I Love Free Travel and I Was Asked to Share

Happy New Year to you all!  With the new year comes new dreams, goals and plans.  Often times those dreams include travel.  After strong encouragement by friends, I am putting together an intro blog to share what I've learned about travel.  This blog is a little lengthy, but I wanted to give real information so it would be tangible to you, the reader.

As many of you know, Stephanie and I love to travel.  Locally, domestically, internationally...it doesn't matter.  The privilege of seeing new places, experiencing new things and, above all, meeting new people, is a great joy.  We have been blessed to do this most often when coupled with ministry which makes it all the better.  What you may not know, is that much of our travel is done for free.  Yes - FREE. 

It is this way in which I've earned free travel that I'll share in this intro blog.  So, if you're interested, read on.  By the time you get to the end of this e-mail I'll show you how we planned the resort portion of a 5 night stay in a Mexico Westin Resort hotel for free.

As you're probably aware, every hotel and airline has loyalty programs.  These programs work fairly simply.  You stay so many nights or make so many flights with XYZ company and they'll give you so many points or miles.  Most of us don't take these points or miles very seriously because when we figure how much time and money it will take to generate enough of them for a free "anything" it doesn't seem worth the effort.  

But, what if I told you that Stephanie and I generated over 825,000 miles/points between July 4-Dec 31, 2013?  

No, we didn't stay in a hotel every night.  The ONLY THING we did differently is change the way we spend the money we were already spending every month.  You know, the regular monthly expenses - groceries, gas, mobile phone bills, utility bills, dining out and so on.

TO THE POINT: We simply started placing all of our possible spending on a credit card.  
(NOTE: IF YOU'RE NOT DISCIPLINED ENOUGH TO TRACK YOUR MONTHLY SPENDING AND PAY OFF A CREDIT CARD MONTHLY THEN PLEASE STOP READING.)

• We didn't go into debt.
• We simply bought our groceries within budget on our credit card and then paid the credit card bill out of the grocery budget.
• We paid our mobile phone bill on our credit card and then paid the credit card bill out of the mobile phone budget.
• We purchased gas on our credit card and then paid the credit card bill out of the gas budget.

You get the idea!

The quickest way to earn points and miles isn't by staying at hotels or flying on airlines.  The quickest way to earn FREE TRAVEL is by taking advantage of credit card bonus offers and channeling your everyday spending.  There are so many card options out there that it's no wonder we can travel for free.  Let me give you real examples of our free travel just from the month of November 2013:

• 2 hotel room suites (1 for Stephanie & I and 1 for the 3 kids) for 3 nights in a Holiday Inn Express where the average nightly rate for those rooms was $179 each.  Our savings $1,074 + tax.  That's right - we paid $0
• 1 hotel room as a gift to our friends and their children while they were traveling.  The average nightly rate for that room was $129.  Our gift savings $129 + tax.  That's right - we paid $0
• 1 hotel room suite for Stephanie and I when we traveled to another city/state to visit an old friend (my favorite kind of trip).  The nightly rate was $105.  Our savings $105 + tax.  That's right - we paid $0
• 1 full size rental car for the entire family on a 12-day trip.  The total cost of the rental car for 12 days - $612.48.  Our savings $612.48 + tax.  That's right - we paid $0.

For November, that was a total of 8 hotel room nights and 12 days of rental car for a total of $1,920.48 + tax.  WE PAID $0.  IT WAS ALL COVERED BY POINTS/MILES generated through regular spending on a monthly basis.

So, to finish up this blog.  You ask, which card do you start with and how does that really work?  That's a really great question.  In my experience, the best card to start with is the American Express SPG Card.  SPG is Starwood Preferred Guest.  They have the family of Sheraton, Westin, Element, Aloft, Le Meridien, St. Regis & Four Points Hotels.

Here's 4 reasons why this card is so valuable and should be the 1st one you start with if wanting to use your miles/points for a vacation or air travel.

• This card earns you 10,000 points after you use it once & 15,000 points after you spend $5,000 in 6 months for a total of 30,000 points. (25,000 in bonus points and 5,000 points for every dollar you spent to earn the bonus points)
• The SPG group of hotels do NOT have blackout dates for redeeming your points!  If you want a nice hotel in St Louis or Seattle on Valentine's Day and the hotel isn't sold out - you can use your points.
• The SPG points can be transferred 1 to 1 to almost EVERY MAJOR AIRLINE IN THE UNITED STATES.  If you transfer 20,000 SPG points to an airline, SPG generously adds 5,000 more points to your transfer.  For example: I transferred 20,000 SPG points to American Airlines and my AA miles account was credited with 25,000 miles courtesy of SPG.  (transfers are FREE and you can transfer in increments of 1,000 points)
• When you use your SPG points for a hotel stay your 5th night is ALWAYS FREE.  Stay 4 nights with points and the 5th night is free.

Remember the 5 night stay in a Westin Resort Hotel in Mexico that I mentioned at the beginning of this email?  Here's the real example:

• The Westin Resort Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico takes 7,000 SPG per night for a stay.
• 4 nights requires 28,000 SPG points (4 x 7,000 pts.)
• Your 5th night is free because you paid for 4 nights with points.

This one card with it's bonus was enough to earn you a 5 night stay at a nice Mexico resort and you still have 2,000 points left over!

This, plus all the other reasons I mentioned above are why this card is the one I encourage everyone to start with when getting into the miles/points game.  If you're ready to get started, I've included a link to the BONUS APPLICATION below.  If you have questions, feel free to email me.

IMPORTANT: NEVER apply jointly!  By applying individually (one spouse at a time) you can double up on this bonus.  Stephanie and I applied a few months apart and earned 60,000 points as a result.  Oh, by the way - the SPG program also allows spouses to transfer points to each other for FREE!  One more reason this is the best card to start with.

American Express SPG - Spend $5k in 6 months - earn 25,000 bonus points + 5,000 for the money you spent to earn the bonus= 30,000 points

Here's the link to apply for the card and get the bonus mentioned above->>>

Starwood Preferred Bonus Application

(Disclosure:If you've found this blog helpful and choose to pursue the SPG card, your application through the link acts as a referral for Stephanie & I. We'd really appreciate it!) 

Please share this blog with friends and family if you'd like.  I'd be glad to answer their questions as well.

Thanks for reading and Happy Travels! 

Joel & Stephanie

The Much-Needed, Not-Fully-Expected, Christmas Gift

This morning, Wednesday, December 25, 2013, I woke up quite early as I usually do.  The house was dark and quiet as it usually is.  I made my coffee and went to the chair in my home where I usually spend the first few hours of my day.  Yes, it was Christmas Day.  I wasn’t thinking about receiving gifts.  I was just thinking about the morning quiet and my favorite time of each day.

The last 4-5 weeks I have been dealing with pain.  No life threatening issues.  I’ve just had a lingering pain in my right hand in both the bone and muscle where the thumb and index finger form a 'V'.

•  It hurt to grip my coffee cup. 
• It hurt to shake hands with people (I do that often at church and work.)
•  It was painful to button my shirt, to tie my shoes, to wash my hair.
•  It was painful to grip a football in order to play catch with my boys. 
• Anything that required the bending, flexing and gripping of my right thumb brought pain.

Like I mentioned, this was not life threatening.  No doubt, there are many in much more pain with more serious issues than my little, right thumb, but I was regularly reminded of the pain.

This morning, I received the gift of healing.  As I sat in my chair and talked with the God who robed Himself in flesh so many years ago, I received the gift of healing.  The child whose birth we celebrate today met with me and gave me a much-needed gift - The gift of healing. 

I did not grab my coffee and go to my chair this morning expecting the gift.  Jesus knew what I needed.

After all the gifts, lights and other noise, are you still hurting?  Do you have physical, emotional or mental pain?  If so, the same Jesus who came a few thousand years ago; the same Jesus who met with me so gently, yet certainly, this morning; He can heal your hurt and pain.  Jesus knows what you need.

I am rejoicing this morning!  I am thankful to God this morning!  None of the presents under the tree have been touched yet today, but I have been touched by Jesus.  I thank Him and I offer Him to you today.  For the first time in several weeks, I type on my keyboard and there is NO PAIN.  I pray for your pain today.  I pray that it leaves your body, soul & mind in the name of Jesus Christ.

THANK YOU JESUS for this much-needed, not-fully-expected gift!

Isaiah 53:4-5  “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:  yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Let's Prepare for Exodus...

Years of bondage.  Cruel taskmasters driving them to produce more.  They did all the work while others received all the glory.  No, I'm not talking about your workplace, though it may sound like it.  I'm talking about the book of Exodus and the children of Israel.

As we begin November, would you consider diving into the book of Exodus with me?  It's 40 easily read chapters can take you through this month and into the 1st week of December if you just read one chapter each day.  It's a powerful book of history, foreshadowing & symbolism.

Exodus: to leave, to make an exit, to escape, to be set free.  Are you interested yet?

Won't you make the journey?  As you read the story let it speak to you about life today and God's great plans for your life.  Here's a few things to keep in mind as you read that may add insight to your understanding:

Whenever we read about Egypt in the Bible it is a type and shadow of sin?
We know that Israel is a type and shadow of the New Testament church.
Consider the sacrificial lamb, the institution of the Passover and God's nothing-short-of-miraculous deliverance of His people.

As you read, let Him show you how He can do for you and I the same thing He did for Israel.  He can deliver us from a lifetime of bondage, fear and hopelessness. 

What better way to prepare for the upcoming New Year than to believe God that it will be a year of freedom & deliverance like never before.  Learn about a man named Moses that talked with God "face to face."  See the applying of the blood from the Passover lamb.  Let God's Spirit remind you of where He's brought you from and what He can still do in your life and mine.  Let's prepare for Exodus...

A Month of Proverbs

James was writing for me when he said "If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God..." (James 1:5).  I'm far from wise but I have the privilege of reading a short book written by the wisest man that ever lived.  It's the book of Proverbs. 

Through my short life I've exercised a pattern every few months of starting each day with a chapter from the Proverbs.  It's always perfect for the 31-day months because, wouldn't you know it, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs.  By starting each day during the month with a chapter, I seek to push the wisdom of this world out of my mind and ingest the wisdom of the word of God espoused through Solomon's writings.  I'd challenge you to try it this month.  You may just be surprised at how you are suddenly more capable of dealing with situations in the workplace, family & life that come your way.  Trust me, it's not that I've suddenly figured it out.  It's just a matter of praying James 1:5 and then reading.  You will find that the Proverbs challenge thoughts, activities and ethics when read with an open heart to receive.

Proverbs 1:7 is the key of all the Proverbs.  Here it is from the Amplified Bible:

"The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge [it's starting point and its essence]; but fools despise skillful and godly Wisdom, instruction, and discipline."

Today's words for the Journey: Start & live each day with a reverent & worshipful fear of the Lord.