Update 5/7/2016 at 11am PT: Here are the 3 winners I selected:
- Adam said “I actually was inspired by yours to have my own Amtrack train trip! Thought about it in the past, pulled the trigger after your reports ;)”
- Christina said “I love your blog and also I loved meeting you at in Chicago at FTU Advanced (you’re really a friendly and modest fella). Congrats on your anniversary Grant! I learned all about AmEx offers and Serve from you. I earned enough AA miles through MS to take my daughter to Paris this year. Thank you and keep up the good work!”
- Seth said “You had a contest one time to have people come up with the best weekend trip you could take for a single sign up bonus (or something like that). I actually ended up taking a trip very similar to the one I came up with, and I never would have thought of it without the great prompt and information from your site!”
Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and for all the great interactions over the last 3 years. Happy Mother’s Day weekend everyone!
Good morning everyone, happy Wednesday! Oh, by the way, Travel with Grant turned 3 years old yesterday. Pretty crazy, right? I can’t believe it’s been 3 years already, time sure flies by. I sometimes get asked for advice about blogging and I always tell people the same thing: “Starting a blog is easy, but keeping it going day in and day out takes a lot of work.” During the first few months of blogging, you feel like no one reads your blog or cares about your blog. I used to get jealous of other bloggers who had tons of readers and received several comments on each post. Why was no one reading or commenting on my blog posts? Over time, I learned that readers like to read and not leaving a comment does not mean anything bad. If I had written something wrong/bad, I’m sure the commenters would have let me know right away.
Looking back at my first month of blogging, I had a total of 3,314 total pageviews, now I can (occasionally) pass that number in a single day of blogging. My blog traffic quickly climbed the first year during the golden age of MS (Bluebird, Serve, Vanilla Reload Cards, PayPal My Cash Cards, churning credit card, retention bonuses, etc.). My blog was off to a great start!
During the second and third year, traffic continued to grow as I moved from an independent blogger to the Prior2Boarding network to the BoardingArea network. As of today, I have just over 2.5 million pageviews, but my monthly traffic has decreased from my peak in February 2015 as the MS opportunities have slowly disappeared. Living in the Bay Area since December 2014, the MS opportunites have almost dried up entirely. Through and through, I always enjoyed writing blog posts and helping readers.
I have had a few guest posts scattered in throughout the years, but the vast majority of my posts have been written by me. How do I pick the topics that I write about? I have a few simple rules that I follow:
- I write about stuff that I would want to read about. If I don’t care about a topic, I am not going to write about it.
- Be the first to write about something. Everyone loves breaking news, but lately, it’s been all bad breaking news.
- Be the best at writing about something. If something has been written about 50+ times, there is no point for me to write about it too, unless I have something new to add.
With that said, I’ve written close to 900 posts, but here is the list of top blog posts/pages of all time. The PayPal My Cash Card post continues to get 50-100 pageviews everyday, it’s incredible!
Writing good content is great, but it doesn’t mean anything if no one can find/read your blog posts. Search engine traffic is my greatest source of traffic and represents 40% of my total pageviews (1M / 2.5M). Social media (Twitter and Facebook) are essential in the travel hacking space since information is so timely and can be easily shared with millions of people. Lastly, and most importantly to me, connecting with fellow travel bloggers is essential. There is no greater compliment than when another travel blogger links to your posts and tells their readers to read your post. Thank you to all the travel bloggers out there who have linked to my posts.
Long story short, Travel with Grant is 3 years old and I want to thank everyone who has read, commented, emailed, tweeted, or talked to me at a travel conference. You guys are awesome!
To thank you, I want to give away 3 $10 Amazon eGift Cards to readers. All you have to do is tell me what deal/trip over the last 3 years was the most important to you. Do you reminisce about the days when you could buy $5,000 of VRCs from Office Depot and CVS? Did that first class trip around the world on miles and points make the last 2 years of hoarding miles and points worthwhile? Did you get to see friends and family scattered around the world that you haven’t seen in years? Leave a comment below and let me know.
I will pick the winners Friday morning at 7am PT. Good luck to everyone who enters and cheers to the next 3 years of blogging!
I learned how to MS with Serve and Visa GCs via this site.
If anyone has any new tips since they cracked down it would be greatly appreciated!!
I’m glad to have helped with Serve and VGCs in the past, but I’m not sure what the future MS opportunities will be :(
Learning about Southwest and their system was most important to me :) I was able to save some miles/points by booking all my summer trips one-way, and checking SWA’s website occasionally to see if the price had gone down (and for a lot of them, they did!).
Awesome, nothing like finding a cheap SWA flight get even cheaper. It’s a pretty good return on invested time when SWA has fare sales.
I love learning how we can hack our way to family vacations.
Do you have any specific vacations in mind?
You had a contest one time to have people come up with the best weekend trip you could take for a single sign up bonus (or something like that). I actually ended up taking a trip very similar to the one I came up with, and I never would have thought of it without the great prompt and information from your site!
I know the post you are referring to. Could you MS during the week to pay for a quick weekend trip? Great comments in that post :)
Congrats…I do enjoy your blog a lot!
I definitely miss the Vanilla Reload days….got so many points and was so easy to hit spend requirements on new cards.
Same here. RIP VRC :(
Learning about the amex deals and southwest airlines was the best thing that I learned today. I got into the game late and so can’t comment about the VRC days. It was worthwhile for me to learn about points and to get to see folks that I have not met for years.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Maddy, enjoy those discounted trips to see your friends and family.
I think my most important trip was the super cheap fare I got from MEX to SCL, since that’s when I met my partner for the first time – and now I’m getting ready to move to Mexico!
Viva en Mexico?? That airfare deal was fate!
Congrats!
I’d have to say using my points and miles for a first class RTW honeymoon trip (Paris, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Hong Kong, Japan) was definitely a highlight!
That sounds like an epic trip. Hopefully one of many for you guys :)
All of it is still kind of new to me and its a little overwhelming and I am not sure I will ever be able to do it all but trying to pick out the best bits for me…….so far its Southwest, the tips and the companion pass……what a deal thank you
I always say getting the SWA Companion Pass is easy, but finding a travel companion to go with is hard. What’s your favorite SWA destination?
so far Jamaica……but we are doing Costa Rica in July so that might change !!!
Dang, both places that I want to visit. Have fun in Costa Rica!
Took a family trip to Yellowstone last summer with my wife and two girls!
Yellowstone is on my national park bucket list. I almost went there last December in the snow :)
I love the personal interaction from you. If I had an urgent question, you were always there to answer through emails. Thanks for making it so easy to get in touch with you.
Thank you for all the emails and questions, I’m always happy to help. If readers take the time to write to me, I will make the time to answer their questions :)
I learned about the ins and outs of miles and points from you and other bloggers beginning in February 2014, and later that summer my wife and I were off on our first European trip — to four different countries. We haven’t looked back since and are planning to go to Southeast Asia in a couple months.
You got the travel bug.. Bad! Enjoy SE Asia, I still need to go to there
I get interesting MS tips here, things that only Grant would pick up on. What was especially helpful to me was leaning about certain VGCs having a pin (the ones from US Bank, commonly sold in supermarkets). This has increased my MS plus they are very easy to liquidate.
Glad to help, just be careful buying VGCs from grocery stores, I’ve run into a few VGCs that were tampered with before I purchased them.
I realize, you have always emphasized that point. What I usually do is go directly to “MegaLo-Mart” within 15 minutes of buying the USB VGC.
That is a good strategy, the faster you liquidate the VGCs, the better you will be :)
Learning about flexperks has really saved me money for expensive tickets to fly home over the holidays, when award tickets are never available.
FlexPoints are still under appreciated by most people. Glad you wee able to use them easily :)
Started researching how to pay my freelance “employees” and earn miles and happened across your blog. Earning miles off MS with Amazon Pay and Serve was great while it lasted and earning me a ton for money I had to spend anyway. On to the next opportunity!
I only had one Amazon Pay account, but it was a great way for friends to pay me with no fees. RIP Amazon Pay :(
I love your blog and also I loved meeting you at in Chicago at FTU Advanced (you’re really a friendly and modest fella). Congrats on your anniversary Grant! I learned all about AmEx offers and Serve from you. I earned enough AA miles through MS to take my daughter to Paris this year. Thank you and keep up the good work!
Haha, friendly and modest fella perfectly describes me. I’m sorry that the ANEX Offers have sucked so far in 2016. When AMEX gets desperate after the loss of Costco and SPG, I’m sure they will pump out the good AMEX Offers :)
Enjoy your well deserved trip to Paris, one of my favorite cities
I am still trying to acquire enough miles so I can go with my daughter and share a first class experience. I think I need about 50,000 more. I read all the time, but have not found that deal yet!
Have you applied for the Citi AA Biz Card which offers 50k AA miles?
My wife and I took a trip to Thailand last summer for our first wedding anniversary. I’ve always enjoyed travel, but that trip really brought the travel bug on in full force. After that trip, I dove into travel hacking as much as possible. Thanks to some MS and sign up bonuses, we’re heading to the Maldives and Bali next month with a mixture of Singapore and Cathay business class.
Thanks for the wealth of information you provide and being a breath of fresh air among some of the other BoardingArea blogs. Keep it up!
Enjoy your trips to 2 of the most beautiful places on earth! Are you planning on doing any hiking and snorkeling?
I’m looking forward to snorkeling in the Maldives. I’d love to scuba dive there but neither of us are certified, and I know it’s very expensive. We’ll be in Ubud in Bali so plan to enjoy the nature and scenery. My wife isn’t the biggest fan of hiking but we definitely want to explore the rice fields/mountains around. Any suggestions?
I’ve never been to either place, but I know the scenery is amazing. Plenty of good photo spots I’m sure.
After the demise of VRC, I was glad to learn about VGC!
VGCs were very good for a long time after VRCs died.
I shall always miss the ease of redbird. I thought vanila reloads were easy, but this takes the cake.
Redbird was too good to last, surprised it lasted as long as it did. RIP Redbird :(
Learning about RedBird from Target was the most important to me. Bring it back! :)
I will try to bring it back, but it might not be possible. :(
I had an amazing RTW trip to Europe and Singapore last year, booked taking advantage of an error fare! That’s my most memorable adventure until now! :)
Sweet trip, how much was the total airfare?
I paid about $290 (Rome FCO – SIN – LAX) and used AA miles for the rest (LAX-FCO)!
Congratulations on your great work with the blog! And thank you! :)
Nice deal, glad you got to fly around the world cheaply. Which city was your favorite?
I loved Singapore, I had never been there before – while I had already visited Europe! :) Grant, may I ask you a favor? May I send you an email and ask you for some brief advice about a credit card? I would really appreciate it to receive your input!
Congratulations grant – learned a lot from your blog through the years. Keep up the good work and hopefully I get to wish you for many more years to come!
Thank you, if you keep reading, I will keep writing :)
Deals wise for me, it was dabbling with the US Mint dollar coins and the whole VR craze at CVS.
Trip, using a combo of Avios/Hyatt Card nights for a 5 day trip to Maui last year
BA Avios from the west coast to Hawaii is a great deal, 1 I have booked a few times for myself and friends. I have a 5 night trip to Maui in October that I’m looking forward to :)
Dropping Aspiring. Just Titan now!
And congrats. This is only the beginning.
Thanks George for all the help blogging and your financial advice. Great talking to you at WestCoastDo in PHX last year. That was my highlight of the conference :)
Happy Blogiversary!!! You were the first blogger we followed and received so many great hints and directions….it really hit us when we took our first Business Class flight late last year using points. Thanks so much for your help and support!
Sounds like an awesome trip, hopefully you have plenty of miles and points for more epic trips in the future
I agree with Nick. The info about gift cards having PINs, and how to use that info, was the most useful to me. We’ve used that info to meet our minimums for the spend waiver for United Premier status and to amass enough miles to take some epic trips with a stopover.
Awesome, thank VGCs for adding PINs :)
I was in the miles and point hobby before, but in the last 2 years I extended it big times and saving up for some great trips. Blogs like yours help a lot to find useful information quck.
I’m glad you learned a few things from my blog. I wish there were more deals to write about and more time to write about them…
Learning about, and subsequently using, the Target “Redbird” was the best deal I have come across in a while. Especially since I double dipped by buying Amex gc through portals for cash back.
Great use of AGCs and Redbird. How many Redcards did you have?
Earning the beloved Companion Pass from Southwest Airlines by simply getting two credit cards. It has saved me thousands of dollars over the almost two years that I’ve had it.
The Southwest companion pass has been very lucrative for me and my family. Definitely one of the most valuable things I’ve learned.
What is your favorite SWA destination? I would say Cabo San Lucas was pretty cool :)
Birthday trip entirely on points and miles to celebrate a milestone with my dad. Italy was one of his top destinations and we did it in style. Damn I miss those VRs!
That sounds like an epic trip with your dad, one that you will probably remember for a very long time :)
I miss the RedCard CC load days! And figuring out that we were hitting the same Target – and also the Staples/Rite-Aid/Smart-&-Final complex in PH.
Haha, the Pleasant Hill Staples / Smart & Final was my go to location along with the Target in Walnut Creek. Good times indeed!
I can’t pinpoint one particular thing. But I do like that you are timely with your posts and I have used all the info to help me and my family travel free! Each year we go to Hawaii and haven’t paid for tickets in many years! And that includes free nights also!
Free trips to Hawaii sound like a great way to spend your miles and points. I am spending 5 nights on Maui and 5 nights near Kona in October. That will be a fun trip :)
I actually was inspired by yours to have my own Amtrack train trip! Thought about it in the past, pulled the trigger after your reports ;)
Awesome, I’m glad you pulled the trigger on “premium” class Amtrak travel. Did you do the Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles) or the California Zephyr (Denver to San Francisco)?
I’m inspired to category spend better and smarter. I pay attention to all the little details more. My hubby has earned companion pass the last 5 years or so with business trips alone. But we pay more attention to his spending and flights so he gets Alist preferred too. Makes his business trips easier, and those 25% bonus points make a big difference flying a family of 5 all around the country for camp, vacations, sporting events, etc. Then when he makes those, we immediately switch spending to other cards. We’ve done yearly ski trips to great places and even went to the Bahamas, all on Southwest. My spending goes other places so we can save up miles for big trips. Like Hong Kong as a family for Spring Break to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Award tickets booked, the whole family is going!! Yippeee!
That is a great, you are doing a great job at maximizing all your spending. Have a great trip to HKG!
Happy Birthday!!! The ease of buying VR and loading at home. Sigh, the good old days!
Yes indeed, VRCs are dearly missed.
Congrats on the anniversary! I got a lot out of your blog when I was first starting off and appreciate our interactions via Twitter. Keep up the great work!
I am pretty interesting to follow on Twitter, right?
Happy Anny! I was able to turn over the SW Companion Pass twice in 4 years thanks to some guidance from your site. I rock that pass, thank you!
I’m glad you are maximizing the value of your SWA CP. What has been your favorite SWA destination?
My babymoon to Sweden! Best way to celebrate just being two.
That sounds awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to Sweden.
A fun week in Italy last summer for my family.
That sounds love. What was your favorite city to visit in Italy? I preferred Venice over Rome, but I loved visiting the Coliseum.
I got into this hobby for mostly free travel. I’m currently saving points for a fancy trip to Italy (for my wife) and Ireland (for me!). Your blog has been great for education when Serve was available to build points. I also really appreciate the updates on AMEX offers!
Thank you David, have a great time in Italy and Ireland. Ireland is very beautiful if you do a road trip outside of Dublin.
I had enough UR to cover 6 people to Italy!
That’s very impressive. What is your next big trip?
saving miles for the Philippines.
That sounds great, I’ve heard the Philippines is very pretty. Enjoy your trip!
I went to visit online friends from Europe for their wedding, so that was exciting! :)
That’s great, where did they get married?
I missed the days of Redcard when you can load up 6k in a month… that really helped out my MS. Oh well, just redeeming miles now whenever I can. Just got back from my Japan/Korea trip where I used 50k AA miles. It was sweet :).
Redcard was too easy, but I sure racked up lots of miles and points.
I learned how to take advantages of AMEX offers to save or earn money.
Nice, I loved AMEX Offers but they have not been very good this year :(
I planned my honeymoon!
Awesome. Where are you going?