I'd always thought airline miles and travel rewards were too good to be true ... but I was wrong
The start of 2019 found me in a rather precarious financial situation.
I was a freelancer living in Seattle, an area with incredibly high costs of living. While I still made more than the job I left to freelance, I didn’t make enough for the area. I never knew when money was coming in, though I knew when it was going out. It was always feast or famine, and I felt like I’d been on an emotional roller coaster.I needed a break – time away from the gray and the rain, to shut my laptop for a few days and live a little.
The idea of traveling had me feeling an energy I hadn’t felt in a while, and I knew I’d do whatever it took to do it. I did have a fewI could use – 40,000 and some change from opening my United Explorer card the year before. I figured that the least I could do was research it. I went to United’s website and found that 40,000 miles and about $150 in taxes would get me a round trip flight in economy to Europe. In mid-March, there’s not all that much warm weather in Europe. Greece, however, would give me everything I wanted.
I rounded up as friend who’s always ready to travel so I’d have someone to split lodging costs with. Going on the off season in late March made it extra affordable. With my hotel and Airbnb costs cut in half and the airfare virtually nonexistent with my airline miles, I knew I could make this trip work., which adds an extra flight within the same region when you book with miles. That helped me add a free flight from Greece to Rome, Italy since I booked with miles.
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