UPDATE: The contest ended and I am reaching out to the winners so they can pick their prizes.
Congrats to David, Stephen, and Steven!
Carrie and I have been traveling since 2011. We’ve been able to live on a poverty level budget and we’ve done some free trips via miles from credit cards, best rate guarantees, mistake fares, and all kinds of things.
But I don’t have tricks for lots of things (like free food, health supplies, etc…) and even if I could, I wouldn’t do without this blog and the community here. Thanks so much to all who support us by reading or commenting.
So here is a big give away with Business Class upgrades for AA and Alaska, a free IHG night, Alaska Airlines status, and €100 in vouchers to Delta, Air France, and KLM. Here’s the big contest:
Contest Details
There are three winners. Pretty simple, first prize gets first pick, second prize gets second pick, and third prize gets third pick.
- Free IHG Night (at any IHG hotel)
- Alaska Airlines MVP Status
- x2 Alaska Upgrades to First Class* vouchers
- x2 AA System Wide Upgrades to Business Class* ( for international travel by Feb 28)
- x2 €50 vouchers for Air France, KLM, and Delta
* Upgrades are from paid economy tickets and there needs to be award availability for business class for the upgrade to be used. With AA the Upgrade will clear when space opens up.
First winner gets first pick, and must respond vie email within 24 hours.
There’s a catch
I decided to automate the entire contest thing… because I didn’t want to go counting comments and tweets. So I got a website to do all the work for me.
The way the website works is that it’s kind of like a raffle.
You get points (or raffle tickets, so to speak) for signing up. And you get some points when you share the contest with others. And you get points when those people become referrals that sign up.
Enter the Contest here:
–> Enter Contest <–
Contest ends on Jan 26 at 2:00pm (EST). I’ll contact the winners via email at that time.
hi drew, i like the contest and your blog but not so much the contest tool. encouraging spamming people you know so you get more contest entries is more selfish then helpful to others. if i want to refer people to a blog it shouldnt be because i wanna win free stuff. just my 2 cents.
I agree.
I’d recommend entering and not spamming people then.
Yes you can skip the “spamming” steps and still enter the contest.
“you” are worth one entry, but your “spammed friends” are worth twelve. There are some people who will go crazy with their Google multiple emails, I’m sure………..
I just clicked default campaign, but actually now realize how to change such details, but feel as though it would be unfair for those who have already started.
If I do it again, I’ll definitely take into consideration the comments here! But probably don’t have to worry, as I’m on a 7 day free trial! 😀
Yes, obviously the goal of such a process is to grow readership, a logical business idea and not so unusual in this social networking age. I did the one entry myself too.
Hey if you want to refer people without wanting to win stuff, I encourage it. I prefer it be because of good content. But I appreciate the feedback, and hope it’s not used/viewed as spam.
I’ll take my chance with one entry. Luck be a lady tonight…
I’ve noticed that multiple times you have referred to yourself as living on a “poverty level budget.” You may be surprised to know that in 2014 the poverty level for a household of 2 in the United States was only $15,730 (according to the US Dept of Health and Human Services). I say this not to discredit in any way your impressive ability to travel the world on such a restricted, bare bones budget, but to highlight just how little income people must have before they are considered to be living in poverty by the federal government. Most people probably would not guess that your spending in 2014 was over 150% of the 2014 poverty guideline.
Thanks for the feedback Brad. I looked into it when we started the $20k a year goal and noticed that there are different levels depending on the agency. Like the $15k for two + 30% is poverty level for the IRS… things like that. So it seemed it was dependent on who is defining it. Kind of like using the term “First World Country”, there are experts who use the term but there isn’t a singular definition.
I’m not an expert on poverty level definitions so if I’m wrong please tell me. Say, “no this is the end all” and perhaps I should do more research on the subject.
After all, while being relative, I don’t want to take the issue of poverty lightly. Obviously even $15,000 in India is enough to live like a king. So I should choose my words carefully not to make it sounds like we’re going hungry or anything like that.
Here you are, trying to do a decent thing, and you’re forced to be on the defensive the entire comment thread. Sheesh.
Hi Drew,
First, I want to say thank you for your generosity by having this giveaway!
Unrelated to the topic, I am just trying to find your past blog post that I haven’t been able to find. I remember you wrote about the best use of miles to Hawaii and you describe each and different airlines miles out there, which primarily a good deal for folks who live in west coast (I am based in SFO bay area).
I can’t find that blog….and we are making plan to go to Hawaii for our honeymoon, can you please kindly refer me to the link of your blog post on Hawaii? Thanks a lot in advance!
Next time just type “Hawaii” or whatever into the search box on the right of the main page. It would take you here: http://travelisfree.com/2014/08/12/cheapest-ways-to-get-to-hawaii-using-miles/
Drew,
Your blog inspires me to travel more. The more I travel, the more I realize how little what most chase after matter.
So a very heart felt thank you! and that goes out to all the friends at TA, FT and all other helpful blogs.
Read your blog frequently, even without freebies – some tips are more valuable than those prizes. But I guess little “extra” would not hurt 😉
Do we have a winner?????
Hey Drew, love your site! FYI, I’m on you Mailing List and I don’t think this contest was mentioned… I missed it obviously but that seems like a benefit for being a subscriber. Cheers