Expert: Stephen Tanenbaum - 1/17/2005

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Question - I just want to say thank you very much for the infos and if I find cheap ways to travel in Hawaii I will be glad to let you know. So maybe it can help other people like me.. Keep up the good work Jane
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My destination is Maui and my departure is for the end of January or the beginning of February 2005. I choose this destination mainly because I want to surf there. I wish to live over there for at least 6 months. I have very little money and mainly I seek a place to live. You say that you travel for free in Maui. I am interested in knowing how...
thank you very much
Answer -
Hi Jane:
I'll go out on the age 'limb' and guess you are in the 18-25 age group which is perfect for your 'fun' game plan re: surf 'n fun on the valley isle of Maui. Your email contains a few bad indicators,namely, little money, plan to buy an airline ticket on  very short notice, perhaps a matter of days if you leave this month and you need a one way ticket or even worse, price wise, an open eded return ticket.

In a nutshel we have lots of spendable income and use it to add tens of thousands of miles to our favrorite free travel airline program using American and its global partners like British Airways.

We have a special relation to Maui and  have visited Maui at least 30 times. So, perhaps we can help with advice on lodging etc. If so let me know your age, whether you plan to work on Maui or have you saved enough to simply kick back and enjoy the  six months of surfing?

If you plan to work...what kind of work? And any idea of what jobs are most available on Maui?

Sorry I can not really help on the one way airline ticket.
If you think you might be interested in using a free travel airline program let me know your yearly spendable income?

Steve T.

From what I understand from your email is that you travel for free by collecting airmiles? Is that right?
Im 27 and I plan to work in Maui. I have a specialisation in traditional japanese cooking, I teach french ( french is my first language )and I also give stretching/taichi courses. I would like to work as a private cook for people who like asian or mediterranean cooking. Or be a tour guide for french tourist.
Because I will be there for six months I will have to look for an apartment or leaving in hotel in exchange of some services.
By way Im really surprised that your answer are so fast!
Answer -
Hi Jane:

I love leaving my PC and all other 'toys' home and heading out for two x 3 month trips per year. Then back home and on the PC daily...like two very different but parallel lives.

I put together a three page 'primer' that details, with recommendations, pretty much how we manage to fly free over the years. I will attempt to cut and paste it to this email on the assumption there is no maximum length.

Good luck on your Maui endeavors. I'll assume you are well acquainted with Mau since you mention potential work as a tour guide. If I am wrong and you need any info or tips on the Island itself let me know. Steve T.

         
Better than Cheap.....FREE TRAVEL! (c) Tanenbaum

During the past five years,  since our early retirement, my wife Patty and I have spent six months per year globe trotting on planet Earth. Better yet, I can not recall the last time we paid for plane tickets since we are always flying free!  We truly believe that most everyone should likewise be enjoying the benefits of free airline travel to both domestic and exotic foreign destinations.

To this noble end here is my abbreviated ‘Primer' on Free air travel.

Caveat: When is Free really Free? If I ask you to pay me ten dollars on condition that I will then immediately give you $50 I hope that when you are holding the $50 in your hand you will agree you have just been given a free gift of $40. If you agree then read on....

Our primary means of free travel is by using our favorite airline free travel program which is American AAdvantage. Over the years we have amassed hundreds of thousands of program miles.
Best of all, we obtain at least 95% of these miles from sources other than airline flights.
Following are my recommendations for entering the world of free airline travel:

1) Call American Airlines AAdvantage department and open a ‘free' frequent airline account. Call American at: 800-882-8880 or go to www.AA.com

2) You should next apply for a Citibank AAdvantage Gold World Mastercard. The fee for this essential card is $60 per year. This card is a ‘must' and is the only ‘pay' card you need obtain and renew each year. It will pay for itself with free air travel many times over. In fact, you will immediately receive 10,000 BONUS miles. What is this worth? Consider that this is almost half of a 25,000 miles (sometimes on sale for 20,000 miles) American Airlines domestic free travel award. Such an award not only permits a round trip anywhere in the lower 48 but American Airlines, unlike its competitors, offers you  SECOND FREE FLIGHT. Domestic Example: You may fly free from  New York to San Francisco, then free from San Francisco to Miami and then back to New York.You often receive a 3rd free flight on international awards.  Example #1: Using an American 70C award we flew free to Australia, then an ‘open jaw'  free flight from Sydney to Christchurch New Zealand and then a ‘first U.S. Gateway'  free stop over in Maui before flying home.
International Example #2: We flew free to Paris, then 2nd European free flight to Athens, then a free first U.S. Gateway  flight to Miami before returning home to San Francisco. We love American.

Your initial $60 yearly fee has gotten you well on your way to your first free flight award. The 10,000 bonus miles are worth AT LEAST $160 and as much as $300 or more of  air travel.
Contacts and Rules for obtaining your American airlines related Citibank card: Apply for your Citibank basic Gold American AAdvantage World Mastercard online at: www.aa.com. Place your cursor over Special Offers on the left, then click on Aadvantage Bonus Offers on the pull down menu, then click on Additional Offers - 15,000 miles... or call Citibank at 800-950-5114.

3) Forget using checks. Instead use the Citibank card for all your spendable income, where ever and whenever possible.  The only exception here involves credit card abusers. If you can not handle the responsible use of a credit card then chuck this entire concept, it is not for you.

All others should, as we do, use the Mastercard for ALL PURCHASES you would otherwise be making using cash or personal checks including such as market shopping, gifts, home construction (big bucks), major home furnishings, school payments, donations, cell phone bills, education, health and doctor related  bills etc. Every time you  must make a payment ask yourself and ask the person or company involved if they accept your Mastercard. Consider that the average family spends at least $150 per week on such basic necessaries. Also, most of you take regular vacations whether a weekend getaway, cruise or other vacation. These vacations are themselves a great source of more free miles. Simply pay for all hotel, car rental, end our cruise bills etc. on your World Mastercard.  

4) Realize the value of ‘buying' program air miles. Let us use a NY to SF flight priced conservatively at $400 round trip on American Airlines.  For the moment we are so conservative that I will not consider the ‘second free flight..'  At 25,000 miles for this award we find that each mile is worth 1.6 cents.  Example: Sadly, my recent dentist visit cost $1,000. The dentist accepts Mastercard but offers a 5% ($50) discount for cash. Using this formula we know that the 1,000 program miles is worth about $16. Another words I would have to pay $50 in order to receive $16 worth of airline miles. Not worth it...so I paid by check.  This is an exception to the ‘ use your Citibank for all purchases rule.'

5) Optional: Buy (apply for) a Diners Club Card as well.  This investment will cost you about $95 for the first year and you are free to cancel it at years end. Diners will give you 12,000 program miles good on virtually all airline programs including American AAdvantage. Meaning that it takes only one phone call to ‘move' Diners miles to your American AAdvantage or any other airline account. Two simple rules to this one. You will receive 1,000 miles per month for 12 months. Second, you must make at least one purchase a  month. This is easily done since Shell gas takes Diners Club. Contacts: Www.dinersclub.com or call 800-2DINERS.
NOTE: This is where we can help one another. If you email me (stevepat99@hotmail.com) before you apply for your Diners Club Card I will supply a referral number for you to use. I will then receive a 3000 miles referral bonus. Then, when you refer friends or family you will likewise receive 3000 miles for each referral. Isn't this FUN!

Using our above formula the 12,000 miles is worth $192 in free airline travel. Another words for $95 you are receiving virtually one half of a fly anywhere in the U.S. award PLUS American will let you   take that SECOND FREE flight before you final return flight.

Note: At renewal time Diners will, if you call them, offer you perhaps 5,000 to renew. If they do I suggest you take the deal since the 5,000 free air miles roughly equals the second year fee and Diners often sends you great ‘more miles' deals during the year.

Diners Bonus Example: For three of the past four years, in August,  Diners permitted members to  some or all their miles to British Airways who in turn  DOUBLED ALL MILES TRANSFERRED.  This last year Diners was a bit stingy and reduced the bonus to 50% so that our 8,000 transferred miles became 12,000 miles. All told, we now have over 200,000 British Airway miles sitting out there most of which was accumulated using these and other free miles bonus offers.

6) Call United first Mileage Plus at 800-537-7783 or go online at United.com.  Currently United Mileage Plus offers their Mastercard for a yearly $60 fee and this qualifies for an outstanding bonus of $17,500 miles. While not our favorite airline program this offer is too good to pass up. Ex. Use this deal. Then either spend 6,500 using their Mastercard OR combine with the Diners Club offer which, after 7 months, gives you 7,000 Diners Club miles. With one phone call those Diners Club miles will be transferred to your United Account. Either way you can easily increase the 17,500 miles to 25,000 which qualifies for a FREE ROUND TRIP DOMESTIC LOWER 48 FLIGHT.  

7) Junk Mail we LOVE: Keep a sharp eye for free airline travel deals and other ‘free miles' deals such as the common MCI bonus of thousands of miles for new home service customers. Recently, I replied to ‘junk' seeming mail over two weeks soliciting new Visa/Mastercards or upgrades of excising cards. All told I spend a whopping $200 in annual fees on three new credit cards. Why you may be asking?
In return, we received a total of 50,000 bonus miles. Using our handy dandy formula these miles are worth at least $800 which is a $600 free airline travel PROFIT.  Example: A 35000 mile American award  is good for free round trip travel to Hawaii from any U.S. destination Plus an extra free flight to any major U.S. city before returning home. We recently flew form Maui (2 weeks ) to Buffalo/Niagara Falls and then back to San Francisco, all free on American Airlines 35,000 mile award.  An off season round trip ticket to Europe or even Moscow is only 40,000 miles so you should be agreeing that such an outlay of $200 for the three credit cards was indeed the means of ‘purchasing' free airline trips we shall enjoy taking down the road.

Example: walking through Honolulu terminal I spotted a desk. Seems Hawaiian Airlines was soliciting, you guessed it, their Visa/Mastercard. For the $50 yearly fee they offered 10,000 air program miles which happens to equal an interisland round trip flight. Such flights were once inexpensive but sadly now cost about $90 one way or almost $200 round trip.

8) Special promotions: Keep an eye out for these bonus miles offers. Kellogs and other products periodically offer free miles certificates when purchasing their products. About 4 years ago Healthy Choice issued such a promotion. Every ten or so UPC codes from their products was good for free miles. The first month they DOUBLED all submissions.  Some, like myself, found bargain stores that sold single servings of their chocolate pudding at just 25 cents each and EACH HAD A UPC code. We bought $600 worth of pudding, donated to charity (yes, this was also a tax write-off) and collected, are you ready......265,000 American Airline miles! A gentlemen, who made the Wall Street Journal and Today Show spent thousands on pudding and obtained 1,250,000 miles! I should note we spread the word as to our supplier of pudding so that family members and close friends also obtained an average of about 75,000 miles each.

Regardless of whether you make further cash outlays for new cards the mere use of your single most important card, the Citibank AAdvantage World Visa/Mastercard on all your purchases will quickly permit you to amass sufficient miles to qualify for your first of many future FREE AIRLINE flights.

Best of all, we never make a time consuming crusade of all this. Mostly we make our purchases but keep an eye out for those special offers or announcements in monthly Diners Club statements and ‘junk mail we love.' Oh, we also always PAY OUR CREDIT CARD BILLS IN FULL EACH MONTH, since we would otherwise be paying by check, thereby avoiding all interest charges..

Please DO IT and enjoy the world of free airline travel!

Dear Mr Tanenbaum,
The way you use your citibank is quite interesting and smart. Unfortunately, my income is low and I'm an independant worker. Thats the reason why I cannot qualify with credit card company. On the other hand, I will probably ask for this card anyways.
Do you know other ways to travel for free or get cheap accomodation?

About Maui, I never been there before. An acquaintance told me he had already worked as a tour guide in Hawaii.

In fact, for Maui, I seek some contacts. Because you've been there many times, I thought that maybe you know some residents of Maui.  Somebody who could advise me in my job research in Maui. As for example in which district I would have the most chance to find a job as, for example, a private cook...
Answer -
Hi Jane:

Do not know of other means of free trave. Also, sorry but no solid contacts that could help you.

You mention accommodation which usually refers to a hotel/condo though you will eventually fall in the category of  worker long term lodging. Many workers live 45 minutes away in Kahalui, Mauis 'city' though others, waiters etc. share rentals close to the 'action' on the west Maui coast. Even the low end Maui Islander motel, which is landlocked in Lahaina (web site follows) charges
$102 per night. Our own studio apartments at the Royal Kahana are not much more at 50% off the rack rate. This may still be way above your budget though you may wish to consider this for a short term stay upon your arrival.

I suggest a web search for the 1-3 local mini newspapers that locals read and which carries classified ads for such as shared rentals. Or, email the papers to learn which are best used for that purpose.

Wish I could be more helpful. Good luck with your exciting plans. Steve Tanenbaum  

Answer
Hi Jane. Thanks for the good words. Just to be sure, I'm not certain I mentioned the Hawaii Entertainment Edition.
If not you may visit www.entertainment.com and check out the contents. Also, there may be a web special with a discount and/or free shipping. We always take a book with us for our two week visits and without fail the books pay for themselves. In your case the book can't fail over six months given its dining and sightseeing coupons. Even though most are two for one it is likely you will find new friends to help use the saving. Again good luck.