Jake’s Travel Tip #1: ACTIVATE THE POINTS!!
I’m shocked that there are so many people out there who have credit cards and they don’t have the travel point programs activated. I meet them all the time. What’s funny is that 9 out of 10 times it’s someone who loves travel. What is up with this?? Did you people bump your heads? Just the other day my friend said “Gee, I wish I could travel more. I always wanted to go to India.”
I asked her why she didn’t use his travel points on her credit card. She looked at me like I had seven heads. She didn’t even have an answer. She had a credit card. I knew she had a credit card. In fact, she has had one for years. Not only that, but she used it all the time! Shoes, gas, purses, food, Coffee. She used her card almost every day! Her dream was to go spend a week in a hut on the beaches of Goa. Well if she had saved up her points all these years, as inexpensive as it is in Goa, she could have flown there and stayed for a month and spent very little. But she didn’t activate the points. I’m telling you that you have got to activate the points, damn it. THE POINTS!
A nightclub in Eastern Europe wanted to book me to do a stand up comedy show for them. The money was not bad, but they didn’t want to kick in airfare. So I thought about it, and figured that if I was going to be in Europe, I might as well stay for a month or two. Do a European tour. I busted my ass sending out emails with links to my youtube clips and low and behold, I booked a whole tour. I used my points on airfare and the nights I had off I stayed in hotels for free because I had saved up my points for quite a while. I did comedy in 4 countries and stayed a whole month and had the time of my life for basically getting paid to experience Europe.
I have a friend who is in so many points programs it’s crazy. He’s smart. He tries to stay at the same hotel chain whenever he travels to rack up the points on their program. He always flies United and takes advantage of their point system. You pretty much have to pay for your plane ticket with a credit card these days. So he uses the card to buy those tickets that gives him more points! He has used those points for damn near completely free trips to Cuba, Southeast Asia, and Columbia. What I’m saying to you is that if you have a credit card and you are not signed on to their points program… You’re doing life all wrong.
Another friend of mine was given a company credit card for work and he actually talked his boss into letting him keep the travel points. Every day he was like “Need me to buy anything for the office, boss? Supplies? Anything? Can I put it on the company card?”
He wanted the points baby! Give me the points!
Speaking of stories about the way friends used their travel points. I had one friend use his travel points to buy prostitutes in Chiang Mai Thailand! He got an STD but he used his points at the clinic and got all healed up. The travel points can actually cure your STD! That friend’s name was Charlie Sheen. Winning!
Okay I just made that last part up to see if you were paying attention. None of that actually happened. Well, some of it happened. But that’s not important. What’s important is that you should give me your travel points.
Boy, that one really got away from me.
Give me the points!
On stage at the first annual Bucharest Romania Comedy Festival.
