Go Somewhere: Volume 2

Friends. Thank you for subscribing. Almost 100 of you now - I can’t wait to share this week’s hacks.

For those of you who are new - every week, I share two incredible travel hacks. I want to help families travel on points - more specifically, I want to help 100 families take one EPIC trip a year the next 3 years.

Young families can’t afford to wait to travel. The time is now, and points give you freedom and flexibility like nothing else.

Let’s get into it.

Hack #1: Transfer Bonuses

The 2nd best way to use points is to transfer them to a hotel/airline loyalty program (i.e. Air France/KLM Flying Blue). The best way is to transfer them when there is a transfer bonus going on.

A transfer bonus is when you get extra value out of your points when transferring to a specific airline/hotel. Here’s a list of current transfer bonuses for September.

There’s a 25% bonus for Amex cardholders right now (ends tomorrow) for Flying Blue.

I shared last week on LinkedIn how you can fly to Paris round trip for 30k Flying Blue points - with this bonus, it would be 25% less points.

That’s 22,500 points for a roundtrip economy flight to Europe.

Before you book a flight, check for bonuses. They can change the game. You can find bonuses on the travel section of your card’s website. They usually update every month.

Hack #2: Ditching the hotel

Hotels are awesome. I’ve been to a Ritz-Carlton once and it was so cool. But if you have a toddler, and they need space to sit in their high chair, throw a grape at you, and then run around outside, you need a house, not a hotel room.

But you love points. And points are only good for hotel rooms. And Colin said not to get a statement credit for an Airbnb purchase because you’re not getting enough value from your points.

Yes.

There’s another option.

I just found out about this and have thought of nothing else (sorry, boss).

You can book a vacation rental on Vacasa with Capital One or Citi points.

You can transfer points to Wyndham Rewards and pay 15k points per bedroom per night.

If you know anything about travel hacking you know 15k points a night is a steal. Not for a no-frill hotel room, but for a full cabin that sleeps six in the Smoky Mountains? Yes.

This place is unreal. Click the link. Do it now. Cabin with insane views. Updated kitchen. Good reviews. Privacy. Sick hot tub. Sleeps 6. 15k per night. 105k points for 7 nights.

It would be almost $3,000 if you paid cash.

I can’t afford $3k. But I’m sitting on 160k points right now. I can drive to the Smoky Mountains on a single tank of gas, bring a bunch of beef and potatoes from Costco for $150, and live my best life for a week with my family.

This is travel hacking. Finding incredible places to stay, paid for by points, earned by simply swiping your card for stuff you were already going to buy.

I’m Colin. I’m passionate about travel. I started obsessing over cheap flights when I was 14 and haven’t really stopped. I once went 6 weeks without speaking English in Spain. I peed off a waterfall in Iceland. I charged an elk in Colorado. I saw a monkey in Africa. I cringed at sauerkraut in Poland.

Few things bring me more joy than traveling and helping others travel more and for less money.

If you are 1) new to points 2) a business owner who wants to accumulate ridiculous amounts of points or 3) a financial advisor who wants to help their clients maximize points, reach out. I can help.

Share this. Make your friends subscribe. Get them to pay for your travel with their points.

Until next week.

Go Somewhere.