Ultimate Guide: Getting Started in Points and Miles
My exact 6-step guide and a premium points and miles travel toolkit containing 100+ tools & resources I wish I had when I first started.
Earning points and miles isn’t just for frequent flyers—it’s for anyone who knows how to play the game.
For the last 2 years, my husband and I earned and 1.5 million points & miles to redeem 44 flights and 4 hotel stays while living abroad in the US.
This covered the costs of flights and hotels that would have otherwise costed us $81,974!
Points and miles has helped us travel more, taken us to places we wouldn’t have dreamed of and stretched out travel budget further than we imagined—while living on a single income as a couple.
But my travel points and miles journey didn’t start there.
Mine started at 22 when I got my first points-earning credit card when I started my first professional job as an intern pharmacist in Australia.
Then in 2019, I made my first redemption—Flying in business on the Qantas Airbus A330 from Perth to Singapore on Qantas Airbus A330.
It was the most comfortable 5+ hour flight I’ve taken!
It was a lie-flat seat that’s typically used for long haul international flights. The cabin service was classic down-to-earth Australian style warmth. The food was a three-course meal in the sky expect of a premium airline like Qantas.
Points and miles can feel scary, confusing or unbelievable without a roadmap.
But I’m here to tell you it’s none of those things!
If you’re new to points and miles, or don’t know where to start, this ultimate guide is for you.
I talk through how I got started and how I continue to play and win at the game of points and miles (without spending hundreds of hours each week).
As a bonus for my premium subscribers, this ultimate guide also includes a Points and Miles Travel Toolkit containing 100+ resource and tools that I wish I had when I first got started.
(If you’re not a premium member yet, click here to subscribe or upgrade)
What are Points & Miles?
It’s an incredible way to lower your travel costs even further.
It’s something I’ve been doing for years to help me travel more often, travel for cheap and experience premium flights and hotels—without breaking the bank or destroying our two-person travel budget.
If you haven’t considered how points and miles can supplement your travels, you’re leaving money on the table and might even be stopping yourself from taking that dream trip.
Points and miles are given out by credit card companies, hotels and airlines.
These points or miles can then be redeemed for flights, hotels and upgrades. It can also be redeemed for merchandise and gift cards, but often they’re very poor value redemptions compared to flights, hotels and upgrades.
There’s an overwhelming amount of information out.
And a lot of credit cards and loyalty programs to pick from, especially in the US, making things even more daunting than it needs to be.
These questions might be floating through your mind:
Which card do you get?
How do I optimise my point earnings?
What’s the best redemption I can make with the points I have?
All great questions! But if you understand:
The basics of the points & miles system.
Get the right credit cards that fit in with your lifestyle.
Apply strategies that optimises your travel award redemptions.
Build simple daily habits that naturally maximises the points return per dollar you spend.
Then you’re ahead of 98% of people who use credit cards and be well on your way to being a points & miles pro—without spending hundreds of hours on the game.
6 Simple Steps to Get Started in Points and Miles Today
Step 1: Understand the US credit system
The best way to earn points and miles is to sign up for credit cards to earn the new member welcome bonus.
Then use these credit cards for your daily expenses to earn even more points by spending strategically on the right cards.
Every country has their own rules and regulations on how financial institutions will use your credit score and credit history to determine if you’re eligible for their financial products (e.g. credit cards, car loans, mortgages, personal loans etc).
In a country like Australia, credit cards are typically approved based on your salary or income.
You don’t usual need a credit score to start with to be eligible for a credit card, as long as you don’t have a low credit score or a poor credit history.
In the US, it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation where to get a credit card you need to have a decent credit score and credit history.
As an expat in the US or anyone living in the US who has yet to ever obtain credit, you can’t get a credit card to build your credit history and credit score!
Once you get your first credit card, then the points and miles games becomes so much easier.
Here are a few ways you can build your credit score and credit history, so you can get your first credit card:
If you’re an expat moving to the US and held an American Express credit card in your home country, American Express can use your credit history from your home country to determine if you’re eligible for an American Express card in the US—This is what we did when we first moved to the US and easily got the AMEX Platinum Credit Card which earned us 5x points on all our flight bookings.
You may have US family or friends who are willing to add you on as an Authorised User of their credit card. Their on-time payment contributes to building your credit history and credit score. If you’re a US local, this is by far the easiest way to build your credit from an early age.
Get a secured credit card. The money you put on the credit card becomes your credit card limit. Once you start making monthly on time payments, you’ll see your credit score improve gradually.
If you’ve moved to the US for work, your employer may have partnerships with financial institutions to help expats get access to credit.
Your credit score and credit history can take a few months to build before you can access more lucrative credit card deals where banks are looking for customers with a “good” credit score.
To build your positive credit score, make sure you do these simple things:
Pay your monthly credit card statement balance in full by the due date. Paying interest on your credit card destroys any value you might gain out of the points and miles you’ve accumulated.
Keep your credit utilisation as low as possible. Aim to spend 30% or less of your credit card limit. But even better would be 10% or less. You can do that by paying off some of your credit card balance before the end of the calendar month as credit cards typically report your balances to the credit agencies at the start of the new month.
Keep your oldest credit card open, even if you no longer use it. The length of your credit history has a big impact on your credit score.
Make it a habit to check your credit report monthly or quarterly. The last thing you want is incorrect reports to your credit file or someone else fraudulently using your details to obtain credit without you knowing! Destroying your credit history.
Step 2: Set your travel goal(s)
Next, you want to figure out what you want to achieve with your points and miles.
Is it luxury travel?
Travelling more but on a budget?
Taking your family of four on an annual getaway to an international destination?
Some points and miles enthusiast are die-hard luxury travellers only.
I have a different approach—I believe points and miles are there to help you travel more, get you places and help you experience more with people you actually want to spend time with.
My redemptions are a mix of aspirational award redemptions like my Qantas first class flight from Los Angeles to Sydney through to budget redemptions like flying my parents and I from Houston to Memphis in United Airline economy for a 5-day trip during their visit to the US.
They’re big music fans so treating them to a trip to music city was a great way to spend more time with them and experience new things together.
There’s no right or wrong answer.
Once you know your goals, you can pick the right credit cards to get you closer to your personal travel goals.
The US in particular has so many amazing credit cards to choose from to help you win the points and miles games—as long as you’re strategic with getting the right credit cards and then spending your points and miles wisely.
For example, we love to travel internationally and want the full flexibility of transferring credit card points to any hotel or airline loyalty program.
That means the Chase and AMEX ecosystems of credit cards make the most sense for us because the transfer partners of these credit cards are the airlines and hotels we would likely use when we travel.
But if you are more interested in only flying with a particular airline (because your homebase city is a United, American Airline or Delta airline hub) or you like staying at specific hotel chains, then an airline or hotel chain specific credit card makes more sense for you.
The downside of these loyalty-program specific credit cards is that you have no flexibility to move points to a different program.
(If this sound confusing or you have questions, feel free to send me a direct message—always happy to chat!👇)
Step 3: Get a credit card—how I choose my credit cards
The best bang-for-buck way to use your points is to redeem them for award flights, hotel stays or upgrades.
Personally, we’re only interested in using points and miles to redeem for flights so that we can fly in comfort—especially during long haul flights so we can hit the ground running when we arrive at our destination—or save money on economy class flights where the cash prices are on the high side.
If we’ve accumulated points in hotel loyalty programs, then we would also redeem our hotel points for the occasional good value hotel stay.
For example, between the welcome bonus I got from getting this hotel credit card and paying for a couple of stays at IHG hotels using this credit card, we easily racked up hundreds of thousands of IHG One Reward program points.
And I used 140,000 IHG points for a 3-night stay in a boutique Kimpton Hotel in Los Angeles, saving us $1109 in hotel costs!
This $99 annual fee card is one of the best value hotel cards on the market.
It even includes a free night certificate each year you hold the card that well and truly makes up for the annual fee. And you get automatic Platinum IHG member status (the second highest level).
We also knew when we moved to the US, we would be prioritising exploring and flying to different parts of the Americas and Europe to make the most of our time abroad.
Because of this, the AMEX Platinum Credit Card was the first travel credit card we got—despite the premium annual fee of $695 at the time of application.
We knew we would get a heap of value out of the card by:
Earning 5x on all our flight bookings and 5x on hotels booked via AMEX Travel Portal.
Accessing AMEX Centurion Lounges and a network of Priority Pass lounges before flights for free food and drink (saving us a lot of money by not having to eat expensive airport food!).
Capitalising on all the monthly rebates (e.g. Uber credit, entertainment credit) and benefits like Walmart+ for free delivery.
The next card that went hand in hand with the AMEX Platinum Credit Card was the AMEX Gold Credit Card.
I think of my daily expenses as the fuel for earning more points and miles to use for travel.
The AMEX Gold Credit Card is a powerhouse because you can earn 4x points on restaurant and dining out worldwide, along with 4x points on US groceries. You cna also use this card for all your dining expenses overseas when you travel since you still get 4x points per dollar spent and it’s a foreign exchange fee-free card.
The monthly dining credit and Uber credits also partially makes up for the annual fee.
These category spending bonuses can also make a big difference to how many points you’ll actually accumulate over a year.
For example, let’s say you’re considering the AMEX Gold Credit Card. You typically spend $100 on groceries each week. That works out to be $5200 a year. Multiply that by 4, you’ll earn 20,800 AMEX points a year!
You can easily redeem a domestic airline ticket with those points.
Wondering how I keep track of 21 credit cards from two countries, between my husband and I?
This is the exact system I use to help me stay organised, track my points and redemptions and make sure I’ve getting the best value out of my points and making sure I use the credits and benefits that come with every credit card we keep in our wallet.
Want this exact setup for yourself?
Join the waitlist and get an early bird discount for this system.
Don’t shy away from credit cards with an annual fee.
Look at the benefits, perks and credits offered as part of the card. If you can gain value from them, the annual fee might just be worth it.
There is no “perfect” credit card, only cards that’s right for your personal situation.
But try to find credit cards with no foreign transaction fees so you can use it abroad without extra charges.
Step 4: Earn the welcome bonus
The best and fastest way to build up a large points and miles balance is to sign up for reward credit cards that are offering large welcome bonus offers.
Credit card companies use welcome bonus offers to attract new customers.
For example, right now this popular bank is offering a welcome bonus of $900 (or 90,000 points) when you spend $6000 over 3 months when you sign up for one of these two amazing $0 annual fee cards. (Hint: it’s a business credit card but chances are you’re eligible for one)
Imagine this.
With 90,000 points you can fly solo to Spain from US in round trip business class on Iberia!
When I’m looking to get my next credit card, one of my go-to place to see the latest best card offers is using Frequent Miler’s Best Offers Card Exploration Tool.
Recently, I applied for two credit cards with a decent welcome bonus since I knew I’ve got a few big life expenses coming up. One of which is the IHG One Premier Business card to replenish my IHG hotel points.
Think of your daily expenses as your biggest untapped source of points and miles to travel the world for cheap.
Don’t buy things just to hit the spending requirement.
Instead, sign up for a new credit card when you already have some big purchases coming up and put your regular life spending on the card.
Here are a few ideas on how you can meet your credit card minimum spend to earn your welcome bonus:
Auto insurance.
Health insurance.
Home maintenance.
Home and content insurance.
Bulk buy household necessities.
Prepay upcoming travel expenses (e.g. hotels, tours).
Pay for group meals and have everyone pay you back.
Prepay bills (e.g. utilities, rent) or pay the annual instead of monthly rate.
Ask family and friends if they have big purchases coming up that you can put on your card to get points.
Step 5: Maximize your category spending
It’s not about spending more.
It’s about getting the right cards that fit in with your lifestyle and spending patterns.
Most reward credit cards offer category bonuses whereby instead of getting 1 point for every dollar you spend on the card, you might get 3x, 4x or 5x points when you spend in specific categories.
For example, if you’re big on dining out, then the AMEX Gold Credit card is a no-brainer with its 4x category bonus on restaurants and dining out anywhere in the world.
And when your annual fee due the next year, don’t forget to ask for a retention offer to get even more points.
You Should Never Pay Your Credit Card Annual Fee Without Doing This First
Last week, I called American Express and walked away with an offer to earn 25,000 points.
Another example, if you’re big on travel (that’s why you’re here right!?) then the Chase Ink Business Preferred is a tremendously rewarding card where you can get 3x on all travel expenses—that includes flights, hotels, transport, tolls, subways, Ubers etc.—all for just $95 a year.
🚨 Maximising your points means strategically getting the right cards that aligns with the spending you already do in your life!
Putting all your expenses on one card rarely gives you the optimum result.
So don’t be afraid to get more than one credit card once you become comfortable with using and spending on credit cards (without going into credit card debt).
Maximising category spending will significantly accelerate your points and miles earnings and balances.
Step 6: Redeem your points and miles
Here’s the fun part.
Now that you’ve hit your minimum spend to earn your welcome bonus and you’ve been strategically spending on the right credit cards to maximise your point earnings, don’t just let your points sit there collecting dust.
I mentioned this before…
The best value way to use points and miles is redeem them for flights or hotels.
I’ve easily gotten 2 to 8 cents per point when I’ve redeemed my points for flights. That’s way more valuable than buying merchandise or gift cards with your hard-earned points.
But don’t just focus on high cents per point or luxury redemptions either if that’s not your jam.
Points and miles is simply a great way to help you travel more often and travel more cheaply.
Calculating the points value of your redemption is simple:
Price of the flight/hotel minus any taxes and fees not covered by points.
Divide this dollar value by the points you used to make the redemption
You should get a $/point value at the end of this calculation.
But you can also use my Award Redemption tool built right inside Points Hub to track your redemptions or use calculators like this to do the heavy lifting for you.
Like I mentioned before, we all have different travel goals.
Don’t just focus on “points value”.
It’s totally ok to redeem your points for an economy class flight instead of a business class seat as economy award redemptions take up fewer points—which mean you can travel more often!
Maybe there’s a special event you don’t want to miss like a family birthday or a friend’s wedding.
Points can help you take that trip that you might not otherwise take as you didn’t have the travel budget for it.
✅ Pro Tip: Flexible credit card points programs like Chase and AMEX often offer transfer bonuses to their travel partners. If you take advantage of these special promos, you can easily get 20 to 40% more out of the points you transfer to an airline or hotel program.
Credit card companies, airlines and hotels also often devalue their points over time.
Whether it’s because of inflation, the rise in business costs or they simply want to make more money out of their customers.
That means the points you need to book an award flight or hotel often goes up not down—so don’t hoard your points for some imaginary future.
Use your points today to take that trip!
💡Remember: Points have no financial value until you actually spend them! That’s the whole point—turning those points into your travel dreams.
One last thought before you go…
Learning points and miles doesn’t have to be complicated—you just need the right system to start.
Points and miles has helped me save money, travel more often and even travel in style.
I hope this ultimate guide is the jump-start you need to achieve your travel dreams faster and cheaper using points and miles.
To help you get there faster, get instant access to Points & Miles Travel Toolkit containing 100+ tools and resources that I wish I had when I first started out in the points and miles game.
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These are the exact resources that have helped me save $81,974 in 2 years.