Thank you to Lesley from Freedom56Travel for this guest post.
Getting Started With Travel Hacking
Travel Hacking has become my new favorite hobby and with good reason!
When I first heard about travel hacking (or more accurately, collecting miles and points for travel), I found it hard to believe that it was easy as it sounded. And, true enough, it wasn’t quite as easy as I first thought, but it was still pretty easy!
I started seriously collecting miles and points in early 2018, after stumbling on an article on a Reddit forum about how the author had taken a luxury vacation for practically nothing. I had to see for myself if this was really possible.
Using a Credit Card For the Sign Up Bonus
I started by learning everything I could about collecting miles and points, mostly via the Reddit forum I had originally found. Before long, I had acquired my first credit card solely for the benefit of its large sign-up bonus.
After that first win (with an American Express Gold card), I was hooked!
Staying Organized
I was soon making spreadsheets and tracking my points religiously. I opened more American Express cards and also branched out into other points cards. I particularly like cards that offer Aeroplan miles as a sign-up bonus.
Transferring Points to a Preferred Airline and Loyalty Program
[Editor’s Note: Many people think that you can only collect points with a certain airline. IE: “I’m a Delta Skymiles loyalty member.” While that’s one way to do it, Travel Hacking gives you so much more flexibility. You earn “generic” miles that then can be transferred to a TON of different airlines, hotels, converts to cashback etc. This way you aren’t locked in to any one loyalty program. ]
One of the reasons I love American Express cards is the flexibility of the points currency it offers. American Express membership reward points can be transferred to a wide variety of loyalty programs including Aeroplan, Marriott, Hilton and quite a few others.
I’ve mostly transferred my American Express points into Aeroplan but have also transferred them to Flying Blue(Air France and KLM loyalty program) and Marriott Bonvoy.
Taking My First Trip Using Points and Miles
The first trip on my target list was a winter holiday to the sun. We wanted a direct flight from our home in Vancouver that was no longer than 6 hours, and Cancun, Mexico was the perfect fit!
After a lot of research, I decided that staying at a Marriott property would be my best choice, given its generous loyalty program and the type of points I was accumulating.
I used FlightConnections.com to search for airlines that flew direct from Vancouver to Cancun and was happy to learn that Air Canada had frequent direct flights. I could use my rapidly growing cache of Aeroplan points for the flights.
Saving $1,697 By Using Points to Travel to Cancun!
I used Expert Flyer to look for reward space on the flights I had chosen and easily found a great flight.
I used 80,000 Aeroplan miles to book the flights (for two) and paid a total of $359 CDN in taxes total. The market price for the flights was $2,056, which gave us a savings of $1,697!
Choosing Which Hotel To Stay At on Points
In terms of where to stay in Cancun, we wanted to stay at a luxury resort. After a lot of research, we settled on the JW Marriott in Cancun. It had excellent reviews and the photos of the property were amazing. As a category 6 property, this hotel costs at least $247 USD per night, or $1,729 for our 7-night stay.
In terms of Marriott Bonvoy points, the JW Marriott in Cancun costs 40,000-60,000 points per night, depending on the season.
For our 7-night stay, I needed to accumulate 350,000 points. Although this sounds like a lot of points, it actually wasn’t too difficult to manage.
Hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy group can be booked in advance with points, using their “points advance” policy. As long as I had the required points in my account 15 days before our stay, I could book the hotel without having all the points I needed and accumulate enough points in the interim.
How I Earned Enough Points for Free Hotels In Cancun
To obtain the points needed, I acquired sign-up bonuses and usage points from American Express Marriott Bonvoy cards (200,000 points) and I transferred membership rewards points from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy. It helped that American Express points transferred at a ratio of 1 membership reward point to 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Sadly, this transfer ratio has now been reduced slightly to 1:1.25.
With the total points acquired for our stay at the JW Marriott, our entire 7-night stay was free, for a savings of $1,729!
FREE VIP Airport Luxury Lounges
We also enjoyed using the free luxury lounge access at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) before our flight to Cancun. There are 2 great Priority Pass lounges at YVR that were free to use, as a perk of being an American Express Platinum card holder.
We had a great breakfast in peaceful surroundings prior to our flight to Cancun. It was the first time we had used a luxury lounge and we can safely say that it wasn’t too hard to get used to!
More Perks To Travel Hacking- Free Checked Bags!
Another perk we enjoyed that saved us money was free checked bags, courtesy of my CIBC Visa Infinite Privilege card. This saved us an additional $50.
Total Costs For a Luxury Week-Long Trip To Cancun
In total, our luxury 7-day vacation in Cancun cost us $359 CDN. We saved $3,476 by using miles and points to pay for our flights and hotel.
Our next vacation is in September and we’re going on a 3-week vacation to Europe. Of course, it’s almost completely paid for with miles and points, but this time, we’re flying Business Class! Can’t wait!
Guest Post Bio:
Lesley is a travel enthusiast, avid motorcyclist and aspiring retiree! She has traveled extensively while working 9 to 5 and is looking forward to making traveling her full-time job. With Vancouver as her home base, Lesley seeks to share her travel adventures with the world! She writes about travel from a mid-life perspective on her blog, Freedom56 Travel. You can follow her there and also on Pinterest and Facebook.
LeAnna Brown
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