June 16, 2025 • 21 mins
[WAITLIST] 1:1 Points Travel Strategy Session - get on the waitlist here!
Link to my entire trip planning checklist for FREE!
And make sure to follow us on Instagram! @travelpartyof5
Despite recent devaluations from major programs like Hilton, Capital One, and others, points and miles are still a viable way to travel the world with your family if you're willing to adapt your strategy and mindset.
• Frustrating changes like Hilton's increased award costs and Capital One's lounge access restrictions are disappointing but not game-ending
• The points and miles game requires a mindset shift—banks make the rules, we adapt and find the optimal paths within them
• Social media can make points and miles seem easier than they actually are—proper planning takes time and effort
• Focus on flexible points currencies to protect yourself from devaluations
• Take advantage of transfer bonuses when they align with your travel needs
• Diversify your credit card portfolio across different banks
• Plan 12-18 months ahead for family travel to secure saver award availability
• Accept that you'll make mistakes along the way—it's part of the learning process
• Points and miles aren't dead, but lazy redemptions increasingly are
If you're feeling stuck or discouraged with points and miles, reach out on Instagram for support or consider joining the waitlist for one-on-one consultations to help plan your next trip.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
There's been a lot of doom and gloom in the points
and miles world lately withdevaluations and cutting off
lounge access, and it can besuper demotivating, especially
if you're new and you might bewondering is it even worthwhile
to spend the time to learn thishobby?
I might rant a bit, but let'sdive in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm Dwayne, and we are your hosts of the Travel
Party of Five podcast, where weshare how we travel as a family
of five around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Hey friends, welcome back to Travel Party of Five
podcast.
My name is Rhea, I am one ofyour hosts and, as same as last
week, I am solo today.
So there has been a lot ofdevaluations recently with
Hilton, for example, or AirFrance in the last couple of
months.
Qantas is increasing theiraward costs here in the next
(01:35):
month or two, dropped us a bomba week or two ago and basically
is completely destroying theirlounge access to all of their
cards.
So if you're new to points andmiles, I feel like this can all
(01:55):
feel very overwhelming and couldmake you question like is it
even worth it to kind of spendmy time to learn this hobby when
it feels like things are notgoing well and you know like
maybe they won't, it won't bearound for for much longer.
So we're going to talk aboutthat today.
I do not really have a setoutline or anything.
(02:16):
So apologies if this comes outa little ranty, but I have a lot
of thoughts on this.
And.
But I have a lot of thoughts onthis and I haven't really heard
(02:41):
people talking about it kind offrom this angle.
So I first want to acknowledgethat devaluations stink and
logging into Hilton that morningto book an aspirational stay at
the Maldives or Cabo orwherever, and was very surprised
to find that they now needed200,000 more points than what
they had available and what theyneeded to book it just the day
before.
So, and again, these pointshave a monetary value both to us
(03:03):
and to the banks slash hotelairline programs that issue them
.
So I mean it is superfrustrating.
I don't want to discount thatat all.
Right, capital One justdestroyed their lounge access
and I made a whole Instagramreel about it.
If you aren't familiar,essentially, starting February
of next year, capital One isgoing to be removing authorized
(03:29):
users from having any loungeaccess unless you pay, and even
original cardholders are notallowed to bring in any guests.
So that is super frustrating,but it really only limits you
from accessing the Capital Onelounges and I think right now
there's only five around thecountry.
(03:50):
The other lounge access that itgets rid of is Priority Pass,
and there are other ways thatyou can get Priority Pass and
get your whole family in.
There are other cards.
So everyone's making it out tobe to be this huge deal and I do
agree it is frustrating.
It's annoying to have to findanother method, another
workaround, another way to do it.
(04:11):
But I think, at the end of theday, I'm not super surprised.
I think I even said in aCapital One, episode like this
is unlikely to last Because youcould essentially add like a
whole buttload of authorizedusers to your one card and then
each of them could getthemselves into a Capital One
Lounge plus two guests.
So I mean that's a lot ofpeople and trust me when I tell
(04:35):
you people were taking advantage, I mean I can tell you that I
had my husband and my sisterboth as authorized users and
both of them have utilized theaccess to the Capital One Lounge
and they don't pay a pennywhile my husband does, because
we, you know, have everythingjointly paid.
But you get, you get my point.
So, anyways, I want toacknowledge these changes are
(04:55):
frustrating and nothing that I'mabout to say like I think it's
a both and Okay.
So it's okay to be frustratedand annoyed by this.
I also think that points andmiles are still very much alive
and well, and maybe I'm supposedto say that at the end to keep
(05:15):
you guys listening this wholetime, but I'm not doing that.
Clearly, we are still going totake our family to Japan later
this year for two weeks and thenafter that we're going to go to
Christmas markets in France andGermany and we're going to fly
business class both ways on thattrip, like all thanks to points
and miles.
And so I don't think points andmiles is dead, I just think
(05:38):
it's changing.
And number one we have to havea little mindset shift here.
That is what I think people arenot talking about very much.
At the end of the day, this isa game that we are playing where
we don't get to make any of therules.
Okay, the banks and theairlines and the hotel companies
they make the rules and then wefollow them and look for
(06:02):
loopholes.
Essentially, I mean, reallyisn't that, isn't that how the
points and miles works?
So you have two options.
I think you can complain andyou can look at this and you can
say, nope, it's too hard, I'mnot doing it like this sucks,
everything sucks.
They all hate us, they don'twant us to have our points and
miles.
Or you can adapt to the changes, move forward, figure out the
(06:25):
next best way and keep takingyour yourself and your family on
points and miles trips, and itmight look a little different
than before.
You might have to pivot a fewtimes, but it's still very much
doable.
So I think, like I'm gonna, I'mgonna go off on a little bit of
a limb here and I'm gonna assumethat if you're in the first
(06:47):
camp, where you're likecomplaining and I want to give
up and this sucks and everyonehates us Number one you're
probably not even listening tothis podcast, because that's not
my outlook on life and I feellike I probably attract people
that have a similar outlook tome.
But if you are here, I wouldurge you to look at your life
and see if there's other areasof your life where you have this
(07:09):
same mentality, because ifthat's the case, the problem is
not points and miles, it is yourmindset and you have to change
it.
And that takes a little bit ofself awareness and a lot of work
.
And I'm not going to sayanymore, because this is not a
self help podcast, but I verymuch believe that your mindset
(07:30):
in general is going to affecthow you view points and miles.
I think at the end of the day,it just all comes down to how
badly do you want it and do youbelieve you can have it?
And you know, if you know those, if you badly want it and you
do believe you can have it, thenyou're going to figure it out,
and if not, then maybe pointsand miles is not for you, and
that's okay, right, not everyoneis going to do this.
(07:52):
I talk about points and miles topeople in my real life all the
time, and the way that theireyes just glaze over and
sometimes they just look at melike I'm fully insane.
I just am like, wow, I must notbe doing a good job of
explaining this because, like,why doesn't everyone do this?
And the reality is, everyonehas different priorities and
levels of risk, I guess, let'ssay.
(08:13):
But I digress.
The other thing that I thinkkind of goes hand in hand with
all of these devaluations andkind of like the doom and gloom
mindset is that there is a mythgoing around on Instagram.
It is a full on highlight reelof how easy it is to use your
points and miles to book a trip.
(08:34):
And I am here to tell you that,while completely doable, it is
not easy and it is also not likeswift.
It's not quick, right, like, ifyou're planning a trip for one
person and whatever, you haveall the flexibility in the world
and, yeah, maybe it is easy foryou, but if you're planning a
(08:55):
trip for a family, like I doconstantly, I can assure you
that it actually takes time andwork, both to figure out what
cards to open and what thestrategy is, and when do I need
to open them by so I can havethe points I need for you know
whatever date I need to book itby, to planning the actual trip
itself.
What are we going to do?
How many days are we going togo?
(09:15):
Where are we going to go?
What's the weather?
Is it better to go at adifferent time of year?
What kind of activities are wegoing to do?
Are they kid friendly?
How can I balance like adultactivities with kid activities
so everyone has fun?
Is it going to rain?
What do I need to pack?
Is there any other gear I needto bring All of these things?
Okay, go into planning a tripon points and miles.
(09:38):
As a side note, I have.
I do have a whole freechecklist that I can link in the
show notes for my process.
That roughly starts 18 monthsbefore a trip, of how I think
through booking a trip on pointsand miles.
So if you want to grab thatagain, it's free I'll link it in
the show notes.
But I think, in general, likesocial media is doing us a
(09:59):
disservice, making points andmiles seem like this easy peasy,
lemon squeezy thing, when itdoes take work and it does take
effort and there is so muchnuance in this hobby.
Okay, so I think people getinto it and they think it's
going to be this easy piece ofcake thing and then it's not and
(10:20):
they it almost feels like abait and switch and that's not
the intention.
I'm sure Right, but like I dothink that we just need to
acknowledge like this is hardSometimes, it takes time, it
takes work and is it worth it?
1000% it is worth it.
Like I'm so excited to go onthis trip.
(10:40):
We have coming up to Yosemiteand Lake Tahoe and have a great
time exploring this nationalpark.
Okay, we use you know, we'reusing points for part of it,
we're paying cash for part of it, but I have coordinated it all.
I am super excited to go.
The value that I'm going to getout of this trip is going to be
much greater than the time andeffort that I have spent
(11:00):
planning the trip, but it stilltook time and effort.
So I just feel like, if you'renew and you're coming, coming
into this and you are thinking,oh, it's gonna be easy, five
minutes a week, right, I spendmore time than that on, and
that's like, podcast andInstagram aside, I spend more
time than five minutes a week.
You know, planning out thecards I'm going to open, making
(11:23):
sure I'm going to meet theminimum spends.
You know, figuring out what ournext trip is and when do I need
to book it, like meet theminimum spends.
You know, figuring out what ournext trip is and when do I need
to book it.
Like it takes more time than Ithink people realize.
So I think those two thingsright.
Number one, all the devaluations.
And then number two, when, whenyou get into it and you kind of
realize, oh, this is kind ofhard, or wow, there's like seven
(11:45):
Marriott cards and there's likeall these different rules about
what I can open first and youcan't have this card if you've
already had that card and likethat's the nuance that I'm
talking about, where, like, ifyou're just starting out, you
can be like, wow, this is notfor me, okay.
So I just want to acknowledgethose two things that, like
(12:06):
those, those things are bothtrue and they are happening, but
on the flip side, it is stillvery much, I think, worth it to
get involved in points and milesand take your family on amazing
trips.
So apologies for ranting a bit,but I do have some ways that
you can try to make this hobbyboth a little easier and also a
(12:31):
little less of risk averse interms of devaluations.
So number one is going to befocusing on flexible points
currencies.
There's a reason that these arepushed so heavily and all these
points and miles groups, andthat is because if your points
(12:53):
live in a flexible pointscurrency and again that would be
like a chase Amex, um, city,capital one those are the four
major banks and you can transferfrom those four banks to
various airlines and hotelpartners, and each one has a
different list.
Okay, but that's why they'recalled flexible points, because
(13:14):
you can be flexible with whereyou send them.
The reason that those are goingto be your best course of
action and why that is what wealways recommend that you start
with is because, let's say,chase transfers to 10 different
transfer partners.
Okay, one of them is Hyatt, butthen they also have United and
(13:35):
Southwest.
Okay, southwest recently did abit of a devaluation and so if
your points were living withSouthwest, then they would have
gone down in value, but becauseyour points are living with
Chase, they have retained theirvalue, because now you can send
them to United if you want, oryou can send them to Hyatt,
(13:55):
right, and they're not affectedby the devaluation.
So if you have points withAmerican Airlines, for example,
or United or Southwest orJetBlue or whatever, anytime
that program does a devaluation,you have lost value, you have
(14:16):
lost money, you have lost points, right, but as we talked about
before, it's money.
So, starting with flexiblepoints, number one is going to
be the best way to somewhatprotect yourself from these
risks, and then the other optionis or not the other option, but
another way to kind of offsetsome of these devaluations is
(14:39):
transfer bonuses.
A lot of these flexible points,banks will often have transfer
bonuses to certain transferpartners.
Again, you don't want tospeculatively transfer points
because once you transfer them,they live in that program
forever and if that program doesa devaluation, then your points
will devalue.
Okay, so you don't want tospeculatively transfer, but if
(15:04):
there are maybe two differentflights that you could take and
one of them is, let's say,flying Blue and there's a Flying
Blue transfer bonus.
Then you have the flexibilityto transfer there and save some
points.
So that's another way to kindof offset the devaluation risk a
bit.
Okay, the other piece is so kindof the number three would be
(15:30):
just a focus on the things thatyou can control and don't worry
about the rest, because at theend of the day, we have no say
in it.
You know, the banks are notcoming around saying, hey, like,
what's your opinion on this?
Nope, they do not care.
Okay, they're in this to makemoney and they do, and I don't
(15:51):
know about you, but my goal isjust to make sure they don't
make money off of me.
So a couple ways to do that.
Okay, you want to number onediversify the cards that you
have.
So you want to make sure youhave cards from every bank.
If you're just starting out,don't worry, you'll get there
and it just takes time.
But you want to have Chase.
You want to have Amex.
You want to have Capital One ifyou rent.
(16:11):
You want to have Built.
Built has had some incrediblebonuses over the last year and
they've also added someincredible transfer partners and
I can't wait until they startletting me pay my mortgage with
them, but until then we do nothave a bill card.
Number four is plan ahead.
Okay, I practice what I preach.
(16:31):
We've already got our springbreak 2026 trip booked and in
the next month or two I'll bebooking summer trips.
I'm just waiting foravailability to open.
It's just not open yet, but Iknow what I'm going to be
booking.
I understand that maybe if youhave kids in, like competitive
sports or whatever, maybe thisis a little bit more difficult.
(16:52):
But planning ahead is one ofthe best ways to make sure that
you're getting those saver fares, because when you have to book
for a family, you need way morepoints.
Okay, so you want to doeverything you can to find the
saber fairs and get them lockedin so that you can spend as
little points as possible.
Okay, so those are kind of fourtips and tricks that you can
(17:17):
utilize to sort of attempt tolower your risk and offset the
devaluations of programs.
Lastly, I want to leave you witha few kind of I don't even want
to call them tips, but likethis is how, if, especially if
you're new, but even if you'renot.
This is how I would think aboutthis if I were you.
(17:40):
Okay, points and miles are notdead, but lazy redemptions kind
of are.
So it does take a little bit oftime and strategy to think
through the best way to, youknow, find availability or
whatever that may be.
But here's what I need you toknow.
Okay, you're going to makemistakes, you're going to mess
(18:00):
up, you're going to waste points, you're going to spend too much
in taxes.
Okay, been there, done that.
Yes, I've done all these things.
You're going to get declinedfor a credit card.
You're probably going to getdeclined for multiple credit
cards if you're doing this hobbycorrectly.
In my opinion, as a side note,it's not personal, it's
literally a computer that'sdenying you.
(18:21):
So don't get mad.
Just figure out another option.
Go to a different bank, callreconsideration, whatever.
There are going to be timeswhere you're super frustrated.
There are going to be timeswhere you can't figure out the
availability that you want orfind it.
Or like maybe you have enoughpoints for business class for
all five of you, but you can'tfind five seats right, like I
(18:44):
don't know.
Whatever it may be, but I justthink if you go into it with the
mindset of I'm gonna mess thisup, I'm gonna make mistakes, I'm
gonna, you know, waste sometime I'm going to do all these
things, but it's going to beokay and it's going to be fine.
And it doesn't mean that I'mbad at this or that points and
miles are not for me.
It just means that I'm learningand I have to take the time to
(19:08):
get better at it Because, like Itell my kids, you know,
practice makes better and you'renever going to be perfect,
you're never going to know allthe things and you don't have to
.
But I can assure you, if youspend a little bit of time
learning this hobby, shuttingout all the noise about the
devaluations and blah, blah,blah blah, you are going to be
(19:30):
able to take your family on someincredible trips.
Okay, we just spent two weeksin Europe a couple months ago.
We are going to Yosemite andLake Tahoe and Oceanside,
california, this summer andwe're going to Japan and Germany
later this year, all as afamily of five, predominantly
booked on points and miles.
(19:50):
Next year we're looking attight.
We've got Thailand alreadybooked.
I'm aiming for Scotland in thesummer and TBD on the fall trip.
But let us be an example to youthat points and miles are not
dead.
You absolutely can still dothis with a family.
You just have to be a littlebit smarter and you you have to
take a little bit of time tofigure it out.
(20:12):
It's not just going to fall inyour lap.
And if it does, tell me how youdid that.
But I don't think so.
I have no idea if this washelpful or not.
I have no idea if this was justranty, but you guys can give me
your feedback on Instagram goodor bad, I will take it.
And then, if you're new topoints and miles but maybe you
have already accrued a bunch ofpoints and miles and you're just
(20:35):
not sure how to use them orwhat the best way to get the
most value for your money is Ido have a waitlist right now for
one-on-one consultations.
I will be opening that up inthe next week-ish.
So if you want to get on thewaitlist, you will get a
discount.
I'll put the link to that inthe show notes.
Would love to kind of chatthrough whatever with you and
(20:58):
help you plan a trip.
I would really love to do that.
I can't book anything for youbecause that would involve you
giving me login information,which I don't want, quite
frankly, and you shouldn't wantto give me.
But I can give you a step bystep plan for how to book your
trip to I don't know Paris orSpain or wherever you want to go
Japan, let's do it.
If you're feeling stuck ordiscouraged, come find me on
(21:21):
Instagram and I will do my bestto give you a pep talk, although
I might be very blunt, tbd, andI'll try to talk you off the
ledge.
And lastly, if you know someonewho's been frustrated with
points and miles and is willingto give up or doesn't think it's
worth it, send them thisepisode.
Thank you so much.
We will catch you on the nextone.
Bye.
There's been a lot of doom and gloom in the points
and miles world lately withdevaluations and cutting off
lounge access, and it can besuper demotivating, especially
if you're new and you might bewondering is it even worthwhile
to spend the time to learn thishobby?
I might rant a bit, but let'sdive in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
And.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I'm Dwayne, and we are your hosts of the Travel
Party of Five podcast, where weshare how we travel as a family
of five around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Hey friends, welcome back to Travel Party of Five
podcast.
My name is Rhea, I am one ofyour hosts and, as same as last
week, I am solo today.
So there has been a lot ofdevaluations recently with
Hilton, for example, or AirFrance in the last couple of
months.
Qantas is increasing theiraward costs here in the next
(01:35):
month or two, dropped us a bomba week or two ago and basically
is completely destroying theirlounge access to all of their
cards.
So if you're new to points andmiles, I feel like this can all
(01:55):
feel very overwhelming and couldmake you question like is it
even worth it to kind of spendmy time to learn this hobby when
it feels like things are notgoing well and you know like
maybe they won't, it won't bearound for for much longer.
So we're going to talk aboutthat today.
I do not really have a setoutline or anything.
(02:16):
So apologies if this comes outa little ranty, but I have a lot
of thoughts on this.
And.
But I have a lot of thoughts onthis and I haven't really heard
(02:41):
people talking about it kind offrom this angle.
So I first want to acknowledgethat devaluations stink and
logging into Hilton that morningto book an aspirational stay at
the Maldives or Cabo orwherever, and was very surprised
to find that they now needed200,000 more points than what
they had available and what theyneeded to book it just the day
before.
So, and again, these pointshave a monetary value both to us
(03:03):
and to the banks slash hotelairline programs that issue them
.
So I mean it is superfrustrating.
I don't want to discount thatat all.
Right, capital One justdestroyed their lounge access
and I made a whole Instagramreel about it.
If you aren't familiar,essentially, starting February
of next year, capital One isgoing to be removing authorized
(03:29):
users from having any loungeaccess unless you pay, and even
original cardholders are notallowed to bring in any guests.
So that is super frustrating,but it really only limits you
from accessing the Capital Onelounges and I think right now
there's only five around thecountry.
(03:50):
The other lounge access that itgets rid of is Priority Pass,
and there are other ways thatyou can get Priority Pass and
get your whole family in.
There are other cards.
So everyone's making it out tobe to be this huge deal and I do
agree it is frustrating.
It's annoying to have to findanother method, another
workaround, another way to do it.
(04:11):
But I think, at the end of theday, I'm not super surprised.
I think I even said in aCapital One, episode like this
is unlikely to last Because youcould essentially add like a
whole buttload of authorizedusers to your one card and then
each of them could getthemselves into a Capital One
Lounge plus two guests.
So I mean that's a lot ofpeople and trust me when I tell
(04:35):
you people were taking advantage, I mean I can tell you that I
had my husband and my sisterboth as authorized users and
both of them have utilized theaccess to the Capital One Lounge
and they don't pay a pennywhile my husband does, because
we, you know, have everythingjointly paid.
But you get, you get my point.
So, anyways, I want toacknowledge these changes are
(04:55):
frustrating and nothing that I'mabout to say like I think it's
a both and Okay.
So it's okay to be frustratedand annoyed by this.
I also think that points andmiles are still very much alive
and well, and maybe I'm supposedto say that at the end to keep
(05:15):
you guys listening this wholetime, but I'm not doing that.
Clearly, we are still going totake our family to Japan later
this year for two weeks and thenafter that we're going to go to
Christmas markets in France andGermany and we're going to fly
business class both ways on thattrip, like all thanks to points
and miles.
And so I don't think points andmiles is dead, I just think
(05:38):
it's changing.
And number one we have to havea little mindset shift here.
That is what I think people arenot talking about very much.
At the end of the day, this isa game that we are playing where
we don't get to make any of therules.
Okay, the banks and theairlines and the hotel companies
they make the rules and then wefollow them and look for
(06:02):
loopholes.
Essentially, I mean, reallyisn't that, isn't that how the
points and miles works?
So you have two options.
I think you can complain andyou can look at this and you can
say, nope, it's too hard, I'mnot doing it like this sucks,
everything sucks.
They all hate us, they don'twant us to have our points and
miles.
Or you can adapt to the changes, move forward, figure out the
(06:25):
next best way and keep takingyour yourself and your family on
points and miles trips, and itmight look a little different
than before.
You might have to pivot a fewtimes, but it's still very much
doable.
So I think, like I'm gonna, I'mgonna go off on a little bit of
a limb here and I'm gonna assumethat if you're in the first
(06:47):
camp, where you're likecomplaining and I want to give
up and this sucks and everyonehates us Number one you're
probably not even listening tothis podcast, because that's not
my outlook on life and I feellike I probably attract people
that have a similar outlook tome.
But if you are here, I wouldurge you to look at your life
and see if there's other areasof your life where you have this
(07:09):
same mentality, because ifthat's the case, the problem is
not points and miles, it is yourmindset and you have to change
it.
And that takes a little bit ofself awareness and a lot of work
.
And I'm not going to sayanymore, because this is not a
self help podcast, but I verymuch believe that your mindset
(07:30):
in general is going to affecthow you view points and miles.
I think at the end of the day,it just all comes down to how
badly do you want it and do youbelieve you can have it?
And you know, if you know those, if you badly want it and you
do believe you can have it, thenyou're going to figure it out,
and if not, then maybe pointsand miles is not for you, and
that's okay, right, not everyoneis going to do this.
(07:52):
I talk about points and miles topeople in my real life all the
time, and the way that theireyes just glaze over and
sometimes they just look at melike I'm fully insane.
I just am like, wow, I must notbe doing a good job of
explaining this because, like,why doesn't everyone do this?
And the reality is, everyonehas different priorities and
levels of risk, I guess, let'ssay.
(08:13):
But I digress.
The other thing that I thinkkind of goes hand in hand with
all of these devaluations andkind of like the doom and gloom
mindset is that there is a mythgoing around on Instagram.
It is a full on highlight reelof how easy it is to use your
points and miles to book a trip.
(08:34):
And I am here to tell you that,while completely doable, it is
not easy and it is also not likeswift.
It's not quick, right, like, ifyou're planning a trip for one
person and whatever, you haveall the flexibility in the world
and, yeah, maybe it is easy foryou, but if you're planning a
(08:55):
trip for a family, like I doconstantly, I can assure you
that it actually takes time andwork, both to figure out what
cards to open and what thestrategy is, and when do I need
to open them by so I can havethe points I need for you know
whatever date I need to book itby, to planning the actual trip
itself.
What are we going to do?
How many days are we going togo?
(09:15):
Where are we going to go?
What's the weather?
Is it better to go at adifferent time of year?
What kind of activities are wegoing to do?
Are they kid friendly?
How can I balance like adultactivities with kid activities
so everyone has fun?
Is it going to rain?
What do I need to pack?
Is there any other gear I needto bring All of these things?
Okay, go into planning a tripon points and miles.
(09:38):
As a side note, I have.
I do have a whole freechecklist that I can link in the
show notes for my process.
That roughly starts 18 monthsbefore a trip, of how I think
through booking a trip on pointsand miles.
So if you want to grab thatagain, it's free I'll link it in
the show notes.
But I think, in general, likesocial media is doing us a
(09:59):
disservice, making points andmiles seem like this easy peasy,
lemon squeezy thing, when itdoes take work and it does take
effort and there is so muchnuance in this hobby.
Okay, so I think people getinto it and they think it's
going to be this easy piece ofcake thing and then it's not and
(10:20):
they it almost feels like abait and switch and that's not
the intention.
I'm sure Right, but like I dothink that we just need to
acknowledge like this is hardSometimes, it takes time, it
takes work and is it worth it?
1000% it is worth it.
Like I'm so excited to go onthis trip.
(10:40):
We have coming up to Yosemiteand Lake Tahoe and have a great
time exploring this nationalpark.
Okay, we use you know, we'reusing points for part of it,
we're paying cash for part of it, but I have coordinated it all.
I am super excited to go.
The value that I'm going to getout of this trip is going to be
much greater than the time andeffort that I have spent
(11:00):
planning the trip, but it stilltook time and effort.
So I just feel like, if you'renew and you're coming, coming
into this and you are thinking,oh, it's gonna be easy, five
minutes a week, right, I spendmore time than that on, and
that's like, podcast andInstagram aside, I spend more
time than five minutes a week.
You know, planning out thecards I'm going to open, making
(11:23):
sure I'm going to meet theminimum spends.
You know, figuring out what ournext trip is and when do I need
to book it, like meet theminimum spends.
You know, figuring out what ournext trip is and when do I need
to book it.
Like it takes more time than Ithink people realize.
So I think those two thingsright.
Number one, all the devaluations.
And then number two, when, whenyou get into it and you kind of
realize, oh, this is kind ofhard, or wow, there's like seven
(11:45):
Marriott cards and there's likeall these different rules about
what I can open first and youcan't have this card if you've
already had that card and likethat's the nuance that I'm
talking about, where, like, ifyou're just starting out, you
can be like, wow, this is notfor me, okay.
So I just want to acknowledgethose two things that, like
(12:06):
those, those things are bothtrue and they are happening, but
on the flip side, it is stillvery much, I think, worth it to
get involved in points and milesand take your family on amazing
trips.
So apologies for ranting a bit,but I do have some ways that
you can try to make this hobbyboth a little easier and also a
(12:31):
little less of risk averse interms of devaluations.
So number one is going to befocusing on flexible points
currencies.
There's a reason that these arepushed so heavily and all these
points and miles groups, andthat is because if your points
(12:53):
live in a flexible pointscurrency and again that would be
like a chase Amex, um, city,capital one those are the four
major banks and you can transferfrom those four banks to
various airlines and hotelpartners, and each one has a
different list.
Okay, but that's why they'recalled flexible points, because
(13:14):
you can be flexible with whereyou send them.
The reason that those are goingto be your best course of
action and why that is what wealways recommend that you start
with is because, let's say,chase transfers to 10 different
transfer partners.
Okay, one of them is Hyatt, butthen they also have United and
(13:35):
Southwest.
Okay, southwest recently did abit of a devaluation and so if
your points were living withSouthwest, then they would have
gone down in value, but becauseyour points are living with
Chase, they have retained theirvalue, because now you can send
them to United if you want, oryou can send them to Hyatt,
(13:55):
right, and they're not affectedby the devaluation.
So if you have points withAmerican Airlines, for example,
or United or Southwest orJetBlue or whatever, anytime
that program does a devaluation,you have lost value, you have
(14:16):
lost money, you have lost points, right, but as we talked about
before, it's money.
So, starting with flexiblepoints, number one is going to
be the best way to somewhatprotect yourself from these
risks, and then the other optionis or not the other option, but
another way to kind of offsetsome of these devaluations is
(14:39):
transfer bonuses.
A lot of these flexible points,banks will often have transfer
bonuses to certain transferpartners.
Again, you don't want tospeculatively transfer points
because once you transfer them,they live in that program
forever and if that program doesa devaluation, then your points
will devalue.
Okay, so you don't want tospeculatively transfer, but if
(15:04):
there are maybe two differentflights that you could take and
one of them is, let's say,flying Blue and there's a Flying
Blue transfer bonus.
Then you have the flexibilityto transfer there and save some
points.
So that's another way to kindof offset the devaluation risk a
bit.
Okay, the other piece is so kindof the number three would be
(15:30):
just a focus on the things thatyou can control and don't worry
about the rest, because at theend of the day, we have no say
in it.
You know, the banks are notcoming around saying, hey, like,
what's your opinion on this?
Nope, they do not care.
Okay, they're in this to makemoney and they do, and I don't
(15:51):
know about you, but my goal isjust to make sure they don't
make money off of me.
So a couple ways to do that.
Okay, you want to number onediversify the cards that you
have.
So you want to make sure youhave cards from every bank.
If you're just starting out,don't worry, you'll get there
and it just takes time.
But you want to have Chase.
You want to have Amex.
You want to have Capital One ifyou rent.
(16:11):
You want to have Built.
Built has had some incrediblebonuses over the last year and
they've also added someincredible transfer partners and
I can't wait until they startletting me pay my mortgage with
them, but until then we do nothave a bill card.
Number four is plan ahead.
Okay, I practice what I preach.
(16:31):
We've already got our springbreak 2026 trip booked and in
the next month or two I'll bebooking summer trips.
I'm just waiting foravailability to open.
It's just not open yet, but Iknow what I'm going to be
booking.
I understand that maybe if youhave kids in, like competitive
sports or whatever, maybe thisis a little bit more difficult.
(16:52):
But planning ahead is one ofthe best ways to make sure that
you're getting those saver fares, because when you have to book
for a family, you need way morepoints.
Okay, so you want to doeverything you can to find the
saber fairs and get them lockedin so that you can spend as
little points as possible.
Okay, so those are kind of fourtips and tricks that you can
(17:17):
utilize to sort of attempt tolower your risk and offset the
devaluations of programs.
Lastly, I want to leave you witha few kind of I don't even want
to call them tips, but likethis is how, if, especially if
you're new, but even if you'renot.
This is how I would think aboutthis if I were you.
(17:40):
Okay, points and miles are notdead, but lazy redemptions kind
of are.
So it does take a little bit oftime and strategy to think
through the best way to, youknow, find availability or
whatever that may be.
But here's what I need you toknow.
Okay, you're going to makemistakes, you're going to mess
(18:00):
up, you're going to waste points, you're going to spend too much
in taxes.
Okay, been there, done that.
Yes, I've done all these things.
You're going to get declinedfor a credit card.
You're probably going to getdeclined for multiple credit
cards if you're doing this hobbycorrectly.
In my opinion, as a side note,it's not personal, it's
literally a computer that'sdenying you.
(18:21):
So don't get mad.
Just figure out another option.
Go to a different bank, callreconsideration, whatever.
There are going to be timeswhere you're super frustrated.
There are going to be timeswhere you can't figure out the
availability that you want orfind it.
Or like maybe you have enoughpoints for business class for
all five of you, but you can'tfind five seats right, like I
(18:44):
don't know.
Whatever it may be, but I justthink if you go into it with the
mindset of I'm gonna mess thisup, I'm gonna make mistakes, I'm
gonna, you know, waste sometime I'm going to do all these
things, but it's going to beokay and it's going to be fine.
And it doesn't mean that I'mbad at this or that points and
miles are not for me.
It just means that I'm learningand I have to take the time to
(19:08):
get better at it Because, like Itell my kids, you know,
practice makes better and you'renever going to be perfect,
you're never going to know allthe things and you don't have to
.
But I can assure you, if youspend a little bit of time
learning this hobby, shuttingout all the noise about the
devaluations and blah, blah,blah blah, you are going to be
(19:30):
able to take your family on someincredible trips.
Okay, we just spent two weeksin Europe a couple months ago.
We are going to Yosemite andLake Tahoe and Oceanside,
california, this summer andwe're going to Japan and Germany
later this year, all as afamily of five, predominantly
booked on points and miles.
(19:50):
Next year we're looking attight.
We've got Thailand alreadybooked.
I'm aiming for Scotland in thesummer and TBD on the fall trip.
But let us be an example to youthat points and miles are not
dead.
You absolutely can still dothis with a family.
You just have to be a littlebit smarter and you you have to
take a little bit of time tofigure it out.
(20:12):
It's not just going to fall inyour lap.
And if it does, tell me how youdid that.
But I don't think so.
I have no idea if this washelpful or not.
I have no idea if this was justranty, but you guys can give me
your feedback on Instagram goodor bad, I will take it.
And then, if you're new topoints and miles but maybe you
have already accrued a bunch ofpoints and miles and you're just
(20:35):
not sure how to use them orwhat the best way to get the
most value for your money is Ido have a waitlist right now for
one-on-one consultations.
I will be opening that up inthe next week-ish.
So if you want to get on thewaitlist, you will get a
discount.
I'll put the link to that inthe show notes.
Would love to kind of chatthrough whatever with you and
(20:58):
help you plan a trip.
I would really love to do that.
I can't book anything for youbecause that would involve you
giving me login information,which I don't want, quite
frankly, and you shouldn't wantto give me.
But I can give you a step bystep plan for how to book your
trip to I don't know Paris orSpain or wherever you want to go
Japan, let's do it.
If you're feeling stuck ordiscouraged, come find me on
(21:21):
Instagram and I will do my bestto give you a pep talk, although
I might be very blunt, tbd, andI'll try to talk you off the
ledge.
And lastly, if you know someonewho's been frustrated with
points and miles and is willingto give up or doesn't think it's
worth it, send them thisepisode.
Thank you so much.
We will catch you on the nextone.
Bye.
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