Today, a Singapore family-of-four are going to embark on a 6 month round-the-world-trip; for free!
They had a dream to travel
According to The Straits Times, Ms Grace Cheng, co-founder and editor-in-chief of credit card comparison site Get.com, and her Spanish husband Pedro Pla, Get.com's chief executive, had one big dream. They wanted to travel around the world with their two children, Ramses, four, and Ranefer, two.
But what about the expense?
One year back, they had a brainwave. Being experts in credit card affairs, they chalked out a goal to accumulate one million miles through credit cards. Says Ms. Cheng, "As people who have expert knowledge on credit cards and who love to collect air miles, we knew there was a way to travel for free through travel hacking, which is all about getting free or cheaper travel."
"We are bent on collecting the most credit card points or miles per dollar spent, because frankly speaking, we are obsessed with getting the best value for our money, especially for the finer things in life. After all, why pay more when you can get it for free or less?"
Free round-the-world trip
Today, the family embarks on their dream trip, using Singapore Airlines (SIA) business-class tickets redeemed from 960,000 miles; all from one year of credit card spending.
They transferred all their credit card points or miles to the SIA KrisFlyer programme. "Out of the one million miles we accumulated, we redeemed 960,000 miles for four round-the-world air tickets on business class worth $77,000 with SIA, which is part of the Star Alliance network", says Grace.
They start their journey today, travelling to South and Central Africa, then to Europe, Latin America, North America, and lastly, Asia.
Travel hackers
Both Grace and her husband 'credit' their success to being expert 'travel hackers'. What exactly are travel hackers?
Travel hackers are people constantly chasing miles and rewards points, and looking to redeem them for as much free travel as they can.
Travel hacking tips
Meanwhile, here are Grace's tips for travel hacking :
- Mark your dream destination: Set your goal. How many miles do you need to redeem for a free flight there?
- Do your research: Find the best credit cards at Get.com (or other aggregator sites) and apply online for the cards that help you earn the most points or miles per dollar spent.
- Plan and time your big purchase: Compare credit card deals. Many credit cards offer a welcome bonus of tens of thousands of miles for new members, if they spend a certain amount in the first few months. Thus, applying for such cards could coincide with your plans for a big purchase.
- Compare prices: Never shop direct from online stores. Try aggregator sites which search multiple websites at once, so you can see prices across the board.
- Pay by card: Use your card to pay for everything, if possible.
- Pay on time: Travel hacking works only if you don't overspend and if you pay your credit card bills in full each month.
We wish this family a happy and safe journey!
Also READ: Tips for families travelling with kids
(Source: The Straits Times)
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