Beating The System: Travel Points Pointers

With Brian Kelly, The Points Guy

Earning

Redeeming

Q & A

For more information go to http://thepointsguy.com

The Agenda

Mile$ vs. Point$

-Airlines

-Hotels

-Credit Cards

The Basics: What Are Points?

Credit Card Gravy Train

-Sign-up bonuses up to 100,000 points

-Category spending bonuses

-Redemption bonuses

Earning: Credit Cards

Understanding your credit score-Payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, types of credit-2-5 point temporary hit per application

Strategy-Start with good credit-Pay off balances or interest rates negate points value-Multiple cards: issuers, business and personal, family and friends-Be cautious before applying for a mortgage!

A Note On Your Credit

Up to 100,000 points per card-My haul last year: eight credit cards, over 650,000 points

Know your spend requirements-Anywhere from first purchase to $10,000 in four months

Targeted offers: the only junk mail I like receiving!

Earning: Sign-Up Bonuses

Never settle for 1 point per dollar spent

Popular category bonuses: airfare, gas, groceries, dining, wireless service, business marketing, individual airline/hotel spend on co-branded cards

Spend threshold bonuses: points, elite status, elite miles, companion tickets

Earning: Spending Bonuses

Not all point credit cards were created equal!

Credit Card Points 101

- Transferable points

- Fixed-value points

- Airline miles & hotel points

Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility! Sharing points with family/friends

Transfer partners = options Don’t forget about partners of partners

Don’t put all of your points in one basket

Earning: Transferable Points

Transfer partners: Delta, Aeroplan, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin America, JetBlue, Aeromexico, El Al, Flying Blue, ANA, Singapore, Frontier, Hilton, Starwood, Best Western, Choice Hotels, Priority Club, etc.

- Transfer bonuses

Transfer partners: United, British Airways, Korean Air, Southwest, Marriott, Hyatt, Priority Club, Amtrak.

Earning: Transferable Points Programs

Easiest to understand Least valuable: generally 1 point = 1 cent Examples: Capital One No Hassle Rewards Best for:

-Families with non-flexible travel schedules-Domestic flights-Earning elite status

NOT for: International premium class travelers

Earning: Fixed-Value Points

Generally not transferable Exchange flexibility for perks like: priority

check in, free checked bags Examples:

-Delta and Starwood American Express cards-United MileagePlus Explorer card-Hyatt Visa from Chase-Citi American AAdvantage cards

Earning: Airline and Hotel Credit Cards

Chase: Sapphire Preferred-Key benefits: 2x points on dining and travel, 50,000-point sign-up bonus, no foreign transaction fees

American Express: Premier Rewards Gold Card-Key benefits: 3x airfare, 2x gas and groceries, 25,000-point sign-up bonus, 15,000-points bonus at $30,000 spend

Capital One: Venture Card-2 points per dollar on everything, no foreign transaction fees, probably best fixed-value points card out there. Wait for 100,000 sign-up bonus

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express-Best co-branded, 25,000-point sign-up bonus, multiple transfer partners, elite status with $30,000 spend

Best Cards on the Market

Flying

Shopping

Dining

Promotions and Bonuses

Other Ways To Earn

Still a great way to earn, generally 1 mile per mile flown

Class of service bonuses

Elite Bonuses: can help accrue miles over twice as quickly. Map out your travel for the year.

Earning: Flying

Never go directly to a retailer’s web site

Almost every airline and credit card points program has an online shopping portal.

-Example: Skysmilesshopping.com for Delta

Spend bonuses

EVReward.com: Great for checking bonus offers at specific retailers

Earning: Shopping

Airlines and hotels have affiliated Dining Networks: another way to diversify and “double dip”

Link every card you have to one

Earn 3x points as a regular member, 5x as a VIP

Great way to keep miles active

Earning: Dining

Social Media-As simple as “liking” an airline or hotel property on Facebook-Tweeting an airline or hotel-Ex. I got 3000 SPG points for liking the Sheraton Madison on Facebook. I value that at $90.

Pay attention to blogs for promos-Have a goal in mind, pay attention to your specific programs, and have fun—especially when you’re not spending money!

Earning: Promotions and Giveaways

Generally never

Exceptions:-Promotions such as US Airways miles sales at 1.45 cents apiece-To top up for a specific award-Transfer promos

Earning: When Does It Make Sense To Buy Miles?

Your strategy is specific to YOU and your needs

Flexibility is the most important thing

Diversify: don’t put all your points and miles in one basket

Earning Points Takeaway

The usual frustrating scenario: you have the points but can’t use them for what you want.

Airlines have terrible technology for searching, especially partners and alliances

Redeeming 101

Saver Awards-Lowest redemption levels-Available to partner airlines

Standard/ Peak Awards-Can only be booked in one’s own frequent flyer program-Higher points requirements-Sometimes only available to elite flyers

Redeeming: Types of Airline Awards

Star Alliance: United, US Airways, Air Canada, etc.-United.com pulls up two columns: Saver and Standard

SkyTeam: Delta, Air France/KLM, Korean Air, etc.-Delta.com is broken-AirFrance.us: Sign up for Flying Blue

Oneworld: American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, etc.

-AA.com only shows you American and Alaska, adding Qantas and BA this spring-Qantas.com pulls in most partner awards

Redeeming: Finding Award Availability

ExpertFlyer.com: Paid service for finding both award seat and upgrade availability on many airlines.

Call your airline: After you research, call in with exact flights, routes and dates. Be nice.

Keep track of your miles using AwardWallet.

Tip: Have a goal in mind. This makes the work worth it. Once you master searching for awards, you’ll get places you never thought possible.

Redeeming: Other Tools

Don’t forget about hotels!

Often more valuable than airline miles

Lots of places to save money like Europe

Choose your programs with your goals and needs in mind

Redeeming: Hotel Points

One of the strongest programs

Most valuable points, for me ~3 cents each

Fifth night free, automatic 20% savings

Cash & Points option

Great airline transfer partners and ratios: 20,000 SPG points 25,000 airline miles

Great associated credit card: SPG Amex

Redeeming: Starwood Preferred Guest

Maximum hotel free night redemption: 22,000 points

Lucrative promotions

Associated credit card: Chase Hyatt Visa-One of best sign-up bonuses on the market-2 free nights at any Hyatt-$75 annual fee

Redeeming: Hyatt Gold Passport

Priority Club IHG: -Point Breaks: rotating list of hotels requiring only 5,000 points for free nights

Marriott Rewards: Pointsavers

Hilton HHonors: -Pointsretchers-Points & Money

Always do the math: Sometimes it makes more sense to pay for a room than to use points

Redeeming: Reduced Price Awards

Hertz: Free rental days

National: Choice of cars

Avis: Airline bonuses

Enterprise: Just launched new points program

Redeeming: Cars

Put together the points strategy that works for you-Research programs that will get you where you want to go-Clarify your goals: coach/first class, international/domestic

Diversify your points

Share your experiences-Forums like FlyerTalk and Milepoint-I learn from my readers’ comments

Pay attention to the news and promos and visit ThePointsGuy.com

The Takeaways