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Last month I introduced you to The Points Guy for travel hacking knowledge, tips advice and ongoing updates/alerts/advice in their newsletter alerting you to travel deals and industry goings-on, whether air, cruise, train, hotel, airport lounges. I have another resource for you today TheDailyDrop.com and Travel Hacking 101 created by famous travel vloggers Kara and Nate, a couple from Tennessee that started their YouTube channel on a whim when they decided to take a year off and go travel in 2016. Nate got into doing lots of travel research as they had limited money…and a few years down the road now we can all benefit from his accumulated knowledge! Kara and Nate love doing adventure challenges which are often unique and sometimes hilarious!  I have found joy in watching YouTube vloggers thanks to my magnificent, wonderful, very creative, and intelligent daughter.

Along with Kara and Nate another favorite YouTuber providing “alternate” entertainment to TV is  Sailing La Vagabond (SLV). Riley and Elyna of SLV are an Australian Couple that met in Greece when Elayna was playing guitar to entertain tourists and Riley had bought his first sailboat on a whim with scant knowledge of sailing …and the rest is history. They’ve now been sailing the globe, including Atlantic and Pacific crossings, for the last 7-some years and have had 2 kids along the way! Check them both out if this appeals to you!

Meanwhile…my own travel hacking news….I just finished booking flights for a Safari trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe for myself and my 2 adult kids in May 2023! We are very excited. It’s relatively easy to find reward space for 1 seat, maybe 2…but for 3 seats or more it’s a challenge as airlines often hold their reward seat inventory very tightly and it’s a bit chaotic post-Covid with airline reward seat inventory and many people are sitting on a lot of reward points looking to deploy them!  Many airlines no longer have a fixed reward chart, they now engage in dynamic pricing for reward seats as well as cash seats (dynamic pricing means the cost – in cash or points – fluctuates based on demand per an algorithm). I used points to book the flights (except the internal flight in Africa which were very reasonably priced) and after a lot of searching using techniques I learned from The Points Guy I secured all seats in premium cabins LAX Via Amsterdam (stopover 2 nights) to Cape Town, and Johannesburg via London (no stopover) to LAX – 3 seats!  However, you still have to pay taxes and fees on reward seats which are based on the cash fare price, so I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to pay said fees earning double points and triggering their top of the line Trip Interruption & Cancelation & Lost/Damaged Baggage insurance. I am happy with what I accomplished in the end!

All the Safari ground arrangements are also booked: Cape Town, Kruger National park, Victoria Falls, Huenge National Park, Johannesburg. After we have taken the trip, if the ground itinerary executes as good as it sounds, I will recommend the Safari operator I used to create the itinerary. Because this is a costly and longer trip I separately bought “cancel-for-any-reason” insurance for the ground portion of the itinerary which is generally not included in that bundle of insurance triggered when you use your premium credit card to buy travel. My understanding is that credit card insurance is great for the Air portion (but check your card, they are all different), but does not cover the ground portion even if you use credit card to pay for it (hotel, transfers and such local arrangements). There are several insurance providers that offer what is called “cancel-for-any-reason” coverage which can take care of the ground portion. I have used both Travel Insured International and also used Travelex.

As always, please satisfy yourself regarding all of my tips here as not all credit cards are alike! Check The Points Guy and  search for travel insurance to get more information.

Happy Travels!