Rookie Traveler Tips with Shannon

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Posted by Friday, January 21, 2011, 18 Comments


And the winner is…….. Kim R with her tip on using Awardwallet.com. Many of you posted this tip, but Kim R was the first to post it in correct form with “Rookie Tips” as the comment heading. Reminder: Be sure to enclose your first name and at least your last name initial with your tips.

Great Tips for week one!

I must say, Awardwallet.com has already changed my travel life. I have joined the site (Rick did as well) and I keep asking myself why I haven’t done this before! This is truly an Internet gem.

Anyone who participates in any sort of awards program should be a member. Go to Awardwallet.com and sign up. Once you have an account you will spend most of your time under the My Balances tab. This area will hold all of your current awards programs. Click on add a new program and begin to load your awards programs. This area is divided up into eight categories; airlines, hotels, credit cards, shopping, rentals, dining, trains, and surveys. Chose one and it will allow you to search through all the brands they offer in alphabetical order. To the right it will tell you if you have added it to your account already. To add a new program, simply click the +add tab. At this point you will need your log-in information for the program. Plug it in and Awardwallet will store the program into your account under my balances. I found the process quick, painless, and worth the time invested.

Awardwallet also allows you to look at all of your awards programs from one page. This page is simple and displays the program, your account number, current balances, and any expiration dates for the redemption of points you currently hold. When you’re working from this page, an added benefit is the ability to click on the program name and have it link you to their page, automatically logging you in.

Along the top column you’ll find a forums tab. This will link you to a few forums on general travel, travel deals, and awards programs. Next, a reviews tab allows you to search the awards programs and read reviews written by other members. I found this section underused. The FAQ tab is also very helpful. Awardwallet also provides contact information and a news tab where the site administrator makes announcements regarding new brands, changes to the site, and other important information for members.

Awardwallet.com is a must for any traveler, rookie or not, and setting it up early will make your lives much easier.

My question for this week: Which programs should I join or belong to and why?

Submit your “Rookie Tips” in the comments section. Make sure you headline it “Rookie Tips” and include your first name and last initial. The winning tip I pick each week will be entered into a drawing for a free travel gift card. Kim R is officially entered. (Kim: Send Rick your email address and snail mail address so he’ll know how to contact you if you win!)




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  • Anonymous

    I thought you said you dont do a lot of coins from the Mint. After racking up 40k SPG pts — it sounds like you do a lot of coins imo

  • Anonymous

    $40,000 in 6 trips to the bank? Wow !

  • doonya

    40K in coins is not a lot. Thats like ordering 5000/mth for 8 mths in a year….not a lot compared to others.

  • FrugalTravelGuy

    Agree with Doonya. I am a very small player compared to most. You can not imagine the numbers the BIG players are doing. Incredible.

    Imagine if you owned a coin laundry or car wash and were on an unlimited ordering schedule with the Mint.

    I'm peanuts believe me

  • Anonymous

    I dont know where you guys think ordering $40,000 worth of coins is considered "not a lot"

  • Anonymous

    I dont think Rick only bought enough for this trip. My only point is that rick has said multiple times on this site that he doesnt really do the "Coin thing". That doesnt seem to be true.

  • FrugalTravelGuy

    I don't really do the coin thing in a large scale. I actually try to distribute coins when I get them. Believe me, if I had a place to deposit them, and distibute them I would not mess around with a few thousand.

    Imagine one million in a year? Now that is "doing the coin thing"

  • Anonymous

    You've completely lost your perspective if you think that "most" people taking advantage of the US Mint deal have spent more than $40K on coins in the past year!

    I've purchased $7500 in coins from the mint in the past six months and I feel pretty certain that "most" people haven't bought significantly more than that. For the majority of us, it's an enormous pain to unload them in great quantities.

    That's not to say that there aren't people who have gone off the rails and bought hundreds of thousands of dollars worth, but such BIG players are an tiny minority!

  • Anonymous

    No. One million in a year is insanity. Think of how much time one would have to devote to taking wheelbarrows full of coins to the bank on a daily or weekly basis. The one time I deposited $2000, I felt like it was a ridiculous thing to do and the look on the teller's face seemed to indicate agreement.

    How is $40000 not large-scale? That's at least 40 orders! (Of course, you didn't mention the time period — if it's over several years, perhaps it's not *that* excessive!)

  • FrugalTravelGuy

    I dopn't really see the benefit of continuing this discussion. To some 40K is big. To others it is small potatoes.

    Point well made

  • Frequent flyer junkie

    I like 40,000 or one million! ‎"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." -T.S Eliot

  • Anonymous

    I am lifetime mint at 200k but looking to gear up to 20k per month now as long as it can ride. Would love to end 2011 with 250k total for the year!

  • Love the Game

    It's funny to see the comments on coins and #'s. I don't think people realize: 1. how easy it is to order large amouints and 2. how many people are doing it.

    Anyone thinking $40k over a few months is a lot is well off the mark.

    FTG: Thank you fro all your help and tips and advice. Because of YOU and your site, I & my wife are flying to Europe in business class and staying at some very nice properties, all for (essentially) free.

    And ftr, I took in $16k worth of coin today alone :)

  • Anonymous

    $40,000 in coins is not a lot. Interest at .01% on a deposit, now that's a lot to the financially uneducated!

  • MYRflyer

    40k is a lot for the average user. just sayin'

  • Anonymous

    Whether or not it's a lot in comparison to "the BIG players," it does seem to me to be a violation of the terms of the offer:

    "The immediate bank deposit of $1 coins ordered through this program does not result in their introduction into circulation and, therefore, does not comply with the intended purpose of the program.

    …

    By clicking “Add to Cart” I agree that I understand, and will comply with, the intended purpose of the program."

    Personally, I can't imagine having enough use for coins to handle more than $500-$1000/year for parking meters and vending machines and the like — since there's no point in using coins when you can use a card and get miles/points directly.

    So as I see it, any significant gain from coins requires redepositing in a bank, which is an explicit violation of the terms of the program, which you have to agree to in order to buy the coins in the first place. Whether or not it's been enforced to date, I personally wouldn't be real comfortable engaging in what is, in essence, a fraud against the federal government (which means all of us taxpayers) — getting the coins by claiming I'm not going to deposit them, and then going ahead and depositing them.

  • Love the Game

    Define "immediate"

    And while you chew on that, consider that every order employs people at the Mint, at Pitney Bowes (they ship the coins), at UPS, and at the banks, along with the people who make the packaging, etc. ordering, regardless of what you do with them, is helping the economy and by extension, the taxpayers

    Were I to take $50 and spend them on dinner tonight, we all know full well that they don't get recirculated – nobody wants these things and they only exist as a result of congressional whims. Wherever you spend them, they get deposited the following day so that the merchant can dispose of them as quickly as possible.

    If you want to soothe yourself over the deposit of the coins, sell them to your spouse for face value and let them deposit instead. You've put them into circulation with the same amout of usefullness as spending them anyplace else.

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