The wackiest thing I’ve done yet for free travel…

I’m no stranger to earning points, miles and credits for free travel. If you need convincing just check out my posts on earning free Orbucks, using credit card sign-on bonuses to travel to Disney for close-to free, and submitting Best Price Guarantee claims. But this week I’m doing something I’ve never done to earn free hotel nights… hand-writing 3 x 5 index cards and sending them off in a pile of cute little envelopes.

While I don’t think many of my readers will be interested in actually doing this themselves (y’all have more sense than I do), I do think my shenanigans might be amusing to a few of you. So here is why my hand is cramping from writing so many note cards:

International Hotel Group (IHG) Rewards Club is one of the many travel loyalty programs of which I am a member. IHG includes Interncontiental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and many other hotel brands. They are currently running a promotion called “Priceless Surprises” which awards members bonus points and other prizes for completing qualified stays and paying with a MasterCard. Alternatively, if you are an IHG Rewards Club member and have any MasterCard, you can earn an entry by submitting a 3 x 5 index card containing the following information written by hand:

• Your Full Name
• Your Complete Mailing Address
• Your Day & Evening Phone Numbers
• Your Valid Email Address
• Your IHG member number
• The first six digits of your MasterCard
• Your Date of Birth

You must mail each card in it’s own envelope (postmarked by February 15th) to

IHG and MasterCard Priceless Surprises Promotion
c/o Hello World, Inc.
P.O. Box 5996
Kalamazoo, MI 49003-5996

The minimum prize you will receive for each entry is 500 points (though the odds of winning 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 points are fairly good) and each person can enter up to 94 times. That is why my hand is sore and I have this information memorized. I have completed 26 entries so far and I will keep going until I get bored, too busy, or reach 94 entries. 🙂 I printed the address on labels to save time since the envelopes don’t have to be hand-written. Thanks to Ariana at Frugal Travel Guy for the advice. Since you can get free nights with IHG starting at only 5,000 points, there’s potential to rack up a bunch of free travel. I’m looking forward to receiving the emails with my contest entries a few weeks from now!

Our free beachfront resort stay on IHG points

So for the price stamps (and the $0.49 I spent on index cards) I will rack up enough points for several free hotel stays. This past summer I used some IHG points on a fantastic free beach getaway for my myself and my little one. I’ll never forget the fun memories we made together. I also love having hotel points handy for when I need to make an unexpected road trip that requires an overnight stay.

So that’s my latest (and looniest) activity to travel for free or cheap. Since I love to travel and we are living on a pretty tight budget, I plan to keep racking up the points and miles!