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!
I learned that booking Award Tickets at 330 days out is a myth. In the past few years, there’s at least two trips that never would have happened if I didn’t know that I’d likely have a pretty good shot at getting award flights less than two months out before traveling.
My favorite travel tip is to leverage the steam from a hot shower to quickly and easily remove wrinkles.
If at first you don’t succeed, try try again… (kindly hang up and call back until you get a more proficient airline / hotel rep who will accommodate the itinerary you want) 🙂
Always keep spare medication in your carryon/personal item. Nothing like flying from the US to Australia and your suitcase didn’t travel with you, and your meds were inside your luggage. Lesson learned the hard way
for me, a great tip was BA gold gets you into the aa flagship lounges. Thank you!!!
I’ve thanked you before and I’ll gladly do so again: thanks to your blog, I managed to keep warm at the Hyatt for free (instead of paying $600/night) during Hurricane Sandy. I live in Chelsea and the area was out of power for 4 days/nights. I spoke to people paying $700 – $1500/night just because the hotels could afford and managed to gouge people desperately in need but yet, I got two nights for free because I applied for the Hyatt Visa (other two nights were on SPG but that’s beside the point). So, thank you.
The best thing I learned from this blog is to double and triple check all reservations. Just because you are sent a confirmation email doesn’t mean your flights have actually been ticketed.
Interesting blog; oft times very helpful
Perhaps the most useful post on all travel blogs – your award search tool posts, How to search and what to look for. Have been extremely helpful on many an occasion.
Every Christmas, I fly overseas to visit relatives. Naturally, I bring presents. It used to irk me that I would have to come back with empty luggage and still have to go through the checked-baggage pick-up process. I bought a couple of large Red Oxx Aviator Duffels to solve the problem. On the way back, they fold up and go in my carry-on.
“Stack” savings whenever possible. First, enroll in the Dining Rewards Network of your choice (most every airline is a participant); second, look for a Restaurant.com, Groupon, Living Social, Travelzoo, etc. for any of the restaurants in the Dining Rewards Network; finally, check if the restaurant is also on Open Table. When you can score a “triple play,” the benefits can be significant!
My favorite tip is: If you can solve the problem for $20 or less, it’s not worth stressing about and it’s not worth your time. Save those (or at least just your time) for the bigger things.
Always pack a keychain LED flashlight. You never know when it might come in handy during your travels. Power outages, walking to your hotel room when there are hardly any lights, trying to catch the sunrise and have to walk about in complete darkness beforehand, etc. I’ve found the most random times was when I needed it.
Whenever there is a cheap fare, don’t hold out, buy it before they go up.
the most useful thing i have learned from view from the wing was how to get instant silver status with virgin atlantic last summer, I then used that status to have UA match/challenge prior to my trip to kona, we got free upgrade to coach plus seating for the trip.
The best advice that I ever got was to open a BankDirect money market account to earn American Airlines miles. I opened accounts for myself and my wife and maxed out, earning 40,000 miles per month between us for the better part of two years, before the bank changed the program. In the process, this helped me to earn lifetime Gold status on AA (before they changed that program) and accumulate more than 1,000,000 AA miles (tax free), which my family of 4 has used for trips to Puerto Rico (for a cruise), Hawaii and other destinations.
I learned the true value of a Skypeso.
Best Comment: use BA Avios for short haul flights! it’s such a big miles savor, especially great given BA doesn’t charge close in award booking!
Make sure you carry a digital scale when travelling international to avoid the ludicrous baggage fees. Weigh the check-in luggages before you leave for the airport.
Never carry your wallet in your back pocket, and never carry your purse on just your shoulder.
I think the most important thing I learned from reading the site is how to leverage different partner carrier’s search engine to book awards. I always had trouble using awards that I accumulated since there never seem to be any availability. Now, I can check the spaces ahead of time and plan the route before the phone call with a rep. My Avios points have been so valuable now that I have been using it for short distance flights with Alaska. I now regret blowing through a bunch of them on hotel stays. Also, searching availability as one-ways also help quite a bit.
My best travel-related advice would be to always be aware of your surroundings! 🙂
British Airways shorthaul awards using Avios and AA off-peak Europe awards are amazing. I booked a one-way DKR-MAD coupled with an offpeak AA MAD-DFW for substantially fewer points than anything else out there.
Always shower. Becoming an elite member and getting lounge access is a huge benefit. Always plan to shower if possible, especially on international trips. You never know when some of those trips will take a turn for the worse and especially on tight connections and mileage runs. Also, using the lounge to save money on food and bottled water makes so much sense.
If you want to get bumped, fly early Monday morning. Flights are full and nobody flies early Monday morning unless they have to, increasing the chances of a bump.
The Chase Sapphire card has been my go-to card, and the American Express Platinum 100,000 point offer last January has kept me very happy in lounges all around the world. What a wonderful perk/benefit.
Pick up a local SIM card as soon as you land for your unlocked phone. You’ll save a ton of money and be able to connect with locals you meet much more easily.
Most useful things – Skyguide Executive Club. Love the access to the lounges since I don’t have access through a credit card. Very convenient and pays for itself in no time whatsoever. Thanks!
The most useful thing I have learned from this website was from the article “Traveling with Business Attire in Your Carryon” I travel a lot for work and always wasted so much time ironing my clothes and checking bags. Thanks Gary!
The best advice I read was about the effect of credit card signups on credit scores and managing your credit. This advice has allowed me to stay in the game for a good long while now. Knowing which banks pull which credit reports, when to cancel cards and the effect of inquiries on each of my credit reports has kept my scores in the high 700’s and has kept me at a high auto-approval rate.
Always have the name/address/phone of who you are staying with, or at least know of a local hotel you can pretend you’re staying at. After being detained by customs arriving in Dakar, Senegal for 30 minutes, I always carry this with me.
Use a professional to book complex award travel.
Always check (& recheck) seat assignments after booking is complete. Best to consult more than one source on good/bad seats; I generally use SeatGuru, SeatExpert, and/or the applicable FT thread.
What I’ve learned from following Gary is that all it takes to travel luxuriously for almost no money is repeated small investments of time and effort.
The most useful thing I’ve learned from this blog? Simple & basic – credit card applications are the easiest way to rack up miles and diversify into multiple programs. I had no idea that was the case when I started this hobby/obsession five years ago. Thanks Gary!
I haven’t been reading long since I am new to the game, but the hotel loyalty posts and advice are the most useful to me. I am not yet up to complicated multi-partner award redemption flights that will make the other posts more helpful in time 🙂
With out a doubt.
Hang up and call back has to be number 1.
“Garden your reservations” or follow up on your booking
to confirm that nothing has changed, is a close second.
The best tip I’ve learned is to use Avios for shorter flights on domestic partners. Thanks!
Some great advice that has always been preached with the Ink cards is to leverage the 5x UR points for purchases that wouldn’t otherwise offer a bonus. We needed to purchase $2000 worth of baby supplies and furniture from Buy Buy Baby (where you can use Bed Bath and Beyond GC). Went to Staples and picked up $2000 in Bed Bath and Beyond GC to pay for our stuff and ended up with 10,000 UR rewards points for a purchase that would have usually only given us 2000 points. 5x is your friend!!!
This is an extremely basic and easy tip, but one you have highlighted several times. Always double check and triple your reservations! Check dates, times, airports, which hotel, which terminal etc.. before you go (and preferably a few days leading up to the travel, if not even more beforehand)
I remember your post not too long about checking into a hotel and they had no record of your reservation as you made a reservation elsewhere.
The best advice I have (having learned the hard way) is to try not to cram too much sightseeing, activities,cities, etc. into a trip. Try to relax some.
Another tip I have is to carry a chip card around Europe, it is very helpful (also make sure it is signed on the back, London is strict about this).
The one simple yet very important thing on your blog I have learned is to always check your reservation. It has saved more than once and almost ruined one of our best holidays! Thanks for your blog!
Your blog helped me wrap my head around major carrier award charts when I first got into points a year or two ago.
Next thing I knew I had a round the world first class ticket booked on United miles that enabled me to see a bit of Europe and Asia all in one shot…while hitting the major first class experiences (Lufthansa terminal, Thai lounge in BKK, Singapore first..).
Thanks for the miles tips this year Gary, happy holidays!
The absolute best way to get to Europe is to use British Airways Avios on Aer Lingus flying from Boston to Dublin.
Only 25,000 Avios round-trip (with less than $100 in taxes) in economy is an unbeatable deal, especially considering how easy it is to amass significant Avios balances.
Always carry-on if you can. If you counted up the time spent sitting at a luggage carousel you’d be shocked. It also helps when your travel plans go awry.
Always pack a go bag to carry with you on the plane, regardless of where you are traveling. Delays, cancellations, and lost bags always make it smart to bring an extra set of clothes, some basic necessities, and extra money.
Wear comfortable, easy to remove shoes when traveling through airports in the US.
Unless a trip is an emergency or last-minute surprise, use points to offset the cost of the trip. Credit card rewards, airline miles, and gift card bonuses have helped my wife and I go on our honeymoon (priced out retail at over $40,000) for roughly $2,000 ($1k of this was airline fees). This site is awesome. Just because you fly first class doesn’t mean you have to pay first class. Be smart, be flexible, and be ready to see the world!