Newsletter Subject
How I Flew First Class to Japan
From
nomadicmatt.com
Email Address
matt@nomadicmatt.com
Sent On
Mon, Jun 19, 2023 01:00 PM
Email Preheader Text
{NAME}, Hello from Japan! I came here to celebrate turning 42 with some friends of mine. We've had a
HTML
{NAME}, Hello from Japan! I came here to celebrate turning 42 with some friends of mine. We've had an awesome week together exploring Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nikko. Now, they are gone and I'm on my own for my final week. I've been posting a lot of stories on [my Instagram]() and some folks saw that I flew over in Japan Airlines first class and wanted to know how I did it. The answer? I used my [Bilt]() points. I've been yapping away about this card for months. It lets you earn points on rent, double points on the first of the month, extra points on Lyft and dining, and has a bunch of other perks. I love it and use it as my primary card. The most important part of travel hacking is coming up with a goal. For me, that was scoring a JAL first-class ticket. JAL first is one of my favorite first-class experiences. The food, the bed, the service. This is the only way I wanted to fly over for my birthday. I could use BA points via Chase + Amex but BA always charges higher fees so I knew I wanted to use American Airlines to make this happen. Bilt is the only card that partners with AA so I spent months building up my points balance via bonuses and rent payments before transferring them to my AA account. Then I waited until a flight appeared. JAL first is really hard to get so I was willing to be super flexible and fly out of any hub, even if I had to fly there to make it happen (on points of course).
â
So, when a flight from SFO popped up, I booked it! It cost me 80,000 points and $5.60 in fees. That's it. Travel hacking is really all about setting a goal and working towards that goal by optimizing all the benefits a card has to offer. I worked every bonus and opportunity to build up my point balance without spending any extra money. ([Here's a blog on goal setting](.) If you're in the States and pay rent, sign up for [Bilt](). It's a no-brainer. Like why would you leave so many points on the table? You can [learn all about it here](=). Lastly, don't forget that Southwest has increased their welcome offer on their card to 60,000 points. PLUS they're offering a 30% off promo code for flights when you sign up. The deal applies to their Rapid Rewards Premier and Plus cards too (I like the Premier card best myself). â[Click here to learn more and sign-up today!](=) (It's the first card once you scroll down). If you have any questions, let me know. I'll be slow to respond as I'm traveling but I will eventually get back to you! Sincerely, Nomadic Matt P.S. - Booking a trip soon? Here are some resources to use: - Book your flight with [Skyscanner]().
- Book your hostel with [Hostelworld](.
- Book your hotel with [Booking.com](.
- Book your travel insurance with [SafetyWing](=).
- Book your day tours with [Get Your Guide](.
- Check out the [best travel credit cards](.
- Check out my [resource page]( for the best companies to use when you travel. â [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 2318 Santa Rosa Street, Austin, Texas 78702
EDM Keywords (82)
would
willing
way
wanted
waited
used
use
traveling
transferring
today
table
stories
states
southwest
slow
sign
setting
service
scroll
scoring
respond
resources
really
posting
points
perks
partners
optimizing
opportunity
one
offering
offer
nikko
months
mine
make
lyft
love
lot
like
lets
leave
learn
lastly
know
knew
japan
instagram
increased
hotel
hostel
happen
gone
goal
get
friends
forget
food
fly
flights
flight
flew
first
fees
dining
course
cost
coming
click
card
came
bunch
build
booking
booked
blog
birthday
bilt
benefits
bed
answer
aa
30