Project Vegas: The Traveller

Once upon a time, a certain special someone mentioned how much she liked Las Vegas. She had only been there once, but had always expressed a desire to go back there. Unfortunately, we were both University students that had accrued a significant amount of debt. But despite all of that, I promised that I'd find a way around it and take her back one day.

Then again, she promised that she'd love me forever. Funny how things change.

Wow, even just rereading some of those break-up posts are making me depressed.

Yes, the purpose of this project was to find a way to take my then-girlfriend (now ex) to Vegas without breaking the bank. Airfare was always a massive barrier, and if there was a way to significantly reduce the cost (or fly for free) it be a huge help. In the end I managed to not only accomplish that, but potentially find ways to get hotel rooms for free too.

I never had the heart to change the name of the project. I don't know why. It was always for her as I have no interest of going back to Vegas. I've been there twice and once to the Asian equivalent, Macau. Maybe some small part of me hoped that she would have had a change of heart by the time I got this project to work and we could have gone together.

Unfortunately, I'm still single. You'd have seen a blog post about it had I gotten back with her.

Ok, I'll stop being depressing now.

Onto how this project works.

It was simple really, potentially abusive but hey, that's not my problem. See, there are lots of credit cards with rewards, but most of these rewards are junk. The amount of points gained per amount spent is worthless, points can't be spent on things that are actually worth anything, you have to spend a ludicrous amount to get anywhere, or get charged a yearly fee for owning the card.

But once you find a card that works, now we can have some fun. Most of the time you're looking for cards that ask you to spend X amount of dollars in Y amount of time to get Z amount of points. And then when you've spent said amount, cancel the card if there's a yearly fee. Reapply or get a new credit card until you can travel around the world as many times as you want.

And honestly, I'm pretty sure most people can spend over $1000 dollars on groceries in the span of 3 months. So it's not like you're going out of your way to spend more. Also, spending $1000 on things you need to get 40,000 airmiles? That's a pretty good deal if you ask me.

Nice.

That is, if you're an American.

The first project update post I did back in January mentioned that Americans have an edge over Canadians. You Americans are so lucky, I found nearly a dozen credit cards that would have worked with great rewards. I could have flown to Japan twice and back for free with points to spare. So I had to make due with what I had left.

And then we hit the second roadblock. The few cards that remained required that I be making X amount annually to even apply. Great, my limited student income was limiting me in more ways that one. So Project Vegas went on hold for many months.

Until I got a full-time job as a dispatcher.

I saw an opportunity, and I grabbed it. I applied immediately to one of the cards I picked out months ago and the instant I got it in the mail, I started spending. Did you know that video games purchased counted too? It's true!

I regret nothing.

Unfortunately, I got laid off, meaning that I no longer qualify for some of the other cards. The good news is that I still managed to get all those points in time. The card I used is the American Express Gold Rewards card. It's funny because I still had to use an American card to get a significant number of points.

Spend $500 in 3 months to get 25,000 points which convert to 25,000 Aeroplan miles. You still earn 1 point per dollar spent and double points on groceries and travel related things so in the end you'll have at least 25,500. The first year is free and I fully intend to cancel this card sometime in August or September before my free year is up. I hear that some cards will try and plead with you to stay by giving you extra points if you delay cancelling for a week. We'll see if American Express is that desperate to keep me in the future.

So, I have at my disposal nearly 26,000 airmiles, I have no interest in going to Vegas, so what will I be doing? I want to go to Maryland, Baltimore. I'll only spend a fraction of my points, and it's about time I did something nice for myself.

Why you may ask? If you couldn't tell, I like video games. And for the last two years, there was this gaming/music convention that I wanted to go to, and now, I have a way to go. Hopefully I'll be making plans to go to Magfest in January. Last year two of my favorite bands were there and right now, they aren't on the current list of musicians.

I hope that changes.

A Vacation

The idea of traveling has always appealed to me. I like visiting new places, seeing cities that are actually alive and not dead compared to mine. But the cost of traveling anywhere is anything but appealing. I guess I've been fortunate that my parents have always been willing to pay for virtually everything whenever we've traveled.

Still, I've always wanted to travel on my own, I just could never afford it. Nowhere that far anyways. But maybe it's a good idea not to travel that far, get some practice running around on your own first somewhere closer to home.

Better to say this in your own country rather than in a foreign one.

So when my friend Erin invited me to stay at her apartment for a week or two it was quite tempting. She lives a province over, so a roundtrip ticket would be less than $400. I don't have to spend additional money on room and board, we both know the her city decently well, and she's a good friend. So it's not like I'm going to go there and wake up in a dumpster with both kidney's missing.

And before anyone tells me to make a move on her, I'm fairly certain that she's not into men. If you know what I mean. It's a shame though, I think she's kind of cute.

Even if she does dress like a hipster.

The idea is to head out sometime near the end of June, celebrate her birthday with her, and then head back home. I've actually already ordered and received her birthday present. I'm still looking into plane tickets and she's looking into booking time off.

And I think the time away from home would be good for a bit. The last time I was on my own for an extended period of time from my family was back on an old school trip years, and years ago. It's not like I have a full-time that's preventing me from going anyways.

 

And the one that I wanted to hear back from has still been silent.

If anyone has any traveling advice they want to share it be appreciated. Same with living with someone else for the first time. Because asides from family, I've never experienced anything remotely similar to a roommate. And I'm not even a roommate in this situation, more of a guest I guess.