And I fly in a lay flat seat; I enjoy a nice dinner at the beginning of the flight; then I sleep for the next six hours, arriving in Europe rested and ready to run.
Delta charges 125,000 miles for that privilege. Most of my miles come from my Delta American Express Card. I use the card for everything that I purchase. EVERYTHING. Just for extra clarity, I have made purchases of less than a dollar and charged it. And again, just for clarity, I got my first credit card when I was 16 and over the past 44 years I have never paid any interest. You should never charge anything that you do not have the money for. Pay the card off every month by the due date.
But not every mile comes from that card. Watch for other opportunities. Recently I changed natural gas suppliers, because the new supplier had a lower rate and gave me 10,000 miles to switch and gives me miles every month for my gas usage. I have two brokerage accounts. I put all of my savings into the account that doesn't give me miles. Once a year, I move a lump of money to the other account which, once a year, will give me miles for a deposit. Neither of those two mileage schemes costs me a dime. But do not get tempted to send your girlfriend flowers because the flower company promised you 200 miles. That does cost you money. I do not even participate in any of the restaurant miles’ programs, because I don't want to subconsciously go out to dinner at a particular restaurant on a particular day in order to get miles (however, I do charge every restaurant meal the same as I charge EVERYTHING that I buy).
I never use miles for a domestic flight. You do not get enough value for your miles on domestic flights. Here, let's do some math. The best fare I have seen for a business class flight from the USA to Europe is about $3500. So your 125,000 miles are worth about 2.8 cents each ($3500/125,000). On the other hand, the best fare for a coach flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles is about $280 or 25,000 miles so you are getting about 1.12 cents per mile ($280/25,000) --less than half of their value on the business class flight to Europe. Moreover, you get approximately 5000 miles for that flight to Los Angeles which is tantamount to a $140 discount (.028 x 5000). Yes, I know that I compared a business class flight to a coach flight. But here is the deal. You are going to be fine flying coach to Los Angeles. When flying overnight to Europe, a night's sleep makes a huge difference in hitting the ground running. If you stay up all night sitting upright on a coach flight to Europe, you are going to be exhausted when you arrive. So the business class seat offers real value on the transatlantic flight compared to the first class seat to Los Angeles, which doesn't even lay flat.
Ok, you might be asking me how I get a business class seat to Europe for 125,000 miles. A buddy of mine whines that every time, he tries to book an international business class seat, it is at least 200,000 miles. I explain to him, that is because he plans a trip and then goes to book the flight. To get the 125,000 seat, you have to plan 6-9 months in advance. But most importantly, you don't plan the trip first. First you decide how many days that you want to be gone. Then you look for flights with that number of days in between. If you were thinking about 10 days, maybe you experiment with 9-12 days. Moreover, you might need to experiment with cities. I have never seen a 125,000 direct flight seat to Amsterdam. But Dusseldorf is a two-hour train ride away, and there are many cheap seats to Dusseldorf. Alternatively, I can do a connection to Amsterdam and get the 125,000-mile seat. To get the 125,000-mile seat, you expect that you will fly on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, not on Saturdays, Sundays or Fridays. You have to spend some time experimenting.
OK, I have one final confession to make. The truth is, if I can actually buy my business class seat for $3500, I buy it rather than spend my miles. But $3500 transatlantic business class flights are as rare as hen’s teeth. They are even more rare than 125,000 mile seats. Most flights are between $5000 and $7000. And to sweeten the deal, you get over 20,000 miles for a paid business class seat to Europe. Now let's do a bit of math. If I use the value of $5000 for my 125,000 seat, then my miles are worth 4 cents per mile ($5000/125,000). So by buying my $3500 seat, I get a discount, in miles, equal to $800 (.04 x 20,000). So my $3500 seat is only costing $2700.
OK, I admit that this advice is USA centric on a couple of levels. One, based on my experience, my charge EVERYTHING advice doesn't work in Europe. For reasons that are a mystery to me, credit cards are much less welcome in Europe than they are in the USA. Even I pay for all my meals in Europe with cash, because, every time I have tried to use a credit card in Europe for less than about €50, I am treated like some sort of criminal. Moreover, within Europe, you have so many other economical ways of getting to Amsterdam between trains, ferries, and discount airlines with short hop flights.
I fly free and so should you
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Black-King
- Posts: 245
- Joined: Tue 9th Mar 2010 08:25 pm
- Contact:
Re: I fly free and so should you
Intresting!
RASTAFARI RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM http://rastafari-christ.webs.com/
Re: I fly free and so should you
i just used the last of my delta miles ofr my october trip,, 60k in miles and 48 bucks,, this is coach not business
Re: I fly free and so should you
Matty, then you need more miles, The weed is waiting for you.
I wanted to teach people that you don't have to actually fly to get frequent flier miles. And how to conserve your miles so that you can go more often. My buddy who can't figure out how to get the cheap seats is a million miler and he doesn't know how to minimize his use of miles, or how to maximize his accumulation of them. He throws away 30000 miles paying for a short hop flight that he could have bought for $150.
To illustrate, over the past 5 years, I have taken 9 Free business class trips to Europe. Admittedly, I bought another 5 tickets. Three of those tickets were purchased because I wanted to fly with other people (my mother and wife). The other 2 were purchased because I felt like they were cheap enough to buy. I currently have another free trip booked for August, and enough miles for 2 more Free trips in my account.
I wanted to teach people that you don't have to actually fly to get frequent flier miles. And how to conserve your miles so that you can go more often. My buddy who can't figure out how to get the cheap seats is a million miler and he doesn't know how to minimize his use of miles, or how to maximize his accumulation of them. He throws away 30000 miles paying for a short hop flight that he could have bought for $150.
To illustrate, over the past 5 years, I have taken 9 Free business class trips to Europe. Admittedly, I bought another 5 tickets. Three of those tickets were purchased because I wanted to fly with other people (my mother and wife). The other 2 were purchased because I felt like they were cheap enough to buy. I currently have another free trip booked for August, and enough miles for 2 more Free trips in my account.
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MinnBobber
- Posts: 120
- Joined: Sun 27th Apr 2014 05:41 am
Re: I fly free and so should you
twinkles,
need a valet on your next trip?
I've only been once (2014) and loved it. Too bad flights are so expensive or I'd go very year.
Going back in May.
To maximize the enjoyment, spread out the flight cost we are doing a dream vacation river cruise that ends in AMS
and then we stay a week.
I'm retired---how does one stay for 2 or 3 months for not huge $$ ? For future trips as I think I'd like to stay much longer,
or live there lol
need a valet on your next trip?
I've only been once (2014) and loved it. Too bad flights are so expensive or I'd go very year.
Going back in May.
To maximize the enjoyment, spread out the flight cost we are doing a dream vacation river cruise that ends in AMS
and then we stay a week.
I'm retired---how does one stay for 2 or 3 months for not huge $$ ? For future trips as I think I'd like to stay much longer,
or live there lol
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Willjay
- Posts: 2573
- Joined: Fri 2nd Oct 2009 08:28 pm
- Location: The keystone state, in the land of prohibition
Re: I fly free and so should you
Just curious, how much do you fly in your every day life? We only fly once every two years, we do use our credit card points to buy our tickets. Our card gives you a sweet deal if you buy the ticket through their travel dept and have always beat the best price I found online by a $1 
discount couch tickets get you enough miles for a magazine subscription 
discount couch tickets get you enough miles for a magazine subscription www.stopthedrugwar.org
www.mpp.org
www.drugpolicy.org
www.mpp.org
www.drugpolicy.org
Re: I fly free and so should you
Minn, lol, you made me think of a funny story. I see a psychiatrist who is a product of my having gotten hit by a car while crossing a street in Budapest, Hungary on one of my adventures back in 2012 (that in turn led to two brain surgeries, fortunately not in Budapest). In any event, I have been seeing this doctor for about a year and have been to Europe three times. On my last visit we were discussing my when to schedule my next appointment, and I mentioned that I was going to Europe for 16 days in February. She kind of blurted out, "you go to Europe a lot, how do you afford that." I was startled, and I think that she was a bit embarrassed. I mumbled something about free flights and cheap hotels.
It was my buddy, who is now retired, but who traveled extensively for work during his career (as I said, he is a million miler), who couldn't figure out how I found the 125,000 mile business class seats that inspired me to make this post. He also couldn't figure out how I had so many miles, since he knew that I rarely traveled for business during my working years. So I did my best to explain above, both how I get my miles and how I book my cheap seats. If anything isn't clear, let me know and I will elaborate.
But you, like my psychiatrist want to know how I live once I arrive. First of all, I didn't keep a log, so I have to guess that I have spent six months in Europe over the past five years. First of all, I have never done anything as elaborate as the river cruise that you are planning. That just wouldn't be fun as a single. They do look great, though, and when my wife retires, we will probably take one.
When I was a kid, going to Europe was an unthinkable extravagance for our family. But when I started work, a number of the kids that I started with had come from wealthy families, and they had "summered" in Europe while in college. I was jealous. So when I retired, I fulfilled a life long dream, I got a hall pass from the wife, bought a 30-day Eurail pass, a free airline ticket, and flew over to pretend to be a college kid. I lived on the trains (no I didn't sleep on trains), but I did arrive in new towns with no reservations. I always figured that if I couldn't find a cheap room, I would get back on the train and go somewhere else (that happened once in Zurich, when I arrived while a convention was in town). Therr were a couple of scary moments like in Krakow when the first two hotels I stopped at were full and it as late in the day, but I digress. At any rate, back in those days, I looked for something that you and your wife would not stay in. My buddy, who met me for a week once (actually on the fateful 2012 trip when I was suffering from the serious TBI from the car incident), was shocked at the kind of places I stayed. If the proprietor asked for €50, I offered him €35. It worked a lot.
After the brain surgeries, my rehabilitation doctor (the one who taught me how to walk and talk again) clipped my wings a bit. I still remember her reaction when I proposed a solo trip to Europe. She said, "I said it was OK for you to travel, I didn't know you wanted to gallivant around Europe by yourself." Since then, I have limited my trips to less than three weeks. On my most recent trip, which was 16 days, counting travel days, my wife effectively clipped my wings again, when she repeatedly complained that it was "to long." So my next trip will be a mere 10 days counting travel days. That is about as short as I can make it and not feel like the travel time is overwhelming. (Don't tell my wife, but my plan on subsequent trips is to stretch to 12 or so days.)
In any event, as my trips got shorter, I became bolder in what I would pay for a hotel room. Also, my need to pretend that I am a college student summering in Europe faded, and I tend to book rooms in advance these days. Most European hotels will give you a 10% discount if you book a non-refundable room 30 days in advance. And at this point, I have seen most of the main tourist sights in Europe and I have zeroed in on Amsterdam, so I no longer get a Eurail pass (I do miss that though; it was so much fun to walk into a train station and decide where to go next).
Here is the bottom line. My last trip was 16 days counting two travel days, so 14 days in Europe. I spent just over $3000, including smoking materials. The key to that was not paying for airfare, but nonetheless, flying in as much luxury as we work-a-day guys can imagine.
It was my buddy, who is now retired, but who traveled extensively for work during his career (as I said, he is a million miler), who couldn't figure out how I found the 125,000 mile business class seats that inspired me to make this post. He also couldn't figure out how I had so many miles, since he knew that I rarely traveled for business during my working years. So I did my best to explain above, both how I get my miles and how I book my cheap seats. If anything isn't clear, let me know and I will elaborate.
But you, like my psychiatrist want to know how I live once I arrive. First of all, I didn't keep a log, so I have to guess that I have spent six months in Europe over the past five years. First of all, I have never done anything as elaborate as the river cruise that you are planning. That just wouldn't be fun as a single. They do look great, though, and when my wife retires, we will probably take one.
When I was a kid, going to Europe was an unthinkable extravagance for our family. But when I started work, a number of the kids that I started with had come from wealthy families, and they had "summered" in Europe while in college. I was jealous. So when I retired, I fulfilled a life long dream, I got a hall pass from the wife, bought a 30-day Eurail pass, a free airline ticket, and flew over to pretend to be a college kid. I lived on the trains (no I didn't sleep on trains), but I did arrive in new towns with no reservations. I always figured that if I couldn't find a cheap room, I would get back on the train and go somewhere else (that happened once in Zurich, when I arrived while a convention was in town). Therr were a couple of scary moments like in Krakow when the first two hotels I stopped at were full and it as late in the day, but I digress. At any rate, back in those days, I looked for something that you and your wife would not stay in. My buddy, who met me for a week once (actually on the fateful 2012 trip when I was suffering from the serious TBI from the car incident), was shocked at the kind of places I stayed. If the proprietor asked for €50, I offered him €35. It worked a lot.
After the brain surgeries, my rehabilitation doctor (the one who taught me how to walk and talk again) clipped my wings a bit. I still remember her reaction when I proposed a solo trip to Europe. She said, "I said it was OK for you to travel, I didn't know you wanted to gallivant around Europe by yourself." Since then, I have limited my trips to less than three weeks. On my most recent trip, which was 16 days, counting travel days, my wife effectively clipped my wings again, when she repeatedly complained that it was "to long." So my next trip will be a mere 10 days counting travel days. That is about as short as I can make it and not feel like the travel time is overwhelming. (Don't tell my wife, but my plan on subsequent trips is to stretch to 12 or so days.)
In any event, as my trips got shorter, I became bolder in what I would pay for a hotel room. Also, my need to pretend that I am a college student summering in Europe faded, and I tend to book rooms in advance these days. Most European hotels will give you a 10% discount if you book a non-refundable room 30 days in advance. And at this point, I have seen most of the main tourist sights in Europe and I have zeroed in on Amsterdam, so I no longer get a Eurail pass (I do miss that though; it was so much fun to walk into a train station and decide where to go next).
Here is the bottom line. My last trip was 16 days counting two travel days, so 14 days in Europe. I spent just over $3000, including smoking materials. The key to that was not paying for airfare, but nonetheless, flying in as much luxury as we work-a-day guys can imagine.
Re: I fly free and so should you
Willjay, fair question. And I am going to take this opportunity to illustrate as many points in my original post as I can. I certainly do not fly like a frequent business traveler. So I went to look at how many trips I paid for over the past year. And here is the result.
August 29, 2015 Atlanta to Dusseldorf, cost $3000; miles earned 20,545 plus the 3000 miles for the cost of the ticket. So net cost was $2060. Here is that math. 23545 x .04 = $940 ( the value of the frequent flier miles). $3000 - $940 = $2060.
August 18, 2015 Atlanta to Key West, cost $770; miles earned 5,383 plus the 770 miles for the cost of the ticket. So the net cost was $524. Here is the math. 6153 x .04 = $246 (the value of the frequent flier miles). $770 - 246 = $524.
June 20, 2015 Atlanta to St. Lucia, cost $1068; miles earned 7476 plus the 1068 miles for the cost of the ticket. So, the net cost was $726. Here is the math. 8544 x .04 = $342 (the value of the frequent flier miles). $1068 - $342 = $726.
Total miles earned from flying, including the cost of buying the tickets was 38,242. Total net expenditure for those three trips was $3,310.
Ad hoc miles earned over the past year:
Natural gas 167
Natural gas 93
Natural gas 26
Natural gas 10,000 (sign-up bonus)
Fidelity Brokerage 50,000 (moving money from one account to another)
Delta Customer Service 10,000 (I don't remember why they gave me this; I must have complained about something.)
Total ad hoc miles 70,286 which cost me nothing.
All my other miles came from charging EVERYTHING.
Free business class tickets over the past year:
February 15, 2016 Atlanta to Frankfurt
April 22, 2016 Atlanta to Frankfurt
So, net/net, my total cost for 3 business class tickets to Europe, one ticket to St. Lucia, and one ticket to Key West, was $3,310. I think that was fair.
August 29, 2015 Atlanta to Dusseldorf, cost $3000; miles earned 20,545 plus the 3000 miles for the cost of the ticket. So net cost was $2060. Here is that math. 23545 x .04 = $940 ( the value of the frequent flier miles). $3000 - $940 = $2060.
August 18, 2015 Atlanta to Key West, cost $770; miles earned 5,383 plus the 770 miles for the cost of the ticket. So the net cost was $524. Here is the math. 6153 x .04 = $246 (the value of the frequent flier miles). $770 - 246 = $524.
June 20, 2015 Atlanta to St. Lucia, cost $1068; miles earned 7476 plus the 1068 miles for the cost of the ticket. So, the net cost was $726. Here is the math. 8544 x .04 = $342 (the value of the frequent flier miles). $1068 - $342 = $726.
Total miles earned from flying, including the cost of buying the tickets was 38,242. Total net expenditure for those three trips was $3,310.
Ad hoc miles earned over the past year:
Natural gas 167
Natural gas 93
Natural gas 26
Natural gas 10,000 (sign-up bonus)
Fidelity Brokerage 50,000 (moving money from one account to another)
Delta Customer Service 10,000 (I don't remember why they gave me this; I must have complained about something.)
Total ad hoc miles 70,286 which cost me nothing.
All my other miles came from charging EVERYTHING.
Free business class tickets over the past year:
February 15, 2016 Atlanta to Frankfurt
April 22, 2016 Atlanta to Frankfurt
So, net/net, my total cost for 3 business class tickets to Europe, one ticket to St. Lucia, and one ticket to Key West, was $3,310. I think that was fair.
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Trashcanman
- Posts: 181
- Joined: Thu 5th Dec 2013 05:01 pm
- Location: Were I lay my head is my home
Re: I fly free and so should you
Hi twinkles,
interesting thread here.
It all depends how you see it right?
You still had to spend money to get these miles, regardless.
Course paying your gas bill and other recurring bills has to be done one way or another, but broker and stuff ?
Well you have to money for that right?
Just sayn'
Got a nice advertisement in the mail from united that sounded really great, like free entrance to the lounges or 2 miles per dollar spent.
After one year though, the fee for this card goes to 480 $, thats pretty steep.
And like you said, don't spend money that you don't have,he,he
Don't remember the overdraft fees but Jesus i couldn't afford that.
Reading the fine print is a must nowadays.
And not to say, that if you just sign up for the miles and want to cancel maybe later....that won't look that well on your credit score.
On another topic,
When I imagine that just 15 or even 10 Years ago you could fly to Europe for 50.000 miles economy,75.000 business and 100.000 first and look what they charge today, Christ.
I checked for April (Months ago) and for what I could find it was mostly around 75.000 to 100.000 miles for economy.
Forgot to mention that i don't live near a mayor hub (always have to connect somewhere) so maybe that should probably also be taken into account.
Just wanted to ad my two cents, to the topic.
You are right there are ways to get miles, but be careful people, there could be a catch to it.
Peace
interesting thread here.
It all depends how you see it right?
You still had to spend money to get these miles, regardless.
Course paying your gas bill and other recurring bills has to be done one way or another, but broker and stuff ?
Well you have to money for that right?
Just sayn'
Got a nice advertisement in the mail from united that sounded really great, like free entrance to the lounges or 2 miles per dollar spent.
After one year though, the fee for this card goes to 480 $, thats pretty steep.
And like you said, don't spend money that you don't have,he,he
Don't remember the overdraft fees but Jesus i couldn't afford that.
Reading the fine print is a must nowadays.
And not to say, that if you just sign up for the miles and want to cancel maybe later....that won't look that well on your credit score.
On another topic,
When I imagine that just 15 or even 10 Years ago you could fly to Europe for 50.000 miles economy,75.000 business and 100.000 first and look what they charge today, Christ.
I checked for April (Months ago) and for what I could find it was mostly around 75.000 to 100.000 miles for economy.
Forgot to mention that i don't live near a mayor hub (always have to connect somewhere) so maybe that should probably also be taken into account.
Just wanted to ad my two cents, to the topic.
You are right there are ways to get miles, but be careful people, there could be a catch to it.
Peace
Re: I fly free and so should you
Trashcan man whas up bro,, hey if you start looking way ahead on Delta , you can get round trips to Erupoe for 60k,, but you have to be quick about it ,, i got my flight in october a few month back,, if you look now itsw starts at 75k in miles ,, so it does pay to book early for miles imo,,
peace matty
peace matty
Re: I fly free and so should you
Matty, you are exactly right. I don't know how many 60,000 mile seats delta reserves in Coach, but based on years of observation, there is only ONE 125,000 mile seat in business class, so you have to grab them. I frequently have two reservations pending at the same time since I go two or three times a year. Right now, I only have my August reservation pending, but I am wanting to make a reservation for mid November or early December. But since I need a hall pass from the wife, and I sorta, kinda know that she will think that November is too soon following the August trip, I am currently chancing it. Sometimes, I go ahead and book trips knowing that if she ends up issuing a strong objection, I can get the miles back for $150, but this time, I had seen some $3500 seats in the mid-November/early-December time frame, which I would probably be willing to buy, but you can't get cash back. And she has some business issues that are distracting her, which should resolve in early April and I am hoping that will put her in a more malleable mood. Right now, she is a little touchy, because, for some reason, she thinks the 16 days in February was to much.
Re: I fly free and so should you
Twinkles, great post! There is so much very good information in that thread. We do exactly what twinkles described.
Can I pay my cell phone bill via bill pay on my checking account? Yes. But I can also set it up to pay automatically on my credit card. Done to the tune of, I don't know, 2,000 miles a year. I'm going to pay it either way, so might as well pay with a card that provides points. Same with virtually everything else we pay.
Then I look for point usage. The only thing we do a bit differently is that we may use points for the 60,000 coach seat, then pay for the upgrade. Doing so almost always works out to the $3500/125,000 math, and often keeps you in the $.025/mile range for points.
Finally, we will travel to Europe multiple times a year. Clients and acquaintances are astonished. I don't know why every American thinks that a trip to Europe requires a 2nd mortgage on your home. I will have a friend spend $15,000 at freaking Disney World, then turn around and tell me that he does not know how I go to Europe multiple times in a year. I ask how much he thinks Europe trips run, and he just shakes his head and throws out a $20K number. Clients are no different. It is like some big secret that Europe for 2 is about like a weekend trip to New Orleans. Hell, like twinkles, when I was younger, we would go to Europe just to see how LITTLE it would cost us. Back in the early 2000s when British Air would run 4 day specials for $750 (included centrally located hotel in the Bayswater area plus round-trip), we could go, eat street food, hang out at Museums, and spend less than $2,000 for 2 of us. United has a special right now for 2 round-trip flights for a grand total of $1214. Cheap, but clean hotel, bike rental, and all for 4 days would definitely be under $2K, which is comparable to a Panama City, FL, Aspen, CO, New Orleans, LA, or even Galveston, TX for a 4 day trip. But you try telling the average American and they will look at you like you just told them the sky is orange.
Of course, I think most people on this site already know the above. They may not know how to effectively use the point system, which is why this thread is a good one. Here in America, so few people can manage credit cards that you have people like Dave Ramsey scaring the bejeezus out of anyone who will listen when it comes to a credit card. Credit cards are not evil, but you do need to pay that shit off at the end of every month. Then cash in on the rewards.
And to one other poster - not all credit cards charge a fee. I can get the $400/yr. United Card, but I'm OK with the $60 a year version. I don't care about the United Lounge enough to pay an extra $340/yr.
Can I pay my cell phone bill via bill pay on my checking account? Yes. But I can also set it up to pay automatically on my credit card. Done to the tune of, I don't know, 2,000 miles a year. I'm going to pay it either way, so might as well pay with a card that provides points. Same with virtually everything else we pay.
Then I look for point usage. The only thing we do a bit differently is that we may use points for the 60,000 coach seat, then pay for the upgrade. Doing so almost always works out to the $3500/125,000 math, and often keeps you in the $.025/mile range for points.
Finally, we will travel to Europe multiple times a year. Clients and acquaintances are astonished. I don't know why every American thinks that a trip to Europe requires a 2nd mortgage on your home. I will have a friend spend $15,000 at freaking Disney World, then turn around and tell me that he does not know how I go to Europe multiple times in a year. I ask how much he thinks Europe trips run, and he just shakes his head and throws out a $20K number. Clients are no different. It is like some big secret that Europe for 2 is about like a weekend trip to New Orleans. Hell, like twinkles, when I was younger, we would go to Europe just to see how LITTLE it would cost us. Back in the early 2000s when British Air would run 4 day specials for $750 (included centrally located hotel in the Bayswater area plus round-trip), we could go, eat street food, hang out at Museums, and spend less than $2,000 for 2 of us. United has a special right now for 2 round-trip flights for a grand total of $1214. Cheap, but clean hotel, bike rental, and all for 4 days would definitely be under $2K, which is comparable to a Panama City, FL, Aspen, CO, New Orleans, LA, or even Galveston, TX for a 4 day trip. But you try telling the average American and they will look at you like you just told them the sky is orange.
Of course, I think most people on this site already know the above. They may not know how to effectively use the point system, which is why this thread is a good one. Here in America, so few people can manage credit cards that you have people like Dave Ramsey scaring the bejeezus out of anyone who will listen when it comes to a credit card. Credit cards are not evil, but you do need to pay that shit off at the end of every month. Then cash in on the rewards.
And to one other poster - not all credit cards charge a fee. I can get the $400/yr. United Card, but I'm OK with the $60 a year version. I don't care about the United Lounge enough to pay an extra $340/yr.
Re: I fly free and so should you
http://www.thepointsguy.com
Look around for a card which has a nice signup bonus. Meet the prelim conditions (x spent in x months), get the bonus, then simply use the card rather than cash/debit. Pay the balance.
In fact, you can play the new card bonus game over and over again. TPG (The Points Guy) has advice on keeping your credit score in good shape if you do this.
One way to avoid the temptation of running a balance is to get the traditional Amex card, which does not allow a balance to be carried. You'll get AMEX Membership Rewards points which can be transferred to various air and hotel partners.
It's been a long time since I paid for airfare to Amsterdam. The points game, paired with business travel, gets me there at no charge in coach.
Learn to play the Priceline game and you'll be staying in 4 stars for less than one hundred US nightly. It got much easier when Priceline added more "rebid" zones.
http://Www.betterbidding.com
Look around for a card which has a nice signup bonus. Meet the prelim conditions (x spent in x months), get the bonus, then simply use the card rather than cash/debit. Pay the balance.
In fact, you can play the new card bonus game over and over again. TPG (The Points Guy) has advice on keeping your credit score in good shape if you do this.
One way to avoid the temptation of running a balance is to get the traditional Amex card, which does not allow a balance to be carried. You'll get AMEX Membership Rewards points which can be transferred to various air and hotel partners.
It's been a long time since I paid for airfare to Amsterdam. The points game, paired with business travel, gets me there at no charge in coach.
Learn to play the Priceline game and you'll be staying in 4 stars for less than one hundred US nightly. It got much easier when Priceline added more "rebid" zones.
http://Www.betterbidding.com
"Laif" with a long "a".
Re: I fly free and so should you
Lafe, funny story about the priceline game. First time we went to Paris, we weren't sure where we wanted to stay so I booked us one night at the Intercontinental through Priceline bidding (by playing the rebid game). We were going in January, so I figured that we would figure out where we wanted to stay and I would negotiate directly at the hotel. We decided that we liked the intercontinental, so I proposed seven more nights at the same rate. I got the ever popular, "It is not possible." (It turns out that the French have never heard of negotiation.) So I asked if they had a computer that I could use, and they showed me the way. I bid the same rate for the seven nights, and tada, we had our room and the intercontinental had to pay Priceline their commission.
Re: I fly free and so should you
That's a great Priceline story. Congrats!twinkles wrote:Lafe, funny story about the priceline game. First time we went to Paris, we weren't sure where we wanted to stay so I booked us one night at the Intercontinental through Priceline bidding (by playing the rebid game). We were going in January, so I figured that we would figure out where we wanted to stay and I would negotiate directly at the hotel. We decided that we liked the intercontinental, so I proposed seven more nights at the same rate. I got the ever popular, "It is not possible." (It turns out that the French have never heard of negotiation.) So I asked if they had a computer that I could use, and they showed me the way. I bid the same rate for the seven nights, and tada, we had our room and the intercontinental had to pay Priceline their commission.
"Laif" with a long "a".