I used to scour the internet for tips on how to purchase cheap flights. I would try and scrounge up a little money each month in the hopes that one day, I could take an amazing vacation to Europe to see the incredible and varied culture of that continent. I looked for tools that would help me find the cheapest flights and tried many money hacks to save more money. But I could never truly reach my goal.
Then I stumbled on using credit cards for points and miles to travel for free. I was a skeptic. How could there be a system so powerful that I could travel for free? It didn’t make sense. But, every time I kept looking for more solutions, credit card points kept popping up. Finally, I decided to learn more.
Once I learned the basics, and could see the potential, I was hooked. I finally saw how it could work. I could easily open a couple of cards, earn the welcome bonuses, and earn enough points through spending to pay for flights and hotels for a trip I wanted to take … every 5 years… in economy… at a cheap hotel. But hey, it was better than nothing!
I was so amazed that this was even a possibility, that I jumped on the opportunity. My wife and I both opened one or two cards each to pay for the flights, hotels, and even some of the cash cost for a trip to Disney World. It was incredible! The amount of money we saved amazed me (around $1,800 including annual fees on the cards). But something wasn’t quite right, everyone else using points was taking bigger trips more often than my system would allow. I wanted more!
So, I kept reading blogs, learning about how you can use points and miles to book flights and hotels, and they kept mentioning flying in business class. What!? I couldn’t imagine earning enough points to fly business class, let alone do it at least once a year! So, I just kept on with my plans to take a trip every 5 years, after all, it was better than nothing.
Then I found two tidbits of information that completely changed everything:
1) Because airlines have many partners, who also have loyalty programs, you can find incredible value by booking a flight operated by one airline using another airline’s points. (for example, a United Airlines flight can be booked through Turkish Airlines using Turkish Miles & Smiles, which can be a great deal).
2) Opening lots of credit cards in a year can actually raise your credit in the long term (with some ups and downs as you open or close cards). I had always thought it would hurt my credit overall, which prevented me from wanting to open a lot of cards throughout the year.
Those two facts astounded me. I started doing some research, looking up flights and hotels for theoretical trips and creating credit card strategies to get there. All of a sudden, a trip every 5 years seemed like child’s play. If I wanted to, I could take at least 1 big trip every year, all while not exceeding my annual travel budget (including the credit card annual fees). I was even more hooked on the idea.
I began to spend as much time as possible learning about how points and miles can be earned and redeemed strategically so that I could take any trip I wanted in the future. That’s how I found flights and hotels for a week-long trip for 2 to Madrid, Spain for less than $500 that would normally cost $2,500. And that was looking up actual flights, actual hotels, and actual credit card welcome bonuses at the time that would get me the points needed to pay for the flights and hotels I found.
The craziest part about that experience was the amount of time it would take to earn the necessary points. I could earn the points easily within 3 months without changing my spending habits. The hardest part would be saving the $500 out-of-pocket costs and then saving up for the other non-points costs like food, activities, and local transportation when I get to Madrid. Though, I could even open cash back cards to pay for those expenses too, potentially making it a completely free trip.
Saving $500 for $2,500 in flights and hotels takes a fraction of the time with points when compared to the traditional method of saving some money every month. An incredible trip that could have taken a few years to save for, which can be very disheartening, could now be in reach for you.
So how can you start doing the same thing? The quickest way is to use the Dream Vacation Service. I’ll do the research for you and provide information on the cards, airlines, and hotels you can use to take your trip. I’ll also provide the approximate out-of-pocket costs you’ll need to implement the strategy as well as approximately how long it will take to earn the points. It’s then up to you to take that information and apply for the cards, earn the points, then redeem them using the recommended programs for your next trip.
The service costs $50, and with the potential savings it will easily pay for itself while allowing you to take an incredible trip within your current travel budget. And you’ll save the hours of research it can take to figure this out on your own. Fill out the form below for your free consultation to see if this is a good fit for you.
If you’d prefer to do this all on your own, check out this article here. That will take you through the basics of the strategy. The other articles on the website will help you learn other useful information to reach your specific goals.
Happy Travels!