Six Strategies That Will Help You Travel More and Spend Less!
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Transcript of Six Strategies That Will Help You Travel More and Spend Less!
Overview
• How to set up mistake fare alerts
• Last chase for an easy 50,000 AA miles
• A new strategy for meeting minimum spending requirements
• Paying taxes with your credit card
• Avoiding Financial Fees while traveling abroad
• Calculating the value of “luxury” credit cards
Mistake Fare Alerts
What is a Mistake Fare?
• Abnormally cheap airfare that has been mistakenly priced too low for one reason or another
– Computer Glitches
– Human Error
– Currency Conversion Errors
– Miscommunication between OTAs and Airlines
Thailand = $225
South Africa = $325
Other Examples
• $425 Business Class Flights
– DCA > PEK (RT)
• $110 First Class Flights
– LHR > USA (OW)
Where to Find Mistake Fares
• FlyerTalk
– Mileage Run Deals Forum
– http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-deals-372/
• The Flight Deal
– http://www.theflightdeal.com/
Current Options
– Follow the @TheFlightDeal
– Follow my Travel Hackers Twitter List
• https://twitter.com/natebuchanan/lists/travel-hackers
• Blogger’s Mailing List
– Nate Buchanan
– Extra Pack of Peanuts
– The Points Guy
Best Option
What is IFTTT?
• If This Then That
– Use to create “recipes”
– (If) The Flight Deal publishes a new post
– (Then) Send a notification to my phone
Setting Up IFTTT
• Create an account on IFTTT
• Download the App
• Follow my recipes
– https://ifttt.com/p/nbuchan1/shared
– “The Flight Deal – Notifications”
– “Flyertalk Mileage Run – Notifications”
What You Get
• Picture of notification
The Best Tool For Meeting Minimum Spending Requirements
Target REDcard (Prepaid)
• Reloadable Prepaid Card
– Target’s Version of the popular Bluebird.com
What Make the REDbird Special?
• YOU CAN LOAD IT WITH A CREDIT CARD!!!
– Up to $5,000 per month
Old System
New System
Finding the (rare) REDbird
• Only Available in Certain Areas - Not in Nashville
– https://amex.serve.com/prepaidredcard/faqs/
Find the (rare) REDbird
• Ebay
Earning Miles & Points by Paying Taxes
Online Tax Payment
• IRS 3rd Party Payment Processors
When Does it Make Sense?
• Meeting Minimum Spending Requirements
• Earning Elite Spending Perks– Citi Hilton Reserve
• Diamond Elite Status after spending $40,000
– Citi AA Executive Card• 10,000 EQM after spending $40,000
• Barclay Arrival/CapitalOne Venture– Earn 2% back?
• First or Business Class Award Redemptions
What about Debit Cards
• Easy way to empty prepaid cards
– Bluebird or REDbird
50,000 EASY AA Miles
AA & US Airways Merger
LAST CHANCE – US Airways Mastercard
Deadline ~ April 15th
What Happens Next?
100,000 AAdvantage Miles
Fly (almost) anywhere In the World
Avoiding Financial Fees Abroad
Credit Cards
• No Foreign Transaction Fees
• My Favorites
– Chase Sapphire Preferred
– Barclay Arrival
What About Cash?
• Two Options
– Currency Exchange Counters
• Avoid at all cost
– ATMs
• Better but you still pay fees
ATM Fees
• Foreign Transaction Fee– 1% - 3%
• Foreign ATM Fee– $2 - $5
• Example– Cost to withdraw $1,000 in $250 increments
• Foreign Transaction Fee = $20 (1,000x.02)
• Foreign ATM Fee = $16 (4x4)
• Total Fees = $36
The Answer to Avoid Fees
• Schwab Bank High Yield Investor Checking Account
– Free Debit Card
– No Foreign Transaction Fees
– Reimbursed for ALL ATM fees
– $0 Monthly Service Fee
– $0 Account Minimum
Schwab HYICA
• Cons
– Must meet with an advisor face to face to setup an account
– No bank branch in Nashville
– Must mail a check (or cash) to make a deposit
Last Thought
• Use your Schwab HYICA as a travel saving account
– Monthly deposits
– Make saving for travel a priority
Luxury Credit Cards
American Express Platinum Card
• Annual Fee = $450
• Value
– $200(2x) “Incidental Airline Fees” reimbursement
• Per Calendar Year
– $100 Global Entry Reimbursement
– $750 Sign up bonus
• 50,000 Membership Reward Points ($.015 value each)
• $1,250 – $450 = $800
Other Benefits
• $399 - Priority Pass Prestige Membership
• $450 – Delta Skyclub Individual Membership
• New Positive Value = $1649
Citi Prestige Card
• Annual Fee = $450
• Value
– $250(2x) “Air Travel Credit”
• Per Calendar Year
– $399 Sign up bonus
• 30,000 Thank You Points ($.013 value each)
• $900 – $450 = $450
Other Benefits
• $399 - Priority Pass Prestige Membership
• $450 – Admiral Lounge Individual Membership
• New Total Value = $1299
Other Topics For Future Meet Ups?
Questions
