Tripalertz does it again with a whopping $50 in Trip Cash just for being a member

TRIP CASH FOR ALL. AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

We’re giving you $50 Trip Cash for being so good all year.

Hey there! We wanted to remind you about the $50 in Trip Cash we gifted "You", our loyal members with, last week. With the New Year fast approaching we wanted to get you a little something for being good members all year. So visit the site to redeem your gift on any future booking between now and January 31, 2012. It’s our way of saying Happy New Year!

Add a little cheer to friends & family!

Give them $25 Trip Cash for joining.

Just sign up your family or friends this holiday season and we’ll give them $25 Trip Cash just for joining. And you’ll get $5 Trip Cash for every person who joins in your stocking as well. So spread the cheer this holiday season with the gift that helps you get away.

Tripalertz now giving $10 in Trip Cash for each referral

UPDATE: 20/10 - this deal has now expired. Its back down to $1.......

That's right people - the crew over at Tripalertz have upped the ante by now giving away a record $10 in Trip Cash for every person you refer.

At that rate it should take no time for you to be travelling for free.

Good luck.

The problem with being a travel blogger......

There are lots of interesting posts out there about the ups and downs of travel blogging.

The main problem I find here on the Travel for Free blog is that when you are off travelling for free - you forget to post! I don't want to bore you with my travel stories in this forum as I want this be a resource just for those looking for the great ways to be able to travel the world without having to go out of their way to earn the money to do so.

The good news is that my time in the hammock was not a total bust for fans of this blog. I've put together a step by step guide on how to automate your income whilst travelling. Free to set up, crazily easy to get going and without 1 cent of of up front investment. It is too long for a blog post so I'll put it together in a down-loadable eBook for you to save, print and enjoy.

Be sure to sign up to updates of this blog to know when it is coming out. It will of course be free (at least to those subscribed to this blog).

Stay tuned.

Tripalertz does it again with more ways to Travel for Free

Followers of this blog will have already cashed in on some of the previous ways that Tripalertz, the "Groupon of Travel" startup, have offered in the past. Unfortunately the $5 for each member signed up offer has now expired and it is back to $1 per sign up. Hopefully you have plenty of cash in the bank already to use when the perfect deal for you comes along.

All is not lost however if you want to get yourself travelling for free even quicker. Tripalertz also has a trip suggestion box where if your trip idea gets the most votes - you get to go on the trip for free! Here is how they describe it on their website:

"Submit a Trip Idea for a Chance to win a Free Trip.

Below are the best Trip Ideas submitted by the community.

1. Vote on you favorite Trip Ideas by clicking 'I love it!'
2. On July 1, 2011, the ideas with the most votes become deals on the site, so invite your friends and earn Trip Cash while you're at it!
3. The person who submits the idea with the most votes travels for free.

You may only vote once for each idea. Happy Travels!"

All you need to do therefore is to sign up if you haven't already, submit your trip idea and then get all your friends to also sign up to vote for it. Get the most votes and you are travelling for Free! The current top vote scorer has 371 votes (as of 19 March) so if you have more friends than that on your Facebook - get on it. You also as a bonus still get $1 for everyone of those who sign up.

Get to Tripalertz by clicking here.

Happy Free Travels!

Getting commitment from your fellow travelers so you can Travel for Free

I've had quite a few people now contact me all with a a similar problem. They get a lot of people excited about the idea of a group trip away together but when it comes time to commit they have problems getting those same people to front up with the cash.

Essentially this is the biggest problem you can face. Nobody has had a problem coming up with a trip that excites people or finding a travel company to deal on that itinerary. The blocker is just getting friends and acquaintances to actually fork over the cash when the time comes. Most frustratingly is that it seems many people make the right noises right up to the due date and back out right when you need to get the cash across to the travel company to make it all happen. At this point it is too late to find replacements and the whole thing goes bust. This is not only disappointing for you but probably even more so for those who like you were fully committed and totally excited. Will they trust you again to organize something?

I have too different strategies to help you alleviate these problems. They are both about creating transparency in the process.

The first is probably pretty obvious but you need to create an online place for the group to communicate so that at worst, committed travelers can see exactly the level of commitment from others in the group, as opposed to emailing, phoning and texting around to everyone individually. Contacting people individually as the only means of communication puts way too much pressure on you as the organizer to convey everyone's level of commitment to the rest of the group. The simplest and most effective method is to create a Facebook page for the trip and invite people from there. Once people "like" the trip they will get updates from you when you post info into the page status update right into their regular news feed. This allows you to continually touch the group and keep the idea fresh. Encourage others to post their thoughts so there is a public record of enthusiasm or otherwise. The page also creates scarcity. If there are 10 spots and 100 people 'like' the page then in theory 90 are going to miss out - which can induce a quicker commitment to the available places.

The second tip is to put the trip up on OBaz . OBaz is an online resource that allows you to put your trip online and receive payment - including credit card payment - for the trip funds. There is only one type of commitment that means anything in the end and that is cash in the bank. Travelers pay their funds and secure their place. Make it clear that you can't hold places for anyone. First 8, 9 or 10 with cash deposited are in. Everyone can go to the private group record to see who has paid and how many spots are left. You can also post this up into the above Facebook page, which saves you from the endless and inevitable questions of whether the trip will run or not. The facts are all there for people to see, online and delivered to a place they visit regularly anywhere - their Facebook page.

Hope this helps get you out on the road for Free!

Travel For Free - Why Bother? The road to Home Exchange.

A few of the people who have been following this blog have asked the question - why do you bother going through all this humbug just to get a free trip somewhere. It seems like hard work organizing a trip and being the point of first contact for 7, 8, 9 people and their questions about the trip. This is true. It isn't super easy. For me, I am a travel maven. For 15 years I have thought about little else except where I would travel to, how I would get there and what I would do there. For work I go through these exact questions on behalf of others creating product for a travel company. I eat, drink and sleep travel.

In the early days I would get a job, work for 8 months or so saving as much as possible, quit and then head off for 12 months or so. Once I learned the tricks I would get a job, work for 8 months or so saving as much as possible, not quit, head off for a month or so on a free trip and put the money saved in the bank.

On my travels I always on the look out for my own little Utopia in the world. A couple of years ago whilst on a trip through Central America, I found it. It is in virgin jungle, surrounded by timid families of monkeys and sitting above one of the best surf breaks in Central America. Designed by a British architect and built by skilled tradesmen - it is everything we hoped and dreamed of. Best of all, by Traveling for Free, we could pay cash for it from our travel money saved.

Now we a have a little haven to escape to, a place we can rent out to cover our costs and best of all a quality house we can use to swap with other people all over the world in the same situation for FREE! Check here to see our listing on the Home Exchange site and have a look around at some of the other properties that you can swap for. We happily have found a way to stay in some amazing homes, almost anywhere in the world for free.

It has been worth the bother.

Happy free travels.