Hey everyone, it has been one heck of a day!
Business Insider published an article that has 4,700,000 views and counting. I just wanted to answer a few questions that I have been receiving.
Are you a professional travel blogger?
While the article that Business Insider wrote is a great one, it has one minor slip up. I am not a travel blogger, nor am I anywhere close to being a full-time professional blogger. I have a separate online business that pays the bills. Like many savvy travelers, I play the miles game to quickly rack up points and miles, so I can travel during my free time.
If TopMiles is not a blog, what is it exactly?
Think of TopMiles as a search engine for air travel, similar to Kayak and Booking. However, instead of using cash to pay for your trip, you pay for it using miles. We help compare different frequent flyer programs, and based on your preferences, we recommend which program to use.
For example, you would need 50,000 miles to fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in Business Class using AAdvantage miles. That exact same flight costs between 65,000-75,000 miles on United Airlines. By using AA miles instead of UA miles, you can save up to 25,000 miles!
Not only that, we show you the best ways to quickly earn miles using sign-up bonuses and help keep track of your minimum spend requirement.
After you finish earning all your points, we would show you how to use your miles to redeem your flights step-by-step.
How is TopMiles different from everyone else?
There is a lot of information out there regarding miles and points, but it’s quite difficult for a beginner to understand the jargon. I’ve simplified the entire miles process, step-by-step, so you don’t need to shift through all the clutter.
All you need to do is start searching where you want to go, and we’ll take you through the rest of the process.
How do you make money?
Our goal is to show you the best publicly available offers for each credit card and let you compare them, so that you can choose the right cards for you. I may have select financial partners, but that will be fully disclosed. As I have a separate online business that pays the bills, TopMiles will always be about helping people travel for almost nothing.
Where can I read about your other trips?
You can find the full details of my Emirates trip around the world here. Since the trip is so extensive, I will be updating the trip report weekly with new entries, so check back often!
How did you actually book your trip?
I booked my crazy around-the-world trip through Alaska Airline’s website using 200,000 Alaskan miles. This may sound like a lot, but it can be earned easily within one year without flying a single mile. It’s a bit hard to explain, but in a nutshell, I included a bunch of layovers between my flight from Singapore to the US and vice versa.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if Emirates would allow me to fly my crazy trip, but to their credit everything turned out okay. I was more than happy to take the regular routing if Emirates insisted.
Can I still book the trip you took?
Unfortunately, the loophole was closed a couple of months ago. A milder version still exists, though.
I found a bug, how do I report it?
Please report any bugs to webmaster@topmiles.com. TopMiles is still in the beta stage as we are ironing out the kinks.
I am a member of the media, how do I contact you?
Please send all press inquiries to media@topmiles.com.
