Good thing I ignored you

On a sleeper car from Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, to Jaipur

It was only 2 weeks before my proposed takeoff date for a long getaway when people came out of the woodwork telling me I SHOULD NOT go to my finally chosen destination (not referring to my mother, who never wants me to go anywhere).

I had spent hours trolling through my airline mile accounts for options and googling the “best of…” for January when I finally settled on my dream destination of India. That's when cries of dissent were heralded from all those who would hear me.

Not just heartbroken, but very much stressed, since I still didn’t have much time to spare (last minute travel is pretty standard for me, for better or for worse!)

As humankind is wont to do, I started looking to other sources to justify my currently held decisions and beliefs. I messaged my contacts who were actually on the battle field, people IN India, who I was lucky enough to have at my disposal.

My first stop was actually the Points Guy, famous for travel hacking, I follow him on instagram and saw he was in coincidentally in India. I messaged him and asked about the political climate.

To my surprise he confirmed that things were fine.

Still….worried that he was stuck in his resort reviewing a luxury suite without real contact to real-time events I messaged yet another contact.

Again, she confirmed that the news in America was possibly sensationalized and was in no way a representation of the events happening all over the giant and overpopulated subcontinent of India, especially tourist destinations like famous hill stations.

(I need to stop and say here that I’m not glossing over the conditions and policies of this country I know so little about. Im’ speaking as it pertains to my safety as a tourist)

And...that’s all it took!

As I had already spent hours on the phone with agents at Delta and American Airlines getting approved for my ‘emergency loan’ of airline miles (see below) and tossing around departure and arrival destinations, I was ready to confirm all my flight holds.

None of this is to say that the politics of India are NOT important and I won’t go into that, as it’s not my government to comment on. The point is I had to really consider what my sources were and what cautionary “advice” I was willing to take.

I almost derailed an entire dream vacation with only days to spare.

In many ways, this parallels my dance career; everyone telling me ‘No, don’t do it.”

Now I find myself with one of the most fulfilling dance and acting careers that I couldn’t even have dreamed of.

People too often offer up their very well-meaning and unsolicited advice (including and ESPECIALLY me!)

Sometimes we can even disregard GOOD advice based on our opinions of the source.

When it comes to something like foreign travel, yes, it’s important to be cautious, but as we know, no one ever knows the full story, so I went straight to the boxing ring to hear from the boxers about what was really going down and 19 days later I can say that I had a perfectly safe and enjoyable experience.

And none of it would have happened if I had listened to the wrong people, naysayers!

(Obviously, I LOVE you all. This is not directed at anyone, but it's a moral of my story)

Studying a form of classical Indian dance at the Indian Institute of Kathak, with founder Dr. Swati Argwal

Be prepared for the opportunity to strike!

If you get my newsletter, you already know about my “emergency loan” of miles for my trip to India. This is one of the cards I used. Maybe you don't have a vacation in mind yet, but you need to start building your miles NOW so that they're available when you DO want to book that vacation.

Apply for a Delta SkyMiles card here and get a large opening bonus. I'll get a small bump, too!

End of Summer Travel Secret Revealed!

About a month ago on my way to Nicaragua, I discovered that I could blog from an app on my phone and left everyone hanging about my past trips. Here I am, back and ready to tell you about my most recent, last-minute travels and how exactly I did it. Specifically, how I got to Nicaragua for $100 and how you can too!

It's no secret that credit card offers are really great ways to build up miles for travel, despite the recent change in miles acquisition that spread like wildfire among most US based airlines. Sadly, our miles are now earned by the dollar spent instead of actual miles traveled. A huge loss, SOMETIMES. Other times, you can actually use it to your advantage. 

Spirit Airlines isn't one of the carriers that changed their policies, and while they may be the worst airline in the world, this airline also got me to my first Central American country, for less than $100! A win if you ask me. It was accomplished with an maneuver as easy as signing up for their Bank of America credit card. 

As with most credit cards, you receive some kind of introductory bonus after making a minimum number of purchases after opening the card, within a specific time frame. Having signed up in-flight, I received an additional bonus, adding on the miles! 

The card bonus equaled 20,000, and with multiple trips over the years, I eventually worked up to over 40,000 miles in my bucket, so I dipped into my account to afford my first trip south of the USA: Nicaragua. 

At the end of September I was left with just enough time for a trip before I started my contract at Radio City in the Christmas Spectacular. This was the perfect period for travel. Summer was over and thus off-peak prices were in. 

With Spirit's off-peak base mileage for a one-way trip at 7,500 miles, the 15,000 mile round-trip price was a no-brainer! In any case, travel is never free, as there always remain a number of fees and taxes, especially on international flights, so my total came to $157. 

Luckily, at the end of your transaction, you'll get a prompt for a $50 rebate if you sign up for Great Fun (had no idea what it was and still don't, but they exist purely for the reason of getting you to pay monthly membership fees, it seems).

Naturally, I wanted my fifty bucks back and signed up, careful to set a reminder to cancel the service before the free 30 day trial of whatever I was signing up for. 

Eager to receive my reimbursement, I filled out the rebate form, printed a copy of the receipt and 'signed, sealed, delivered'. 

Weeks later after returning from a week in tropical Latin America, meeting monkeys, living on a volcanic island, and drinking out of a coconut, I get my check in the mail, making an international round-trip to the other America for a modest 107 dollars! 

While Nicaragua was a very interesting choice for a lone, backpacking excursion, it was worth breaking the pact with myself that I would never fly Spirit again. I know your thinking of the last, miserable Spirit airlines flight you had and promised yourself you would never subject yourself to that again, but I ask you to reconsider on a situational basis. Is it worth it to "grin and bear it" when you're paying only a small fraction of the largest expense of the trip?!

I owe it to Brad and Alexi for teaching me the in's and out's of credit card miles through their Travel Miles 101 course: http://www.travelmiles101.com/. They offer a private Facebook group for all your questions after their 15 day course and treasure chest of travel bonuses!  

Also well known is the Points Guy at pointsguy.com offering similar advice in addition to how to fly in something more luxurious than coach. 

Happy credit building!