Lifehack/Protip time:
I calculated my trip so far: 9897$ for everything. This includes 4500$ for flights/travel expenses. The rest was living/tours/food/etc. Not too Shabby considering everything I did- but I can do better. Like get more free flights!
So I checked out a bunch of books/resources and one I have successfully done that I’m going to share.
Things you need:
-a credit card that gives you points (whatever points you want to accumulate… I use the chase sapphire card, but I also got a united card (gives me 30,000 miles after I spend 1k in the first 90 days….) the united card is what I did this trick with.
-a bluebird account. Go to Walmart or apply online at bluebird.com
-some flex money on your credit card. (1,000$ is good.)
– a cvs pharmacy store.
– about 5-10 minutes.
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“OK. I got all those. Now what?”
Step 1) go to cvs and buy vanilla reload cards. (see pic) I got 2 cards and loaded on 500$.
(note: your credit card may email you saying “wtf? How much Viagra are you buying??!?”)
Step 2) Goto vanillareload.com and enter in your bluebird account number and the scratch-off pin number from the vanilla card.
Step 3) goto bluebird.com and enter in your bills/credit card payment info. (your account and whatnot.)
Step 4) pay your credit card off.
Note:
-It costs 3.95$ to buy/activate the cards… So it’s not a completely perfect system.
-With this system, you can load 4,000$ per month. With your bluebird account you can pay ANY bill. Including your mortgage/car/cell phone/etc.
Step 5) get your 30,000 miles without having to spend any real money. #winning
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For reference:
A 1-way ticket from Sydney to Seattle is 40,000 points. I’m pretty sure domestic flights are half that… I could be wrong.
Chase sapphire rewards will give you cash back/hotel points/frequent fliers/all sorts of things. The United card is (obviously) just for united frequent flier points.
Other hacks:
If you have a chase freedom rewards card- make note of the places that you get 5% off. This quarter is Lowes/restaurants/movies. So I went to Lowes and got 150$ in visa gift cards. (If you have the time and the patience, this is great. Otherwise it’s a pain.)
Another amazing surprise was that I could pay my taxes this year with my credit card! (turbo tax let me… So I’m going with it.) Bonus miles!
What is your favorite mileage/point hack?
Where in the World Is LN? 