July 16, 2021|Autoslash, Turkish Airlines, United

by Eric Lipkind

If you’re looking to travel last-minute for free, it can be done! Let me explain. My son and I wanted to see a game in Dodger stadium. We live in New Jersey. So, within two weeks, I put together a trip at a minimal cost.

Here’s how:

Travel:

Flights:

Through a United for Business event, I had won two free first-class roundtrip tickets to anywhere in the United States. We flew in United’s first-class offering, Polaris, from Newark to Los Angeles. Our short weekend excursion was from Friday morning until our red-eye on Sunday evening. Thus, we had almost three full days in Los Angeles.  

The total value of the tickets, had I purchased through united.com was $6,164. Granted, I won the tickets and didn’t use points, but you won’t win unless you enter opportunities to win things. (let’s talk) 

The Polaris tickets also allowed us entry into the United lounges in Newark and LAX. I also purchased wifi one-way for $25. this was reimbursed by AMEX with my AMEX Platinum airline fee credit. Had I not won the plane tickets, I would have used Turkish Airlines miles to purchase the same seats on United as you use fewer Turkish Airlines Miles than United Miles. Additionally, you can transfer Citi Thank-you points to Turkish Airlines. (let’s talk)

Hotel:

We had stayed at the Magic Castle Hotel in Hollywood in the past and wanted to stay there again. A two-night stay costs $594. Thanks to the Divvy sign-up I had done, I had $1,000 of free travel to use. I booked through their required travel partner called TravelPerk and booked the hotel room. TravelPerk is a travel agency that allows me to redeem Divvy points. (check out my article on how to redeem travel points) 

This was a prepaid cancelable reservation. With a bit of work on my part with Divvy, the $594 was reimbursed using my points. The hotel charges $15 per day for parking, so I would have been charged $30. Still, due to an unfortunate event involving ants in my bathtub, the hotel graciously waived my parking fee. Additionally, the hotel provides complimentary breakfast and free snacks whenever you want — candy, ice cream, soda, etc. There is currently a Divvy offer to earn up to $1,000 in free travel if you sign up for this no-fee card after a particular spend.

Car Rental:

I usually use Autoslash.com to get the lowest car rental rates. However, I figured I’d try TravelPerk, and they came up with much lower rates than I could find anywhere else. I paid $199 for the 3-day rental through Avis. The lowest rates I could find on Autoslash were around $75 more. Again, through TravelPerk, this was prepaid. I chose not to use my Divvy points and pay for the rental using my Chase Sapphire Reserve card to get the car rental insurance included with the card. To avoid a two-hour wait for a car at the airport, I was offered an upgrade to an SUV for $11 a day — I gladly spent the extra $33 to save time. Incidentally, for another trip I have coming up, TravelPerk came up with lower rates than Autoslash again.

Non-travel related:

Dodgers Game:

I went on Seatgeek.com and found highly discounted Baseline tickets which include food and non-alcoholic beverages. We had a front-row seat on the first baseline. I used prepaid Mastercards I had purchased at Staples when there was a no-fee promotion. Incidentally, there is a no-fee prepaid Mastercard promotion going on this week and next week in-store at Staples on $200 Mastercards. This earned me 5X points as the purchase was from an office supply store that gives 5X Ultimate Rewards on the Chase Ink Business Cash card. Currently, for the Chase Ink Business Cash card, there is $750 cashback after $7,500 in spend after 3 months for new applications on this no-fee card. If paired with an Ultimate Rewards Chase card like the Chase Ink Preferred, the $750 is converted to 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points (worth more than $750). The Chase Ink Preferred has a 100,000 point sign-up bonus after $15,000 in 3 months with a $95 annual fee.

Universal Studios VIP Tour:

To avoid lines, get an enhanced backlot tour, VIP valet parking, breakfast, and a private lunch, I purchased the Universal Studios VIP Experience. I used a prepaid AMEX card I had which had an AMEX offer for $50 back on a $1,000 purchase. The VIP tour (or purchasing tickets with an AMEX card) also gave us access to the AMEX lounge in the park. This came with air conditioning (much needed), free snacks, and water.

Summary:

If I add in the $40 in gas for the car rental, I spent $272 for $7,085 in travel. This is in addition to the non-travel-related items I purchased using gift cards that had promotions.

To do this, I had to:

* Use the right credit cards

* Know what miles and points I have

* Be aware of promotions in place

* Search various sites for the best rates

This might be a lot for you to do.   If you don’t have the time (or patience) to do all this, contact us. Would you like to travel for nearly free like I do? We’d love to help you! Check out our award booking services here.

What is your best miles and points success story? Please detail in the comments.