Archive | June, 2011

Two tickets to Buenos Aires for less than $800

16 Jun

I couldn’t sleep tonight, so I crawled out of bed and started searching for flights to Buenos Aires. Good thing, because I just purchased two tickets for a total of $762!! No lie!

Here’s how.

Occasionally, I check the cost of flights from various mid and eastern cities in the U.S. to Buenos Aires: Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami. Mostly they are all equally priced, with the cheapest round trip tickets fluctuating between $1,200 to $1600. When I got out of bed tonight I expected to see the same.

Instead, when I checked the flights from Miami, I saw “$815.” I did the requisite wiping of the eyes to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating from lack of sleep. It was still there: $815 web fare special rate for a round trip ticket.

I knew I needed to grab them immediately, but Maggie was asleep. I certainly was not going to buy the tickets without her knowledge. I’ve already learned that lesson! Should I wake her up or stay up all night and ask her when she wakes up hoping the special rate didn’t disappear? I decided to wait.

And then I remembered our credit card, which we use for everything! I logged into the rewards system and it said we had just over 77,000 miles. Using their internal flight search, I found the same flight I had found on Expedia.com.

One ticket cost 75,000 reward miles or $750! I re-wiped my eyes and verified I read it correctly. What I thought was a good deal originally just got cut in half!

This time I had to wake up Maggie. Three-quarters asleep still, she said, “Why wouldn’t you buy that? Get it!”

So it turns out, our decision to get the overly advertised Capital One “No Hassle” Venture Credit Card paid off. You know that card. Just think of a viking asking, “What’s in YOUR wallet?”

The fact that we used that one card for about 95% of our purchases since being married helped us save a lot of money. I still can’t believe it. We just purchased one ticket completely with reward miles we’ve been accumulating for close to a year and the other ticket for only $762 (after the service fee was added). Amazing!

I guess we’re really going now. No turning back! We depart from Miami on Wednesday, October 12, 2011, for the beautiful city of Buenos Aires with a layover in Mexico City.

I do wonder if Maggie will remember me asking her.

Where Would You Go?

13 Jun

I have a question for you:

If you were able to move out of the U.S. for 2 years, what city or region would you move to?

NEW! View “The To-Do List”

If You Want to Save Money, Live in a Garage (of Awesomeness)

6 Jun

Most Angelenos cringe when they have to admit to family and friends who live outside of Los Angeles how much they pay in rent. Or at least, family and friends cringe on our behalf. Los Angeles housing is expensive.

Our friend and comedian, Don Friesen, on Home Ownership in Los Angeles. WATCH IT.

Our first home was not cheap. Yet, we don’t regret living there, because for our priorities a year ago (a one bedroom place with a yard and dog door in the Silverlake neighborhood of LA) it was a really good deal and a perfect start for us. We even talked the landlord down $350 per month at signing.


When we made the decision to move to Buenos Aires, we knew we would need to move out as soon as the lease was up. We need as much financial cushion as possible until Maggie lands a decent job. So, this weekend we packed up and moved out of our home in Silverlake for cheaper rent as sub-tenants in Pasadena at the “Garage of Awesomeness.”

Living in the Garage of Awesomeness is saving us a good chunk of change. And yes, for a garage apartment the rent is still a bit outrageous to non-Angelenos.

BEFORE: $1650/month – One bedroom, stand-alone house in Silverlake
Add onto that normal utilities and internet and we were paying close to $1900 in basic home costs.

NOW: $775/month – studio Garage of Awesomeness
All bills are included, even cable TV, which we haven’t had before!


We’re saving an extra $900 or more per month for the next three months! That should afford us close to 6 months of rent in Buenos Aires if all goes to plan.