Where to fly cheap in november
Ep. 11 - How to fly to Hawaii for free! (or for very cheap)
Hey guys welcome to Aloha Life Now, my name is Danny and I'm Erick
And we are doing a special today and it's about credit card points
Because as you know everybody is gonna have to fly to Hawaii so we want to figure out
What is the best way for you to rack up your points so Erick is an expert and I'm gonna default to him
So we want to help people get to Hawaii and experience everything we show
And things that are great about Hawaii and everyone loves Hawaii right?
But the image is it's expensive and to be honest Danny it's expensive
There's a way to actually get tickets, hotels, and other things for basically free
Free????....Free....and I know there's gonna be the people who are anti credit cards
And everything like that and that's fine it's not for everybody
But for the people who are you know have discipline and won't abuse their credit cards
And can actually pay them off on time then this system would work
you know that's my little disclaimer it's not for everybody and I know
there's a lot of people who are like really against it, Dave Ramsey strategy, everything
But yeah those are for the people who have got into trouble with debt
This is for people who can control debt and can take advantage of it
Because look, banks you pay so much money to them you use the ATM they take your money
You transfer money I tried wiring money today 45 bucks
It's my money, I was trying to transfer to my bank, but anyway
So this is a way to get some of your money back and credit card bonus points are they're free money basically, why not?
So I have a question about that because I see tons of different promotions
Where it's like get points, get cash back, or you get miles so what is the difference?
There's a lot of differences I mean they they call it a lot of different things
Cash back that is the... I mean it's good
That's the one for safe people, okay cuz all you're getting is a percent back on everything you spend
Which is good I like I have cash back rewards as well
Now if you want to get free flights, or free hotel rooms, or those kind of things
The cash back is not going to help, oh okay, that's just to get a little bit of your money back
And eventually once you know you get started into this
Later on, those will be really good and...
But that's the difference of cash back between points, now miles and points
They're kind of the same, miles the image is for flying right? right yeah
Points is just more flexible because it can be used for hotels, flying, and cash back
It's pretty much that everything type of thing is points. All right
Now there's a strategy to this okay because if you're gonna start
yeah there's you you might be lost there's you might be getting mailers
Oh discover this or Hawaiian miles this. 50,000 miles...exactly
Or you go to the bank, if you're in Hawaii, Bank of Hawaii offers you miles as well for getting a Hawaiian Airlines credit card as well
So you get a lot of thrown at you
But if you're gonna do this to the max, to really take advantage of it you have to know the strategy
And today I'm gonna give you a little introduction about it...(Danny) Oh man! Not the full strategy?
It's not for everybody and I don't want to make a general video about it
Because I would have to talk to you individually okay and know your goals
And where you're at and you know what you can handle
This is just to get you started, okay, get you started
The number one thing start with Chase! if you want to do the strategy right
Start with chase, and here's why, Chase has the best point system
They do points, they don't do miles, they do points they're called UR points
That's the name, every point family has their own names, Chase UR
Okay UR points and the reason why they're the best points so most lucrative
But also the hardest to get in, they're the most restrictive ok... (Danny) So you have to have good credit?
Not, not in that sense but they limit you to how many chase cards you can get
Or how many cards in general, Chase has this weird rule it's the 5/24 rule
You cannot have more than 5 credit cards in the last two years
And it doesn't matter if they're Chase. Any credit card that means Macy's, Costco, anything, cash back
Doesn't matter what card you got, but that's why they're really restricted
That rule just it's like a slap in the face to people who want the points
Because they do have the best points and they're getting more and more restrictive
So you know when I got in, I got at a really good time, I have amassed
I think I have about 450,000 UR points...(Danny) 450,000 points???
(Danny) I don't even know how much one point is but 450,000 of anything....
It's a lot... it's a lot and it's cuz I got it in the beginning when they had the higher bonuses
And I could actually double dip on some but that, that's something else
But to give you an idea I just booked in January three nights
At one of the top hotels in Lima Peru in Miraflores for my sister's wedding
And I checked on hotels.com and Expedia and things like that, it was going for $1,000 a night
My whole three days cost me 50,000 UR points
So you can... the equivalent if you'd want to cash back
10,000 points is $100 okay that's the equivalent right
So 100,000 points would be $1,000, right... right
So that's the equivalent, but that's why we don't want to take cash back
Because if you use it for hotels and flights they expand immensely
I couldn't even get one night at that hotel, not even, it was a $1,000 a night at that hotel
But it gave me three nights because I went through their portal and they had they sometimes have specials and things like that
So your points go beyond that
And that's why UR points are so valuable because you can find amazing deals
Not only for hotels, but flights to through their portal
Now back to Chase, the credit card, so 5/24 you got to remember that rule
So you got to know what cards you open in the last two years because that blocks you
Okay, five cards, within two years, okay 24 months
So let's just say I have I open a Costco card last year, I only have four slots left okay
Okay now I get my first Chase card, I only have three cards left
That I can get with Chase, and you're thinking oh that's still a lot right right
Chase has the best credit cards on top of everything I'm talk about having the
best point the best everything they have the best co-branded credit cards
(Danny) Again, we are not sponsored by Chase
This is just the strategy so for example Chase has its own cards like they have the freedom,
preferred, reserved, ink preferred, all these these are these are the chase ones
okay and they give you UR points alright and so these are the ones we
want to start with, but then, they have a lot of co branded cards, like Southwest
Hilton, not hilton, I'm sorry... Hyatt... Marriott, United so it's a long list
Avios the British Airways even Disney they have a co branded Disney card
Never get that one, but because it limits your cards okay so you there's a
Strategy that goes into this okay, start with the UR points, but now
How do we come to Hawaii right, so I'm only gonna do Chase because you can tell
This is a lot of information, yes, yeah, now the great thing about UR points
They transfer to many different partners so they're flexible right you can go
Through the Chase portal or you can transfer it one one one point one point
To a different partner and they partner with everybody like all the hotels, a lot
a lot of airlines and here's the trick to come to Hawaii
So for example Delta, yeah if you have Delta points they fly to Hawaii from the west coast
Actually from anywhere in the U.S. right and it'll cost you about 45,000 miles
To come here round trip maybe more okay
But Korean Air, this is the big thing, Korean Air doesn't fly here
But they partner with Delta so if you buy ticket or use your points through Korean you get on
a Delta flight but it's half the price. Same airline ,same seat
It's just going through a different way, okay so you're going through Korean airline
And they give you they have just better point system and this is the great thing
about Chase the UR points transfer 1 to 1 to Korean Airlines
Right, no currency exchange, just 1 to 1, right
so depending on the time of the year but most of the time you can find a
round-trip ticket to Hawaii for 25,000 points (Danny) How much would that be in dollars?, $250, if you hit the cash back
All right so that's nothing, to give you an example why it's nothing
one Chase card bonus sign up bonus is 50,000 points so there's two tickets
Two round-trip tickets just right there one signup bonus so that's one strategy to
get a cheap flight over here all right even if you wanted luxury business class
I think is only forty-five or fifty thousand Korean points roundtrip so for
that one bonus you could get a business class trip round-trip ticket to Hawaii
and back alright and then the other points you have could be used for a
hotel or whatever that's the thing okay so that's one way, UR points Korean Airlines
To fly to Hawaii for really cheap it's it's the best deal there's
other ways but you'll be using more points Korean air right now I think is
number one for the cheapest way to get to Hawaii
okay now the biggest news in the point world are in the credit card world yes
Southwest has just announced, yes, that they are gonna fly to Hawaii, that is HUGE
HUGE HUGE HUGE and if anybody who flies Southwest knows that they have a great
system okay they'll refund your canceled flights you can change dates you can do
it's super flexible how much they charge for like one cup of water I don't know
I'm just trying to give you the fly over here yeah now the the places that
they fly have expanded every year and now you can go to you know people think
all Southwest just for mainland only right and it used to be like that and
just a major hubs but now they actually flied with Caribbean, Central America, and
now Hawaii and that's like the hugest thing ever because Southwest airlines
is the only airline that has this wonderful magical little thing called
companion pass, okay so a companion pass this this will change your whole life
(Danny) okay I'm ready! (Erick) And you can come to Hawaii all the time this is the big thing or a certain amount of flights to
Companion pass, you need a certain amount of points or certain amount of flights to achieve a companion pass
It lasts two years okay two years from the time you got it
It depends on when you got it but it's two years, okay, that's insane amount of time
Let's say I got the companion pass and I put Danny as my companion
Any flight I take with Southwest doesn't matter if I bought the flight
The ticket with points or with miles or with money, Danny gets to fly for free
(Danny) what what??? (Erick) I buy one ticket the second ticket whoever your companion is
Is free, so basically I can tell Danny hey pay half of this... you know you can get two tickets for the price of one, basically
It has to be the same flight?
That's the only catch, if I fly and Danny wants to come that's good
But if Danny flies I he can't fly by himself it has to be together, okay
I can fly by myself that's fine, I mean Danny could fly by himself too
But if you want to use the companion pass it has to be together at the same flight same time
That's so great for couples, for married for dating couples, best friends and it's just insane
There's limits to it
You can change your companion (Danny) yeah, I don't like you anymore, I'm changing my companion
But you can only do it three or four, four times maybe three times a year or four times a year
So it's limited but that's still a lot if you think about it
Yeah, I'll put my spouse for most of the time and then oh she can't come to this big trip but I'll put
My best friend and then after that big trip I'll put my spouse right back on
So it's flexible that's also and that's per year so you can change it the next year
Because you have this for two years remembered alright so this is the most
Magical amazing thing ever right and it's not just with paid tickets
I have all these freaking points I could buy my ticket with points and then Danny flies for free
Or my companion flies for free and then maybe I can charge him some money right, to get that back
It's better than paying full price
And that's amazing and they're gonna start from 2018 so why not
get the companion pass starting January 2018 because that'll last you two years
So now here's the danger part of it if I got my companion passed today
It's November yeah that means it would only be good till the end of this year and net year
Oh yeah so why would I do that right if I got in December
I'd only get a year basically so you want to start the new year (Danny) so do you have to signup for the companion pass?
No, there' two ways to get it
So yeah let me tell you that's this is the big thing right
How to get the companion pass you can fly I think it's 200 flights with
Southwest Airlines so you'd have to fly like twice a week I don't know like you
know you need a ton of flights right of course we're not going to do that
That's not practical unless you're doing a business trip or something like that all the time
The other way a 110,000 points
If you reach a 110,000 points or miles Southwest miles
(Noise) bing, bing, bing.
You achieved your companion pass. Okay now what counts for that?
Of course flights the miles that you accrued with your flights right, shopping portal, they have a portal that
you can shop, but the main thing is the credit card okay when you use that credit card
All those miles go towards that right. But what have I been talking about?
I don't I don't like I don't like no no I don't like waiting
I mean to charge, you'd have to spend a ton of money to make up 110,000 points
Yeah right yeah so the best way is the bonuses, the signup bonuses
Okay so right now, I believe it's 50,000
This is the great thing Southwest has three credit cards
Three credit cards with chase and they all have bonuses
You can get two of them, you can get the regular personal one and a business or the
regular and another regular okay and I believe right now there are 50,000
50,000 so with two credit cards two of those chase Southwest credit cards
You have a 100,000 points right there
No sweat off your back anything right Wow you have to make up the next 10
Okay and that's a lot easier than110, yeah and then
Of course when as soon as you reach 110 you activate your companion pass put your
Companion boom you're ready to fly! Guess what all those points that you just got
All those 110, you get to keep them, you're not trading in 110 for that
Companion pass, you get your companion pass, Plus now you still have
110,000 Southwest points or miles, take a trip, with your companion right yeah so
It's a great system, now I'm making it sound easy I mean it for me it's pretty easy
But this is the thing that you have to remember to reach bonuses
They require a spending amount, a minimum spending amount (Danny) Like $5,000 in 3 months....exactly
It's always in three months right, I believe Southwest is pretty easy I think it's $2,500
Or $3,000 in three months that's
That's really simple and there's ways to do it without spending your money that you
need to spend this is another technique I won't get into today yeah cuz I mean
for me like I would get like four credit cards with bonuses
think of make a strategy make a plan to spend to meet the minimum spending
Requirement okay so let's say you have a big bill that you have to pay okay boom
It's time to to get it so that it could be anything it could be like a school is
Health insurance, your telephone I mean your cell phone, your internet, cable all that
Your groceries, everything put it on there so
Another technique to meet the minimum spending is to add your spouse or your
the person you're dating or your best friend as an authorized user on your
credit card someone you trust right because everything they'll get their own
card and everything they charge is going to your account right so they could help
you pay it but at least now you have two people paying off are paying towards
that minimum spending of the $2500 in three months
or $3,000 in three months right so you need at least a thousand each
month which you know you can do and it's just with your regular spending I mean I
spend all that all the time right so make a plan basically and then make sure
that you're if you want the Southwest companion pass, make sure that you can
get it, you're not over that 5/24 rule okay because it's chased so it falls
into that rule so if you've already had four cards maybe you only be able to get
one Southwest card okay now there's also ways around this because business cards
don't count so that's another thing but just make sure so we would have to go
over how many cards you'd have in the last two years
There's Credit Karma great free app and website it'll actually tell you what
you've open in the last two years so that's a really easy way and it'll tell
you your credit score of course it's not the real credit score but it you know
it gives you an idea, yeah it gives you an idea yeah it's not gonna pull your credit
of course, um so going back to your authorized users on your
card do they count likes for instance my wife and my son are authorized users
that's a good question, they won't count against your, so let's say you have three
Three cards right yeah, but under your card
it's not gonna be three blocked out of your five, it's gonna count one against theirs
okay so they're gonna have one card against theirs but it's really easy so
let's say like you you started and you got your cards for five chase cards or
your three chase cards or the companion pass right and let's say now your wife
wants to try to do points too and she wants to open a slot you can just take
her off as a authorized user and It will free up a spot for her again
so authorized user does it doesn't really count as I like you got a credit card
It does while you have it, but as soon as you take it off it falls off
It only counts again her, it won't count against you at all okay, whereas let's say you
have a card and you're like I really want to be under the 5/24 I want to
be under five I can cancel my old card that I had, my Costco card that I got last year
It doesn't work, (Danny) also, it's not really good to cancel (Erick) You should not cancel, (Danny) it can affect your credit.
Credit is based on history okay so especially you do not want to
ever close your oldest card because that's giving you a lot of history
credit history, rule of thumb, never close a free card if you have a free
card you're not paying a yearly fee don't close it or you can if you've got
a yearly, just change within the same company you can switch to a free card. you can product change, not all of them let you product change , but you you can
So for example the Southwest has an annual fee on each card I think it's $95
on one of them and $65 on the other, completely worth it
That's a yearly fee, think about it you have a pass where you're gonna get a free
ticket at every time way worth it, way worth it, yeah and in the future if you
don't want it anymore and you don't want to pay that yearly fee that you can cancel
okay as long as it's not your old it wouldn't be your oldest card if
you're just opening it now right so you can try to product changes to a free
card too but I don't know if Southwest does product change but you can try
never hurts to try
Man, we've gone almost a half an hour, and if people are still watching that's because they are dedicated
And you know we definitely do a part 2 to this
yeah because we haven't even hit hotels I mean the same kind of idea same thing with hotels you can do the same
system same strategy you just have to know which cards to do it and this is
general advice so if you if you're interested in this put in the comment
put in the comment I want a message from you or I want help, comment...hashtag I want help....hashtag I want help Erick (Laughing)
Just put it in the comment and then I can see the comments and all private message you
And then we can talk and see where you're at and then
I'll give you my advice because it's really hard to generalize this advice but I
just wanted to make a structure and give you an idea of that there is a way to
come to Hawaii and enjoy paradise for free basically
Erick, is just being humble, please, if you are going to ask him for advice, please respect his time
He of course would be happy to accept donations (Laughing) but thank you for watching you know if you have any questions
Put it in the comment you know tag your friends do anything
We're trying to build Aloha life try to help people yeah enjoy the beauty of paradise here
And have a good one man yeah Aloha.
