And, sure, somebody will make fun of you for cashing in your miles for a domestic economy award. I

Peachfront is a New Orleans writer who has published a number of books and uncounted magazine canada travel advisory articles on pet care and other topics over the years under the name Elaine Radford.  In the 1990 s during the expansion phase of the casino industry Elaine got involved with advantage play to profit from casino promotions.  She later graduated to playing on a  blackjack team .  She s been retired and traveling for a few years, but has re-opened her writing business; although now more focused on producing eBooks and blog content instead of dead trees.  People can feel free to PM or tweet her if they need a writer.  She s also interested in hearing canada travel advisory from anyone who has Peachfronted Conures over age 20
In 2004 I did a bird of prey tour in Kenya in January, and as it happened I flew on the old Northwest/KLM route with stop-overs canada travel advisory in Amsterdam.  I realized that I d earned a lot of miles and still had most of the year left.  A light bulb went off in my head.  Why not see what I could do with those miles?  I poked around a bit to see if they were worth anything canada travel advisory and ended up in the Northwest forum at Flyertalk.
In days gone by, I was a regular on the Northwest forum, and today I can still be found on the Delta forum, but lately I try to participate more actively in Mileage Run Deals.  I can pop up anywhere though, canada travel advisory so watch out.  When I m out in the field, I may not get online for a few weeks, but when I m home, I try to check in every day and sometimes several times a day when I m intensively searching for deals.
Not really. canada travel advisory However, I just can t see paying an annual fee with my credit rating, so it s an unfortunate reality that I tend to cancel cards that charge a renewal fee.  And then they have to offer a new bonus to get me back.  I would prefer to be a loyal customer and stick with the card that s working for me, but credit card companies give the best deals to disloyal customers so what do you do?
I tend to earn my miles by good old-fashioned butt in seat flying. canada travel advisory A memorable adventure came in the old Northwest days when I traveled canada travel advisory MSY-MEM-LAX-HNL-SFO-DTW-LGW-DTW-MSP-PDX-HNL-LAX-MEM-MSY for something like 26,000 miles for $600  – a whole status level in one trip.
However, maybe what you re really asking is what s the single most successful thing I ve done to beat the travel industry – which was to play blackjack.  We got way more than free trips.  We got paid!   We played poker for a few years too but it wasn t nearly as profitable.
My husband and I have taken at least one trip involving free airfare a year since 2005, and I feel that he s lucky for me, since it seems like we always get at least one bump voucher every year or so when we re together, whereas I m almost never chosen when traveling on my own.  Unfortunately, he isn t crazy about flying, and he has now informed me that he s giving up air travel unless he has to do it for work.  He has a very common name that s on the watchlist, and he s sick of the hassles.
My family and friends aren t real enthusiastic either.  Someone recently told me that she got disgusted with trying to cash in miles and simply donated them.  Someone else asked about a trip, and it turned out that after flying all over the world, to four continents, she had only 10,000 Sky Miles in her account.  How does that happen?  I guess her travel agent never enters her frequent flyer number into her account when she buys her ticket?  Who knows?
canada travel advisory I hate to pick favorites, as I have many memorable trips.  A big goal of mine was to observe the Peach-fronted Conure in the wild, and I was able to arrange for a private tour with the help of Bird Boliva in April 2011.  Viewing the Peachfront was going to be too easy, so I ended up doing a tour where I chased three species of  endangered macaws, canada travel advisory the Blue-throat, the Red-front, canada travel advisory and the Hyacinth.
On that particular trip, I guess I got out of my usual comfort zone.  I leased a small plane to get to the Hyacinth Macaw site in the Bolivian Pantanal and I went around on horseback in the flooded areas.  Oh, and I also bought a business class ticket with cash instead of using miles, but the price was right.  I m not sure I should admit that to Frugal Travel Guy though
Some other highlights:  I m one of the first six tourists to see the rediscovered Madagascar Serpent-Eagle in the wild.  I ve observed thousands, sometimes over one hundred thousand, migrating birds of prey in a single day in Veracruz, Mexico, and the canal zone of Panama. canada travel advisory In Göreme National Park in Turkey, hiking solo, I came within touching distance, eye to eye, with a Long-eared Owl.  They re not rare, but to walk right up and look him in the eye is something I ll never forget. And I ve had many other amazing experiences.
In order to gain belief in yourself and the system you re following, start small and get a quick win.  Don t go for delayed gratification.  The human brain doesn t learn from delays.  It learns from immediate results.  With travel deals, almost the smallest thing you can do is apply for a credit card and get 25,000 (or more) miles and book that free ticket.  Yes, you ll swear a little, trying to redeem at the lowest level, but you ll learn something, canada travel advisory and you ll get a free  trip out of it.  That s a small but attainable challenge, followed by a success you can point to.  You can build from there.
And, sure, somebody will make fun of you for cashing in your miles for a domestic economy award.  I don t care.  When you re starting a new hobby, you need a quick success.   Otherwise, the overwhelming majority of the time, you ll give up.
I ve said it before, and I ll say it again:   If a thread has been inactive for three months, automatically lock it so people can t kick it up to the top years later. canada travel advisory For that matter, if a thread has been ongoing canada travel advisory for twelve months, lock it and start a new thread. canada travel advisory There s a terrible hazing culture of telling people to read threads and stickies that are crammed canada travel advisory full of dead links and outdated information.   I wish everybody who tells a newbie to read a sticky would read it first to be sure it still says what you think it says.   Travel deals, miles, and points are time sensitive information.
Yes, I have, but I m a rather reserved canada travel advisory person, and  I don t get much value out of big meet-ups.  I m also an outdoor person so seminars and speeches just put me to sleep.  I do much better meeting a few or even just one or two people canada travel advisory at a time.
To the newer deal-seeker:  If you re limited in how many promotions canada travel advisory or credit cards you can accept, and you re not sure whether to chase airline miles or hotel points, go with the miles.  I ve stayed in tents.  I ve even stayed in a cave.  There are lots of ways to get cheap stays.  But you can t flap your arms and fly.
To the expert:  Sarcasm and snark  make you look fat.  Lose some of that overweight ego.  Newbies don t kill deals.  Advanced canada travel advisory players kill deals.  So why are you yelling at the newbies and telling them to spend 100 hours reading so they can become an advanced player?  The newbie seeking a one-and-done trip is not hurting you.
To everybody:  I m not interested in free.  I m interested in paying less to big airlines and big chain hotels so I can have more money to support the scientists, guides, reserves, eco-lodges, and so on.  If you re just looking to never open your wallet, the easiest thing to do is stay home.
Elaine, thank you again for sharing with us.  Your story is a fantastic one that we can all learn a thing or two from.  We ve got a couple of thank you gifts to get to you, and your avatar will now show you, as one of the Faces of FlyerTalk for years to come.
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I have had several virtual asynchronous interactions with this FTer, and I find her rather hostile to the family-friendly travel canada travel advisory hacking crowd. In particular, she was quite disparaging of MommyPoints on a board a few months ago. I am a little disheartened that you gave this person another venue, though she appeared to behave herself more in your interview.
I have never had any virtual asynchronous interactions with this person, canada travel advisory or with anybody won t even pretend to know what that is, but I m guessing it s a lotta fancy words for haters gotta hate. I m definitely hostile to the haters
Start by dropping by the Rookie Tips and Frequently Asked Questions page and following the suggestions listed. Then drop me a note at: rick@frugaltravelguy.com Free Trials for Credit Scores CreditSesame.com
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Rick Ingersoll is the world's expert on frugal canada travel advisory travel and flying canada travel advisory free and the author of The Frugal Travel canada travel advisory Guy Handbook. A retired mortgage banker, he splits his time between Traverse City, Michigan, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. To enjoy his retirement, he and his wife Katy travel the globe, rarely paying canada travel advisory full price – if anything at all -- for their travel and lodging canada travel advisory expenses. Rick has become the expert in rooting out deals others miss or simply don't know about, and in accumulating airline frequent flier miles and hotel points. Twitter
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