Wow, yesterday afternoon was just awesome for me. At a friend’s invite, I had signed up for a miles masterclass/travel hacking conference organised by the good folks at Milelion, GoBear and American Express. I guess by how I started this review you know already that I found it smashingly good! 😀
The class was structured as three split sessions (beginner and advanced) covering miles hacks, frequent flyer programs and hotel hacks.
I’m not exactly a beginner to the miles game, having done a bit of basic card hacking as detailed in how credit card companies throw free money at you. With the points we’ve accumulated we’ve gone on free flights including a trip by Ms.K to Melbourne. We never got into the intricacies of The Game though, but in the past year or so I started analysing it in more detail like computing the miles value to me for different flights/sectors so I get to maximize my miles.
Having said that, personally this masterclass is AMAZING because of the way the speakers walk you through the concepts and the time saved doing research because of their knowledge sharing. This is indeed a very generous community. *Thumbs Up*
The Review
So for S$25, the day started off with a noon time registration and receipt of a goodie bag and lucky draw ticket.
(Contents of the goodie bag)
Lunch was provided. The variety was good enough to me and the quantity was sufficient…unlike one SGX event I went last year but the food ran out. Lol.
(early bird catches the worm)
The conference participants
The mix of participants was wider than I expected, there were groups of young guys, girls and older couples. I had expected mostly nerdy dudes…the kind who loves reading T&Cs of loyalty programs for loopholes…but I guess this event attracts the diverse crowd specifically because it makes the game more accessible to everyday folks who want to “travel better for less”…as The Milelion frequently says. Interesting conversations were had with random folks as we compared notes on our different approaches to travel hacking and sharing protips with each other.
Session 1B – Advanced Miles
I had decided to skip session 1A which was a credit cards miles primer that covered the basics of choosing the right credit card to maximise miles accumulation.
Session 1B Advanced Miles 1 was presented by Aaron Wong, the founder of The Milelion. He covered things relevant to Krisflyer (to cater to the SG audience) like:
- tips to get the fabled Round The World ticket award and an explanation of the key restrictions (I’ve heard of this but always thought that it was unattainable…like a 1 million points…so I never checked. However, I now know that RTW award starts from 180k (economy) to 360k miles (first class));
- utilising stopovers to your advantage (tip, use Singapore as a stopover point);
- sweet spots on the partner award charts;
- KVS tool (from the demo, it appeared to make the search for an available award that meets your parameters easier vs manually searching on Krisflyer website).
I found the topics covered to be very useful and Aaron’s sense of humour kept the audience engaged. He also gave live demonstrations of the Krisflyer website on-stage so you could see for yourself what the steps are. (side note: Aaron’s Krisflyer account showed more than 1 million miles when he logged in! Such a #humblebragger you….I’m sure that was done on purpose….haha.)
Session 2A – An introduction to airline frequent flyer programs
This was conducted by Jeriel Leong (he’s a surgeon and it shows…) and the content covered were:
- the basics on Krisflyer;
- finding and making award bookings;
- how to value miles;
- methods to earn miles besides flying and credit cards;
- basics of airline alliances and how to use it for award travel.
As an introduction the topics covered were wide enough and I liked how Jeriel focused on the framework in approaching frequent flyer programs rather than giving just mechanical rules and tips. Things which were new to me were the benefits of airline alliances in award travel (allowing you to still get awards when KF is not available) and the alternative ways to get miles including on other programs (which made a lot of financial sense from a cost vs benefit pov).
A useful reminder was to always check the product that will be in your award flight (and tips on how to identify that), because some of the SIA 2006 first class cabins photos shown at the masterclass are nowhere close to the 2017 product! I remember how SippingCoconuts have been disappointed before with the condition of the cabins (including some on paid tickets) because we didn’t know there were ways to indentify upfront which flight had a newer product. So now we know!
There was a Q&A in this session and things that I never asked were answered…like should I use my points for that upgrade offer (answer: usually no), or is there any best time to fly in terms of the services on board (answer: only difference is in first class, where supper service<normal meal service).
Session 3A – Hotel Hacks
This session was conducted yet again by Aaron Wong and covered:
- basics on different hotel loyalty programs, elite tiers, and how to earn status fast;
- how to enjoy the benefits of status on your stays, without actually having status;
- special hotel rates like BRGs and Family and Friends;
- arbitrage opportunities using hotel points;
- and how to use opaque booking channels to score deals on luxury hotels.
I’ve never researched much into hotel loyalty programs because they tend to be offered by the large hotel chains anyway and I can usually find a more boutique property going for less on an OTA. Nevertheless, the session covered the topics broadly enough for a good overview and going forward maybe I will make some comparisons to see if there’s any benefit I can get from hotel loyalty programs.
Again, Aaron did a live demo on-stage to score a lucky participant a 5 star hotel in Orchard. Although that didn’t go as planned as far as scoring a good deal was concerned…the process was entertaining yet educational. 😀 Again, my mind was blown when he shared tips on how to circumvent the limitations imposed by the opaque channel’s booking system.
Conclusion
As mentioned, the masterclass had great people on stage sharing generously and being “as calm and as patient as [they] could…” when walking the participants through their travel hacks.
What amazed me the most was how these hobbyists have taken the game to a whole new level. The hacks and loopholes they shared were mind blowing…quite a few times I was like “How did anyone find that out?!”. 😀
If travel hacking is something you love spending your free time researching, good for you. For the rest of us normal folks, the miles masterclass is an excellent opportunity to get a quick download on the latest developments and tips from the experts. Thanks to MileLion, GoBear and Amex for organising this. Looking forward to the next session (apparently next year) and to accumulate my 1 million points like Aaron Wong! Haha!
p/s: Quote of the day during the lucky draw prize giving: “There’s so much trust going on right now” – Aaron Wong. Followed a few minutes later by someone getting the first prize envelope by mistake. 😀 Can’t make these things up.
Any SippingCoconuts readers who also attended yesterday’s miles masterclass? Do share your experience or anything I missed out in the comments section below. Cheers!
