I have a funny saying called “the only miracle about miracle cures is that so many people fall for them”. Once every now and then we see the internet get caught up in the latest too-good-to-be-true offer – in this case, Yore Oyster. The promise is that you can fly to Istanbul for $50, or to Rio for $100… but of course, not everything is what it seems.

The Secrets Behind Yore Oyster’s Offers

Scarcity breeds desire. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Yore Oyster decided to charge people to “access the rare secrets”. But forget the big unveiling, the simple truth is that you can already fly to Istanbul, or Rio, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Damascus, wherever you want really, for tens of dollars.

If you’re a regular reader, of course you already know what’s going on. But for the rest of you playing along at home, I’m going to show you right now how it’s done and, most importantly, how you can do it all on your own. I can replicate the prices right here for you. No Photoshop involved.

Wanted to explore the USA? Round-trips to San Francisco or Austin, TX for $120.

Hmmmm, let’s see:

Something more adventurous? Try Europe. Zurich, Madrid, and Stockholm for $75 (the French have expensive tastes — you’ll need to fork out $10 more for Paris)

Hey, look! I can head to Stockholm for 77 bucks too!

Need some heat this winter? Visit spicy Rio de Janeiro, still under $100.

That’s right, only 94 dollars!

While we’re at it, why not go to Sao Paulo for the same price?

And if this last one doesn’t get you excited, just stay home altogether. An almost unheard-of direct flight from Toronto-Istanbul, $50.

Oh, wait…

I can pull up hundreds of similar itineraries too. Want to go to Beijing? It’s only $43!

Still so much magic? Well, there’s certainly no need to go on a wait list to find out.

SO, HOW DO YOU BOOK THESE TICKETS?

The magic is not through a secret recipe, but through unlocking value in frequent flyer points programs. Using miles, you pay only the taxes for many flights, and that’s how you get these extremely low prices.

Credit Card Sign-Ups are the Key

Here’s the real secret behind how it works – credit card companies offer tons of frequent flyer points for just signing up and being approved for certain credit cards. Here’s just some of the frequent flyer miles that they are putting on the table:

• 25,000 American Express Membership Rewards points for the American Express Gold Rewards Card
• 25,000 Alaska Airlines miles with the MBNA Alaska Airlines MasterCard
• Another 26,000 Air Canada Aeroplan miles if you sign up for the American Express AeroplanPlus Gold Card
• A whopping 60,000 points for the American Express Platinum Card – this one does have a hefty annual fee, but as I talk about here, the benefits more than make up for it.
• 10,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points with the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express

In essence, you can redeem these miles to go wherever you want, and pay only the prices that you see listed above. Definitely, there are rules to this. You need good credit. You can’t get 34293847 credit cards at once. You might not be able to fly on the exact day you want.

But I’ve been in the travel hacking game for quite a while, this does work. I’ve flown in the past few months to Los Angeles, Boston, New York, London, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, and tons of other places for less than the cost of a regular economy class ticket.  I’m happy to answer any questions you have, via Twitter or directly emailing me. No need to wait or pay for advice you can get for free.

What’s conveniently forgotten is that many of the credit cards that you will need to apply for have annual fees, somewhat taking the shine off the prices offered. So definitely, travel is never free. But with the right knowledge and skills, anyone can travel for a ridiculously low cost, without having to wait in line for so-called tricks.

But wait, you say, wasn’t there a deal to Milan and Tokyo for just $130, that was a ridiculous flight deal? Yes, that was a now dead extreme discounted fare, available for only a limited while. Oh, and there was about 800 pages on a airline/frequent flyer forum dissecting each aspect of the deal, plus various blogs and sites… but don’t worry, it’s a secret…

If you are one of the unfortunate ones with bad credit or other limiting factors so you can’t apply for credit cards, stay connected to the blog for free. I post many great travel deals such as these amazing deals. For Free.

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