In the midst of winter’s coldest of cold snaps, the urge to embark on worldly travels is at an all-time high… according to us and all our friends.
In this economy though? Maybe not so much. Not that the phrase “this economy” holds much meaning as people always seem to be stressed about the economy and considering that much of capitalism has become about wealth extraction, high levels of consumer confidence might never come back. Meaning we all just have to make our way as best we can.
Earlier this week, fellow Uproxx writer Jessica Toomer explained “Loud Budgeting,” a TikTok personal finance trend that’s perfect for this cultural moment — “as we recover from the financial shellshock of sky-high inflation rates, insurance premiums, housing costs, and avocado prices.” The idea is to encourage people to reject the pressures of consumerism and develop healthy, outspoken boundaries around money and budgeting.
And what — if approached correctly — goes hand-in-hand with budgeting and making your dollars stretch as far as possible? Strategic credit card spending. From combining points cards with cashback cards, adding authorized users, using shopping portals, and more, we tapped travel experts to reveal their best credit card and airline point strategies for the year ahead so you can maximize those dollars in your wallet and freely act on your wanderlust.
Kyle + Kenz Parks (@adventure_parks): Combine A Points Card With A Cashback Card
Combining a points card and a cashback card can help you rack up the points. Several banks allow you to combine “cashback points” with points from a travel card in the same household. For example, if you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you can move “cashback points” from the no-annual-fee Chase Freedom Unlimited to the Preferred to redeem for travel.
This even works with business cards like the Ink Cash! Other combinations that unlock this perk include Capital One Venture/Capital One Savor and Citi Premier/Citi Double Cash.
Adam Hill (@adamhillyeah): Get Airline Status & Use Shopping Portals
Let’s first get back to the basics here when talking about strategy. For anyone starting out in this hobby or if you are just trying to get a card that earns points you can use for travel, you are going to want to start smaller and then begin to graduate to more cards, some with higher annual fees. Don’t be intimidated by large annual fees as you can offset the cost with the perks of the cards.
Most people will tell you to “always go after Chase cards first” as you cannot have opened five lines of credit in less than 24 months, thereby maxing out on Chase card sign-up bonuses first. While this isn’t a bad strategy for a beginner, I suggest finding a card that DOES have a decent sign-up and one that you can begin learning the ins and outs of using it and the platform that supports it. Citi Premier continues to fly under the radar but has multiple spend categories it earns 3x back on and you can further pair it with the Citi Double Cash card.
BILT Rewards is a newer card that you can pay rent with and is in my opinion the best no-annual-fee card out there.
My own strategy for this upcoming year, I am currently waiting to go after some Chase business cards as they have some extremely lucrative spending bonuses and at the moment a high sign-up bonus. I’m also going to be going for airline status by using shopping portals as well as hotel stays on upcoming travel I have planned. My goal is to comfortably hit over 800,000 points accrued this year. I might even go for one million to be honest.
I went from just having a no-annual-fee Chase Freedom card in 2010 and earning a fraction of the amount I earn today, all because I did some reading and Google searching back in 2015 after redeeming all of my hard-earned points for a horrible price. The point is, you need to start somewhere and mistakes will happen, but you can always learn and earn more points.
Allison Tackette (@luckytictac): Use Welcome Offers & Maximize Your Spend
Welcome offers are the fastest way to boost your points balances. But when you aren’t working on one, make sure you are maximizing your spend. Use the card that gives you the biggest return on that purchase.
You should be earning more than 1.5 points per dollar spent on all purchases. Ideally 2X.
Angel Trinh (@pennywisetraveler): Use A Credit Card With Flexible Spending Points & Use Different Ones Depending On Purchase
If you are new to travel hacking, start with a credit card that would get you flexible points. For example, with a Chase Sapphire Preferred Card you have an option to transfer out your points to Hyatt Hotels and United Airlines, you are not tied to a hotel or airline credit card, so you are not stuck with points only with hotels or certain airlines.
Use a credit card that has a spending category for that specific purchase. For example, I use my American Express Gold card to get 4x points at U.S. supermarkets and 4x points at dining. I would not use my Amex Platinum card because I would only get 1x at supermarkets and 1x at dining.
Spencer Howard (@straighttothepoints): Focus On Earning Transferrable Points
Sign up for business and first class flight alerts here.
Focus on earning transferable points such as Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and/or Citi ThankYou Points. Each of these programs can transfer points to a bunch of airline and hotel partners, giving you many options.
While it can be tempting to get your hometown airline’s credit card, you’ll be locked into using their program to book which leaves you with little flexibility.
Thomas Lonergan (@travelliketommy): Earn Transferrable Points, Build Up Your Credit With Foundational Card, Add Authorized Users & More
There are A LOT of strategies to start implementing if you’re new at credit card and point hacking.
- Focus on earning TRANSFERABLE POINTS. This means no cash-back cards, no airline cards, no hotel cards!
- Build your foundational card line up first! Meaning you use this all the time to build up credit and one that has a decent points earning on all purchases.
- Spend smarter, travel better- use your cards strategically to maximize your points earning! You shouldn’t be using the same card to buy dinner as you could for booking travel.
- Apply for cards with a purpose & strategy! With every purchase, think about how you’re going to use the points and want you want to do.
- Keep your credit in tip-top shape! – pay your bills on time and in full! Never incur interest.
- Don’t forget about player 2! Adding someone as an authorized user on your credit cards is a power move.
- Do not redeem your points for statement credits, cash back, gift cards! Ever!!!
- Transfer your points out to partners to maximize their value.
Vivian Tu (@your.richbff): Don’t Be A Points Hoarder & Use Them When You Can
Order “RICH AF: The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life” here.
I used to have a horrible habit of being a points hoarder. I used to wait until I had hundreds of thousands of credit card points and then I would burn all of them at once to take a big trip. This is actually a bad strategy for several reasons. The thing to know about reward travel is that it’s going to be advantageous to take at different times of the year for different trips. It’s not going to be the best use of your points to try to burn them all on honeymoon because you never know if you’ve secured that holiday flight home for a better exchange rate. You need to look at reward travel more continuously instead of trying to save up for very big moments and burn them up all at once.
On top of that, you’ve probably noticed that a lot of airlines, hotels, and even credit cards are devaluing those rewards and programs. It does feel more often than not that it’s a “lose it or use it” mentality. You could have 100,000 points to use today and in a couple of months or years from now they could be worth less. It doesn’t make sense to be saving points forever; use them when you can. It’s a great way to keep more dollars in your pocket and by doing so, you’re able to put those dollars saved to use in a high-yield savings account or invest in your future.
Angelo Minella (@paidwithpoints): Transfer Points To Airline Points During Bonus Periods
Transferring points to airline miles is almost always a good idea. Transferring points to airlines that are on a bonus is an even better idea. Be sure to take advantage of airline promos to maximize your points even further!
Jess Bohorquez (@pointsbyj): Use Free Search Aggregator Tools For Point Redemptions
If you’re redeeming credit card points, don’t search every individual airline or hotel! Instead, use free search aggregator tools that work like Google Flights, but for points redemptions. A few of my favorite options:
Flight Search
PointsYeah.com
Roame.travel
Hotel Search
StayWithPoints.com
MaxMyPoint.com
The more flexibility you have with your travel, the greater your chances of finding an amazing deal. Aim to be as flexible as you can with: dates, destination, and duration.
Victor Cheng (@travelhackvic): Make The Most Out Of Every Single Credit Card Point
The strategy I use is to make the most out of every single credit card point. There are different types of transferable points and I tend to use them differently. I almost always save Chase points for Hyatt hotels since you tend to get the most out of your points by doing so. I will use my Amex points mainly on different airlines since it has a wide variety of partners. I will use my Capital One and Citi one on airlines like Turkish first since Turkish is only a partner with Capital One and Citi. Knowing your credit card points transfer partners and being strategic about your points can stretch your points a long way. And remember to always compare the miles it costs for different booking partners so you don’t overpay on any flight. Happy booking.
