Travel

The Frugal Travel Guy Predicts 2012 Trends for Frequent Travel Enthusiasts

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Rick Ingersoll suggests key issues for travel fanatics this year.

Rick Ingersoll

January 11, 2012 (Hilton Head, SC) – Like other travel writers this month, Rick Ingersoll, the author of the popular “Frugal Travel Guy” blog, has weighed in on what he believes will be key issues for travel fanatics in 2012.

Ingersoll, who was recently featured on ABC’s “Nightline,” is a member of a growing community of people who use a variety of tips and techniques to amass thousands – even millions – of frequent flier miles and hotel rewards points so that they can travel the globe for free or nearly free. As a blogger on the subject and a former mortgage banker, his particular expertise is in using credit and debit card sign-up bonus and bank offers to amass miles and points quickly.

To that end, Ingersoll says he believes applying for credit cards strictly for their sign-up bonuses will continue to be the primary source of free or inexpensive miles throughout the year.

“As a good result, more people will actually work on improving their credit scores to take advantage of this,” he said. “Without a very good credit score, you can’t apply for cards. And credit card sign-up bonuses are still the best way to amass thousands of miles quickly.”

Ingersoll also thinks 50,000-mile offers will remain the norm and generate a lot of excitement among mile hoarders as credit card issuers’ compete for card accounts will continue.

And on the subject of American Airlines filing for bankruptcy in 2011, he believes its frequent flier program will remain secure and American will survive “as a stronger competitor and will not merge with US Airways.”

On a related subject, Ingersoll predicts both American and US Airways will offer significant sign-up bonus opportunities on their AAdvantage and World Mastercard credit cards, respectively, in an effort to hold onto their market shares.

The Frugal Travel Guy also predicts that US Airways’ Dividend Miles Grand Slam promotion – in which Dividend Miles members can earn up to 110,000 bonus miles — will return with basically the same guidelines and opportunities.

On the retail side of amassing miles, Ingersoll believes Catera Commerce, a provider of card-linked marketing solutions that increase revenue and customer loyalty for merchants, banks, issuers and loyalty programs, “will make another huge shopping mall mistake and lose at least one airline as a customer.” Last year, Catera made an 83,871-mile “system error” mistake on American’s AAdvantage Shopping Mall. Catera apologized but claimed it wasn’t responsible for the miles due to the “Terms and Conditions.”

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and amassing miles and points, visit his blog at 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 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 and other promotions. He posts frugal travel tips deals every day on his blog with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs 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 also maintains an active community on Facebook.

Travel For Boomers.com Targets Baby Boomers Who Love To Travel

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New travel blog is authored by “Boomers” for “Boomers.” 

October 10, 2011 — A group of self-professed “travel fanatics” and veteran “travel hackers” have launched Travel For Boomers.com, a new blog specifically targeted to “Baby Boomers” (people born between 1946 and 1964), who either love to travel or want to travel, and “want to do so as inexpensively and comfortably as possible.”

Travel For Boomers went live on September 15. Just a few of the topics posted thus far include:

  • How to get the best deal when you’re booking a hotel room
  • Medical and dental “vacations” to get less expensive procedures
  • Why everyone should have a passport
  • Whether or not AARP travel discounts are all they advertise
  • Who “Baby Boomers” are and how they affect the travel industry
  • Suggestions for great destinations for mature travelers
  • and humorous, just-for-fun topics.

“We want Travel For Boomers be both informative and fun,” said blog editor and award-winning journalist Kim Weiss. “We’ll cover everything from step-by-step ‘how-tos’ on amassing frequent flier miles and rewards points, to memories of traveling before security check points — when airlines named Piedmont, Pan Am and Eastern still existed. We recently ran a post on how to help your kids who have their own kids travel more comfortably, and we have a three-part post on how to see the world in a weekend. That’s right: in a weekend.”

Weiss noted that most travel blogs direct their content to 25-45 year-old travelers. “That’s why we started Travel For Boomers. Baby Boomers are active, enthusiastic travelers who often have different priorities than less mature travelers, and certainly have different priorities than senior citizens. As Boomers ourselves, we can relate to those priorities and address them specifically on the blog. And we’re looking forward to reader input via the ‘comments’ feature.”

Weiss said she’s particularly proud of the roster of “Boomer” writers already on board and contributing posts, including veteran travel “hacker” and magazine columnist Cristine Krzyszton, who has amassed a million frequent flier miles; humor writer and seasoned frugal traveler Mars Candiotti; published author and award-winning freelance writer Bill Morris, who travels the world in search of the best fishing opportunities; and world traveler and film director Allen Weiss.

Producer/technical director Howie Rappaport and advertising/marketing director Shannon Watson round out the behind-the-scenes support system for Travel For Boomers.com.

“We’re currently working on the design and branding of Travel For Boomers,” Weiss added, “so readers can expect to see some changes in the look of the blog in the near future.”

To follow Travel For Boomers, go to www.travelforboomers.com. The blog also maintains a Facebook page.

About Travel For Boomers.com:

Travel For Boomers.com is travel blog specifically for members of the Baby Boomer generation (1946-1964) who love to travel, want to travel, and want to do so inexpensively and comfortably. Its contributors are veteran world travelers located across the U.S. who address a variety of travel concerns specific to the Baby Boomer audience, from “travel hacking” to amass frequent flier miles and points, to exciting and unusual destinations for mature travelers who are clearly not “senior citizens” yet. For more information, go to www.travelforboomers.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.

The Frugal Travel Guy Shares: How To Earn Elite Status with Airlines and Hotels

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To get all the perks and privileges that non-Elite travelers miss out on. 


May 5, 2011 (Hilton Head Island, SC) – Even the most casual traveler is aware of airlines’ frequent flier mile rewards programs for using their airline, and the fact that the more you miles have, the more free travel you can enjoy. Yet most casual travelers are not aware of the many additional perks that come with accruing enough frequent flier miles to warrant “Elite Status.”

Travel hackers like Rick Ingersoll know all about Elite Status. Ingersoll, better known to frequent travelers and fellow travel hackers as “The Frugal Travel Guy” for the popular blog he authors by the same name, explains how anyone can earn “Elite Status” with airlines and hotels to receive all the privileges and perks non-elite travelers miss out on.

“The frequent flier game began as a way to promote customer loyalty,” he said. “Elite status within an airlines rewards program does the same thing. Each airline is a little different, but the standard rule is that if you fly 25,000 miles in a year, you achieve ‘low level Elite’ with that airline.”

According toIngersoll, there are three levels of Elite Status: silver, gold and platinum. Each level brings with it increasing benefits based on the number of “butt in seat” miles you have with that airline. “And when it comes to frequent flier miles, the more ‘Elite’ you are, the more perks you receive,” he said.

A silver elite member may get 1.25 to 1.5 miles frequent flier miles for every mile flown on his or her preferred carrier. Gold members get two miles for every mile flown, and Platinum members may get as high as 2.25 miles per mile flown in addition to unlimited upgrades to first class. The names of the top tier programs vary according to the airline in question.

“Elite members also receive free upgrades to first class when available or with credits they receive for so many miles flown,” Ingersoll said. “Elite status is really helpful in the event that you miss a connection or have to stay overnight at an intermediate city. The airlines take care of their Elite members.”

Airlines often hold more award seats for Elite members and provide Elite members with better seating on all flights, Ingersoll explained, such as access to the exit row or bulkhead seats.

“If you fly enough to reach Elite status, you appreciate having an exit row with plenty of leg room, especially if you’re flying overseas.”

Elite Status fliers can often make changes to their award tickets without charge and will also receive priority standby status on oversold flight.

If you travel frequently but aren’t an Elite member yet, Ingersoll suggests you make a point to study the Elite program of your favorite carrier.

“Sometimes at year’s end, it is actually worth doing a ‘mileage run’ [a paid airline trip designed solely for gaining maximum frequent flyer miles, points or status] just to get the last few miles you need to achieve Elite status,” he said. “Elite status has made it possible for my wife and me to fly to Europe and get enough frequent flier miles from that one trip for a free, domestic round-trip ticket.”

Hotel Elite

The same rules apply for achieving Elite Status with hotel chains, he noted. “The more often you stay at a hotel that offers Elite Status tiers, the higher you’re status will be. And all hotel chains have awards programs.”

Hilton’s HHonors, for example, offer four levels of Elite status. Members earn and maintain elite tier status based on stays, nights, or points earned in any calendar year. “Sometimes just taking out a credit card with a hotel chain gives you elite status for a year,” Ingersoll said, “such as Hilton’s HHonors American Express Surpass card, Marriott’s Reward Premier Visa, Best Western’s World MasterCard and Hyatt’s Visa.”

For their extended honeymoon, Ingersoll and his wife Katy spent one week at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in an oceanfront room for free. How?

“By using the points I accumulated applying for Hilton’s credit card, by staying at a few Hampton Inns, by Walking For The Cure with the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and by generally keeping our eyes open for Hilton Honors Points,” he said. “We also spent four nights at the Rome Cavaleri Hilton on points accumulated instead of the $480 per night we would have paid without them.”

The key to earning Elite status and rewards points with hotel chains, Ingersoll said, is to stay aware of what they’re offering.

“It changes nearly every year, but the rewards are well worth the time it takes to keep your eyes on the prize.”

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and to keep up with all of his travel hacking tips and techniques, visit his blog at http://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 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. For more information visit 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.

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.

The Frugal Travel Guy Advocates For Kiva.org

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Rick Ingersoll urges support for entrepreneurs in developing nations.

Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy

 

February 8, 2011 (HILTON HEAD, SC) – Rick Ingersoll, author of The Frugal Travel Guy blog and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, is advocating support for Kiva.org, an online lending platform that allows individuals to make loans of any size to help alleviate poverty in developing nations.

 

Ingersoll supports Kiva.org through his membership in the FlyerTalk.com Lending Team. FlyerTalk is a large community forum for frequent-flier travelers. The administrators of the site organized its Lending Team for Kiva.org in 2009 and Ingersoll joined the team as part of his commitment to help others.

 

“As world travelers, we become extremely aware of the differences between our lifestyles and the quality of life in other countries, especially the poor and the working poor,” he said. “My son [travel photographer Andrew Ingersoll] sent me a simple photo of a Laotian girl in her mountain village near Luang Probang. And that image is, for me, the essence of why I love to travel. The difference between this girl’s life and mine is stunning. Dirt streets, raw log construction, bare feet, and laundry on the line. In contrast, I was sitting in an Oceanfront Suite in Kauai at the time. That photo reminds me to be grateful for the things I take for granted, and to give back whenever possible.”

 

As a member of the FlyerTalk Lending Team, Ingersoll makes zero-percent interest loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries “to give them the opportunity to improve the quality of their lives and those of their families,” he said.

 

Kiva.org works with local NGOs (non-governmental organizations) who screen needy applicants who want to start or expand their small businesses to ensure their families’ survival. Lenders like Ingersoll can loan as little as $25 or as much as they want.

 

“I have yet to have a loan not be repaid,” he noted. “And as the funds are repaid back into my account, I re-lend them to others in need.”

 

In December of 2010, FlyerTalk reported that its Lending Team had made 2,527 loans through Kiva.org, totaling $78,350. (For more information on Kiva.org, including how to join or start a Lending Team, visit www.kiva.org.)

 

Rick Ingersoll also announced recently that he is donating all proceeds from sales of The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook to the Wounded Warriors Project until further notice. For more information on Ingersoll, visit his blog, The Frugal Travel Guy.

 

About Rick Ingersoll:

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.

Frugal Travel Guy Blog To Launch “Rookie Traveler Tips” Section, Contest

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Free travel expert and his daughter hope to educate a younger

Frugal Travel "Rookie" Shannon

generation of travelers.

 

January 10, 2011 (HILTON HEAD, SC) — Rick Ingersoll, author of The Frugal Travel Guy blog, and his 26-year-old daughter Shannon are about to launch the new “Rookie Traveler Tips” section of the blog, which will include a monthly contest. They will ask readers to submit their best “rookie travel tips” to Shannon via blog comments. She will post the tips she finds the most useful to her, as a rookie, on Fridays. The last week of each month, readers will vote for the best of her choices. The winning tipster will receive a $100 gift card.

 

“And all of us will end up more educated for the effort,” Ingersoll said.

 

The goal behind the Rookie Traveler Tips section and contest, which are slated to being in February, is to attract and educate a younger generation of “travel hackers” – people who travel the world for a fraction of the usual cost by using techniques to accumulate frequent flier miles, hotel and airline vouchers, and other perks for frugal travel.

 

“Shannon and her age group are not used to the game of travel hacking,” said Ingersoll, a retired mortgage banker who started his blog to teach others how to enjoy free or frugal travel, especially those don’t think they can afford to travel. His blog now receives over 4000 page views per day. “We need to be educate Shannon and other young folks by offering them the best tips we know.”

 

Tips can cover any element of travel, from frequent flier mile promotions to ways to organize a trip or keep clothes fresh in the process. “Anything, really,” he said. But he stressed that the tips must be clear, concise, and easy to understand.

 

Rick Ingersoll, The Frugal Travel Guy

“If a tip involves steps, write them out,” he said. “Don’t just say ‘American Airlines has a new credit card with an awards program.’ Give her the steps: ‘Go to this website, click on that, enter this, next week do this.’ Shannon won’t choose a tip that she can’t easily follow or that she doesn’t find useful as a new travel hacker.”

 

The Rookie Traveler Tips section will maintain a list of the best tips for all readers to access whenever they want.

 

“Shannon will set up a more organized system of past posts and archive retrieval so my readers can find the answers to many of their questions without needing to wait for my return email,” Ingersoll said.

 

Also the author of the popular Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, Rick Ingersoll reports that he receives dozens of emails every day from readers who want to report a tip or ask a question about frugal travel. “With the Rookie Travel Tips contest, readers can teach young folks how to play the game and perhaps win a gift card in the process,” he said.

 

For more information on The Frugal Travel Guy blog and to participate in the Rookie Traveler Tips contest, visit http://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.

Frequent Flier Expert Reports 1 Million Miles & More in 2010

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Rick Ingersoll © Photography by Anne

Rick Ingersoll amassed the equivalent of 25 free domestic round-trip tickets in one year.

December 16, 2010 (HILTON HEAD, SC) – Using techniques he teaches in his book The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, author and blogger Rick Ingersoll has reported that he and his wife amassed one million frequent-flier miles in 2010 solely by taking advantage of credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses.

What does that mean in terms of actual travel for, as he puts it, ordinary folks? Twenty-five free domestic round-trip airline tickets for a family, eight to 10 business-class tickets to Europe, or four around-the-world itineraries.

“By maintaining an excellent credit score, we’ve found that applying for credit card signup bonuses can earn us the frequent flier miles we need to travel cheaply and often,” Ingersoll said.

The secret to his success, he says, is maintaining a good credit score and planning carefully:

“The inquiries for each credit card application nick your credit score by two to five points. But if you pay on time, under most circumstances that is the extent of the damage. And after we have reached the minimum spend to earn the sign-up bonus, we just put the card away and cancel it when the annual renewal bill comes due. The inquiries fall off your credit report in two years.”

One of the many offers he and his wife, Katy, took advantage of this year was a British Airways promotion that offered 100,000 miles for using its credit card and paying the $75 application fee. Together, the couple netted 200,000 miles on that deal alone.

With application and debit card fees, Ingersoll reports that he spent $1130 to earn over one million frequent flier miles – remarkably less than he would have spend if he paid for his future travel excursions.

Other Perks: Yet credit card/debit card bonuses aren’t the only techniques Ingersoll used in 2010 to get more miles and savings on travel. As he discusses in The Frugal Guy Handbook, he also used such opportunities as “Mistake Fares,” “Fare Wars,” “Rental Car Promos,” and – one of his favorites – “The Bump.”

“The Bump” is Ingersoll’s term for actively volunteering to be “bumped” from a crowded/over-sold flight. Airlines are required by law to compensate “bumped” passengers.  On a recent trip to Alaska, he paid $400 for a ticket but got himself “bumped” so often that he ended the day with $1200 in travel vouchers.

Rick Ingersoll is frequently quoted in the travel media as an expert on free and frugal travel techniques that assure quality travel especially for those who think they can’t afford to travel.

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and his free-travel techniques, visit his blog at http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com.

About Rick Ingersoll:

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.

Free Travel Expert Rick Ingersoll Disputes Dave Ramsey Advice

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Now Is The Time to Sign Up for Credit Card Awards

"The Frugal Travel Guy" Rick Ingersoll © Photography by Anne

December 2, 2010 (HILTON HEAD, SC) – When personal money management expert and radio personality Dave Ramsey appeared on Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Show recently, something Ramsey said sent free travel expert Rick Ingersoll straight to his computer to pound out a rebuttal.

Ramsey, the author of New York Times best-seller Total Money Makeover, told Cavuto that Americans should not be “sucked in” by credit card companies’ special offers and rewards programs, such as frequent flier miles. “People are so arrogant they say, ‘I am smarter than Bank of America and smarter than City or Sears and I am going to take them on and I am going to win and beat them’,” Ramsey said. “Well…you are full of it, and you will use the card.”

Ingersoll, author of the award-winning blog The Frugal Travel Guy.com and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, couldn’t disagree more. “Now is a terrific time to sign up for rewards credit cards if you have the discipline to pay them off in full every month,” he says.

Ramsey’s position “left me feeling as if the average American is not capable of using credit wisely,” says Ingersoll, a retired mortgage banker who now travels the globe, largely for free, by taking advantage of such things as credit card reward offers. He shares his hobby-turned-expertise on the subject in his blog, in his book, and through speaking engagements and seminars.

Calling himself the “world’s expert on free flying,” Ingersoll says: “My wife and I have earned over one million airline and hotel points within the last year for a total cost of $1130 in application fees, and we never paid a penny in interest on the cards. “Why? Because we sign up, meet the minimum spend required on everyday living, pay off the card in full each month, then reapply for another great signup offer  —  over and over again.”

He admits credit inquiries can affect your credit score, but by only two to five points per inquiry. The key, he says, is keeping a close eye on your credit standing. And he believes anyone can do it.

“Sometimes people need to be given a little more credit for their ability to make sound decisions,” he says, noting that the millions of miles and points he and his wife earned this past year will afford them significant free travel. “We have been around the world twice using these techniques while Mr. Ramsey pays for his tickets and hotels. We’re pretty sure we have a better system.”

Bottom line: Ingersoll believes people should take advantage credit card companies’ scramble to attract customers with rewards programs “if we continue to apply and use our cards only to meet the minimum spend level. If the credit card companies are in trouble, let them up the bonuses all they want and we will give them applications and minimum spend, but never a days worth of interest”

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and his free travel techniques, visit thefrugaltravelguy.com.

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, http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com, and through speaking engagements and seminars around the U.S. The Frugal Travel Guy blog was a 2009 Budget Travel Award winner presented by Tripbase.com.