Turning an IRS payment into miles

After 7 days of travel hacking research, I think I have the basics down. The major mile earning strategies are fairly straightforward. Churning cards (with careful timing) and rewards programs are the high earning methods. Now, I see the rest of the month as exploring other ways to maximize points. At month's end, my hope is that I have a firm strategy in place, but one that takes very little time to manage and keep up. Efficient, easy, economical, and enjoyable (more travel!)

Tonight's general concept is a focus on finding all the ways to turn every expense into a mile-earning opportunity. The specific strategy is IRS payments.

I just came across this website and it has a zillion helpful tips:

"The IRS lists payment processors through with you may make payments to it via credit or debit card, including 1040, 1040ES and many other types. The credit card fee ranges between 1.88% and 2.35% (expensive miles). But the debit card fee is a flat fee ranging between $2.99 and $3.95, making this a very good deal for some payments via a debit card that earns miles. You may also make some state and local tax payments at Official Payments Corporation.(In the Taxes section.)
  TurboTax, and possibly other tax preperation software, can be purchased via many miles and cash back shopping portals. For example, Big Crumbs offers 10.5% cash back for TurboTax as of January 4, 2013. (In the Taxes section.)
1,000 Southwest Airlines points for filing your federal return with TurboTax. (In the Taxes section.)"

That means I'll have to make sure I have a debit card that has rewards as well. My current debit card used to have minor rewards, but the bank has since discontinued the program. Stay tuned for a debit card reward comparison tomorrow...

Another layer - Dining Programs!

I'm adding on another layer of bonus points and rewards. I linked my existing cards to American Airlines dining loyalty program.

The general idea is to link existing credit cards to a dining program. So, when I charge a restaurant expense to my credit card, I'll receive my normal miles that the credit card issues and I'll also receive points through this dining rewards program too. Extra points!

After linking the card, I can also get a bonus by:

1	Join the AAdvantage Dining℠ program for free.
2	Spend $40 or more on a single dine at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 30 days
3	Complete your review within 30 days of dining. (The review link will be emailed to you and takes only a minute to complete.)
4	Earn 1,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles!*

I can also start accruing more points by attaining VIP status:

"The general earning is 3 miles per dollar spent, but once you hit 10 dines you get VIP status where you earn 5 miles per dollar. To quickly get VIP status, simply go to a participating bar/ restaurant/ fast food place and order 10 cheap items and ask them to swipe them separately. They may look at you weirdly, but that often happens to me when I’m doing things related to obsessive mileage collecting."

AA buried this information on their website, but I finally verified it here (I even had to switch to Google Chrome to see the chart since Internet Explorer wouldn't show it): I need to make sure to have a valid email and have 12 transactions (so I'll try the Travel Guys crazy tip of buying 12 things at once to start the accrual quicker).

I also set a reminder to register my new credit cards (from the last two days) to this program as well once the cards are delivered.

And away I go with a new layer to the travel hacking game!

Marriott and Hilton - Let's go for the hotel next!

After researching several hotel rewards programs, I opted for Marriott first since they had the highest 50,000 bonus with a low requirement of only spending $1,000 in the first three months to qualify.

I also went for the Visa Hilton card to get 40,000 points with a minimum spend of $1,000 within the first 4 months. 

I'll work on meeting the spend requirements (paying off each card on time each month of course!) for these two cards, plus the Chase Sapphire for airfare from yesterday. Then once I have the bonus points, redeem for my Portland trip, then reassess which cards will be next!

I'm tracking all this through Award Wallet, and also a quick spreadsheet too just to be sure I'm not forgetting any details.

It's just the start, but already a bit addictive!

Portland Marriott

Chase Sapphire for 40,000 miles!

I have bravely stepped out of information overload paralysis and into the bold, new world of travel hacking! I just applied (and was accepted) for a Chase Sapphire card. By spending $3,000 in three months (I just have to shift all my monthly purchases to this card instead of my Citi rewards program, which I pay off every month), I'll earn 40,000 miles which should give me two domestic round trip flights or one international flight. It seems too easy, doesn't it?

I am over the moon excited about this!

One step closer to a free trip to Portland!

FlyerTalk

Information overload today! I spent almost two hours online today researching strategies but it didn't feel productive. Partly, a lot of the basic information is repeated frequently. Partly, there are so many options for obtaining points that I'm feeling a bit paralyzed.

I took a simple step tonight and registered at flyertalk.com.  Many of the sites refer to this one as a good source so I thought I would stick to an original source, rather than reposts and aggregators.

I'm also committing to making a choice this weekend about which credit card to open first to maximize rewards, ideally to start a cycle of funding my trips through rewards. 

More to come tomorrow...

Information Overload

Discovering Award Wallet

I just found a really good summary that references some of the points made in my Day One post. It's easier to follow and I'm going to implement it step by step. Here it is: http://thepointsguy.com/beginners-guide/

Tips for not letting your miles expire:

http://travel.usatoday.com/experts/hobica/story/2012-01-17/10-easy-ways-to-keep-frequent-flier-miles-from-expiring/52603870/1

Tonight's goal:

1. Register for award wallet. Check! 

 Okay, so with a few easy steps, I signed up for Award Wallet (which is free and recommended by all the travel websites) and I already benefited!  After registering, I immediately learned I had a $200 JetBlue credit - I didn't even know they had given me $200 for a delay on my last trip. Hooray!

Award Wallet

Earning Miles!

I regularly use Priceline and cheaptickets, but I've become too comfortable with these sites. Great deals, but are there better?

This came recommended: www.airfarewatchdog.com
From: http://lifehacker.com/5841147/the-ultimate-travel-hacking-guide

I signed up and I'm going to test it out for a trip to Portland in July for the World Domination Summit! I can't wait for this event and I'm thankful I was able to get a ticket.

Additional recommendations:
Skyscanner
Momondo 
Mobissimo

New tip that I haven't done before: "Check the airport's carriers. One thing I do quite a bit is to go to the airport's website and see what airlines fly into it. Sometimes you find small carriers that are not listed on aggregators or other search engines. This is sort of my last double check to make sure I checked all possible airlines. After all, I don't want to find out later that there was an airline that offered a cheap flight but wasn't listed on an aggregator. (Not all airlines appear are on flight search engines.)"

More tips on getting miles through credit cards (abbreviated below):

• Sign up for a branded airline credit card: Whether you love Delta, fly United and the Star Alliance, live and breathe Jetblue, or are hooked on Oneworld, all U.S. carriers have a branded travel credit card that gives you 25,000-30,000 points when you sign up and make one purchase. That's a free economy ticket right there.
• Watch out for special promotions: I sign up for all the airline mailing lists. I always watch out for special 2-for-1 mile deals. Or when they have special card offers to earn extra miles. Last year, British Airways offered a card that gave you 100,000 miles just for signing up. That was a first class ticket home. American Airlines just gave me 1,000 miles for watching a demo on their new shopping toolbar.
• Sign up for a non-airline credit card: Sign up for a non-airline credit card like a Starwood American Express card and you can get 10,000 sign-up points. When you convert 20,000 points into miles, you get a 5,000-mile bonus. I highly recommend signing up for this card too but signing up for any "points" card like the AMEX travel card or a Capital One card will do. Afterwards, you can transfer your sign-up bonus points to the airline you use and redeem them for flights.
• Take the AA challenge: If you are taking a long trip, go with American Airlines. By paying $300, you can take the 10,000 point challenge. If you accumulate 10,000 points in 3 months, you get 1 year platinum status, which gives you get automatic upgrades into business class as well as lounge access. They do not advertise this on their website, however. You must call customer service and ask to take the challenge.
• Do a mileage run: If you are only a few thousand miles away from some form of elite status, you can do what the travel ninjas call a "mileage run." This means you find cheap fares or special bonus mileage offers and take that flight. It can be a weekend getaway, a week away, or an afternoon jaunt. 

Mileage credit card calculator here: http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/start-here
Rewards seem good, but I wonder when I should apply for these - the timing needs to coincide with any major travel plans.

Just found a great tip for maximizing rewards. http://rewardsdb.com/  I already do most of my online shopping through a credit cart portal to get rewards, but this website allows me to compare rewards and choose the best portal. Nice! I'm going to explore this further.

Today's Takeaways:

1. I need to decide which credit cards will maximize travel benefits for me. I'm already completely out of credit card debt, but I can use credit cards for my monthly expenses, pay it off each month, and reap the rewards! I'm earning about $50 to $100 each month already, but I need to maximize that for travel.
2. Need to use http://rewardsdb.com/
3. Experimenting with airfarewatchdog.com
4. Need to determine my travel plans so I know when to maximize these benefits. 

Day One Travel Hacking!

Today I begin my 4th year of having a daily focus. The personal fulfillment has been immeasurable. Not only do these projects bring me joy beyond what I had imagined, but they have led to a life of progress, change, gratitude, life experiences, and new friends...

Year 1: Writing an original poem every day for a year.

Year 2: Every month I tackled a new way to live a greener lifestyle.

Year 3: A year of progress, change and gratitude.

This year begins anew with a month of learning how to travel hack. This is something I have heard a lot about, but have yet to learn any of the details and strategies. Traveling is my most treasured experience so my hope is that this will open up new opportunities in travel for me...

Day One: Travel Hacking Strategies!

From: The Art of Non Conformity 

They are real! Round the World tickets are real...

Star Alliance Round the World fare applies for round the world travel from and to countries which are served by the following Star Alliance member carriers: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, AviancaTaca, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, THAI, Turkish Airlines, United and US Airways.

Lots of restrictions, but manageable. Main points: 16 coupons, must  be planned in advance, valid for one year, must go in one direction around the globe. Price is cheaper is your start/stop in a off the beaten country (i.e. more expensive to start/stop in U.S.). Must start and stop in same country.

One World Seems to have a little more flexibility on changing flights throughout trip (but may be charges). Based on a continent system. Same 16 segments like Star Alliance. Sample 6 continent itinerary: Madrid – New York – Chicago – Mexico City – São Paulo – Santiago – Auckland – Sydney – Cairns – Tokyo – Hong Kong – Johannesburg – Cape Town – London – Zurich – Madrid.

More great details here: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/10/08/round-the-world-plane-ticket/

RTW tickets... just the beginning.

31/31: Improv!

This month, I shared the jokes I found on Facebook and tried to tell as many as possible to friends and family throughout the month. I'm terrible at telling jokes, so this was a fun challenge each day. And, although most the jokes are kind of terrible, I'm walking away with a few good jokes in my pocket.

To cap off the month, I joined a 6 week improv class. I've had more fun that I could have imagined. It's just ridiculous fun! Silly craziness! And something that is pure fun, for fun and nothing else. Added bonus, I found some wonderful, fun new friends too!

http://held2gether.com/

3/31: Hitchhiker

"I picked up a hitchhiker. You gotta when you hit them.”

31/31: Sausages

Two sausages are frying in a pan. One says to the other: "it's hot in here!" The other one screams: "AHHHH! A talking sausage!"

30/31: Speeding

"My wife sent me a text warning me about a speed trap and cop around the corner from our house. I laughed and showed it to the cop"

29/31: Hawaii

"A friend was looking for gift ideas for his anniversary so he asked his friend what he bought for his wife on their 50th anniversary. The friend said 'I gave my wife a plane ticket to Hawaii on our 25th anniversary'....'Yes, but what did you give her for your 50th?'....to which he responded: 'For our 50th, I sent her another ticket to bring her back from Hawaii'

28/31: Mathematicians...

"An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. The first mathematician orders one beer. The second orders half a beer. The third orders one quarter of a beer. The bartender says "You're a bunch of idiots" and pours two beers."

27/31: Cow

"If a cow is in a coma is it called a vegetable?"

From http://beachwoodbbq.com/index.html

26/31: Taxi

"Interesting Experience...

I would like to share an experience with you about drinking and driving. As you well know, most of us have been lucky over the years not to have had brushes with the law on our way home from various social engagements.

However, a couple of nights ago, I was out for a few drinks with some friends. I had several glasses of beer and finished things off with a tequila shot. Not a good idea.

Knowing full well that I was, at least slightly, over the limit, I did something I've never done before. I took a taxi home.

Sure enough I came up on a police road block. But because I was in a taxi, they waved it past.

I arrived home safely, without a single incident; a real surprise! I have
never driven a taxi before and am not sure where I got it."

(Don't drink and dive. It's dumb.)

25/31: Baby

"A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: ''Ugh, that's the ugliest baby I've ever seen!'' The former walks to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: ''The driver just insulted me!'' The man says: ''You go up there and tell him off. Go on, I'll hold your monkey for you.''

24/31: Cars

"There's a man trying to cross the street. But when he steps off the curb a car comes screaming around the corner and heads straight for him. The man walks faster, trying to hurry across the street, but the car changes lanes and is still coming at him. So the guy turns around to go back, but the car changes lanes again and is still coming at him. By now, the car is so close and the man so scared that he just stops in the middle of the road. The car gets real close, then swerves at the last possible moment and stops next to the man. The driver rolls down the window. It's a squirrel. He says, "See, it's not as easy as it looks."

23/31: Vegetarian

"A vegetarian has a carrot sticking out of one ear,celery out of the other,and a mushroom up his nose. He goes to the doctor and asks him what's wrong. The doctor tells him, "Well, for one thing, you're not eating right."

22/31: Cab Driver

"A cabbie picks up a Nun. She gets into the cab, and notices that the VERY handsome cab driver won't stop staring at her.

She asks him why he is staring.

He replies: "I have a question to ask you, but I don't want to offend you."

She answers, "My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's nothing you could say or ask that I would find offensive."

"Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me."

She responds, "Well, let's see what we can do a about that: #1, you have to be single and #2, you must be Catholic."

The cab driver is very excited and says, "Yes, I'm single and Catholic!"

"OK" the nun says. "Pull into the next alley."

The nun fulfills his fantasy, with a kiss that would make a hooker blush.

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver starts crying.

"My dear child," says the nun, "why are you crying?"

"Forgive me but I've sinned. I lied and I must confess, I'm married and I'm Jewish."

The nun says, "That's OK...... My name is Kevin and I'm going to a Halloween party."

21/31: Robbery

"An elderly woman called 911 on her cell phone to report that her car had been broken in to.

She is hysterical as she explains her situation to the dispatcher: 'They've stolen the stereo, the steering wheel, the brake pedal and even the accelerator!' she cried.

The dispatcher said, 'Stay calm. An officer is on the way.'

A few minutes later, the officer radios in. 'Disregard.' He says. 'She got in the back-seat by mistake.'"

20/31: Lumpia

"How do you fight lumpia?"

"¡ʇıɔuɐd noʎ

 

19/31: Budweiser

"Honestly, Budweiser, I only had two officers!"

(Don't drink and drive. That's just dumb!)

18/31: Chocoholics Anonymous

"Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous?"





"¡ʇınb oʇ sʇuɐʍ ǝuo ou ǝsnɐɔǝq

17/31: Yogi

"What did the yogi say to the hot dog vendor?
















"buıɥʇʎɹǝʌǝ ɥʇıʍ ǝuo ǝɯ ǝʞɐɯ˙˙˙

16/31: Tree

"If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to see it, do the other trees make fun of it?"

15/31: Blonde

"A young ventriloquist is touring the clubs and one night he's doing a show in a small club in a small town in Arkansas. With his dummy on his knee, he's going through his usual dumb blonde jokes when a blonde woman in the fourth row stands on her chair and starts shouting: ''I've heard enough of your stupid blonde jokes. What makes you think you can stereotype women that way? What does the color of a person's hair have to do with her worth as a human being? It's guys like you who keep women like me from being respected at work and in the community and from reaching our full potential as a person, because you and your kind continue to perpetuate discrimination against, not only blondes, but women in general...and all in the name of humor!''

The ventriloquist is embarrassed and begins to apologize, when the blonde yells, ''You stay out of this, mister! I'm talking to that little jerk on your knee!''

14/31: Camo

"I went to buy some camouflage pants the other day but I couldn't find any."

13/31: What is...

"What is brown and sticky?
.
.
.
.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
ʞɔıʇs ɐ"

12/31: Students

"Four students from Los Angeles drove up to Santa Barbara for the weekend. UCSB lived up to reputation with the best bars and campus parties. The students had such a wild time, they didn’t leave any time to study for their Monday exam in organic chemistry. They devised a story to tell their professor about how they travelled to UCSB to conduct research and study, but ended up with a flat tire on their way back to LA. They promised to take the test on Tuesday morning, first thing. The professor agreed. After studying all day Monday, the students arrived to class Tuesday fully prepared for their exam.

She placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them an exam (which was out of 100 points) and told them to begin. The first problem was worth five points. It was something simple about free radical formation. Cool, they all thought in their separate rooms, "this is going to be easy."

Each finished the problem and then turned the page. Question 2 (for 95 points): Which tire?"

11/31: Conan

"President Obama is slated to appear on one of Oprah's last shows. He's hoping it's the one on which she gives away 14 trillion dollars.'' —Conan O'Brien