I certainly get some travel from business, but I would say that more than half of my travel is using my own funds. Others on this board have made some great points, so I'll try to limit myself to three.

1. I make some serious compromises. I would really like a new Jeep Wrangler. I could afford one. But as much as I'd like a Wrangler I like traveling even more. For the foreseeable future, I'll stick with the car that I own outright.

2. I put the wisdom found on FT to good use! For example, I have a good friend living in Berlin. I want to go visit him. Anchorage to Berlin is holding steady at $850 r/t. When I found out I was going to Salt Lake City on business later this month, I started looking for cheap fares to Berlin from just about anywhere in the US. I found $338 out of MSP (Minneapolis). I made sure to book my ANC-SLC flight on Northwest so that I could stop over in MSP! Now I get to go to Berlin for $338 instead of $848! It's good that I didn't just go out of SLC because SLC-BER is $608! Stick around and learn "the tricks of the trade" and you can stretch even the most modest travel money into some good trips.

3.Saving the best for last BE READY TO GO! Good deals pop up and don't last long. Get a passport, make advance arrangements with someone to take care of your pets, house, mail, whatever . . . and try to build up a travel slush fund. That way when a web-saver or a fare war comes your way you are prepared to take advantage of it.

Hope that helps a bit,
-levi aka eastwest

Last Child off to College soon - Does the college take credit cards for tuition payments? If so, do you have a card that earns miles???

I have 0% business travel and I haven't made much money the past few years, so this board is my primary avenue for cheap travel. If you have the time to study this board you can rack up travel credit.

There have been fantastic opportunities over the past couple of years. And there have been great opportunities recently.

Northwest Airlines 10,000 miles for five partner transactions. Along with some phone company miles = free ticket.

American Airlines current offer of 20,000 miles for 20 partner activities by September along with some Kellogg's miles can be a free ticket in North America or the Caribbean. And AA usually has reduced AAddvantage miles special awards each year. Last year my wife and I went to Europe on 30,000 mile awards from the miles we accumulated through Mypoints and MCI.

Join every hotel and airline loyalty program out there. Any time you rent a car, need a hotel stay, or need a flight you calculate what the lowest possible cost you can get and then compare that to the bonuses you can accumulate if you purchase from one of the loyalty chains. For example, I paid $160 for a room at Hilton last month, when I could have got a $65 room that would have been OK. I received enough Hilton points for a free room for a future stay and I had a luxurious room which added greatly to the quality of my vacation instead of spending less money for a passable room with a mediocre to poor bed to sleep for the night. It was an expensive out-of-pocket expense, but two nights in luxury for $160 vs. two nights in a passable, not necessarily comfortable room for $130 is a good investment.

The more money you have the better you can work this travel game, but it certainly can be done with a modest disposable income.

And they keep coming -- GREAT!!
ETOPS01 -- I didnt' mean to imply that there were actual tricks involved -- but what other magicians think is a simple move can amaze the uninitited http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif Y'all are providing a wonderful initiation for me (not just here, but reading all the boards).
ElmhurstNick -- '$3500 of airfare can usually get me 10 trips a year, including three trips to Europe', took my breath away! I am madly learning here, but had yet to put a $ on it, but that is a long way below what I would have thought! Heck, I would have though that would be more like one trip to Europe (never been, yet).
satori -- I have been plugging along with AA (MCI, AOLAA,etc). Great point about the hotels! I have just started learning that here, but a great point to take a deep breath and calculate the returns! Such a splurge is not really a splurge when looked at that way.
Thanks all of you! So much of it is a 'frame of mind' -- and from the outside looks impossible to ever achieve. When my parents traveled it was always a 'big deal' -- large expense, massive planning, etc. It takes a bit to 'change gears' and realize that it is accessible -- your advice sure helps to change the view (pun intended http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif)
(Edited for typing/spelling http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif)

[This message has been edited by cat333 (edited 05-04-2001).]

cat333 .. I fly well over 100,000 paid miles a year, all on leisure, to places I want to visit, and enjoy visiting. You are in Eastern USA. Two trips to Asia gets you nearly to Gold level on many plans from there. On United that racks up about 40,000 miles if planned right and Premier Executive takes only 50,000 flown, and from then on your get double mies on all future trips, and you will already have earned a lot of free First Class upgrade certs by then as well. Other airlines offer similar benefits. A R/T to Asia/Pacific runs only $700-800 pretty often.

Once you get there, you will NEVER look back. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

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~ Glen ~

MHO: If you don't travel much and have limited funds, forget working on Elite status. Concentrate on all the alternate ways to earn miles. Many were already mentioned here.

Determine your goal for trip & location. Try to get miles on the airline that goes there & hotel available there.

Concentrate your purchases on merchants that offer miles. Use the florest that gives you 100 bonus miles instead of the local FTD guy. Clip coupons with programs, like Kellogs.

Sign up and use a mileage affinity credit card. Use it for all your normal purchases. Buy a some www.currencytogo.com travelers checks or no-fee savings bonds every once in a while.

Check out websites mentioned here such as http://www.mileageworkshop.com/ for miles-earning opportunities.

cat333, good luck in your goals!

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He who dies with the most miles ... is dead.

[This message has been edited by ontheroad (edited 05-04-2001).]

(and, when posting, try to avoid dupes like this one)

[This message has been edited by ontheroad (edited 05-04-2001).]

ozstamps -- thanks, I will keep that in mind -- I have switch gears in thinking to consider $700-800, not a lot but am learning to see where I am spending the money, and if I want to travel to make that a priority, so such funds can come from here and there.

onthroad - the elite would be great to have, and I will keep it in mind when planning, but you are right -- for me right now -- earning the miles is my kick start.

I have been to every site I found mentioned on these boards, read, read, and read! It is amazing the 'tips' out there! It is also rather overwhelming for one just starting out (understanding the airport codes alone!) -- that is why y'alls advice here has been so wonderful for me!!! I am very grateful to each of you for taking the time to give me such a boost -- in confidence that I can do it! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif I think I very well might have given up trying if not for your words. Forward I go -- to save, earn, plan -- and hopefully soon to play!!

Cat .. remember $700 r/t will usually rack you up 20,000 status miles to here or BKK or HKG etc from east coast USA. There is usually no guaranteed way to get that many miles flying USA domestically with major carriers. i.e. the most 'bang for your buck' is usually via such "runs". AND you get an It'l vacation from it, and not sit at 20 USA airports for same dough/miles!

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~ Glen ~

cat333:

Although I am late in joining this discussion, I will tell you, as others have done, to define your frequent flyer program goals, decide which carrier offers the greatest opportunity for you to reach those goals, and stick with that airline. And have patience! Also, be vigilant in your quest for any mileage-building opportunity out there - credit cards, cereal, dining out, investments, real estate, long-distance calling plans...you name it.

While I agree that, for now, "elite" status should not be your priority (you need to grow into the concept of earning miles first and being creative about how to do it), it definitely helps you if your goal is to earn as many miles as possible in order to take the family on vacation or perhaps treat yourself to something really special...like First Class on Cathay Pacific (CX) or Singapore Airlines (SQ). Being "Gold", "Platinum", etc. - whichever level you achieve in a given program - really helps you rack up the miles with the mileage bonuses awarded for each paid, qualifying flight. And don't forget to register for every mileage bonus promotion offered by your chosen airline. Even if you don't foresee flying those routes, register anyway. You never know when a great "web special" fare might crop up and, suddenly, that destination becomes important to you as a potential "mileage run."

Admittedly, once hooked by "elite" status, it is hard to give up. I have been AAdvantage Platinum for a few years now and got a jump start this year by doing two "mileage runs" to London plus a vacation with my sister and two friends in Paris. All that travel occurred before the end of February and I never paid more than $339 for any ticket ("web specials"). So, I am already a bit more than half-way to PLT status again for 2002 even though I do not have the DVD player and portable MiniDisc recorder/player I had decided to buy. The mileage building opportunities were, for me, a much more attractive option to help me achieve my overall mileage and status goals for this year.

However, I was laid off a month ago and am in a job search so, naturally, all travel has ceased while I focus on securing employment. Hopefully, I will be back in the skies again soon - perhaps for business (although I hope not every week as it once was) but, more than likely, for pleasure. Who knows? Maybe we will run across one another one day. Remember to post planned travels on the "FlyerTalk Itineraries" forum.

Best of luck to you!

Bill