Where to start if you want to travel using points and miles?

Have you ever heard of people who travel the world without spending a lot of money, using only their points and miles? This concept becomes even more enticing when you’re traveling with a larger family and need to book multiple plane tickets. In this post, we’ve gathered some helpful tips on how to start earning points and miles, and we’ll also recommend some beginner credit cards to get you started.

1. Sign-up for a Loyalty Program

When it comes to traveling, loyalty programs can be a great way to save money and earn rewards. Almost every airline and hotel chain offers a unique loyalty program that serves the same purpose – to reward customers for their loyalty. These programs allow you to earn points or miles for every dollar spent that can be redeemed for free hotel nights and flights, or used towards discounted rates. The more you travel, the more points or miles you can earn, and the more benefits you can unlock. So, if you’re a frequent traveler, it’s worth signing up for a loyalty program to take advantage of the rewards and perks available.

2. Get a co-branded credit card

You don’t really need to be staying at hotels frequently or fly a lot in order to rack up points and miles. Most hotel chains and major airlines offer co-branded credit cards issued by banks such as Chase, Citi, Bank of America, American Express, and others. Banks usually offer lucrative signup bonuses on these credit cards, so getting a good signup bonus can pay for a few hotel nights and a couple of roundtrip flights. Of course, each signup bonus comes with its own requirements and responsibilities. Usually, you need to spend a certain amount on the card to earn your bonus, and most hotel and airline cards come with an annual fee.

3. Don’t be scared of annual fees

Don’t let the annual fees scare you; if you thoroughly learn all the card benefits, you can gain a lot more than you spend on annual fees. For example, the World of Hyatt credit card offers one Free Night Award at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort every year after your cardmember anniversary, which easily pays its $95 annual fee. Always do the math before signing up for a new card. Take the signup bonus points and multiply them by your point valuation. Here’s an example, a night at Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa on Del Monte Golf Course can cost $288 per night, but it’s always 15,000 points, which makes a single point worth 1.92 cents ($288 divided by 15,000), so the current signup bonus of 60,000 World of Hyatt points can give you $1100 worth of free hotel nights.

4. Check historic signup bonus offers

It’s usually a good idea to check historic signup bonus offers to see if you’re getting a good value when you sign up. Sometimes it’s worth waiting for a little to see if a better offer comes up, especially if the bonus was higher at some point. The US Credit Card Guide website has historical offers on its Best Credit Card Signup Bonus Offers page that you can check.

5. Pick your Hotel program to start earning specific points

If you’re unsure where to start, we recommend opening credit cards from the hotels you’re planning to stay at or airlines that you’ll use, as they offer pretty good bonuses. We chose to be members of the World of Hyatt and Hilton Honors programs; our trips usually include one of the aforementioned hotel chains.

6. Check the redemption rates before booking

When booking, always check the redemption rates; it’s not always cheaper to book hotels and flights using points than paying money. Points have value, so save your points for a more expensive flight or an aspirational hotel stay. Some hotel programs, such as World or Hyatt, offer a category-based point value system that allows you to redeem a fixed amount of points for a night, disregarding the dollar value.

7. Plan ahead

Plan ahead! If you’re considering using points for a stay, make sure to book in advance and always check the hotel cancelation policy; depending on the travel dates, it may differ drastically.

8. Book through transfer partners

Some of the major U.S. banks offer premium credit cards that have the ability to transfer points to partner airlines and hotels. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you can transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to World of Hyatt or United Airlines, which often offer great redemption values.

The American Express Platinum card’s Membership Rewards points can be transferred to ANA (Japan is on our travel list!) or Delta Airlines (if you need to top up your SkyMiles account, which can offer a good value for a short domestic flight). Membership Rewards can be transferred to Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, but usually, you’ll find a better value if you transfer to airlines.

9. Study bank rules

We recommend studying the different rules of banks, such as the American Express once in a lifetime rule and the Chase 5/24 rule. The Chase 5/24 rule states that you can only open a maximum of four cards from any bank within a period of 24 months to become eligible for a new Chase card. Therefore, plan your credit card applications accordingly to avoid any inconvenience.

10. Our favorite starter cards