travel hacking

How to plan for award travel when you’re an infrequent flyer

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  While some folks who read this site are avid travelers, zooming around the globe as frequently as a satellite, others may fly infrequently and think that award travel is completely irrelevant to them. Nonsense. Award travel is open to … Read More … Read More

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When to let your points expire

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  I once wrote to not let your airline miles expire.  But there are always exceptions, and I am starting to think that there are reasons worth discussing. Sacrilege? No, just simplification and efficiency. … Read More

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Beware of induced spending (or the perils of credit card travel benefits)

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  I read lots of travel hacking blogs, as I’ve mentioned many times. And because sometimes travel hacking blogs seem more like credit card sales pages, I ingest many marketing messages on a regular basis. So when I was writing … Read More … Read More

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How to get Global Entry for 50% off (and zip through customs and security lines)

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  Going through customs can be a drag. You are accosted by a bored-yet-potentially-malevolent customs officer, who volleys questions at you. These questions seem innocuous, but are can be phrased so as to imply subtle accusation (“Why did you leave the … Read More … Read More

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On financial prudence (or why I’m probably not cut out to be a travel hacker)

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  I love talking about travel hacking, which I define as strategies of acquiring travel experiences creatively, for less than than the usual cost. It’s pretty awesome actually. I’ve utilized some tricks that have allowed me to stay in nice … Read More … Read More

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Can you trust travel hacking blogs?

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  I read travel hacking blogs all the time. Brian, Summer, Gary, and Lucky are my equivalent of The Today Show, blogs I digest with my morning tea. They freely give frankly some invaluable advice and have some engrossing stories, … Read More … Read More

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The high cost of free frequent flyer miles

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  There’s a tension between having an interest in travel hacking and an interest in taking control of your finances. On one hand, the two pursuits seem to go well together. Travel hacking involves having creative travel experiences on a … Read More … Read More

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Anyone can get hotel elite status

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  I’ve mentioned hotel elite status and its perks. It’s pretty great. But don’t take my word for it. You can get it too. … Read More

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Travel hacking to get the whirlpool suite in a sold-out hotel

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  I like to play the travel hacking game. I suspect you likely do too, considering this post is one of the most frequently-viewed pages on this site. I play the game a bit differently from many other people though. … Read More … Read More

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Travel hacking to get free hotels

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  I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Gwangju, South Korea. The question that invariably popped up whenever I told anyone that I was staying in Gwangju (even Koreans all said this) was, “why!?” Yikes, do they know something I … Read More … Read More

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