At the beginning of the week I shared some web stats and plans for a Million Reader Giveaway.
I only wish I had realized the traffic milestones earlier for this blog, I could have reached out to my favorite travel providers and asked them to help me celebrate… with promises of riches beyond readers’ wildest dreams elite status and points.
Instead, I’ve had to get creative with the sorts of things I’m able to offer on my own.
So here’s part one of the Million Reader Giveaway!
Prizes will include:
- (5) Milepoint premium packages (1000 United miles, Hilton Gold status, National Car Rental Executive status, and more)
- $200 Gift Cards
- Amazon Gift Cards
- Miles in your choice of several programs
- Amazon Gift Cards
I might even throw in elite status and a club membership with an airline. There will be at least 15 prizes in this round, and probably more in round 2!
It’s a bit of a grab back of most high value prizes, half of which will be given away randomly and half will be give away based on quality or usefulness of entry.
Here’s all you need to do:
- leave a comment in this thread sharing either your best travel-related tip or advice, or the most useful thing you’ve learned from this blog.
- Since quality is key (as half the prizes will be given out based on quality), you may enter as many times as you like.
- All entries for this round must be submitted as a comment to this post by Sunday 5pm Eastern.
Thank you very much — in advance for your tips and for reading and sharing along with me, all these years!
Now enter away…!
Best,
Gary
- You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. You can also follow me on Twitter for the latest deals. Don’t miss out!
Rental cars. After you book, check over and over before you pick up for cheaper prices, or use autoslash
Call a foreign help line if domestic call volume is out of control
I loved learning about how you can upgrade to a hyatt suite with such a small number of points, for your entire stay. too bad that is going away.
For us, your travel reports on Conrad Koh Samui were most helpful. We booked after reading about your experiences there and we had a wonderful stay! Keep up the great work!
When traveling with our children when they were younger, I did a lot of research ahead of time, then typed up a menu of possibilities and duplicated them so each family member had a copy. We held a pretrip family meeting in which each family member was allowed to choose their most desired activity. They were not allowed to complain when we went to an art museum, for they, too, would have “their day.” This also avoided wasting time in the mornings deciding what to do that day.
My favorite travel tip is to travel appropriately and travel light.
Be prepared by researching about the places you will be visiting before you go. There are so many good sources available online – like reading your blog!
My best FF advice on collecting points would be to not be afraid to use portals and other things to buy gift cards. When buying something now my wife and I always ask each other where can we get a gift card for this cheap and what portal should we buy this through. We have 3 very young kids so travel is limited at the moment so we are collecting now, even though we would love to spend some points.
Whenever possible, travel with carry on only. Makes traveling so much better when not lugging multiple heavy suitcases with you and you can avoid checking your bag,
Thanks for all your general advice, and helping to teach me how to travel like a rock star for next to nothing.
Having a girlfriend and living by CMH has made the Chase SW cards + Companion Pass worth thousands! (and it’s only year 1)
I have learned to always take a pillow (very similar to
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). I have been on several long international trips and hardly able to sleep due to the tiny poor quality pillows hotels and airlines provide.
searching award space via other airline ports such as using QANTAS website for Aer Lingus, BA website for LAN and Royal Jordanian, ANA website for various star alliance airlines that dont show up on United/US Airways, and searching AA website for Air Berlin.
When booking flights, I always search on ITA Flight Matrix first and then search a booking website such as orbitz and expedia to find the lowest fare. I will ALWAYS book flights directly with the airline as if any issues arise, it is much easier to resolve with the airline than a third party site. I also check out jetblue.com/bestfarefinder and southwest.com.
Most useful tip for me is to drink more still water while on board. It’s extremely useful.
Use Starwood Preferred Guest points for hotels, not airline mile transfers (the 5,000 mile bonus when transferring 20,000 miles is great, but hotels offer more bang for the buck). You can get hotels with SPG that would cost $160 plus for 4,000 points per night often, and you can get $500 per night hotels (Liberty Hotel in Boston, for example) for 12,000 points. Since there are so many other ways to get airline miles, use these niche SPG points for the highest value they offer- hotel stays.
one more tip- use a spreadsheet to keep track of miles, points, annual fee dates, etc. I think I currently have about 14 credit cards and my wife has probably 10, so the spreadsheet helps remind me when to call and cancel (or get a retention bonus or annual fee waiver). i know there are sites that help organize miles and points, but i’m not sure they include tracking when annual fees post, when you’ve met your spend, etc.
When exploring a new place I always follow three rules:
1. Always look up when walking around. You never know what you might see.
2. Before heading back go to the next corner and see what is around the corner. The might be a surprise awaiting you.
3. Always go back a different way then the way you can. Different scenery is always more enjoyable.
The best tip is to read all of the comments from travelers. Even though I read your blog daily, I have found info in the comments that I had missed.
Thanks Gary.
Bring a credit card that has no foreign transaction fee, and at least 1 of each amex/visa/master, in case some country only accepting one type.
Sorry for the duplicate post.
Order credit cards that are smart-chipped before travelling to Europe. Will make for a much easier time shopping and dining!
The most important thing I’ve learned on this blog is to know the rules and be diligent. Even if it takes calling the reservation line back 10 times.
If you don’t ask for the deal (room upgrade), you’re not going to get it.
For the ladies – carry small jewelry in a weekly pill case. Earrings are perfect in the little round ones you can get at a dollar store.
Bring a night light so you can see your way to the bathroom and keep from stumping your toe.
Use the ‘Send to Kindle App’ to forward Wikitravel, Wikipedia, and other relevant online articles to your smartphone and e-reader of choice. My only travel planning now consists of reading these sent articles while on the flight to my destination!
Check to see which international banks (if any) have a relationship with your personal bank in the US — BNP Paribas partners with Bank of America and allows no-fee ATM withdrawals which can add up to some serious savings.
Although many others have stated it, the most important thing I have learned is to Earn and Burn. The Hilton devaluation significantly changed some of my plans.
Use twitter for airline issues…ie lost baggage, delays, they will respond much faster to you
Believe it or not, one of the best tips I know is to read this blog. You help keep us abreast on travel news and topics.
I often learn things here first that then help me make better travel decisions.
Thank you!
When staying at 1 or 2 star hotel properties, carry a ping pong ball to use as a missing stopper in your bathtub. Lightweight and efficient
Diversify miles and points. I was looking at a quick New Years trip to Atlanta from PVD or BOS. United and American miles weren’t going to do any good as no economy space is available. Southwest has great availability and reasonable point level. Also, SPG has better options than Hyatt, so having several airlines to choose from and multiple hotel chain options is key. It’s one reason points that can transfer to programs are so helpful, however I only really look at Hyatt (Chase UR transfer partner) and SPG hotel options as others require way too many points.
My best advice is to pack with a list and change it based upon your experiences or when new products are available. Always pack one extra pair of underware (even for a same day trip)
I have learned to from your blog to weigh the pros and cons of the credit cards I apply for. It’s always a good exercise.
Search for food and restaurant recommendations on local sites (with the help of Google Translate) to learn what the locals like rather than the tourists on major travel or restaurant review sites.
I always travel with ziploc bags and I email myself scanned copies of our passports and any other paper travel documents such as train tickets.
When arriving at an international airport change money at an ATM not through a bank inside the airport.
In addition to all the great travel advice, I’ve learned from your blog to be grateful for everything you have (even if you don’t always score that great travel deal). I’ve recently started donating my miles to charity and and hope to continue in 2014 as long as long as I can bank them!
Thanks Gary!
If you don’t get the answer you want the first time (or many) you call the airline, hang up and call back!
BA avios partner Aer Lingus to Ireland, also transfer avios to Iberia to get Iberia flights with much lower fees. Thanks.
Here is a very country specific travel tip for France in general, Paris in particular:
The French consider “politesse” to be extremely important when meeting someone new. Sales people in Paris, when interviewed, have mentioned that they will give good service (for the French!) if a foreign customer will use some very simple French expressions of “politesse”:
Bonjour, madame
Bonjour, monseiur
S’il vous plait.
Merci
Etc.
Learn a dozen forms of politeness, and the “rude” French are often very friendly and helpful.
And, this probably works in every country. I know I’m always glad to help someone who speaks very little English when it is obvious they are trying, respectful and needing some help.
Plan in advance your travel.
Make a plan with your credit cards. Make sure you have cards that cover most of your major spend categories, and make sure to track when you applied for each in case you want to cancel before an annual fee hits.
ziploc baggies, photocopies of documents, call back, multiple outlet adapter, etc.
If you applied for a credit card you plan to cancel before the next annual fee hits, put a reminder for 11 months later on your calendar as soon as it’s accepted to help you to remember to cancel.
Roll clothes to pack more in to your carry on.
Decide in advance which credit cards you will use for which purchases (hotels, restaurants, flights).
Use credit cards to travel freely!
Know what types of awards you would like to seek out…that will help you set a value for the miles/points to reach it and in turn will let you make smart decisions on when/how to earn and burn.
I try and plan ahead but I always leave time for some spontaneity!