Nusrat Jahan
Do you know that you can probably go fly off to 10-15 different countries right now, in first or business class, without even buying tickets? Sounds crazy right? But it is true!
Travel with class, and save that $60,000, with the travel hacks and tips on manufactured spending listed below!
• Stocking up miles: There are some credit cards that give you points for spending a certain amount of money and those points can be exchanged for miles of free travel. A little confused? Well, to put it simply, a credit card company might say that if you spend about $2700 in three months after opening your account, you can gain a large number of points that can be exchanged for free miles if you met the minimum spending requirements. $2700 is a lot but it is actually a lot easier than you think. With the Kylie Jenner lippies, latest iPhones, and other cool gadgets, we end up spending more than a grand a month anyways. Some of these credit card offers include Chase Sapphire, Chase Ink, and Delta Gold Reserve. I know it sounds a little fishy, but there is whole underground world for manufactured spending and there are blogs and articles to help you through it.
• Building airline status without flying much: So how does one become a platinum member when they probably fly to foreign countries as frequently as some company’s poorly-paid consultant? You could try using the airline’s credit card and meet the minimum requirement for large amount of points like before. It is even better if you are an entrepreneur because then you can just use that credit card as your company’s credit card, and put all your expenses on that. That way, you have a lot of points and a lot of free miles! Another cool trick is to take the flight with the longer route. First of all, these flights come a little cheaper, and at the same time, make you fly the same amount of miles a person who flies thrice as much as you would. Therefore, it helps you gain that airline status without really taking that vacation every month.
• Do not let the airlines fool you: The airlines will often try to trick you out of the best award for your points, but you can always avoid that by doing some research. For instance, if you fly Delta then you might want to take a look at all the other airlines that are in that alliance to dig up the best award.
• All that glitters is not gold: Awards do not always have the best deals. So, before you book one of them, you might want to Google and check if another airline has a cheaper flight without an award.
• The alternative route: Did you ever think about why some flights are cheaper than the other though they headed to the same place? Because, different locations tax you different and have different surplus charges. You can use FlightMapper to see all the available routes and check for the availability using ITA Matrix’s free software.