Homeless man uses frequent flyer and reward points to live in hotels

A homeless man in Orange County, California is living a hotel version of the movie "Up in the Air," using frequent flier miles and hotel reward points to live in hotels while he looks for a job. Jim Kennedy, 46, turned 7,000 points from United Airlines and $100 in cash into a four-night stay this week at the Holiday Inn Express in San Clemente, according to a story in the Orange County Register.

Kennedy, who earned $120,000 a year for a software company before being laid off 19 months ago, earned loyalty program points by traveling for his former jobs in IT and finance.

He doesn't have the 10 million frequent flier miles that character Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, did in the film "Up in the Air," or the 9 million miles that Tom Stuker has with United Airlines. But after using loyalty points to stay in hotels for the past two months, he estimates he can continue it for three more months before the accounts are empty, he told ABC News, which featured his story on "Good Morning America."