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The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected] Travel Better For Less ML The Milelion

Travel hacking presentation

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Page 1: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Travel Better For Less

ML The Milelion

Page 2: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

What is travel hacking?

Luxury travel doesn‘t have to be expensive travel hacking upgrades your travel experience while saving you money

Marvelous Suite @ W Sentosa C ove- $600+ per night

2 SQ Suites tickets to Paris $17,000 retail

value ANA First C lass to

Singapore $11,250 retail value

Factory fresh BMW 3 series in

Munich

SQ First C lass to Mumbai

$3,500 retail value

W New York C ity at Christmas-time $500+ per night

Suite at Aloft Abu Dhabi during

convention $450 + retail

(and why should I care?)

Page 3: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AGENDA

2

Credit Cards

5

Other Tricks

3

Airlines

4

Hotels

6

Q&A

1

Start

Page 4: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

START- Philosophies towards travel hacking

Access

B

“Travel hacking gives me access to experiences I otherwise wouldn’t have

been willing/able to afford”

5 1 2 3 4 6

Value

A

“Travel hacking helps me save money”

Page 5: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

START- Philosophies towards travel hacking

Access

B “Travel hacking gives me access to experiences I otherwise wouldn’t have

been willing/able to afford”

5 1 2 3 4 6

• Would you be willing/able to pay for • A budget airline flight to

Bangkok? • An economy class ticket to

London? • A 3 star hotel in Hanoi? • A sub-compact car rental in

Perth?

• Would you be willing/able to pay for • A first class ticket to Los

Angeles? • An ovewater bungalow in Koh

Samui? • A luxury convertible in Malibu?

You get the most out of travel hacking when you redeem for experiences, not commodities

Page 6: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

START- Is travel hacking for you? 5 1 2 3 4 6

Travel Hacking is an investment

and needs time

• Travel hacking will require that you be willing to • Sign up for and carry multiple credit cards • Remember which card to use when • Plan your spending to hit targeted spending

bonuses

• You may have to make some short term sacrifices like • Staying in a slightly inferior hotel just because

it’s part of your chain • Taking a less convenient flight just because it’s

part of your alliance

• It does help a lot if your job allows you to put expenses on personal credit cards, though it’s not essential

Page 7: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

START- Common objections 5 1 2 3 4 6

“ Having so many credit cards is too ma fan. I just want to use

one“ “ I‘d rather redeem my miles for economy class tickets because

you need fewer miles“

“ It‘s too troublesome to remember which card to use when “

“ I‘d rather use Hotels.com/Expedia/Orbitz to book

because it‘s just easier “

Page 8: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CREDIT CARDS

Page 9: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

The best general spending rate you can obtain currently is 1.4 miles/S$1

Category bonuses on dining, online spending and shopping can reach 4 miles /S$1. Certain travel websites give 6-10 miles /S$1

Only ful l fare SQ tickets earn 100% miles The majority of your miles will be earned via credit cards, not flying • SQ is particularly stingy with mile accrual- you only

earn 10% of miles on its super discounted fares.

It is woefully insufficient to rely purely on one card to build your miles • $30K annual spend on a general purpose miles

card- 42,000 miles • Same spend on a mix of cards assuming 30%

dining, 20% shopping, 20% hotels & flights, 30% others- 99,600 miles

5 1 2 3 4 6 CREDIT CARDS- Why do you need them?

Some credit cards have genersous sign

up bonuses upon reaching a minimum

spend within a certain period

Credit cards- bonus/category spend

Credit cards- general spending

Flights

Page 10: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CREDIT CARDS- Breaking it down

Credit Cards

Fixed Rebates

Variable Rebates

Cashback Cards

Miles Cards

Points/ Rewards

Cards

Not all credit cards are made equal • Banks earn swipe fees every time you use their

cards. • To entice you to choose their cards, banks offer

rebates on your spending in the form of cashback or points/miles

5 1 2 3 4 6

Earn a f ixed % back on your spending in the form of a

statement credit

Offers you points or miles, the value of which varies

depending on how you redeem them

Page 11: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Credit Cards

Fixed Rebates

Variable Rebates

Cashback Cards

Miles Cards

Points/ Rewards

Cards

5 1 2 3 4 6

Potential rebate value of 2-28%

Rebate value of 1-6%

CREDIT CARDS- Breaking it down Cashback cards are inherently a worse deal than miles and points • Banks are loathe to part with cash but will

gladly ply you with miles because the variable cost of redemption are borne by the airline

• Airlines are willing to sell miles in bulk at discounts because ~80% of members will redeem at suboptimal rates

Page 12: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Cashback (Fixed Rebates Cards)

The value of the miles and points these cards give you depend on how you spend them • Economy vs premium cabins Your effective rebate therefore can range anywhere between 2-30% • DBS Altitude Card on online travel purchases gives 4.5 miles per S$1, therefore

effective rebate is 4.5*(1 to 7 cents)=~30 cents per S$1 or 27% • ANZ Travel Card on general spending gives 1.4 miles per S$1, therefore effective

rebate is at least 1.4-5.6% Points/Miles (Variable Rebates Cards)

5 1 2 3 4 6

The rebate is given to you in the form of a statement credit where a dollar is always a dollar. These rebates often come with a lot of strings attached- eg minimum spend to receive rebate, maximum rebate capped each month or per transaction • Citibank Dividend Card- 3-5% on groceries with minimum $50 transaction. 0.5%

elsewhere • ANZ Optimum World Card- 5% on selected category, but maximum $30 rebate per

transaction, can only be redeemed in blocks of $50. Other categories 1% • POSB Everyday Card- advertises up to 6% rebate but only within limited categories;

else 0.3%!

CREDIT CARDS- Cashback or points?

Page 13: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CREDIT CARDS- General Spending 5 1 2 3 4 6

UOB PRVI Miles Card ANZ Travel Card Citibank Premiermiles DBS Altitude Card

Available in

General spend

Other features

AMEX, MC, Visa Visa AMEX, MC AMEX, Visa

1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2

Overseas: 2.4 SQ/MI: 3

Overseas: 2 SQ/MI: 2

Agoda/Expedia: 6 Kaligo: 10

Overseas: 2 Online hotel/flights: 3

Australia/NZ: 2.8

50% earning bonus on AMEX for 6 months

after approval Spend $800 get 12,000

miles on Visa

Min Income: $80,000 Min Income: $60,000 Min Income: $50,000 Min Income: $50,000

Joining bonus- pay first year annual fee of S$256.80 and get

15,000 welcome miles

Complimentary (ie non priority pass) Lounge

access worldwide plus limo service with min S$2,500 spend within

30 days of travel

Frequent bonus promotions with OTAs,

retention bonus of 15,000 miles with

payment of S$256.80 annual fee

Specialised spend

Page 14: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CREDIT CARDS- Specific Spending 5 1 2 3 4 6

UOB Preferred Platinum AMEX

DBS Woman‘s World Citibank Rewards UOB Preferred Platinum Visa

Available in

General spend

Specialised spend

Comments

AMEX, MC, Visa MC, Visa MC, Visa AMEX, Visa, MC

0.8 0.4 0.4 0.4

Min Income: $30,000 Min Income: $30,000

Dining- 4 Online-4 Shopping- 4 Paywave-4

This bonus will not cover dining in hotel

restaurants, which will be coded as hotel

transactions

Bonus limited to first $2,000 spend per month, after which you earn the

terrible 0.4 rate. Plan carefully!

Shopping is defined as purchases at any place which sells bags, shoes

or clothes, or department stores. Also applies to

online shopping

Bonus limited to $12,000 spend per annum

Min Income: $80,000 Min Income: $30,000

Page 15: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CREDIT CARDS- Entry level 5 1 2 3 4 6

DBS Livefresh Maybank Horizon Citibank Clear DBS Woman‘s Card

General spend

Specialised spend

Comments

0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4

Selected travel bookings Agoda, Expedia, AirBnB,

Jetstar, AirAsia, Pandabed, TigerAir

Also comes with lounge access with min S$400

charge on air tickets within 3 months before

travel

Points valid for 5 years Online shopping

excludes F&B, travel, airline, cinema,

government payments etc

Bonus capped at $2,000 spend per month

Online spending includes

OTAs and air ticket purchases

Air Tickets, DFS Changi, Overseas

spend- - 2

Online -2 Overseas, Dining and Online Shopping- 2

Overseas spend, travel bookings, online

shopping, Paywave- 1.2

Min Income: $30,000 Min Income: $30,000 Min Income: $30,000 Min Income: $30,000

Page 16: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

5 1 2 3 4 6 CREDIT CARDS- Bonus Strategy

Krisflyer Ascend AMEX Rewards

Bonus

• 1 free night at

selected Millennium hotels worldwide

• 4 free SATs lounge vouchers

• If <$50,000 apply for the Krisflyer Gold card,

Min Income: $50,000

Comments

Get 5,000 miles with your first

spend

Cost per mile

Get 13,333 miles with $1,500 spend

Liberation Cost

DBS Altitude Visa

None $20 $40 (annual)

Free 11.8 cents

• Relatively high cost of miles, would only

advise this if you‘re spending

for someone else

Min Income: $30,000

Get 12,000 miles with $800 spend

Get 2,00 miles upon approval

Get 15,000 miles with $257 annual

fee

$40 (annual) $25

DBS Altitude AMEX UOB PRVI Card

Min Income: $50,000 Min Income: $50,000 Min Income: $80,000

Free 6.7 cents 1.7 cents

• This can be done for the Visa version

too, potentially netting you

30,000 miles in total

• 50% earning bonus for first 6 months

after approval

• Bonus is for online

applications only

Page 17: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

5 1 2 3 4 6 CREDIT CARDS- Know your cards

Inf inite

Signature

P latinum/Gold/C lassic

Access to the V isa Luxury C ol lection of

hotels

C omplimentary Hilton Gold

status, greens fees

World Elite

World

P latinum/Gold/C lassic

C omplimentary elite membership

in Avis and National car

rental

Get SP G Gold status with single stay in Starwood

AP properties

Page 18: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

5 1 2 3 4 6 CREDIT CARDS- Cashing out

NEVER REDEEM MILES FOR ECONOMY CLASS TRAVEL

• If you need a cheap short haul flight, go budget • If you need a cheap long haul flight, go with

the gulf carriers (Ethiad, Emirates, Qatar)

IF YOUR INTENTION IS TO REDEEM ECONOMY CLASS

TRAVEL, YOU’RE BETTER OFF WITH A CASHBACK CARD • Cashback cards give you anywhere between 1-

6% rebates, which is higher than the 1% you’d get from redeeming economy

• Save the cash, then buy an economy class ticket

B E

SQ to London-options

Retail: $7,415

Award: 136,000 miles + $867

Cents per mile=

4.8

Rebate: 7%

Retail: $1,186

Award: 59,500 miles + $686

Cents per mile=

0.84

Rebate: 1%

F

Retail: $14,494

Award: 182,750 miles + $894

Cents per mile=

7.4

Rebate: 10% (assuming 1.4 miles/S$1 card)

Page 19: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Never pay annual fees

Right card, right situation

Miles, not cashback

1

CREDIT CARDS- Summary

3 2 4

• Unless option to earn bonus miles on renewal fee offered AND you have a definite use for the miles

Always redeem for premium

travel • The right card to

use depends on what kind of transaction you’re making

• Premium travel values your miles at 4-7 cents each, versus 1-2 on economy

• Cashback cards give you much less bang for your buck

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 20: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES

Page 21: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES- FFP Overview 5 1 2 3 4 6

Which alliance is it

part of?

What alternative redemption

options exist?

Which credit cards does it

partner with?

What third party earning opportunities

exist?

Do local credit cards offer the chance to earn miles on that FFP? Is the FFP obscure to the extent that you take a haircut for earning opportunities?

Alliances provide opportunities for cross-carrier mile

earning, elite benefits recognition (eg extra

baggage, lounge access, priority

check-in and boarding)

Can you earn bonus miles through hotels, car rentals and other

types of spending?

Does the program let you redeem miles for non-flight options eg hotel stays, gift vouchers, retail items?

Analyzing an FFP

Such redemptions are almost never a good use of miles; but may be useful for a smal l

soon-to-expire balance

Page 22: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Key members Singapore Air, Lufthansa, Thai, United, Eva, ANA Total members: 27 Tiers: Gold, Silver Pros: Avianca Lifemiles, Asian-airline heavy, solid gold benefits, TK status match Cons: Lack of middle tier, weak silver benefits, weak Middle East and South America coverage

AIRLINES- Know your alliances

Key members Cathay, American, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas Total members: 16 Tiers: Emerald, Sapphire, Ruby Pros: 2nd tier elites get lounge access, top tier gets first class lounge access, airberlin status match, minimal inter-alliance blocking Cons: No Africa coverage, smallest overall alliance

Key members Air France, Delta, Korean, Garuda, KLM Total members: 20 Tiers: Elite Plus, Elite Pros: Africa coverage Cons: Lack of a true “prestige” carrier, most dysfunctional alliance with active award space blocking, no Oceania/South America coverage

Key members Ethiad, Jet, airberlin, Alitalia, Total members: 20 Tiers: Gold Elite, , Gold, Silver Pros: Wide variety of partners makes this the best place to dump orphan miles Cons: Most of the partnerships are mile earning only without mutual benefit recognition

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 23: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES- Krisflyer Analysis

Which credit cards does it

partner with?

• Krisflyer is a transfer partner for all local mile earning credit cards

Which alliance is it

part of?

• Krisflyer Gold and Silver members enjoy cross carrier benefits on other Star partners

• However, using Krisflyer miles for Star Alliance partner awards is extremely poor value- for this consider Lifemiles

What third party earning opportunities

exist?

• Most major hotel chains and rental cars award some KF miles

• Krisflyer is a partner of Rocketmiles and Kaligo

• Krisflyer Spree online shopping portal exists but is poor value compared to traditional cashback portals

Krisflyer • Very limited- Scoot and Tigerair vouchers available at ~1 cent per mile value

• Option to pay for flights with Krisflyer miles at~1 cent per mile

What alternative redemption

options exist?

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 24: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES- Lifemiles

• Lifemiles is the frequent flyer program of Avianca, a Star Alliance member, which runs quarterly promotions where miles are sold at a 100% bonus, bringing down the cost to 1.5-1.65 US cents per mile

• This provides an arbitrage opportunity whereby it is cheaper to buy the miles and

redeem a first/business class ticket as opposed to buying the ticket itself • In order to participate in this promotion, your account must be open before the

promotion is announced. Open an account here- http://bit.ly/QeAkyy

Register for Lifemiles account

today

PROFIT! Buy miles at 1.5-

1.65 cents during quarterly

promo

Redeem for business/first

class tickets on Star Alliance

carriers

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 25: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES- Status matching 5 1 2 3 4 6

(oneworld) (star alliance)

Original F FP

Match: http://bit.ly/1ASCbdB

Match: send email to customer service with proof of competing status

Status match and retain status for up to 3 years

• Assuming you’re able to get status with one airline, you could match it to Turkish towards expiry, and subsequently match Turkish to airberlin when Turkish expires

• This ensures you’ll always have status with at least 1 airline alliance

Page 26: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

AIRLINES- Summary

Status match during lean

periods

4

• You can only status match once in the lifetime of your account, so use it carefully to see out a lull in travel

Open a Lifemiles account

2

• You can only take advantage of bonus promos if your account was open prior to the date the promo was announced

Pick your alliance carefully

1

• Your alliance limits your choices of redemption and who recognises your status

5 1 2 3 4 6

3 Always redeem

for premium travel

• Premium travel values your miles at 4-7 cents each, versus 1-2 on economy

Page 27: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS

Page 28: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Why does status matter? 5 1 2 3 4 6

Bonus points

Late Check

Out

Upgrades

Free suff during stays

• Enjoy upgrades to better rooms and suites when you stay

• Hyatt and Starwood offer the chance to get confirmed suite upgrades a limited number of times a year, and on availability basis other times

• Elite members earn points bonus points above that which ordinary members get

• Elite members enjoy late checkouts (4pm in some programs, though this may be extended further on goodwill)

• Allows you to catch later flights without paying extra

Status Benefits

• Elite members get premium internet access, breakfast and welcome amenities

Page 29: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Calendar Year

3 months

50 nights/25 stays

18 nights

SP G P latinum usual ly requires 50 nights in a calendar year

However, Starwood is wil ling to grant you P latinum status if you

complete 18 nights in a 90 day period

6 3 9 Jan 2015

Dec 2015

5 9 3 1 2 3 5 4

Status earned in 2015 is valid for the membership year of 2016,

expiring in Feb 2017

• Enjoy the benefits of Platinum status from the 18th night instead of the 50th

• Earn Platinum status early in the year and enjoy for the remainder of the year + next calendar year + Jan and Feb of subsequent year

HOTELS- Status Challenges Explained 5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 30: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Hacking the majors

Platinum- 18 nights/90 days

Gold- 9 nights/90 days

World Mastercard holders- stay 1 night in Asia-Pac SPG

properties and get gold- http://bit.ly/1DXRlEW

Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, St Regis, Luxury Collection, Aloft, W, Four

Points

Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt House, Andaz,

Hyatt Place, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt

Hilton, Conrad, Doubletree, Hampton,

Homewood, Home2Suites, Waldof Astoria, Curio, Canopy, Embassy Suites, HGI

Novotel, ibis, Sofitel, Mgallery, Pullman, Grand Mercure, Adagio, Sebel

Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday inn, Holiday

Inn Express, Staybridge, Candlewood Hotel Indigo

Diamond: 12 nights/60 days

Platinum: 6 nights/60 days

Diamond: 21 nights/90 days (not official policy to offer)

Gold: 4 stays/90 days

Platinum Elite: 40 nights + 3 IHG brands

Gold Elite: 10 nights + 3 IHG brands

Not available

Not available

Complimentary Hilton Gold with Visa Infinite cards

(CIMB Visa Infinite has no annual fee)

For US$200 you can become an Intercontinental

Ambassador Currently not available

Pay 90 Euros and get LeClub Accor Gold status

with the ibis Business Card

1,162 527 4,100 3,500 4,704

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 31: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Where to book

Where to book?

I care about the absolute cheapest

price

I want to earn points and status

OTAs via CB portal

Official Website via CB portal

Miles back OTA

Non-chain

Opaque Booking Channels

Chains

5 1 2 3 4 6

Your choice of booking channel is important • You do NOT earn points with

hotel chains when booking via OTAs

• However, OTAs can be a good option if you’re chasing miles

Have their own rewards program, but the value is so

poor it‘s practical ly negligible

Give chains a chance • Yes, it’s not as sexy as a boutique

hotel, and sometimes there may be better located, cheaper independent properties

• But chains have some ultra-luxurious aspirational properties in the Maldives and other beach destinations which are unaffordable through regular means- target those

Page 32: Travel hacking presentation

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HOTELS- Milesback OTAs 5 1 2 3 4 6

Milesback sites are OTAs which reward you with miles when you book through them Since these are OTAs, you won’t earn

any elite credit or points on your stay.

However, earning 10 miles per S$1

with Kaligo or 3,000 extra miles on

your first Rocketmiles booking is still

too good to turn down

Joining bonuses

Rocketmiles- http://bit.ly/1MTQk0B 3,000 bonus miles on

f irst booking 10 miles per S$1

spent

Page 33: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Opaque Booking Channels (OBC)

Possible brand dilution when consumers see 5* Hotel sel ling for cheap

C onsumer gets a big discount in exchange for agreeing to a non-refundable booking at a property whose name wil l only

be revaled post purchase

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 34: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

Pick city and desired neighborhoods Priceline lets you select which

neighbourhoods you are willing to

stay in. More popular cities are

more likely to be subdivided into

more neighbourhoods which

gives you more granular control

over the process.

Remember: you will never be

assigned a hotel outside the

neighbourhood you choose

1

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 35: Travel hacking presentation

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HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

Specify which star level you’re willing to take Typically you should be going for

5 or 4.5 star hotels, because these

represent the greatest deal. There

is almost certainly no point in

using Priceline for 1-3 star hotels,

as you could surely find these

cheaper on an OTA with no issue

of asymmetrical knowledge

2

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 36: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

Name your price To prevent you from “bid sniffing”,

Priceline limits you to 1 bid per 24

hours. This can be easily

circumvented, as I’ll show you on

the next few slides.

ALWAYS lowball. Always. The

point of this site is to save money.

Priceline is likely to warn you that

your bid has a “small” chance of

being accepted, in order to scare

you into bidding more, but you’re

smarter than that.

Right?

3

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 37: Travel hacking presentation

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HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

Review your request and submit At this point you’ll be asked to

enter your payment details.

Annoyingly, Priceline adds on the

fees separately, so take that into

consideration when you’re

bidding in step 3

Because of the nature of Priceline,

no refunds are allowed. For

whatever reason. Be sure your

dates are set in stone before you

try this

4

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 38: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

If your first bid is successful, you bid way too high You shouldn’t be successful in

your first bid. Otherwise you’ve

left money on the table. The idea

is to edge your price upwards until

you win

5

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 39: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Priceline tutorial

Use a “rebid zone” to repeat the process, plus $3-5 Identify which zones in the city do

not have 4.5 and 5 star hotels.

Add 1 of those zones to your

selection and repeat your bid

If bid is rejected, repeat again,

adding another zone. This is why

this technique works the best in

cities with a lot of zones.

Don’t worry- because you

specified 4.5 and 5 star hotels, you

will never get a hotel in a zone

you don’t want

6

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 40: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Hotwire

Hotwire is a lazy man’s Priceline No bidding is needed- the portal shows

you the price, the neighbourhood and the

star level- you decide whether you want to

take a punt

Because you don’t bid, you’ll

invariably end up paying

more

However, because Hotwire specifically

lists the amenities at the hotel, some

intelligent guesswork can narrow down

the potential hotels

Hotwire lists prices, neighbourhoods, star levels and

amenities- you just need to take the leap of faith

Hotwire- Las Vegas Example

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 41: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

HOTELS- Betterbidding and BiddingforTravel

Priceline and Hotwire are games of information asymmetry Get informed. Read about people’s successful bids on BetterBidding and BiddingForTravel

Users report their wins on Hotline- helping yo uidentify hotels based on the types of amenities

they have

BetterBidding Forums

5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 42: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Use the right credit cards

4

• The DBS Altitude AMEX has 4.5 miles per S$1 of hotel spend, provided payment is done online

Register for bonuses

2

• Hotels run quarterly promotions which you need to register for- no registration, no bonus points!

3 Always use the official website (via a cashback site)

• Stays via OTAs do not qualify for stay credit or points. OTA rewards programs are poor value, so unless the discount is significant, use the official website

Pick a chain, any chain

1

• Your choice should be based on where you’re likely to travel and your leisure travel budget

HOTELS- Summary 5 1 2 3 4 6

Page 43: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

4 OTHER TRICKS- Cashback Portals

No commission paid

C ommission paid and

retained by advertiser

C ommission paid and

distributed to you

Every time you don’t use a cashback site, you’re leaving money on the table • Please, please, please take the money

Get bonus credit on your purchases with my referral links • Top Cash Back • Ebates • Shopback

5 1 2 3 6

Page 44: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

OTHER TRICKS- 4 miles everywhere! 1 3

• There are 2 prepaid cards in Singapore- the IMAGINE AMEX and the FEVO Mastercard

• Recall that the DBS Woman’s World Card

gives 4 miles per S$1, on the first S$2,000 of spend per month

• You can top up the FEVO card with S$2,000

each month using your DBS Woman’s World Card, then use the FEVO/IMAGINE to spend on regular items, effectively earning 4 miles everywhere

• FEVO fees-1% on credit card top ups (wavied for top ups of $50 and more), $0.50 fee on DBS/POSB ibanking

• IMAGINE fees- service fees are waived for $50 reloads and more Purchase for $28

4 5 1 2 3 6 Purchase for $20 with $4 credit

Page 45: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

OTHER TRICKS- APEC Business Travel Card

• If you’re a frequent traveler, ask your HR department to sign a letter of justification so you can apply for the APEC Business Travel Card

• The card lets you skip immigration queues in a large number of APEC countries. This can come in handy in countries where immigration queues can be notoriously long, like Indonesia and to a lesser extent Thailand

4 5 1 2 3 6

Page 46: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

Conclusion- what do we now know?

Access over value

3

Earn and Burn

1

Miles and points are the worst currency to hold- they don’t earn interest and their value

can only erode

Miles and points give you access to

aspirational products, not discounts on

thigs you can already afford

2

All about arbitrage Miles and points

should only be spent at a value above

which they took to earn

Page 47: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

QUESTIONS

?

Page 48: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

CONTACT

@milelionsg themilelion www.milelion.com

Page 49: Travel hacking presentation

The Milelion Travel Better for Less www.milelion.com, [email protected]

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