getting started with miles and points-frequent traveler university dc 2014

Getting Started With

Miles and Points

Summer Hull – Mommy Points

Ed Pizzarello – Pizza in Motion

Who Are We?

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Summer Hullwww.mommypoints.comTwitter: @mommy_pointsEmail: mommypoints@mommypoints.comFacebook: facebook.com/MommyPoints

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Ed Pizzarellowww.pizzainmotion.comTwitter: @pizzainmotionEmail: ed@milepoint.com

PizzaInMotion.com

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What We’re Going to Talk About

•Why Collect Miles and Points• Things to Think about Up-front•How to Earn•How to Burn•Questions

Connect With Relatives

Show Your Kids the World

Connect With Each Other

Spread Out

Arrive Rested

Arrive Rested

Eat Awesome Food

Stay Places We Could Never Afford

Just Have Fun

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Things to Think About Upfront

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What Are Your Goals?

• Domestic tickets for multiple people• International first class for one• Business Class for two• Top end hotels around the world• Family resorts• Flexibility to book any date• Tickets to Europe during off-peak times

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Your goals should dictate your actions. It’s much easier to know where to start

when you can see the end game.

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Reach your first miles and points goal and then set a new one. The goal is to

use them, not to collect them!

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• Start small• Don’t worry about what others

are doing• Do what is right for you• Don’t sweat the small stuff• Stay focused on your goals• Get organized

Tips for Getting Started

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Award Wallet

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• Set due dates on the same day• Pay bills online• Use a spread sheet• Use service like mint.com if

you need extra help• Only use certain cards in a

given month

Tips for Staying Organized

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Miles and points collecting can take as much or as little

time as you want.

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Reading blogs can save you time.

www.viewfromthewing.comwww.thepointsguy.comwww.millionmilesecrets.comwww.boardingarea.com

Many, many more.

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Be aware that “free” isn’t always free…but sometimes

it can be close.

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Burning well is harder than earning, so pay attention to

both.

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Earning Miles and Points

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• Credit cards• Debit cards• Online shopping• Traveling• Promotions• Dining Programs• Investments• Asking/complaining

Ways to Earn Miles and Points

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Credit cards are the fastest and easiest way to earn miles

and points.

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I have earned close to half a million points in

one year.

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Remember Your Goals

1. Flexible and transferrable points cards

2. Hotel and airline specific cards3. Fixed value points4. Cash back cards

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Transferrable Points

• Ink Plus – 50k• Chase Sapphire

Preferred – 40k

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Transferrable Points

• Premier Rewards Gold– 25k• EveryDay Preferred – 15k• Mercedes Benz Plat – 50k

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Airline and Hotel Cards

• United MileagePlus Explorer Card• US Airways MasterCard**• Hilton HHonors Reserve Card• Club Carlson Visa - BOGO

Less flexibility, but often give “elite like” perks.

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Barclay ArrivalCard, Capital One Venture Card & US Banks FlexPerks

• Bad for premium cabins• Good for inexpensive domestic travel. • Good for those without flexibility• Good to leverage for sales

Fixed Value Points

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Category Bonuses• Ink Bold/Ink Plus 5x: Office Supply stores,

cell phone, home phone, internet, cable

• Chase Freedom 5x: rotating quarterly

categories with $1,500 cap (no annual fee)• Citi ThankYou: 3x on dining and

entertainment, 2x on airfare and hotel charges• Amex EveryDay Preferred: 3x grocery (6k

cap), 2x gas, 50% bonus for 30 uses

• US Bank FlexPerks: 3x charitable donations

(Kiva), 2x on grocery or other

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Chase Trifecta

Chase Checkingfor extra 10%

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• Never miss a payment.• Don’t spend more just to get the

bonus or more points.• Be a good customer.• Annual fees can add up, so do the

math.• Credit score may go down in the

short run.

Dangers of Rewards Cards

What Goes Into Credit Score

Inquiries and age of account can hurt, but total debt to credit ratio can be helped.

My Credit Score Estimates

• Citi Identity Monitor

• Credit Karma• Credit Sesame

Online Shopping

Occasional Bonus Promos

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• Buy a gift card to earn bonus points

• United MileagePlus X App• Then use that gift card via the

portal to make your purchase• Check Frequent Miler’s lab for

current success stories

Double Dipping in Portals

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• Compare manually for large purchases for accuracy

• www.evreward.com• Pick2Pay

Compare Shopping Portal Rates

Dining Rewards Network

• 3x – 5x miles per dollar + sign-up and other occasional bonuses

• Currently 2,000 mile United promo but has been 3,000

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• Contests, giveaways, sign-up bonuses, free point bonuses

• Occasionally very lucrative promos come along – hit them big if you can

• Worth doing for one, worth doing for the whole family

• Small Business Saturday

Look Our For Promotions

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• Investments• Mortgages• LASIK• Partners (car rental, flower

orders, electricity, wine clubs, etc)• Daily Getaways (cheap purchase)• BarclayCard Travel Community• Buying them

Other ways of earning miles

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• Always earn miles on trips• Credit to a partner if needed• Look out for promos and register• Mileage running can be

lucrative…but only for a few Mainly done for elite status

Earn Miles From Actual Travel

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Burning Miles and Points

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Learning to use miles and points to their max is the hard part, but don’t let “analysis paralysis” stop you from

starting the process.

Burning Miles and Points

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If you started earning with your end goal in mind, then burning is easy.

Easy When You Look at Goals

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• Look back at your goals• Look at your value per point, but

don’t get stuck there• Hotel points usually easier than

miles (no blackout)• Consider stopovers, open-jaws,

and free one-ways

Things to Consider with Burn

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Different award charts have different costs and countries located

in different zones.

Award Charts

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US Airways – Australia biz 110k US Airways – North Asia F 120kAeroplan US – Europe 1 90k bizANA East Coast – Europe 68k bizBA BOS-DUB – 50k RT in biz

Learn the sweet spots for your desired destination.

Award Charts Zone Example

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• Start looking at 11 months out, but don’t stop there

• Last minute can be great• Expert flyer alerts• Remember to check partners• Look segment by segment• Not all options online for all

airlines

Availability Issues

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Questions?