GoGreen

Hi folks,
We're driving across country and are pretty well set with places to stay, between using Expedia coupons, Hilton points, staying with friends, using the Affordable Travel Club, etc. But how to pay for food and gas? We have a lot of miles with a lot of airlines (American, United, US Air, Hawaiian, Delta, Virgin Atlantic, Southwest, Jetblue). Is there a good way to use these to buy food (either at restaurants or grocery stores) and gas? Those will be our biggest expenses on the road.
Thanks!

EmailKid

Not any way that would make financial sense. You may be able to transfer miles, but that almost always makes the miles lose money.

EmailKid

MJLouise

I think the SW points can be used pretty easily for gift cards at walmart that might help with food costs. Some Walmarts / Sams also have gas pumps.

SomeGuy

Depending on your Delta status and if you have their AmEx, you might be able to turn those miles into gift cards also.

EmailKid

At rather poor exchange rates. Then again, some people use their miles for domestic flights

EmailKid

SomeGuy

Yeah, people who fly Southwest. Zing!!!!

Seriously, though, if you have too many miles, not enough miles, or no other use for them, then a person should use some. In 2010 I was fine with turning in 48,000 DL SkyMiles for $400 in Bed, Bath, & Beyond gift cards as wedding gifts. I still have over 500K SkyMiles, and it saved me $400 in real money.

cordelli

You could look into converting them into gift certificates through points.com for some restaurants, it may or may not be worth it for you. Only you can judge if it's a good deal or not based on your situation.

sonofzeus

Care to share if this is a RT or OW proposition? Going through the Texas panhandle/Rocky Mountains/Badlands?

EmailKid

Well, it is SkyPesos

I have a million United miles (formely known as Continental NonePass miles), but would consider it poor value at that rate.

But, as cordelli points out, it may be worth it to some people.

EmailKid

GoGreen

Hi Gang,
Thanks for the good advice! Sorry I was out of town so couldn't get back to you sooner. Re some of your questions/comments:
* Using SW miles for Walmart gift card is a good idea.
* No I don't have Delta status nor currently, the Delta AMEX. (I might apply for the credit card again in June but that's post-trip.)
* It's a round-trip, actually only from the east coast to Kansas, for a family reunion and return. (We might also have to go to the Badlands in South Dakota but I hope not.) We're going out via Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, etc. and returning on a more southerly route via Tennessee and Virginia.

GoGreen

GoGreen

Well we had a great trip. As expected, food was the biggest expense. Most nights, we were able to keep lodging costs down by enjoying the hospitality of our fellow club members in homeexchange.com and affordabletravelclub.net.

The Home Exchange Club is one where, as you might have guessed, you exchange homes and stay in each others' houses. But a little known aspect of the club is that you don't have to exchange your entire home, nor do the exchanges need to be simultaneous. You can ask other members if they're interested in hosting you for a "hospitality exchange". Generally this means that they will be home and you'll sleep in their guest room. If they say yes, then in return, you "owe" them an equal number of nights. Kind of like giving them a gift card (how many of those go unused?). The club has tons of members and a great website with photos and info about each listing. A few highlights include a stay at a beautiful home in PA Dutch country -- our hosts even made us dinner from the organic produce they grow in their yard. Also stayed in the second home of our Branson MO hosts, a gorgeous two-bedroom two bath place. They weren't there -- we never even met them in person.

The Affordable Travel Club is for people over 40 who like to travel and meet people. The directory is not terribly informative and the membership much smaller than the Home Exchange Club. The way this deal works is you ask if they can host you, and if they say yes, they house and give you breakfast for up to 3 nights. The guest(s) pay them a gratuity of $15/night (single) or $20/night (couple), per night. You have no obligation to host these people in the future (although you'd probably want to if they came your way). Nor are you ever obligated to host anyone in the club. We've been in the club for 8 months and have stayed with some really great people throughout the USA and Puerto Rico. Thus far only two people have asked to stay at our house, so our first guests are arriving in two weeks. We declined the second one because we'll be out of town.

Also stayed a few nights with friends and family, rented an apartment through AirBnb, and used some $50 Expedia BRG coupons to score some rooms for just the cost of taxes. Generally Super 8's and the like, but we made it out alive and un-bitten. We splurged a bunch of Starpoints for a night in St. Louis which was one of the best of the trip. When we checked in I told the clerk that it was our XX'th wedding anniversary as well as my husband's birthday (both those events were within a couple days of our stay ... ) and we got upgraded to concierge service, meaning we got free dinner (cocktail hour) and free breakfast.

sonofzeus

Still waiting for an answer to my Q above; original post and "trip report" don't jibe; food costs more than gas for a "cross country" trek?

GoGreen

Sorry about the wait .... We did not drive through Texas, actually we started on the east coast and decided to turn around in Kansas City, so the trip was actually a round trip but only halfway across and then back. We drive a Prius so the gas expense was maybe half of what a normal car would cost. And restaurants can get pretty expensive even when you eat low-end and make pb&j sandwiches when you can.

shopper711

out of curiosity, what is the total of the spend?

GoGreen

We spent about $1500 over 30 days. Drove 5300 miles (we drove around at the places we stayed, not just direct driving). Gas was about $430 (we get 44 mpg in the Prius). So food, lodging, entertainment, miscellaneous -- $1070, over 30 days, $36 a day, total for two people.