travel hacking
34 essays
Travel Hacking Resources
A guide to earning miles and points, finding cheap fares, and traveling the world for less. Includes credit card strategies, round-the-world airfare, and budget travel tips.
New Travel Hacking Offers: Earn 100,000 Hilton Honors Points & More
Greetings from paradise, also known as Australia . I started writing this post from one of my favorite places in the world: the balcony of my room at Park Hyatt Sydney ( check out this photo of the su
Couple Earns 1.8 Million Frequent Flyer Miles, Sets Out to Visit 100 Countries
This is a reader profile. ( Read others or nominate someone to be featured .) Nate Buchanan and his wife Kara had been talking about traveling for years. They finally stopped discussing and started pl
Hacking European Budget Airlines: Learn From An Expat’s Experience
This is a travel hacking profile. ( Read others or nominate someone to be featured .) When American expat Julie Smith moved to the UK, she imagined endless jaunts around Europe, weekends exploring for
How to Spend $46 and Receive Up to 9 Free Hotel Nights
Want to do something fun that will help you travel for free? Just want to make fun of me and a couple of friends who are out to earn points? Here’s a chance to do either or both of those things. On De
Travel Hacker and Ethical Fashionista: On the Road with Lauren K. Lancy
This is a travel hacking case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself . ) Not only is Lauren Lancy a travel hacker, using miles & points to see the world and return home to New York, but she
A Traveler Who Loves Coming Home: On the Road with Megan Cain
This is a traveler case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself . ) I love finding people who are able to incorporate travel into their lives without making it their whole life. Here’s how Meg
Building a Global Community One Beach at a Time: On the Road with Mirva Lempiäinen
This is a traveler case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself . ) Mirva Lempiäinen fell in love with beaches of all kinds during college. Her passion caused her to build a career and friend base t
Can You Visit Bora Bora on a Budget? Sort of—Here’s How.
This is a free excerpt from Upgrade Unlocked: The Unconventional Guide to Luxury Travel on a Budget by Stephanie Zito. Bora Bora is a dream destination smack in the middle of the South Pacific. The Fr
The Best Travel Hacking Advice for People Who Can’t Get Credit Cards
I write about travel hacking a lot on the blog (and much more in the Cartel ), and I always try to point people to the best available deals and opportunities. Some of these opportunities are for credi
How to Rack Up Frequent Flyer Miles Using Shopping Portals
This is a free excerpt from Upgrade Unlocked: The Unconventional Guide to Luxury Travel on a Budget by Stephanie Zito. The easiest and most lucrative way to maximize point earning on the things you al
How to Use 50,000 (or more!) Avios without Paying a Fortune in Fuel Surcharges
Short version: earn Avios from British Airways, but don’t use them to fly with British Airways. More below. *** In a post from a few days ago, I mentioned that the British Airways Signature Card
Goodbye, Comfort Zone: On the Road with Marvin and Josephine Abisia
This is a travel hacking case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself . ) From Portland to Singapore—and probably a few other places—I’ve hung out with Marv and Jo on multiple continents. They
The Year-Long Honeymoon: On the Road with Jes Albro
This is a travel hacking case study. ( Read others or nominate yourself .) I first met Jes way back in Minneapolis. She was one of the first readers of AONC! A couple years later, I saw her in New Yor
Unpacking in Hotel Rooms
After losing things in hotel rooms over the years, I learned a critical rule: be careful about spreading out. If it’s just a one-night stay, I unpack immediately after arrival, but almost everyt
Almost Free Trip to Australia (A Travel Hacking Case Study)
Update: This post contains outdated offers and should only be used for reference. Click the following link for the most up-to-date offers on my favorite travel hacking cards . -cg — Last week I
How Do You Pay for Your Travel?
Over the course of ten years, I visited every country in the world, many of them several times. When I first started writing about the quest, the most common question I received was, “But how do you p
Free or Low-Cost Lodging Anywhere in the World
In more than a decade of frequent travel, I’ve stayed everywhere from five-star hotels to sleeping on the ground—and I don’t mean camping, I mean sleeping on the ground with my bags next t
How to Use Frequent Flyer Miles to Go Anywhere
I recently received a notice from American Airlines , letting me know I had achieved million-miler status. I’ve been working on this for about two years, but the real goal is two million miles—t
Free Trip to Thailand: Travel Hacking Case Study
When I haven’t been contemplating the puzzle of how to do everything , I’ve been planning my final international trip of the year. Yes, it’s only July, but come September, I hit the
Beginner’s Guide to Travel Hacking
Greetings from Ouagoudougou , winner of the “most awesome city name” contest and also my current stop on the week-long West Africa tour. I came in via Lufthansa, Royal Air Maroc, and Ethiopian Airline
Achievement Unlocked: 2 Million American Airlines Miles
A personal milestone: reaching 2 million lifetime American Airlines miles, and what the Million Miler program actually gets you. Note—the AAdvantage program has changed since this was written. Only flight miles now count toward Million Miler status.
11 Travel Hacking Tips, Stories, and Ideas Combined into One Post
This post is a “greatest hits” mashup of travel hacking tips, travel stories and features. Take a look and see if anything might be helpful to you.
Fuel Dumping: A Little-Understood Trick To Save Hundreds Of Dollars On Airfare
There’s a fun trick that can help you save hundreds of dollars on your next long flight—but it’s a little complicated and requires a bit of work.
The 5 Million Frequent Flyer Mile Challenge
**January 2012 Update ** This post is from way back in 2009. Much of the info is still fairly accurate, but see other entries for updates. I also have a new credit card offer page where you can learn
How to Earn Free Hotel Stay Certificates Every Year
Hotel stays should be part of your travel strategy even if you don’t usually stay in hotels.
I Flew in an Apartment in the Sky.. and it was Awesome!
Earlier this year I identified a new travel goal: to fly in the Etihad “Apartment,” a full-on suite that’s included on their A380 aircraft on certain routes.
How to Earn 250,000 Frequent Flyer Miles in a Year: Action Plan
In a previous post I explained how to kickstart your experience with miles and points that can be used for free travel.
4 Travel Hacking Tricks for Domestic Trips
I received a note from a reader who wanted to know about traveling domestically. I admit that most of what I get excited about in the world of travel hacking
Travel Hacking in an Unfriendly Environment
*Update: Looking for more recent travel hacking posts? They’re over here . Six weeks ago, I went to downtown Seattle for an appointment at a big office building. The receptionist asked me to fil
17 Travel Hacking Tips for People Who Value Their Time and Sanity
17 practical tips for getting the most from points, miles, and credit card rewards—from booking upgrades to finding cheap positioning flights and using travel hacking to see the world for less.
28 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Traveling
When you first head off to places in the world that are a lot different from where you live, a number of things change. You have to learn to adapt. I still make a lot of mistakes everywhere I go, but
A Better Way to Think About Traveling for Nearly Free
Readers who are learning about travel hacking tend to have lots of questions about what their miles and points are worth.
7 Ways to Get Started Earning Points & Miles for Free Travel
Hey everyone! Lots of new people are reading the blog lately, and I’ve been getting a bunch of questions about some travel hacking basics.