of exchanging the local currency back to whatever currency you normally use.

Just be sure to keep your ATM card safe.