Rick-
I will try to keep this brief, but each time I start to think about this "success story" it seems to get out of control...
My sister-in-law is a realtor in the Fort Myers area and had shown us several properties there that we just couldn't resist. We ended up purchasing one in early 2011 as a rental. During our several trips down there to furnish & set up the home for renters (and ourselves of course). we were able to accrue quite a few miles and points and easily meet the minimum spends on several cards with sign-up bonuses. AND this is all able to be written off on our taxes since the rental home is a business.
This past summer my wife suggested a family trip to somewhere tropical for Christmas. Being frugal. it sounded like it was out of my price range until I started to look at using Rick's methods to parlay small amounts into large travel. This wouldn't be too bad for most, but I was looking at booking a family of 8!
Using our rental home as a base for our trip, we were able to do the following:
All I had to use money to pay for was the big juicy rental van, admission to tourist venues, and food.
AND it was a Christmas present that our family will never forget!
Thanks for providing information on your blog that we can all use to see the world at a price we can afford!
-- Roger
Limited Time Offer! First Year Fee Waived: 50,000 Points Transferable to Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Continental and British Airways
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| Miami Beach, Florida |
Rick-
I will try to keep this brief, but each time I start to think about this "success story" it seems to get out of control...
My sister-in-law is a realtor in the Fort Myers area and had shown us several properties there that we just couldn't resist. We ended up purchasing one in early 2011 as a rental. During our several trips down there to furnish & set up the home for renters (and ourselves of course). we were able to accrue quite a few miles and points and easily meet the minimum spends on several cards with sign-up bonuses. AND this is all able to be written off on our taxes since the rental home is a business.
This past summer my wife suggested a family trip to somewhere tropical for Christmas. Being frugal. it sounded like it was out of my price range until I started to look at using Rick's methods to parlay small amounts into large travel. This wouldn't be too bad for most, but I was looking at booking a family of 8!
Using our rental home as a base for our trip, we were able to do the following:
- Fly Delta from near home for 320,000 miles
- Stay at the rental property for free for 5 days
- Stay at Marriott properties in Key West for 2 days, and Miami for 1 day using points
- Stay at Westin property in Tampa Bay for 1 day using SPG points
All I had to use money to pay for was the big juicy rental van, admission to tourist venues, and food.
AND it was a Christmas present that our family will never forget!
Thanks for providing information on your blog that we can all use to see the world at a price we can afford!
-- Roger
Limited Time Offer! First Year Fee Waived: 50,000 Points Transferable to Hyatt, Marriott, Priority Club, Continental and British Airways
8 comments:
I think Roger needs to read my blog more to not have to spend 40k per seat for Delta flights! But sounds like a fun trip all-in-all.
A domestic award for just 40k RT on Delta...what a deal! :-)
Great!
yikes,
someone would be better off flying with southwest or possibly even british airways
yea, i don't really see much success in a 40k delta redemption. def BA or SW would have provided a much more optimal redemption
OP, did you look into those programs?
Roger, thanks for the story! It's great when you are able to take a vacation for free, or close to it. - Especially when it's good quality time with the family.
Not what I would have redeemed, but that's the beauty of this (obsession) hobby, is that we get to go where WE want to!
FYI--all that travel to furnish your rental, etc. are tax deductible so you might want to save your miles for non-tax deductible trips. The deduction is one of the beauties of vacation rental properties.
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