✈️ Points For Normies + How To Know If It's A Good Deal

Welcome to the 82 new subscribers that are joining us this week! I am thrilled that you have decided to be a part of our community!

I for one am feeling extra zingy with my second pour of coffee this AM.

This week we have:

1. Points for Normal People + How to develop a strategy

2. How to evaluate if it’s a good deal- cents value vs personal value

3. Travel News: Airlines on the hook for refunds!

I like being a normal person, most of the time. Then I get on IG or other social platforms and it feels like dirt kicked in my face because I see beautiful people flying luxuriously in their first class seats, entering the most exclusive airport lounges and staying at gorgeous exotic hotels for free all around the world, with a seemingly endless supply of points!

I’m here to remind you- for some, creating banks of millions and millions of points and strategizing luxurious trips multiple times a year is the real deal- but know that these people take this points game VERY SERIOUSLY. They jump through ALL the hoops, dedicate a MASSIVE amount of time and energy into what they are doing, and they probably love their hobby! Good for them, round of applause 👏

We all won’t be able to make this our reality because…life. So, I’m going to tell you the secret for us normal folks and that is one simple, mind exploding life practice:

Instead of putting all of your spending on 1 credit card, you can open multiple credit cards a year 🫣 -Icky, cringy, alarm bells! I hear you!-

Hear me out. Most people I know ARE NOT doing this- they have 1-2 CC’s and put all of their regular expenses on those cards year in and year out. And let me tell you, if you’re reading this and using a debit card for anything, you are throwing free points in the trash!

Check out this fancy pants equation:

Average credit card earns 1.5 pts/purchase: monthly spend avg $4,000= $72,000 year = $108,000pts. Now this isn’t nothing. This is an OK haul. But if you’re looking to travel as a family, or have enough points to cover a long haul flight, or more than 1 (solo) trip/year, this just won’t do.

The Three Step Plan:

1) Apply for 3 credit cards (not all at once, but over the course of a year). Check out my top cards this month!

2) Put all your expenses on them to earn a welcome offer = $180,000-300,000 pts/year *quadruple this if you refer your partner to the same card earning yourself referral points and adding your partners’ points to the overall pot. Learn about -Player 2 mode, seriously lucrative 😜

3) About six months later check your points. Look at them, love them, but not too much because then you spend them. Book a trip for a fraction of what you would of paid!

Remember: Opening up credit cards should be strategic with your regular spending. That means that if you can forecast some high ticket items, applying to a credit card with the purpose of using the higher ticket item to pay down your minimum spend is a win-win.

Any of these super fun purchases coming up? #adultthings

Zoom in: Those who earn millions of points aren’t spending millions of dollars- they are strategically opening up credit cards throughout the year and bringing in massive welcome offers.

Another Secret: Your evaluation on the worth of exchanging your points for hotels/airline tickets is simple: did I get to travel for nearly free and in turn, I feel happier? But, for those nerdy brains who want to get into the weeds, I’ll still indulge you with math 🤓

The formula for points evaluation looks like this: ((Cash Price - Taxes) / Miles or Points Required) * 100 = cent-per-point value.

Cents per point equation: This will yield you something like .5-3, meaning→ your points are worth between .5-3 cents per mile. On average, “they” say that anything above 1.7 cents/miles is considered an above average return rate.

But where my Normal people at one more time 📣 ?!

Don’t get bogged down on the value. Book the darn thing!

Action step: Think about your travel goals. Where do you hope to go? With who? And when-ish? Narrow in as much as you can so you can strategize the way to make it a reality.

-> Stay Tuned- next week I explain how this strategy does NOT hurt your credit, my credit score has only increased ! And how you can lay horizontal, on an airplane, over night for 16+ hours ⬇️ by booking a long haul business class seat for $88 ←. (Seriously, I opened 5 cards over the past year and my credit score is 830 🤩.) Hint, I picked up this card and this card to get started!

Looks like airlines are on the hook for delayed flights and “junk” fees. The Transportation Department recently announced stricter rules for automatic airline refunds when flights are significantly delayed or canceled 👊 Boom. Check out the details here.

📱Travel Tech: This is fun and tech-y! Some great apps to help streamline your travels. - 7 Useful Apps For Travel - Airalo is a fan favorite!

👀Watch: How do you sleep on a plane? A question that will probably be different for everyone. But if anyone was going to explain it to me an Ergonomics Expert would probably be my first choice. How to Sleep on a Plane 

📘 Read: A deeper dive into the new airline requirements to help ease your angst when it comes to refunds and hidden fee disclosure. Know your rights!

My Sole Goal is to help you actually travel! Book a trip, hit reply and tell me all about it. Or need help? I LOVE this stuff, seriously, hit reply and let’s chat.

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”​
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings