Rick Ingersoll

The Frugal Travel Guy Receives Third Consecutive “Best Budget Travel Blog” Award

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Tripbase.com announces its 2011 winners.

September 28, 2011 (Hilton Head Island, SC) — For the third consecutive year, “The Frugal Travel Guy” blog has received a Tripbase Award for Best Budget Travel Blog.

Rick Ingersoll is the founder and primary author of “The Frugal Travel Guy” blog and a recognized “travel hacker” expert on frugal travel and flying for free. A retired mortgage banker and frequent world traveler, he is always on the look out for deals others miss or simply don’t know about towards accumulating airline frequent flier miles and hotel rewards points. He shares everything he finds and teaches his readers a host of tips and tricks for accumulating miles and points and significantly reducing their travel budget for life.

“My true intent is to teach people how to do this themselves,” he says, “so that they can see the world at prices we can all afford. I love showing average folks like me, who think they can’t afford to travel, that they can by following the tips, deals, and advice I post on the Frugal Travel Guy blog every day.”

Ingersoll is rewarded by near-constant thanks from readers for who have been on trips they never thought they could afford.

“The Frugal Travel Guy” blog also features weekly “Rookie Travel Tips” by Ingersoll’s daughter, Shannon Watson, for readers who are just beginning the “travel hacking” game; his son Andrew’s posts and photographs from his own extensive world travels; and “Sunday Success Stories” by readers who share how they used Ingersoll’s advice to afford often amazing travel experiences.

The Tripbase Travel award is only given to the blogs that are the top of their respective class and are some of the best in the field, according to Tripbase’s website (www.tripbase.com). A team of travel experts scours the Internet for the best blogs they can find and make the nominations. The group then short-lists certain blogs, considering factors such as how informative the blog is, the overall writing style, the actual blog appearance, and how well that blog performs in its given category when compared and contrasted to other, similar blogs.

“The award is a mark of prestige, which is only afforded to the blogs that score highly when our judges review them for selection,” Tripbase reports. “The award is a sign that a blog succeeds greatly at what it does, and surpasses all expectations, thereby indicating it as a veritable bastion of quality and information.”

For more information on the Tripbase Awards, visit www.tripbase.com/d/awards/2011.

For more information on The Frugal Travel Guy, visit www.frugaltravelguy.com.

About The Frugal Travel Guy:

Rick Ingersoll is the author of The Frugal Travel Guy Blog, which is read around the world and averages 6000 views per day, and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. He is constantly on the lookout for the best credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses. He posts travel tips daily on debit and credit card deals and on other interesting promotions with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs today and for the rest of their lives. He is also available for seminars and speaking engagements. A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll and his wife live in Hilton Head Island, SC, and Traverse City, MI, when they’re not traveling the globe. For more information visit www.frugaltravelguy.com.

 

The Frugal Travel Guy Welcomes Hotel Group’s New Best Price Guarantee

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Rick Ingersoll suggests how to make the most of the new offer. 

Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy

September 21, 2011 (Hilton Head Island, SC) – Rick Ingersoll, the author of the popular blog “The Frugal Travel Guy,” applauds the new Best Price Guarantee recently announced by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG).

“It’s so refreshing to see a major chain of hotels like IHG step up to the plate with a meaningful best-price guarantee,” he said.

IHG’s portfolio of hotels includes InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

IHG has promised to make sure the best hotel room prices for any IHG property can be found directly on its websites. “If you find a lower price on a competing Web site for the same hotel, type of accommodations and rate restrictions on the same date(s),” the IHG site says, “we’ll not only match that lower price, we’ll give you your first night free. It’s that simple.”

According to Ingersoll, this is very similar to the same guarantee offered years ago by Trip Rewards: If you found a cheaper price for the same exact hotel room with the same rate restrictions on another website, filed your claim within 24 hours, and the claim was approved, your hotel room was free.

“The key to success is to find the cheaper rate before you actually book your room on an approved IHG group website,” he cautioned. “Remember, everything must be exactly the same as far as the room type and room rate restrictions. And if you are going to be in a given town more than one night, look for more than one hotel best price guarantee and hotel hop for more free nights.”

To start the process of getting this best-price guarantee, Ingersoll suggests beginning by looking for a hotel room through Kayak.com or HotelsCombined.com, two hotel aggregator sites that show the room rates from many third-party sites.

“You’re looking for cheaper rates than the rates quoted by the IHG group website,” he stressed.

He also pointed out that refundable rates must be matched against refundable rates, and non-refundable rates must be matched against non-refundable rates.

“The game is actually fun and the results should be automatic since you can call in your claim once you have found a winner,” he said. “You can also fill out an online claim form, but I want to know right now if they are going to honor my claim. I tend to make refundable reservations for hotel rooms just in case my guarantee is not approved.”

Rick Ingersoll is always on the look out for ways to reduce travel expenses dramatically through credit card sign-up bonuses (that offer frequent flier miles), hotel rewards programs, and a variety of other ways. He reports his findings on “The Frugal Travel Guy” blog so that all his 6000-plus daily readers will be able to use them as well. For more information on Ingersoll and to follow his blog, go to www.frugaltravelguy.com.

For more information on IHG’s new rates offer, go to www.ichotelsgroup.com and click on “Best Price Guarantee.”

About Rick Ingersoll, “The Frugal Travel Guy”

Rick Ingersoll is the world’s expert on flying free and author of The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. A retired mortgage banker, he splits his time between Traverse City, Michigan and Hilton Head, SC. Rick’s expertise includes frequent flyer programs, getting the “bump,” customer service requests, and using good credit ratings to take advantage of bank promotions. He has collected over five million frequent flyer miles and has a current “bankroll” of over 1.5 million miles and points. He shares his expertise in his book, The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, on his daily-updated blog at www.frugaltravelguy.com, and through speaking engagements and seminars he presents around the U.S. “The Frugal Travel Guy” blog has been a Best Travel Blog Award winner, presented by Tripbase.com, for the past three years.

Frugal Travel: Avoiding Airlines’ Baggage Fees and Fuel Surcharges

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Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy,  suggests ways around pesky

Rick Ingersoll

travel fees.

August 9, 2011 (Traverse City, MI) — Nothing is more frustrating than getting to the airport counter and being told you now owe for the baggage you’re bringing on your trip — except trying to book an award ticket and finding out that your free ticket is subject to a huge “fuel surcharge.”

“Over the past several years, airlines worldwide have found that they can get people to pay for airline tickets and sell them additional services to bump up their bottom line,” said Rick Ingersoll, the popular “travel hacker” behind the blog The Frugal Travel Guy. “In 2010, U.S. based airlines received approximately $5.6 billion — that’s with a ‘B’ — of ancillary income this way.”

Not content to let airlines bump their bottom line out of his pocket, Ingersoll has found way to avoid “some of these unnecessary fees,” he says

Baggage fees

“Baggage fees generate enormous fees for airlines,” he said. “Just five years ago, it was unheard of to charge for a checked bag. Now even the first bag you check is subject to a fee unless you know the way out. Southwest is the only U.S. domestic airline I know of that does not charge for your first checked bag.”

Here’s how he suggests beating the bag charge system. “Think about it: Do you really need to check a bag? Can you make it all fit in a carry on and one personal item, like a huge purse or backpack? I am astounded by the luggage I see people bring on trips.”

The first trick, then, is to try to fly carry-on only. If that isn’t possible, he suggests eliminating the problem before you leave home in three ways:

  1. Ship your stuff to your destination before you leave. “With the current fees being charged by the airlines, in some cases UPS or FedEx ground may actually be more economical.”
  2. Apply for a co-branded credit card that provides free baggage when you’re flying on the airline that provides the card. “Currently both Continental and Delta offer low-cost credit cards that provide for your ‘first bag free’ as long as you keep the credit card,” he said. “One trip with a family of four can easily offset the application fee if you’re all checking a bag. Think of the savings for a businessman carrying sales samples each week. The savings can be astronomical. Check your airline for current ‘first bag free’ benefits with their credit cards.
  3. Obtain Elite status with a given airline to reduce or eliminate baggage fees. “I haven’t paid a bag fee in years since I usually carry on my luggage,” he said, “but I also keep Elite status as well. No baggage fees are only one of the perks Elite status offers frequent travelers.”

Fuel Surcharges

Almost every United States carrier flies domestically and internationally without fuel surcharges added to the ticket price. “This is true for both paid tickets and award tickets,” Ingersoll said. “All we pay is the Homeland Security fee and maybe a few taxes.”

That’s not the case with international carriers, however. “In particular, British Airways is well known in the frugal travel world for adding huge fuel surcharges to their award tickets,” he said.

So he suggests that the easiest way to avoid huge fuel surcharges is to avoid the airlines that charge them. “Shop for flights using those airlines’ alliance partners,” he said. “It is not uncommon to face $400-plus in fees on award tickets with British Airways. And I know many people recently applied for, and were approved for, the British Airways 100,000 miles credit card issued by Chase Bank. That was a great offer but not necessarily for flying on British Airways aircraft, particularly to Europe.”

Instead, he recommends using those British Airways miles for domestic flights on American Airlines, or Cathay Pacific Airways for flights across the Pacific. “Or even flights on other OneWorld Alliance partners to South America,” he added. “Iberia Airline is also a member of the Oneworld Alliance. You may be able to use your British Airways miles to fly on Iberia through their hubs in Spain to your final destination in Europe.”

Noting that frequent flier miles can be used on all airlines that are members of the same alliance, he added, “American Airlines is in the OneWorld Alliance. Delta is a member of the Skyteam Alliance, and United, Continental, and US Airways all belong to the Star Alliance. Don’t be shy about asking to use your miles on a partner airline to eliminate fuel surcharges.”

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and frugal traveling, visit his blog at www.frugaltravelguy.com.

About The Frugal Travel Guy:

Rick Ingersoll, author of The Frugal Travel Guy blog and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, is constantly on the lookout for the best credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses. He posts travel tips daily on debit and credit card deals and on other interesting promotions with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs today and for the rest of their lives. He is also available for seminars and speaking engagements. A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll and his wife live in Hilton Head Island, SC, and Traverse City, MI, when they’re not traveling the globe. For more information: www.frugaltravelguy.com.

Allen Weiss Hired To Create Showcase Video for “The Frugal Travel Guy”

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Director/photographer Allen Weiss
Director/photographer Allen Weiss

April 29, 2011 (Raleigh, NC) – Rick Ingersoll, the author of The Frugal Travel Guy blog and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, has commissioned director/photographer Allen Weiss of Raleigh, NC, to create a showcase video of his presentation on travel hacking for use by meeting and conference planners.

Rick Ingersoll is an internationally recognized expert at amassing frequent flier miles, getting airline and hotel vouchers, and a host of other “travel hacking” methods that have allowed him and his wife to travel the globe for free, or nearly free, for years.

A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll started The Frugal Travel Guy blog to further his desire to teach others how to do what he does so that they, too, can enjoy traveling for the rest of their lives. He’s especially interested in reaching people who think they can’t afford to travel.

Ingersoll’s blog averages over 5000 views a day by readers throughout the United States and around the world, but he’s interested in taking his message directly to the public through speaking engagements and seminars. Weiss’s video will demonstrate Ingersoll’s interaction with live audiences and his relaxed, off-the-cuff manner of speaking.

Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy

“The Frugal Travel Guy” recently gave a travel-hacking presentation at the Capital City Club in downtown Raleigh for Chix in Business, an organization for women in business in the Raleigh area. Weiss was on hand to capture key moments for the video.

Allen Weiss is an accomplished filmmaker/videographer with many public service announcements (PSAs) and short films to his credit. Among other works on film and video, he created an AIDS-related PSA that won Best in Show at the Addy Awards, a major fundraising short film for the Methodist Home for Children, a PSA for the NC Holocaust Memorial, the KidsVotingNC PSA before the 2008 election, and a promo piece for the North Carolina Symphony.

For more information on Allen Weiss, visit www.allen-weiss.com and the Allen Weiss: Works on Film & Paper Facebook page.

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and travel hacking, visit http://frugaltravelguy.com.

About Allen Weiss

After 15 years as a professional photographer in Raleigh and New York, Allen Weiss turned his attention towards short films, public service announcements and television commercials, both regionally and internationally. Recently, he launched Allen Weiss: Works on Film & Paper to offer still photography of all varieties, film and video (director, DP, cameraman), and freelance writing/branding. For more information visit www.allen-weiss.com.

The Frugal Travel Guy Shares: “How I Book Hotel Rooms”

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Rick Ingersoll gives his step-by-step method for getting the best deal

Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy

March 17, 2011 (Hilton Head, SC) – Rick Ingersoll, better known to frequent travelers and travel hackers as “The Frugal Travel Guy” who writes a popular blog by the same name, is on a mission to teach others how to do the things he does so that they, too, can travel anywhere they want for free or nearly free. He teaches them how to accrue frequent flier miles through rewards programs and travel vouchers through such methods as “the bump” (intentionally getting “bumped” from your flight).

Recently, he sat down to share his particular method for getting the best deals at good hotels.

“We all have our own method,” he said, referring to other frequent travel hackers like him. “I’ll describe mine step by step as I try a phantom booking in Indianapolis, Indiana, the night of April 13, 2011.”

He chose Indianapolis, he said, because he’s never been there, hasn’t done any prior research, and because he wanted to see how long the process would take (35 minutes, as it turned out). His hotel location would be determined by the availability of public transportation and the cost.

“My phantom meeting is downtown the next morning, with an evening departure that night. I’ll describe my methodology as I go. And remember,” he stresses, “I am a three-star kind of guy. No Econo Lodges for me.”

He starts at his computer by opening some browser windows:

“Step One is the airport website and ground transportation,” he says. “I hate renting a car in a strange city for one meeting downtown, and I’ve found that I can get an Express Bus for $7 each way. This information not only helps me get downtown, but it also opens up airport hotels and their shuttle buses back to the airport to catch the Express Bus downtown. Airport hotels are quite often cheaper than downtown hotels. I have that covered. Now it’s time to check out some prices.”

So he heads over to Kayak (www.kayak.com/hotels) where he can compare hundreds of travel sites at once. Kayak shows him that the least expensive, well-known, three-star chain hotel in downtown Indianapolis is the Sheraton at $129 per night. The airport search shows rates of $87, $90, $93, and $119 for hotels with shuttles.

“I now have retail prices so let’s find the deal,” he says.
He heads over to BiddingForTravel.com where page one shows accepted bids of $48 and $49 for higher-rated downtown hotels and $39 for a Radisson airport hotel.

“I may just stay downtown if it’s only $10 more, go the night I arrive, and be downtown already in the morning for my phantom meeting.”
Now he has more work to do. “I’d better do a TripAdvisor search on those three hotels to see if any of them are lemons,” he says. “Since I’m a month out, I have plenty of time to bid on Priceline in the range of accepted bids, but I’d better have a back-up plan.”

The next step: PriorityClub.com.

”I’m looking for Priority Club Points Breaks hotels for 5000 rewards points per night.” He finds one:  The Crowne Plaza airport location is a Points Break hotel for that night.

“My search may be over,” he says. “I could also check Hilton Point Stretchers and the Marriott’s discounted awards as well, but I find that the Priority Club Points Break is usually the best deal in town.”

He decides on the Priority Club hotel where he redeems 5000 points (which costs him $30 to obtain). Remember: the lowest retail price he found was $87. The airport has a 24-hour shuttle to and from the airport and TripAdvisor gives the hotel a solid thumbs-up.

“I think I’m done and happy,” he says.

What if he hadn’t found the Points Break hotel?

“I could have gone with the Expedia Best Price match guarantee to take $50 off the retail rate of another hotel. The lowest retail rate was $87 for an airport hotel, so I could have gotten in for $87 minus $50 or $37. Or I could have bid in the high $30s to low $40s for a room downtown or at the airport on Priceline [Priceline.com]. And if those ideas hadn’t found results, I would have checked SPG.com for a cash-and-points or all-points redemption with Starwood. It’s tough to beat that Points Break deal, though, when you can find it.”
Ingersoll posted information on his blog (www.frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com) about Expedia Best Price Guarantee (October 15, 2010) and Priceline/ BiddingForTravel.com (October 27, 2007). A search on the blog will reveal those two posts.

Rick Ingersoll will be a featured speaker at the Spring 2011 Frequent Traveler University session in Flushing, New York, on April 30. For more information on the FTU, go to www.ftuniversity.com.

For more information on Rick Ingersoll, visit The Frugal Travel Guy blog. He also maintains a Facebook page.

About The Frugal Travel Guy:

Rick Ingersoll is the author of The Frugal Travel Guy Blog, which is read around the world and averages 5000 views per day, and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. He is constantly on the lookout for the best credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses. He posts travel tips daily on debit and credit card deals and on other interesting promotions with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs today and for the rest of their lives. He is also available for seminars and speaking engagements. A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll and his wife live in Hilton Head Island, SC, and Traverse City, MI, when they’re not traveling the globe.

Rick Ingersoll To Present Seminar at Frequent Flyer University

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The Frugal Travel Guy joins other legends of frequent travel for the April event.

Rick Ingersoll

 

March 4, 2011 (Hilton Head, SC) – When the top names in points-and-miles travel “hacking” assemble in New York to present seminars during the Spring 2011 Frequent Traveler University session, Rick Ingersoll will be among them.

Ingersoll is the author of the popular blog The Frugal Travel Guy and the Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. Through both, and through seminar presentations like this, Ingersoll helps thousands of readers learn the tips, tricks and secrets to amassing frequent flyer miles, hotel vouchers, and other means of traveling for free or nearly free. His daily readership averages between 4000 and 5000.

Ingersoll’s fellow presenters will include such frequent-flyer legends as Randy Petersen, editor and publisher of Inside Flyer magazine; Gary Leff, author of the blog View From The Wing; Ben “Lucky” Schlappig, a key member of FlyerTalk’s Talk Board (the world’s most popular frequent flyer community); and Steve Belkin, a mega-successful frequent flyer who has amassed 27 million miles.

Sponsored by the Frequent Traveler Education Foundation, the Spring 2011 session of Frequent Traveler University will take place at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Flushing, New York, on April 30th, 2011. The event will kick off on Friday, April 29, with a cocktail hour hosted by Randy Petersen. (Attendance is limited to registered attendees.) Topics for the Saturday sessions will include:

  • Flying nonstop can sometimes be nonsense: learn to maximize mileage earning
  • Airline programs across the pond could be better than the ones across town: learn who really values your loyalty
  • Converting your mileage award request from “no!” to “no problem”: learn the art of redeeming miles
  • Wallet-sized precious metals: learn why platinum and gold are paved with travel riches

Tuition for Frequent Flyer University is $49 and includes a full day of seminars plus breakfast, lunch and snacks on Saturday.

“This event is a great opportunity to meet with hundreds of other travel junkies and trade tips on how to best gain value from your loyalty program investment,” Ingersoll says. “This may just be the smartest travel budget expense you have this year.”

The April 2011 session is timed to coincide with the 2011 Frequent Traveler Awards that recognizes the best in frequent travel programs worldwide. The ceremony will be held at Citi Field on April 28.

 
Anyone interested in attending the spring session should reserve his or her place as soon as possible since the 2011 Frequent Traveler University is open to only 350 attendees. Registration is available at www.ftuniversity.com.

For more information on Rick Ingersoll, visit The Frugal Travel Guy blog at www.frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com.

 

About The Frugal Travel Guy:

 

Rick Ingersoll, author of The Frugal Travel Guy Blog (http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com) and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, is constantly on the lookout for the best credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses. He posts travel tips daily on debit and credit card deals and on other interesting promotions with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs today and for the rest of their lives. He is also available for seminars and speaking engagements. A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll and his wife live in Hilton Head Island, SC, and Traverse City, MI, when they’re not traveling the globe.

“Frugal Travel Guy” Author Announces Wounded Warrior Donation

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Proceeds from sales of the “Frugal Travel Guy Handbook” will aid wounded soldiers.

 

December 6, 2010 (HILTON HEAD, SC) – Rick Ingersoll, author of the “Frugal Travel Guy Handbook” and Frugal Travel Guy blog, is commemorating Pearl Harbor Day this year by announcing that he will donate profits and proceeds (above production costs) from all sales of his “Handbook” to the Wounded Warrior Fund until further notice.

 

“Our men and women in uniform who have been wounded in the line of duty have sacrificed so much for all of us,” Ingersoll said. “This is the least I can do to support their contributions on our behalf.”

 

The Wounded Warrior Fund is part of the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, with additional program offices located in New York City and Washington D.C. Its mission is to honor and empower wounded soldiers and “to foster the most successful, well-adjusted generation of wounded warriors in this nation’s history,” according to its website. It provides immediate and direct aid to wounded soldiers.

 

“I certainly want to be a part of that,” Ingersoll said.

Rick Ingersoll © Photography by Anne

 

The “Frugal Travel Guy Handbook” is a slim paperback in which Ingersoll shares tips and tricks for frugal travel and teaches readers how to use techniques he has perfected to significantly reduce their travel budget forever. Topics include: Fare wars, Fare Mistakes, Frequent flyer miles, good credit equals free travel, consumer promotions, banking and financial service promotions, how to be “bumped” to earn travel vouchers, which credit cards offer the best travel rewards, Rewards Network dining, and rental car promotions.

 

The “Frugal Travel Guy Handbook” can be purchased at Amazon.com in either paperback ($8.97) or Kindle format ($6.99 Kindle), or at www.createspace.com/3464835. The latter source will maximize the contribution to the Wounded Warriors since the publisher does not incur listing fees.

 

For more information on the Wounded Warrior Project, visit www.woundedwarriorproject.com.

 

 

About Rick Ingersoll:

 

Rick Ingersoll’s blog, http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com, is updated daily to keep his readers apprised of deals to be had via credit card rewards offers, airline promotions, and much more. Conde Nast’s “Travelers” magazine recently called it one of the best blogs to follow for learning how to accumulate frequent flier miles. Ingersoll has flown virtually free to over 40 countries worldwide including the Caribbean, Central and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and many times to Hawaii-always in Business or First Class. With millions of frequent flyer miles in the bank, top tier status with United Airlines and Lifetime Platinum status with American Airlines, Ingersoll did not pay for an airline ticket over a five-year period.