Today you are going to a little bit of real talk with Heidi. Maybe because I am on night 3 of a hotel to MYSELF while I’m at a conference or maybe I shouldn’t have had that second cup of coffee (by the way if you like Real Talk with Heidi version, feel free to support this buying me a coffee) Either way, I wanted to give families a valuable way to use travel rewards to supplement their travel budget, traveling longer, farther - let’s just say it’s one of my favorite optimization strategies AND after 2 people it gets much more difficult - you even heard Chris Hutchins from All the Hacks say it on episode 092.  The game is harder to play with more people.       And I’ll just say it, the content out there for families is eh.  I don’t think you need to pay thousands of dollars to follow someone’s system.  Once you learn the rules of the game you just need a reliable source to ask questions and find the answers you need. I also don’t think everyone needs to take online courses to understand how points and systems work.  Many of those groups want you to use their links so that they get all the referral bonus points. Just for the record, I’m not opposed to any of those things, people can make money doing things they are good at and I know that many use the referral and affiliate links to fund their work.  I just think there is a better way to support YOU through this - what can I say, we are sherpas helping families adventure.  I think families need a fair shot at the travel rewards game.      Part of the challenge with travel hacking is that the rules change often.   It takes time to understand and let’s be frank - we don’t have time to scurry down the rabbit hole of travel rewards.  For this episode I am going to highlight some of the travel hacking resources I have and walk through three examples of how we recently used travel rewards.  I also am announcing a FREE Live Family Travel Hackers Q/A Session so stick around and make sure to register to get EVEN more tips.   First to highlight some of my previous content: On episode 018 | Travel Rewards tips with Melissa Lagerquist.  We talk about some of the basic terminology, approaches and ways she has used points to hack cruises.  Full disclosure - Melissa is connected to the Choose FI Travel Rewards course.  If you want to go down the rabbit hole that free course is where I started when it was launched probably close to 5 years ago.  On episode 019 | Our approach to travel rewards I walk through our strategy and I give you a free downloadable planning guide to help you through the process.  That is available at: https://ordinarysherpa.com/rewards/   Episode 032 | How to Fly a family of 5 to Hawaii for under $500 I dive deep into Southwest Companion Pass which we have had for 4 years straight.  We are not renewing next year because we will be traveling in the RV next year and as you will soon hear we have a different strategy.  Episode 070 | Hacks to Optimize Family Experiences without Sacrificing Value offers an updated approach to how I plan our summer vacations in particular.   We also reference travel hacking in episode 084 with Ed Tee adventuring near and far; Episode 040 Interim Expat with Scott Barrett, and Episode 077 | Funding the Fun with Jen of Investor Mama.     The DIY approach to learning travel hacking can seem like an uphill slog.  I may have said on more than one occasion “Can someone just tell me what to do?!” Stick around until the end to get the link to register for our Free Family Travel Hacker LIVE Q/A.  Tonight I wanted to share a few behind the curtain tips to help you travel more for less.     Hawaii flights for 5 for under $300 It’s no secret here that we used 2 Southwest Companion Passes.  RIGHT NOW is the best time to start earning the Southwest Companion Pass to give you the maximum amount of time where one person flies free with you (-$5.50 per flight in taxes and fees).