How to Fly Around the World for $730

... well not exactly.  But I got your attention didn't I?

I'm actually flying to the places below for $730 (the taxes for these flights). 

 
   
 I have to purchase a couple of legs separately, such as: Madrid to Kathmandu, Kathmandu to Delhi, Amman to Nairobi and Guatemala to Roatan.  But early estimates put those purchases at $1500.  So... the post should really say: "How to Fly around the World for $2200." 

And the answer is this: Play the "credit card game."  I know... sounds scammy, right?  But it really isn't.  The bottom line is that you should be earning good rewards for using a credit card.  So if you are not doing that, go to creditcards.com and apply for the reward card that is right for you.  But... if you play the "game", you can earn some really good rewards. 

And the rest of this post is pretty technical so if you are not interested, please spare yourself and stop reading now.  But I have had some friends ask for details on how this works...  This is my best attempt to explain.  

So this is how this particular game went:
I'd been getting credit card offers from American Airlines for years.  But I was happy with my Wells Fargo card and the cash back awards I was getting there.  However, I noticed that the longer I held out from applying for and American Airlines "AAdvantage" card, the more enticing the rewards got.  They started at "Earn 20,000 miles for spending $1000 in 3 months".  Then it became 30,000.  I think I finally cashed in at 40,000... but that was by doing a google search of: AAdvantage card 40,000 bonus miles.  By doing that google search, I came across this blog: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2013/02/20/citi-2-browser-update-2/.  My new best friend Daraius described how to apply for an AAdvantage Visa AND and AAdvantage American Express at the same time (using 2 separate browsers) and turn that 40,000 bonus miles into 80,000 bonus miles.  (Unfortunately... it doesn't look like that trick works any longer... but there are still other good offers and way to work the system.)  So I spent $1000 on each card within 3 months and earned my 80,000 bonus miles.

And then I got lucky.  I took 16 kids to Washington DC in January on ... you guessed it... American Airlines.  And I booked all of the flights on my own credit card.  Double points for booking American Airlines tickets on your AAdvantage card... Cha-ching! That's another 16,000 bonus miles.  

I already had miles with American Airlines and I then continued to use my AAdvantage Visa Signature card for all other purchases, racking my total available miles up to 140,000. 

Also from my friend Daraius at millionmilesecrets.com, I learned about the "Explorer Award."  He explains it all on this blog post: http://millionmilesecrets.com/2012/02/06/american-airlines-awardchart/.  And by finding this chart (http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/oneworld_awards.jsp), I discovered I had accumulated enough miles to travel an ACTUAL 35,000 miles around the world.  Here are the basic stipulations of the "Explorer Award":
1.  You can use up to 16 segments (If I want to fly from Peoria to Paris: Peoria to Dallas is one... Dallas to Paris is two)
2.  You can only connect in the same city twice
3.  You are allowed one "open jaw" (I'm flying into Paris but arranging other transportation to get to Madrid and Khatmandu... so then I'm flying out of Delhi... because Khatmandu to Frankfurt took me to Hong Kong and put me over my miles) All other flights have to go into and out of the same city. 
4.  You must complete your travel in 1 year
5.  You have to end where you begin

I would add the following things to consider when planning:
6.  Be prepared to be on the phone for upwards of 6 hours
7.  Take advantage of the offer for American to call you back instead of waiting on the line
8.  If you are connected with someone who seems incompetent, does not understand how this award works or does not speak the language you speak, tell them thanks for their help and you'll call back later or ask them to transfer you to another agent...because your blood pressure will skyrocket quickly if you don't. 
9.  Use a flight mileage calculator such as this one: http://www.worldatlas.com/travelaids/flight_distance.htm
10.  The One World Explorer "Plan and Book" tool  (http://www.oneworld.com/flights/plan-book-online/) is helpful but a lot of the rules they have don't apply to this Explorer Award through American Airlines.  Don't panic.

And just a side note... another travel tool that I stumbled upon last night is called rome2rio.com.  You type in any two cities and it prices out how to connect via plane, train, bus or car and then gives you and estimated cost.  It appears as though it is affiliated with Kayak.  SUPER helpful!

Finally - I learned about this game from my savvy friends McKenzie and Cody.  They work the system this way and take advantage of travelzoo.com as well.  Cody also clued me into flytertalk.com where all the tricks of the trade are shared.  I believe that if you are an organized person, persistent, and love a good deal... this is the game for you!  ;)