I’d Use the $4,500 Travel Sweepstakes Prize to Visit Patagonia, Switzerland, and Maui!

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Working for Million Mile Secrets is a dream come true.  But there is one major downside:   I’m not allowed to enter our preposterously ample $4,500 travel sweepstakes!

By following the steps to enter, one lucky reader will win a dream trip of their choice — valued at up to $4,500!  The contest runs through May 31, 2018.  You can read our full travel sweepstakes entry rules here.

Ineligibility won’t keep me from dreaming, though.  Here’s how I’d use the money if I were you.  And you won.

What I’d Do With the $4,500 Travel Sweepstakes Prize

Link:   Travel Sweepstakes 

I’ve got a series of ambitious bucket lists that I’d love to conquer.  Lists that I add to when I see a picture from the interweb that amazes me.  If you’ve ever seen a picture of a faraway place that excites you so profoundly that you get a bowel movement sensation, those are the pictures I save.

Note:   You should download the Bing Desktop on your computer to get a new travel-inspiring picture every day.  It’s guaranteed to lengthen your travel list!

My bucket lists have labels like “rickety rope bridges” and “crystal clear lagoons.”  When I find a superlative of each category, I add it to the list.

1.   Staircases

I’m pretty into great big staircases…not sure why.  There’s just something beautiful about a crazy amount of stairs!

I crossed 1 bucket list staircase off my list last year when I did the ~3,900 step Haiku Stairs in Hawaii.  It was every bit as enjoyable as I’d hoped.  There are lots more that I need to climb, though!

There’s a hike in Europe similar to the Haiku Stairs.  But the stairs I want to visit next are in China, called Heaven’s Gate.  It’s ~1,000 steps and leads to an impressive mountain opening.

There are plenty of other humongous staircases I want to visit, several of them leading to lofty monasteries.  I’d heavily subsidize my journey to these different locations with the travel sweepstakes winnings.  And stick around for a long while to acquaint myself with the local culture.

2.   Above the Clouds

Another bucket list category is all about views above the clouds.

One of the prettiest views is looking out the airplane window and seeing a puffy white floor.  I’ve long wanted to enjoy the top half of the world removed from a plane.

There are lots of destinations on this bucket list, like a hike through areas of Patagonia, skiing in Engelberg, Switzerland, and watching the sunrise at the top of the Haleakala volcano in Maui.

3.   Mysterious Boardwalks

Boardwalks!  They’re all gorgeous.  Some of them are in the middle of nowhere, so inexplicable that you MUST hop on and find out where it leads.

I imagine one dude building the whole thing.  He saw something really cool while exploring a forest and he wanted other people to see it too, so he crafted a path to it.

There are drop-dead gorgeous boardwalks all over, but there are a few in particular I want to visit in Chile, the Everglades, Tasmania, and Minnesota.

I Don’t Have to Win the Sweepstakes to Accomplish My Goals

Link:   Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Link:   Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

Link:   Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

There are plenty of ways to travel to these places with minimal out of pocket expense.

For example, the Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after meeting minimum spending requirements.  That’s worth $625 in travel when you book through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.

And the Ink Business Preferred comes with 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after meeting minimum spending requirements, worth $1,000 in travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal.

You can also transfer those points to valuable transfer partners, like United Airlines and Southwest.  For example, I could transfer 25,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air for a round-trip coach ticket from Cincinnati to Maui, and watch the sunrise from Haleakala.  That ticket is almost guaranteed to cost $750+ otherwise!

And when you open the Capital One Venture and meet minimum spending requirements, you’ll earn 50,000 Venture miles ($500) towards practically anything travel related, including airfare, hotels, train rides, room service, Uber, airport taxes, etc.  So you can have truly free travel!

Bottom Line

If I won our $4,500 travel sweepstakes, I’d use it to fulfill some of my more eccentric travel goals, like visiting Asia and Europe to climb the most beautiful and humongous staircases in the world.  Or heading to Hawaii and South America to enjoy the view above the clouds.

But we’re all curious how YOU would use the money!  So remember to enter for your chance to win!  And return every day and comment for another entry, through May 31, 2018.