Kiss My Baggage Fees! How to be a Savvy Travel Hacker

TABLE OF CONTENTS

KISS MY BAGGAGE FEES!

INTRODUCTION

UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

PLANNING A TRIP

CHOOSING A DESTINATION

TRAVEL HACKS BEFORE YOU GO

DEALS AND DISCOUNTS

CAR RENTAL HACKS

CAR RENTAL ALTERNATIVES

RIDE ALTERNATIVES

AIR TRAVEL HACKS

AIRPORT TRANSPORTATION HACKS

INTERNATIONAL RIDE SHARING OPTIONS

AIRFARE BOOKING HACKS

ADVANCED MATRIX FARE HACKING

ADDED-CITY HACK

AIRLINE PRICING MISTAKES

PROXY SERVER HACK

AIRLINE ALLIANCES

THE AIRLINE ALLIANCE HACK

AIRLINE PASSES

FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAMS

STATUS MATCH HACK

MILEAGE RUNS

EARNING POINTS AND MILES

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO EARN MILES

DINING REWARD PROGRAMS

AIRLINE DINING PROGRAMS

HOTEL DINING PROGRAMS

MANUFACTURED SPENDING HACK

FREQUENT FLYER BUSINESS PROGRAM HACKS

EARN MILES WITH CREDIT CARDS

ALTERNATIVE UPGRADE HACKS

UNITED AND LUFTHANSA ALTERNATIVE UPGRADE HACK

HOW NOT TO UPGRADE TO BUSINESS OR FIRST CLASS

RARE UPGRADE HACKS

ADVANCED TRAVEL HACKING METHODS

ALTERNATIVE AIRPORTS AND AIRLINES HACKS

CUSTOMER SERVICE HACKS

FREE LAY OVERS

WIFI HACKING

ADVANCED WI-FI HACKING

HACK YOUR FLIGHT’S WI-FI

HACKING A HOTEL’S WIFI

FREE MOBILE CHARGER

CANCEL A HOTEL RESERVATION LIKE A HACKER

ADVANCED HOTEL HACKS

FREE PASSPORT PHOTOS

AIRPORT LOUNGE HACKS

AIRLINE TICKET SALE HACK

HACKING LFYT AND UBER

BUYING TRAVEL ON CLASSIFIED SITES

BUYING TRAVEL PRODUCTS ON EBAY

EAT LIKE A LOCAL

LANGUAGE, CUSTOMS AND ETIQUETTE HACKS

MAKING MONEY ABROAD

UNDERSTANDING THE HOTELS

HOTEL BOOKING SITES

HOTEL BOOKING HACKS

ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATIONS

SCAMS AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

TIMESHARES

YOUR RIGHTS AS A TRAVELER

TRAVEL WEBSITES AND USEFUL TOOLS

USEFUL TRAVEL APPS

FOREIGN TIPPING GUIDE

KISS MY BAGGAGE FEES!

How to be a Savvy Travel Hacker

Rick Brown

© Copyright 2017

Rick Brown

All Rights Reserved

To my family

The world is ours to explore

INTRODUCTION

I

’m a travel hacker, and it’s probably not exactly what you think. The notion of hacking has a lot of negative connotations. Hollywood loves to present hackers as a bunch of technical anarchists who break into government and corporate computer systems to create havoc and steal information. True, there are some bad hackers out there who steal intellectual property without ever stepping foot out of their homes. There are also a lot of hackers who steal millions of dollars without ever brandishing a weapon, but I’m not that type of hacker, and I’m certainly not going to teach you how to do anything illegal or dangerous. Instead, you’ll learn from my travel hacks and discover how I beat the travel industry, time and time again, and I do it legally. I’ll show you how to get upgrades into first and business class, I’ll show you how to get fantastic hotel rooms at discounted prices as well as hotel upgrades on existing bookings and I’ll show you how to score the best car rental deals. I’ll even explain how I can get into theme parks and attractions for free and how it’s possible to save hundreds of dollars all while saving you a ton of time. There are loads of possible travel hacks to learn and I’m going to reveal them to you and show you how it’s done.

My accidental journey into travel hacking started about twenty years ago when I began to travel a lot for business. What motivated me? I’m quite tall, so physical comfort was a major priority. I first started traveling domestically all across the US for business, and then I began to travel a lot internationally for adventure. Trying to figure out how to get into business or first class without paying extra became a personal challenge, because back then, I couldn’t afford anything other than economy class, and consequently I am now really good at it. I learned the travel industry secrets and rules and I took advantage of every nugget of information and opportunity I discovered along the way.

Without a doubt, the entire travel industry is constantly evolving, and keeping up is kind of like a game of cat and mouse. There are rules that can be bent and there are hidden hacks always to be discovered. For years the topic of how I travel so much for so little became a constant subject at my friends’ dinner tables as I shared all my tricks and tips.

Let me give you one example of one of my original hacks and how I hacked a popular airline and got upgraded to first class from Newark to LAX. Years ago, there was an airline called America West (taken over by US Airways and then gobbled up by American Airlines). They offered a Silver Loyalty Challenge - challenges are common tactics airlines and hotels use to acquire more frequent and loyal customers. I was based in New Jersey so my closest hub airport was Newark (EWR), but this didn’t matter because America West had flights that took me from Newark, via Phoenix (PHX) and then on to Los Angeles, (LAX). America West was headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

The rules for the challenge were simple. Just call up America West Airlines and apply for their frequent flyer membership challenge and automatically you were given a 90-day trial in their Silver Elite status program even if you never flew with America West before. As a Silver member, I would be allowed to call the airline and request an upgrade from economy class to first class within one day of my flight. Additionally, I learned that Gold and Platinum members could call within two and three days of a flight respectively to request a free upgrade.

All you had to do to qualify for the loyalty challenge was fly three times in a 90-day period, and you were given Silver status for a full year with the ability to climb the status ladder and advance to Gold and Platinum status. Simple enough for a business traveler. I was very interested in the free upgrades, and as it so happens, on the day I signed up for the challenge, I needed to book a flight out to Los Angeles for yet another business trip.

I booked my America West ticket in economy class and thought carefully about the airline’s rule: call one day before your flight for the update. Since my flight was out of Newark at 11 AM on the 12th of January and there were only two seats left in first class, I knew my chances of an upgrade were slim because I was up other Silver Elites as well as all the Gold and Platinum members who also wanted to upgrade. They could call a few days ahead of me to secure their upgrades leaving me without the possibility of getting into first class. I love a good challenge, and this was one challenge I didn’t want to lose.

Like a nervous kid on his first day of high school, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but like any good travel hacker, I had a plan, and I was determined to get upgraded.

Here’s what I did:

I called America West’s customer service number at 11:55 PM on the 10th of January. I knew that it would take a few minutes for the automated system to route me through to a live representative and sure enough at 12:01 am on the 11th I had an airline representative on the phone with me, ready to assist.

Good evening, this is Joan with America West Airlines, how can I help you?

Hi Joan, I responded, and I gave her my name and flight details.

Yes, sir, I can see your booking, how can I assist?

Joan, I am a Silver Elite member, I was wondering if I could apply for an upgrade to first class?

Joan noticed my flight wasn’t for another day and was in mid-sentence with, Oh that’s not possible…. But then she realized the system was allowing it. Oh, you just got upgraded, hmm that’s interesting, our system usually doesn’t allow that to happen for Silver. Happily, she gave me good news and I was of course delighted to have my free upgrade to first class without any extra fees or any hassles.

There is nothing sweeter than having an upgrade a day or two before my flight and knowing I’m going to be in first class for the price of economy class with just a simple phone call.

So why did it work? Why was I able to get upgraded to first class? It worked because their own system stated you could call one day ahead of your flight, not 24 hours before your flight, but ONE day before. 24 hours would have put me at 11 am on the 11th of January, and I can bet you that I wouldn’t have been the only Silver Elite member calling and trying to time the call at 10:50 AM hoping for an upgrade like a giddy teen trying to buy the hottest tickets in town for a major pop concert.

I didn’t do anything unethical or illegal, I simply followed the rules presented to me by America West Airlines. As long as you follow and abide by the rules you can take advantage of them in many ways.

There are new hacks and tips being discovered constantly and its hard work to keep up with all the changes and techniques, and this is why some travel hackers make travel hacking their full-time job. Knowing all the hacks is overwhelming at times. For everyone else out there, from the frugal traveler who only goes on a holiday once a year to the luxury traveler who loves to fly in business and first class and save thousands of dollars in the process, this book is for you. I constantly study the travel industry and have put this book together for you to hack and fast track the system. Follow me on Instagram @SavvyTravelHacker for tips and travel inspiration.

Time is money, and this book is not just about saving a few dollars or finding coupons for a few token discounts, it’s your own personal fast track to consistent serious savings on travel. I’ll teach you how to save hundreds if not thousands of dollars and when you are finished reading this book, you’ll wish you had known these travel hacks sooner.

Some of my hacks are simple and involve that often, overlooked act called, kindness. Yep, often the easiest thing to do is to be kind to others and doors open up for you, or in my case, seats become wider or rooms get bigger. But keep in mind that just being courteous doesn’t guarantee anything. Don’t expect to smooth talk an airline employee over the phone or smooth talk an airline employee at a check in counter with kindness to get an upgrade to first class, this strategy of trying to upgrade just doesn’t work, and usually results in you and the agent uncomfortable. Know the rules and play by the rules and learn how to hack their own system and you will be surprised how well you can do on your next trip.

If you want to get results, being nice and kind works a whole lot better than being rude or critical. The entire travel industry, from the hotels, to the airlines to the car rental companies and everything in between, is made up of a lot of good hard-working people, and a lot of them are underpaid and not acknowledged very often by us consumers. When you think about it, how much time do you actually spend with these people? Some less than a few minutes and you might never see them again, ever. They might not have the authority to upgrade you, but if you treat them with a surly manner or swear at them they can sure as hell assign you to the worst seat or worst still… leave you waiting.

Whenever I travel, I make a point to try and compliment someone when a compliment is due, even if it’s for the smallest gesture, such as polite or quick service. This respect pays off in a big way. First of all, the compliment is remembered - especially among the hundreds of complaints received. A manager of a hotel for example, spends a lot of his time fielding complaints from guests, some legitimate and some completely irrational and out of the control of staff (weather, traffic, an offensive guest). And yes, a lot of people complain just to get free stuff because they know the hotel wants to avoid a bad review on Tripadvisor. When a manager has a positive customer experience, either in the form of a compliment about her hotel or her staff or even a direct compliment of her own work, it can brighten or even change her day. This can lead to complimentary upgrades during your stay or it can lead to free amenities and charges taken off your bill, and I’m speaking from constant experience. It’s actually rare for me to stay in an hotel that hasn’t gifted me an upgrade, spa treatment, meals and airport transportation, or all of the above.

Be kind and complimentary and the manager or employee will remember you. The manager will be there to assist you the next time you visit, and why wouldn’t she? If I was the manager and I knew you were returning and you had complimented me and my staff previously and you had written an email to my boss mentioning what great service I had provided on the last visit, you are the guest I want back want to take care of, not the complainer who writes a bad review and demands everything for free. The complainer is the guest we want staying with our competitor down the street, not at our hotel. Your compliments can turn into complimentary rewards, often small, sometimes big.

For your compliment, I’d go out of my way to try and get you the upgrade if its available, I’d comp you something like free Wi-Fi or a free movie, and it would be simple to do. What hotel doesn’t want to fill their room with happy customers who compliment me and my staff? Kindness goes a long way in the travel industry.

If I discover a problem in the hotel room, or received lousy service from a staff member I don’t rush to Tripadvisor to bitch about it. I call the manager and explain that I chose their hotel based on criteria important to me, and that I don’t want the inconvenience of switching hotels, but would rather help them help me. I let the manager know that I won’t rush to tell on Tripadvisor without giving them the opportunity to solve the problem first. I make it clear that I would rather tell the story on Tripadvisor of the staff who were extremely helpful and bent over backwards to make my stay a good one, instead of feeling let down.

If you do write a glowing review of your stay on TripAdvisor or any other major travel review site, a smart property will make note of it and you might be surprised with a complimentary upgrade the next time you stay. Being a member of their loyalty program can really help too, but loyalty to a specific property matters more. You will be remembered. You can also tag them on social media, and mention a specific member of staff who made your experience special. Hotels all have social media managers who take note of these posts.

Travel is an art form, and to me it’s about getting to my destination in the safest and most comfortable way imaginable while spending the least amount of money and time in the process. Even if you don’t have a lot of money, my hacks will show you how to travel cheaply. If you like to travel in luxury but are determined to discover the best value, my hacks will make travel dreams come true. If you need to book in a hurry my hacks can provide a few hidden doors to better deals, and if you have plenty of time to look before you book and a little flexibility on dates you will be able to find astonishing deals.

UNDERSTANDING THE

TRAVEL INDUSTRY

C

onstant change. That’s what defines the travel industry these days. One airline devours another. New routes appear. Countries that were off the beaten track are now laden with major hotel chains, and nations who curtailed the movement of their people have unleashed millions of passports and set them on a traveling frenzy. Tomorrow’s travelers will be ascending higher than our generation ever has in space ships, and some people will always be drawn to ancient paths on foot. The love of travel is the only constant.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept 11th, 2001, the travel industry changed forever. New security measures were implemented and new fees were introduced. Excess baggage fees and seat preference fees have become the norm. The airlines have become more profitable and it seems like we the consumer suffer by paying more and getting much less, not to mention the extra time it takes us to travel by air because of the potential threats.

The airlines have been very creative in finding new revenue streams, taking advantage of our vulnerability. The result is more planes filled to capacity with higher ticket prices, and many flights oversold. The fees from excess baggage in the US alone surpassed $3.5b in added revenues in 2016. That’s b for billions. Holy moly yes, that’s a lot of bag fees. And these bag fees were in addition to the ticket sales. Want to sit closer to the front of the plane despite still being stuck in economy class with no seat assignment? Cha-ching, they’ll get you there. It’s the same legroom as the guy in the back of the plane, but you get to deplane a few minutes earlier for an extra fee, and lots of us pony-up for it because we just want to get off the damn plane and not have to stand armpit to armpit for an extra fifteen minutes waiting to disembark.

You’d think that we would see cheaper ticket prices from the airlines now that they are enjoying their own cost savings such as digital boarding passes and self check-in kiosks, but not so. Can you imagine how much paper and ink they save per year now that most of us use digital boarding passes and check in with our smart phones? Fuel costs have also dropped globally due to supply and demand and it’s not like the airlines are replacing their fleets with new and costlier planes every year, we often find ourselves on the same planes we were flying as kids, only the seats are closer together and the ashtrays have been removed. The airlines want to increase their profits while squeezing as many passengers onboard as humanly possible. They are a business after all, in a cut-throat industry and with publicly traded stocks their profit statement is imperative, even if that means less legroom and fewer amenities for us. Yup, their profits increase while our travel experience diminishes.

The airline industry has also gone through numerous mergers and this has hurt us even more than security threats. American Airlines merged with US Airways. Delta merged with Northwest, Continental merged with United, and our choices of who to fly with are more and more limited each year. With the airline mergers, we