With international travel seeming to largely be out of the picture, at least for the near future, but summer and fall vacation plans upon us, let's talk about how to take a basically free road trip - or to plan one for next year. Road trips are one of my favorite ways to travel. There…
As we've talked about collecting points and miles, and some basics in how to redeem them for value, it brings up an interesting point. When using a credit card that can earn points or miles, there is an opportunity cost, typically the 1-2% cash back one could normally get from those purchases by using a…
To borrow from the opening line of Restaurant at the End of the Universe and the amazing Douglas Adams, "the story so far:" We have talked about what points and miles are. We have discussed basic ways to earn them. We have gone over credit card sign-up bonuses as the most efficient way to earn…
Ok, so we've been over the basics, and now we know what points and miles are. That's a great step and puts us on a nice path. So how do we start collecting them? How do we end up going on free trips already? There are a few ways to collect points and miles, and…
Welcome to a brand new feature here at The Royal Tour: points and miles for beginners. In this series, we will examine basic questions like: how do I earn points/miles, what is the best way to earn and to use points/miles, how much are they worth, and more. We will look at these things both…
Travel can be very expensive. For me, trying to book at least one trip a month, I could easily travel my way to bankruptcy. Fortunately, there are some incredible resources out there to find cheap flights. Here are some of the ones I find most helpful. The Flight Deal The Flight Deal is amazing. Each…
Do you know that Chance card in Monopoly that gives you money because the bank made an error in your favor? We all smile because that never happens. Or does it? Citibank made an error in my favor, and now I am going back to Singapore! Here is the story. As you all know, I…
From time to time, I share some of my secrets with my readers on how I get some amazing travel for free or cheap. One of my favorite strategies is the use of sign-up bonuses on credit cards, and free annual perks. Click here for my review of the Chase Hyatt card. Right now, the…
I love travel more than pretty much anything. There are so many places I want to go, so when I see a deal and have the time to take advantage of it, I jump. As you may remember, I recently got a great price on a trip to Madrid for November. Well this week, Scott's…
Many people think that travel is too expensive. So when I planned my trip to Austin and decided to add a single night in San Antonio, I was asked why I would take on that additional expense. After all, hotel costs are not negligible, especially if one wishes to stay in an area of a…