2430 - Insider Travel Hacking Tips from Elite Travel Hackers’ Justin Froeber

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0:46Visit podverify.com if you'd like to be featured as a future guest. I'm Josh Elledge. Let's get into it. with us right now justin frobert justin you are the founder and ceo of elite travel hackers among a lot of other business interests and uh as of where we're recording this of course you are uh well you're always traveling i think right uh but just it's great to have you thanks for having me josh yeah i'm currently in tulum mexico you know practicing what we preach and traveling for little to know money out of pocket. Okay, which we're going to reveal how you are able to do that. So business owners that spend money on your business, stay plugged in, you are not going to want to miss what Justin's going to reveal.

1:37Justin, I always love talking with leaders and finding out what they do for fun when they are not at work. Now, normally, you know, sometimes people say, well, I love to travel. Well, that's cheating because that's your work. So what do you do when you are traveling? So right now when you're in Mexico and I understand that that's kind of part of what you enjoy doing. Yeah, absolutely. So even when I'm traveling, I find ways to have a lot of fun. One of my big hobbies is actually salsa dancing. And the reason for that, You make a face like you never would have guessed that. But I love to get plugged into the local cultures and salsa dancing.

2:21When I was traveling Latin America a few years ago, I backpacked all of Latin America. Kind of became the big hobby, the way for me to connect, meet with new people. And then the other big thing for me is I'm a foodie. So I love finding the hidden gym restaurants that nobody's talking about. you know the five star hole in the walls that just have their family owned but you know mom and pop shop that have incredible gourmet meals tons of those across Mexico by the way. Oh wow you know where they just take so much pride in what they're creating and they've worked at it and they're masterful at that level and then you get to have that intimate experience is that kind of what you get out of that?

3:03Yeah absolutely and it's it's great when they invite you back and And they want you to show it off to all your friends. There's been situations where I've been invited back to their home for a personalized cooked meal. Because I love connecting with people in that way. Whether it's learning the local language or finding that hole-in-the-wall spot or getting plugged into the culture. Like salsa dancing, for example. That's the ability to connect with people regardless of where you are in the world. Yeah. And then salsa dancing. um is it is it that's it i'm taking a it shouldn't be uh but taking a dance class or signing up for dance classes it i probably would do okay but when i think about it i'm a little intimidated any advice um just hop in right like it's uh everybody's got a rhythm they just got to uncover a little bit and with the right teacher you know um a couple hours can be uh you can be dancing basic level and be on the dance floor you know cutting a rug um the i don't know if you're familiar with tim paris but um uh tim uh one of his strategies uh that helped me out a lot was uh he's a big he's a tango world champion he holds the record of the world record for most consecutive spins in tango um and the way he hacked that was he learned as the female part first because if he could learn how to be led and let go of control which is you know we have trouble doing as men right um but because you could feel the way you needed to be led it made you know learning the moves and transitioning into being a good leader rather because you knew the part of the follow a lot easier.

4:52So once I figured that out, helped me hack salsa dancing a lot faster. Oh, great tip. All right, Justin, we got to talk about travel and we have to talk about how your clients are able to get ridiculous amounts of vacations for free. Do you want to, I feel like I just want to like, just like give you the microphone, give us a little mini class, if you would. Can I just give you like maybe four or five minutes and just have you give us an overview? Would that be okay? Because hearing you explain it uninterrupted while I'm quiet, I think would probably be most valuable. Okay. Yeah, absolutely. So at Elite Travel Hackers, we work with business owners in two ways.

5:36One, we help them maximize the credit card points they earn on every dollar they spent by getting them on the right credit cards, the right strategy, showing them little loopholes like paying their quarterly estimated taxes by card, their payroll by credit card, even their rent and mortgage by credit card at a 0 % transaction fee. So the goal is to get them earning hundreds of thousands, if not millions of points a year by being on the right strategies. So for example, most people are using an AMX business platinum for a lot of their expenses. They're earning one point per dollar. They could be earning anywhere from two to 22 points per dollar.

6:10And when you start to add that up, it equates to a lot of points. Then on the back end, what we're helping them do is maximize the value of those points when it comes to redeeming them for first class flights, business class flights, five-star hotel stays. So the goal is to get them taking a$50 ,000 vacation for little to no money out of pocket. And people are like, how is that possible? If I go and I have a million Amex points, I see that I can only redeem them for six to$10 ,000 in statement credits or gift cards or that type of stuff. Well, those same million points, when you strategically use them and transfer them to airline partners, hotel partners, you find the best flights and hotel stays can be anywhere from$40 ,000 to$100 ,000 in free travel.

6:54Same exact points, same exact business spend, but you're earning way more points from that business spend. And then your points are worth four to 10 times the value that you're redeeming them for from a cashback standpoint. So most people don't realize that points and miles are the fifth largest currency in the world, but they treat them like an afterthought when they could be earning, you know, 50 ,000, 100 ,000. Some of the business owners we work with earn half a million dollars a year in free travel, right? That they were just unknowingly sitting on because they didn't know how to play the game.

7:30The banks don't want you to figure this out because they lose money on that, right? So they make it a hard game to play. But when you work with a points and miles expert, then you are getting so much value in return that otherwise would have been redeemed for a couple thousand dollars cash back. So the card companies, is it kind of like, well, not so much anymore, but back in the old days in Vegas, right? Is they would, you know, provide cheap this or this, that, you know, lots of like lost leaders or is this a marketing strategy from the credit card companies to offer all of these crazy incentives, knowing full well that most people are not going to kind of work the system like you're able to do with your clients?

8:17Yeah, absolutely. That's why you see like sign up bonuses of, hey, spend$4 ,000 on this card in the first 90 days, get 100 ,000 bonus points, right? And then they'll advertise that those 100 ,000 bonus points are worth$1 ,000 in cash back or$1 ,000 in free travel, right? And most people will waste their points that way because the bank's pushing it so hard. Those same 100 ,000 points could almost get you a round-trip business class flight to Europe in a live flat seat at$5 ,000,$6 ,000,$7 ,000,$8 ,000 value, right? So they don't make the game easy to play, but they're trying to draw you in, because they're saying, okay, yeah, your annual fee is only$695, but you're going to get$1 ,000 back.

9:02So you, you know, you make money off the transaction, but what they don't tell you is there's a lot of hidden value that most people don't know about because they don't want you to leverage the game and beat them, you know, beat them at their own game, basically. I feel it's like the, the guy who was able to redeem a jet fighter with Pepsi because he bought so many Pepsi. I'm sure you heard that story. So where does Elite Travel? So explain to me how you work with your clients, because, you know, as you mentioned, yeah, you know, you have to do this right and you have to do it well. So where do you fit in to make sure that your clients are able to max out on all of the free money or the free travel benefits that they're able to get?

9:51Yeah, so think of us as like a CPA, but for your business expenses, credit and credit card strategies, meets a luxury travel agent, but is using points, right? So what we come in and do is we audit all your current personal and business expenses. And we say, okay, right now you're earning one point per dollar on your ad spend, you're earning one point per dollar on your software costs, one point per dollar on meals and travel, etc. etc. And no points on payroll, no points on rent or mortgage payments, no points on your quarterly estimated taxes. So let's say you have$1.4 million in business expenses, just pulling a number out of thin air.

10:33You might earn 165 ,000 points there. And then most people redeem that at one cent per point, get$1 ,600 cash back. But they're not earning points on rent, mortgage, payroll. They're earning one point per dollar on pretty much everything. What we do is we say, okay, if you were on this specific set of cards based on your business and personal expenses, you could be earning anywhere from two to 22 points per dollar. So in the advertising example, you could be getting four points per dollar there. You'd be getting four points per dollar on gas, dining, groceries, four points per dollar on software costs, three points per dollar on office supplies, two points per dollar on payroll, two points per dollar on quarterly estimated taxes, up to 1.25 points per dollar on rent and mortgage payments.

11:14So this all adds up. You take that same $1.4,$1.5 million in expenses, you're now earning 3.1 million points. I can take that and turn it into up to$310 ,000 in free travel. So kind of a no brainer for a question for most people, which would you rather have$300 ,000 in free travel or$1 ,600 in cash back? That is a massive gap there. Right. And it's just because we come in and we optimize how you're earning those points by getting you on the right credit cards that match your expenses, we're going to earn bonus points. And then on the back end, we're a full white glove concierge where we take those points and we find you the best flights and hotel redemption.

11:56So if you go to the Delta portal, for example, today, and you want to book a Delta one business or first class seat over to Europe, you might see that seat for 400 ,000 miles one way per person. That may be half the points that you going to earn an ear, right? But that same exact Delta one seat is going to open up in the Air France portal, which is a partner airline portal for as little as 60 ,000 miles, same exact seat, same exact route. Then it might also open up in the Virgin Atlantic portal for as little as 23 ,000 miles, right? So now you've gotten 10, 15 times the number of tickets for the same exact 400 ,000 miles that you were going to spend on one seat.

12:39Wow. Justin, at what level does it make sense regarding maybe the amount of money that goes out from a business where they should probably have a conversation with you? Because there's probably, listen, you're already spending the money and you're already taking vacations. How'd you like to level up those vacations and pay a whole lot less money. Where's that break even where it starts to become a no-brainer? Yeah. Anybody who has$15 ,000 in total monthly spend between personal and business, and that's excluding payroll. That's excluding quarterly estimated taxes and rent and mortgage. Just your daily expenses that you're running through credit card, a minimum of$15 ,000 a month is going to get you one$30 ,000,$40 ,000,$50 ,000 vacation, depending upon the dates, the deals, and destinations per year.

13:34So the rent and the mortgage, the payroll, the quarterly estimated taxes are icing on the cake that help you take an even nicer vacation or multiple trips. But anybody who's spending$15 ,000 a month minimum between personal and business should be working with a points and miles expert and advisor because it is just free money you're leaving on the table. Like you said, you're spending the money anyways. So why not go ahead and optimize that? Yeah. And Justin, I know you've got some resources on your website. Your website, by the way, is elitetravelhackers.com. And obviously, you offer free strategy calls.

14:09I would highly recommend just have a quick call because what happens on a strategy call? Yeah. So what we do is we walk through your current personal and business card credit card setup, and then we talk high level expenses and we show you a couple of little loopholes and strategies that could optimize what you're doing. And then we give you a total free travel estimate based off of the credit card you're on and the expenses that we talked about and show you how much free travel you could be earning on an annual basis if you're fully optimized. and then we walk you through a couple of different program levels that we have and different ways we can help you out with that.

14:49So regardless, you walk away with some strategies that you can implement, and then we've got higher-level programs for people that want a completely done-for-you service there. Justin Frober, founder and CEO of Elite Travel Hackers, found on the web at EliteTravelHackers.com. You also have a free training there. And of course, where someone would grab a call with you and your team. Just this great conversation. Thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, Josh. It was a blast.

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