The Points Game Intro: The Adventure Begins…

This section of My Travel Traxx is all about acquiring and using loyalty program points so you can travel more for less. The easiest way to do that is through The Points Game… acquiring branded credit cards that give big sign-up bonuses.

I hate spending money.  It’s not that I’m a penny pincher – I’ll pay top dollar for some things – I just want to make sure I receive the absolute best deal.  That especially applies to discretionary spending like travel and explains why I really got serious about The Points Game about 10 years ago.

The quickest and easiest way to get free travel is by applying for affinity (co-branded) credit cards that give you points or miles in the related customer loyalty program.  For example, obtaining the American Express Hilton credit card to get Hilton points or the Chase Southwest Airlines card to get Southwest Rapid Rewards points.

Road warriors are very familiar with airline, hotel, credit card and rental car loyalty programs… the ability to earn points based on your spending that can be used for future travel.  But obtaining affinity credit cards goes well beyond getting free travel and may include things like:

• Baggage fee waivers
• Car rental insurance
• Extended warranties on purchases
• Complimentary hotel nights
• Airline club access
• Travel insurance
• Discounted companion tickets
• Credits for inflight purchases
• Other special privileges that just make travel easier and a whole lot more pleasant

As noted above, this section of the blog is all about how to acquire and wisely use loyalty program points.  In fact, it’s one of the main reasons I started the blog – to share these simple steps towards cheaper and better travel.  I’ve made some truly stupid mistakes playing the game and want to save you the pain of making similar blunders.

There are easy ways to pick up large amounts of points or credit card “currencies” just by getting and using your credit cards for everyday spending and I will cover this in detail.  There are a lot of other blogs that cover this information and I will share their posts when I think they cover a topic better than I can.

How does The Points Game work?  First, you can get big sign-up bonuses when applying for affinity (co-branded) credit cards.  This usually requires a minimum “spend” to get the bonus, which is typically $1,000 to $5,000 within three months of getting the card.

If the spend amount is on the lower end, that’s pretty easy for most folks by putting your utilities and daily expenses on the new card.  For cards requiring a higher spend, I wait for a time when I have a big expense coming up so that I easily meet the bonus points requirement (there are spend tips and tricks that I will also share in future posts).

For example, right now you could apply for the Citi^® / AAdvantage^® Platinum Select^® World Elite™ Mastercard^® which provides 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after $2,500 in purchases within the first three months of account opening.  There is a $99 annual fee that is waived for the first 12 months.

Citibank frequently has better offers than that, but you get the idea.  Similar cards are available for all the major airlines.  So, what can I do with 50,000 miles?

Looking at today’s award chart I chose some random round-trip tickets flying from Sarasota for the first week of August.  I can fly first class to Seattle to see my sisters (don’t worry ladies… that’s not a threat 😊).  Or I could get a ticket to Amsterdam using 34,000 miles.  Prefer something a little more tropical?  How about Cancun in business class for 40,000 miles or Maui for 30,000 miles in the main cabin?

Most card issuers also have their own rewards cards that earn points that can be either used to purchase travel directly or transferred to your favorite airline.  For our upcoming December trip to Europe, we were short of Delta miles so we transferred American Express Rewards Points to Delta for our tickets from Sarasota to London.

Second, by understanding how these cards work, you can earn more points or miles based on “category spend.”  Let me explain.  Most awards credit cards give you 1 point or mile for every dollar spent, but double, triple or even more for affinity spending.

Use your Amex Delta Airlines card for a flight on Delta and you get 2 points per dollar; use your Chase British Air card to book a BA flight and get triple points; the US Bank Radisson Premier card yields 10 points for every dollar spent at a branded property.

Many cards are currently offering double or triple points for restaurants and grocery stores to assist small businesses during the pandemic and also to ensure you keep using their cards.  During normal times, rewards cards often have other categories where your purchases add more than one point per dollar.

If I rent a car, I’m using my Citi Premier card to get 3X points.  Booking a hotel?  3X points on my Delta card.  Office supplies?  My Barclay American Aviator card gives me 2X.  Again, the point is that you can leverage multiple cards to get the most points for almost any kind of purchase.

Now a word of caution.  This game isn’t for everybody.  I would not be much of a friend if I didn’t provide this warning:

• First, if you have bad credit you will likely need to improve your score before applying for more credit cards (we’ll cover this in future posts dedicated to managing credit)
• Second, if you have a hard time managing your credit card spending you should click out of this post and ignore this part of the blog; there are big benefits to playing The Points Game, but you need to be highly disciplined and keep track of your spending.

OK – with the appropriate warnings out of the way, let’s talk a bit more about picking up points for free travel.

I currently have 17 credit cards and my wife has 11.  I can hear it now.  “Whoa!  Brian, are you insane?  Doesn’t that kill your credit?”  Actually, it has done the opposite.

When I got started playing The Points Game, my FICO score was a respectable 723; not flashy but not bad, either.  My FICO score as of yesterday was 827.  Again, I’ll discuss credit in detail in future posts but the point is that having multiple credit cards, if properly managed, can significantly enhance your score.

Also, as of yesterday, my wife and I have just under 2 million points in the various airline, hotel and credit card rewards programs.  Over the last 10 years, I have purchased over 50 round-trip tickets and all but 5 were paid for with points:

• Central and South America – 14 round-trip tickets  (Belize, Panama, Ecuador)
• Europe – 6 round-trip tickets  (Italy, Ireland, UK)
• Caribbean – 9 round-trip tickets  (US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic)
• Domestic – 24 round-trip tickets  (Hawaii, Colorado, Seattle, Maine, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama)

Even after all that travel, we still have a large number of points available for trips in 2021 and beyond.  We had a European trip booked for this past December and each of those flights, some in first class, were paid for with points.

With all the points you can earn by getting new cards and then using the best card for every purchase, what will you do with them?  Go to your dream location like Bali, Paris or Sydney?  Travel the same amount you do now but maybe fly business class and stay in luxury hotels?  Or maybe you will just see your family more often.  Jumping into The Points Game gives you options you may not have had before.

I realize you didn’t learn much about the game in this post, but I hope I have whetted your appetite for the information that is to come.

• We’ll discuss which credit cards to acquire and in which order; your FICO score (what the heck it is and how to keep it high).
• The ins and outs of the myriad points plans with an emphasis on airline, hotel and credit card rewards programs.
• The importance of freezing your Experian, TransUnion and Equifax accounts.
• The application rules for the major credit card issuers (Chase, Amex, Bank of America, Citibank, Barclay, Capitol One and US Bank).
• What points are worth and when it’s actually better to buy your ticket.
• How to get business credit cards even if you don’t technically have a business.
• And how to leverage airline alliances to buy a ticket on one airline using points from another.

At this time, make sure your seat backs are in their full upright position and your tray tables put away.  Please make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins… and get ready to travel!!!