Welcome to the Frugal Flyer Team, Andy

Even though we already have a fantastic team of dedicated and knowledgeable writers, Frugal Flyer has continued to see growth and demand increase through 2023. As a result, in December we included a call-out for miles and points writers in our yearly recap article. 

This was met with significant demand and ultimately led to the addition of our newest writer to the team, Andy Leung.

Welcome to Frugal Flyer, Andy!

Learn more about Andy and what kind of content you can expect from him in 2024 and beyond.

What got you into Miles & Points?

My journey started when my family signed me up for an Aeroplan account when I was 16. When I got my first credit card in my second year of university, I always wanted to squeeze out as much value as possible. In 2022, I started researching the different earning strategies and mileage programs I could use as a student. 

My friend introduced me to the world of American Express with the American Express Cobalt card, which I still use as my daily card. The high earning ratio, especially for food and grocery transactions, helped me plunge into the miles game, redeeming hotel stays and flights every few weeks in 2023.

2023 marked a huge year for me in terms of travel. It was also my graduation year so I wanted to travel to as many places as possible before I started my post-graduation career. That inspired me to look up different kinds of credit cards and points I could use toward my travels. Additionally, I wanted to see what the lounge life was like, so I signed up for the American Express Platinum card as well.

Do you have any redemptions you are looking forward to in 2024?

So far, some of my major redemptions for 2024 include a cheap redemption in Premium Economy to Osaka in May, with a week trip to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. I’ll be using 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points and a Free Night Award for my stay in Southeast Asia at the JW Marriott in each city. 

Beyond May, I don’t have anything set as of yet. However, I have some places in mind that I want to revisit hopefully by the end of the year.

What areas of travel hacking interest you most? What do you plan to write about on Frugal Flyer?

There are a lot of loyalty and points programs that everyone can sign up for, but no point program seems to be the same. Beyond being able to earn and redeem these miles, I like to discover different ways to save money or share the alternative ways people can earn loyalty status or miles, such as through budget carriers.

Although I don’t consider myself a very frequent flyer, I still want to share my experiences from wherever I travel. Because of my frequent travels in 2023, I was able to achieve multiple elite statuses from different point programs, including Marriott Titanium Elite Status, so I hope to share at least some of the benefits I’ll be using this year.

What do you do in your free time?

I’ve always had a passion for getting into a career in the transportation industry, so I went to UBC for my post-secondary studies, majoring in Geography and minoring in Urban Studies. This, combined with my hobby as a transportation enthusiast and photographer, influenced many of my travel destinations in 2023. Timing it right with flight deals, I was able to travel outside of North America for the first time, to the UK, the Netherlands, and Japan.

As a transit photographer, I want to photograph as many different transit systems and vehicles as possible. Like planespotting, which I also enjoy, there is a wide variety of different vehicle models, paint schemes, and special liveries. They also have a certain lifespan threshold before vehicles have to be retired or scrapped. Although there are many duplicates of these models, some companies order certain features that are rare or specific to a transit agency, prompting me to book trips to see them one last time before they’re gone forever.

Conclusion

We are excited to welcome Andy to the Frugal Flyer team and look forward to his contributions! 

Andy already has one article published on using low-cost carriers to earn status and miles. Keep an eye out for his next article coming soon!