When I Grow Up, I Want To Be a Traveler
For as long as I could remember, I wanted to travel. Growing up , I would read books about kids from other parts of the world and be fascinated by the things they did, the places they saw and the food they ate. I watched many travel shows on the Outdoor Life Network channel and dreamed about travelling to different destinations.
I have done the resort scene, gone backpacking, been a typical tourist and have done adventure travel with an organization. Each and every time, I have tried to incorporate frugality during my vacation. One major travel hack that many travelers have done and I surprisingly have not (I have no excuse really, except laziness) is accumulate miles/points in order to gain free stuff such as flights, accommodations or vacation packages.
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Using An Aeroplan Card To Fund Your Trip
One popular Canadian loyalty program for collecting miles is Aeroplan. Many people have an Aeroplan card in the form of a credit card as a way to collect miles. Since many people use credit cards for everyday purchases, it is easy accumulate the miles rather quickly. When you first apply for the card, you often instantly receive a large number of miles as a welcome gift. Not only can you reward yourself with travel purchases, using the Aeroplan card, you can use the card to buy electronics, fitness equipment or items for your home.
It wasn’t until I visited my 16th country, Greece, that I decided to apply for an Aeroplan Card. Since I applied just before going, I clearly didn’t have enough miles to redeem them for a trip. Now that I have one, I most definitely will be using the card more often to rack up the points for my next trip. Not sure when, not sure where (I have a really long list, that seems to keep growing after hearing about other peoples’ trips), but there will be a next trip!
We do have an aeroplan card and aeroplan mortgage. I have quite a few points (somewhere around 75k I think) which we’re likely going to save and fly across the country to see family in a year or two 🙂