For anyone looking for a savings opportunity while traveling, the nation’s largest retailer has just launched a new booking platform for its members that can help with just that.
Walmart+ Travel (powered by Expedia) is now live, allowing members to book flights, rental cars, hotels, vacation rentals, activities and more. But the best part? You can get up to 5% Walmart Cash on these purchases.
This new benefit adds to an already lucrative lineup of benefits for Walmart+ members.
Here’s everything you need to know about this new offering.
Overview of Walmart+ Travel
As noted previously, Walmart+ Travel is powered by Expedia, and it’s available through your Walmart+ account and at WalmartPlusTravel.com. It’s a great way to get extra benefits on virtually all aspects of a trip. When you book directly with Walmart+ Travel, you’ll receive Walmart Cash on your travel purchases at the following rate:
5% Walmart Cash on hotel bookings, vacation rentals, rental cars and activities.
2% Walmart Cash on air travel.
If you book a vacation package that includes two (or more) of these items, you’ll earn Walmart Cash at a blended rate (e.g., 2% on the air travel part of the purchase and 5% on the other parts).
Your Walmart Cash will appear as “pending” in your Walmart+ account before becoming available within 30 days of the completion of your trip. You have the option of using it for future Walmart purchases or receiving it as cash back in your pocket.
Walmart+ Travel is available now for existing Walmart+ members as well as new ones. You’ll even have access to it if you sign up for a free 30-day trial of the program — allowing you to test it (and the many other benefits of Walmart+) before committing to a full membership.
How to use Walmart+ Travel
To access Walmart+ Travel, simply visit walmartplus.com and sign in to your account. You’ll find the Walmart+ Travel tile in your member hub. Simply click “Book a Trip,” which will take you to the Walmart+ Travel site, which is powered by Expedia.
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From there, search for your desired travel arrangements — including flights, rental cars, hotels, vacation rentals and packages. You’ll clearly see the amount of Walmart Cash you’d get for each type of booking.
Select the reservation(s) you want, then follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the booking.
Once you receive the confirmation, you’ll see your Walmart Cash listed as “pending” in your Walmart+ account within 48 hours.
Thirty days after the completion of your booking, your Walmart Cash will change to “redeemable” and can be applied to future Walmart purchases — or received directly as cash back.
Remember that airline tickets purchased through a third-party platform like Walmart+ Travel are typically treated like normal revenue tickets and thus are eligible to earn points or miles. You should also enjoy any elite status perks you have with the given airline — though this often isn’t the case with major hotel and rental car programs.
Using Walmart+ Travel with other member benefits
Of course, Walmart+ Travel is just the newest benefit for members, and it adds even more value for those taking to the skies (or hitting the roads) this summer.
For example, Walmart+ members enjoy free shipping with no order minimum (excluding most Marketplace items and certain location and freight charges). This allows you to stock up on travel essentials ahead of a trip you book with Walmart+ Travel — and you can even use any available Walmart Cash for these purchases.
For example, for those without a Walmart+ membership, these packing cubes would require a trip to your local Walmart for in-store pickup or cost $6.99 to ship.
However, Walmart+ members could have these shipped directly to their home address — and most items will arrive within one to two days.
If a road trip is in your future, you can also leverage Walmart+ fuel savings at more than 14,000 stations nationwide. This can give you 10 cents off every gallon of gas at participating locations (5 cents in Alabama and Oklahoma; subject to change).
Finally, when you arrive at your destination and settle into your hotel or vacation rental, you can launch your included Paramount+ streaming subscription (Essential plan only; separate registration required).
How to join Walmart+
If you’re not currently a Walmart+ member, you can become a member by visiting the Walmart+ website and clicking the link at the top to start your free 30-day trial.
Remember that holders of The Platinum Card® from American Express can receive a statement credit each month when they charge the monthly cost of a Walmart+ membership ($12.95 plus applicable taxes) to their card (enrollment required; Plus Ups not eligible).
As soon as your account is activated, you’ll be able to start receiving Walmart Cash for bookings through Walmart+ Travel — and access the various other benefits of membership.
Related: How to get Walmart+ with the Amex Platinum
Bottom line
Walmart+ Travel (powered by Expedia) is the newest benefit for Walmart+ members, offering up to 5% Walmart Cash on eligible bookings made through the platform. This enhancement allows Walmart+ members to save money on virtually every aspect of their travels, with Walmart Cash that can cover future Walmart purchases or be redeemed directly for cash back.
If you’re not a member, join today — and then begin receiving Walmart Cash on your next trip.
There are many incremental tasks to complete as you prepare to sell your home, but a successful transaction starts with looking at the big picture. Before you take a single interior photo or begin painting your trim, it’s crucial you take a moment and assess your situation properly. Are you emotionally ready to sell your home? Will you use a real estate agent? Is it a good time for you to sell? Let’s examine the factors that go into answering these questions.
Am I Ready to Sell My Home?
Whether you are sad to leave behind a family home full of memories, or can’t wait to get out and into your new upgrade, selling a home can often be an emotionally charged process. There are many considerations to take into account before you decide to sell, which should be done as dispassionately as possible.
Once you’re confident you truly want to sell, it’s still important to not be overly swayed by the attachment to your home during the selling process. Homeowners should try to contain their emotions as much as possible and treat the process like any other business transaction in order to ensure a smooth and timely sale.
An important way to minimize your feelings as a factor in preparing to sell a home is by trying to see things from a prospective buyer’s point of view:
What types of buyers are likely to be interested in your home and neighborhood (e.g., large families with children, single professionals or retired couples)?
How can I make my home more desirable to them?
What are their long term goals and concerns?
Aligning your property with the needs of your prospective buyers can help you sell it quickly and for a great price. But remember that other people don’t have the same attachment to your home as you do, so a fair market price may be lower than your own perception of its value.
Timing is another factor to consider in order to sell your home successfully and for the most return. If possible, it can be beneficial to list your home during the most popular times of the year for the average homebuyer. Spring and summer are typically the best times to list, but the optimal selling season ultimately depends on your specific housing market. For example, communities popular with retirees in warm states like Florida or Arizona may see more action in the winter. A real estate agent can help you determine your area’s prime selling period, or you can do the research yourself. The same goes for conducting the sales process itself.
Real Estate Agents vs. For Sale by Owner: Which Is Better?
If you have a timing plan and are ready to get your home on the market, one of the first decisions you need to make is whether to go it alone, or use a real estate agent. Both methods have their own pros and cons — Let’s examine each option.
Using a Real Estate Agent to Sell Your Home
Real estate agents take a commission, which can typically be 5 to 6 percent of the sale price of your home. And for the average seller who does not make a living in the real estate industry, the choice to use an agent in exchange for this commission can not only save precious time, but also increase the amount received for the home, making the investment well worth it in many scenarios.
The right agent will help you with everything from setting the most advantageous selling price, marketing your home (including photography, videos and staging the property to look its best), arranging showings and open houses, negotiating with interested buyers, to helping you choose the right escrow company and getting the transaction closed without any snags. They are also ideally there for you as an ally and asset if any issues or questions arise during the selling process. They understand all of the required paperwork and typically have contacts and other resources that can help you solve nearly any possible problem. They can also strategically provide a buffer between you and potential buyers, and will have the experience and knowledge to ensure that you only invest your time engaging well-qualified buyers.
If you want help locating the perfect agent to sell your home, you can be matched with one in your area through Pennymac Home Connect, a nationwide network of top-producing real estate agents. You may even be able to earn $350 to $9,500 back at closing if you buy or sell a home with an agent you met through the network.*
For Sale by Owner
Real estate agents can be extremely helpful but it is also possible to sell your home on your own, a process commonly known as “for sale by owner.” In order to sell your home yourself, you will need to:
Do your own research in order to come up with a suitable selling price.
Manage all of the marketing, including getting your home on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Show the house and interact with prospective buyers on your own.
Negotiate the sale with the homebuyers and/or the buyer’s real estate agent.
Ensure you have the proper documentation and that you adhere to all of the relevant laws and regulations.
If you are not going to use a real estate agent, it’s still wise to consider hiring some help in the form of a real estate attorney to make sure that the transaction goes smoothly, including setting up a real estate escrow account.
A Checklist for Selling Your Home
Now that you have determined which method you want to use to sell your home, it’s time to get to work. A smooth, successful home sale can be influenced by many factors, some large and some small. Fortunately, you can do many improvements yourself, with time and sweat being your biggest investments. Here are some moves you’ll want to consider in order to get ready to sell your home.
Interior Updates and Curb Appeal Improvements
For interior improvements, consider painting walls in contemporary, neutral colors and upgrading the lighting, even with small investments like additional lamps or upgraded light bulbs.
To boost your home’s “curb appeal” — the first impression and level of attraction prospective buyers feel for your home from the street before they step inside of it — consider making some inexpensive improvements to your home’s exterior and yard such as pressure washing, painting trim, and landscaping additions and touch-ups. Such simple beautification efforts can help improve your chances of attracting the right buyer.
Clean and Stage Your Home
You’ll want to thoroughly clean your home. A muddy hallway, messy garage or dusty bedroom will only reduce its appeal. Keep rooms as orderly and as uncluttered as possible for all showing appointments. Use a storage unit to temporarily house extra or unsightly items if necessary — that old recliner may be quite comfy, but it could be a ratty eyesore as well. Your real estate agent will likely have a professional home stager you can hire to make your home look its most appealing to buyers. And you can always ask a stylish friend to help you with organizing or decor. In either case, a second set of eyes is always helpful.
Provide Numerous High-Quality Photos
The right photos can make or break your listing. Most agents work with professional photographers, or you can hire one on your own. Ask a friend or neighbor for objective input when selecting pictures and don’t be afraid to speak up if you don’t like the photos used in your listing.
Set a Realistic Price
Setting a price for the home you are selling involves getting input from numerous sources. Start by checking area comps, or comparable sales, and get price suggestions from a couple of real estate agents. Consider all of these numbers, and add in the factors that make your home unique — in both positive and negative ways. Don’t use a property tax assessment since that figure is typically much lower than the current market price.
Still not sure how to price your home? Appraisals will determine how much money a lender will lend, so you should get a professional appraisal before listing your home. Appraisals are not inexpensive, but in certain markets and situations they could save you a lot of time, and that easily translates into saved money.
Create a Plan to Accommodate Showings
It’s a bad idea to conduct ad hoc showings. For all intents and purposes, you’re putting on a sales presentation so you should always put your best foot forward. Having a plan means adequately preparing for your customers (i.e. the potential buyers), while also minimizing the chances something could go wrong during the showing. Some important points to consider when scheduling a showing:
How much time does your work schedule and family/personal life allow for?
Do you have pets that you will need to remove from the home?
How much lead time will you need from your agent to ensure that it is in show-ready condition?
If you have small children, how will you manage their needs throughout each showing?
How will you deal with the unexpected, such as last minute viewing appointment changes, prospective buyers that show up early, or inclement weather concerns?
How to Sell Your Home Fast
No one wants to have their house sit on the market forever, but if your move is being influenced by a time-sensitive factor like a job change, a family situation, or financial issues, you may need to sell your house as quickly as possible. Here are our best tips for speeding up the home sale process.
Have your own home inspection: One part of the homebuying process that can drag on for a long time is addressing the findings of the buyer’s home inspection. Before you even list your home, you can hire an inspector yourself. Use their findings to create a to-do list, or factor the cost of repairing any issues into your sale price. This will allow you to start one step ahead of your potential buyers’ negotiations.
Accommodate (but also vet) potential buyers: Offer buyers whatever you can, whether it is showings on short notice or flexibility with their closing date. However, don’t act too much in haste to sell and don’t sign contracts with unqualified buyers. Spending time in limbo with a buyer whose offer might fall through can waste valuable time and miss connections with more qualified buyers.
Spread the word yourself: Ask for help from your friends, family, and other contacts. Share your listing on social media, carry flyers with you at all times and even consider hosting events like an open house party.
Consider offering incentives: Paying all or part of your buyers’ closing costs, a home warranty and flexibility with closing are all ways that you can attract potential buyers.
Consult with a lender: Knowing what financing options are available to potential buyers can help you market your home. For example, are there low down payment options available?
Ensuring a Successful Home Sale
Our final, and perhaps most important, tip for selling your home is to make sure that you prepare mentally and financially for the many possible offers and issues you may encounter. What if you don’t get the price that you want? If you are trying to sell your home fast, what if it sits on the market for a long time? If you can come up with contingency plans for these worst-case scenarios, you will be ready to handle anything that you encounter in the home selling process.
Being prepared is the key to success in the home sale process, from your first showing appointment to the closing of the deal. If you’d like additional insights into selling your current home or buying your next one, consult with a Pennymac Loan Expert today.
*Pennymac Home Connect is offered in partnership with HomeStory Real Estate Services, a licensed real estate broker. HomeStory Real Estate Services is not affiliated with PennyMac Loan Services, LLC, and PennyMac Loan Services, LLC is not responsible for the program provided by HomeStory Real Estate Services. Obtaining a mortgage from PennyMac Loan Services, LLC is optional and not required to participate in the program offered by HomeStory Real Estate Services. The borrower may arrange for financing with any lender.
Qualifying for the reward requires using a real estate agent that participates in HomeStory’s broker to broker agreement to complete the real estate buy and/or sell transaction. You retain the right to negotiate buyer and or seller representation agreements. Upon successful close of the transaction, the Real Estate Agent pays a referral fee to HomeStory Real Estate Services. All Agents have been independently vetted by HomeStory to meet performance expectations required to participate in the program. If you are currently working with a REALTOR®, please disregard this notice. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other REALTORS®. A reward is not available where prohibited by state law, including Alaska, Iowa, Louisiana and Missouri. A reduced agent commission may be available for sellers in lieu of the reward in Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Oregon and should be discussed with the agent upon enrollment. No reward will be available for buyers in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Oregon. A commission credit may be available for buyers in lieu of the reward in New Jersey and must be discussed with the agent upon enrollment and included in a Buyer Agency Agreement with Rebate Provision. Rewards in Kansas and Tennessee are required to be delivered by gift card.
HomeStory will issue the reward using the payment option you select and will be sent to the client enrolled in the program within 45 days of HomeStory Real Estate Services receipt of settlement statements and any other documentation reasonably required to calculate the applicable reward amount. Real estate agent fees and commissions still apply. Short sale transactions do not qualify for the reward. Depending on state regulations highlighted above, reward amount is based on sale price of the home purchased and/or sold and cannot exceed $9,500 per buy or sell transaction. Employer-sponsored relocations may preclude participation in the reward program offering. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC is not responsible for the reward. The reward is valid for 18 months from the date of enrollment. After 18 months, you must re-enroll to be eligible for a reward. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice.
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC ( Lender NMLS 35953 ) does not perform any activity that is or could be construed as unlicensed real estate activity, and PennyMac Loan Services, LLC is not licensed as a real estate broker. Agents of PennyMac Loan Services, LLC are not authorized to perform real estate activity.
PennyMac Loan Services, LLC loans subject to credit approval. Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice.
The trademarks, logos and names of other companies, products and services are the property of their respective owners.
Every American Airlines plane flies for hundreds of hours, carrying thousands of passengers for miles across the globe. But after a while, even the most reliable aircraft needs a break. For some of them, that break comes at a sprawling 3.3 million-square-foot facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Functioning as its own ecosystem within Tulsa, this facility’s various hangars and warehouses are where the airline’s planes are picked apart. Seats and engines are refurbished. Exteriors are repainted to sport red, white and blue stripes along the tail fins.
These are only some of the many tasks that occur in this spacious, maze-like facility. Hangars upon hangars stretch across the massive property by a National Guard base and an Amazon warehouse.
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“It’s like a city within a city,” Barbara Cruz, a store supervisor at American’s Tulsa facility, said.
Thousands of American planes have gone through Tulsa since 1946, when the Fort Worth-based carrier relocated its maintenance base from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to the old oil capital following World War II.
The base — a major hub for American’s maintenance operations — now has about 4,800 employees and claims to be one of the largest commercial aviation bases in the world.
At any given time, the facility can hold up to 20 narrow-body aircraft in its hangars; 800 commercial planes pass through it annually.
In 2020, American unveiled plans to invest $550 million in the Tulsa base to construct a new wide-body hangar and make improvements to each building in the facility. The new hangar should’ve begun taking shape in early 2021, but its construction start date was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will be able to hold two wide-body (or about six narrow-body) aircraft at a time.
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Despite the renovation delays, the Tulsa base serves as an important destination for many American aircraft. It handles every bit of maintenance for a plane, from cleaning out toilets to inspecting engines.
Boeing 737s and 777s are the jets that primarily make their rounds in Tulsa. The aircraft either go through heavy, routine or unscheduled maintenance in a process that’s similar to surgery.
“We document all the findings,” Ed Sangricco, the managing director at the Tulsa base, said. “We go in, and we fix all those findings. We close the airplane, we put it back together again, and then we check everything — we make sure everything works.”
While the pandemic halted travel and grounded planes worldwide, that didn’t stop the maintenance technicians, engineers, managers and supervisors in Tulsa. American’s aircraft technicians were tasked with maintaining roughly 100 aircraft already at the base to prevent corrosion (and to stop weeds and birds from infesting the crevices of the planes). That meant remote work wasn’t an option for the employees at the Tulsa base.
Airlines received billions of dollars from the federal government during the pandemic partly to keep their fleets in tip-top shape, so they would be ready when travel demand returned.
“Maintenance requirements don’t stop during COVID-19,” Sangricco said.
Related: 6 incredible facts about the Boeing 777
What it takes to maintain a plane
Maintaining a commercial plane is a complicated process. Hearing all the steps to ensure an aircraft is running smoothly — all over the course of an eight-hour tour — was similar to taking a college crash course in physics and engineering.
Aircraft maintenance is heavily governed by the Federal Aviation Administration, which has a set list of requirements and deadlines for every plane component. Every record chronicling the maintenance of an aircraft needs to be preserved to be in compliance with the FAA, according to Roger Steele, a supervisor at the Tulsa facility who specializes in 737 narrow-body maintenance.
So, document holders containing slips of paper that detail every task from the FAA line two walls of an office within a 737 hangar at the Tulsa base.
At the start of a visit, a 737 narrow-body will undergo about 1,200 required tasks — excluding non-routine inspections — before it can fly again.
The Tulsa facility is never quiet. Throughout my tour of the maintenance site, I could hear constant drilling noises and the occasional thunderous engines of a National Guard plane taking off a couple of miles away as Steele explained the ins and outs of narrow-body maintenance.
The 737 I saw in the hangar had already been stripped down, as it was in its fifth day of maintenance. (The crew at American has around 25 days to completely finish work on the plane.)
The seats, the walls and the flooring were completely gutted from the aircraft. All that was left inside were gray insulation bags on all sides, which made the 737 look more like a cave than a plane.
Inside, technicians were already hard at work. One was by the plane’s back door, critically documenting what parts had been affected by corrosion.
While several areas can suffer from corrosion, a plane’s galleys and lavatories are the most susceptible to corrosion and environmental damage, as moisture from toilets and soft drinks wear down the interior.
“What coffee and soda pop can do to an aircraft after humans consume it is very corrosive,” Steele joked.
Once the technician documented the damage, the next step was determining what parts needed reinforcement. One piece of metal in the galley suffered from corrosion, so the technician sanded the area and recorded its remaining structural thickness.
Like the maintenance process itself, refurbishing an aircraft is anything but glamorous. At the Tulsa base, the majority of hangars and buildings have no air conditioning, leaving most of the workers stuck toying away at engines and aircraft in the sweltering summer heat.
When I toured the site, it was already a muggy 90 degrees, but Tulsa summers can soar well into the 100s during the season’s peak.
For some, the day starts early. Robert Bales, a maintenance technician who works on wide-body half galleys, normally wakes up at 5 a.m. for his 6:30 a.m. shift.
Each technician works around 8 1/2 hours. Much of the schedule, specifically for cabin work, is determined by the crew chief and the needs of the aircraft.
Before someone can start working at the facility as a technician, they must undergo significant training.
Gabriel Figueroa Navedo, another wide-body aircraft technician, said he went to trade school to receive an FAA-issued aircraft technician license. There, Navedo — who first started his career managing reservations and bookings for American — learned extensively about topics like hydraulics and electricity.
However, Navedo said many of those skills do not directly apply to his day-to-day job. Instead, the training provided a general knowledge of planes.
“I like to call it a license to learn,” Navedo said, “because it’s got to cover stuff like small propeller engines, and the FAA doesn’t know if you’re gonna work here, or if you’re gonna be working on your own private plane.”
Related: What it’s really like at flight attendant training
Even the seats and toilets need a makeover
When an aircraft’s seats need refreshing, the plane goes to a different warehouse, where the seats get disassembled. During this process, technicians tend to find all sorts of trash underneath, including gum, candy, pills, credit cards, cellphones and iPads.
“You’re gonna find no telling what,” Brent Strickland, a supervisor who primarily works on Boeing 777s and 787s, said.
Strickland said he has even found false teeth and engagement rings inside the seats.
After removing the various items passengers leave behind, the seats are washed and left to dry. Then, the technicians check the hardware for any damage.
Cushions are changed about every six years, according to Strickland, and it only takes two to three days to completely finish a seat.
It’s not just the seats that need refurbishing during maintenance — the toilets also get picked apart. The waste tanks are cleaned out, and the flushes are inspected by another team of technicians dedicated to toilet maintenance. Strickland described those team members as “another one of those unsung heroes.”
Dee West, a technician, cleaned out a water valve during my tour, closely inspecting the valve under the scope of a flashlight before carefully reassembling the three parts and a spring in the pipe.
“It ain’t no joke,” he said. “It’s gotta be done right.”
One mistake by a toilet technician could be costly for the airline, as each toilet costs $17,000.
Perhaps surprisingly, this area of focus is one of the more desirable on the Tulsa base, according to an American spokesperson. That’s because it’s one of the few jobs workers can do inside an air-conditioned building — providing a reprieve from the otherwise hot and muggy weather Tulsa experiences every summer.
Engines, windows and other plane parts also get a makeover, depending on the aircraft’s maintenance schedule. This includes the fans and combustive parts of the engine, which the staff works on separately in “cold” and “hot” rooms within another hangar, respectively.
Blue lines on the walls demarcate the “cold” parts of the room, whereas painted yellow lines indicate the “hot” area.
Staff members also inspect some parts of the engine by soaking them in a fluorescent lime-green liquid to magnify which parts need to be reinforced.
Whenever parts like the wings and the radome — located at the tip of the plane — need a lift, they are sent to a composite center. There, they get reinforced with materials such as carbon fiber and a honeycomb web made from materials like aluminum.
“[It’s] poetry in motion,” Jody King, a composite repair center crew chief at American’s composite repair center, said when referring to the process of fitting the materials onto parts of the aircraft.
The reason this complex web of maintenance is even possible is because American’s site also has a warehouse containing thousands of parts and stickers. These parts are either shipped to other hangars in Tulsa or to airports and third-party services that need to do maintenance on an aircraft.
Related: Take a look inside Air New Zealand’s unique cabin innovation laboratory
Gearing up to fly again
Before a plane is ready to fly again, the landing gear — the wheels on the plane, in layman’s terms — must be checked, and the exterior must be repainted and rewaxed.
You may not notice the gargantuan size of planes since you typically only see them from afar in the sky or through the windows of an airport. However, were you to see one up close, you’d be struck by the size.
The landing gear alone measures at least 21 feet tall, roughly the equivalent of four people my height (I’m around 5 feet, 4 inches) standing on top of one another.
The wings also feel so vast it almost seems impossible that workers can repaint them by hand in a matter of days; the team uses foam rollers and brushes, according to Jeff Green, a shared services supervisor.
Once the plane completes its maintenance maze in Tulsa, it’s ready to return to the skies and fly to hundreds of destinations. Later, it’ll likely touch down in Tulsa yet again to go through the same routine.
Households including at least one person with a high school diploma or GED can afford the typical mortgage payment in most large metro areas across the U.S., according to a new analysis by Zillow.
But soaring home values that have outpaced incomes have made down payments a barrier for many, particularly first-time home buyers.
Mortgage rates have dipped to multi-year lows in recent months, meaning monthly payments are relatively affordable for buyers who can secure a down payment. However, down payments are a challenge to afford for many as prices have grown faster than incomes over the past several years. An earlier Zillow study found that buyers need 1.5 years longer to save for a 20% down payment on the typical home than 30 years prior, and the difference is much more extreme in the most expensive metros – 13.3 years longer in San Jose, for example.
This effect is especially pronounced for first-time buyers who do not have the equity of an existing home to put towards a down payment on a new one. Zillow data shows that 46% of a typical down payment comes from savings for first-time buyers, compared with 35% for repeat buyersii.
“The influx of highly educated workers into already-expensive metros with stagnant or slow-growing inventory has made it difficult for those with less education and earning potential to enter those markets,” said Skylar Olsen, director of economic research at Zillow. “There can also be considerable variation within metros. While a bachelor’s degree may be enough to afford a mortgage on the typical home in the San Diego metro at large, it’s likely to be insufficient in pricey areas like La Jolla. And that’s only after scraping together a sizable down payment, which is a huge hurdle for most buyers.”
For households that secure a down payment, the median mortgage payments are affordable for those with a high school education in 36 of the 50 largest U.S. metros. The remaining 14 metros require earnings associated with at least a two-year associate’s degree.
The median income of a university degree holder is necessary to afford the median mortgage payment in the five most expensive West Coast metros. A bachelor’s degree is typically needed in San Diego and Seattle, while the typical income of someone with an advanced degree is required in San Jose, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The typical mortgage payment is affordable for those with associate’s degrees in Boston, New York, Sacramento, Washington, D.C., Denver, Portland, Riverside, Salt Lake City and Miami.
In only one metro, Oklahoma City, can those with less than a high school degree usually afford the typical mortgage payment. Households in Oklahoma City benefit from a combination of low housing costs – only three of the 50 largest metros have a lower median mortgage payment – and relatively high median incomes for households in which nobody has a high school diploma.
Median rent was 27.8% of the typical U.S. household income in Q1 2019. This is up slightly from the previous quarter and just below levels from a year earlier. Rent was most affordable for those in Pittsburgh, where the median rent is 21.4% of the typical household income. Los Angeles is the least affordable large metro for renters – 46.1% of the typical income is required to pay the median rent there.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
Academy Mortgage recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, having been founded back in 1988.
It began as a humble family-owned company opened by Duane Shaw, and remains one today with his son-in-law Adam Kessler in charge, serving as CEO.
With three decades under its belt, it’s clear Academy is a mature player in the mortgage space, which now includes all types of fintech-focused newcomers like Better Mortgage and Movement Mortgage.
It’s a very competitive business, so those who are able to stick out it for so long have proven staying power if nothing else. They must be doing something right, right? Let’s find out.
Academy Mortgage Prides Itself on Doing Everything In-House
They are an independent direct mortgage lender based in Utah
That only operates via the retail direct-to-consumer channel
Licensed to do business in 49 states and DC (not licensed in NY)
Have over 260+ branch offices nationwide
The Draper, Utah-based company’s claim to fame is that it’s a direct lender “100% focused on retail mortgage banking.”
What it means is they only work with borrowers directly, instead of dabbling in the correspondent or wholesale channels. So they’re laser-focused on the customer.
Perhaps this is how they were able to navigate through the mortgage crisis that occurred in the early 2000s, only to grow bigger and stronger since then.
Additionally, they do all the loan underwriting, processing, and funding in-house, instead of having a fragmented sales and operations team offsite.
Everything is carried out in one of their 260 branch offices throughout the country. Speaking of, they’re licensed to do business in 49 states and Washington D.C.
Some of those branches were the result of their acquisition of Republic Mortgage back in 2014, which allowed them to grow to 200 branches and 2,100 employees.
In 2017, they also acquired Oklahoma-based First Mortgage Co., which operated many branches in the Southwestern United States and Texas.
They also pride themselves on quick turn times, and refer to themselves as the “Gold Standard” in loan origination.
So it’s obvious that customer satisfaction reigns supreme with the company.
Getting a Home Loan with Academy Mortgage
The company employs hundreds of loan officers nationwide
You can call them directly to get paired up with an employee
Or visit their website and use their online directory to choose someone specific
It’s also possible to visit one of their many branches if you prefer face-to-face interaction
The company employs thousands of individuals, including a large fleet of mortgage loan officers throughout the country.
If and when you apply for a home loan with Academy, you can call them directly or choose a specific loan officer to work with.
They have a loan officer directory on their website that allows you to search by zip code, by name, and by branch (city and state location).
I imagine many of the loan officers are referred to clients, either by a real estate agent, or by a former customer who had a good experience with the company.
You can also visit a branch if face-to-face is your thing, though these days folks seem more interested in using a smartphone to make contact.
The one downside here is it appears that you can’t apply for a mortgage online.
Academy Mortgage a Top-40 Mortgage Lender
They’re a top-40 mortgage lender nationwide
The company closed more than 35,000 mortgages in 2019
The majority of those loans were for home purchases (about 70%)
With the remainder tied to home refinance transactions and HELOCs
Based on the latest HMDA data, Academy Mortgage was the 37th largest mortgage lender overall in the nation based on total loan volume in 2019.
The company closed 35,000 residential mortgages throughout the year on nearly $9.5 billion in total loan volume.
While that’s fairly big, it pales in comparison to Quicken Loans, which mustered over $81 billion during the same time period. However, it shows they’re no slouch either.
For home purchase loans, they tend to rank in the top 20 nationally since a large share of their mortgages are for that purpose.
For home refinance loans, they rank quite a bit lower due to lower volumes, but they’ve still got plenty of options for borrowers either way.
But it is clear that the independent home loan lender focuses heavily on home purchases as opposed to refinances, likely partnering up with local real estate agents to generate business.
Academy Mortgage Interest Rates
They don’t disclose their mortgage rates on their website
So it’s impossible to know where they stand without getting a quote first
My guess is their rates are average relative to other mortgage lenders
If super low they’d probably openly advertise them to draw in business
Unfortunately, the company doesn’t advertise their mortgage interest rates anywhere online. So it’s impossible to know how competitive they are pricing-wise.
If we consider the fact that most of their loan volume comes from purchases as opposed to refinances, we could guess that their mortgage rates probably aren’t super competitive.
Or at least not necessarily lower than the competition. After all, if they had the lowest price out there they’d probably want to advertise it, or at minimum make it known somewhere.
My guess is their rates are run-of-the-mill, but again, that’s just speculation.
If you do include Academy in your mortgage loan search, be sure to compare rates and closing costs to other lenders to see where they stand.
What Academy Mortgage Offers
The company offers a variety of home purchase and refinance solutions
Including conventional, jumbo, FHA, VA, and USDA options
You can get any number of fixed or adjustable-rate products
And even a zero down home loan via their exclusive GSFA Platinum Program
The company calls itself a “top-tier lender” when it comes to purchase loans, FHA loans, and builder loans.
This includes home purchase loans, refinance loans, renovation loans, and streamline refinance options.
You can get the basic Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-backed conventional loans that allow for down payment as low as 3%.
They come in a variety of fixed-rate options, including 30-year, 25-year, 20-year, 15-year, and 10-year terms. That’s typically more choices than most lenders offer.
Academy also offers the usual adjustable-rate mortgage options, including a 10/1 ARM, 7/1 ARM, 5/1 ARM, and 3/1 ARM.
If you’re interested in a government home loan, they offer all the usual suspects including FHA loans, VA loans, and USDA loans, including FHA 203k renovation loans and FHA Energy-Efficient Mortgages.
It’s also possible to get a zero down home loan if you’re a first-time home buyer via their so-called exclusive GSFA Platinum Program, which includes a grant for up to 5% of the loan amount to cover down payment and closing costs.
The grant funds, which are provided by the Golden State Finance Authority, aren’t required to be paid back if certain conditions are met.
Lastly, they offer jumbo home loans up to $1.5 million loan amounts, with down payment requirements as low as 10%.
You may also be able to avoid PMI even when putting just 10% down!
Academy Mortgage Also Offers Commercial Loans
While they only operate a retail channel for residential mortgages
They do have a commercial lending division as well
It offers a very wide range of commercial and small business loans for commercial and multi-family properties
It should be pointed out that the company also offers commercial loans via a separate lending division.
Their offerings range from life insurance company loan programs to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs for apartment buyers.
They also offer conduit loans and conventional loan programs for those wishing to purchase a commercial property.
Additionally, they offer multi-family loan programs, including those backed by the FHA/HUD, along with construction and bridge loans.
Lastly, you can get your hands on a variety of Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, including the SBA 7(a) Program and the SBA 504 Program.
So the appear to have you well covered if you need a commercial loan for just about any purpose.
The Verdict on Academy Mortgage
What they appear to lack in technology might be more than made up for by their excellent customer service
They have a near-five star rating on Zillow (4.96 out of 5 at last glance)
Which is even more impressive based on the many reviews completed (nearly 25,000!)
So if you want a great home loan experience they might be a great fit
While they seem to be a good lender on paper, with both high marks on customer service and awards for being a great place to work, we don’t know much about their rates and fees.
For those interested in securing the lowest-cost mortgage, some more digging and comparing will be necessary to see if they’re the right choice.
Academy doesn’t highlight any technology either, which seems to be a major factor these days for a lot of consumers.
There’s no mention of a digital or paperless process, a smartphone app, or anything really on that front. That’s not to say it doesn’t exist, but chances are if it did, it’d be emphasized.
But they’re a top-20 home purchase loan lender, which that says something, especially since they don’t seem to advertise very much.
Perhaps the service speaks for itself, and they receive a lot of referrals from past customers and real estate agents.
They have an excellent rating on Zillow, with 4.96 stars out of 5 on nearly 25,000 reviews at last glance.
It’s no secret that a super-hot housing market and inflation have made it hard to afford daily life in many places across America. It’s also delaying the dream of homeownership for many people.
If, however, you are free to move, you might consider putting down roots where houses are more affordable and where homeownership is potentially easier to achieve. To help you consider your options, here is a list of 10 cities where the cost per square foot of housing is lowest.
The average price in the U.S. per square foot at the time of this survey was $169, and the median home price was $397,000. Take a look at these budget-friendly options, and see if you might want to make one of them your home base.
1. Memphis, Tennessee
Average Home Listing Price: $242,500
Average Price Per Square Foot: $92
Memphis ranked as the most affordable place to live based on the cost per square foot of homes in a recent study using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Realtor.com. Known as the birthplace of the blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and soul (not to mention where Elvis Presley lived at Graceland), Memphis is a city that is great for low-cost housing as well as music.
2. Cleveland, Ohio
Average Home Price: $183,750
Average Price Per Square Foot: $103
With the average home in Cleveland costing less than half of the national average, this Ohio city is clearly a bargain for aspiring homeowners. In addition to its parks, river frontage, and setting next to a Great Lake, it has a burgeoning foodie scene and world-class art museums.
3. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Average Home Price: $210,000
Average Price Per Square Foot: $134
In the past, Pittsburgh lost some of its younger residents to metro areas with a stronger job market, but today’s affordable housing market and job growth are attracting younger residents again. There are multiple universities in the area, such as the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, that also attract a vibrant and youthful population.
Recommended: Cost of Living by State Comparison (2023)
4. Indianapolis, Indiana
Average Home Price: $276,250
Average Price Per Square Foot: $134
Indianapolis has a lively downtown area that is quite walkable and full of fun things to do, yet it also offers big-city amenities. Those looking for a more suburban feel can enjoy outer neighborhoods that still feature plenty of shopping and entertainment venues without all the hustle and bustle of being in downtown Indianapolis.
5. Buffalo, New York
Average Home Price: $217,450
Average Price Per Square Foot: $139
Buffalo is currently experiencing a sort of renaissance thanks to a rapidly developing waterfront and being home to one of the nation’s most advanced medical corridors.
Local government support has led to an increasing number of local businesses, which means there are likely some pretty good job opportunities to be found for career builders in Buffalo.
6. Birmingham, AL
Average Home Price: $272,450
Average Price Per Square Foot: $144
Birmingham has plenty to recommend it, from great sports teams to root for to its craft brewery scene. Affordability is a major factor. Housing costs are less than the national median in this area. What’s more, residents tend to spend less on food, healthcare, and other typical expenses than those who are located in other areas of the country.
7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Average Home Price: $282,124
Average Price Per Square Foot: $149
Oklahoma City has affordable homes, healthcare, transportation, and other basic living expenses. In addition, it has a vibrant arts scene and plenty of parks with all kinds of activities available.
Recommended: Local Housing Market Trends
8. Detroit, Michigan
Average Home Price: $217,450
Average Price Per Square Foot: $152
Detroit is a city in the midst of a turn-around. On the one hand, there are many fixer-upper and abandoned houses waiting to be rehabbed, but, on the other, the cost of living has been rising. If you want to jump into the affordable housing market and make Detroit your home, you’ll be rewarded with music festivals and the gigantic Belle Isle Park.
9. St. Louis, Missouri
Average Home Price: $245,000
Average Price Per Square Foot: $152
This historic metro area houses almost 3 million people (known as St. Louisans) and is known for being a tight-knit community that is very family-friendly. Hometown loyalty is strong in St. Louis and many residents choose to come back after heading off to college or paying to move somewhere else for a while.
10. Louisville, Kentucky
Average Home Price: $252,500
Average Price Per Square Foot: $152
Families will love spending their weekends in Louisville, thanks to having easy access to the Louisville Zoo, Kentucky Science Center, and the Louisville Slugger Museum. Day by day this city is becoming more diverse! Residents are moving in from around the world and the city is supportive of the LGBTQ community.
First-time homebuyers can prequalify for a SoFi Mortgage Loan, with as little as 3% down*.
Financing a Home
Even the most affordable homes can cost a pretty penny, which is where applying for a mortgage comes in.
Consumers may compare mortgage loan rates and terms from commercial banks, mortgage companies, and certain financial institutions. Typically, certain requirements relating to credit scores and income level help determine if a consumer will receive a mortgage and what their rates and terms are.
When preparing to get a mortgage, it can be helpful to consider multiple lenders, comparing loan terms to get an idea of what might work for an applicant’s financial situation.
Asking lenders for a preapproval or prequalification letter can help mortgage applicants better understand what type of mortgage terms they may be offered.
The Takeaway
It’s possible to find an affordable place to live, where homes cost as little as possible per square foot, and your daily budget may therefore be easier to wrangle. If you are willing to relocate and perhaps move to an up-and-coming town, you may find that your dreams of homeownership can come true sooner rather than later.
Looking for an affordable option for a home mortgage loan? SoFi can help: We offer low down payments (as little as 3% – 5%*) with our competitive and flexible home mortgage loans. Plus, applying is extra convenient: It’s online, with access to one-on-one help.
SoFi Mortgages: Simple, smart, and so affordable.
*SoFi requires PMI for conforming home loans with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio greater than 80%. As little as 3% down payments are for qualifying first-time homebuyers only. 5% minimum applies to other borrowers. Minimum down payment varies by loan type.
SoFi Loan Products SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.
SoFi Mortgages Terms, conditions, and state restrictions apply. Not all products are available in all states. See SoFi.com/eligibility for more information.
Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice.
Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.
New research from Zillow shows that recessions typically don’t have a negative impact on home values, contrary to what many experts have always said.
Other than the housing-led Great Recession of the late 2000s, Zillow’s analysis shows that home values have typically continued to grow through national and statewide recessions over the past quarter-century.
The U.S. reached its longest-ever economic expansion this summer, though growth is slowing. A recent survey sponsored by Zillow and conducted by Pulsenomics found that a panel of housing experts and economists expect a new recession to begin in Q3 2020. Demand for homes is expected to cool during the next recession, but few believe a housing slowdown will be a significant factor in causing it.
As some market observers predict a recession on the horizon, an analysis of recessions from the recent past shows that they often have a limited effect on the housing market. In the past 23 years, there have been two national recessions – the dot-com crash from March to November 2001 and the Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009 – and several statewide or regional recessions. Home values broadly fell across the country during the Great Recession, but in most other cases annual home value growth remained positive.
Excluding the Great Recession, there have been 1,039 instances since 1997 of states being in a recession during a given month. Annual home value appreciation was positive 81% of the time in these months – an identical rate to months in which states were in economic expansion. Appreciation averaged 4.6% during economic growth and 4% during recessions. This indicates that while recessions do have an impact on the housing market, the widespread collapse of home values during the Great Recession is an outlier.
“The housing crash during the Great Recession left a lasting impression on our collective memory,” said Zillow Economist Jeff Tucker. “But as we look ahead to the next recession, it’s important to recognize how unusual the conditions were that caused the last one, and what’s different about the housing market today. Rather than abundant homes, we have a shortage of new home supply. Rather than risky borrowers taking on adjustable-rate mortgages, we have buyers with sterling credit scores taking out predictable 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. The housing market is simply much less risky than it was 15 years ago, and our experience in recent localized recessions shows how home prices can weather normal economic headwinds.”
As an example, several states with large energy sectors – Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming – experienced local recessions starting in 2015 when oil prices fell dramatically. Home value growth was positive year-over-year across all five states and only Alaska turned negative month-over-month during this time period – the largest monthly loss in value for the median home in Alaska was $700. Nationwide, annual home value growth averaged 4.3% during these recession months compared to 5.2% average growth during months of economic expansion in 2015 and 2016.
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
Finishing school, joining the workforce and moving out on your own is a rite of passage for many young people. Today’s young adults are taking longer to make this transition, and doing it less often overall than previous generations, according to a new Zillow analysis.
In 1980, 1990 and 2000, the tipping point age at which more people lived independently than not remained steady at 23. But by 2007, it had risen to 25, and then to 26 in 2017. And not only does it take longer for young adults to begin living independently, but fewer people ever do. A smaller share of adults of every age lived independently in 2017 than 1980, including a 10-percentage-point gap for 40-year-olds.
Typically, adults begin living independently later in more expensive
metros, and the gap has widened over the past four decades. Since 1980,
the tipping point age has increased by an average of about four years in
metros in the top quarter of most expensive home values, compared to
about two years for metros in the bottom three quarters. In 2017, the
tipping point age was highest in Riverside, Los Angeles, New York and Miami
at 29. Each of these metros have seen their tipping point ages increase
by at least five years since 1980, while it has only increased one year
in less-expensive Oklahoma City, for example – from 21 to 22.
Young people today more often pursue higher education, which typically delays when they begin working full-time. In previous decades, people with a high school education lived independently at similar rates to those with a college education, likely due to the additional years of earnings they can accrue in their early 20s while their college counterparts are in school. Now, there is a significant gap. Those with a college degree are more likely to live independently than those with a high school education by age 26, and at age 30 the gap widens to 12 percentage points.
Changes in social and cultural norms, as well as affordability challenges, likely explain some of the shift. Young people today are more likely than their predecessors to live in urban cores, where housing is more expensive and rent price growth has hindered the ability of renters to afford a home without roommates or save enough of their salaries each month for a down payment. Increased demand for starter homes as the large Millennial generation reaches typical home-buying age, along with persistently low inventory, has contributed to robust home value appreciation in many large metro areas, making it more difficult for first-time buyers to get into a home.
“It’s true that people are becoming homeowners later and later in life, but even before that today’s adults are taking significantly longer to simply live on their own,” said Skylar Olsen, director of economic research at Zillow. “While some may consider the impact of evolving tastes and cultural norms, as economists we can point to very real changes in household budgets that make the classic tactics of sticking with mom and dad or extending those college roommate years past graduation more appealing. As the costs of life’s basics outpace incomes, parents that offer housing after their children’s schooling has ended can provide breathing space, allowing the next generation to begin paying off substantial college debt. Smaller, more accessible housing markets often tout not just the possibility of homeownership for today’s adults, but simply the opportunity for independence and privacy – features of life that major job markets struggle to offer more and more.”
Mike Wheatley is the senior editor at Realty Biz News. Got a real estate related news article you wish to share, contact Mike at [email protected]
Introducing Inside Voices with Kristin Messerli, a new interview video series hosting by Messerli, who’s research on NextGen homebuyers helps to inform tomorrow’s generation. She is also author of NextGen Homebuyer Research and a speaker and educator.
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Today, she interviews Lili Thompson, founder of Lili Invests. At just 27 years old, she has already established ownership of 13 properties. Her passion for real estate and building a community on YouTube began during the pandemic, when her career as a basketball player for the Harlem GlobeTrotters was cut short. Lili decided to explore the world of real estate investing in her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and began documenting her journey on YouTube.
During her interview on Inside Voices with Kristin Messerli, Lili shares her inspiring story of breaking into the real estate industry, as well as her thoughts on how the next generation approaches homebuying and investing. She also delves into how educators can better engage with young adults like herself.
Here’s a preview of the interview:
Kristin Messerli: What are some other ways that educators or leaders in the space could do a better job of educating that first time buyer or younger consumer?
Lili Thompson: Yeah, I think one of them is just like, I think online there’s a push, especially to make things seem easy and simple and fast, and I think that actually does people a disservice. When I think easy, simple and fast, and then I go in and it’s not easy, simple and fast, I’m like, I’m out of here. This not what I signed up for.
Unfortunately, home buying isn’t always an easy, simple, fast scenario, but if you’re prepared for the ways in which it might be difficult, then I think you’re a little better equipped to stick it out and actually arrive at the end goal you want.
“Where are you from?” It’s a common question when you meet someone new while traveling. And it’s an easy question for most people. But for me, it’s complicated if I want to give more details than “the United States.”
After all, my husband and I gave up our Austin, Texas, apartment in June 2017, sold or donated most of our belongings and then set out as digital nomads on July 2, 2017. So, excluding some extended time living with family early in the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve traveled full time while working remotely for the last six years.
In 2020, I wrote about my first three years as a digital nomad. But in this story, I’ll look back at the past six years. In doing so, I’ll discuss how I became a digital nomad, some of my travel statistics and how travel has changed for me during the past six years.
How I became a digital nomad
On a bus from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu in Peru in 2013, I first heard of a gap year or sabbatical year. I hadn’t gotten into points and miles yet, but my husband and I loved the idea of taking a year off to travel after I finished graduate school. Well, fast forward four years to 2017, when it was time to leave on our “gap year.” By this time, we were already working as writers in the award travel space.
So, we hit the road as digital nomads instead of taking a gap year. And we quickly fell in love with the freedom and flexibility of the lifestyle. I appreciate experiencing different cultures, landscapes, experiences and cuisines daily. And I’ve found that frequently visiting new destinations inspires me.
I also enjoy using the topics I write about — points, miles, credit cards and elite status — on a daily basis. We make award redemptions most weeks (and often multiple times a week), and we’re constantly traveling. So, I know many of the airline, hotel and credit card programs I write about from personal experience. And I’m personally invested when these programs change or devalue their rewards.
Points and miles certainly fuel some of our travel. But we also book paid flights and nights when it makes sense. After all, we only have a finite amount of points and miles, and we’ve found that paid partner-operated premium-cabin flights are often the best way to earn airline elite status.
Related: 6 ways award travel and elite status pair well with my digital nomad life
1,121,959 miles on 575 flights
Over the last six years, I’ve taken 575 flights on 62 airlines to 180 airports in 58 countries. I’ve taken so many flights in the last six years that my flight map is difficult to read.
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I flew 1,121,959 direct flight miles in the last six years, with an average flight distance of 1,951 miles (about the distance from Atlanta to Los Angeles). My longest flight was 9,532 miles, from New York to Singapore. And my shortest flight was just 11 miles from Tahiti to Moorea in French Polynesia.
But my most memorable flight was on Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon Air from Polgolla Reservoir Aerodrome (KDZ) to Koggala Airport (KCT) on a Cessna 208 amphibious caravan.
I frequently fly American Airlines and often use Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) when visiting family. So, it’s not surprising that my three most frequent routes by flight segments are between American Airlines’ hubs and Atlanta. Here’s a look at my top 10 most frequent flight segments over the last six years:
New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) to/from ATL: 15 flights
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to/from ATL: 11 flights
Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to/from ATL: 10 flights
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to/from Kualanamu International Airport (KNO): 10 flights while I earned Malaysia Airlines Enrich Gold status in 2019
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to/from ATL: Nine flights
Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) to/from LAX: Eight flights
DFW to/from LGA: Six flights
London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) to/from LAX: Six flights
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to/from Da Nang International Airport (DAD): Six flights booked during Cathay Pacific’s New Year’s deal in 2019
DFW to/from LAS: Five flights
And my loyalty to American Airlines AAdvantage and its Oneworld partners shows when you look at the airlines I flew most by flight segments:
American Airlines: 224 flights, including reviews of American’s A321T business class, 787-9 business class, 777-200 business class with B/E Aerospace Super Diamond seats, 787-8 Main Cabin Extra, 757-200 Main Cabin Extra and 757-200 business class
United Airlines: 31 flights, including reviews of United’s 787-8 economy class and 757-200 economy class
Southwest Airlines: 29 flights, including a review of Southwest’s 737-800 from Oakland, California, to Newark
Malaysia Airlines: 26 flights
Qatar Airways: 23 flights, including reviews of Qatar Qsuite on a 777-300ER and Qatar Qsuite on an A350-1000
Delta Air Lines: 22 flights, including when I was one of the first American tourists to fly to Italy on a COVID-19-tested flight
British Airways: 20 flights, including a review of British Airways’ A380 economy class
Cathay Pacific: 17 flights
Japan Airlines: 14 flights, including a review of Japan Airlines’ 777-300ER premium economy
Qantas: 12 flights
However, if you look at the airlines on which I flew the most mileage, the ranking is a bit different due to some mileage runs:
American Airlines: 404,296 miles
Cathay Pacific: 104,481 miles
Qatar Airways: 89,630 miles
British Airways: 53,357 miles
Delta Air Lines: 49,603 miles
United Airlines: 42,237 miles
Singapore Airlines: 36,176 miles, including a review of Singapore Airlines’ A350-900ULR premium economy
Japan Airlines: 33,756 miles
Air Canada: 30,792 miles
All Nippon Airways: 28,938 miles
I track all my flights in OpenFlights. So, although it’s relatively easy for me to gather statistics on my flights, I don’t have a simple way to determine the amount I paid in points and cash for my 575 flights during the last six years.
Related: The best credit cards for booking flights
1,103 nights in hotels
I’ve spent over half of the last six years living out of hotel rooms. In particular, I’ve spent 894 nights at 75 major hotel brands within the last six years. And I’ve spent 209 nights at other brands and independent hotels.
Here’s the breakdown of my stays by loyalty program and brand over the last six years, including notes about my favorite programs.
390 nights at 15 IHG brands
Holiday Inn Express: 120 nights
Holiday Inn: 66 nights
InterContinental Hotels & Resorts: 51 nights, including five nights at the InterContinental Hayman Island Resort in Australia, four nights at the InterContinental Phuket Resort in Thailand, four nights at the InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort in Vietnam, three nights at the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort in Vietnam, three nights at the InterContinental New York Times Square in New York and two nights at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa in Fiji
Candlewood Suites: 28 nights
Hotel Indigo: 26 nights, including five nights at the Hotel Indigo Austin Downtown-University in Texas and four nights at the Hotel Indigo Birmingham Five Points South – UAB in Alabama
Staybridge Suites: 22 nights
Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts: 19 nights, including three nights at the Crowne Plaza Beijing Wangfujing in China and three nights at the Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York
Holiday Inn Resort: 19 nights, including 10 nights at the Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives in the Maldives
Voco: 11 nights, including six nights at Voco Gold Coast in Australia
Regent: Nine nights
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants: Eight nights
Six Senses: Six nights, including four nights at Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and two nights at Six Senses Yao Noi in Thailand
Atwell Suites: Two nights at Atwell Suites Miami Brickell in Florida
Avid: Two nights at Avid hotel Oklahoma City — Quail Springs in Oklahoma
Even: One night
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 161 paid nights at IHG properties for an average of $152 per night. The least I paid was $48 per night at the Holiday Inn Express Berlin — Alexanderplatz in Germany. And the most I paid was $1,564 per night during a review of the InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort in the Maldives.
Meanwhile, we redeemed IHG points for 209 nights over the last six years, including 36 fourth-night-free rewards. On average, we redeemed 15,591 IHG points per night. We also redeemed 20 anniversary nights over the last six years, including at the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa in French Polynesia and the Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
You might wonder how we earned so many IHG points and anniversary nights. We maximize IHG promotions to earn points on stays. And we often buy points during IHG points sales with a 100% bonus when we can do so for 0.5 cents per point. As for the anniversary night certificates, we both have multiple IHG credit cards, so we’ve each earned two anniversary nights for most of the last six years.
We frequently stay at IHG One Rewards hotels and resorts due to the high value we often get when redeeming IHG points. But, with the launch of the new IHG One Rewards program last year, we are also getting good value from the annual lounge membership you can select through IHG’s Milestone Rewards program after staying 40 nights in a year.
Related: 9 budget strategies for getting the most out of your points and miles
209 nights at other brands and independent hotels
These days, we usually stay at major hotel brands to earn and use elite status perks and benefit from the consistency provided by these brands. But we often stayed at independent hotels when we first hit the road as digital nomads in 2017. And even now, we sometimes find ourselves in a destination without major hotel brands or where staying at a property outside our brand loyalties makes the most sense.
For example, we couldn’t pass up staying in a twin cell at YHA Fremantle Prison in Australia and a robot hotel in Japan. Likewise, staying within Addo Elephant and Kruger national parks in South Africa let us maximize our time seeing wildlife in these parks.
We often book these stays through online travel agencies since we don’t have to worry about missing out on elite status benefits and earnings while staying at properties outside our primary brands. For example, we’ll sometimes book through credit card portals to use credits, like the $50 hotel credit each account anniversary year on the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. And we’ll occasionally book through American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts to snag extra perks and use the prepaid hotel credit we get each calendar year as a perk of The Platinum Card® from American Express. We’ll also sometimes use Rocketmiles to earn American Airlines miles and Loyalty Points on our stays.
On average, I paid $83 per night on these stays. But, my least expensive night was $18 per night for a private room with a shared bathroom at Stella Di Notte in Belgrade, Serbia. And my most expensive night was $235 per night at the RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas in Liberia during PeaceJam.
203 nights at 21 Marriott brands
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 140 paid nights at Marriott properties for an average of $121 per night. The least I paid was $44 per night at the Four Points by Sheraton Bogota in Colombia. And the most I paid was $350 per night during a review of the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Hawaii.
Meanwhile, we redeemed Marriott points for 49 nights over the last six years, including six fifth-night-free benefits. On average, we redeemed 16,167 points per night on Marriott award stays. We also redeemed 14 free night awards we earned through Marriott credit cards and promotions over the last six years.
Related: Here’s why you need both a personal and business Marriott Bonvoy credit card
115 nights at 6 Choice brands
Ascend Hotel Collection: 54 nights, including 28 nights at Emotions All Inclusive Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, nine nights at Gowanus Inn & Yard in New York (no longer bookable through Choice Hotels) and three nights at Bluegreen Vacations Fountains in Florida
Comfort: 37 nights, including 19 nights in Japan
Quality Inn: 13 nights
Cambria Hotels: Four nights
Rodeway Inn: Four nights
Clarion: Three nights
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 34 paid nights at Choice Privileges properties for an average of $93 per night. The least I paid was $54 per night at the Comfort Hotel Airport CDG in France. And the most I paid was $239 per night at Cambria Hotel New York — Times Square in New York.
Meanwhile, we redeemed Choice points for 81 nights over the last six years. On average, we redeemed 9,531 Choice points per night. I’ve found I can get excellent value when redeeming Choice points for unique redemptions and for stays in Japan, Europe and destinations that typically feature high paid hotel rates. So, as with IHG, we often buy Choice points during sales or through Daily Getaways promotions.
87 nights at 11 Hyatt brands and partners
I didn’t stay much with World of Hyatt until the program offered reduced qualification requirements and double elite night credits in early 2021. I earned Globalist status in 2021 for far fewer nights than is usually required, but I’ve prioritized maintaining it due to the on-site perks it provides.
I’ve stayed 53 paid nights at Hyatt properties for an average of $139 per night over the last six years. The least I paid was $24 per night at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. And the most I paid was $353 per night at Hyatt House New York/Chelsea in New York.
Meanwhile, I redeemed Hyatt points for 27 free nights over the last six years. I’ve found some excellent Category 1 Hyatt hotels that provide wonderful value on award stays. So, it isn’t surprising that I’ve redeemed 5,563 points per night on average and just 3,500 points per night for nine nights. Additionally, I redeemed seven free night certificates that I earned through Hyatt credit cards, Hyatt Milestone Rewards and the Hyatt Brand Explorer promotion over the last six years.
40 nights at 10 Wyndham brands
Days Inn: 10 nights
Ramada: Nine nights
Ramada Encore: Five nights
Microtel: Five nights
Club Wyndham: Three nights
Super 8: Three nights
Viva Wyndham: Two nights at Viva Wyndham Azteca — All-Inclusive Resort in Mexico
Baymont: One night
Howard Johnson: One night
Travelodge: One night
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 29 paid nights at Wyndham properties for an average of $103 per night. The least I paid was $48 per night at the Days Inn Guam-Tamuning in Guam. And the most I paid was $200 per night during a review of the Viva Wyndham Azteca — All-Inclusive Resort in Mexico.
Meanwhile, we redeemed Wyndham points for 11 nights over the last six years. On average, we redeemed 9,068 points per night on Wyndham award stays. And we love getting a 10% redemption discount when we redeem Wyndham points as a benefit of our Wyndham Rewards credit card, as this brings an award night that would typically cost 7,500 points down to just 6,750 points.
32 nights at 6 Hilton brands
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 18 paid nights at Hilton properties for an average of $130 per night. The least I’ve paid was $58 per night at the Hilton Jaipur in India. And the most I paid was $168 per night at the Hilton Niseko Village in Japan.
Meanwhile, we redeemed Hilton points for eight nights over the last six years, including one fifth-night-free benefit. On average, we redeemed 46,250 points per night on Hilton award stays. We also redeemed six Hilton free night certificates that we earned through Hilton credit cards over the last six years for excellent value at the Conrad New York Midtown, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island and the Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa.
The average amount we redeemed per night with Hilton Honors is significantly higher than with other hotel loyalty programs. This, combined with my struggle to get more than TPG’s valuation (0.6 cents per point) when redeeming Hilton points, is why I don’t frequently stay at Hilton brands despite having Hilton Diamond status through a Hilton credit card.
19 nights at 4 Accor brands
Ibis: 12 nights
Mercure: Four nights
Grand Mercure: Two nights
Ibis Budget: One night
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed 19 nights at Accor properties for an average of $56 per night. The least I paid was $36 per night at the Ibis Muenchen City Nord in Germany. And the most I paid was $84 per night at the Ibis Madrid Alcobendas in Spain.
8 nights at 2 Best Western brands
Best Western: Six nights
Best Western Plus: Two nights
Over the last six years, I’ve stayed eight nights at Best Western properties for an average of $78 per night. The least I paid was $57 per night at the Best Western Amsterdam Airport Hotel in the Netherlands. And the most I paid was $147 per night at the Best Western Plus Mountain View Auburn Inn in Washington.
452 nights camping
When I became a digital nomad in 2017, I didn’t think there was any chance I’d camp 452 nights in the next six years. And even three years ago, I’d only spent three nights tent camping for a concert at The Gorge in Washington state and three nights in a rental RV doing a relocation from Las Vegas to Denver.
But, as it became apparent the coronavirus pandemic would affect international travel for more than just a few months, my husband and I tried out a six-night RV relocation rental in July 2020. Then in August 2020, we decided to buy the same RV model we’d relocated.
When we bought our Class C RV, we expected we’d sell it as soon as international travel to most destinations became relatively simple again. But, we discovered we enjoy working remotely from our RV while in the U.S. We’ve now spent 440 nights camping in our RV since buying it — 97 nights in 2020, 234 nights in 2021, 80 nights in 2022 and 29 nights so far in 2023.
Nineteen nights in our RV have been free at locations (like select Walmarts, select Cracker Barrels and businesses that participate in Harvest Hosts) that allow RVers to stay overnight upon asking permission. We’ve also spent 37 nights sleeping in the driveways of friends and family while visiting them.
But we usually find paid RV campsites with power and water. We’ve paid for campsites on 393 nights as follows:
171 nights at city and county campgrounds ($32 per night on average)
133 nights at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds ($27 per night on average)
66 nights at state park campgrounds ($34 per night on average)
37 nights at private campgrounds ($52 per night on average)
Four nights at national park campgrounds ($48 per night on average)
On average, we’ve paid $33 per night for our RV campsites. The highest we paid was $104 per night at Orlando / Kissimmee KOA Holiday in Florida. And the least we paid was $17 per night at Shady Grove Campground in Cumming, Georgia, during a half-off promotion.
Related: The cheapest place to stay at Disney World is a tent — so I tried it
443 nights with family and friends
One aspect my husband and I appreciate about being digital nomads is seeing our family more than when we lived in one place. Here’s a breakdown of our nights with friends and family over the last six years:
July 2 to the end of 2017: 32 nights
2018: 90 nights
2019: 83 nights
2020: 167 nights
2021: 29 nights
2022: 27 nights
So far in 2023: 15 nights
We spent significant time with each of our parents in March through August of 2020 as much of the world locked down. However, the nights since August 2020 are lower than pre-pandemic since we now stay in our RV (either in the driveway or a nearby campground) while visiting most friends and family members.
Related: 43 real-world family travel tips that actually work
104 nights in transit
Over the past six years, I’ve spent 101 nights in flight or sleeping in airports. I typically avoid overnight flights, but sometimes overnight flights are unavoidable (and they’re enjoyable if I book a lie-flat seat or luck into a row to myself in economy).
If I have an overnight layover at an airport, I’ll book a hotel if the layover is long enough and I can find a modestly priced hotel on-site or with a free shuttle. But sometimes the layover is too short, or it just doesn’t make sense to get a hotel. In these cases, I’ll usually sleep in a lounge — ideally one with a sleeping area or at least lounge chairs — or in a Minute Suites (or a similar type of space) that participates in Priority Pass.
I’ve also spent three nights on trains, including two on the Amtrak Empire Builder from Portland, Oregon, to Chicago and one on a Trans-Mongolian train from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to Hohhot, China. I thoroughly enjoyed both experiences, so it’s surprising that I haven’t taken any other overnight trains in the last six years. However, low-cost flights on many routes served by overnight trains often make flying a more convenient and less expensive alternative.
Related: 11 of the most scenic train rides on Earth
90 nights in vacation rentals
Vacation rentals are the accommodation of choice for many digital nomads, especially those who stay in each location for at least a month and appreciate having their own kitchen. And I spent 39 nights in vacation rentals in 2017 after becoming nomadic July 2.
However, one particularly bad Airbnb experience in 2018 and an increasing interest in hotel elite status caused me to switch most of my nights to hotels instead of vacation rentals. I stayed in vacation rentals for 17 nights in 2018 and 20 nights in 2019. I only stayed in one vacation rental each in 2020 (for three nights), 2021 (for two nights) and 2022 (for two nights). And so far, I’ve only stayed in one vacation rental (for seven nights) in 2023.
On average, I paid $53 per night for vacation rentals across my six years as a digital nomad. My least expensive vacation rental was $17 per night for a private studio apartment in Da Nang, Vietnam, that I booked through Airbnb. And my most expensive vacation rental was $129 per night for a waterfront apartment in Auckland, New Zealand, through Hotels.com.
I’ll still stay in vacation rentals when they’re my best option. But I generally prefer to stay at hotels for consistency and to earn and use my elite status perks.
Related: When a vacation rental makes more sense than a hotel
259 cities in 52 countries and territories
Finally, let’s talk about destinations. Over the last six years, I’ve visited 259 cities in 52 countries and territories. Here’s a look at the number of nights I stayed in each:
1,253 nights: United States of America (including 318 nights in hotels or vacation rentals)
88 nights: Germany
69 nights: Japan
56 nights: Australia
54 nights: South Africa (including 32 nights in or near South African national parks)
36 nights: Dominican Republic
27 nights: Maldives, Thailand
24 nights: Spain
22 nights: Hong Kong, Malaysia
21 nights: New Zealand, Serbia, Vietnam
20 nights: Canada, Colombia, Italy
19 nights: India
18 nights: Netherlands, United Arab Emirates
16 nights: Singapore
14 nights: Bahamas, French Polynesia, Indonesia
13 nights: Fiji, South Korea
11 nights: Brazil, Mongolia
10 nights: China
Nine nights: Bulgaria, England, France, Pakistan
Eight nights: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, Liberia, Mexico, Sri Lanka
Seven nights: Greece, Guam
Six nights: Turkey
Five nights: Belgium, Marshall Islands
Four nights: Sweden
Three nights: Argentina, Chile
Two nights: Panama
One night: Ethiopia, Finland, Ireland, Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan
As you can see, I would have spent the most time in the U.S. even if the coronavirus pandemic hadn’t kept me in the country for much of 2020 and 2021. And interestingly, even my most visited country outside the U.S. (Germany) accounted for just 88 nights across the last six years.
I also visited 14 other countries and territories before becoming a digital nomad. So, although I’m not striving to visit every country in the world, I’ve visited 66 different countries and territories so far. My husband and I are trying to visit a few new-to-us countries each year while also returning to some of our favorite destinations like Germany, Japan, South Africa, Australia and Hong Kong.
Related: The 18 best places to travel in 2023
Bottom line
I feel incredibly thankful for the last six years I’ve spent as a digital nomad. I’ve grown significantly as a person and content creator while traveling full-time.
And I’ve had some amazing experiences, including swimming with manta rays in French Polynesia and the Maldives, watching a sea turtle dig a nest and lay her eggs on a Florida beach, staying at some awesome resorts (Six Senses Laamu, Six Senses Yao Noi and Alila Fort Bishangarh immediately come to mind), and overnighting in second-class hard bunks on a Trans-Mongolian train.
But it’s not these epic experiences that keep me on the road. After all, I could enjoy many of these experiences on vacation. Instead, the daily things like being surrounded by languages I don’t know, enjoying delicious local foods and exploring new cities and neighborhoods on foot keep me attached to the digital nomad lifestyle.