Traveling with Points: How to Get Started

Alexandria

Florida Travel | International Travel | Travel | US Travel

September 20, 2024

Traveling with Points: How to Get Started

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*Opinions and recommendations are mine alone. I use credit card points for every trip, but don’t consider myself an expert especially with the ever-changing policies*

I got into “travel hacking” a few years back without even thinking about it. I opened a credit card for business reasons (credits cards offer better protections against fraud) and unknowingly started collecting points. Before I knew it, I had enough to get a soccer trip hotel and rental car for FREE! I started googling and listening to some podcasts about using points for travel and the real fun started! Since then, I’ve upgraded almost all our hotel rooms to suites, which is amazing because we’re a large family. I haven’t paid for a rental car in years, and I recently flew my entire family to Spain on Delta One!

I don’t try to get every trip and every aspect of the trip for free each time. That’s a fast way to wipe out earned points. If I can get either the flights or hotel covered, or at least at a discount, I see that as a win!

Traveling with Points in a nutshell

Sign up for a credit card
Meet the minimum spending requirements (while paying off each month’s bill)
Earn the points
Purchase your trip details with these points
Go on a very discounted or FREE trip
Repeat!

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Things to know before you start

Be financially responsible. Whatever you put on your credit cards should be paid off every single month. If you’re paying interest on your spending, you’re kind of defeating the purpose of SAVING money.

The idea is to earn points on money you have to spend anyway. Gas, groceries, insurance, internet, utilities, dining out, etc are all organic ways to hit the minimum on newly opened credit cards to earn the bonus points.

Don’t overspend to hit the minimum spend. Pick a card with a minimum spend is something already in your budget.

A good time to open a higher minimum spend card (and more points) is during holidays when you’re naturally spending more.

Get Started!

First step is to plan your credit card sign-up.

The best travel cards offer Welcome or Sign Up Bonuses, but they have minimum spends. This will usually be something like “Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening”. Opening your card when you have a big purchase to make, like needing a new refrigerator, or your property taxes are due, would allow you to hit this bonus with no problem! And just like that you have 75,000 miles to use, on top of the ones you’re earning on regular purchases.

Second step is to pick the Credit Card you want.

Travel hacking works solely on credit card points. You have several options for credit cards, some general travel cards and others co-branded. Co-branded cards are brand specific like Delta, Marriott, Hyatt, etc. The thing I like about co-branded cards is that you also earn brand status which could in turn get you more perks. If you don’t have a preference for airlines or hotels, a general travel rewards card like the Venture is a perfect option.

Before I leave you to go on your travel hacking way , it’s important to note that the higher point earning credit cards have higher annual fees, but you can actually get that fee waived for the first year. Then, after the first year, you can reevaluate if it’s worth it. Many of these travel credit cards offer amazing benefits like late check out, room upgrades, and airport lounge access. If you are traveling often and use these benefits, I’d mark that as worth it!

Traveling with points can get overwhelming when trying to use the best strategies and redemptions, plus policies and benefits are constantly changing. I recommend getting started and earning points with everyday spending. Once you’ve accumulated points, you have the freedom to choose how to redeem!

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