finding discounted flights tends to be hit or miss for most vacationers, but one savvy traveler has managed to plan out an entire two month trip that will barely cost him a cent scott keyes, a 28 year old writer for think progress, is about to travel 20,000miles on 21 flights, stopping by 13 countries along the way in europe and south and north america while enjoying first class service all this for free scroll down for video  scott keyes (above), a 28 year old writer for think progress, is about to travel 20,000miles on 21 flights  along the way he will be stopping by 13 countries  in europe and south and north america  dayton, ohio   dallas, fort worth   861 miles  dallas, forth worth   mexico city   935 miles  oaxaca, mexico    mexico city   228 miles  mexico city    managua, nicaragua   994 miles  managua   panama city   507 miles  panama city   port of spain, trinidad   1234 miles  port of spain   st lucia 217 miles  st lucia   st george's, grenada   131 miles  st george's   miami   1535 miles  miami   dusseldorf, germany, 4733 miles  dusseldorf   dresden, germany, 304 miles  prague, czech rep    vienna, austria, 173 miles  vienna    kiev, ukraine, 665 miles  lvov, ukraine   vienna, 356 miles  vienna   sofia, bulgaria, 500 miles  sofia   vienna, 500 miles  vienna   vilnius, lithuania, 587 miles  vilnius   helsinki, finland, 393 miles  helsinki   berlin, germany, 697 miles  berlin   chicago, 4412 miles  chicago   dayton, 240 miles  total: 20205 miles  keyes decided to plan his trip when he realized he had some free time between his departure from oaxaca, mexico, where he has lived for the past year, to return home to the united states and get back to full time work so he rounded up all his airline miles, and the points he had acquired on his 25 credit cards in the end, he was able to book a vacation with stops in mexico, nicaragua, trinidad, st lucia, grenada, germany, czech republic, ukraine, bulgaria, greece, macedonia, lithuania, and finland without having to pay more than a few dollars on any of the flights he will also be in the united states a few times, but just to catch connection flights in the end he spent somewhere between 10 and 15 hours putting the entire trip together, which also includes free hotels, at a cost of 136,500 frequent flyer miles 'it’s tough when you have a job and you have to ask your boss for time off,' keyes told business insider 'you only have a limited time off and then you spend a lot of that traveling i figured while i’m in a position where i don’t have a 9 to 5, i might as well take advantage' in fact, keyes is such a pro at travelling on the extremely cheap that he even wrote two ebooks detailing his strategies: how to fly for free and how to find free flights and the easiest way is a bit more obvious than many might think 'if your ultimate goal is to be able to find as cheap a flight as possible and go somewhere cool for not much money then starting with an open, blank slate and going wherever there’s a cheap flight right now is going to be your best bet,' said keyes the young man posts photos from his trips on his instagram account  keyes is seen posing in front of the famed materhorn on a previous trip, which straddles the border of switzerland and italy  striking up a pose: keyes at a mexican wrestling match (left) and enjoying a hike (right) keyes poses while rafting down sumidero canyon which is located near the city of chiapa de corzo in mexico  wading into the waters of hierve el agua in oaxaca, mexico, rock formations and the remnants of old geysers  this strategy has certainly worked for the young man as he has logged an impressive 354,000 miles in the sky while visiting 30 countries over the course of his lifetime this next trip will increase that number to 42 countries 'just gonna go to the market for a pig's head': keyes at a mexican butcher shop (left) and camping on the beach (right) in hawaii  those credit cards meanwhile come in handy during those long layovers thanks to the access they provide to private lounges were travelers like keyes can enjoy free food and drinks, hop online and even grab a quick shower 'i’ve got a nice work space, food, drinks, some wi fi this is like this whole other world,' said keyes during a layover in dallas, texas as he sat in the american express lounge even better, keyes explains that the more you look for discounts, the better you become a finding and anticipating airline deals 'it’s not necessarily easy or intuitive for beginners,' he said 'but the good news is that because if you do a little bit of leg work — learn how to get a few miles and how to use them well — you can start to travel really, really well'
scott keyes between 10 to 15 hours finland 20,000 miles 28 year old greece bulgaria st lucia grenada macedonia czech republic lithuania nicaragua germany mexico trinidad ukraine
scott keyes, a 28 year old writer, is about to travel 20,000 miles on 21 flights and visit 13 countries  for this trip he will pay hardly anything, with all flights and hotels already covered thanks to airline miles and credit card points  he will make stops in mexico, nicaragua, trinidad, st lucia, grenada, germany, czech republic, ukraine, bulgaria, greece, macedonia, lithuania, and finland  the trip took him between 10 to 15 hours to plan and cost him 136,500 frequent flyer miles 