Beating The System: Travel Points Pointers With Brian Kelly, The Points Guy.
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Transcript of Beating The System: Travel Points Pointers With Brian Kelly, The Points Guy.
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Beating The System: Travel Points Pointers
With Brian Kelly, The Points Guy
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Earning
Redeeming
Q & A
For more information go to http://thepointsguy.com
The Agenda
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Mile$ vs. Point$
-Airlines
-Hotels
-Credit Cards
The Basics: What Are Points?
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Credit Card Gravy Train
-Sign-up bonuses up to 100,000 points
-Category spending bonuses
-Redemption bonuses
Earning: Credit Cards
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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
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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
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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
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Not all point credit cards were created equal!
Credit Card Points 101
- Transferable points
- Fixed-value points
- Airline miles & hotel points
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Flying
Shopping
Dining
Promotions and Bonuses
Other Ways To Earn
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Hertz: Free rental days
National: Choice of cars
Avis: Airline bonuses
Enterprise: Just launched new points program
Redeeming: Cars
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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