Here is how I will be flying around for three months, touching ground in five countries for $140. Impossible, right? Nope, you’ve just gotta know how to work the system!

Free Miles

We booked this flight using United frequent flyer miles. We needed 80,000 miles. Here’s how we got 'em:

United Mileage Plus Credit Card - gives a 50,000 miles bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card - gives a 40,000 mile bonus

Boom. 90,000 United miles just by spending what we usually spend anyway.

Squeezing The Miles

When using frequent flyer miles on United, they let you book an “open jaw,” which means you can leave from a different airport than where you landed. So, I’m landing in Bali, but departing from Sydney. This is sweet, since I don’t have to waste miles on the small flight from Bali to Sydney.

The Open Jaw

Flying from Los Angeles to Bali, Indonesia
{OPEN JAW} - I'll book a cheapie flight to Brisbane, then make my way to Sydney
Flying from Sydney to Los Angeles with a stopover in Tokyo

United also lets you have a “stopover,” which is a layover that lasts multiple days. In this case, I get to stop over in Tokyo for nine days without paying any extra miles! It’s like a free trip!

The Stopover

On my way to Los Angeles from Sydney, I have a 9 day stopover in Tokyo

Long Layover

7 hours in Bangkok, Thailand

CITY BY CITY - SEPTEMBER THROUGH DECEMBER

KOREA | 4 HOURS

INDONESIA | 2 MONTHS

AUSTRALIA | 2 WEEKS

THAILAND | 7 HOURS

TOKYO | 9 DAY