[Global Entry]

At the suggestion of a well-known and admired forum poster, I'm starting this thread to provide and share advice on how to get the most out of traveling the world on a "budget."

All of us travel on a budget (well, the vast majority of us). The actual budget just varies. I tend to find myself on the slightly higher side of that budget range, typically when I'm traveling for work or with my gal, or sometimes on more of a budget, when I'm traveling alone for pleasure (though I sometimes will splurge a bit for this as well). Many of you might find yourself at the lower side of the range, but that doesn't mean you can't find value. It might just take a bit more work.

The background I have, besides being an attorney, is as a movie producer. The job of a movie producer resembles arranging and booking and travel in one crucial way - you want it to seem a lot more expensive that what you actually paid, whether its on the screen for a producer, or in the class of your flight, the perks of your stay, the view from your hotel, etc.

So in any event, this thread will address how to get more out of your travel, and hopefully we can include some deals on travel that are available to those of us lucky enough to be on the move. All of this hopefully can be geared to the interests of the forum, and destinations that people find enticing.

Just to give you a sense of what's at stake here, I'll fly soon from NYC to HK round trip business class for $1800 (which would be a normally coach seat price, if not more). Normally that trip is close to $4000 on the airline I'm flying, Cathay Pacific. I recently stayed in Bangkok for $30 per night off Sumkivit in the Sheraton for $30 per night. I've already aggregated hundreds of thousands of points, and the typical cost of a roundtrip ticket from the US to Europe in coach is as low as 40,000 miles (Dublin) or 50,000 miles (UK). You can being to see the value of figuring out how to make these numbers add up, because it results in savings or a greatly improved travel experience.

Feel free to add your questions, as well as insights in achieving these objectives.

[Global Entry]

Delta currently has US$800 roundtrip between Los Angeles and Manila, including taxes. Great deal, and note the point at the end about Delta converting to a revenue based system for earning frequent flyer miles (as United just did). I'll explain what that means in a further post.


Delta – $800: Los Angeles – Manila, Philippines. Roundtrip, including all Taxes
14 Jul 2014 ⋅ by TFD ⋅ in Los Angeles


Fare Availability:
Valid for travel on the outbound from August 15th – November 30th or January 1st, 2015 – April 30th, 2015 for Monday through Thursday departures. Must purchase at least 3 days in advance of departure

How to Search for Availability:
Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
and use the following search criteria:
Departing from: LAX
Outbound Advanced Routing Code: dl nrt dl
Destination: MNL
Return Advanced Routing Code: dl nrt dl
(Click on Advanced Routing Codes link to enable advanced routing code input)
Select “See calendar of lowest fares”
Length of stay “0-7″ (the max date range is 7 days. So 0-7, 5-12, 7-14 etc)
Beginner’s Guide on How to Use Matrix by ITA Software
How to Read Airfare Rules and Use It to Your Advantage
Fare Class:
V
Elite Qualifying Dollars:
$710
Routing:
LAX – NRT (Tokyo) – MNL (Manila) – NRT – LAX
Stopover:
Two permitted at $100 each in the United States
How to Take Advantage of a Stopover
Mileage:
Delta will be revenue based mileage earning starting January 1st, 2015. Miles will be earn base on elite qualifying dollars multiple by 5 as base level earning and up to 13 for Diamond level members who purchase with a Delta co-branded American Express credit card. We will be showing the 2015 base mileage earning for all Delta fares going forward to show how negative the changes are for a majority of Delta flyers.
2014: 14,676 miles or 5.5 cents per mile
2015: 3,550 miles or a difference of 11,126 miles.

[Biologist]

Great idea for a thread! I'll be following this closely.

[Brisey]

What programmes would you say are the best for accumulating miles? I currently use Lufthansa Miles and more and even though I take alot of their economy flights (20 so far this year) i'm never going to get to Gold/HON status. I'm considering my miles to another Star Alliance programme.

There's some good posts/mile hacks on the following with regards to accumulating miles:
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/

[Global Entry]

Hey Brisey. I read Boarding Area from time to time - its useful and there are many similar sites that have useful information frequently updated. I put a bunch in my RSS feed. Among the ones I frequent are:
The Points Guy
Million Mile Secrets
Hack My Trip
One Mile at a Time
The Flight Deal
View from the Wing

Many of them have overlapping information, and so you'll end up with redundancy to some degree.

With respect to your aggregation of points, if you've taken 20 flights per year, you should really be hitting status on an airline alliance. If I recall, you live in Europe (I won't be more specific unless you want to disclose it). Regardless of what you do, I'd suggest a few things - one, you should aggregate until you hit status on a single airline, and then perhaps diversify. Conversely, you could aggregate enough for the reward you really want (say a trip to Las Vegas - been there done that ) and then diversify. What I mean by diversify is start to aggregate on a second alliance (or airline with allegiances, like Virgin, even if its not part of an alliance, per say). Perhaps once you've aggregated enough on a star alliance carrier, do OneWorld next. But again, that really depends on your preferred destinations. Someone traveling from the UK and wanting to hit NYC or LA might choose OneWorld next, or Virgin next.

Do not break your miles up between carriers in a single alliance, in general, except where you know you'll not be stranding little chunks of miles here and there. Keep your SA miles on Lufthansa for now, until you hit one of the benchmarks I mentioned above. Then its cool to switch, but I'd really consider switching outside SA at that point, unless, for example, you've gather enough miles for the reward trip you want, or status for some reason is easier achieved on the other SA member (I wouldn't think so, but perhaps, due to a credit card).

What hotels are you staying at during all these trips. You should be aggregating status through that as well, as well as possible points transferable to your Lufthansa account?

[Global Entry]

Los Angeles/San Fran to HK for 662 Roundtrip. Good deal for coach and keep in mind that it puts you in prime position to explore SE Asia, with Hanoi, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Manila all within a few hours flight. You can grab a continent pass from the airline as well, and hit multiple nearby destinations. Ill try to throw up a post on continent passes to go along with this one, soon.

Delta / United – $662: Los Angeles – Hong Kong. Roundtrip, including all Taxes

With new service from both Delta and American to Hong Kong, we are now seeing a lot more sales to Hong Kong. The price might be +/- $20 depending on routing (e.g., if connecting in Tokyo on both outbound and return)
Update 6/26/2014 @ 2:00AM Eastern – United has match this fare. United is a few dollars more at $668 on a standard routing via San Francisco.
Fare Availability:
Valid for travel on the outbound from August 21st – November 30th or January 1st, 2015 – April 30th, 2015 for Sunday through Thursday departures with a 4 day stay minimum. Must purchase at least 3 days in advance of departure
How to Search for Availability:
Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search and use the following search criteria:
Departing from: LAX
Outbound Advanced Routing Code: dl dl
Destination: HKG
Return Advanced Routing Code: dl dl
(Click on Advanced Routing Codes link to enable advanced routing code input)
(For United availability, replace dl dl with ua ua on the Advanced Routing Code fields)
Select “See calendar of lowest fares”
Length of stay “0-7″ (the max date range is 7 days. So 0-7, 5-12, 7-14 etc)

Fare Class:
Delta: V
United: K
Elite Qualifying Dollars:
$569
Routing:
Delta: LAX – NRT (Tokyo) – HKG (Hong Kong) - NRT (Tokyo) – LAX
United: LAX – SFO (San Francisco) – HKG (Hong Kong) – SFO – LAX

[Brisey]

(07-14-2014 07:16 AM)G_global Wrote:  

Hey Brisey. I read Boarding Area from time to time - its useful and there are many similar sites that have useful information frequently updated. I put a bunch in my RSS feed. Among the ones I frequent are:
The Points Guy
Million Mile Secrets
Hack My Trip
One Mile at a Time
The Flight Deal
View from the Wing

Many of them have overlapping information, and so you'll end up with redundancy to some degree.

With respect to your aggregation of points, if you've taken 20 flights per year, you should really be hitting status on an airline alliance. If I recall, you live in Europe (I won't be more specific unless you want to disclose it). Regardless of what you do, I'd suggest a few things - one, you should aggregate until you hit status on a single airline, and then perhaps diversify. Conversely, you could aggregate enough for the reward you really want (say a trip to Las Vegas - been there done that ) and then diversify. What I mean by diversify is start to aggregate on a second alliance (or airline with allegiances, like Virgin, even if its not part of an alliance, per say). Perhaps once you've aggregated enough on a star alliance carrier, do OneWorld next. But again, that really depends on your preferred destinations. Someone traveling from the UK and wanting to hit NYC or LA might choose OneWorld next, or Virgin next.

Do not break your miles up between carriers in a single alliance, in general, except where you know you'll not be stranding little chunks of miles here and there. Keep your SA miles on Lufthansa for now, until you hit one of the benchmarks I mentioned above. Then its cool to switch, but I'd really consider switching outside SA at that point, unless, for example, you've gather enough miles for the reward trip you want, or status for some reason is easier achieved on the other SA member (I wouldn't think so, but perhaps, due to a credit card).

What hotels are you staying at during all these trips. You should be aggregating status through that as well, as well as possible points transferable to your Lufthansa account?

Thanks for the feedback mate! Hope you are well.
Lufthansa Miles and More is 35000 status miles or 30 flight segments to Frequent Flyer (i'll hit that this year) or 100000 miles to Gold. I have a Miles and More AMEX which gives 2 miles per 1 mile spent but they only go towards award miles and do not affect the status. If I fly in Europe and take economy I'll get about 500 miles per segment. My flight to Vegas netted me about 6000 miles for the 4 leg trip. I haven't really gotten any points from hotel stays so far, simply because I've not checked properly, definitely something i'll look into from now on.

I'm about to book a trip to Beijing in October then onto Guangzhou for the Canton Fair. Going to pay for an economy flight then use my points to upgrade to first.
If you are around in October it would be good to catch up again!

[Global Entry]

I see. Are you going to book the award on Lufthansa? Or are you booking through another airline.

Actually, nowadays, at least for Americans, Airlines are a place to spend miles, and less and less, to earn them (though of course long haul flyers will earn significant chunks of mileage by traveling). Rather, consider the credit cards (and it seems like your onto this option) and hotel stays, among other avenues, as your chief manner in which to earn miles, along with taking advantage of opportunities to cut down on mileage usage from the same travel. Starwood has very good mileage transfer, and if you transfer in chunks of 20,000 Starpoints, you get a 20 percent bonus for the transfer. So if you book your stays, if possible, in Aloft, Sheraton, Westin or W Hotels, you can aggregate transferable miles. In Vegas, btw, Caesars' properties are part of the Starwood network as well (for points, not for status).

I'd definitely also think twice about using the miles for an upgrade aftr paying for the flight. It might work out point-wise but its often better to book pure rewards if you can afford to, as upgrades often cost more in miles on a per mile basis then just booking the whole thing in miles as a biz class ticket. This isn't always the case, but look at the price of the coach ticket. Then consider the mileage cost difference between a full business class seat and the upgrade of the seat. Figure out the cost your spending per mile that way, and then make sure there aren't cheaper alternatives to obtaining that difference in mileage cost. If you're paying more than US$.02 per mile, then its almost certainly not worth using the miles for an upgrade rather than booking the whole thing on mileage (or saving until you can). Of course, reasons for flying business vary and if you have other reasons, its of course your prerogative to ignore this advice.

Since you can probably get one free stopover minimum (I don't know Lufthansa fare rules, or whichever airline your flying but Im guessing) I hope you'll not be paying for the extra flight to Guangzhou. I'll be in the USA during that period I think, but I would like to catch up again, so if I'm here, I'll jump on a train to GZ.

[Brisey]

(07-14-2014 08:33 AM)G_global Wrote:  

I see. Are you going to book the award on Lufthansa? Or are you booking through another airline.


I'd definitely also think twice about using the miles for an upgrade aftr paying for the flight. It might work out point-wise but its often better to book pure rewards if you can afford to, as upgrades often cost more in miles on a per mile basis then just booking the whole thing in miles as a biz class ticket. This isn't always the case, but look at the price of the coach ticket. Then consider the mileage cost difference between a full business class seat and the upgrade of the seat. Figure out the cost your spending per mile that way, and then make sure there aren't cheaper alternatives to obtaining that difference in mileage cost. If you're paying more than US$.02 per mile, then its almost certainly not worth using the miles for an upgrade rather than booking the whole thing on mileage (or saving until you can). Of course, reasons for flying business vary and if you have other reasons, its of course your prerogative to ignore this advice.

I just checked on Lufthansa how many miles it would be from Brussels to Beijing flying first class, it was 210000 and 700 euros in taxes/fees. If I pay for the flight it's also 700 euros for an economy ticket, i'd get 4 flight segments and the status miles with 50000 miles to upgrade. If I take the latter option I save 160000 miles whilst paying the same that I would have had to pay on taxes.
I think all that depends on if they have the upgrades available though, it might not be possible to do so.

[LeightonBlackstock]

How to get to Asia for 'free':

Apply for an English teaching job in Korea

All that is required is a criminal Background check and a copy of your degree. However, these must be notarised AND apostilled

Total cost: 100-150 dollars. Total time to acquire relevant documents: About one month

Upon arrival in Korea: Either go through with the job and utilise your FREE apartment that comes with it (and the 2100+ USD a month salary), or do a runner to another country when you land in Seoul. To each his own. Just putting this 'hack' out there

(Also, if anyone ever goes job hunting in Taiwan and is on a super-tight budget. Time to travel hostel is 5000NT a month and you'll have a dorm room to yourself and practically the whole hostel to yourself a lot of the time.)

[Global Entry]

Check Brussels to Guangzhou, with a stop in Beijing, business class. Do the compare based on that. You may have to check a few different airlines to find the proper route. How many miles for the biz class ticket. First class is at a super premium of course.

You can also consider using a booking service. These services will charge perhaps 100 USD only if they're successful in booking your award ticket. if they aren't successful you won't pay anything. However, they don't book upgrade tickets typically, only full awards (coach, biz, first).

(07-14-2014 08:58 AM)Brisey Wrote:  

(07-14-2014 08:33 AM)G_global Wrote:  

I see. Are you going to book the award on Lufthansa? Or are you booking through another airline.


I'd definitely also think twice about using the miles for an upgrade aftr paying for the flight. It might work out point-wise but its often better to book pure rewards if you can afford to, as upgrades often cost more in miles on a per mile basis then just booking the whole thing in miles as a biz class ticket. This isn't always the case, but look at the price of the coach ticket. Then consider the mileage cost difference between a full business class seat and the upgrade of the seat. Figure out the cost your spending per mile that way, and then make sure there aren't cheaper alternatives to obtaining that difference in mileage cost. If you're paying more than US$.02 per mile, then its almost certainly not worth using the miles for an upgrade rather than booking the whole thing on mileage (or saving until you can). Of course, reasons for flying business vary and if you have other reasons, its of course your prerogative to ignore this advice.

I just checked on Lufthansa how many miles it would be from Brussels to Beijing flying first class, it was 210000 and 700 euros in taxes/fees. If I pay for the flight it's also 700 euros for an economy ticket, i'd get 4 flight segments and the status miles with 50000 miles to upgrade. If I take the latter option I save 160000 miles whilst paying the same that I would have had to pay on taxes.
I think all that depends on if they have the upgrades available though, it might not be possible to do so.

[Global Entry]

Hey, to each their own, its definitely a hack and I bet SK isn't the only country where this is possible.

(07-14-2014 11:26 AM)LeightonBlackstock Wrote:  

How to get to Asia for 'free':

Apply for an English teaching job in Korea

All that is required is a criminal Background check and a copy of your degree. However, these must be notarised AND apostilled

Total cost: 100-150 dollars. Total time to acquire relevant documents: About one month

Upon arrival in Korea: Either go through with the job and utilise your FREE apartment that comes with it (and the 2100+ USD a month salary), or do a runner to another country when you land in Seoul. To each his own. Just putting this 'hack' out there

(Also, if anyone ever goes job hunting in Taiwan and is on a super-tight budget. Time to travel hostel is 5000NT a month and you'll have a dorm room to yourself and practically the whole hostel to yourself a lot of the time.)

[Global Entry]

For high-roller types or those who've aggregated a good number of transferable miles on their credit cards (whether Starwood or a transfer partner of Starwood) -

Starwood has extended its offer until next year, giving a 35 percent redemption on their resort hotel rooms in selected resorts. Starwood truly does have some amazing resorts, referred to as "aspirational" properties. A lot of these are once in a lifetime type trips, but with the discount, the normally sizable points bite that Starwood would take for a free night become somewhat more palatable. The resorts included in the promotion are...

W Retreat and Spa Maldives - 58,500 Starpoints a night (previously 90,000)
W Retreat Koh Samui, Thailand - 26,000 Starpoints a night (previously 40,000)
Le Meridien Bora Bora - 39,000 Starpoints a night (previously 60,000)
Pine Cliffs Residence (Luxury Collection), Albufeira, Portugal - 26,000 Starpoints a night (previously 40,000)
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa (Luxury Collection), Dubai, UAE - 39,000 Starpoints a night (previously 60,000)
Vana Belle (Luxury Collection), Koh Samui, Thailand - 26,000 Starpoints a night (previously 40,000)

These are all suites or villas, I should mention, not regular rooms. In addition, per Starwoods normal policy, if you can book four nights of these rooms, they'll give you a fifth night for free - reducing the price an additional 20 percent on the redemption. This fifth night bonus is why Starwood is one of the most beneficial of hotel points programs (and also their preferential transfer rates of their points to almost every major airline of choice, with a potential 20 percent transfer bonus if you transfer points in blocks of 20,000).

While I am mentioning all this for Starwood, you should also be aware that they currently have additional 25% transfer bonuses for transfers to American and its soon-to-be-merger partner, US Airways. Thus, if you transfer Starwood points to American Airlines, for example, in blocks of 20,000, you'll get both the 25% and the 20%, and the numbers are aggregated. Consequently, an 80,000 point transfer would provide you with 120000 American Airlines miles (80,000 x 1.25 =100,000 x 1.20 = 120,000). Not too shabby.

In any event, with Starwood points worth approximate 2.3 cents per, and a night's award at say, Koh Samui, being worth 3.13 per night, and with the free fifth night included 3.93 per night for the whole five night stay, thats a nice incremental benefit for using Starpoints for this purpose. Its a premium of 3.93/2.3 or 70 percent on a five night stay (with the fifth night free), and of 3.13/23 or 36 percent on a stay of less than five nights.

If you're gonna start collecting star points, definitely consider applying (if you've a decent credit rating) for the Starwood Amex. Bonuses are currently 10,000 for opening an account and an additional 15,000 points for $5,000 spend in the first six month - which works out to a $575 bonus (25,000 at 2.3cents per mile) for signing up assuming you'd spend the money anyway and don't carry a balance (which hopefully you won't). They periodically have higher bonuses so it sometimes makes sense to wait for such a promotion.

[Global Entry]

Las Vegas Hotel deal off of the website Extreme Hotel Deals. Extreme Hotel Deals has either super discount high end hotels or mistake deals posted by hotel chains/rebookers. Its a good choice to subscribe to if you like to travel randomly. Booking some of these hotels can also be a good way to aggregate nights towards Gold or Elite Status for the big chains as well - I've seen Hyatt bookings for airport hotels, including breakfast, for $40 per night, so if you've just a few night left to achieve a year's worth of gold status, it can be very worthwhile.

The Signature at MGM Grand, Vegas $46-66

Amazing rate on a Saturday night stay at this 4* hotel. 20 minutes walk from the center of Vegas.

Room: Signature deluxe suite with Balcony. 550sq ft. King size beds. Whirlpool spa tub in the oversized bathroom. Separate siting area with entertainment center and kitchenette.

http://extremehoteldeals.us3.list-manage...28e47e7556

Reviews: TripAdvisor (Excellent. #10 hotel in Vegas)

Book: Signature at MGM Grand on June 13, 2015

[Beyond Borders]

G-Global, perhaps this warrants its own thread, and perhaps you've already posted on it elsewhere, but it would also be interesting to hear your tips and ideas on paying for plane tickets from Asia to North America (and vice versa) by stocking up goods and selling them upon arrival. I take it you would be qualified to speak on this a bit.

Maybe a thread for people to post possible opportunities for different destinations and routes would be interesting.

I was going to try to make it down to the markets with you at least once while you were in Cambo to get a feel for your process and banter, but I didn't get the chance between partying and work and your departure being sooner than I first thought.

The reason I posted this here is because it might be an alternative to more lower end travelers who don't use credit cards, fly much, or spend a lot of time in nice hotels. Not to mention a possible option for them to increase their income through travel.

I will be following this thread here closely, whether you start a new thread on the tangent or not, because I definitely need to take advantage of this type of thing more.

[Glider]

Cheap ways to fly business and first class:

Twice a year Alaska Airlines website 'sells' flyer points up to 40% off. These points can be used on partner airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas etc. As long as you fly to or from the USA you can get super cheap business/first class flights.

For example you could fly LA to South Africa with Cathay Pacific. Since they are based in Hong Kong you must fly through there. That means you get two long haul business/first class flights on the cheap.

[Global Entry]

(07-17-2014 05:45 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

G-Global, perhaps this warrants its own thread, and perhaps you've already posted on it elsewhere, but it would also be interesting to hear your tips and ideas on paying for plane tickets from Asia to North America (and vice versa) by stocking up goods and selling them upon arrival. I take it you would be qualified to speak on this a bit.

This seems like a great topic to address, but I really haven't done this. I've been told about bringing iPhones and other electronics to certain countries, perhaps read about it here. And I am fairly sure that if I brought a suitcase full of suntan lotion, skin whitening cream and other cosmetics back from the USA to China, I could sell it over time (I have no channels to do so). Perhaps its worth considering but I haven't done it yet. Right now I'm looking more at wholesaling goods and perhaps retailing them as well, primarily stuff thats from SE Asia, into China. I would definitely love to have someone weigh in on this.

(07-17-2014 05:45 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

Maybe a thread for people to post possible opportunities for different destinations and routes would be interesting.

This I can add some things on - getting a regional ticket is definitely a good way to explore an area once your there, and its offered by the major carriers. Also there are stopover opportunities on many higher end tickets and award tickets, that would allow a roundtrip to really be open jaw (returning from a different city than the one you originally travelled from) or three city travel. US Airways, for the time being until its integrated into American Airlines, has some of the most generous rules in this regard.

(07-17-2014 05:45 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

I was going to try to make it down to the markets with you at least once while you were in Cambo to get a feel for your process and banter, but I didn't get the chance between partying and work and your departure being sooner than I first thought.

Next time, my man. I'll be back soon, perhaps you'll be there if you're not off seeding the rest of Asia.

(07-17-2014 05:45 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

The reason I posted this here is because it might be an alternative to more lower end travelers who don't use credit cards, fly much, or spend a lot of time in nice hotels. Not to mention a possible option for them to increase their income through travel.

Agreed.

(07-17-2014 05:45 AM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  

I will be following this thread here closely, whether you start a new thread on the tangent or not, because I definitely need to take advantage of this type of thing more.

We all should if we can. I flew to Beijing and back on Tuesday, and even though its not that many miles, and one leg was on a airline that wasn't part of an alliance, I made sure to collect my mileage for both ways because it does all add up.

(07-17-2014 06:14 AM)Glider Wrote:  

Cheap ways to fly business and first class:

Twice a year Alaska Airlines website 'sells' flyer points up to 40% off. These points can be used on partner airlines like Cathay Pacific, Qantas etc. As long as you fly to or from the USA you can get super cheap business/first class flights.

For example you could fly LA to South Africa with Cathay Pacific. Since they are based in Hong Kong you must fly through there. That means you get two long haul business/first class flights on the cheap.

Good point, Glider. Actually Alaska is a great airline for west coast Americans and Canadians to use as a base airline for points collection, as they have great partnerships with some of the best airlines around, their hard in-air product has a good rep, and they do pretty good promotions (as you've demonstrated). Along this idea, US Airways often does 2x bonus on mileage purchases several times a year. This means if you buy 50,000 miles, you get an additional 50,000 miles for free (they do something similar with sharing miles with other US Airways frequent fliers). I recently bought 50,000 plus 50,000 with US Airways for around 1850 USD, and with the miles in hand, I can get a round trip biz class ticket on Cathay (also a US Airways partner through One World) for 110,000 miles, NYC-HKG. Thats a great price, when premium economy one way NYC-HKG recently priced out at 1700. So moving up in class from a one way ticket to a two way ticket, on the world's #1 rated airlines (by some raters, at least) is quite a way to make money go a lot further. And the same holds true even if you're just interested in booking coach tickets, though they tend to be a bit pricier on a dollar for dollar exchange basis than using more mileage for a biz class seat.

[Global Entry]

I just looked and US Airways has this 100 percent bonus purchase right now through the end of July. Coach on Cathay would be 70,000 roundtrip between NYC and HKG, not such a great deal, actually. But biz class is only 110,000 roundtrip, and that ticket is north of US$6,000 usually, meaning $1800 has gotten you most of the way there, and you save around 4,000 on a first class airline.

(07-17-2014 07:16 AM)G_global Wrote:  

Along this idea, US Airways often does 2x bonus on mileage purchases several times a year. This means if you buy 50,000 miles, you get an additional 50,000 miles for free (they do something similar with sharing miles with other US Airways frequent fliers). I recently bought 50,000 plus 50,000 with US Airways for around 1850 USD, and with the miles in hand, I can get a round trip biz class ticket on Cathay (also a US Airways partner through One World) for 110,000 miles, NYC-HKG. Thats a great price, when premium economy one way NYC-HKG recently priced out at 1700. So moving up in class from a one way ticket to a two way ticket, on the world's #1 rated airlines (by some raters, at least) is quite a way to make money go a lot further. And the same holds true even if you're just interested in booking coach tickets, though they tend to be a bit pricier on a dollar for dollar exchange basis than using more mileage for a biz class seat.

[TheBulldozer]

^I'm on Cathay business in the coming days for long haul. Let you know my thoughts on it after I take the flight.

[Global Entry]

If you're a traveller with status with Hyatt, you can now link your Hyatt status to a new or existing MLife account and enjoy status at MGM properties as well. Notably, the MGM properties in Las Vegas include some of the best for game, including Aria (always full of targets), Bellagio, Mandalay, MGM Grand. Also includes Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Vdara, Delano Vegas, and others.

Definitely one perk I can see using with my gold status (matched to my pre-existing Hyatt Platinum status) is using the VIP line to skip the line for the pool clubs and nightclubs, plus one. I'm actually not even sure which clubs are covered other than Hyde in the Bellagio, but there must be some that are worthwhile (as well as the day clubs, though I don't go too often to them). Maybe a Vegas nightclub expert can weigh in and speak to which good spots would be covered - it seems to cover any on an MLife property.

Anyway, here are the tier benefits -

The power of your perks
Sapphire - up to 24,999 Tier Credits
Discounts on Rooms, Shows and Participating Retail Shops
Presale Tickets to Events, Concerts and Fights
Access to Exclusive / Personalized Offers on mlife.com

Pearl 25,000 Tier Credits
Enjoy all the perks of Sapphire membership, along with:
Tier Multiplier – 10% bonus on Points and Express Comps™
10% Discount at Participating Retail Shops
Buffet Line Pass (Las Vegas Resorts)

Gold 75,000 Tier Credits
Experience everything Pearl Members do, plus:
Tier Multiplier - 20% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Priority Hotel Check-in Line
VIP Line Access to Nightclubs and Pool Day Clubs for You and a Guest

Platinum 200,000 Tier Credits
All the benefits of Gold membership, enhanced with all this and more:
Tier Multiplier - 30% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Priority Valet and Taxi Service
15% Discount or more at Participating Retail Shops

NOIR - By invitation only
As part of our ultra-elite, NOIR Members get the best of everything. Period.
Tier Multiplier - 40% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Complimentary Limousine Service To / From Airport
Guaranteed Room, Show, and Restaurant Reservations

And here's the link.

http://hyatthotels.hyatt.com/content/par...vegasyours

[R Smoov]

One question:

So what card that holds points that a stupid stupid college student who usually spends his money on stupid shit should get?

But to be serious, what advice would you give to a college student about this stuff?

[Global Entry]

(07-17-2014 11:52 PM)Rosca Wrote:  

One question:

So what card that holds points that a stupid stupid college student who usually spends his money on stupid shit should get?

But to be serious, what advice would you give to a college student about this stuff?

I guess that depends on your credit history - do you have a credit history? If so, is it positive or do you have negative marks on your credit. The suggestions would be heavily dependent on your answer.

This is a frankly fantastic data sheet on a related topic, which is credit cards and its relationship to travel. I'm not going to post something similar, because what this user has posted is pretty much spot on, and you should read it and absorb it. The gist of this and what it means is that over the past few years, the airlines have devalued their travel charts (meaning that you get less for more miles) and the hotel chains have mostly done the same. At the same time, airlines have begun to use mileage as a marketing tool to raise money from affiliates - by awarding less, they make the commodity (miles) more scarce, and then sell it to credit card companies and all sorts of other companies in exchange for revenue. As a result, as crazy or counterintuitive as it might seem, flying is not really the premium way of obtaining mileage for free travel anymore. The two biggest ways to obtain points, and thus, free travel are (1) applying for credit cards that give a bonus for signing up/initial spending, and (2) spending on credit cards where the amount you spend translates on some multiple (1x, 2x, even 5x) to mileage to a particular airline or an airline of your choice.

What this makes important is that you keep your credit rating in shape, and it also gives significant benefits to entrepreneurs, business owners and executives who can spend significant cash on a chosen credit card and generate a lot of points for items being paid for by a business as a second benefit of their employment. By way of example, a consultant on the road 100 - 150 days per year can not only book into a Marriot or W or Hilton, perhaps, but if he has the flexibility, he can pick a card that also gives 2x the spending amount in points that he can then transfer to a loyalty program of his choice. After 100 days of hotel, he'll likely have diamond status (or platinum or whatever that chain calls it) for that chain, and perhaps 200x100X2=40,000 more points to put into a mileage program (disregarding amounts spent for airline travel (that also generate their own miles), food, car rentals, etc). He's got a trip to Hawaii and a stay at a seven star resort already, most likely. And while perhaps 100 days on the road for work is an extreme for some of us, this is all a matter of degree.

One of the first things to figure out for players is where your credit stands. Perhaps you have one of these loyalty credit card already, thats great. You're on your way. You'll still want to join the elite who collect multiple bonuses over several loyalty programs (NEVER PUT ALL YOUR EGGS ALL IN ONE BASKET, A DEVALUATION OF YOUR POINTS WILL KILL YOUR EFFORT, AS THEY WORK RETROACTIVELY TO POINTS YOU'VE ALREADY EARNED).

If you're credit sucks and/or you don't have such a card, then you're going to want to start rebuilding it. I highly recommend creditkarma.com as a way to start to keep track of your credit, and figure out how to improve it (other than just paying down debt, which of course helps). This site doesn't give you your experian credit report (definitely not optimal, but you can check for free once, I believe with experian and register with them too), but gives transunion (which isn't as used by credit card issuers as experian). However, the site is free, and it will begin to explain the elements (payment history, balances, utilization, and credit history length) that are keeping your credit rating down, or helping it go higher. It also provides links to credit cards suggested for you (don't necessarily blindly follow their suggestions and don't apply until you're pretty sure you're well within range to get accepted, as denials ding your credit score). Keep in mind that their credit card apps give the site referral fees (thats why the site exists as a profit making enterprise) and it may not always be best to apply through their website - bonuses available can vary. Even if they don't its good to know whats incentivizing credit karma's free advice.

(05-09-2014 03:41 PM)HungWeiLo Wrote:  

Hello everyone, I thought I’d drop my first data sheet on something I know a good amount about. It’s not a destination, but a method of transportation that just might take your game to the next level, it's a little long but I think it's worth it for the traveling player.

I started in the miles and points game 18 months ago and I haven’t looked back. In that time I’ve applied and been approved for almost 20 credit cards and earned over 1,000,000 points and miles and I’m still going.

What is the points and miles game?

Points and miles are the currencies of hotels, airlines, cruises, and membership clubs that allow their members to take free flights have free nights, and get comped. All of the major airlines, hotels, and car rental companies have them. The goal of the miles and points player to is acquire the points at as low of a cost per point as possible, and then use them for the most value possible. i.e. staying at the Park Hyatt Paris Vendome for as little as $10 a night when the room regularly goes for nearly $1000 (granted, this redemption is only achievable one time over a two night stay).

How is this done?

First you need a great credit score; anything above 720 should be sufficient to get you going, though anything above 750 and you should be able to hit the ground running. This is because most of the great credit card bonus offers are limited and even targeted to high credit score potential borrowers. You also need stable source of income and limited to none outstanding credit card debt. This is because, of your credit scores components, debt to credit ratio is one of the most important in not only determining your credit score, but determining how much credit a bank is willing to give you. Lastly, you need a US address, because almost all of the bonuses worth going for are based in America.

There are a couple of different ways to think through your strategy for obtaining points: 1) specific next trip; 2) open ended future options. When I started this game I went with option 2 since I didn’t know where I wanted to go, how I wanted to get there, or where I wanted to stay; so I acquired a lot of points. My first round of credit card applications got me nearly 600,000 points, mostly in Hilton which aren’t nearly as valuable now.

Example trip: New York City New Years 2013

2 nights at Holiday Inn Express Midtown Manhattan – 40,000 IHG Rewards points (~$400 in savings)

4 nights at Conrad Manhattan with free breakfast – 170,000 Hilton points (~$2,400 in savings)

For one trip to New York which I’d never seen before (and before I really invested in changing myself with game and the red pill) I stayed in great locations (the Conrad is an awesome property) and explored one of the great cities of the world, for essentially nothing.

In general, you can do a round of credit card applications every 3-4 months depending on your credit score, ability to meet the minimum spending requirements on the cards (or your ability and inclination to manufacture spending, more on that later). You’re going to want to very your applications between banks so as not to go to the well too many times too often with the same institution, though some are stricter than others (Barclay’s doesn’t like too many apps over a 9-12 month period, Citi won’t give you multiple personal cards on the same app day, spread them 60 -90 days apart, Chase has a top end credit limit so you can move credit around or sacrifice older cards to get new ones, BofA is a joke and can and will give you the same card multiple times).

What is Manufactured Spending?

Under normal circumstances, you would limited to meeting a spending requirement with your normal spending or time shifted spending (buying things in the future now to meet the minimum spend on a credit card). However, with manufactured spending, you can “spend” money while not actually incurring the huge debts the spending implies. Under this scenario, you need a few things: A place to buy debit gift cards (the ones with a PIN, stay with Visa, they’re all over and easier to use), a Wal-Mart or another store that lets you buy a money order with a debit card, and/or a Bluebird card from America Express (similar process as described below, but you tell the cashier you want load your bluebird card for $499.99 ($500 loads trip an internal control that requires paperwork)). The first method is the most straight forward; buy a gift card (usually in $500 denominations to keep your fees down), assign the gift card a PIN (depending on the type of card you’re using), and buy a money order from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart charges $.70 per money order, so you’ll buy a $499.30 money order and be on your way. If you’ve followed these instructions, you can now put that $499.30 in your bank account and pay off your card (you’ll need to come up with the other $5.65 but on $60,000 in manufactured spending a year, it’s only about $720). Multiply this process as long as you’re comfortable and you have compliant Wal-Mart employees since it is against Wal-Mart policy to sell money orders on debit gift cards.

How does this help me?

I will readily admit that I am not at the level of game that the vast majority of contributing members of this community are, but from what I have learned and absorbed, this community likes options and logistics. Points and miles are another tool that helps achieve those ends. My personal example of a trip I’m taking in July of this year is below:

Over the month of July I will be in Istanbul, Madrid, Pamplona, Barcelona, Prague, Budapest, and Bangkok. I ‘m flying business class on Turkish (LAX-IST), SWISS (IST-ZRH-BKK), and EVA Airways (BKK-TPE-LAX) for 120,000 United miles and $110. My intra-European flights cost another 40,000 United miles and $140 (IST-MAD, BCN-MUC-PRG, PRG-ZRH-BUD, BUD-IST). All the flights together cost nearly $17,000 and I paid 160,000 miles and $250 for tickets that will let me sleep, relax, and drink in style on the international flights; that’s the power of miles and points. In Prague, Istanbul, and Budapest, I’m staying in hotels in the heart of the city for free on Club Carlson points, in Bangkok I’m going to buy nights but my Arrival points will cancel out the cost there, and the train between Pamplona and Barcelona will be covered the same way. It’s my first time out of the country and I’m doing it in a way that I didn’t think possible before, and to top it all off, in each of the cities I’m staying I’ll be in hostels the first 1-2 nights with hotels overlapping night 2 to give me options on where I end up and who I end up with; in the middle of the city’s nightlife.

TL;DR Miles and Points requires good credit, a way to meet a minimum spending requirement for the bonus, and a US address to get the best offers. Manufactured Spending requires a compliant Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart employee but is very scalable. Points offers access to business class and first class flights that might otherwise be unobtainable to the average, non G-Manifesto, player; they also offer opportunities for multiple free coach flights for the quantity player looking to move around often internationally. I’m more than willing to expand even more on this as it’s a hobby of mine; there are certain point’s currencies that are more valuable than others depending on where you want to go or what your goals are (ex Boston to Dublin for 25,000 miles in coach or 50,000 in business roundtrip with British Airways Avios), I can help point you in the right direction in most cases.

[Global Entry]

There is a good site called hackmytrip.com. They just posted a hack related to my previous post, and this quite frankly would be a golden idea for some players/travellers who live in or frequently travel to Las Vegas. The benefits would extend to travel anywhere Hyatt or MGM has a property.

Since Hyatt is now linking to MLife (MGM) and MGM has some super cheap hotels in Las Vegas (yes, Excalibur) there is a great hack to be had. It would take a little bit of work, but would turn around $500 investment (plus taxes) into something worth perhaps 4,000 to 5,000 USD. I might try to do it myself.

Here's how it works.

Hyatt has something called Diamond Status, and you obtain this status by booking for 25 trips or alternatively, 50 nights at Hyatt Properties. However, with the new partnership between MGM and Hyatt, Hyatt is allowing stays at MGM properties to count for all of the trips or stays necessary to hit Diamond Status. As a result of this, you could conceivably book 25 one night stays at a shit-hole like Excalibur for 20 nights. Keep in mind this has to be 25 stays, so you can't book a single stay for 25 nights. (Also, booking through booking.com usually denies benefits on loyalty programs so always book directly with the hotel chains if you want the loyalty credit.) With a midweek cost of a Excalibur one night stay of say $20, that means you could buy diamond status on Hyatt for around 500, by booking 25 one night stays (plus resort fees if you can't avoid them and taxes as well). Keep in mind the rates for Excalibur vary greatly and the rate is not the typical rate, but is available as an off-peak rate from time to time, often through MGM promotion.

What do you get? Good question...

With Hyatt Diamond, you get the following...

Achieve rewards even faster with a 30% point bonus when choosing points
Enjoy the best room available upon arrival, excluding suites
Receive exclusive access to the Regency Club or Grand Club lounge featuring complimentary continental breakfast and evening hors d’oeuvres2. Enjoy daily complimentary full breakfast in hotels without a club lounge3
Treat yourself to a suite upgrade at the time of reservation four times annually on eligible paid nights4
Receive a special welcome point bonus or food and beverage amenity during each stay5
Receive a nightly room refresh6
Receive the confirmed bed type at check-in7
Stay connected with complimentary in-room Internet access8
Expedite check-in at a dedicated area for elite members9
Ensure a room is always available with our 48-hour guarantee10
Extend your stay until 4:00 p.m. with a late check out request11
Book reservations through an exclusive Diamond line
And, enjoy 20% off the daily rate with My Elite Rate on any standard room in 2014 (subject to availability).

Here's the link to the page. Basically, Hackmytrip, a reliable site, conservatively values this at north of $4000. Just a suite upgrade one time can be easily worth the 500 invested to do this, and you'll get four. If you achieve this after July 1, I believe you keep the status for almost 18 months (until a year from the following February) and its easier to generate more points because you get a 30 percent points bonus as well.

Keep in mind as well that the food in the clubs tends to be quite good, and can substitute for meals, not just for breakfast. And Hyatt really does have some of the nicest properties around. I'm wondering now if I could book multiple rooms at the same time, i.e. 25 rooms for one night at shitty Excalibur and lock in in the status. Hyatt has 300 properties worldwide.


http://www.hyatt.com/gp/en/benefits/memb...iamond.jsp

(07-17-2014 11:07 PM)G_global Wrote:  

If you're a traveller with status with Hyatt, you can now link your Hyatt status to a new or existing MLife account and enjoy status at MGM properties as well. Notably, the MGM properties in Las Vegas include some of the best for game, including Aria (always full of targets), Bellagio, Mandalay, MGM Grand. Also includes Monte Carlo, Excalibur, Vdara, Delano Vegas, and others.

Definitely one perk I can see using with my gold status (matched to my pre-existing Hyatt Platinum status) is using the VIP line to skip the line for the pool clubs and nightclubs, plus one. I'm actually not even sure which clubs are covered other than Hyde in the Bellagio, but there must be some that are worthwhile (as well as the day clubs, though I don't go too often to them). Maybe a Vegas nightclub expert can weigh in and speak to which good spots would be covered - it seems to cover any on an MLife property.

Anyway, here are the tier benefits -

The power of your perks
Sapphire - up to 24,999 Tier Credits
Discounts on Rooms, Shows and Participating Retail Shops
Presale Tickets to Events, Concerts and Fights
Access to Exclusive / Personalized Offers on mlife.com

Pearl 25,000 Tier Credits
Enjoy all the perks of Sapphire membership, along with:
Tier Multiplier – 10% bonus on Points and Express Comps™
10% Discount at Participating Retail Shops
Buffet Line Pass (Las Vegas Resorts)

Gold 75,000 Tier Credits
Experience everything Pearl Members do, plus:
Tier Multiplier - 20% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Priority Hotel Check-in Line
VIP Line Access to Nightclubs and Pool Day Clubs for You and a Guest

Platinum 200,000 Tier Credits
All the benefits of Gold membership, enhanced with all this and more:
Tier Multiplier - 30% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Priority Valet and Taxi Service
15% Discount or more at Participating Retail Shops

NOIR - By invitation only
As part of our ultra-elite, NOIR Members get the best of everything. Period.
Tier Multiplier - 40% bonus on points and Express Comps™
Complimentary Limousine Service To / From Airport
Guaranteed Room, Show, and Restaurant Reservations

And here's the link.

http://hyatthotels.hyatt.com/content/par...vegasyours

[Global Entry]

This is a significant cost savings for people who use awards on short flight in the USA (or anywhere else in the world served by a OneWorld partner - oneworld.com).

By adding miles to your British Airways Avios account, you can get very cheap domestic short flights on OneWorld Airlines vs. the award mileage you would use on these flights by booking directly through USAir, Delta, American, United, etc.

Here's how this works. First, build up a small balance on a British Airways Executive Club account. You can do this by (1) flying either US Air or American in the USA and giving a BA frequent flier number instead of your AA/US Air number, (2) flying on any Oneworld carrier anywhere and giving your BA number, (3) transferring miles from a transfer partner like Chase or Starwood Rewards (transfer Starpoints in chunks of 20,000 to get a 20 percent bonus) or (4) sign up for a credit card that gives a British Airways signup reward, there are a few.

Once you've a balance, you can begin to take advantage of this arbitrage. Because British Airways Avios points has a distance based award chart, using British Airways Avios points to book on American Airlines/US Airways through the online BA booking system is fantastic.

It costs 4,500 British Airways Avios points for a 1-way flight up to 649 miles and 7,500 British Airways Avios points 1-way for a flight up to 1,149 miles. If you wanted to fly round-trip in coach from New York to Washington DC, you would only pay 9,000 British Airways Avios points. However, if you wanted that flight roundtrip and you booked directly on American, you'd pay 25,000 miles, almost three times the cost as by booking it using the British Airways arb. And if you have elite status on American, you can still get to add that number to the British Airways booking and get free baggage checks, and the other perks you've earned. I recently used 15,000 miles to fly HKG to Phnom Penh, round trip, using the same technique, except I booked on British Airways to travel on DragonAir, which is Cathay's sister airline (serving China and SE Asia only). Getting a 3 hour each way round trip flight international for 15,000 miles total is a great hack. I'd suggest everyone who flies short flights like this served by any OneWorld carrier bank some British Airways avios as the cheapest way to get these awards.

[Tail Gunner]

(07-17-2014 09:19 AM)G_global Wrote:  

I just looked and US Airways has this 100 percent bonus purchase right now through the end of July. Coach on Cathay would be 70,000 roundtrip between NYC and HKG, not such a great deal, actually. But biz class is only 110,000 roundtrip, and that ticket is north of US$6,000 usually, meaning $1800 has gotten you most of the way there, and you save around 4,000 on a first class airline.

(07-17-2014 07:16 AM)G_global Wrote:  

Along this idea, US Airways often does 2x bonus on mileage purchases several times a year. This means if you buy 50,000 miles, you get an additional 50,000 miles for free (they do something similar with sharing miles with other US Airways frequent fliers). I recently bought 50,000 plus 50,000 with US Airways for around 1850 USD, and with the miles in hand, I can get a round trip biz class ticket on Cathay (also a US Airways partner through One World) for 110,000 miles, NYC-HKG. Thats a great price, when premium economy one way NYC-HKG recently priced out at 1700. So moving up in class from a one way ticket to a two way ticket, on the world's #1 rated airlines (by some raters, at least) is quite a way to make money go a lot further. And the same holds true even if you're just interested in booking coach tickets, though they tend to be a bit pricier on a dollar for dollar exchange basis than using more mileage for a biz class seat.

I just researched this topic, because I would love to fly business class on Cathay on a long-haul flight for one-third of the cost. But your account must be at least 12 days old (which precludes opening a new account to take advantage of this deal) PLUS U.S. Airways must target you for the offer. I have no clue why it targets particular accounts. While I see the benefits of such deals, this is exactly why I hate dealing with this crap.

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/07/09...-targeted/

Great thread, though. I need to learn this stuff.