Free Flights to Europe via United

Oktoberfest in Munich, so many giant beers and giant pretzels

100% honesty upfront, that title's technically not true because of taxes/minor fees but let's be real here, we all want to game the system the best we can and if you want a virtually free trip to Europe, I'm pretty sure this is the easiest way you can possibly go about it at the moment. As an example for this post, I was talking to a friend about a trip to Munich for Oktoberfest this year which obviously is a very high demand time for Munich even though it is beginning to get pretty cold in Europe around that time of year. The opening bell rings at Noon on Saturday, 9/19 so the flight from NYC would have to take off on Friday night 9/18 at the very latest. I thought I would put myself to the test and see what I could do for him tonight. With free points and knowing United's award system, we can make this an almost free trip to Munich, Zagreb, and Frankfurt.

The GlobeTrotr Basic Travel Kit

Dragon's Back trail in Hong Kong

I've gone over a few ways to get the most points via credit cards along with some strategies to get the cheapest flights but none of those get into what you really need to travel into the mysterious foreign lands waiting for you. Below are some quick and easy tips for beginners to get started with feeling more comfortable while traveling. Some of these may not be exactly budget friendly (like a foreign data plan) but they can help you be prepared as best as possible for most situations when you arrive.

How to Spend Your Money Wisely

Photo courtesy of 401kcalculator.org at Flickr

Spending money. The great American pastime. Who would have thought that you could be doing it wrong still?

Recently, credit cards have been getting a bad rap thanks to people that use them incorrectly. They don't pay off their balances, they pay tons of interest, they go into debt, and the next thing you know, it's all the credit card's fault (to be fair, their interest rates are out of control). Well, I'm here to tell you that credit cards aren't so bad! I personally think they're great because if you funnel all your costs through them appropriately and pay off your balance each month, you get free stuff! And who doesn't love free stuff?? Now, how much free stuff is completely dependent on how you redeem the monopoly money they give you in points but in this post we will only discuss how to get the most funny money for your lifestyle by going through a few of the best credit cards available below.