On October 27, 2018 was a big first for our readers, members of the facebook group Travel for free (or almost…!) with your points & miles – milesopedia, that is the very first milesopedia mini-conference (MCM).

Indeed, after 4 meetups in the form of a 5@7:

• September 2016
• June 2017
• October 2017
• August 2018

And a training-meeting

• June 2018

our readers wanted an intensive formula allowing learning and especially exchange!

We had an appointment at the
LOV located at 1232 de la Montagne Street in Montreal
on Saturday, October 27, 2018.

Over 75 people registered and joined us to learn more about travel hacking!

On the program of the milesopedia mini-congress

During nearly 5 hours we presented the contents of the mcm and exchanged with the members.

Here is an outline of what was covered (in over 250 slides…!)

For this, we had no less than 7 speakers, each with their own expertise.

The basic rules of travel hacking

Travel hacking is becoming increasingly popular and a reminder of the main basic rules is an excellent introduction to the subject.

The credit report

The credit report is the cornerstone of a travel hacker, so it’s important to understand its key workings. We have therefore detailed this part intensively.

Example:

The program ecosystem

It is important to understand the difference between:

• fixed value points
• points related to a program
• flexible / hybrid points

And to understand the mechanics between the different programs.

This part was therefore very detailed, including:

And an example of stitch transfers and the different methods to achieve a result:

Credit cards – beaba

We have (re)-reviewed in detail everything related to credit cards.

Like:

• the distinction between “point accumulation” vs. “point bonus”,
• categories of expenses,
• the means to achieve minimum expenditures,
• gift cards
• Prepaid gift cards (Vanilla)…

Example:

Credit cards – offers to watch now

We did a run-through of the credit cards to watch for at each institution throughout the year.

We recommend that you consult regularly:

• our credit card ranking
• our AIR MILES credit card page

Airports

After a well-deserved break, we went over the different rules to know in order to save money at the airport and travel in greater comfort:

• Parking
• The priority passage to registration
• Priority to security
• Access to the lounges
• Priority boarding
• Priority luggage delivery

Hotels

We then took a look at the hotel programs, including Marriott Bonvoy / Best Western Rewards:

• The main rules to know for each program
• Transfer of points
• Matching points between spouses
• Ongoing subscription bonuses

And we recalled the tips for staying at incredible Marriott hotels… by the end of 2018!

Like the Al Maha in Dubai:

Travelling differently – the options

Gautier came to present us a complementary concept, mixing business class travel as well as ULCC (Ultra Low Cost Carrier) travel:

Aeroplan

Matthieu then presented the main features of the Aeroplan program… and the famous mini-tour of the world and its various terms:

British Airways and Hilton Honors

Amin fromAmin On Miles, as usual, presented us with several interesting aspects of British Airways Executive Club and Hilton Honors.

AIR MILES

The AIR MILES program has many fans. But opinions are always divided between thousand MONEY or thousand DREAMS! We have demonstrated that it is possible to get 26 cents/mile for short-haul flights for example!

Témoignage d’une débutante en Travel Hacking

Maryse a accepté avec candeur et humour de venir nous partager son parcours de débutante, ses grosses erreurs, ses apprentissages et sa passion du voyage.

Table ronde

Par la suite, nous avons ouvert les micros et redonné la parole à nos membres afin qu’ils puissent s’adresser à notre panel et leur poser toutes les questions qui leur brûlaient les lèvres. Ce fut une belle dynamique de groupe !

GIVE A MILE – Flight Hero: Milesopedia

Give a Mile est une fondation qui vise à permettre à des familles, dont l’un des membres est gravement malade, d’obtenir un vol prime pour se voir, peut-être, pour une dernière fois…

Milesopedia est fier d’être la première initiative francophone canadienne à s’associer à Give a Mile et s’engage à supporter cette cause auprès de ses membres en prenant l’engagement de contribuer pour 50 000 miles minimum !

Si nous atteignons les 100 000 miles, ce serait exceptionnel et une preuve de la générosité de nos lecteurs! Pour plus de détails sur GIVE A MILE et notre campagne, lisez cet article !

Nous comptons sur votre support pour offrir un peu de bonheur en faisant un  don de miles en vous assurant de choisir DONATE TO THIS STORY.[/vc_message]

Door prizes

We had some great door prizes to draw from among our participants.

A big thank you to our partners and in particular:

1. Aeroplan
2. Ulysses travel guides
3. Plastiq

5@7

This magnificent first milesopedia Mini-Congress ended around 9:00 pm!

Testimonials

Excellent Congress! I learned a lot of concepts there. I will be present for future mini-conferences! Thanks again to the whole team

Frankly a good event. A lot of fun.

Very well organized, well located. Everything went smoothly. Large room, excellent sound and image.

I loved the event, being the type that is rather discreet and does not want to ask too many questions, I found the information very relevant, which I hope will allow me to deepen and maximize the different facets of this world!

I saw a colossal work of preparation as well on the level of the powerpoint as of the sound system.

I thank each member of the team for their dedication and knowledge sharing.

Excellent sessions, very well explained and detailed.

Good rhythm. Obvious competence of the presenters.

The 6 hours felt like 15 minutes: very well put together and the time allocated to each session was perfect.

I really enjoyed the day and the round table format was great too.

Very well organized event, well balanced between the various speakers. Congratulations!

I understand that you want to accommodate all participants, but I think it is time to separate the beginners from the more advanced. We should consider a beginning and an advanced conference in the future!

I would have extended the roundtable period with questions.

I love our community.

Thank you to all the participants of the 1st MCM.
We hope that you enjoyed the content as much as we did.

We are very happy and proud of our community.

TOGETHER let’s continue to make milesopedia the largest French-speaking travel hacking community.

Join our facebook group!