Travel as an investment niche!

Image via WikipediaTravel, expecially cruise travel, is my second love. My wife, of course, is my first love.

I am a quintessental tourist who especially enjoys cruising and cruise ships in general.  I make no appologies for this.  I worked hard all my life and I am now enjoying the fruits of that labor, and my investments. Speaking about investments.....

Pointing you to Europe, for free, in Executive Class!

"Look after the pennies, and the dollars will look after themselves"!

That statement rings true for many parts of life, as well as finance. If you look after the little things, usually the big things fall into place. If you save your pennies, they turn into dollars. Wealthy people have a number of traits in common, however two stand out. 1. They usually own their own businesses and 2. They always demand value for every dollar spent!

One of the ways in which my wife and I are able to travel is through the practical use of travel points. When you are running a business, this can be a great offshoot of business travel or "any" expenditures. Now, How can you do it in retirement?

We will fly to Europe (from Canada) this fall, in Executive class, for free! (We will have to pay the tax on the tickets but the tickets were purchased with points). How did we do that, since I have been retired for two years? In point of fact, I flew my entire family of four to California and Florida for free. My wife and I have traveled to Las Vegas, twice, in Executive class , New York twice, Atlantic City once and Vancouver, Twice, to take Alaskan Cruises, all for free! This year we are flying to Rome (Executive Class) and taking a Greek Island Cruise .

Here is the strategy I use for this, and it is quite simple, if you have the discipline. I have a gold travel credit card (CIBC-Aeroplan) and my wife also has a card (second card) on this account. Every month (every day) we flush every single purchase through these cards. Gas, Groceries, Clothing, power bills, hair cuts, hair do's, bridge tokens, you name it, we pay for it with these cards. We basically get one point for every dollar spent. Sometimes, we receive promotional coupons, and we use them to the max, without fail.

The discipline comes in, when the monthly statement comes in. We pay it off every month. We do not pay "any" interest at all. We do this religiously. We leave our monthly cheques in our account. We use very little cash! The cash in your pocket is for "emergencies only"! We always "double down" on points by utilizing the companies who are in the "Aeroplan" fold, (gas stations, drug stores, retailers etc) who give out more points for using their services. This is not an extra expenditure because they are services we use anyway. You can use these same strategies for your favorite points plan as well!

Most of all, we pay off the credit card bill every month, paying "no interest" as that would defeat the purpose. We "look after the pennies, so the dollars can look after themselves"! I have been doing this for 20 years, and it has obviously paid off big time, in our mission to see the world from the deck of a cruise ship.

It will pay off for you too!

So what are you waiting for?

Get a great Travel Guide! and, don't forget your passport!

Bon Voyage and Arrivederci!

Cruising in the Greek Islands this fall...

Image via Wikipedia

My wife and I are planning a trip to Europe this fall which includes a day in Vienna, several days in Rome and a cruise to the Greek Islands (Santorini and Mykonos), Athens Greece, Istanbul and Ephesus Turkey and Naples Italy before returning to Rome.

It is our fourth Cruise in Europe and though we usually choose Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (rccl) on this occasion we will cruise aboard her sister line Celebrity Cruise Lines Celebrity Solstice.

This is a beautiful new ship and we are excitedly looking forward to seeing her.

If you have visited the Greek Islands recently or have been aboard the Solstice, please drop a comment regarding "things to know"!

Travel to Las Vegas in April

Cirque Du Soleil has had the biggest production shows in Las Vegas for the past ten years. The last time our travel took us to Las Vegas, my wife and I got to see their show "O". It was a wonderful show.

I am looking for advice/information on which of their other two shows might the best to see when we visit Las Vegas again this April.

Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated.