I have a new obsession: travel hacking. I’m not sure how I wasn’t aware of this idea or community before, but there are a ridiculous number of travel bloggers that fly around the world, often in First Class, for almost free. They do this by using credit cards for their large bonuses of points and airline miles to receive free travel.
I wish I had discovered this a little sooner since my $3,800 check for my First Class ticket to Fiji on Fiji Airways just cleared, but you live and you learn. And since starting to read about travel hacking in October I have already saved a few thousand dollars in just a few months so I’m trying not to look back and instead look forward.
Hilariously there is even a step by step post detailing how to use award points to take the exact flight I am to Fiji in First Class. Oh well – next time. I’m now on my fourth new credit card and racking up points without any additional spending or wild tricks. I’ve used my points to book two flights home that usually cost about $400 roundtrip for a base number of SkyMiles on Delta and $12 in taxes. The cost of the flight was less than it costs to get to JFK on public transportation.
I’m now planning a trip in Virgin Australia’s First Class to get rid of my Mom’s SkyMiles that she has been accidentally accumulating. We want to get rid of them before SkyMiles are further devalued. Also interestingly one thing SkyMiles are good for are trips to Australia because despite flying another carrier if you use SkyMiles you avoid the large fuel surcharges that other carriers charge (usually hundreds of dollars) for award flights. We’re currently looking at one flight from Seattle to Los Angeles to Brisbane to Cairnes, Australia in First Class and the same flight originating in Atlanta for 160,000 roundtrip each and $120 in taxes.
I’m also planning a trip to London next summer and debating the best credit cards and points to accumulate for that trip. London is one of the most difficult cities to fly into and out of on award tickets because of their high fuel surcharges. Luckily I have a year to figure it out. I am also planning to use the Emirates miles my Mom and I received for paying for a discounted fare on Emirates First Class to the Maldives to fly Alaska Airlines from Seattle to home in Atlanta over the holidays before they expire.
In the past few months I have accumulated:
45,000 SkyMiles
65,000 American Airlines Miles
And am on track to have by the summer:
50,000 AmEx points
45,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points
40,000 Barclay’s Points
50,000 British Airways Avios
That’s 295,000 points across various programs that I can redeem for about $10,000 worth of travel depending on how I use them. That’s amazing.