Case Study: Saving $2,140 In My First Month 🙌 · Travel 4 Less

Case Study: Saving $2,140 In My First Month 🙌

So, I just started with this community & am STOKED with what I've already been able to get out of it. $2,140 in cash saved from some simple foresight!

I'm confident ANYONE could do the same if they're planning their travels at least 3 months in advance (to give time to get the right rewards programs, use this community & understand what's possible / communicate with

@Jade Mutu

etc.).

SITUATION

I'm someone who loves to travel (At this stage I want to aim for 1 trip per quarter) but:

1) Don't plan ahead early enough to get the best deals/ flexible times.

2) Never properly used rewards points or had a good framework for navigating the seemingly endless options.

3) Gets overwhelmed by the process of booking flights generally & usually opts for a the cheapest choice with budget carriers without considering everything I'll need.

WHAT WE DID

1) Signed up for a rewards credit card. I used American Express Explorer (I was going to go Platinum but I'm not big on the fancy stuff).

2) Instantly used the $400 travel credit from the American Express Explorer card for a trip I was planning.

3) Because of speaking to

@Jade Mutu

I was able to plan ahead & avoid peak times saving me $1000 (not including travel credit) in airfares to Bali. I got a flight for $333 using the AMEX booking platform 👀 🇮🇩

She also helped me navigate what I would need to take on my flight to decide which fare would be best for me. The initial advice was to get a Flexi ticket, but on reviewing the info because I didn't need carry on baggage & I would have at least 14 days notice to the airline if I needed to change my flight it would be cheaper to just pay the $99 IF I needed to change instead of pre paying an extra $160.

4) Paid for the flights of the 3 people travelling with the Explorer card + accommodation. Got 100,000 bonus points for spending over $4000 in the first 90 days of having the card. Points value around $700.

5) $1440 saved on my flight to Bali + $700 worth of future credits to another flight = $2,140.

6) We also signed up for a new Velocity & Qantas frequent flyer account, while stopping me from converting my shopping (Everyday Rewards & Flybuys) into instant cash to continue to stack wins. All of this is now tracked in Awardwallet (as recommended by Jade).

WHAT'S NEXT

Using the systems taught in this community I'll continue to level up through the travel hacking blueprint to cycle through multiple credit cards every 6 months & stack wins as I travel more!

I'll also be looking to use

@Jade Mutu

as my agent when bigger trips come up 🙌

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