Rick Ingersoll is the world’s expert on frugal travel and flying free and the author of The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. A retired mortgage banker, he splits his time between Traverse City, Michigan, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. To enjoy his retirement, he and his wife Katy travel the globe, rarely paying full price – if anything at all -- for their travel and lodging expenses. Rick has become the expert in rooting out deals others miss or simply don’t know about, and in accumulating airline frequent flier miles and hotel points. He and Katy have been on two "Around the World" itineraries in either Business or First Class, using free frequent flier miles, points, or vouchers. They have taken many other trips (several to Hawaii), always flying up-front for comfort and convenience. They have been to 63 countries in the Caribbean Islands, Central and South America, the British Isles, Scandinavia, Eastern and Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. And they went for a five-year period without paying for any of these airline tickets.
Rick’s expertise includes frequent flier mile 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 flier miles and has a current “bankroll” of over 1.5 million frequent flier miles and points. He shares his expertise in his book, The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook, on his daily-updated blog, frugaltravelguy.com, and through speaking engagements and seminars around the U.S.
"I just decided to start spreading the word," Rick told Cymbre Foster of the Traverse City Record-Eagle in March of 2008. "My true intent is to teach people how to do this themselves. There is nothing more fun than taking someone somewhere they have never been before for a price they can’t believe."
The Frugal Travel Guy blog is a 2009, 2010, and 2011 budget travel award winner presented by tripbase.com.
###
Andrew Ingersoll: Photographer & World Traveler
Andrew Ingersoll is well known to The Frugal Travel Guy readers for the images of people, places. and cultures he's captured around the world. At the age of 29, Andrew had already visited 47 countries and, armed with all the free and frugal travel techniques he’s learned from his father, he’s not about to stop. "It would be great if I could inspire others to travel through my photos," he said. "Traveling and experiencing cultures and customs opens up minds and challenges the ignorance and prejudices portrayed by the media."
Growing up in Traverse City, Michigan, Andrew graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Nursing degree in 2004. He started traveling to Europe in holidays and during summer breaks while he was in school. "That's when I discovered that the world was so much larger than white, middle class America," said the slim, sandy-haired photographer who is currently ensconced in Antarctica. "This inspired me to absorb as much from other countries and cultures as possible." Andrew began his photographic journal with a "point and shoot digital camera," he said, and picked up a Nikon Coolpix in a Malaysian market, "mostly because the price was right." But when he made the decision to visit all seven continents before he turned 30, he knew an upgrade was in order. "I got a great deal on a Nikon D5000 at Costco in December 2010 and Antarctica was my trial backdrop."
What’s next on his agenda? "Caving in Malaysian Borneo and camper-van travel in New Zealand," he said. "And I’m still in the planning process of visiting the Great Wall of China with dear old Dad." Also on his wish list: Nepal, Ghana, Bolivia, Mongolia, Croatia, and Maldives. No one doubts that he’ll fulfill his wishes, least of all his father.
###
Shannon Watson: The Rookie
Shannon Watson is the daughter of Rick Ingersoll and known by Frugal Travel Guy readers as "The Rookie" . After spending a year abroad living in Brazil as a foreign exchange student in high school she has never lost the love and curiosity for foreign cultures. As a young professional she has spent the last few years breaking into this "travel hacking" game, learning from Rick and his fellow hackers she is begining to navigate through this world of points and promotions, writing "Rookie Travel Tips" as she goes.
Shannon brings a fresh prespective to the game and for anyone just starting out in this world of frugal travel, Rookie Tips is the place to start. She has taken what she has learned to go back to Brazil, visit Hawaii, Europe, and travel around much of the Southeastern United States. As a post Cardiovascular and Thoracic surgery nurse and soon to be first time mother she is learning to apply the tips and tricks of the frugal travel world to her everyday life. As wanderlust abounds she is proving that anyone can learn to travel the world for free.
###
Howie: The Business Traveler (or the Frugal Travel Geek)
Once a geek always a geek. Howie Rappaport has always had a nack for getting a good deal. His passions are technology and travel; two things he gets to play with every day. Originally from New York and then Massachusetts Howie and his wife moved just across the river from Frugal Travel Guy headquarters in Savannah, Georgia in 2010. Working in software sales and living 550 miles from his office, when he's not working from home Howie is either at the office or visiting a customer. His co-workers and family think he's "crazy" with his travel habits. They just don't understand why someone would fly from Savannah to San Francisco through New York!
An addicted "minty" and other deal hunter Howie takes things to the extreme. His favorite places to shop are Costco, Sam's Club, and Amazon (who doesn't love unlimited free 2-day shipping). He's been known to say "Why buy one for one dollar when I can get two for two dollars", and has a curious fascination with the TLC show "Extreme Couponing".
Howie gives us his point of view as a knowledgeable road warrior that spends a lot of his time away from home. If you ever see him on a plane he'll most likely be seated in an aisle with his laptop on and connected to the inflight Wi-Fi. He'll end 2011 with about 250,000 Medallion Qualification Miles and 130+ nights in a hotel. Howie will give the road warriors some insight to how someone else does it, and show us how principles on travel work for whether you travel 1000 miles a year to visit family you don't see enough or that 50,000 to travel the world. Additionally he'll give us some tips to hopefully make travel a little less stressful. All that travel equates to some great benefits that he can thankfully share with his family. "I get to travel to places I'd never be able to go to, and to be able to give that opportunity to my family at a price that everyone can afford makes it all worth it", Howie says when talking about his travel habits. He goes on to say "There's nothing quite like the look on your mothers face when she turns left towards first class for a 10-hour flight, it's all about family".
###
Watch a video of Rick presenting "travel hacking" to a group of business women (and a few men) in Raleigh, NC, known as Chix in Business. (Video by Allen Weiss)
