After some initial research I signed up for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card, which is (I believe) the best card for bonus free air miles in the UK at the moment.

Here’s the deal:

The hook

You get 20,000 bonus points (which can be converted to free air miles with a few different carriers, or hotel stays with certain schemes) when you sign up for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card and spend over £2,000 in the first 3 months.

You can get an extra 2,000 points if you sign up via a referral from a friend (if you need a referral just email me – I’m happy to send you one!).

You also get

On top of the bonus points you also get:

• 1 Membership Rewards point for every £1 you spend using the card.
• 2 Membership Rewards points for every £1 spent directly with airlines or in a foreign currency.
• 3 Membership Rewards points for every £1 spent at American Express Travel.
• 10,000 bonus points after each year of cardmembership when you spend at least £15,000 per year.
• Access to two airport lounges per year.
• Hotel room upgrades at certain hotels.
• Travel protection.
• 24/7 Global assist.
• Car rental discounts and upgrades
• Additional local offers to earn bonus points/cashback.

Points can be converted into…

1 Membership Rewards point is worth:

• 1 Avios
• 1 Alitalia mile
• 1 Asia mile
• 1 Etihad mile
• 1 Emirates mile
• 1 Finnair mile
• 1 Flying Blue mile
• 1 SAS mile
• 1 Singapore Airlines mile
• 1 Virgin Atlantic mile
• 3 Club Carlson points
• 2 Hilton HHonors points
• 0.5 Starwood Preferred Guest point

Remember it is a charge card

This Amex is a charge card, not a credit card, which means there is no spend limit but you HAVE to clear your balance every month.

If you don’t clear your balance you will be stung with penalties which completely defeat the point of using the card.

Don’t sign up if you can’t clear your balance each month – you’d be better off with a low rate credit card instead.

It’s free for the first year

The normal charge for owning the card is £140 annually, which probably isn’t really worth it for the benefits.

However, it’s completely free for the first year. So you can sign up, take the bonus points and other benefits, then cancel before you get to the anniversary.

If you needed to keep it longer (e.g. to gain a specific number of points for something) the charge is pro-rated, so you’ll only pay the full year charge if you get to the end of year two.

My experience with the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card

I signed up last month and so far so good. I’ve been using it instead of my debit card for all of my normal spending.

I’m a long way off of achieving the £2,000 spend necessary to receive the bonus points, but I’m planning on booking a trip which should get me there in time.

I like the app

Amex have a really handy app for your iPhone which I like a lot.

You can set the app to notify you of spend on the card (I like this as a security feature, just in case).

The app shows a statement and running total of your spend on the card, so I’m finding it a lot easier to keep a tab on my spending than with my normal debit card.

It shows you a running total of points you’ve earned, and also how much more you need to spend in order to receive the bonus points.

The app also shows you the current local offers available to you. So far I’ve seen cashback offers for spend at small local shops, as well as for buying shoes from a well-known brand. So I’m planning to keep checking because the deals do seem relevant to me.

Ready to sign up for free air miles?

I’ll just mention once again that you shouldn’t get this card if you can’t be sure to clear your balance each and every month.

If that’s ok with you, I’m happy to give you a referral so that you can get the full 22,000 bonus points (which you can convert to free air miles). Just send me an email and ask

The post 22,000 Free Air Miles – Amex Preferred Rewards Gold Card appeared first on The Chickadee.

I have a new job with a whopping 33 days (!!) holiday allowance. So I’ve been looking into ways to make my travel budget go a little further.

Since I’m doing a ton of research at the moment, I thought it might be helpful to share what I find.

It’s worth mentioning that I’m living in the UK at the moment, which means some things I share may only apply here.

What is Travel Hacking?

Travel hacking is basically playing the system with the different ways to earn rewards points.  Points can then be turned into air miles and free hotel stays.

You learn how to get the maximum points possible for different schemes by spending the least amount of money. And you learn how to then redeem those points at the best possible rate.

You can redeem points for whole flights, use them to upgrade and fly Business Class, get free nights in hotels, and gain free access to swanky airport lounges. Sounds pretty good to me.

How to earn points

Airline reward schemes

Most airlines have a rewards scheme which enables you to earn air miles as you fly.

I’ve earned a fair few points this way in the past and clocked up over 100,000 Avios points.

Earning points in return for flights isn’t the best way to earn points if you want to start dabbling in travel hacking, because you have to fork out a small fortune to take the flights in the first place.

However, you do need to be signed up for a few airline schemes in order to redeem points you collect elsewhere – so sign up for any you fly with.

Earn while you spend

An easy way to start dabbling in travel hacking is to earn points for your everyday spending – and it can add up quite nicely.

In the UK, you can convert Tesco Clubcard points into Avios points. Then you can redeem Avios points for flights and hotels. So you can earn points for your weekly grocery shopping and petrol for your car.

You can also sign up for a points earning credit card. Some credit cards allow you to earn points for every pound/dollar you spend, which can then be transferred to certain airline reward schemes.

If you go down the credit card route you’ll need to make sure that you pay off the card each month, otherwise you’ll outweigh the benefits by paying interest and fees.

Credit card sign-up bonuses

This is by far the fastest way to earn a lot of points. But you need to be a little careful. It can be more than just dabbling in travel hacking.

You’ll need a good credit rating in order to get a credit card in the first place. And then you’ll need to pay off the balance in full each month, to ensure you don’t incur charges.

You can earn points by signing up for a credit card and spending enough money to get the points bonus. After that, you can cancel the card. You’ll then need to repeat the process with different cards. You can get additional bonuses for referring friends too.

As I said, though, you need to be careful as too many credit checks can harm your credit rating. If you’re going to need an important loan in the near future (e.g. a mortgage) it’s not a good idea to apply for a lot of credit cards.

There are a few credit cards with good sign-up bonuses at the moment – I’ve recently signed up for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card which gives you a 20,000 sign up bonus (enough for a return flight from London to Europe) when you spend £2,000 in the first 3 months. You can also get an extra 2,000 points if someone refers you. I’ll write more about the card and benefits soon, but if you need a referral just email me and I’m happy to refer you so you get the extra points.

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You might have heard of it before and understand that it’s about reducing the amount of clothing you own, ensuring that everything goes together, and that you only wear things that you really love.

Maybe that idea excites you, or maybe it fills you with terror! But how can it help you to save money for adventures? Basically:

1. You make money selling stuff you no longer need/want
2. You don’t buy so much new stuff
3. BONUS! Everything goes together, so packing becomes easier when you save enough to take that trip!

The basics: What is a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of 37 items of clothing (it could be a little more, or less, but 37 is the typical ‘rule’). The idea is that all of the items mix and match with the other items.

With a little planning, it is possible to make enough different outfits out of those 37 items that you don’t look as though you are repeatedly wearing the same clothes.

Each season you choose a colour palette, pick out items that you already own and love, and then go shopping only to buy additional items which make the capsule work for a whole season.

The idea is that, as you go shopping just once per season, with a clear idea of what to buy, you cut out the impulse buys which don’t really get worn. And you save that money to pay for your next adventure!

How much can you save?

How much you can save largely depends on how much you are spending on clothes, shoes and accessories in the first place. But if you have a bit of a shopping habit, as many of us do, the amount may surprise you!

How much money do you spend on new clothes each year? £500? £1000? More?

And how much of the stuff you bought did you actually need? How many items have you worn often? How many items still have the tags attached? (Be honest!)

Before my capsule wardrobe experiment, I think I spent around £1000 a year on clothes, shoes, accessories etc. More if there was an occasion, like a wedding for instance.

I have considerably reduced that by planning my wardrobe more carefully and only buying things that I really need and really love. Last year I think I spent about £150.

My Capsule Wardrobe Journey

A few years ago I was going through a bit of a stressful time leading my first team at work, amongst other things in my personal life.

Because of those big things, I was finding the little things – like deciding what to wear each day – disproportionately stressful!

After standing in front of my wardrobe full of clothes thinking ‘I have nothing to wear!’ for the umpteenth time, I decided to make a change.

It was a happy accident for me that I ended up saving money too! But if saving money for adventures is your goal, this is a good place to start.

How to do it

Step 1: Find out how much you spend?

You will be way more motivated if you can see how much you could save over the year by putting this method into practice.

So go through your accounts for last year and write down everything you spent on clothes, shoes Dand accessories.

Could you have paid for an adventure with that? Then this is worth doing!

Step 2: Sort your stuff

Pull everything out of your closet – clothes, shoes and accessories – and sort them into three piles. Things you LOVE, things you like and might wear, and things that are damaged/you don’t like/don’t wear.

Sell the things you don’t need any more on eBay – it’s instant adventure money! Here’s some tips for selling on eBay.

Then sort your love and like piles into things you think you will wear this season, and things you probably won’t (e.g. winter coats, boots, etc.). Put the non-seasonal items away out of sight.

Step 3: Create your season capsule wardrobe

Be ruthless. You’re aiming to have just 37 items which includes tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear and shoes. But don’t include accessories, workout clothes, pyjamas, or underwear.

Un-Fancy.com suggests 9 pairs of shoes, 9 bottoms and 15 tops, leaving space for 2 dresses and 2 coats/jackets. But you can configure this any way you like!

As you go through, check that every item goes with at least three other items – it’s no use having a skirt that only goes with one top!

Don’t worry if you end up with more items, or things you’re not sure about. One good way of paring down as you go is to put everything back in your closet with the hangers turned the wrong way round.

If you wear something, put it back in the wardrobe with the hanger the right way round. In a couple of months you’ll see the things you just aren’t wearing and you can sell them (for adventure money!)

You might find you need to buy a few items to make the capsule wardrobe work and that’s ok – but go out with a list and only buy those things! You’re trying to make money here, not spend more!

Step 4: Review

You’ll need to repeat the process each season (every 3 months). Each time, only buy the few items necessary to make the capsule work and only buy things that you really love.

After a year, go back to step one and go through your accounts. How much did you spend on clothes and shoes? And more importantly, how much did you save?

It’s adventure time!!

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Plus! Free guide: How to Get More Adventure in Your Life

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Saving For Adventures: Selling On eBay

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