Contrary to what you may think, travel and credit card points are not my job. This is not a multi-level marketing business. This is simply my place to talk about my favorite hobby. A place for me to share with people how to make their travel dreams a reality for nearly free.
If you've seen me in the last 12 months, you've heard me talk about credit card points. So now, instead of talking about credit card points, I have created this blog. My audience may end up being just me and my mom, but my hope is that it inspires others to start earning and redeeming points for amazing vacations.
And that you use my referral links to help me get more points at the same time ;)
My Credit Card Past
I've actually dabbled in credit card points and miles for many years. My job in 2013-2017 required a lot of domestic work travel. So in the beginning of that job, I strategically opened credit cards to earn points for personal travel through my required work travel. I earned so many points during those years, that I paid for my flights and hotels for a two week Hawaii honeymoon and a one week Bermuda babymoon.
My husband and I both thought that was great!
But after those trips, we had our first child, then Covid, then another baby. Suddenly traveling was no longer a priority or even seemed feasible.
But in 2022 we took a big family trip to Disney World, and I caught the travel bug hard. We had such a great time, that I immediately wanted to travel more. But family travel in this economy is expensive, so I started to get creative.
My First New Credit Card
In December 2023, I opened my first new credit card in over 8 years. And in the 12 months since that day, I opened 6 new credit cards in my name and another 4 in my husband's name. Through those sign up bonuses, referrals, and everyday spend - we earned over one million points in 2024!
It is imperative for me to say right up front, we did not spend one million dollars to earn those points. We didn't spend anywhere near a million dollars - because we definitely don't have that kind of money. Instead, we earned those one million points by charging our credit cards for everyday spend - groceries, gas, eating out, clothing, beauty, gym memberships - if the vendor takes a card, we use a credit card.
We are extremely responsible with our credit card spending. We essentially use credit cards like a debit card. When we get a new card, I immediately set up automatic payment for the full balance. So we are never, ever, paying interest on credit cards.
But How Did you Earn One Million Points?
The secret sauce to traveling on points is opening credit cards, and opening them frequently. When you open a new card, there is usually a sign up bonus that says something like "spend $4,000 in 3 months, earn 60,000 points".
Most people, including a previous me, open that one card and then put all of their expenses on that card. And by doing that people earn the sign up bonus and continue to earn points slowly on that same card. When you use a credit card in this way, you could earn a few nights at a hotel or even a roundtrip flight. BUT if you are opening a new card every few months, you are earning enough points to cover multiple flights and hotels for full family vacations.
But What About Your Credit Score?
At this point you may be thinking, "that's a great way to tank your credit score". WRONG!
Credit scores are calculated by 5 measures and each of those measures are weighted:
35% of your score is your payment history
30% of your score is your accounts owned or total debt
15% of your score is length of credit history
10% of your score is credit mix
10% of your score is new credit
That means only 10% of your credit score is impacted by opening new lines of credit. So while it is true that your credit score may go down a few points (typically between 3-6 points) when you open a new card. It typically bounces back shortly thereafter and for most people even increases as opening new lines of credit increases the other areas. This image in my own credit report, again with 6 new credit cards opened in the past 12 months.
Okay, But What Do You Do With All Those Credit Cards?
Well, not much. I will talk more about this in future blog posts, but essentially, after I meet the initial minimum spend to get the welcome offer, I don't do much with the cards. If they don't have an annual fee, I plan to keep them indefinitely, they aren't hurting me. And if they do have an annual fee, I wait a year, then evaluate if the card's value outweighs it's cost.
So, What Can You Do With Your Points?
There are many ways to redeem points. The very easiest way is to simply cash them out. 10,000 points = $100. So my one million points = $10,000.
BUT when you learn to transfer your points, suddenly 10,000 points can be far more than $100. For instance, I can book a NYC hotel for Thanksgiving weekend for 25,000 points. If I had paid cash for the same hotel, it would have cost $484.
THIS is how you make luxurious travel happen for your family. Travel that would otherwise be so far out of reach suddenly becomes accessible.
Since discovering this hobby in Demcember 2023 I have been able to bring my family on incredible vacations for a fraction of their cash price. We’ve gone to Portugal, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, California, Florida, New York City, Philadelphia, Wildwood, and more - all for nearly free.
If you are ready to get started in this incredibly rewarding hobby now, let me know! I would be happy to recommend a personalized credit card plan to get you started and teach how to utilize your points for maximum value.
If you'd prefer to get started on your own, let me suggest the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card as your first card. Almost every travel expert I follow would agree that this card is the best for getting started in this hobby. Referral link to the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
