Our Story
Welcome! We are the Jones Family.
We’re a family who loves to travel near and far and loves to do it as free and frugally as possible. Our home base is Indiana and we love to zip up to Michigan a lot too. We’ve been playing the “points game” for 8 years now, but when a certain pandemic hit, Jordan dove in, and quickly became quite an expert, racking up 2 million hotel and airline points in one year. After a ton of friends and family asked for help getting started with points and miles, and simultaneously begged us to make what we know readily available, we finally relented and started creating what you see on this website and our Instagram account.
As we talked about what that would look like for us, we realized that a lot of the financial and time decisions we make were also based in frugality and spending our money carefully, both in our day-to-day life and while we are traveling. We knew that had to be a facet of what we created as well. Many (most) nights, you’ll find Jordan lying on the couch finagling credit cards and plane routes, and you’ll find Courtney, on the other couch, researching and scrolling through Facebook Marketplace to find quality gear for their next trip…on the cheap.
We love traveling for many reasons, and (most of the time) we love bringing our kids along for the journey, and we want to help others travel for as free as possible because of points and miles and frugally as possible so you can do it on any budget.
We are so excited to bring you along with us and thank you so much for boarding. The Frugal and Free Travelers are now at 10,000 feet! Come get to know each of us below!
Our pilot is Jordan.
Jordan is always in pursuit of better: better self, better systems, etc. That trait has taken off in the form of successfully understanding, and quite nearly beating the credit card and points system, so that our family can better pursue one of our top priorities: travel.
During the day, he is the Director of Leadership Development at Traders Point Christian Church in Indianapolis. He loves reading about leadership (and keeping no less than 45 books on his side of the bed), booking flights, and fancies himself a bit of a whiskey connoisseur.
His favorite place he’s been is Israel.
Our co-pilot is Courtney.
Let’s be honest. Courtney isn’t just our co-pilot, she’s our gate-agent, tour guide, in-air chef, and safety specialist, but in all reality, is mostly the baggage handler. Courtney is always searching for a better deal from coffee tables to hiking boots. Some may call that cheap, but we prefer the word “frugal” (and not just because of the cheeky alliteration with the word “free”).
When she’s not traveling she’s actually quite a homebody- and really enjoys a cozy rainy day. She loves to read, cook interesting food, and really hates unloading the dishwasher. However, she is an excellent packer of suitcases and thinks packing cubes can actually change your life.
Her favorite place she’s been is Italy.
Our flight attendant is Linden.
Linden is sweet and argumentative and works really hard at being brave. She loves to learn and is already such a great reader and Junie B. Jones will throw her into a fit of giggles. She has been known to request lunch at an airport lounge (la-ti-da) and loves the almost unlimited screen time she gets when we are flying.
Her favorite places she’s been are Disney World and Costa Rica.
Our Air Marshall is Merritt.
Merritt is 3 in every. single. way. She’s super cute and super feisty. She will try anything and then let you know exactly what she thinks about it. She’s never met a stranger and charms everyone she meets. But once she knows you well, she will tell you that you’re “boring” or “bad rude” if she disagrees with you. Don’t get us wrong: she has a good bit of spice, but a TON of sweet as well.
Her favorite places she’s been are Disney World and Malta.