In the past we’ve done interviews about personal finance and financial independence, but we wanted to start a new interview series about travel! Being a bit of a finance nerd and travel lover, I always wanted to know more of the tips and tricks of traveling on a budget and hearing other peoples’ experiences on how they are able to accomplish that. So, we are now going to interview people to find that out for everyone’s benefit! Today we have an awesome interview with Phil and Hannah from www.bankbonus.co, a couple who have gamed the credit card and bank system to help save money on travels!
PERSONAL
Name: Phil and Hannah Kirkeiner
Age: 25 & 21
Your home/airport location: We’re both from Fishers, IN, but currently live in Provo, UT. So our go-to airports are IND & SLC
Career/Source of regular income: I’ve sold pest control during the last two summers to pay for school and trips, and then Hannah works part-time during the school year performing at ComedySportz and ImprovBroadway which are improv comedy clubs in Provo. Besides that we make a few grand a year by taking advantage of bank account bonuses like the ones you can find on Bankbonus.co.
GENERAL TRAVEL
Why do you like to travel?
Travelling is awesome because (1) it motivates me to take action, (2) it’s exciting, and (3) the memories last longer.
I didn’t travel much outside of the Midwest growing up. So to think of California, Europe, Asia, Central America, as real places that I could actually get up and go see whenever I wanted was completely foreign to me. But then I served a mission in Honduras and I could not BELIEVE how different it was from everything I had experienced before! And then ever since I got home I looked at other places on the map and decided I could just GO if I wanted to. And I did, and have since been to loads of places by myself and now with my wife. So basically travelling is a constant reminder that nothing is stopping me from going where I want to go both literally and figuratively. Plus, when you travel with friends the memories last forever and the bond is a lot stronger than when you just hang out at home or in class. I love it.
Where have you been? What was your favorite vacation?
We recently wrapped up a 2 month trip to Europe which was an absolute dream! We travelled through 11 countries – Iceland, then Scotland, England, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Slovenia, and finally Italy. We went this last summer from early July to late August after having worked hard the previous few months before.
We lived on a very modest budget, often in private rooms through Airbnb and hostels. Occasionally in more expensive places like Iceland we camped or slept in our rental car. This trip was unique in that we did not plan the whole thing out beforehand, we only planned about a week ahead of time. When we started out we had our flights to Europe and back booked with points but nothing in between was set besides our first night in Iceland and our rental car for that week.
Each place was unique but we especially liked Iceland, Menorca (one of the Balearic islands off Spain), and everywhere in Switzerland. In Iceland we rented a cheap car from Sixt and drove around the whole island. My word, the landscape is impressive. Like a dream. Then Menorca had the clearest, bluest beaches we’ve ever seen. Tucked in the Mediterranean, there were no big waves like you’d see against the Atlantic of Pacific. The beaches there weren’t what you’re used to, either. Each beach was part of a rock-walled cove that jutted inland about a hundred yards or so. It was so cool. Then Switzerland just is gorgeous everywhere, the Alps are blanketed green with beautiful, sharp rock peaks. We stayed in Switzerland for a total of about 10 days, it was the bomb.
That was the most recent trip which was awesome, but in the past we’ve gone to California for fun since it’s close to Utah, Arizona for weddings and whatnot, Costa Rica for our honeymoon, and I went back to Honduras just before we got married. I also did a study abroad in Spain a few years ago which was fun.
What vacations do you have planned? As of now we don’t really have anything set because we got pretty burnt out after Europe, haha. But we have a lot of Southwest points to redeem so next year we want to go to a lot of these places:
- Washington, DC (Hannah’s been a million times but I’ve never been, crazy right?)
- Boston
- Washington & Oregon (we are considering living there after Hannah graduates)
- Cancun, Mexico (we have some hotel rewards we want to redeem)
- Caribbean cruise out of Fort Lauderdale (hopefully whatever job after December graduation is flexible so I have is flexible so we can do that!)
We also go back to Indiana a few times per year to see family!
What’s your dream vacation?
My dream vacation is to island hop in the Pacific on a small plane, where I can scuba dive all over the place and stay in fancy hotels with loads of steak. Hannah’s dream vacation is to hike to base camp at Mount Everest.
TIPS
What advice would you give to people wanting to travel more?
We firmly believe that pretty much anyone can afford travel, regardless of your circumstances . The only difference between those who travel and those who don’t is their priorities. Just make it happen.
How do you afford your travel?
We work hard in the summers with sales to afford life’s necessities, and then get flights for free through credit card signup bonuses. We also use bank bonuses to fund experiences like boat rides and whatnot while were travelling.
What are some ways you’ve learned to save money while traveling?
Hannah actually wrote a little blog post about this on her blog.
Do you prefer to travel domestically or internationally?
Lately it’s seemed like we prefer international travel but there’s a ton to do here in the US. Next year we plan to spend a lot more time exploring our own country before going off to anywhere super crazy.
SPECIFICS
Do you have a favorite airline?
Southwest is our best friend for traveling in and around the U.S. We’ve collected enough points to earn the coveted “companion pass” which cuts the cost of every traveling in HALF because gets my wife on any flight I’m taking for free. We also love the flexibility that comes with booking with points because it allows us to book a flight months in advance on a whim when we get a trip idea, then if we get closer to the date and realize the trip isn’t gonna work out, we can cancel without any repercussions or fees.
Hotel or AirBnB?
AirBnB 100%. We like to travel as thrifty as possible so we love AirBnBs for their kitchens. The first thing we do when we get to our destination is find a grocery store and stock up on simple, easy, and cheap meals we can pack for the day and cook for dinner.
Rental car or public transportation?
We always end up getting a rental car for at least some of our trip. Public transportation is AWESOME, but sometimes it doesn’t cut it when you wanna go off and take a day trip to something out of the way of the city. Plus, when we get rental cars, we know we always have the option of sleeping in the back seat when money gets tight haha. And sometimes if you run the numbers, getting a rental car is cheaper than paying for two people’s public transport anyway (ESPECIALLY if you intend to use a lot of Ubers or Lyfts)
What’s your least favorite part about traveling?
It’s always so hard to openly complain about aspects of traveling because “how can you complain when you’re living the dream?!” That being said… traveling cheap is pretty uncomfortable sometimes. Carrying stuff with you, not ever feeling *really* satisfied after a meal, sleeping in hot rooms with no AC, worrying about your stuff being safe — it gets annoying after awhile. That said, it obviously doesn’t outweigh the rest of the experience!
What do you do in between traveling while waiting for your next trip?
Well we’re both students sooo a lot of homework haha. It always takes a week or so to get the travel itch back after a big adventure, but as soon as we’ve finally fallen back into some semblance of a stable routine we find ourselves planning our next trip. // Travel… haha we live in, arguably, the most beautiful state in the country so when we’re not jetting off to other states or countries, we’re exploring our own state.
MISCELLANEOUS
Tell us about your new website, www.bankbonus.co
It’s a pretty simple concept – banks want new customers so they incentive people with cash to open a checking account with them. Bankbonus.co helps people take advantage and make lots of free money.
What Bankbonus.co does is compile every checking account promotion in the country and allow you to search and filter through the promotions to find the easiest bonuses. Since opening a checking account doesn’t affect your credit like credit cards and other loans, you can open just about as many as you please. On average even college students can make around $3,000 per year by taking advantage.
I’d say the *total* amount of effort required to fulfill the requirements for each bonus is about one hour, so you come out making around $100 to $200 per hour depending on what’s available. I’ve been taking advantage of these bonuses for a few years so my friends and I thought we’d make it a little easier for people. Pretty nifty, check it out!
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I met Phil in college and learned about his new website there. It is such an awesome idea! Check it out and start earning some free money!
Hopefully this travel interview inspired you to travel more! If you or anyone you know are interested in being interviewed, leave us a comment or send us a message!