Any "Travel Hackers"

[iwishiwascool]

On this subject-in your opinion what is the “best” card in terms of reward for spending/easy hack ability?? It seems like Southwest is the most incentivized? I dont mind doing Southwest- simply shooing for a deal on international flights…

 

LMK your opinions on this.

 

Generally there is no 1 card and it depends on the type of spending you do. The most miles are going to be accrued through churning anyway. For day to day spending most blogs recommend the Chase Sapphire preferred. This is what I use and aside from the 50k sign-up I've managed to rack up about 30k points on day to day spending. I use my Priority Club card for my hotel stays to earn at least 1k points per stay.

 

If a bulk of your spending is on gas, for example, there are better cards out there.

 

There was recently an article on this exact subject: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/01/11/glyph-interview-with-mike/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MillionMileSecrets+%28Million+Mile+Secrets%29

 

(though I havent read it yet)

[copperhead]

Which hotel program is most rewarding for free nights

 

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2013/02/26/which-hotel-program-is-most-rewarding-for-free-nights-the-results-will-surprise-you/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed

[Mallard]

Hhonors passes me off with their constant devaluing of points. Sure, you can get a cheap, crappy room for free in a city you don't want to stay in, but to me the goal of earning points is to take a very nice vacation for cheap. The new HHonors policy prevents that from happening. I went to Moorea and stayed in an OWB for 8 nights for 256k points and ~$800. Now you're talking a million points for the same thing.

[iwishiwascool]

Which hotel program is most rewarding for free nights

 

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2013/02/26/which-hotel-program-is-most-rewarding-for-free-nights-the-results-will-surprise-you/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=twitterfeed

 

Good post.

 

Priority club is still best for me based on where I go and the available hotels. I've spent three nights in hotels this week already and 2 of them HIexpress was the only reward able option.

 

I traveled with the COO of one of the companies I rep, I booked us at 5000 bonus point hotels each night for both rooms, that's 30k plus the standard ~3000 for using the PR card. 33k points in 3 days which equals 2 free nights is tough to come by through any other program.

[iwishiwascool]

I'm actually posting this from a HIexpress in Birmingham.

[copperhead]

Ken, do you fly between your new home and Columbus at all? I'm trying to figure out which airport will work best for me. In a couple months I'll be flying into Jacksonville, staying a couple days then driving over to Destin to stay in the Hilton resort, then flying back home from that area. I was thinking the airport in Panama City Beach but wondered if there's an airport you prefer around there.

[copperhead]

Good post.

 

Priority club is still best for me based on where I go and the available hotels. I've spent three nights in hotels this week already and 2 of them HIexpress was the only reward able option.

 

I traveled with the COO of one of the companies I rep, I booked us at 5000 bonus point hotels each night for both rooms, that's 30k plus the standard ~3000 for using the PR card. 33k points in 3 days which equals 2 free nights is tough to come by through any other program.

 

Have you looked at Club Carlson? Their Country Inn & Suites are probably on par quality wise as HI Express and redemptions can be cheap as hell. Best deals with them are the resorts in Cancun and Orlando, last I checked both were only 9,000 points a night. I've got just under 150,000 points with them from a special offer they were running last spring. I'm hoping they run it again this year. The problem with them is even their nicer properties aren't all that nice, like the Cancun resort is a couple blocks from the beach instead of on the beach. I'm assuming the Orlando resort isn't anything super. But that's so cheap it's hard to care. They recently got a cobranded card, if I ever get to the point where I don't know what cards to get I'll probably grab one, it makes for a good "I'm stuck somewhere random and need a free place to crash" deal. I'll be using some of these points when I'm in Jacksonville and probably spend a night with them in Panama City as well.

[copperhead]

I've got a trip lined up for June and I've been meaning to add up my total savings.

 

I'm going to be staying for a week. Flying into St. Augustine and staying two days. I got the Airtran card to get I think 32 credits. The tickets for the gf and myself would have been $288 + fees. The card has a $69 yearly fee so I saved $219 there, and should have certificates to get business class seats. If the cert doesn't show up I'll probably pay for it out of pocket to upgrade.

 

We'll be staying two nights in a Country Inn and Suites. I did a promo with them last year, stay in three different hotels and get 148,000 points for doing it. I forget what those hotels cost but they weren't bad and the gf and I had a couple nice weekends away to get the points. Either way, the two nights in St. Augustine would cost me $220. I'm burning 56,000 points instead.

 

From there, driving to Destin and staying at the Sandestin Hilton Resort for four nights. This would have cost $1316 for the room, plus resort fee, plus parking, plus meals, plus internet. I got the Amex Hilton Surpass for Gold status, so that gives me free breakfast and internet which is a savings of about $35-$40 a day. So that quickly pays for the $75 fee. I'm burning 145,000 points for the four nights, which I got from two Citi Hilton cards and an Amex no fee Hilton card.

 

Then we're staying in another Country Inn and Suites in Panama City Beach for one night. Normal price is $169, we're burning 28,000 points.

 

Flight back is on Southwest, paying normal price of $515 with fees, no savings.

 

I don't remember the exact numbers for the rental car, but we are getting an intermediate SUV through Budget. Normal price would have been over $500, found a code on flyertalk.com that knocked it about half off so around $250 for the week. Not bad.

 

So total out of pocket $$$ is roughly $875, plus whatever the resort fees are since I have no idea.

 

Not including the Country Inn savings since I don't really know how to count that, the money I've saved is about $1900. If I include the Country Inn prices, its more like $2300.

 

Not bad for a beginner.

[Akula]

Nice pull. I don't like Domestic Only airlines because you can't use all that air travel to go to Europe or Asia.

 

I have flown ~60,000 on United this year, only one trip over salt water. In mid may I leave for my 1st Asia trip. We will be leaving for our gratis trip to Maui in July.

[copperhead]

Airtran is great for flying from here to most parts of Florida, not sure what else I'd use them for. I expect Southwest to ruin them. I've never flown Southwest before but my hopes are getting lower and lower for my flight home. The only upside is its an early morning saturday flight so I'm not expecting too much of a crowd. I'm kicking myself for not looking harder into the Delta flights, I think I would have scored tickets with them for the same price. I've never been out of the country except for a short detour into Windsor - eventually I'd like to take some trips out of the country. Caribbean for sure, and I'd like to go to Germany to visit a friend from high school that moved there. Maybe Australia for New Years one year. Not sure where else. But I've got plenty of time to get there.

[Mallard]

Nice work. I'll be leaving for the big island Hawaii next week. I should add that up too, since most of it's been done with points.

[Akula]

Nice work. I'll be leaving for the big island Hawaii next week. I should add that up too, since most of it's been done with points.

 

I love the big island, make sure you go to Lava Lava Beach Club.

[Mallard]

I love the big island, make sure you go to Lava Lava Beach Club.

Thanks for the tip! Looks like it's right next to our hotel (we're at the Hilton). We'll have to check it out.

[iwishiwascool]

Ken, do you fly between your new home and Columbus at all? I'm trying to figure out which airport will work best for me. In a couple months I'll be flying into Jacksonville, staying a couple days then driving over to Destin to stay in the Hilton resort, then flying back home from that area. I was thinking the airport in Panama City Beach but wondered if there's an airport you prefer around there.

 

I fly from Pensacola for convenience. Usually Montgomery is cheaper. I haven't hacked any flights yet since driving is second nature to me. Last time I came up to Ohio (and Ontario actually) I drove the whole way. I did Windsor, ON to Gulf Shores in one straight trip.

[iwishiwascool]

Have you looked at Club Carlson? Their Country Inn & Suites are probably on par quality wise as HI Express and redemptions can be cheap as hell. Best deals with them are the resorts in Cancun and Orlando, last I checked both were only 9,000 points a night. I've got just under 150,000 points with them from a special offer they were running last spring. I'm hoping they run it again this year. The problem with them is even their nicer properties aren't all that nice, like the Cancun resort is a couple blocks from the beach instead of on the beach. I'm assuming the Orlando resort isn't anything super. But that's so cheap it's hard to care. They recently got a cobranded card, if I ever get to the point where I don't know what cards to get I'll probably grab one, it makes for a good "I'm stuck somewhere random and need a free place to crash" deal. I'll be using some of these points when I'm in Jacksonville and probably spend a night with them in Panama City as well.

 

I'm pretty locked in to IHG. I've done over 300,000 points since October of last year. I've already earned Platinum status through 2014 and from what I hear, that will actually come with some perks starting next month or so.

 

We have our 2 free Hilton Honors nights to use at any resort. Since they expire relatively soon I believe we are just cashing them in at a New Orleans "resort" Bleh.

[Akula]

Thanks for the tip! Looks like it's right next to our hotel (we're at the Hilton). We'll have to check it out.

 

We have been to Hilton Waikoloa several times. Ask for a renovated room.

 

If you aren't renting a car, there is a shuttle that will take you to the shops and from there you can walk to Lava Lava in about 5 minutes. Or its about 25 minutes from the hotel. The shops have a grocery store so if food is getting too expensive, buy some PBJ.

[Mallard]

We have been to Hilton Waikoloa several times. Ask for a renovated room.

 

If you aren't renting a car, there is a shuttle that will take you to the shops and from there you can walk to Lava Lava in about 5 minutes. Or its about 25 minutes from the hotel. The shops have a grocery store so if food is getting too expensive, buy some PBJ.

Awesome. We booked based on what rooms have been renovated, so we should be ok there. We rented a car and plan on stopping at Target for some supplies after we leave the airport.

[Akula]

Awesome. We booked based on what rooms have been renovated, so we should be ok there. We rented a car and plan on stopping at Target for some supplies after we leave the airport.

 

There is an awesome burger joint by that Target.

 

Go to the Marina, drive straight past the slips and the road takes a 90 to the right, keep driving until you are at the end of the road. on the left is the best place to snorkel on the big island.

 

Drive out to Puna Lu'u, the black sand beach. Leave early in the AM and you will get there when the turtles are sunbathing.

[Supplicium]

The Hilton used to be a Hyatt right? That place is awesome

[Mallard]

There is an awesome burger joint by that Target.

 

Go to the Marina, drive straight past the slips and the road takes a 90 to the right, keep driving until you are at the end of the road. on the left is the best place to snorkel on the big island.

 

Drive out to Puna Lu'u, the black sand beach. Leave early in the AM and you will get there when the turtles are sunbathing.

http://www.ultimateburger.net/ ?

 

Thanks for the tip, but that one's going to be a tough sell for the wife (she can't eat gluten).

[RS69]

i have turned into a business traveler over the past year and only been doing the basics. I am a fan of the Hilton's hotels and still kinda mixed on the airlines. I fly to Chicago, Dallas, and San Fran quite a bit and realize I really don't like American Airlines and Ohare.

[TTQ B4U]

i have turned into a business traveler over the past year and only been doing the basics. I am a fan of the Hilton's hotels and still kinda mixed on the airlines. I fly to Chicago, Dallas, and San Fran quite a bit and realize I really don't like American Airlines and Ohare.

 

Check out Marriott's. Points aren't nearly as watered down upon turn in as Hilton has become. American is good. Especially for Dallas and out west. O'Hare sucks not matter what.

[Mallard]

I just returned from Hawaii and here is my “travel hacker’ summary. I could have done this a little cheaper had we not purchased an airline seat for my 1.5 year old, but with the long flights we wanted the extra space (and it did help out a lot). Also, I have not been staying with Hilton much since they revised their rewards program so my status has dropped to Silver (used to be Diamond). Had I been Gold we would have had free breakfast (which would have saved me $50 each day, for the 3 days we ate breakfast at the resort). I could have applied for a HHonors credit card and earned instant Gold status, but I did not want another card.

 

Here’s the breakdown:

 

Airfare for 3: $2200

LAX layover in DoubleTree: FREE (25,000 points)

5 nights at Hilton Waikoloa Village: FREE (231,035 points for a Lagoon Tower Partial Ocean View King)

Rental Car: $290

1 night in Courtyard Marriott (Kona): $153

LAX layover in Crowne Plaza: FREE night certificate from Chase PC Visa. (Was upgraded to Club level due to Platinum status, which gave us free drinks and appetizers in the Club Longue, free breakfast buffet vouchers ($40 value), and free Starbucks voucher for the morning)

Food for trip (approx.): $650

Helicopter Tour: $840

Bus Tour: $180

Capital One No Hassle Miles Reimbursement: $2213 (will be redeeming more after this statement posts)

 

TOTAL SPENT: $2100

 

Overall I think we did pretty well and we had a great trip! This could have been done for cheaper had we not done the bus tour (should have just driven ourselves around) and the helicopter tour (except this was badass), but I think it was worth it.

[Akula]

Sunday I leave for a business trip that looks a bit like this.

 

Depart CMH to ORD, LAX, SYD, GLD (Gold Coast, Australia) Staying Hilton Surfers Paradise 4 days.

 

Overnight in Sydney at the Hilton, head for Hong Kong for 3 days . Conrad Hong Kong.

 

Off to Taipei for 2 days, Westin Taipei

 

3 days in Singapore, Conrad Singapore

 

2 Days in Brisbane, Hilton

 

1 Day Sydney, Hilton

 

1 Day Melbourne, Hilton

 

1 Day Auckland, Hilton

 

I tend to do Hilton for the free nights in Hawaii. I also make some pretty mad rewards miles on United (LAX to SYD is like 7400 miles flown, 100% bonus = almost 30000 for the round trip.).

 

I have already booked this summer's free trip to Hawaii, I am now working on where we should go next summer.

[Mallard]

Sunday I leave for a business trip that looks a bit like this.

 

Depart CMH to ORD, LAX, SYD, GLD (Gold Coast, Australia) Staying Hilton Surfers Paradise 4 days.

 

Overnight in Sydney at the Hilton, head for Hong Kong for 3 days . Conrad Hong Kong.

 

Off to Taipei for 2 days, Westin Taipei

 

3 days in Singapore, Conrad Singapore

 

2 Days in Brisbane, Hilton

 

1 Day Sydney, Hilton

 

1 Day Melbourne, Hilton

 

1 Day Auckland, Hilton

 

I tend to do Hilton for the free nights in Hawaii. I also make some pretty mad rewards miles on United (LAX to SYD is like 7400 miles flown, 100% bonus = almost 30000 for the round trip.).

 

I have already booked this summer's free trip to Hawaii, I am now working on where we should go next summer.

Damn, that's a lot of travel packed into 2 weeks! If you have the chance to, and haven't been there already, go to the Hilton Moorea. Although, after they changed the redemption values it can take a ridiculous number of points for an OWB, but you can also book with points+cash. We did 8 nights in an OWB for about the same number of points as we just used in Hawaii + ~$160/night, but not sure what you can do t for now.

 

For now, Hawaii seems to give a good value for the number of points used.