There are many great things about traveling: spending time with family and friends, seeing beautiful new places, learning about different cultures, or sometimes simply relaxing and taking time away from the routine. One thing that everyone agrees is NOT great about travel is the bill you’re left with afterwards. Flights, rental cars, hotels, meals, and experiences all add up, and can leave a mark on what is otherwise a fantastic part of life that most of us would love to enjoy more.
Enter the world of points and miles, or as I’ll call them, travel rewards. These are currencies created by airlines, hotels, and credit card companies that can be exchanged for travel experiences like flights and hotel stays. You’ve likely heard of some of these: Delta SkyMiles, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, or Chase Ultimate Rewards, as examples.
You may or may not have also used some of these currencies to take a flight or stay at a hotel for (almost) free before, but if you’re here, you may not have discovered just how lucrative using these points and miles can be.
Miles Wizard has used American Express Membership Rewards to fly business class on Etihad Airways to Australia, all thanks to signing up for credit cards and taking advantage of the rewards offered by American Express, like other companies, in most part from signing up for new credit cards.
Using credit cards is key to earning large amounts of these currencies, which can allow you to stay in luxurious hotels, fly in lie-flat business class seats on international flights, and more. Yes, it is of course possible to earn these points and miles by taking many flights or staying in specific hotels for many nights, but the key to this space is that credit cards allow us to earn these points and miles MUCH more quickly and cheaply than most people could by flying and staying in hotels.
As an example, if for business or personal reasons you stayed at Marriott hotels and spent $10,000 over the course of many nights in hotels, you would end up with approximately 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, which would allow you to stay a night at the luxurious Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco if you wanted.
Alternatively, you could sign up for the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card from American Express, spend $5,000 over the course of 6 months on gas, groceries, dining out, or other bills as you normally would, and you would earn at least 160,000 points (155,000 from the Welcome Bonus and at least another 5,000 from the spend), and you are closer to affording two nights at the Ritz Carlton, not the one you would have earned from all that spend at Marriott properties. Sounds fantastic, right? This isn’t theoretical, either: it’s entirely possible to do, as Miles Wizard has done, using points and miles to save nearly $1,000 on this hotel’s nightly rate.
This is the key to earning significant amounts of points and miles: you can turbocharge your earnings by signing up for new credit cards, spending like you normally would in your day-to-day on your new card, and earning huge amounts of points and miles. These can then be used for many exciting and potentially luxurious travel experiences, like the Ritz Carlton mentioned above.
Sounds too good to be true? I thought so at first, but I learned that it’s all easier than it seems. You just have to learn about which cards to sign up for, manage your expenses, and learn about how to redeem your points in the best ways. Miles Wizard is here to teach you all of that!
If you’re intrigued, continue along with Miles Wizard’s Travel Rewards 101 Series and learn more about what you should know about credit, credit cards, and why signing up for a new card (or many) can be a great thing.