Let’s get something out of the way. “Travel hacking,” at its core, is not an unethical practice. Rather, it is the art of understanding the rules of credit card signup bonuses, shopping portal multipliers, fare sales and frequent traveler programs in order to extract the maximum possible benefit out of the money you spend and the points you earn on just about anything. Understanding the rules of any system to maximize the benefits to you isn’t shady, it’s smart. Just ask Neo. And while there are definitely “fringe” practices that blur (or cross) the line between ethical and unethical behavior, those things are pretty obvious on their face. Simply taking best advantage of the established rules isn’t one one of them. Continue reading →

Welcome to part 1 of a multi-part series of posts outlining my family’s epic 2015 summer vacation — specifically, how we managed to travel nearly 25,000 miles in the air in first and business class, and spend nights in 5-star hotels on 3 continents, in 7 countries and 10 cities, mostly on points and miles that were mostly earned for free. Continue reading →