What the Hack? Episode 206: Chris Hutchins’s Travel Hacking Gets Hacked
Jul 1, 2025
Chris Hutchins, a life hacker and travel expert behind the podcast All The Hacks, shares his insights on travel hacking. He reveals how clever strategies helped him and his wife enjoy luxury trips using points. Despite facing a theft of his miles by a threat actor, he found a way to work the situation to his advantage, scoring even more points. Hutchins also discusses online security improvements and tactics to safeguard against account takeovers, along with thrilling tales of scams and hardening his defenses.
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Points Fund Luxury Vacations
- Chris Hutchins described using points to get a free honeymoon-level trip like the Seychelles and a St. Regis overwater bungalow in Bora Bora.
- He said optimized points redemptions can make points worth far more than cash back on purchases.
JetBlue Points Used Without Notifications
- In 2017 Chris found unknown JetBlue bookings that used his points and received a refund only after changing his account email.
- JetBlue returned points but required switching the account email rather than tightening other security controls.
Callers Posed As Card Issuers
- After a CNBC piece about his points, Chris got calls from scammers impersonating Amex and Chase asking for SSNs and passwords.
- He and the real issuers fended off the attempts by verifying live with the actual companies.