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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Tynan
Several credit cards will give you unlimited access to PriorityPass, including top tier ones from Chase, Citi, and American Express.
Typically the only way to get into an airport lounge is to have high levels of status and be flying that airline, have a first class ticket on the airline, or have the expensive credit card endorsed by the airline.
Domestically in the US, these lounges tend to be amongst the worst. They’re busy and offer the bare minimum for food. I find that it’s not worth jumping through the hoops necessary to gain access to them.
There are three primary ways in which you can benefit from having a good portfolio of credit cards.
Did you know that almost every bank and credit card charges you a 3% surcharge to withdraw or spend money when you’re in a foreign country? They don’t mention it anywhere you’ll actually see it and you won’t notice because the exchange rate masks their cut. Top tier cards tend to not charge for this, including Amex Platinum, Discover, Capital One, and any card that is either Visa Signature or World Mastercard.
Most people know that you can get one mile per dollar you spend on a credit card, which can later be converted into a free flight. This is valuable and worth doing, but most people don’t spend enough to get more than one round-trip flight per year. So how are nomads like myself constantly flying around for free? Sign-up bonuses.
When you sign up for a new credit card, the company will often award you a bonus for doing so. Usually you will be offered a fixed amount of points, say 50,000, in return for spending a certain amount, maybe $3000 in three months.
Points are typically worth around 1.5 cents each, which gives you a value of $750 for spending $3000. Who needs 1% cashback when you’re effectively...
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A general strategy is to start with the best offer, complete the spending, and immediately switch to a new credit card, completing the process again. Using this method, someone new can earn betw...
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A common concern is that doing this will cause your credit score to drop. It will drop very slightly in the beginning, but will then rise slowly and consistently. This is because the inquiries ding you a little bit, but having lots of credit available (and not abusing it) helps you a lot. Everyone I know who does this has a score above 750.
Unless there are no good offers, which is unlikely, start with Chase cards. They care the most about how many cards you apply for, so it’s best to get them out of the way first. They offer some of the best cards and best bonuses anyway.
When deciding which card to get, think a lot about what sorts of free flights you’d like. Southwest is the best choice for most domestic flyers. American has discounted off-peak rates to most regions of the world. United has the best availability, but highest mile cost. Delta is generally horrible. Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to multiple airlines, including Southwest and United. Some cards give you points which can be converted to dollars to spend on flights.
Never redeem miles for anything other than flights. Flights are always a good value, and everything else is a bad value. As a rule of thumb, you are getting 50% of the value of a point if you spend it on anything other than a flight (like cashback).
Keep track of the credit cards you sign up for and their respective bonuses on a spreadsheet. This will seem like a big hassle at first, but remember that you will be receiving approximately 25% cash back on all money you spend. If you spend $20,000 in a year, that’s worth $5...
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One of my favorites is US Bank, which gives you eight gogo inflight wifi passes per year. I save these for when I’m on long transcontinental flights. I also bring a small travel router which is powered off of USB and allows me to use multiple devices on the same connection. To see examples of that and other gear, go to http://tynan.com/gear2018. If you read this after 2018, you can put in the current year instead.
American Express gives you a free unlimited Boingo subscription, which gives you fast internet access in most airports, including those which have throttled or time-limited connections. Whenever you log in to wifi, especially in an airport, look for “partner login” and find Boingo. You’ll generally get the best connection available that way.
If you’re going to another country, convert to their currency in whichever of the two countries is less touristy and developed. For example, if you are going from Vietnam to Tokyo, you should convert in Vietnam because they want their local currency but will have enough Japanese tourists that they can have a competitive rate. If you try to convert in Japan you’ll find that you’ll pay a bad rate as no one will want the Vietnamese money.
If you need to transfer large amounts of money from a US bank account to a foreign bank account, use TransferWise.com. They have the best rates, are reputable, and are easy to use.
If you have transit cards like the Oyster card in London, it probably includes a refundable deposit in the ballpark of $5. If you won’t return to the country, you can go to an office to get a refund. If it’s a big line and not worth the hassle, give it to someone in line so that they don’t have to pay the deposit.
There is one debit card which you’ll see in most serious nomads’ wallets, which is a Schwab debit card. Schwab has an account called the High Yield Investor Checking account which is excellent for all travelers. It has no monthly fee, no foreign exchange fee, and rebates all ATM fees (though this doesn’t always work automatically for all international ATMs). You can apply and open an account over the internet.
If you happen to live in the San Francisco area, I like the SF Fire Credit Union even better. They have all of the same benefits as well as no limit for mobile banking check cashing, instant crediting of all transfers, the ability to increase your ATM limit, and excellent customer service. Plus they have physical branches if you need to deposit cash.
Much of what people believe is jet lag is just dehydration. The air on airplanes is very dry and you aren’t served enough water to compensate for it unless you constantly bug the flight attendants.
To compensate, drink a ton of water before you get on a plane, bring water with you in a water bottle, and always ask for water whenever the flight attendant offers you a drink.
Beyond hydration, jet lag comes from a shortened or lengthened day, coupled with incongruent lighting.
When planning for jet lag, understand that the most important factor is whether you wake up at a normal time in your target city, having slept 6-10 hours within the past 24 hours. If you do this...
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For example, next month I will fly from Beijing to Las Vegas. My flight leaves at 2:45p local time in China and arrives at 12:10p local time in Las Vegas. Ideally I would sleep as soon as I got on the flight and wake up a few hours before I land. Of course, it’s not easy to go to sleep at 2:45p. So what I’ll do is make sure I don’t sleep very much the night before, maybe just four hours. I’ll stay up late and/or set an early alarm. What this does is compress the time when I’m not at my best into just a portion of the travel day, rather than force me to suffer through it for a week after I
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As soon as you get on the plane, you want to act as though you’re in the new time zone. Set your watch to the new time and...
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If it’s bright in the cabin and should be dark according to the target time, I’ll throw a sleep mask on and listen to a podcast (current favorite is Noah Kagan Presents). Usually once a long flight gets going they turn off the lights so that everyone can sleep. When it’s morning at the destination, I blast all of my lights. I open the window if it’s bright out, which it typically will be, turn on any overhead lights I have access to, turn on the TV in front of me, and turn my laptop on the brightest setting. Other passengers may find this annoying, but it’s actually helping them with jet lag
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Always apply for the longest visa term possible if the price difference is negligible or non-existent. It’s important to research this in advance, as it’s not always obvious what the maximum possible duration is. For example, the longest duration on the Chinese visa application is a one-year multiple-entry, but if you write in ten-year, you will be approved for it and it costs the same amount as a one year.
Once you’re an excellent employee, start taking your vacation time. Travel far away, but keep working even though you don’t have to. Your boss will notice, but so will your coworkers. One of the top concerns for bosses is that if they let one employee travel, they have to let everyone travel. If it’s commonly known that you work while you’re on vacation, you will be seen as different. After that experiment goes well, suggest another one to your boss. Say that you love your job, but that it’s preventing you from traveling as much as you’d like to, and that you’re trying to think of
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He then moved to a company with “unlimited vacation”, which most people don’t ever use. He used a lot of it, but always worked while traveling, so they never complained.
My criteria are first basic cleanliness, then location, then niceness. I’d rather have a very small and basic place in the center of town than a fancy hotel suite on the outskirts.
Often the best values are private rooms at the top rated hostels. You’ll have privacy and probably your own bathroom, but the room will be small and you’ll spend time in a big common area. Even if you plan on staying somewhere else eventually, this is a great way to get to know other travelers early in your trip.
The next type of hostel is the budget hostel. These tend to be very bare bones, but as long as they’re well rated on booking.com or hostelworld.com, they should be clean. With a budget hostel you’ll get to save more of your money for doing activities and will meet other frugal people.
Last is the upscale hostel. These might be unique experiences, like a converted countryside schoolhouse or a series of cabins in the woods, or just a nice normal hostel. They tend to have good food and great common areas for reading and working. In my opinion they offer a lot more than similarly priced hotels in terms of experience and attention to detail. They also tend to provide memorable stays.
If you’re looking for an Airbnb in advance, it’s a good idea to send a message to the host and ask them for a discount. Even a simple message like, “Hi, I’m considering a few Airbnbs in the area and yours is a little more expensive than others. Would you consider a discount for these dates: _____” will get results more often than not. If you’re going for weeks or months you can sometimes get a very significant discount. Find 3-5 Airbnbs that you’re interested in, ask them all for discounts, and take the one that ends up being the best value.
The main advantage of hotels is that they’re very quick to check in and out of and they provide a consistent experience. If I’m staying somewhere for just one to three days, I’m most likely to stay in a hotel to avoid dealing with the uncertainty of Airbnb.
My favorite site for an overall hotel search is trivago.com. They have a huge variety of hotels and search many different booking sites, which often have big differences in price. If you’re very particular or want a specific hotel, Trivago is the best site to search.
