The Moment It Sunk in That Points and Miles Game Was Not a Scam
If You Know How to Play It Smart
I wouldn't call myself an expert in the points and miles game.
However, over the years I have spent hundreds of hours reading and learning about how to leverage credit card points, hotel and airline loyalty programs, in Australia and American, to travel in comfort and almost for free!
And I have probably spent one too many hours finding “worth it” flight or hotel award redemptions in my own life.
My first points flight redemption that made it feel real
Upgrading our Qantas Airways economy seat to business when we flew from Perth to Singapore for my birthday holiday 6 years ago.
We put in a request to be upgraded to business using Qantas points and were stoked to get the notification of the upgrade just a few days before our departure!
Using points to upgrade our flight gave value to the points that I’ve careful collected over the years.
It turned points and miles into something real and tangible.
It was not longer a hypothetical that we could fly in comfort and style on points.
For legacy airlines like Qantas, a business class seat also means access to one of their business class lounges before takeoff.
It made waiting around for boarding time a more enjoyable and calm experience—free food, free drinks and a comfortable place to hang until we were ready to board.
Don’t get outsmarted by the banks
The key to getting value from your points and miles is playing the game smart and leveraging the credit card system and loyalty programs to your advantage.
That means:
Keeping a good credit score to be eligible for credit cards with large points signup bonuses (welcome offers).
Paying off your credit cards on time, so you’re not paying interest on your credit card balances (no amount of points earned is worth the exorbitant amount of interest rates charged by credit card companies).
Getting a complimentary suite of credit cards, each with bonus point spend categories that you can maximise the point earnings on, based on your usual spending patterns (e.g. if you dine out a lot then a credit card with a high bonus point multiplier would make the most sense).
These are just a few must know tips to play the game smart.
My goal over the next 6 months is:
To spend our hard earned points on almost free travel with American, but do it slowly and wisely.
Do you play the points and miles games too?
If so, would love to hear about a point redemption you did!