ABC has an article on a mom who travels for almost nothing..

[sunshinehighway]

The self righteousness is overwhelming.

 

[Disneyluv111]

Oh boy! I hope I did not open a can of worms!
See, this is what happens when you know nothing.
I just read an article and was amazed. I made no assumptions whatsoever, because I don't want to do that! I read lots of comments and was even more amazed! I admire people who can do this stuff.

I love reading the comments here, learn SO MUCH! I have no doubt that people can do this stuff for very little money and I just wanted to say way to go!
Let's not make assumptions instead we should ask, if we don't know. I'm glad I read the comments in that article. I learned a lot!

 

[Disneyluv111]

She's an attorney with her own practice, so I have no clue how she finds the time, but it's something she's passionate about so she does! (No kids helps )

That makes a huge difference! Haha! Man, she is good!

 

[eliza61]

I didn't read the article but I've always wondered about rewards programs.

For example I went on the southwest website since everyone here seems to like it and I don't like it's full of "qualification"
I have to spend 1000 bucks within 3 months (which I would not normally do unless I use it to pay my mortgage). then it also have a 99 dollar maintenance fee annually. doesn't say what the apr is but I supposed in order for this to work well you have to pay off the balance every month.

I did know it existed but I really never thought about doing it. I always viewed it as like extreme couponing, Im sure it works but way too much energy for me.

Question though: with airline companion coupons can you fly where you want or you locked into a specific place and time?

 

[bjscheel]

I didn't read the article but I've always wondered about rewards programs.

For example I went on the southwest website since everyone here seems to like it and I don't like it's full of "qualification"
I have to spend 1000 bucks within 3 months (which I would not normally do unless I use it to pay my mortgage). then it also have a 99 dollar maintenance fee annually. doesn't say what the apr is but I supposed in order for this to work well you have to pay off the balance every month.

I did know it existed but I really never thought about doing it. I always viewed it as like extreme couponing, Im sure it works but way too much energy for me.

Question though: with airline companion coupons can you fly where you want or you locked into a specific place and time?

I personally love the SW cc and rewards and find it pretty easy to manage. There is an annual fee (it varies by type of card), but they compensate you with a corresponding number of points, so that helps. DH and I each got a card with 50,000 bonus points (we weren't knowledgeable at the time about the companion pass, so we didn't get in on that).

We used up DH's points and part of mine to fly to CA in 2013, then closed his cc and are concentrating on earning points on just my account. DH has his own semi, so he can charge up to $4000 in fuel each month. That made it easy to hit the mark for the bonus points, and easy to continue to rack up points. We flew to FL this year on points. I will say if we didn't have those business expenses, this wouldn't work near as well...

The best part, besides free flights, is the flexibility of booking with points on SW. You can make changes to your flights, like if they get cheaper, and the points just go back in your account to use whenever. If you book with cash, you get a credit that has to be used within 12 months of booking- something we would probably never get to use. We can book any ticket with our points- there aren't blackouts and such. So we love it, but for someone who's not going to charge so much, it might not be too useful after you use the bonus points.

 

[Marionnette]

I didn't read the article but I've always wondered about rewards programs.

For example I went on the southwest website since everyone here seems to like it and I don't like it's full of "qualification"
I have to spend 1000 bucks within 3 months (which I would not normally do unless I use it to pay my mortgage). then it also have a 99 dollar maintenance fee annually. doesn't say what the apr is but I supposed in order for this to work well you have to pay off the balance every month.

I did know it existed but I really never thought about doing it. I always viewed it as like extreme couponing, Im sure it works but way too much energy for me.

Question though: with airline companion coupons can you fly where you want or you locked into a specific place and time?

I find that the credit programs are a very passive way of earning rewards. You don't have to do anything except use the card and you earn points. My daughter was just commenting this weekend that the credit card her bank had talked her into getting, just sent her a $125 rewards check for her spending (medical school supplies, books, appropriate shoes and clinic clothing, etc). She's had the card for about 3 years, so she's not exactly churning card benefits. She was actually surprised to get the check. She had no idea that there was cash back associated with the CC.

A lot of banks are now offering their own rewards credit cards to customers. I swear that I get an offer every time that I walk into my branch to make a deposit! Some cards, like the regular Disney Visa, have no annual fee and very low thresholds to meet for their signup bonuses. They're a good way for anyone to start if they are interested in rewards credit cards.

However, it's not for everyone. And it's certainly not for people who carry a balance or cannot control their CC spending.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

In order for us to get a SW companion pass, we'd have to put $110,000 on our SW card. We don't even spend that much money in a year. Credit card churning may have been around for a while, but for me, it crosses a line and borders on theft. I'm more interested in keeping our credit great than getting some stuff for "free", at the cost of our credit score. Also, the more places you willingly hand over private financial info, the more risk you take with identity theft. None of those are a chance I'm willing to take.

How does this boarder on theft? Don't mean any judgement, I'm just curious.

 

[kkmcan]

We don't open new cards ever but we have 2 that we use religiously every month. Disney Visa Premiere and Capital One Visa. We put all expenses and bills on those. Everything goes on those cards except mortgage and car payment. We pay them off every month.

We had these cards for years and earn about $500 year in Disney reward dollars and between 1 and 3 roundtrip airfares per year depending on the cost of those.

I love our cards and the rewards have helped us travel to many places over the years. I've always been curious about the SW card but haven't bit the bullet and opened one yet.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

How does this boarder on theft? Don't mean any judgement, I'm just curious.

Perhaps this poster was more thinking of people who open multiple credit cards just to get the bonuses and then close them immediately. I still don't think that's theft however credit card companies have been cracking down on this. Below is a post about how Chase is starting to monitor this:

http://millionmilesecrets.com/2014/09/07/how-to-keep-your-chase-credit-cards-from-being-shut-down/

For the normal Disney fan just hoping to get enough points for free flights or free hotel rooms this shouldn't be an issue. Find a card that works for you, apply, and then use it for everyday purchases (paying off the balance of course each month). If a nice bonus offer on a new card comes along I might apply, but that might be one card a year.

 

[ICF]

How does this boarder on theft?

it doesnt

 

[ellochka]

I did know it existed but I really never thought about doing it. I always viewed it as like extreme couponing, Im sure it works but way too much energy for me.

Ditto!

We have great credit, and I am great with numbers, so I could potentially do something like that, but it just seems too much work for a few hundred dollars to me. If I was traveling a lot for work, it probably would have paid off, but with only 2-3 trips a year for work and ~2 for fun, it's just not enough to leverage. Plus I would need to remember to manage the bill pay. Since we've been paying most things with a debit card, I have an all new appreciation of simplicity of not worrying about paying any additional bills (we pay off in full, but I sometimes forget to pay because we are not using cards much).

 

[MomToOne]

We have great credit, and I am great with numbers, so I could potentially do something like that, but it just seems too much work for a few hundred dollars to me.

If you really get into it, you can save much more than a few hundred dollars. But it takes a lot of work. And it's best if you are into somewhat higher end travel - it's often about making strategic investments to get significant discounts that are worth much more than what you invest.

 

[KKB]

That's awesome! Congratulations, hopefully you're able to take a bunch of flights over the next year and a half and really maximize the CP.

The Companion Pass is just one of the many reasons I love Southwest! I'm so glad they came to the Pittsburgh airport a decade or so ago, we'd have gone to Disney World a lot less without their great fares!

I have DD on 3 trips already--TCU family weekend/college visit, NC college visits & WDW for dance team competition.
DH & I have 2 trips to Vegas scheduled. (tho not booked yet)
Looking for more trips to book!!

 

[crisi]

Some people believe that some of these tricks are starting to be shut down - the way Delta changed its frequent flyer program this year for instance. Its one of those things that works great if you get in early, but corporations try and plug some of the more egregious uses. I've known a few people who have done it (in addition to some people here who have made it work).

 

[MaleficentRN]

Some people believe that some of these tricks are starting to be shut down - the way Delta changed its frequent flyer program this year for instance. Its one of those things that works great if you get in early, but corporations try and plug some of the more egregious uses. I've known a few people who have done it (in addition to some people here who have made it work).

I have a US Airways and Southwest Visa. I'm getting rid of them after this year. US Airways is eliminating it's $99 companion passes and it's blacked out flights are more prevalent. Southwest wants more and more points for flights and has less direct ones from my airport.
I used to pay nearly nothing for my flights and that's how I was able to visit WDW so often. I'm done with them and am shopping for a good cash back card, now.

 

[SouthFayetteFan]

US Airways is eliminating it's $99 companion passes

Somehow I had missed that change. That's really a shame - that was a nice benefit, especially if you could add a companion to a flight that was already being reimbursed for work purposes. The "new & improved" benefits I just read about don't seem to offset the loss of the companion. I guess that's just part of this great USAir/American merger!

 

[adamak]

I'm into the points / miles thing for over a decade now. I don't really churn credit card as much as these guys. I also don't do manufacture spending (too much work). But I do keep track of all the promo, bonus..etc to get points.

It absolutely can be done. Not exactly free, but for minimal $. It's funny I started this hobby a decade ago because I just want to fly coach to WDW cheaply. Now I focus more on getting free long haul business class to Asia (We go yearly to visit family). Using miles had saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the years. I highly recommend anyone who is serious check out those blogs and flyertalk.

 

[DisneyFoodieFan]

I just want to clear up a couple of misconceptions in your post.

First , most people initially get the Southwest companion certificate by getting a personal and business sign up bonus, and charging $10,000.

Second, those with multiple rewards cards tend to have higher credit scores due to lower utilization. And I'm not sure how it's even bordering on theft to get a sign up bonus if you follow the rules.

Finally, I'm not sure how multiple rewards cards makes you more vulnerable to identity theft. I personally don't use debit cards to avoid problems with a hacked account, but whether you use 1 credit card or 10, your account number might be stolen.

In the end, it is a personal choice and you appear to be very happy with the choice you made. -- Suzanne

Thank you for posting this, there was a lot of misinformation in JanaDee's post.

 

[rockydek]

We travel every year and use rewards offered by credit cards...It is not as time consuming as you may think. I will peruse an offer, then decide if it is worthy.

However, you need excellent credit on most of these offers.... Nothing illegal going on with this. Just incentives for certain consumers.

Yes, the SW 50000 was a great one. If used correctly.

 

[SWofDisorder]

With credit you must be responsible and know that the cards need to paid off at the end of the month.

I only use them to make purchases if I have the $ in the bank at the time for the purchase. I get home, wait for the purchase to post and make the payment immediately.

It is too easy for some people to get in debt and then don't know how to get out.

We followed Dave Ramsey and cleared out all debt and now break the rules by keeping a credit card and use it as I stated. Right now I have enough Air miles to take 4 RT trips in the USA.