Welcome

Friends,

I was supposed to fly to New York City tomorrow, but the trip was rescheduled. So I am at home and grateful to be able to write. I have had this column sitting unfinished in my drafts since July 16th of last year.

Now felt as good of a time as any to send it.

Thank you for waiting while I find my groove in writing. It is harder than I thought it would be: there is always something more important to do. It might be more rewarding, too.

Anyways. I am very grateful to have this column ready and off to you.

Let’s get going.

Video

Links

Here is the credit card that my family earns most of our points on. I generally love it and will write more about how we use it soon.

This is my most recent YouTube Short: flying the family to Auckland on $20 USD Jetstar fares (and then using World of Hyatt points for a free $1500/night hotel room) is always a good time. FWIW: I am trying out a new vid format, too.

Your travel is worth it: talk points with Tommy. If you want to talk about how to turn your points into free travel and make it extraordinary, I can help. This is your sign.

Story

My family left Dallas in January of last year and moved to Wellington, New Zealand. We stayed for three months before spending an autumn in Melbourne. My four year old had an Australian accent when we landed back in the USA a few months later.

This is obnoxiously dramatic to write, but the experience changed my family’s life. And I am not sure if it would have happened had it not been for airline miles. 

Airline miles. 

That blows my mind.

Airline miles are the ultimate triviality. You earn them because you chose to fly a certain way or swipe a specific credit card. They are uniquely mundane, easily forgotten, and something of a superpower when wielded correctly (kind of like compound interest, but with faster payouts). American Airlines invented them in the 80s as a marketing promotion to incentivize frequent travelers to keep buying tickets on American by more or less giving away seats (that would otherwise go unsold) for free. 

Other airlines jumped on, the promotion became a loyalty program, and the rest is history.

But back to you (and me): airline miles can be really spectacular on paper, but feel impossible to figure out in real life. My family flew from Dallas to New Zealand for 35k miles per person, but on some days those same miles will only get you as far as Austin. What on earth?

You would not be absent minded to call it all crazy and get back to your real life.

But let’s say for a second you think relocating to New Zealand for a few months (or just a really fantastic week) would be fun. And that not paying for flights or hotels would make it even more fun.

I would simply tell you are right.

And that if you could put it on repeat you’d take more adventures, live a little more freely, and discover we are all a little like Bilbo: just waiting for a chance to leave the Shire to then dream of going home again. Or something like that.

So, where do you want to go?

We’ll pick back up there in my next column – in the meantime, happy flying!

Forward

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Remember, this live you are living has meaning. Be well today.

-Tommy