Surprisingly that title is not a click bait-and-switch, but it is greatly inflated by the fancy flights I’m taking during my Australia/New Zealand victory lap after quitting my job in 10 months. These palaces in the sky are one of the parts of travel that my Mom loves most and I’m so happy that after shelling out $7,000 for a 1/3 off Emirates First Class ticket in 2012 I discovered the wonder of travel hacking, which has allowed us to fly in these wild cabins for almost free. So let’s get into it and see everything I booked with points in 2019!
This year I flew to:
- Costa Rica
- Atlanta, GA x2
- Washington D.C.
- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
And booked flights to:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- NYC
Etihad First Class Apartments
Let’s start with the fanciest of the bunch. For years it’s been my Mom’s dream to fly in these apartments in the sky. As a result, she has far surpassed my traveling hacking prowess and has been planning for THREE YEARS just so we could do this, which is understandable given the number of points required: 270,651 Etihad points and $501.50 in taxes each.
This will take us from Sydney, Australia to Abu Dhabi, UAE and then to NYC for the longest possible time to enjoy those apartments – two, 15 hour flights. And yes – we are intentionally going the ‘wrong’ way around the world to get more time to enjoy that luxury. We’re that ridiculous.
SAVINGS: $15,498.50
American Airlines Business Class
Right after FinCon 2020 in Long Beach, CA I will fly from LAX to Sydney, Australia to begin my month of relaxation and exploration Down Under. Given the fact that it’s a 15 hour and 20 minute flight, we’re springing for business class with points and using 197,000 American points and $11.96 in taxes each. This cabin looks similar to the Delta One First Class cabins we have enjoyed when flying to Thailand and Vietnam so I’m excited to try a similar configuration again.
SAVINGS: $5,178.04
Qantas Business Class
Now that my Mom is over 60, she has a rule that if a flight is longer than 3 hours she will only fly in business class or first. Being in economy for longer than 3 hours takes a toll on her body now and requires recovery time that she doesn’t enjoy.
Her retirement is going better than planned financially AND she did include the fancy vacations she enjoys in her planning so here we are: Booking business class for a 3.5 hour flight from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand for 41,600 Qantas points and $3.41 in taxes. We are also using 25,000 American Airlines points and $63.50 in taxes to book a 6 hour flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Cairns, Australia.
SAVINGS: $1,079.59
Australia
We will also use points to book 2 flights around Australia in economy. These will both be on Qantas, but booked with American Airlines points. We are using 10,000 AA points and $53.90 in taxes to fly from Cairns to Ayers Rock and another 10,000 AA points $53.90 in taxes to fly from Ayers Rock to Adelaide.
SAVINGS: $635
FinCon 2019 in D.C.
After learning that I would be able to attend FinCon 2019 earlier this summer, I used 41,328 Chase points in the Chase portal, to book a non-stop Delta flight from Seattle to D.C. That helped me keep my costs low so I could splurge on other things, such as a room in the conference hotel and delicious food.
SAVINGS: $517
Atlanta
I fly to Atlanta fairly often to visit my parents and this year I used 29,000 Flying Blue points and paid $54.75 in taxes for a non-stop roundtrip flight in August and then used my remaining 14,500 Flying Blue points and paid $21.40 in taxes for a nonstop flight there around Christmas. Then I used 21,000 Delta Skymiles and $5.60 in taxes to book my nonstop one-way flight back to Seattle after the new year.
SAVINGS: $1,218.90
Additional Savings
I’ve had TSA Pre-Check for the last 5 years and absolutely loved it. My membership was set to expire this year so I had to decide if I was going to renew or pay the extra $15 and get Global Entry, which is basically Pre-Check that also works globally when returning to the US.
I was grabbing the Capital One Venture Card at the time and it includes up to $100 reimbursement for Global Entry or Pre-Check. Since the cost was fully covered, I went with Global Entry and I am SO glad I did!
When flying back from Mexico in October, I had a layover in Salt Lake City and 1 hour to get from my plane, through customs and immigration, back through security and to my other plane. I was bracing myself to miss my flight and luckily be able to use my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card’s travel delay reimbursement of up to $500 to get a hotel, car and food for the night and morning before heading out on another flight like we had to do in Costa Rica (pictured below).
It turns out that none of that was necessary. I used my Global Entry pass for the first time and was through customs and immigration in UNDER A MINUTE. I was shocked. However, in Salt Lake City I was then directed to a security line that didn’t have a Pre-Check option so I was prepared to take all my electronics and liquids out and do the security theater dance, but it wasn’t necessary. The security officer handed me a giant “TSA Pre-Check” card out of nowhere and I went through like a breeze. I was at my gate with 45 minutes to spare. WOWZA. I wish I had gotten Global Entry sooner.
Also heads up: Chase is currently offering 60,000 bonus points to sign up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. I only got 50K when I signed up and there’s a reason this is the only credit card I have ever paid an annual fee for – I’ve had it for years because of how it saves me at least once a year from unexpected travel costs and stress.
SAVINGS: $100 (and massive headaches)
Conclusion
TOTAL 2019 TRAVEL HACKING SAVINGS: $24,227.03
I suspect that’s the most I will ever save in a given year with travel hacking. I don’t have that many fancy flights planned going forward, but we’ll see what the future holds.
Do you travel hack? What were your travel hacking wins in 2019?
Wow! Saving like a boss. Amazing, just like those future trips sound like they will be next year!! You’re making me want to get on my “exploring travel hacking more in depth” task. Even though our Canadian CCs don’t seem to have such high point generating abilities, I’m sure I could manage some much nicer savings for future trips.
Yeah they’re starting to feel more real haha. Definitely get into travel hacking! The ROI is amazing. I have heard that your CCs aren’t as lucrative, but the possibility is still there based on what I’ve seen Millennial Revolution be able to travel hack. In fact, they might have some resources for how to do it in the great white north. Get after it lady!
That Etihad flight is pretty bonkers and hilarious that you are flying the wrong way just to maximize it. Say hi to all the dignitaries and middle eastern princes for me. We all have splurges that may seem crazy to others but sometimes value is in the eye of the beholder. Enjoy the ride 😉
Bonkers is an accurate description! I will say hi to them, but I doubt they will acknowledge me. I will most likely stick out like a sore thumb 🙂 . Thank you!
I seriously need to get on Global Entry one of these days. And my dad is with your mom on finally flying business/first class for anything longer than a super short flight. When he was younger, he never flew anything but coach.
Yesss lady get on it! I was thinking about writing a post about my experience, tips and tricks etc for getting it. Maybe I should do that for real. Sounds like our parents run in similar circles 😉 . My Mom was the same – never used to buy the fancy flights. We were in the very last row of economy when I went to study abroad in Italy.
Holy moly, that’s awesome! I’d better start saving Etihad points now. What cards did you use for those points?
My wife hates travel hacking so I’ve been trying to do it by myself, mostly. It’s a lot tougher when one partner isn’t trying. 😡
We’re going to Thailand mostly for free, though. I’ll write it up next week.
Haha yeah definitely start now. I got the Citi Mastercard and a Capital One Venture card. Mom got both of those as well as the AmEx Platinum she was using for some other scheme 😉 .
I’m sorry your wife isn’t onboard. That’s definitely tough and another reason I’m happy my partner and I have separate finances. He waits until the last minute to book travel while I either buy way in advance or travel hack it so he ends up paying 2x what i do if I use cash. I could see that causing some strife haha.
Oooh Thailand – that’s exciting! Looking forward to the write up and seeing you IRL this weekend!
YOU BOOKED THE APARTMENTS!!! I will need the full step-by-step on how to do that.
The Priority Pass lounge was really helpful when our family had a super early connection back from Hawaii. My mom was like, how do we get to sit in this nice quiet lounge? And when I told her, she approved of my credit card antics.
Also love TSA Precheck and Global Entry. Such a game-changer in terms of breezing through the lines. And I love not having to take my liquids out (because you know I never follow the liquids rules :))
Our one big travel hacking win this year was flying First from Tokyo on JAL back to NYC. It felt extra good, because I went through the hoops to keep checking the Alaska site to get it. One day, the tickets showed up!
Haha – this is basically it: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/ultimate-guide-etihad-first-class-apartment/.
Lounges are so amazing! I’m glad they got your mom on board with your antics. And yes on pre-check/global entry making travel more of a breeze. I love it so much! And you don’t follow the liquid rules – you rebel you!
That’s an awesome win! Those first class JAL seats look NICE!!! And yeah ‘winning’ by getting these award seats is an awesome high. My Mom sees booking them as a game, which I think helps a lot.
That is AMAZING!! Credit cards aren’t that generous in Oz. I tend to hoard my Qantas points – one day I will splurge on a business class seat!
Thank you!! And I like the plan. I’m thinking about doing reviews of the above fancy flights so you’ll have that info to help you learn from my mistakes before you go 😉 !
Wow you’re so good at travel hacking. You did more travel then you’re whole budget!
To get the etihad points, which cards did you use? That’s a lot of points!
Haha yeah it was pretty ridiculous this year. For Etihad I got the Citi Mastercard and a Capital One Venture card. Mom got both of those as well as the AmEx Platinum she was using for some other scheme too.
Purple, where did all of the points come from? Does this year’s travel appear ridiculously cheap because you have been collecting points for 10 years? or is this a sustainable hack?
If my question sounds snarky, that’s not my intent. I’m genuinely curious to know if ‘m completely missing the boat on this travel-hacking thing. I generally eschew travel rewards cards because I find them risky and limiting. I generally elect for cash-back cards and take the guaranteed return.
They came from signing up for credit cards with points signing bonuses. And ha – I only discovered travel hacking a few years ago so no it hasn’t taken a decade to gather. I mentioned in the post that it’s taken 3 years of planning to get the Etihad Apartment, but otherwise we haven’t been planning for years for the rest. We just figured out what we could use the points we already gathered for.
To give you an idea of what’s possible: my first year travel hacking I accumulated 295,000 points. It’s sustainable if I want to continue working at it, but I’m not planning to take this many fancy flights in the same year again – this is just to celebrate quitting my job.
Only you can decide if travel hacking is worth it for you. For me, it’s the only way I’ve found to give my Mom the fancy flights she loves without breaking my budget. Why do you say they’re risky? I get the limiting thing because they have rules, but my Mom and I see that as a game similar to working on financial independence – it’s fun to figure out most of the time.
The risky part is not being able to use them once you’ve built them up. It could be restrictions, expiry or a defunct plan.
In Canada we have a travel points plan called Air Miles. A few years back they expired all of the miles over a certain age. That really soured me on them. Canadian Airlines went bust in 2000 and Air Canada went bust in 2004. I’m not sure what happened to people’s reward miles in those situations.
Wish cash-back cards, there is cold hard cash in your hands as soon as it is earned.
It sounds like there are many more plans, and more reliable plans, in the US.
All fair points. And oh no – I’m sorry that happened to you! There are numerous plans in the US and I haven’t heard something like Air Miles happening down here. As for navigating restrictions, my Mom and I personally view it as a game so even when something changes and we have to adjust we find it fun and have a sense of accomplishment when we figure it out.
Sweet! Travel hacking is something that has seriously changed my life. It basically makes flights and hotels a non-budget for us, as we haven’t had to pay for a hotel or a flight in three years now.
We’ve got a business class flight to Greece scheduled for next year. It’ll be my first time doing business class, so I’m excited! Only thing I don’t like is having to plan so far in advance!
Yeah you’re a wizard at it! And oooh biz class to Greece sounds lovely! Have you dabbled in last minute reward flights? I keep seeing the Points Guy talking about a lot of availability happening really close to the flight date. What carrier are you flying to Greece?
Sweet hacking! My hacking is very much not in the league of 20K+ in one year, but it is super nice to have the option of whipping out the points vs the credit card. Well done!
Thank you! I’m not usually in this league either haha, but retiring made me yearn for a type of victory travel situation so here we are.
This is awesome! I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred too, and I tried my first stab at travel hacking this past summer when I was in Spain for a month for work – used points to get tickets to Morocco and Portugal within the same trip for the whole family. But now even though I use that card primarily, it doesn’t feel like the points are adding up that quickly since that initial bonus.
I heard you on Journey to Launch this past week and it was an excellent episode! It’s inspiring to hear from someone who’s got a plan that doesn’t involve early retirement with millions and millions in the bank.
Glad you enjoyed it! Congrats on that travel hack – that’s awesome you were able to get the whole family there. The points definitely don’t add up quickly after the initial bonus. That’s why I keep the Chase card basically as travel insurance instead of a way to rack up points. I use opening new cards for that.
So happy you enjoyed the podcast! And haha – yeah I’m definitely on the more lean side of the aisle, but that works for my lifestyle 😉 . Thank you for stopping by!
What an insane number of points! I’d love to hear more about how you churned through sign up bonuses so quickly while only having $20K in annual expenses.
Yeah it’s a pretty wild number this year. To answer your question: it wasn’t a quick process 🙂 . Took 3 years of planning around large expenses and for some of them I paid for other people’s large expenses (e.g. property taxes) and they paid me back.
Hi Purple! I’m wondering how you complete the spending requirements (like $4,000 in three months) when your expenses are so low? I’ve done a few rewards cards, but spending that much in just a few months is hard when I’m only spending around 18,000 a year and my main expense (rent) can’t be paid with a credit card. I’m looking forward to traveling a lot once the pandemic is over and would like to rack up points now! 🙂
Hi! I plan getting cards around large purchases I was going to make anyway like when I know I’m going to be booking expensive flights and lodging for an international trip for example. Or now that we pay for Airbnb on our credit card and I drop thousands on them a month I can plan around that (though I haven’t – still trying to get rid of all the points we got back for cancelling pandemic travel). You might also want to look more into if you rent can be paid with a credit card – I didn’t think ours could in Seattle, but it turns out it’s possible – for a small fee. It might be worth it if you don’t have any large expenses coming up though and need those points. Good luck!