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!
This AAdvantage + Citibank tip was discovered by accident. Redeem at 10% discount up to 10,000 per year including travel for the following year. For the trip the following year, if you reinstate the miles to change the trip, it will be in full instead of 90%. For example, one way to Asia is at 35,000 – 3,500 = 31,500. If you cancel the trip or need to reinstate and rebook, the following year, you will reinstate 35,000 miles instead of 31,500 miles. There is a fee but potentially waived if you have elite status. This technique leverage the 10% discount fully for the following year.
The value of CSP. We just use if for everyday spend and the points have racked up. Enough to get us to Europe next summer without paying AA’s ridiculous surcharges.
bring something to sleep in for a long flight. But remember to change into your normal clothes before you land. Please, we do not want to see someone walking around in the airport as Lucky did in Singapore 2011 😉
For international trips, I do the following:
1. Take at least 2 foreign-transaction-free credit cards from 2 different issuing banks.
2. Take 2 different ATM debit cards if possible to withdraw local cash (Charles schwab is my favorite for fee-free)
3. Call banks to place travel notifications before the trip.
I learned a lot – but to put shortly: not all miles are created equal
So many great tips on this blog… earn and burn; hang up and call back; bring a power strip; AwardWallet. Very much appreciated.
When you are in a new city, don’t be afraid of public transportation! Not only is it sometimes a cheap and efficient way to get from the airport to downtown – my home city of PDX runs great lightrail service between the airport and the center city as well as many other places – but it is a great way to see a city through less-touristy eyes.
In Israel you can chat with the many English-speaking soldiers who use public transport to get everywhere in the country; in Istanbul you can meet locals of all persuasions; in Shanghai you can enjoy the high speed train. Whenever possible, we try to not rent a car, because public transport gives you a better taste of the city, costs less, and, at least for us, is a way to meet and talk with lots of locals.
I did learn here how valuable SkyPesos are 🙂 I’m staying far away from them.
The most valuable thing I’ve learned is to charge everything to a credit card (as long as you pay it off every month) and to be strategic about which credit card you use on which purchase. Thanks for the giveaway!
Hang up, call back
One way searching for awards
Benefits of status in many different programs
I really liked your “12 airline lounge visits for $20” post- talk about bang for the buck!
Learn a few key phrases to get along in a new country.
Always take good photos of your passports, ID’s, and everything else you carry in your wallet. It can make life much easier if you have these and can make dealing with losing them much simpler.
Don’t forget when booking tickets with AAdvantage miles about the free stopover in the North American gateway city. If you happen to live in that gateway city, it basically means a free one-way trip to anywhere else in the country for you!
If trying out a travel medicine, try it at home beforehand before hitting the road to see if you have any side effects. For instance if going to a place that has high altitude (Kilimanjaro, ecuador,peru etc) try diamox at home to see what side effects you will have rather that on the mountain for the first time. My friend learned this the hard way, and things amplified rather quickly do to the altitude sickness already.
I still bring a surge strip with me as most hotels are still deficient for all my electronics.
For most countries, (minus ireland, israel, and a few others) your chase sapphire, or a mastercard such as Citi premier can be used for CDW car insurance. I just finished a trip to new zealand where they required CDW insurance, but when I showed them my credit cards listed benefits, they waived the fees.
Carry a tide stain stick while traveling. Its great to clean up little stains that occur while out instead of needing to dry clean the whole shirt/pants.
Talc powder/baby powder on your feet/body works great to control sweating/odor/discomfort for long plane rides or trips.
A small little tub stopper can be used to clog the sink if you need to do one or two quick piece of laundry while on the road.
If going to the beach, you can cut an old sun lotion container in half and use it as a way to store your keys/wallet. Waterproof and people won’t try to take it.
ALWAYS ask for a hotel upgrade…elite or not.sometimes the desk agent …says ..why not
When checking in at any Waldorf-Astoria, know if you have Gold status, you will get two bottles of water per night and the worst room on the property, probably the one with mold in it if it’s NY. Guess who just had a junk stay?
Use Chase Sapphire card for international travel
As soon as i book a flight…i book a refundable rental car at the lowest price i can find….then power shop all the rental car websites and name your price on Priceline every few days.
If i don’t get the answer i’m looking for….i hang up and call back.
If the answer is no…ask to talk to a supervisor!
I have a few copies of my passport with me….just in case the original is lost or stolen!
Tip: buy products with a lifetime guarantee whenever possible. Brands like travelpro, Patagonia, and Camelbak may cost a bit more up front but it’s such a relief to be able to have something replaced at no or minimal cost.
Wow that’s a lot of tips… might be useful for us readers to go through all of them too.
Most useful tip: Call while standing in line for a rescheduled/delayed flight, saved me so much time and energy when I was stuck in Dallas.
Keep up the great work as usual!
I love the “hang up and call again later” rule if you are getting nowhere when trying to book a flight/stay or are having trouble with some other travel-related issue. I have used it successfully for years, but it is always good to be reminded of this simple yet essential strategy!
Hyatt hotels have the lowest point requirement to get free rooms
Reading this Blog for the last 2 years I have learned many useful tips and trick but the one I took value from was understanding how to use Chase Ultimate Points on Korean Air FC. Fuel charges from ORD-ICN F classs were only about $ 150 and if you stay on Korean Air metal you can book one ways for half the miles.You can start collecting 40,000 points by applying for the US Bank CC which is targeted some times. GOOD LUCK to everyone to win.
Best travel tip I’ve gotten from reading your blog is to hang up and call back. So simple, yet it didn’t even dawn on me until I read about it here. And it’s worked for me!
Use twitter to reach out to loyalty programs to reach a CS rep
When you pack your bag for an extended trip to Europe, put half of your clothes back. You won’t need them and will appreciate traveling light.
Always check and re-check your flight reservations even if it has been previously confirmed to make sure there are no changes.
Do not forget to check weather.com for the 10 day forecast.
Alaway check Boardingarea.com for tips.
Don’t be “that guy” or “that girl” with a DYKWIA attitude. You can catch more flies with sugar than vinegar. That being said, know the rules of your airline/hotel program and be firm but polite in your dealings with staff.
It isn’t enough just to know the rules of your preferred airline/hotel programs — you also have to know the rules of their partners. For instance, if you have Amex points and want to exchange them for Hilton points (I know, Gary, I can see you shuddering now because it is SUCH a bad use of Amex points, but it is merely for purposes of illustration), you can transfer directly to Hilton at a 1:1 ratio. But, if you instead transfer them at a 1:1 basis to Virgin Atlantic, you can then transfer your new Virgin Atlantic miles to Hilton at a 1:2 basis. By knowing the transfer rules of Amex partners you have DOUBLED the number of Hilton points you receive.
If you arrive at any destination 3 or 4 hours late, due the airline’s fault, having travelled through the European Union, on any world-wide based airline (or any other means of transportation, EU Regulation 261 states you are entitled to monetary compensation. We each received approximately $760 for a 4-hour delay London to Seattle by calling the British Air offices in the USA. This rule applies retroactively to delays you experienced a few years back.
Burn Hilton Honors and Skypesos sooner rather than later.
let banks know when u go on holiday lest they cancel your transaction
Comment 1292. If you arrive at a destination 4 hrs delayed, having traveled thru the EU & get $760 — what do you get if you’re delayed 2 hrs? 1 hr?
Big bonus from ihg. Thanks b
The most useful thing I learned has to be how to evaluate the benefits of the different credit card offers and what things I should be considering in deciding which card to apply for.
Like the saying goes: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.
Thanks for sharing all of this useful info.
Research transportation options before being on the ground in a new place. There’s nothing quite like deciding last second whether to get on an alternate light rail line when it is 6 degrees outside because you missed your train.