FAQ: ANSWERS TO THE MOST FREQUENT QUESTIONS ABOUT CREDIT CARDS AND TRAVELING WITH MILES AND POINTS
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Every week on my Instagram I do an “Ask Me Anything” and these are the most frequently asked questions that I get about credit cards, points and travel. Hope you find them helpful!
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
The key to points travel is the sign up bonus. We are strategically signing up for credit cards that earn lucrative sign up bonuses for a small amount of spend. Most reward cards require that you make a certain amount of purchases on your card within a set time limit in order to receive your sign up bonus. Typically $3k-$4k in a three month period. This is money that we are spending anyways on monthly bills and expenses. The first thing you should do before applying for your first card is calculate your monthly expenses to determine what kind of minimum spend you can earn within your budget.
DO I NEED TO SPEND $60,000 TO EARN 60K POINTS?
Points travel is all about the sign up bonus. Most sign up bonuses require a minimum spend from $3k-$4k in three months. Just by replacing your debit card for all regular spending, you can earn 60k-175k points. This is why we are always applying for a new card. If we just apply for one card and use it for a year. We are only earning 1x-3x points per dollar on every purchase. It’s much faster and easier to earn a sign up bonus.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO EARN ENOUGH POINTS TO TRAVEL?
Most sign up bonuses earn enough points for one to two roundtrip flights and 3-4 free hotel nights. If you and your partner each get the same cards you’ll earn enough points for two people to travel for almost free. It’s entirely possible for one person to earn the sign up bonus on two cards and have enough points to fly free and stay 3-4 nights free.
DO ALL CARDS EARN THE SAME POINTS?
Not all points are created equal. Let’s take a look at the different kinds of points you can earn and why diversification is so important.
Flexible/Transferable Points - These are points that can be transferred to multiple airline and hotel transfer partners or used to book travel in the bank's travel portal. These points are the most valuable to earn and should make up the bulk of your points. For a complete guide to travel transfer partners, click here. Flexible (or transferable) points programs include:
Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points
Citi ThankYou®Points
American Express Membership Rewards® Points
Capital One Venture Rewards Miles
Fixed Value Points - These are points that allow you to redeem travel for a fixed value, typically one to two cents per point. While these are typically not the best value you’ll get with your points, they do help to offset the cost of travel not otherwise covered with other traditional points. Some examples of redemptions for fixed value points include:
Booking non-chain hotels in the travel portal
Redeeming points for car rentals, flights and train travel
Redeeming points for Disney and Universal Studios tickets
Again, in most cases, you will receive the lowest value from your points when redeemed for a fixed-value. A $300 flight will cost you 30,000 points.
Airline Miles and Hotel Points - These are points earned from an airline or hotel co-branded credit card. These points can only be redeemed in the specific airline or hotel website and cannot be transferred to other airlines or hotels.
WHAT IS THE FIRST CARD I SHOULD GET?
I will almost always recommend you start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. This card earns some of the most valuable points in the points travel world. Because of the 5/24 Rule, you want the first few cards you get to come from Chase bank.
An exception to this rule would be if another card has a limited, increased sign up bonus that you shouldn’t miss out on.
WHAT ABOUT THE ANNUAL FEES?
Annual fees are a big roadblock for many people. They just don’t want to pay an annual fee on multiple cards. For me, it’s a small price to pay for a huge travel reward. Please don’t let an annual fee be the reason you don’t get a travel credit card. There are also great credit cards with no annual fees!
Here are a few examples of cards that I’m happy to pay the annual fee for:
Chase Sapphire Preferred - 60k points with an annual fee of $95. With 60k points I can fly roundtrip to Europe on a flight that would cost $500+. So the $95 AF is absolutely worth it. This card earns 3x points on streaming services, dining and on-line groceries. It has an annual $50 hotel credit for hotels booked in the portal. And it also comes with benefits like no foreign transaction fees, primary car rental insurance, travel interruption/delay insurance and lost baggage insurance. If you travel 1-2 times a year, it’s worth the $95 to keep this card.
Hotel credit cards are worth keeping every year in my opinion. For $95 I get a free night award that I can use to book a room that may cost anywhere from $350-$700 a night. There’s no way I could or would pay that much for a hotel night, but having these free night awards make it possible. Between my husband and I we earn ten free night awards every year.
Capital One Venture X - This card has a $395 annual fee, but it also comes with an annual $300 travel statement credit and 10,000 bonus points every anniversary. It comes with unlimited access for myself and 2 people to the Capital One Lounge and Priority Pass Membership (global airport lounge access). This card earns 2x points on every purchase. No foreign transaction fees, trip delay/cancellation insurance makes it all worth paying the annual fee.
WHAT IS THE BLUE BANK?
The “Blue Bank” is Chase Bank. Because I share affiliate links, I am unable to say their name on Instagram. You may see me refer to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card on Instagram as “the blue bank card” or as ‘CSP’.
WHAT IS 5/24?
When I first got into points travel, there were no application rules. You could get almost any card and earn the bonus repeatedly. But, many people took advantage and were closing their cards immediately after earning the sign up bonus. So the banks got smart and made new rules to eliminate this behavior.
The Chase 5/24 rule is the most important application rule. This post explains everything you need to know. While other banks have their own set of rules, Chase has the most restrictive rule. So that’s why we want to start with credit cards from Chase first.
WILL APPLYING FOR A LOT OF CARDS AFFECT MY CREDIT SCORE?
Your credit score is based on several factors like length of credit history, payment history (making on-time payments), credit utilization (how much of your credit are you using?), etc. Your score will drop a few points with each card application, but as long as you pay off your balance every month and always pay on your time, you will actually see your credit score improve.
I’M RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS ON HOW TO MEET THE MINIMUM SPEND? HELP!
Here is a post I put together with all the different ways we earn a minimum spend. Don’t forget to take advantage of big, one time expenses. We earned the sign up bonus on the Ink Business Cash® Credit Card by paying for my daughter’s braces (which we were reimbursed from our Health Savings Account). Every year I make two payments of $2,200 for our auto insurance. I will always try to get a new card before this payment is due. Remember, don't overspend. If you’re unable to pay your balance off every month, you will be paying a high interest rate and that negates the points you are earning.
I’M A STAY AT HOME PARENT, CAN I APPLY FOR CREDIT CARDS?
Yes! Under income on the application, put down your combined household income and your own social security number.
HOW MANY POINTS DO I NEED TO FLY FOR FREE?
This used to be an easier question to answer when airlines published award charts. Now most airlines have a dynamic award chart based on cash price and season. You can count on most domestic flights with the ‘Big 3’ airlines being around 12.5k points each way. Southwest will price out different from this and airlines have web specials so you can oftentimes find award flights for less.
International flights will run around 30k points each way in economy class, double that for business class. There are sweet spots with partner airlines where you can fly for less when flying a partner in the alliance (i.e., 15k each way on Air France).
IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO ADD MY SPOUSE AS AN AUTHORIZED USER?
Because being an authorized user on someone’s card can count against your 5/24 status, I never recommend that you do this. If you or your spouse are already an authorized user on a card, just call the bank and ask to have them removed. It’s super easy and you will still qualify for the sign up bonus as long as you’re not the primary card holder.
As a note, there are some cards that offer great benefits for authorized users, like having free access to airport lounges like the Capital One Venture X card. I would still recommend that you each get the card to earn the sign up bonus versus adding another if it makes sense for your family.
WE ARE A FAMILY OF FOUR, IS IT POSSIBLE TO EARN ENOUGH POINTS FOR ALL OF US TO TRAVEL FOR ALMOST FREE?
Absolutely! Our first trip taken entirely on points was for our family of six to fly to Europe and stay two weeks free. We did it again two years later. While it takes families a little bit longer to earn enough points, it’s completely doable!
WE ARE NOT BIG SPENDERS, IS IT STILL POSSIBLE TO EARN ENOUGH POINTS TO TRAVEL FOR FREE?
Yes! There are several cards that have a lower minimum spend. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite cards:
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®- this credit card has no minimum spend. To earn the sign up bonus, just make one purchase in any amount and pay the $95 annual fee. This card has a current sign up bonus of 60k AA miles. Plus, if you add an authorized user and they make just one purchase, you’ll earn an additional 15k AA miles for a total sign up bonus of 75,000 miles. That is enough for two round trip domestic flights or a roundtrip flight to Europe. That’s pretty amazing!
Southwest Rapid Rewards® Credit Card - There are three personal Southwest cards with minimum spend as low as $1,000 in three months. That’s just $333 a month which is doable for many families.
IHG® Rewards Premier Credit Card - Earn four 40k free night awards after making $3,000 in new purchases in the first three months. That’s just $1,000 in spend each month.
The information for the Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Credit Card has been collected independently by Points for Family Travel. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
DO YOU KEEP ALL YOUR CARDS OR DO YOU CANCEL THEM?
I never recommend closing your credit card in the first year. Always let the second annual fee hit, then make a decision. I take into consideration what benefits I get from the card. I keep all the hotel cards that give me a free night every year. I kept my Chase Sapphire Preferred card for over five years and got the bonus again just recently. Read what to do with your card after the first year here.
HOW DO YOU KEEP EARNING POINTS AFTER EARNING A SIGN UP BONUS?
We are almost always earning a sign up bonus. That means that I apply for a new card every 3-4 months or my husband does. We like to alternate applications. This method allows us to earn a lot of extra points from referral points and it gives each of us a break from constant pulls on our credit.
WHAT IS THE BEST HOTEL CARD?
Hyatt is by far the most popular hotel amongst points travelers. That’s because award nights start at just 5,000 points and there are many ways to earn Hyatt points. I can book a $500/night room for just 15k-18k points. The easiest way to earn Hyatt points is by earning the sign up bonus on a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points and then transferring those points to Hyatt.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card - 60k points is enough for 3-4 free nights at most Category 4 Hyatt properties around the world
The World of Hyatt Credit Card - 30k points is enough for 2 free nights at a Category 4. The annual free night makes this card a keeper year after year.
World of Hyatt Business Credit Card - This card has a 60k sign up bonus, but no annual free night award. Great option if you want more Hyatt points and want to stay under 5/24.
While we love our Hyatt stays, Marriott has great properties for families, especially overseas. There are very strict approval rules for the Marriott Bonvoy cards between Chase and AMEX so always read the T&C’s before you apply to make sure you are eligible and make sure that you are getting the highest sign up possible.
DO I HAVE TO HAVE A BUSINESS TO BE APPROVED FOR A BUSINESS CREDIT CARD?
If you are selling a service or goods in exchange for money, this qualifies as a business in the bank's eye. This could be anything from babysitting, walking dogs, reselling items on eBay or Facebook marketplace, blogging, etc. You will apply as a sole proprietor using your social security number. I have an entire Highlight on how to apply and fill out the business card application on my Instagram account.
By adding business credit cards to your arsenal, it opens up a whole new world of points and helps keep you under 5/24.
WILL I LOSE MY POINTS IF CLOSE MY CARD?
If you have a flexible points card like the Chase Sapphire, Citi Premier, Capital One Venture, those points are tied to your credit card account. You must use or transfer your points before you close your card or you will lose them. If you choose to downgrade your card, your points are safe and will transfer to the new card.
If you have points with a hotel or airline credit card, those points are in your loyalty account program (including the free night certs) and you will not lose your points if you close your card.
DO POINTS EXPIRE?
As long as you keep your credit card open your points will never expire. Hotel and airline co-branded cards are a little bit different, most points will expire with no activity in 24 months.
Points in these programs expire with no activity in 24 months:
Hyatt
Marriott
American Airlines
Radisson Rewards
Points never expire in these programs:
United Airlines
Delta Airlines
Southwest Airlines
JetBlue
Points with IHG expire with no activity in 12 months
HOW DO I KEEP POINTS FROM EXPIRING?
Book a flight or hotel night stay with points from your loyalty account
Many travel programs have an online shopping portal where you can earn additional points just by clicking through the portal. This is a great way to earn extra points and to keep your account open. I like to check evreward.com to see what portal is offering the most points. This is my favorite way to keep my accounts active.
Buy miles: This should be a last resort in my opinion. All loyalty accounts allow you to purchase points.
THIS SEEMS SO OVERWHELMING, HOW DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF ALL YOUR CARDS?
When I started getting into credit card points travel, I kept track of everything in a notebook, then an excel spreadsheet. Now there are several point tracking apps that make everything so much easier. Here are the ones I use the most:
Travel Freely - As soon as you get a new credit card, add it to your Travel Freely account. It’s absolutely free and does not require that you enter your account number. It tracks your cards, annual fees, 5/24 status, etc.
Award Wallet - This app has been around since 2014. It tracks all of your point balances, free night awards and expiration dates. This one does require your account numbers and login information. We have never had an issue in the nine years we’ve held an account with them.
CAN I EARN A SIGN UP BONUS MORE THAN ONE TIME ON THE SAME CARD?
Yes. Most banks allow you to earn the sign up bonus more than once, although the rules get stricter every year. The clock starts from the date you get the bonus, not the date you applied. There are many cards and each have their own rules so it’s important to look at the application rules on this one.
For Chase cards the rules are:
Chase Sapphire Preferred/Reserve - every 48 months
Chase co-branded airline and hotel cards -every 24 months
IS IT BETTER TO BOOK TRAVEL IN THE PORTAL OR TRANSFER POINTS?
You will almost always get a better value from your points when you transfer points to a travel partner rather than booking in the bank travel portal. If you book travel in the portal, your points are only worth one cent per point. So, you would need to use 30k points for a $300 room. If I transferred those 30k points to Hyatt I could book a $700 room or I could transfer to Flying Blue and book a roundtrip flight to Europe. I always recommend price checking both before booking.
HOW DO I BOOK MY FIRST TRIP?
I have many tutorials on Instagram on how to search and book for award flights and hotel nights. Several blog posts with examples are here below:
Happy Travels!
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
