The mysterious universe of people who munch on caviar and drink their ticket’s worth in champagne at 30,000 feet. It’s often referred to as travel hacking. Paying next to nothing for airline tickets is 100% legal but the whole process requires a lot patience and effort. To give you a head start I will show a trick to earn 1,000 + 1,000 free bonus miles, just keep reading 😉
This hobby is fun, the moment you can redeem a First Class award ticket or a dirt cheap fare is glorious. But Travel Hackers also face a lot of First World Problems. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, this post will be full of sarcasm.
Sir, there is no caviar on the morning flight
“Are you kidding me?” We don’t say this but our teary eyes can’t hide the message. Stupid! I booked the wrong flight, there is caviar on the flight with dinner service but not on this early morning flight! What a mess … There are even forums to discuss this! Why did I not check that thread again “How would I know if my flight would get caviar?”. For the travel hacker it’s all about getting maximum value.
The plane changed, there is no shower on board
No shower??? Drama, what a drama. Normally this flight would cost 17,000 USD. I only paid 360 USD. But still! Patiently I waited to find award availability on the A380 to make sure there was a shower on board. I had to request my boss to change my holidays 3 times until there was availability. And then just before departure there is an equipment change resulting in a plane without shower :-/
We have to deal with positioning flights
Cheap deals, there are cheap deals all the time but not always departing close to where you live. So we have 2 options as a travel hacker. Either we wait for a deal close to us or we fly to Cairo or Colombo or any other sweet spot to catch the cheap deal. Conversations with cabin crew can get awkward on those flights:
“Hello Sir , I hope you have a nice holiday in Sri Lanka”
– “Oh I am actually just doing a position flight, I need to be in Kuala Lumpur and then I fly back to Dubai and then back to Kuala Lumpur and then to Colombo and then back to Dubai”
“Euuh, well I hope you enjoy the flights!”
– “Thanks, for sure, that’s why I am doing this :-)”
“Great!” She looks confused but nevertheless continues her journey through the alley with a big smile.
We sometimes fly left, to then flight right or visa versa
One time I flew from Dubai to Cairo (4 hours to the left side) to then fly to Bangkok (11 hours to the right side). Any normal person would consider this crazy but travel hackers call it “positioning”. There was a crazy cheap First Class flight from Cairo to Bangkok. So I got more time in my First Class suite and it was more than 5 times cheaper then departing from Dubai. Double win!
We have to buy a second wallet for all our credit cards
Collecting credit cards, we don’t do it to show off. The sign up bonuses that come with it are a pure necessity to grab miles and points left and right. And after all the hard work we combine or transfer them to redeem for a luxury experience. It’s the art of earning and burning.
Falling asleep on top of the Petronas Twin Towers
Flying around is exhausting and the jetlag can hit you at any time. I still remember that time I went into full zombie mode while visiting the Petronas Twin Towers during a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur. After a gentle wake up tap from the guide I rushed to the first coffee shop to get myself together.
Cocktails in specific bars to earn more points
Rooftop bars & restaurants are always on my bucket list. To optimize the points earned it makes sense to choose the bar wisely. If you have an SPG card for example then spending in Starwoods hotel bars & restaurants earns you extra points! Be careful as alcoholic beverages do not always earn you extra points.
Trying our luck with nesting tickets from different airlines
Well this happens quite often. You grab a crazy deal to Kuala Lumpur. But you have been there 5 times already this year. So now you start looking for deals departing from Kuala Lumpur to connect the dots. The tricky part is that if your first flight is delayed and you miss the second flight … you are totally stranded.
Once I nested an Air Asia X flat bed ticket in between a codeshare Business class on Emirates / Malaysia Airlines and a positioning flight on Emirates. My carry on was just too heavy and I had to check it in. In Colombo I did not apply for a visa but got lucky and got one on arrival just to pick up my bag, exit the airport and walkto the next terminal to check in again.
If you are dealing with separate tickets (on a different) airline you are on your own. The airline will not put you on the next flight because it’s not one single ticket. I have taken huge risks in the past and only got into trouble once. You win some, you lose some in this game. Be extra careful in countries where you would need a visa to enter. And foresee at least 3 hours if you connect from a full service airline (KLIA1) to a low cost airline (KLIA2) in Kuala Lumpur. Being stranded and having to buy new tickets can be an expensive joke.
Waking up at 3am to catch the next flight and wondering why you are doing this
Maybe next time I should just book a relaxing holiday on a coconut beach instead of all this hassle. Naaah, having breakfast in Cairo, snacks in the First Class lounge in Doha, lunch in Bangkok and dinner in Hanoi is way more exciting.
Also a big thumbs up to all cabin crew who welcome you with a big smile! That can truly make the difference when you are hopping from plane to plane!
Telling yourself you will pay more for a direct flight next time
On paper all the trips look epic … Once you start flying them you sometimes wonder if a direct flight would have been a better option. The problem is I cant say no to 50 USD long haul return flights.
Catching flights without sleep
Why pay for a hotel in Bangkok? Just party the night away and take a taxi to the airport. On one of my first First Class flights the crew noticed my lack of sleep I guess: “Sir, shall I prepare the bed for you?”
There is not enough time to enjoy the lounge
Most people don’t like to spend a lot of time in the airport. I on the on the other hand like to go as early as possible to have a few hours in the premium lounges. A la carte dining, wine tasting, a nice shower just before boarding. It’s all pretty cool but sometimes there is just not enough time to fully enjoy the lounge, sigh.
I even prefer the Emirates Business class lounge in Kuala Lumpur over the one in Dubai.
We book hotels in a certain way to double dip miles
Agoda, expedia etc are not the always the best sites to book hotels. I use Kaligo to earn air miles when I book hotels. On top of that I also earn miles because I pay with one of my credit cards. Earning twice is always on our mind.
It even gets better, if you sign up with the following links for Kaligo and Rocketmiles then you get 1,000 free miles on each site on your first booking.
You can choose from 47 airline programs, so it’s pretty flexible.
These are just First World problems!
Last year I gave travel hacking a try, I signed up for all the credit cards and read forum threads every single day. Looking back I have flown 5 flights in First Class, all on 5 star airlines and 8 flights in Business Class. I showered at 30,000 feet, snacked on caviar, wagyu beef and sipped freaking expensive champagne.
Was it worth it? Hell yeah! Work hard and try something you have never done before, YOLO!
Drop something in the comments if you have any questions! And follow me on facebook and instagram 🙂
Great idea! I have been collecting points but within Europe is not that easy! Thanks for sharing!
I enjoyed this article so much. I am saving it already to reread it. Haha!
P. S love your webpage theme😍
I was kinda laughing with your post. Really great post. Especially with the credit cards to earn miles and the bonus points that comes with it when signing up. LOL
hah, funny trip! And so luxurious for the price! Would love to try too. enjoyed reading your article 🙂
Fly first class is my life goal, heheheh. Great article!
OMHF, these are giant douchebag problems.