How Travel Hacking Saved Me Over $65,000 on Travel So Far in 2024! (Or How I have spent ~$100/day For 88 days of Travel)
Recap of my year in travels so far in 2024 and we still have four months to go!
Where to begin to dive into this?
- To point out the obvious, YES this is an extreme example of what points/miles (p/m) can accomplish as I’ve been doing this a long time so I’ve gotten very good at maximizing value/redemptions and always go HAM
- So please don’t be intimidated, especially if you are just beginning: start with the basics and then build up your skills. You also need to figure out how much effort you’re willing to put into this hobby as that will help guide you.
- I always say that travel hacking is simply finding ways to travel better, for cheaper and/or more often so if you can travel for free, then you’re doing it right.
And now let’s get to the good stuff =)
WHERE DID MY POINTS/MILES GO & HOW DID I SAVE SO MUCH?
And these are just some of the highlights – I will link posts as they’re published as applicable
BUCKETLIST TRIPS
- Attending the Paris2024 Olympics because I was able to cover all my lodging: $13,263.18 savings
THREE COMPED CRUISES (taken so far) from casino status match merry go round
- MSC – Baltics Cruise (oceanview): $4,015.92 savings
- Holland America – original itinerary: Greenland and Iceland Passage (oceanview): $2,598.80 savings
- Virgin Voyages – Greek Isles Glow (oceanview): $5,090.24 savings
LODGING including luxury hotel stays
- Park Hyatt Paris Vendome (during the Olympics!) booked with points- $5,557.08 savings
- Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal booked with 2xFree Night Awards- $5,856.74 savings
31 FLIGHTS including 8 international business class
- Singapore Airlines biz class flight: $2,189.7.70 savings
- Swiss International Airlines biz class flight: $6,891.47savings
NOT SO GRAND USES
- And many times, the guiding principle was “how could I save money?”. Since I’m sitting on so many points, it was cheaper for me to use points to book a hotel than even staying in a hostel! Same with flights and “cheaper alternatives”.
- And I cannot stress enough the importance of flexibility for me. So many times I changed my mind about what to do and where to go and with flights/lodging was booked on p/m, I could cancel most without penalty. Another reason why I preach know thyself ~ if I think there’s any possibility of changing or canceling, I try to opt for programs/bookings that won’t charge me to change/cancel. This is also why it was cheaper to book award flights as the low cost carriers would end up being not so low cost (plus I don’t think I would have gotten away with bringing my carry-on onboard so another added cost to consider).
LOYALTY PAYS (why I am always stressing to sign up and learn the ins and outs of airline/hotel/other loyalty programs)
- Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedegral (HH Diamond status) – complimentary upgrade to 2 Bedroom Oceanview Villa (during sold out Spring Break weekend!) + daily comp breakfast $5,698.28 savings
- Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile (WOH Explorist status) – complimentary upgrade to Eiffel Tower view room (during Paris2024) + use of club access award for Regency Lounge access + two Category 1-4 Free Night Awards: $2,978.90 savings
- American Airlines (AA Executive Platinum status) – use of system wide upgrade at booking for international biz class ticket: savings $5,587
Some important things to note about these numbers/the data/process:
- Cash value was simply the amount that I would have paid in cash at the time of booking but those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. Or really a pound/kilogram as there is no way I would have dropped thousands of dollars on a hotel room night or a transatlantic business class flight. And I only took the cruises because they were free. But I include cash value as it’s a good metric to really help drive home the value I’m getting from my m/p.
- I spent a significant amount of time in very expensive locales (Nordic countries and also Zurich) and never skimped on meals, activities, excursions, etc otherwise I could have pushed the spend down, and likely dramatically a lot, but that was never my intent. It was always to take the vacation that I wanted and use m/p to save as much as possible.
- Important note that I also was able to save a lot of $ by staying with friends and family. And I am very fortunate in that friends/family generously covered a lot of other expenses for me. Never expected especially with my friends but definitely appreciated and to be reciprocated when they come visit! $ amount saved for $0/night stays and $ others paid for meals and activities weren’t accounted for on the spreadsheet but overall does help lower my daily spend.
- And lastly, for those curious: I’m still sitting on a ton of points ~ as in almost two million even with burning through as many m/p as u have. Of course I have some data and ofc spreadsheets (yes there’s multiple!). But I’m having a spreadsheet issue with formatting for one of the graphs. But once I figure that out I’ll share those numbers and some graphs.
Stay tuned as I have lots of trip and travel hacking posts coming up!
