Comments

1. One bit of great advice that I recently used was with American Airlines. I had booked a ticket to Palm Springs for the New Year’s holiday and had of course submitted for an upgrade (I’m American Gold). I had to change my travel plans and instead travel over the Thanksgiving holiday. After changing my flight plans, I called an agent with American to make sure that my upgrade request was dated the original date of my ticket purchase – INSTEAD of the date that I changed the ticket. Sure enough, it had been re-set to my ticket change date but the agent was able to re-set back to the original purchase date. I did get upgraded both ways!!

2. I can’t think of just one thing that has been most useful about this blog because the whole thing has really changed the way I look at travel, travel planning, the airline and hotel industry as well as my purchasing habits. This is the first travel blog I ever read at the advice of my father over this past summer and now I read more than I can count! I have booked a 1st class ticket to London and home from Paris this spring for my girlfriend’s first trip out of the country (these are cities she has always wanted to see) as well as staying at several great Hyatt’s while there. I set all this up because I have a very special question to ask her when we get there and I never could have afforded to do this without the miles and points I have obtained. This blog has given me the ability to make a special moment in my life that much more unique and special. Thank you.

3. Even if your itinerary is ticketed and confirmed, if this is a trip that matters to you, always review the current details from the airline no later than the night before.

   Sometimes things get changed, and discovering this when you are at the airport may be too late to allow you to commence your trip as desired.

   Plus, even if there have’t been any unexpected changes, you may still confirm the times so you can plan for the next day.

4. Although it is very nice (understatement) to fly first class, try to remember that the trip is not JUST about getting to your destination – unless you’re mileage running ofcourse. We sometimes forget that we travel to see sights, see friends or family and what not, and not just to experience eating not-so-gourmet food inside the plane 🙂

5. The best tip from you has been to use British Airways for nonstop, short haul flights in America. Thanks, I read your emails every day; hard to pick out the best tip.

6. The best single piece of advice that I’ve received from this blog is to be ever vigilant. Don’t get down over opportunities missed, because the next one is always lurking around the corner.

   Your blog has helped me to turn travel from a chore into a hobby, and the enjoyment that I’ve received from the hunt and from the camaraderie of communities such as this probably even exceeds that of joy from scoring the best deals that I have ever found. Thanks for all you do!

7. The most useful thing I learned was the value of non-US frequent flyer programs, particularly Avianca with its relatively cheap and frequent buy mile promos, generous award chart and routing rules, and the occasional redemption “glitches” you alluded to.

8. Most valuable thing I’ve learned from your blog: How the Chase family of points-earning cards (Sapphire, Ink, Freedom) can be used together to amass Ultimate Rewards points (greatly augmented by the sign-up bonuses for each) that then can be pooled in one account and transferred into airline FF programs to redeem for premium class awards. For a retired person who no longer has any business travel and therefore has much-reduced opportunities to earn miles and points, this “keeps me in the game” and enables my wife and me to take trips we otherwise simply could not afford. We are VERY appreciative for this knowledge as well as for all the other tips we’ve picked up from you.

9. HUCA FTW

10. Before reading your blog I was strictly an Amex Platinum & Citi AA cardholder (with lots of AA churning). Learned all about Chase cards starting with Sapphire Preferred, Freedom, United, Fairmont, Hyatt, Ink Bold, Ink Plus, the new Ink Plus, Southwest personal & business, Marriott. Enjoyed lots of first class travel to SYD, BKK, SIN, etc and free nights at Sydney Park Hyatt, and upcoming Ritz Carlton free nights from all I’ve learned.
    Southwest seemed so easy but still haven’t assigned a companion or flown as I am not a Southwest fan, so advice would be not to get cards if you don’t plan on using. Guess I will fly friends to visit me with my 110,000+ SW miles.

11. Also learned about Barclay Arrival & US Airways cards.

12. Checking in online as early as possible makes you less likely to get bumped, may allow you to board earlier than if you check in at the airport, and puts you at the front of the line for upgrades if you’re eligible, but it can making changing plans at the last minute more difficult.

13. Avoid drawing attention in other countries, keep it on the DL, don’t talk super loud, don’t dress too differently from the natives.

14. It’s hard to say that domestic airport lounges are worth the money (based on the ones I’ve seen), but if you have a problem with your travel plans, you’re more likely to get faster and better service from the agents there.

15. Love to check in daily…. Love to learn from your experiences & examples:
    Chase Sapphire Preferred rocks! Amex Plat rules! And…. best of all, do not fear the phone conversation! Smile, be nice, hang-up-call-back if needed.

16. Status helps a lot. Leverage status matches to the extent possible.

17. My Advice: Always know the validity rules of the country you are traveling to. Many more countries (including the EU) are requiring that visitors have 3 months (or more) of validity on their passports after their planned RETURN date. This pretty much prevented me from going on a half year planned vacation. I did not account for an EU rule change that passed this summer and started being enforced this past fall. Needless to say, it was a fun day flying around the US! (ha)

18. The best thing I’ve learned from this blog is how great Cathay first is. Tried it out for the first time last month.

19. Travel big through credit card sign up bonuses.

20. Thank you for all of your advice! I’ve been traveling most of my life, and for me the one thing that reduces the stress of travel is to allow plenty of time. We always try to get to the airport with more than enough time to spare. If it’s an important international trip, I try to never have less than a 4 hour layover at the gateway city. Fortunately, I’ve never had trouble entertaining myself in airports!

21. Don’t take off your socks and shoes, and go barefoot on a plane, as it is offensive and annoying to some of your fellow passengers.

22. Too many things to list related to credit cards and reservations (although I always “garden” my reservations now), so I’ll have to say that I love all of the different food-related entries. I make a point of trying out your reviewed restaurants when I go to a new place.

    Thanks for everything!

23. Thanks for all the advice on credit cards and your strategies. It is nice to hear what opportunities are available.

24. Seldom travel as much nowadays so visiting blogs like yours especially tips on free points and miles help to sustain my points and prevent them from forfeiture due to non activity.

25. -Best thing I learned from this blog is that dreams do come true! With news about the British Airways Visa 100,000 sign up, advice on how to book tickets with US Airways miles and your timely alerts to their Buy and Share “100% bonus miles” offerings we were able to take my recently widowed mother-in-law on a trip to Bali last year, flying all the way in business and first class! She and my father-in-law had planned the trip before medical expenses piled up and he became too sick to travel. The tips here let us take her on a great trip in his memory.
    THANK YOU GARY!!!!!

26. Travel tip: These days wikitravel provides a quick way of getting tips on a city that you have not been to for a long time like getting right official taxis at airport and avoiding any particular tourist scams.

27. Buy a large collapsible water bottle. We have saved tons of money over the years refilling ours in hotel/resort fitness centers

28. Bring bandaids, gauze, blister cover ups if you are planning to walk/hike a lot on vacation.

29. Always tell someone where you are going – especially if you are going to a secluded out of the way area. If for some reason you get lost or have some emergency you want people to know where you are to be able to help you out.

30. Twitter is often the fastest and most efficient way to reach out to airlines/hotels/your favorite blogger when you encounter an issue or have a question.

31. This website got me started on being smarter about collecting miles strategically. Thanks.

    My Travel Advice – Make sure you write down all your credit card anniversary dates, annual fees, any special bonuses that require certain spending, etc (I do mine in Excel). That way you can track when an anniversary is approaching and decide whether to maintain the card, call to ask for any incentives, cancel, etc. Otherwise many people forget and end up paying the annual fee when they didn’t intend to or might miss certain bonuses because they didn’t keep track.

32. Love the Schwab card to use at ATM for international travel. All fees get reimbursed.

33. Learn a lot. This is the first blog I read every day.

34. My travel tip: I always put my cell phone in my shoe when going though security. I’m going to have to come up with something new now that I’m always getting PreCheck!

35. Travel tip: if female, travel with a really distinguished looking husband that looks like he paid for that First Class seat, even if he didn’t. You’ll then look like you belong and get better service.

36. I enjoyed the “obscure” & cheap ways of earning points, miles & status, sometimes with a small cash outlay, e.g. the Milepoint package.

37. Always enter flight details in Flight Tracker.
    It will tell you a accurate gate info and notify you of delays.

38. Power strip maybe an overkill but a simple power multiplier is a must! By using one that splits one outlet into 3 you’ll be able to use a single power adapter and fuel 3 different devices.

    Also: carry a travel wifi router. Many hotels provide wired internet which is much better than their wifi internet (if any). Also a wifi router can help you save money on internet since it’s a single device and you’ll pay just for 1 device connected to internet, not for 5.

39. That Korean Airlines has several transfer partners.

40. Rather than use Avios on British Airways and pay the crazy high taxes, link the account to Iberia and fly for cheap!

41. Make sure your luggage is readily identifiable, as many coming down the ramp look alike.
    Add special tags or markings.

42. Best travel advice…..do as much of it as you can, take advantage of as many travel opportunities as you can now, never know when something might come up and make travel not possible.

43. It all comes down to this, Earn Them and Burn Them.

44. Hang up, call back.

45. Earn and burn!

46. Don’t wait too long on deals!

47. Started reading the blog in 03, many URL changes ago. The most important thing I learned was to get the SPG AmEx. Thanks for everything over the years, Gary.

48. Honestly the $20 trick and hangup call back are up there just as much as the SPG AmEx.

49. I wish that I had discovered this blog years ago when I had much more business travel. I could have better maximized my miles/points per transaction in all aspects of my business and personal spend – probably blowing them through the roof. Sure, I knew about Flyertalk and credit card signup bonuses, but hadn’t paid much attention because I was literally earning more butt-in-seat miles and head-in-bed points than I could spend. This blog has really taught me to think about miles and points in a different way – getting maximum value for them (i.e. don’t waste on flights/nights that are cheap in the first place) and spend strategies. It was also very enlightening to learn from Gary that all programs are not created equal. Like many, I had simply assumed that difficult “saver” award availability was the name of the game. In a way, the blog has opened up a new world and I feel confident that I still have a way to accomplish my personal travel goals in a reduced business travel environment. I know many readers might complain about the credit card offers, but I see it as fair compensation for some of the valuable information that I’ve gained over the years for free (yes, I have used Gary’s links a few times).

50. Best advice I ever got: When traveling for pleasure, pack half as much as you think you need and double the amount of money. It will make your vacation that much more fun and stress free! 🙂