August 16, 2023 • 44 mins
Travel can be expensive, but what if we told you that there was a way to fund your travels through your credit card rewards? Or at the very least, significantly reducing your cost on transportation, accommodations, food, and more! PointsByJ helps people learn the ropes of personal finance by teaching them how to earn and use credit points to reduce their travel spending. This episode is filled with helpful tips and travel hacks that inform our listeners about the best travel credit cards, how to earn points, and the best way to redeem them to maximize your spending.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:13):
You're listening to the Globetrotters podcasts,the show dedicated to bringing you fresh and
diverse perspectives from traveling enthusiasts all overthe world. We hope to show that
travel was so much more than howit's represented on social media and television by
bringing you real stories, thoughtful discussionson ethical issues, and investigations into how
you can make the most of anadventure without breaking the bank. I'm your
(00:36):
co host Jonathan o'dental and I'm maximilGonzalez and in our last episode we had
another edition of the Layover series,the monthly show where we dive into the
latest travel headlines. But on today'sepisode, we have someone I'm really excited
to unveil. Very recently, withinthe last three years, to be exact,
I've been a little more proactive onhow I use credit cards for rewards
(00:59):
and points that can then be appliedto travel. But the whole thing can
be a little bit confusing and overwhelmingat times, and it takes an incredible
amount of discipline and knowledge to getthe most bang for your points. And
that's why our guest today is Jayfrom Points by Jay, who actively uses
TikTok and Instagram to share her tipsand tricks for how to use travel and
(01:19):
credit card points for her forty fivethousand plus followers. Her content is a
helpful guide for anyone who wants tolearn how to maximize earning for credit card
points and miles, how to redeemthose points for flights and hotels, and
overall travel tips and hacks. Shespent her professional career in marketing, and
she fills her free time researching thesetopics and aims to help people travel more
(01:44):
for less money. Jay, it'sgreat to have you on the show.
I am so excited to be herewith you too today. Thanks for having
me. We have a lot ofquestions to ask, but let's take it
from the top. You help peopleon social media who want to learn useful
travel hacks, almost entirely using creditcard rewards and travel points, specifically how
to effectively apply these rewards to reducea travel purchase, which is a very
(02:07):
niche topic. Why are you passionateabout it and when did you first realize
that you could help people with this? Yeah, so, all throughout my
twenties, I used credit cards andI used my points just through my banks
travel portal, and I felt goodabout that. I got a couple free
flights out of it. A fewyears ago, I was with friends on
(02:28):
a trip and they got me intoan airport lounge using their credit card benefits
and I had never heard of thatbefore. And we had the most amazing
time, and we ate a fullmeal, and we were drinking, and
we got snacks to go, andI just couldn't believe that a credit card
was the reason that we got allthose perks. And so then I just
(02:50):
went full steam ahead into learning allabout this space. Gott really passionate about
better understanding all the things and perksand benefits some free travel that I'd been
missing out on by not learning aboutit sooner, and pretty soon I became
known within the friend and family groupsas the person to ask if you had
questions about credit card points. Andthe reason I started posting on social media
(03:15):
is I thought I want to consolidatesome of this knowledge somewhere, and I
felt like it could help other peopletoo, And you know, just to
echo off of what you're saying,I'm the same way. I had no
idea that travel credit cards could getyou into the lounges, and it changed
my life. I can never goback. But you know, before we
get into any specific credit card ortravel hack, can you give our listeners
(03:38):
some insight about the travel perks thatare out there that they may be unaware
of. You spoke about airport lounges, but from your experience, share some
of those perks that a consumer canreceive, whether it's free hotels, airfare
upgrades, car rentals. Absolutely so, I guess taking a step back,
there's a lot of different ways youcould use your credit card point. So
(04:00):
you could get cash backed on yourcredit statements, you could get gift cards,
or get points that can be appliedto shopping. But in my experience,
the way that you're going to getthe most value out of your credit
card points is by using it fortravel redemptions. So airfare and hotels are
really where the maximum value is at, but like you mentioned, you can
(04:23):
also use them for things like carrentals. For me, the most exciting
perk of purchasing airfare and hotels withpoints is it's allowed me to find sweet
spot deals to buy tickets and nightsthat I would never pay cash for,
for example flying business class. Ican't stomach the idea of spending thousands of
(04:45):
dollars on a flight, but whenI find an amazing point steal, I
will happily fork over my points foran amazing flight experience, or some points
for a five star luxury stay.Those are really incredible experiences that points have
afforded me that I wouldn't have beenable to afford with my money all on
(05:06):
its own. One thing I didwant to flag, just kind of at
the start of this conversation about creditcards is earning points and figuring out ways
to maximize their value is super fun. It's almost like a game. If
you're mathematically minded at all, thiscan become a little bit of an obsession,
but it is definitely a hobby thatyou should only consider if you're in
(05:30):
the habit of paying your credit cardson time and in full every single month,
because if people are paying interest orlate fees, not only is that
like incredibly expensive, but it alsocan do a lot of damage to your
credit score, so you know,definitely not worth it. So if you're
in that spot, make sure tobuild yourself up to a better spot with
(05:51):
your credit score and then dip yourtoe in the travel hacking space. Great
disclaimer, we definitely think it's importantto define the keywords or action items that
will come up frequently throughout this conversationthat has already come up A lot of
the times I hear points and milesused interchangeably when it comes to travel rewards.
(06:11):
What are the key differences, ifany, between them. It's a
good question, and it is alittle confusing because points and miles are basically
one and the same. People dooften use them interchangeably. Fundamentally, they
are the rewards given back to cardholders for your spending loyalty, right,
and then it totally depends on thebank and the specific card because some of
(06:35):
them issue points and others issue miles. So, for example, Chase card,
you might earn ultimate reward points thatcan be transferred out to become a
specific airlines miles, or you coulduse a credit card that only earns a
particular airlines miles, and that's allthat those will ever be. So they're
(06:59):
one in the same but different languagedepending on the bank that you're working with.
So would it be fair to saythat points, like specifically through credit
cards, can be applied to alarger variety of things, while plane miles
can only be applied to that certainairline. Sometimes that can be the case.
So I think the key term thatyou're thinking of is transferable points.
(07:23):
So those are really powerful within thetravel hacking space because that refers to a
point that isn't locked into a particularhotel or airline. That means it can
be applied to more than one versussometimes Let's take Merry Out for example,
if you had a Merryout credit cardand you were earning points on that,
those would be referred to as points, but those are just marryat points.
(07:46):
So hopefully that distinction helps. Goingto the fundamentals of it, how do
travel credit cards work in principle?How do you get points and how do
you use them towards travel? Planeand simple? Yeah, So there are
a few different options when it comesto the types of credit cards that you
want to sign up for, butI'm going to break it down into the
(08:09):
most simplistic version of the basic waysthat you can earn points. So the
first is sign up bonuses. Typicallywith credit cards, when you apply for
the card, they'll entice you witha massive amount of points that you'll get
if you reach a minimum amount ofspending within a certain timeframe after being approved
(08:30):
for the cards. So sign upbonuses are a really lucrative way to get
a lot of redeemable points. Thesecond big way is earning points on your
everyday spending. So some credit cardswill give you bonus categories. So while
maybe your normal spending is you'll earnone point for every dollar that you spend,
(08:50):
maybe they've got a restaurant bonus category, and potentially there's an opportunity to
earn three points for every dollar thatyou spend in that special restaurant category.
So those are the two big ways. Sign up bonuses and then points earned
on dollars spent. And I thinkone thing we haven't said, and it's
(09:11):
important to mention, if you wereto use your debit card for those same
purchases, you get zero points.Right, That's exactly right. And I
think I look back on days whenI would use my debit card for spending
and I cringe because not only wasI missing out on points, but I
was also missing out on purchase protections. One of the kind of unsung heroes
(09:35):
of the credit card space is ifyour card were to get lost, you're
stolen, You're protected and not liablefor the charges put on that card.
So those types of purchase protections arereally valuable and another reason to consider credit
cards versus debit cards. Yeah,great point, Jay, in your experience,
what are a few common misconceptions orfears that people have towards credit cards?
(10:01):
Oh, there are many, andmany of them I used to have
in terms of fear around credit cards. So I'll talk through them and know
that I have a lot of empathyfor people that think these things because I
was once there. First thing isthat people think that annual fees on credit
cards are bad. A lot ofpeople look down upon people who pay annual
(10:24):
fees, like don't they know thatyou don't have to pay an annual fee
in order to get a credit card. There are a lot of zero dollar
annual fee options, and that istrue, there are zero dollars annual fee
options. But I personally now paymultiple annual fees on credit cards because I've
done the math and the benefits thatthose cards are giving me. The value
(10:46):
that I can earn from the pointsthat I get from those cards are so
incredibly valuable. I am coming outway ahead of the cost of the annual
fee every year. So I wouldencourage people to not just think of annual
fees as bad and do a littlebit of math and digging into what are
the benefits that you could get outof a credit card, because not every
credit card is going to be beneficialfor everyone, right. It depends on
(11:09):
your lifestyle, depends on what you'respending, and it depends if the annual
fee is actually going to be worthit for you in terms of the benefits
you receive. One hundred percent.I couldn't have said it better myself.
Part of what makes this space alittle complicated to talk about is it's very
personal. It's not a one sizefits all, and the right credit card
for one person who spends a lotof money on groceries and restaurants might not
(11:31):
be a good fit for someone whodoesn't spend money in those categories and then
spent instead is spending a lot ofAmazon, for example. So everyone's spending
is so different, and your goalswith what you might want to use your
points for might also be incredibly different. For example, I love Hyatt hotels,
but if you hate them, thendon't get a card that transfers out
(11:54):
to Hiatt. So it's very personaland there's no right or wrong. It's
all about yourself and finding things thatare a good fit for you. And
I think that also circles back tothe disclaimer that you mentioned earlier, that
you know you have to make sureyou have good credit, that you pay
your bills on time, and thenyou're not paying late fees because then it
really it just makes the entire processnot worthwhile. Totally agree. Let's play
(12:18):
devil's advocate here. In your opinion, what are some of the fears that
people feel towards credit cards that arevalid and rational? Yeah, I think
that one of the fears is openingtoo many credit cards could be really detrimental
to you in the long run ordetrimental to your credit score. There's a
(12:39):
validity to that fear in the sensethat you do have to be thoughtful and
careful with how many credit cards youopen and in what time frame you're applying
to those credit cards, because yourcredit score is comprised of a lot of
different factors, including your payment history, the length of your credit history,
(13:00):
credit utilization, what percentage of thecredit available to you are you using.
So that's a complicated calculation that's goingto be different for each person. But
one rule of thumb is if you'reopening one credit card per year, and
you've got a really strong credit scoreand you're being very responsible with how you
use your credit cards, you canfeel pretty confident that that one opening per
(13:24):
year is not going to do damageto your credit score. In fact,
it might actually increase your credit score, because applying to a new card means
that your credit limit is going toincrease overall, which causes your credit utilization
to drop as a percentage of youroverall credit limit availability. I needed that
(13:46):
reassurance. By the way, Igrew up thinking that you should only have
one credit card because you're going toruin your credit if you open more than
one, and that has just beensomething I found to be untrue. Just
as a quick like side notes sidestory. About three years ago, it
(14:07):
was a co worker slash colleague ofmine that actually opened up his wallet and
he had over eleven credit cards andhe showed we had a credit scored over
eight hundred. But he was startingto educate me on I only use this
credit card for this, this creditcard for this. If I'm traveling,
I use this card, And hehad an entire spreadsheet on how he was
going to break down and use therewards for each one of these credit cards,
(14:30):
and that is the first time inmy life that I ever even considered
having more than one credit card,and you really thinking about what I needed
and how I wanted to utilize thosecards. Your friend and I are one
and the same. I think Ihave twelve cards now and a score of
over eight hundred, and it's allabout are you organized, can you keep
track of it all? And areyou really maximizing the benefits across all the
(14:54):
cards that you have? So yeah, I couldn't agree more. Well.
I mentioned a number of times thatcredit cards and redeeming the rewards of bonuses
and points is kind of personal,and so we kind of want to ask
you, like, what are someof the credit cards that you find extremely
useful and would vouch for and thatyou have on social media since you've done
(15:15):
it already openly, what are somethingthat you would definitely push for? These
are the ones that Jay uses andrecommends. Good questions, So well,
I'll tell you one of my firstcards in my twenties is one that I
still have today because it has beena fantastic intro to travel hacking credit card,
(15:37):
and that is the Chase Sapphire preferred. It's kind of notorious in the
travel hacking space. Is a greatintroductory card. Reason for that is Chase
has a super generous sign up bonuson it. They've got an incredible rewards
program. Chases Travel Transfer partners areamong the best. The fact that this
is a card that lets you transferout your points. You don't have to
(16:00):
use your points within their travel partal. You can transfer points out to loyalty
programs with airlines and hotels. You'regetting those great purchase protections, no foreign
transaction fees. It's just it's agreat starter card that gives you three times
points on restaurants, two times pointson travel, and it has a ninety
five dollars annual fee, which comparedto some of the other travel cards in
(16:22):
the space, is a pretty reasonablerate for all of those benefits that you're
getting. I can't remember the exactterm already, but you said travel partners.
That's I believe the process where youdon't actually pay back purchases via your
credit card company, you actually transferthe points over to a partner and apply
them there directly on their website.Could you just elaborate a little bit on
(16:44):
that and maybe just what the processis like and why someone would want to
do that rather than just paying backtheir purchases with points or miles. Sure.
Absolutely so, it's the same premiseas shopping around for the best deal.
Right when you're buying something like anew refrigerator, you might have an
exact model in mind, and youwouldn't just go to one store and purchase
(17:07):
it. You'd probably check a fewdifferent retailers and find the best price.
Same exact thing applies here. Sowhen you go into, for example,
the Chase Travel portal, you mightsee that a one night redemption at a
hotel is forty thousand points. Let'ssay you could check then in that hotel's
travel portal directly. So let's sayhiat dot com search for that same exact
(17:33):
night, same hotel, same dates, and it's a very different number of
points that are required to book thathotel. Because of that, it always
makes sense to check both rather thanjust going ahead and redeeming your points within
the bank's travel portal, because nowyou know, sometimes it could be best
(17:55):
in the bank. That depends onthe situation, but it's good to double
check both, and if it isbetter booking directly through the hotel, transfer
your points out of the bank intothat hotel. The points will often transfer
one to one, but always check, and that can save you tens of
thousands of points. It saved meso many points over time. And this
(18:17):
is what I meant at the verybeginning of our intro when I said it
takes discipline. I will raise myhand and say I've been guilty of just
saying I got the points. Letme go ahead and use my points on
this without ever checking and realizing ifdays, if not weeks later, that
I would have been a lot cheaperor I would have had to use less
points by transferring them out. It'sstill a great deal even if you're using
(18:41):
points on your credit card to makethe purchase. But the fact that you
can even get a better deal doingthe going through the client portal is a
partnership portal is a very different rewardthat you're receiving. Yeah, and I
think a headline that I would liketo emphasize is you can waste a lot
of time trying to find the verybest possible redemption for your points. And
(19:03):
you know, if you're even usingyour credit card points for traveling, you're
ahead of probably ninety five percent ofpopulation. So like just feel really good
about getting some benefit out of yourpoints. That's going to make you happy.
That's the ultimate, greatest way toredeem your points, So don't don't
let it stress you out. Piggybackingoff of your personal credit card usage for
travel rewards. Are there any buzzwordsthat automatically attract you towards a certain rewards
(19:27):
card? Oh? I think numberone is usually the sign up bonus.
I'm attracted to a shiny sign upbonus. But when I'm looking at applying
to a card, I'm not justlooking at the sign up bonus because that's
only going to happen once and thenyou have this card for hopefully years.
(19:51):
So I'm also looking at bonus pointearning categories. Is it going to fill
a gap that I currently have inmy credit card portfolio, Like I don't
have a card that gets me anybonus points for my gym spending, for
example, and that could make acard really appealing. One of the most
important things I look for is whatwe mentioned earlier, transferable points, so
(20:11):
the ability to use my points withmore than one hotel or airline. I
love that flexibility because then I havejust more options with how I travel,
and how I redeem. So thoseare the three things I look at,
And anytime I'm applying to a card, I'm doing so with the intention of
(20:32):
having it for multiple years. SoI'm doing the math to make sure that
it will make sense, especially ifthere's an annual fee, that it will
make sense for me to keep thatcard for a long time to come.
What are your personal deal breakers fortravel credit cards. I am always wary
of getting a hotel or airline specificcard. I have a couple of them
(20:56):
because sometimes it makes sense. Butfor example, she recently had an amazing
sign up bonus on one of theircards, and I looked into it,
but I realized, you know,I don't stay with them that often.
I would be applying for a cardjust for this temporary hit of points,
but then I run the risk ofhaving points that maybe I'm not excited to
(21:17):
redeem because I don't normally stay withthat chain. And so that's an instance
where I have to kind of notget shiny card syndrome and reel myself in
and be realistic about how much valuethat card will provide me in the long
run. Is that a real termthat you and your friends use shiny card
syndrome. I think shiny anything syndromewhen it comes to shopping is a real
(21:41):
risk, and it's definitely real inthe travel hacking space. I think I've
heard a lot of different people callit. That you brought up an interesting
topic that I think isn't spoken ofthat much. When it comes to credit
cards. You say that you knowthe sign up bonus and the rewards after
have to be worth it. Youalso mentioned that you plan on having credit
(22:03):
cards for years, but that insinuatesthat you're going to cancel a credit card.
What are your thoughts on canceling acredit card? Because I don't want
to push my opinion, but Ifeel like I've always been told that canceling
a credit card is a huge dealbreaker and a total menace to your credit
score. It absolutely can, andthat is why it should always be your
last resort. So if there's acard that you have that you find is
(22:26):
not working for you anymore, you'renot getting value out of it, you're
not using it if there's no annualfee, put it in your sock drawer
and forget about it. Make surethat your password isn't a safe spot,
but won't stress about it and donot cancel it, because canceling it will
reduce your credit history length and sothere's no sense in that. Just hang
(22:48):
on to it. It will eventuallylikely close on its own, but that's
better for your credit score than youactively going to cancel it. So that's
the first category is zero dollar annualfeed cards. However, if it does
have an annual fee and you feellike you're not getting the benefit out of
the card that you used to orit doesn't make sense for you anymore,
the first step that I would recommendis downgrading your card. So call the
(23:11):
bank and say, this annual feeisn't working for me anymore, but you
know, I've really enjoyed working withyou. Are there any zero dollar annual
fee credit cards that I could downgradethis account to. That way, it's
the same account, it's just aproduct change, and then you're not paying
the annual fee and then you canproceed. However, makes the most sense
(23:32):
if they don't have a zero dollarannual feed card that you have the option
to downgrade two and you really don'twant to keep the card, that is
the situation where you would probably wantto go ahead and cancel it. And
if you're canceling a card every oncein a blue moon, I wouldn't stress
about it. Your credit score willrecover some guiding thoughts. You heard it
(23:52):
here, close an account every threemonths in your golden No, just kidding,
just kidding, No. But thisis why I'm very thankful to have
you here on the show. Andyou know, you just brought up a
point that I never even knew waspossible. I didn't realize you could downgrade
accounts and it would be considered aproduct change and it wouldn't affect your credit
score in the same way that acancelation would. So that's the first time
(24:15):
I'm ever hearing about this. It'sabsolutely brilliant. Yeah, and I'm pretty
sure you're thinking, like, oh, this is pretty standard stuff. No,
I mean, it's the kind ofthing that if you aren't researching this
space, why would you know that. Like there's no education, like you
don't go to a high school classlike credit cards one oh one, and
the stuff isn't socialized. Well,So that's why I'm so excited to share
(24:38):
this stuff with you guys and withyour audience, because I think it's so
important to your financial well being toknow the options that are available to you
when it comes to your credit cards. Yeah, perfect keyword. I want
to hone in on his education.So I want to talk about some of
the credit cards you use and whenyou use them. If there's anything I've
learned through this conversation so far andjust from any research that I've done on
(25:02):
the topic, is that these travelhacks are not always four beginners, and
there's a lot of organization education,as we discussed, and planning that goes
into using credit cards to receive themost points of your purchases. So can
you talk a little bit about howyou decipher these eleven credit cards or if
you could just touch on some whetherit's by categories or point values totally.
(25:25):
So I do have eleven. Idon't use all eleven regularly, but each
of them has a specific role inmy credit card strategy. So in my
everyday spending, for example, Ispend a good amount on restaurants. I'm
based in Chicago. We've got anamazing food scene here, and my Chase
(25:45):
Sapphire preferred comes with me everywhere becauseearning three times points on restaurants and getting
those valuable Chase points is really importantto me when it comes to every day
spending that doesn't fit perfectly within anyof my typical categories. So think when
I'm going to a home improvement store, that's when I'm pulling out my Capital
(26:07):
one venture X because that gets twotimes points on every dollar spent. So
that card's pretty amazing. If you'relike I can't be bothered to learn about
these bonus categories, that's a greatcard because two times points on every dollar
is as simple as it gets interms of earning a good amount of points
without having to have that detailed organizationin place. Another great card that I
(26:33):
would love to mention is the AMEXPlatinum. This is one of those cards
that is not as great for anovice because it's really best suited to people
who are traveling a lot because highannual fee of six hundred ninety five dollars.
But the benefits you can get withthis card are pretty remarkable. They
offered tons of credits across things likeUber and Equinox digital entertainment re imbursements.
(27:00):
But the real star of the showwith that card is it gets you into
the AMX Centurian lounges at airports,which is if you've ever been to one.
You know, they are very nice. It is so much more luxurious
than hanging out by your gate,and it's just a real game changer in
terms of the comfort that I havewhen I travel. Yeah, and just
(27:22):
to really talk about the Amex Platinum, the big difference maker from me between
that one and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which I think is one that gives
you Priority Pass, was the factthat in Austin, which is where I
currently live, they were in theprocess of building a Centaurian Lounge here in
Austin and they canceled it because ofCOVID and the project just never came back
(27:44):
on track. And that would havebeen the difference maker for me because I
am a avid traveler and I dospend a lot of time in airports.
And don't get me wrong, likethe Priority Pass is incredible when it gives
you access to a lot of loungesinternationally, but there's nothing quite like the
Centurian Lounge. Yes, oh man, But this is a great example of
(28:07):
you know, it's so personal andone size does not fit at all.
If your home airport isn't going tobenefit you with whatever the lounge network is
that you're getting then that's not agood fit, even though it might be
a great card otherwise. So Ilove that example, and I'm so sorry
about the Centurion Lounge in Austin.What a bummer giving me both. I'm
still hoping that they're going to cometo their senses, but it doesn't seem
(28:30):
like it's going to happen anytime soon. Let's shift the conversation over to hotels,
because you've already talked about how you'resuch a high fanatic. Maybe that's
too strong of a word, butlet's talk about hotel chains and you know
credit cards and how that works.Yeah, so I am a high up
fanatic and that is something that you'regoing to hear repeatedly. I think if
(28:52):
you dig deeper into this travel hackingspace, Hyatt is just incredible because of
two things. They're points are reallyvaluable because they don't require a ton of
points for you to book a stayfor a night. And number two,
their loyalty program really rewards it's loyalmembers. So those are two things that
make it stand out. But thereare a ton of hotel chains that offer
(29:15):
amazing programs, like Marriott and Hilton, so Hyatt just stands out for me
personally, but my favorite way touse points with hotels is through my transferable
points because I can often find prettyamazing deals and luxury stays that I would
(29:36):
otherwise not be able to afford,which is just a special way to treat
myself that I really get a lotof enjoyment out of. And after our
last conversation, I may or maynot have opened up a credit card with
Hyatt just because of the rewards program, So I'll leave that out there.
Everyone should do their own research beforeyou decide to do it or not.
(29:57):
But yeah, incredible insight and rewardspoints that led to that decision. It
sounds like to me, Jy thatyou use a lot of transferable points and
that's kind of your preferred method touse them. So does this mean that
you don't have a preferred airline creditcard that you tend to use or am
I mistaken? So I do havean American Airlines card, and that's because
(30:21):
that's the airline that I personally flymost frequently and where I've got status.
That being said, I am notloyal to the point of always flying with
them. If there's a great dealto be had, I'm gonna choose the
cheaper flight. But I think thatthat is something that's only applicable to people
(30:41):
who are traveling pretty frequently, becauseearning miles with just one airline really it
locks you in. So it doesn'tmake sense for everybody. But if you
are a frequent flyer and you dohave a preferred airline, that could make
a ton of sense. For airlinecredit cards, this is a question a
lot of people can have. Iknow I have it. Does it work
(31:03):
that if you were to have anAmerican Lines credit card and you purchase a
flight using that credit card for adifferent airline, you won't get the same
rewards as if you were to purchasean American Airlines ticket exactly right. For
example, the card that I have, I get two times miles whenever I
buy an American Airlines flight using thecard, But if I were to use
(31:26):
it to buy a United flight,for example, it would just be one
mile per dollar spent, just likeany other transaction, which still isn't bad,
definitely, but you can compare itwith maybe a Chase credit card,
where it's going to give you threeor five times making that same purchase correct
exactly. That's another perk of theAMEX Platinum, five times points on airline
(31:48):
purchases, which is pretty unbeatable,three times points on travel with the Chase
Reserve. So there are a lotof cards to offer great multipliers when it
comes to travel. And I knowour listeners are going to want to hear
this because this is probably what's goingto get them the most excited about these
travel hacks and points. Can yougive our listeners an example of a trip
(32:10):
that you took mostly on points andmiles that turned a swanky vacation relatively cheap
or free. A couple of monthsago, for my birthday, my husband
and I went to Washington, DCfor the weekend and we stayed at the
Park Hyat and it's a five starhotel. They treated us incredibly well.
(32:30):
We showed up and there was abottle of bubbles and a beautiful dessert when
we walked into our room, andit was just incredibly luxurious day. And
it was only forty thousand points forthe two nights day, which I transferred
from my Chase account into Hyatt andI just couldn't believe the swinkiness of the
(32:51):
weekend and the fact that I didit on so few points was just icing.
On the cake. Did you personallywant to go to Washington see or
did you see the opportunity present itselfand you're like, this is kind of
a great deal not to do.Yeah. Oh, it's a great question.
Because the more flexibility that you havein your travel, whether that's the
(33:12):
dates that you're traveling or the locationthat you're headed to, the better chance
that you have of getting a greatdeal. So I had narrowed down to
a few cities that I would havebeen excited to spend my birthday in,
and Washington, DC was just oneof them. And when I saw the
park kiat for twenty thousand points anight, that was the decision maker.
So, and you know, toanyone that's never been in DC, I'm
(33:35):
a huge history buff. I loveDC. But that's just a personal opinion.
Oh and the fact that the museumsare free, that's another huge cost
savings on the trip. All ofour activities were free, which was amazing.
That's awesome. I'm sure you've gota lot of points getting all that
really good food out in DC twobecause I was. I'm quite a fan
of the food out there. Ohyes, totally. Speaking of getting everyone
(33:59):
pumped to utilize these travel hacks andutilize their points and miles. We definitely
have talked about it a little bit, even if we're kind of just like
circling back, like what are thefew really important key factors that listeners who
may be absolutely beginners at this,what can they do to get started using
travel rewards. So my first recommendationis to realize that you don't need to
(34:20):
know everything about travel hacking in orderto get started, kind of realizing you
won't know everything when you first getstarted. For a while, I experienced
information overload and got analysis paralysis whenit came to choosing which credit card to
apply for. And it's good todo your research, definitely do it,
but choosing just one card to beginwith and practicing your first redemption with points,
(34:45):
that's the best way to get getyour hands dirty, figure out how
it works, and it'll be agreat learning experience and you can build on
your knowledge from there. And anotherthing that you'll learn with time is that
there are all always more points outthere for you to earn, So don't
be precious about your points, don'thoard them, use them to travel and
(35:07):
have experiences that you want to have, because that's what they're there for.
And so what are some things youwish you know when you first started this
journey about applying your points and milestowards travel. What are some of those
tips you would tell your younger self. Oh, my gosh, first would
be the perfect redemption does not exist? Can send? I give spend hours
(35:34):
researching every combination of flights or differentdates that I could potentially travel, trying
to find the ultimate best way tosave a few points, and sometimes I
wish I had told myself your timeis also valuable. So just when you
find a good enough deal called goodenough, good enough. I think there's
(35:55):
a lot of pressure on social mediato find a redemption, and where every
point is worth eight cents a point, those are few and far between.
So just find find good enough andreally enjoy yourself and don't stress out about
it would be my number one tip. Do you still find yourself going down
that rabbit hole from time to time? Oh? Of course yeah. And
(36:16):
it's honestly, if you're like me, and it's fun to you, like
if it's not stressful, it's itfeels like a treasure hunt. It feels
like I could find the ultimate amazingoption for my travels and when I do
find an amazing option, like recently, I got a deal for a business
(36:38):
class flight on cut Our Airway andtheir queue suites for just fifty five thousand
miles going from Paris to Nairobi,and it was the most amazing experience that
I just I cannot stop talking aboutit because I loved it so much.
And that's a redemption that I'll holdon to near and dear to my heart
(37:01):
for a while. I wish ourlisteners could have saw John's face when you
dropped the price point of fifty fivethousand or five hundred fifty thousand, Yeah,
American Airlines miles. The reason thatI had this like huge shock in
my face one because you brought itup. Because we did an entire episode
on like the best airlines, bestflight experiences that you could have, and
(37:23):
she just named one of them.So go back to that episode, find
it and you'll get a little bitmore knowledge of what amenities and perks come
with a flight like that. Sovery cool that you have that experience,
happy for you, and jealous you'llget there. If you need help finding
a flight, put me up.So we primarily spoke about travel credit cards,
(37:45):
how they work, what you cando to get started. But what
are some other travel hacks that youwould like to share that aren't necessarily credit
card related. Oh yeah, Soone of my favorites is a seat hack.
So if you're picking seats for anflight and you're traveling with one other
person, my favorite thing to dois book the aisle and the window seat,
(38:07):
because typically middle seats are the lastto go. They're usually the last
to get booked. So sometimes you'llget lucky and you'll get the whole road
to yourself, which is amazing.And worst case scenario, if somebody does
have the middle seat, they're usuallysuper happy to give it up and take
either your window or aisle seat sothat you can sit next to your travel
(38:29):
partner. I will say it againfor the twentieth time this episode. That
is absolutely brilliant. I never havegood luck like that. Like, there's
probably been like two flights in myentire life where there was no one sitting
next to me. I'm usually theperson that gets like, you know,
it's like the two bodybuilders are sittingnext to me, and I'm just kind
of like, this is my lifefor the next five to seven hours.
(38:52):
But I hear you. Yeah.One other tip, not points related,
is I just recently got packing cubes, and I've always thought they were kind
of silly and useless, but nowI know. Now, I know they
are so helpful for keeping you organized, especially if you're going to more than
(39:13):
one stop in your trip, tokeep your things separated, and keep your
clean stuff separate from your dirty things. Like I'm now a super fan,
so a convert if tsa needs togo through your bags, It's so much
easier for them to look and putit right back. This is my first
I've probably had packing cubes for abouta year now. Complete game changer.
(39:34):
I don't know what I've been doingwith my life. Like the role technique
I apply that in the packing cubes. It's fantastic. Yeah, never thought
it'd be that stoked on packing cubes. This is such a fun conversation.
I can't stop laughing. John,Do you use packing cubes? No,
of course not, I'm laughing.No, I don't use them, But
(39:55):
Bro, I gotta get packing cubes. Man. I will give them a
go because of you stand behind them. You heard it from Jay. It's
they're they're real. But before wewrap up here, you know, we
are a travel show. Therefore,I do want to do our fun rapid
fire segment for our listeners. Youknow, five travel related questions in quick
(40:15):
succession. Are you ready? I'mready? Okay. The best dish you've
ever had in a foreign country,and what is it? I have a
huge sweet tooth. There was atimisou in Florence, Italy, at a
place called Loggiostra, and it justit was like five or six years ago
and I can't stop thinking about it. Awesome. Favorite country that you have
(40:36):
visited and why? Japan? Theculture, the food, it's beautiful.
It's so incredibly different from where Ilive. I just I loved it.
Definitely on my bucket list. Thecountry that you would most like to visit
Australia. I gotta go see akangaroo. I like the wallabies. But
to each their own. Best localdrink alcoholic or otherwise in any country you
(41:01):
have visited. Last year, Iwent to Lisbon, Portugal, and they
had a drink called Jingmia And thereare these small elderly women on the streets
of Lisbon that will sell you thisalcoholic beverage on the street. And it's
a communal, fun kind of ashot type experience and it tasted great,
(41:22):
but mostly I'm in it for themoment with friends and these women who are
selling the drinks. Awesome, veryoriginal answer, by the way, last
one, most adrenaline filled experience you'vehad abroad, good or bad? Oh?
No, most adrenaline filled experience waslast month. I was on safari
(41:43):
in Kenya. First day on safariand these lions approached our safari truck.
They were only a few feet away, and I was so scared. But
our guide was cool as a cucumber. He knew that. You know,
as long as we stay calm andin the truck, we are not a
threat to them. They weren't goingto do anything. But I did not
know that at the time, andI was pretty freaked out. I don't
(42:07):
know how I would act. Yeah, big cats are just absolutely terrifying,
beautiful and majestic. They belong overthere, not in a cage. I
need to be way, way,way far away from them. I've seen
way too many YouTube videos of thingsgoing wrong and like limbs being ripped for
me to stay home, but Iwould still want to do it. Highly
recommend awesome. You have delivered somuch useful information that I am actually going
(42:31):
to go back and transcribe this entirerecording so that I can note all the
travel hacks that I'm going to implementfor myself in the future. If our
listeners want to learn more about you, learn more travel hacks, where where
can they find and possibly follow you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but
you do have like a free travelcredit card points cheat sheet that people can
(42:52):
download on your I believe it's yourwebsite anyways, where can people find you?
Absolutely so, I'm Points by jon both Instagram and TikTok, and
you can also find me at Pointsby Jay dot com, which is where
you can download that cheat sheet thatyou just mentioned. Awesome, It's been
such a pleasure. I've learned somuch. And if our listeners want to
(43:15):
learn a little bit more about us, they can do so by visiting our
website at www dot gts podcast dotcom. You can find us on Instagram
or Facebook at Globetrotters Podcast, Twitterat globetrot Pod. Make sure you drop
us a review on Apple Podcasts orSpotify if you enjoyed listening to this conversation.
Editing on this podcast was done byour very own Jonathan ordero. Thanks
(43:37):
for listening until next time. Four
You're listening to the Globetrotters podcasts,the show dedicated to bringing you fresh and
diverse perspectives from traveling enthusiasts all overthe world. We hope to show that
travel was so much more than howit's represented on social media and television by
bringing you real stories, thoughtful discussionson ethical issues, and investigations into how
you can make the most of anadventure without breaking the bank. I'm your
(00:36):
co host Jonathan o'dental and I'm maximilGonzalez and in our last episode we had
another edition of the Layover series,the monthly show where we dive into the
latest travel headlines. But on today'sepisode, we have someone I'm really excited
to unveil. Very recently, withinthe last three years, to be exact,
I've been a little more proactive onhow I use credit cards for rewards
(00:59):
and points that can then be appliedto travel. But the whole thing can
be a little bit confusing and overwhelmingat times, and it takes an incredible
amount of discipline and knowledge to getthe most bang for your points. And
that's why our guest today is Jayfrom Points by Jay, who actively uses
TikTok and Instagram to share her tipsand tricks for how to use travel and
(01:19):
credit card points for her forty fivethousand plus followers. Her content is a
helpful guide for anyone who wants tolearn how to maximize earning for credit card
points and miles, how to redeemthose points for flights and hotels, and
overall travel tips and hacks. Shespent her professional career in marketing, and
she fills her free time researching thesetopics and aims to help people travel more
(01:44):
for less money. Jay, it'sgreat to have you on the show.
I am so excited to be herewith you too today. Thanks for having
me. We have a lot ofquestions to ask, but let's take it
from the top. You help peopleon social media who want to learn useful
travel hacks, almost entirely using creditcard rewards and travel points, specifically how
to effectively apply these rewards to reducea travel purchase, which is a very
(02:07):
niche topic. Why are you passionateabout it and when did you first realize
that you could help people with this? Yeah, so, all throughout my
twenties, I used credit cards andI used my points just through my banks
travel portal, and I felt goodabout that. I got a couple free
flights out of it. A fewyears ago, I was with friends on
(02:28):
a trip and they got me intoan airport lounge using their credit card benefits
and I had never heard of thatbefore. And we had the most amazing
time, and we ate a fullmeal, and we were drinking, and
we got snacks to go, andI just couldn't believe that a credit card
was the reason that we got allthose perks. And so then I just
(02:50):
went full steam ahead into learning allabout this space. Gott really passionate about
better understanding all the things and perksand benefits some free travel that I'd been
missing out on by not learning aboutit sooner, and pretty soon I became
known within the friend and family groupsas the person to ask if you had
questions about credit card points. Andthe reason I started posting on social media
(03:15):
is I thought I want to consolidatesome of this knowledge somewhere, and I
felt like it could help other peopletoo, And you know, just to
echo off of what you're saying,I'm the same way. I had no
idea that travel credit cards could getyou into the lounges, and it changed
my life. I can never goback. But you know, before we
get into any specific credit card ortravel hack, can you give our listeners
(03:38):
some insight about the travel perks thatare out there that they may be unaware
of. You spoke about airport lounges, but from your experience, share some
of those perks that a consumer canreceive, whether it's free hotels, airfare
upgrades, car rentals. Absolutely so, I guess taking a step back,
there's a lot of different ways youcould use your credit card point. So
(04:00):
you could get cash backed on yourcredit statements, you could get gift cards,
or get points that can be appliedto shopping. But in my experience,
the way that you're going to getthe most value out of your credit
card points is by using it fortravel redemptions. So airfare and hotels are
really where the maximum value is at, but like you mentioned, you can
(04:23):
also use them for things like carrentals. For me, the most exciting
perk of purchasing airfare and hotels withpoints is it's allowed me to find sweet
spot deals to buy tickets and nightsthat I would never pay cash for,
for example flying business class. Ican't stomach the idea of spending thousands of
(04:45):
dollars on a flight, but whenI find an amazing point steal, I
will happily fork over my points foran amazing flight experience, or some points
for a five star luxury stay.Those are really incredible experiences that points have
afforded me that I wouldn't have beenable to afford with my money all on
(05:06):
its own. One thing I didwant to flag, just kind of at
the start of this conversation about creditcards is earning points and figuring out ways
to maximize their value is super fun. It's almost like a game. If
you're mathematically minded at all, thiscan become a little bit of an obsession,
but it is definitely a hobby thatyou should only consider if you're in
(05:30):
the habit of paying your credit cardson time and in full every single month,
because if people are paying interest orlate fees, not only is that
like incredibly expensive, but it alsocan do a lot of damage to your
credit score, so you know,definitely not worth it. So if you're
in that spot, make sure tobuild yourself up to a better spot with
(05:51):
your credit score and then dip yourtoe in the travel hacking space. Great
disclaimer, we definitely think it's importantto define the keywords or action items that
will come up frequently throughout this conversationthat has already come up A lot of
the times I hear points and milesused interchangeably when it comes to travel rewards.
(06:11):
What are the key differences, ifany, between them. It's a
good question, and it is alittle confusing because points and miles are basically
one and the same. People dooften use them interchangeably. Fundamentally, they
are the rewards given back to cardholders for your spending loyalty, right,
and then it totally depends on thebank and the specific card because some of
(06:35):
them issue points and others issue miles. So, for example, Chase card,
you might earn ultimate reward points thatcan be transferred out to become a
specific airlines miles, or you coulduse a credit card that only earns a
particular airlines miles, and that's allthat those will ever be. So they're
(06:59):
one in the same but different languagedepending on the bank that you're working with.
So would it be fair to saythat points, like specifically through credit
cards, can be applied to alarger variety of things, while plane miles
can only be applied to that certainairline. Sometimes that can be the case.
So I think the key term thatyou're thinking of is transferable points.
(07:23):
So those are really powerful within thetravel hacking space because that refers to a
point that isn't locked into a particularhotel or airline. That means it can
be applied to more than one versussometimes Let's take Merry Out for example,
if you had a Merryout credit cardand you were earning points on that,
those would be referred to as points, but those are just marryat points.
(07:46):
So hopefully that distinction helps. Goingto the fundamentals of it, how do
travel credit cards work in principle?How do you get points and how do
you use them towards travel? Planeand simple? Yeah, So there are
a few different options when it comesto the types of credit cards that you
want to sign up for, butI'm going to break it down into the
(08:09):
most simplistic version of the basic waysthat you can earn points. So the
first is sign up bonuses. Typicallywith credit cards, when you apply for
the card, they'll entice you witha massive amount of points that you'll get
if you reach a minimum amount ofspending within a certain timeframe after being approved
(08:30):
for the cards. So sign upbonuses are a really lucrative way to get
a lot of redeemable points. Thesecond big way is earning points on your
everyday spending. So some credit cardswill give you bonus categories. So while
maybe your normal spending is you'll earnone point for every dollar that you spend,
(08:50):
maybe they've got a restaurant bonus category, and potentially there's an opportunity to
earn three points for every dollar thatyou spend in that special restaurant category.
So those are the two big ways. Sign up bonuses and then points earned
on dollars spent. And I thinkone thing we haven't said, and it's
(09:11):
important to mention, if you wereto use your debit card for those same
purchases, you get zero points.Right, That's exactly right. And I
think I look back on days whenI would use my debit card for spending
and I cringe because not only wasI missing out on points, but I
was also missing out on purchase protections. One of the kind of unsung heroes
(09:35):
of the credit card space is ifyour card were to get lost, you're
stolen, You're protected and not liablefor the charges put on that card.
So those types of purchase protections arereally valuable and another reason to consider credit
cards versus debit cards. Yeah,great point, Jay, in your experience,
what are a few common misconceptions orfears that people have towards credit cards?
(10:01):
Oh, there are many, andmany of them I used to have
in terms of fear around credit cards. So I'll talk through them and know
that I have a lot of empathyfor people that think these things because I
was once there. First thing isthat people think that annual fees on credit
cards are bad. A lot ofpeople look down upon people who pay annual
(10:24):
fees, like don't they know thatyou don't have to pay an annual fee
in order to get a credit card. There are a lot of zero dollar
annual fee options, and that istrue, there are zero dollars annual fee
options. But I personally now paymultiple annual fees on credit cards because I've
done the math and the benefits thatthose cards are giving me. The value
(10:46):
that I can earn from the pointsthat I get from those cards are so
incredibly valuable. I am coming outway ahead of the cost of the annual
fee every year. So I wouldencourage people to not just think of annual
fees as bad and do a littlebit of math and digging into what are
the benefits that you could get outof a credit card, because not every
credit card is going to be beneficialfor everyone, right. It depends on
(11:09):
your lifestyle, depends on what you'respending, and it depends if the annual
fee is actually going to be worthit for you in terms of the benefits
you receive. One hundred percent.I couldn't have said it better myself.
Part of what makes this space alittle complicated to talk about is it's very
personal. It's not a one sizefits all, and the right credit card
for one person who spends a lotof money on groceries and restaurants might not
(11:31):
be a good fit for someone whodoesn't spend money in those categories and then
spent instead is spending a lot ofAmazon, for example. So everyone's spending
is so different, and your goalswith what you might want to use your
points for might also be incredibly different. For example, I love Hyatt hotels,
but if you hate them, thendon't get a card that transfers out
(11:54):
to Hiatt. So it's very personaland there's no right or wrong. It's
all about yourself and finding things thatare a good fit for you. And
I think that also circles back tothe disclaimer that you mentioned earlier, that
you know you have to make sureyou have good credit, that you pay
your bills on time, and thenyou're not paying late fees because then it
really it just makes the entire processnot worthwhile. Totally agree. Let's play
(12:18):
devil's advocate here. In your opinion, what are some of the fears that
people feel towards credit cards that arevalid and rational? Yeah, I think
that one of the fears is openingtoo many credit cards could be really detrimental
to you in the long run ordetrimental to your credit score. There's a
(12:39):
validity to that fear in the sensethat you do have to be thoughtful and
careful with how many credit cards youopen and in what time frame you're applying
to those credit cards, because yourcredit score is comprised of a lot of
different factors, including your payment history, the length of your credit history,
(13:00):
credit utilization, what percentage of thecredit available to you are you using.
So that's a complicated calculation that's goingto be different for each person. But
one rule of thumb is if you'reopening one credit card per year, and
you've got a really strong credit scoreand you're being very responsible with how you
use your credit cards, you canfeel pretty confident that that one opening per
(13:24):
year is not going to do damageto your credit score. In fact,
it might actually increase your credit score, because applying to a new card means
that your credit limit is going toincrease overall, which causes your credit utilization
to drop as a percentage of youroverall credit limit availability. I needed that
(13:46):
reassurance. By the way, Igrew up thinking that you should only have
one credit card because you're going toruin your credit if you open more than
one, and that has just beensomething I found to be untrue. Just
as a quick like side notes sidestory. About three years ago, it
(14:07):
was a co worker slash colleague ofmine that actually opened up his wallet and
he had over eleven credit cards andhe showed we had a credit scored over
eight hundred. But he was startingto educate me on I only use this
credit card for this, this creditcard for this. If I'm traveling,
I use this card, And hehad an entire spreadsheet on how he was
going to break down and use therewards for each one of these credit cards,
(14:30):
and that is the first time inmy life that I ever even considered
having more than one credit card,and you really thinking about what I needed
and how I wanted to utilize thosecards. Your friend and I are one
and the same. I think Ihave twelve cards now and a score of
over eight hundred, and it's allabout are you organized, can you keep
track of it all? And areyou really maximizing the benefits across all the
(14:54):
cards that you have? So yeah, I couldn't agree more. Well.
I mentioned a number of times thatcredit cards and redeeming the rewards of bonuses
and points is kind of personal,and so we kind of want to ask
you, like, what are someof the credit cards that you find extremely
useful and would vouch for and thatyou have on social media since you've done
(15:15):
it already openly, what are somethingthat you would definitely push for? These
are the ones that Jay uses andrecommends. Good questions, So well,
I'll tell you one of my firstcards in my twenties is one that I
still have today because it has beena fantastic intro to travel hacking credit card,
(15:37):
and that is the Chase Sapphire preferred. It's kind of notorious in the
travel hacking space. Is a greatintroductory card. Reason for that is Chase
has a super generous sign up bonuson it. They've got an incredible rewards
program. Chases Travel Transfer partners areamong the best. The fact that this
is a card that lets you transferout your points. You don't have to
(16:00):
use your points within their travel partal. You can transfer points out to loyalty
programs with airlines and hotels. You'regetting those great purchase protections, no foreign
transaction fees. It's just it's agreat starter card that gives you three times
points on restaurants, two times pointson travel, and it has a ninety
five dollars annual fee, which comparedto some of the other travel cards in
(16:22):
the space, is a pretty reasonablerate for all of those benefits that you're
getting. I can't remember the exactterm already, but you said travel partners.
That's I believe the process where youdon't actually pay back purchases via your
credit card company, you actually transferthe points over to a partner and apply
them there directly on their website.Could you just elaborate a little bit on
(16:44):
that and maybe just what the processis like and why someone would want to
do that rather than just paying backtheir purchases with points or miles. Sure.
Absolutely so, it's the same premiseas shopping around for the best deal.
Right when you're buying something like anew refrigerator, you might have an
exact model in mind, and youwouldn't just go to one store and purchase
(17:07):
it. You'd probably check a fewdifferent retailers and find the best price.
Same exact thing applies here. Sowhen you go into, for example,
the Chase Travel portal, you mightsee that a one night redemption at a
hotel is forty thousand points. Let'ssay you could check then in that hotel's
travel portal directly. So let's sayhiat dot com search for that same exact
(17:33):
night, same hotel, same dates, and it's a very different number of
points that are required to book thathotel. Because of that, it always
makes sense to check both rather thanjust going ahead and redeeming your points within
the bank's travel portal, because nowyou know, sometimes it could be best
(17:55):
in the bank. That depends onthe situation, but it's good to double
check both, and if it isbetter booking directly through the hotel, transfer
your points out of the bank intothat hotel. The points will often transfer
one to one, but always check, and that can save you tens of
thousands of points. It saved meso many points over time. And this
(18:17):
is what I meant at the verybeginning of our intro when I said it
takes discipline. I will raise myhand and say I've been guilty of just
saying I got the points. Letme go ahead and use my points on
this without ever checking and realizing ifdays, if not weeks later, that
I would have been a lot cheaperor I would have had to use less
points by transferring them out. It'sstill a great deal even if you're using
(18:41):
points on your credit card to makethe purchase. But the fact that you
can even get a better deal doingthe going through the client portal is a
partnership portal is a very different rewardthat you're receiving. Yeah, and I
think a headline that I would liketo emphasize is you can waste a lot
of time trying to find the verybest possible redemption for your points. And
(19:03):
you know, if you're even usingyour credit card points for traveling, you're
ahead of probably ninety five percent ofpopulation. So like just feel really good
about getting some benefit out of yourpoints. That's going to make you happy.
That's the ultimate, greatest way toredeem your points, So don't don't
let it stress you out. Piggybackingoff of your personal credit card usage for
travel rewards. Are there any buzzwordsthat automatically attract you towards a certain rewards
(19:27):
card? Oh? I think numberone is usually the sign up bonus.
I'm attracted to a shiny sign upbonus. But when I'm looking at applying
to a card, I'm not justlooking at the sign up bonus because that's
only going to happen once and thenyou have this card for hopefully years.
(19:51):
So I'm also looking at bonus pointearning categories. Is it going to fill
a gap that I currently have inmy credit card portfolio, Like I don't
have a card that gets me anybonus points for my gym spending, for
example, and that could make acard really appealing. One of the most
important things I look for is whatwe mentioned earlier, transferable points, so
(20:11):
the ability to use my points withmore than one hotel or airline. I
love that flexibility because then I havejust more options with how I travel,
and how I redeem. So thoseare the three things I look at,
And anytime I'm applying to a card, I'm doing so with the intention of
(20:32):
having it for multiple years. SoI'm doing the math to make sure that
it will make sense, especially ifthere's an annual fee, that it will
make sense for me to keep thatcard for a long time to come.
What are your personal deal breakers fortravel credit cards. I am always wary
of getting a hotel or airline specificcard. I have a couple of them
(20:56):
because sometimes it makes sense. Butfor example, she recently had an amazing
sign up bonus on one of theircards, and I looked into it,
but I realized, you know,I don't stay with them that often.
I would be applying for a cardjust for this temporary hit of points,
but then I run the risk ofhaving points that maybe I'm not excited to
(21:17):
redeem because I don't normally stay withthat chain. And so that's an instance
where I have to kind of notget shiny card syndrome and reel myself in
and be realistic about how much valuethat card will provide me in the long
run. Is that a real termthat you and your friends use shiny card
syndrome. I think shiny anything syndromewhen it comes to shopping is a real
(21:41):
risk, and it's definitely real inthe travel hacking space. I think I've
heard a lot of different people callit. That you brought up an interesting
topic that I think isn't spoken ofthat much. When it comes to credit
cards. You say that you knowthe sign up bonus and the rewards after
have to be worth it. Youalso mentioned that you plan on having credit
(22:03):
cards for years, but that insinuatesthat you're going to cancel a credit card.
What are your thoughts on canceling acredit card? Because I don't want
to push my opinion, but Ifeel like I've always been told that canceling
a credit card is a huge dealbreaker and a total menace to your credit
score. It absolutely can, andthat is why it should always be your
last resort. So if there's acard that you have that you find is
(22:26):
not working for you anymore, you'renot getting value out of it, you're
not using it if there's no annualfee, put it in your sock drawer
and forget about it. Make surethat your password isn't a safe spot,
but won't stress about it and donot cancel it, because canceling it will
reduce your credit history length and sothere's no sense in that. Just hang
(22:48):
on to it. It will eventuallylikely close on its own, but that's
better for your credit score than youactively going to cancel it. So that's
the first category is zero dollar annualfeed cards. However, if it does
have an annual fee and you feellike you're not getting the benefit out of
the card that you used to orit doesn't make sense for you anymore,
the first step that I would recommendis downgrading your card. So call the
(23:11):
bank and say, this annual feeisn't working for me anymore, but you
know, I've really enjoyed working withyou. Are there any zero dollar annual
fee credit cards that I could downgradethis account to. That way, it's
the same account, it's just aproduct change, and then you're not paying
the annual fee and then you canproceed. However, makes the most sense
(23:32):
if they don't have a zero dollarannual feed card that you have the option
to downgrade two and you really don'twant to keep the card, that is
the situation where you would probably wantto go ahead and cancel it. And
if you're canceling a card every oncein a blue moon, I wouldn't stress
about it. Your credit score willrecover some guiding thoughts. You heard it
(23:52):
here, close an account every threemonths in your golden No, just kidding,
just kidding, No. But thisis why I'm very thankful to have
you here on the show. Andyou know, you just brought up a
point that I never even knew waspossible. I didn't realize you could downgrade
accounts and it would be considered aproduct change and it wouldn't affect your credit
score in the same way that acancelation would. So that's the first time
(24:15):
I'm ever hearing about this. It'sabsolutely brilliant. Yeah, and I'm pretty
sure you're thinking, like, oh, this is pretty standard stuff. No,
I mean, it's the kind ofthing that if you aren't researching this
space, why would you know that. Like there's no education, like you
don't go to a high school classlike credit cards one oh one, and
the stuff isn't socialized. Well,So that's why I'm so excited to share
(24:38):
this stuff with you guys and withyour audience, because I think it's so
important to your financial well being toknow the options that are available to you
when it comes to your credit cards. Yeah, perfect keyword. I want
to hone in on his education.So I want to talk about some of
the credit cards you use and whenyou use them. If there's anything I've
learned through this conversation so far andjust from any research that I've done on
(25:02):
the topic, is that these travelhacks are not always four beginners, and
there's a lot of organization education,as we discussed, and planning that goes
into using credit cards to receive themost points of your purchases. So can
you talk a little bit about howyou decipher these eleven credit cards or if
you could just touch on some whetherit's by categories or point values totally.
(25:25):
So I do have eleven. Idon't use all eleven regularly, but each
of them has a specific role inmy credit card strategy. So in my
everyday spending, for example, Ispend a good amount on restaurants. I'm
based in Chicago. We've got anamazing food scene here, and my Chase
(25:45):
Sapphire preferred comes with me everywhere becauseearning three times points on restaurants and getting
those valuable Chase points is really importantto me when it comes to every day
spending that doesn't fit perfectly within anyof my typical categories. So think when
I'm going to a home improvement store, that's when I'm pulling out my Capital
(26:07):
one venture X because that gets twotimes points on every dollar spent. So
that card's pretty amazing. If you'relike I can't be bothered to learn about
these bonus categories, that's a greatcard because two times points on every dollar
is as simple as it gets interms of earning a good amount of points
without having to have that detailed organizationin place. Another great card that I
(26:33):
would love to mention is the AMEXPlatinum. This is one of those cards
that is not as great for anovice because it's really best suited to people
who are traveling a lot because highannual fee of six hundred ninety five dollars.
But the benefits you can get withthis card are pretty remarkable. They
offered tons of credits across things likeUber and Equinox digital entertainment re imbursements.
(27:00):
But the real star of the showwith that card is it gets you into
the AMX Centurian lounges at airports,which is if you've ever been to one.
You know, they are very nice. It is so much more luxurious
than hanging out by your gate,and it's just a real game changer in
terms of the comfort that I havewhen I travel. Yeah, and just
(27:22):
to really talk about the Amex Platinum, the big difference maker from me between
that one and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which I think is one that gives
you Priority Pass, was the factthat in Austin, which is where I
currently live, they were in theprocess of building a Centaurian Lounge here in
Austin and they canceled it because ofCOVID and the project just never came back
(27:44):
on track. And that would havebeen the difference maker for me because I
am a avid traveler and I dospend a lot of time in airports.
And don't get me wrong, likethe Priority Pass is incredible when it gives
you access to a lot of loungesinternationally, but there's nothing quite like the
Centurian Lounge. Yes, oh man, But this is a great example of
(28:07):
you know, it's so personal andone size does not fit at all.
If your home airport isn't going tobenefit you with whatever the lounge network is
that you're getting then that's not agood fit, even though it might be
a great card otherwise. So Ilove that example, and I'm so sorry
about the Centurion Lounge in Austin.What a bummer giving me both. I'm
still hoping that they're going to cometo their senses, but it doesn't seem
(28:30):
like it's going to happen anytime soon. Let's shift the conversation over to hotels,
because you've already talked about how you'resuch a high fanatic. Maybe that's
too strong of a word, butlet's talk about hotel chains and you know
credit cards and how that works.Yeah, so I am a high up
fanatic and that is something that you'regoing to hear repeatedly. I think if
(28:52):
you dig deeper into this travel hackingspace, Hyatt is just incredible because of
two things. They're points are reallyvaluable because they don't require a ton of
points for you to book a stayfor a night. And number two,
their loyalty program really rewards it's loyalmembers. So those are two things that
make it stand out. But thereare a ton of hotel chains that offer
(29:15):
amazing programs, like Marriott and Hilton, so Hyatt just stands out for me
personally, but my favorite way touse points with hotels is through my transferable
points because I can often find prettyamazing deals and luxury stays that I would
(29:36):
otherwise not be able to afford,which is just a special way to treat
myself that I really get a lotof enjoyment out of. And after our
last conversation, I may or maynot have opened up a credit card with
Hyatt just because of the rewards program, So I'll leave that out there.
Everyone should do their own research beforeyou decide to do it or not.
(29:57):
But yeah, incredible insight and rewardspoints that led to that decision. It
sounds like to me, Jy thatyou use a lot of transferable points and
that's kind of your preferred method touse them. So does this mean that
you don't have a preferred airline creditcard that you tend to use or am
I mistaken? So I do havean American Airlines card, and that's because
(30:21):
that's the airline that I personally flymost frequently and where I've got status.
That being said, I am notloyal to the point of always flying with
them. If there's a great dealto be had, I'm gonna choose the
cheaper flight. But I think thatthat is something that's only applicable to people
(30:41):
who are traveling pretty frequently, becauseearning miles with just one airline really it
locks you in. So it doesn'tmake sense for everybody. But if you
are a frequent flyer and you dohave a preferred airline, that could make
a ton of sense. For airlinecredit cards, this is a question a
lot of people can have. Iknow I have it. Does it work
(31:03):
that if you were to have anAmerican Lines credit card and you purchase a
flight using that credit card for adifferent airline, you won't get the same
rewards as if you were to purchasean American Airlines ticket exactly right. For
example, the card that I have, I get two times miles whenever I
buy an American Airlines flight using thecard, But if I were to use
(31:26):
it to buy a United flight,for example, it would just be one
mile per dollar spent, just likeany other transaction, which still isn't bad,
definitely, but you can compare itwith maybe a Chase credit card,
where it's going to give you threeor five times making that same purchase correct
exactly. That's another perk of theAMEX Platinum, five times points on airline
(31:48):
purchases, which is pretty unbeatable,three times points on travel with the Chase
Reserve. So there are a lotof cards to offer great multipliers when it
comes to travel. And I knowour listeners are going to want to hear
this because this is probably what's goingto get them the most excited about these
travel hacks and points. Can yougive our listeners an example of a trip
(32:10):
that you took mostly on points andmiles that turned a swanky vacation relatively cheap
or free. A couple of monthsago, for my birthday, my husband
and I went to Washington, DCfor the weekend and we stayed at the
Park Hyat and it's a five starhotel. They treated us incredibly well.
(32:30):
We showed up and there was abottle of bubbles and a beautiful dessert when
we walked into our room, andit was just incredibly luxurious day. And
it was only forty thousand points forthe two nights day, which I transferred
from my Chase account into Hyatt andI just couldn't believe the swinkiness of the
(32:51):
weekend and the fact that I didit on so few points was just icing.
On the cake. Did you personallywant to go to Washington see or
did you see the opportunity present itselfand you're like, this is kind of
a great deal not to do.Yeah. Oh, it's a great question.
Because the more flexibility that you havein your travel, whether that's the
(33:12):
dates that you're traveling or the locationthat you're headed to, the better chance
that you have of getting a greatdeal. So I had narrowed down to
a few cities that I would havebeen excited to spend my birthday in,
and Washington, DC was just oneof them. And when I saw the
park kiat for twenty thousand points anight, that was the decision maker.
So, and you know, toanyone that's never been in DC, I'm
(33:35):
a huge history buff. I loveDC. But that's just a personal opinion.
Oh and the fact that the museumsare free, that's another huge cost
savings on the trip. All ofour activities were free, which was amazing.
That's awesome. I'm sure you've gota lot of points getting all that
really good food out in DC twobecause I was. I'm quite a fan
of the food out there. Ohyes, totally. Speaking of getting everyone
(33:59):
pumped to utilize these travel hacks andutilize their points and miles. We definitely
have talked about it a little bit, even if we're kind of just like
circling back, like what are thefew really important key factors that listeners who
may be absolutely beginners at this,what can they do to get started using
travel rewards. So my first recommendationis to realize that you don't need to
(34:20):
know everything about travel hacking in orderto get started, kind of realizing you
won't know everything when you first getstarted. For a while, I experienced
information overload and got analysis paralysis whenit came to choosing which credit card to
apply for. And it's good todo your research, definitely do it,
but choosing just one card to beginwith and practicing your first redemption with points,
(34:45):
that's the best way to get getyour hands dirty, figure out how
it works, and it'll be agreat learning experience and you can build on
your knowledge from there. And anotherthing that you'll learn with time is that
there are all always more points outthere for you to earn, So don't
be precious about your points, don'thoard them, use them to travel and
(35:07):
have experiences that you want to have, because that's what they're there for.
And so what are some things youwish you know when you first started this
journey about applying your points and milestowards travel. What are some of those
tips you would tell your younger self. Oh, my gosh, first would
be the perfect redemption does not exist? Can send? I give spend hours
(35:34):
researching every combination of flights or differentdates that I could potentially travel, trying
to find the ultimate best way tosave a few points, and sometimes I
wish I had told myself your timeis also valuable. So just when you
find a good enough deal called goodenough, good enough. I think there's
(35:55):
a lot of pressure on social mediato find a redemption, and where every
point is worth eight cents a point, those are few and far between.
So just find find good enough andreally enjoy yourself and don't stress out about
it would be my number one tip. Do you still find yourself going down
that rabbit hole from time to time? Oh? Of course yeah. And
(36:16):
it's honestly, if you're like me, and it's fun to you, like
if it's not stressful, it's itfeels like a treasure hunt. It feels
like I could find the ultimate amazingoption for my travels and when I do
find an amazing option, like recently, I got a deal for a business
(36:38):
class flight on cut Our Airway andtheir queue suites for just fifty five thousand
miles going from Paris to Nairobi,and it was the most amazing experience that
I just I cannot stop talking aboutit because I loved it so much.
And that's a redemption that I'll holdon to near and dear to my heart
(37:01):
for a while. I wish ourlisteners could have saw John's face when you
dropped the price point of fifty fivethousand or five hundred fifty thousand, Yeah,
American Airlines miles. The reason thatI had this like huge shock in
my face one because you brought itup. Because we did an entire episode
on like the best airlines, bestflight experiences that you could have, and
(37:23):
she just named one of them.So go back to that episode, find
it and you'll get a little bitmore knowledge of what amenities and perks come
with a flight like that. Sovery cool that you have that experience,
happy for you, and jealous you'llget there. If you need help finding
a flight, put me up.So we primarily spoke about travel credit cards,
(37:45):
how they work, what you cando to get started. But what
are some other travel hacks that youwould like to share that aren't necessarily credit
card related. Oh yeah, Soone of my favorites is a seat hack.
So if you're picking seats for anflight and you're traveling with one other
person, my favorite thing to dois book the aisle and the window seat,
(38:07):
because typically middle seats are the lastto go. They're usually the last
to get booked. So sometimes you'llget lucky and you'll get the whole road
to yourself, which is amazing.And worst case scenario, if somebody does
have the middle seat, they're usuallysuper happy to give it up and take
either your window or aisle seat sothat you can sit next to your travel
(38:29):
partner. I will say it againfor the twentieth time this episode. That
is absolutely brilliant. I never havegood luck like that. Like, there's
probably been like two flights in myentire life where there was no one sitting
next to me. I'm usually theperson that gets like, you know,
it's like the two bodybuilders are sittingnext to me, and I'm just kind
of like, this is my lifefor the next five to seven hours.
(38:52):
But I hear you. Yeah.One other tip, not points related,
is I just recently got packing cubes, and I've always thought they were kind
of silly and useless, but nowI know. Now, I know they
are so helpful for keeping you organized, especially if you're going to more than
(39:13):
one stop in your trip, tokeep your things separated, and keep your
clean stuff separate from your dirty things. Like I'm now a super fan,
so a convert if tsa needs togo through your bags, It's so much
easier for them to look and putit right back. This is my first
I've probably had packing cubes for abouta year now. Complete game changer.
(39:34):
I don't know what I've been doingwith my life. Like the role technique
I apply that in the packing cubes. It's fantastic. Yeah, never thought
it'd be that stoked on packing cubes. This is such a fun conversation.
I can't stop laughing. John,Do you use packing cubes? No,
of course not, I'm laughing.No, I don't use them, But
(39:55):
Bro, I gotta get packing cubes. Man. I will give them a
go because of you stand behind them. You heard it from Jay. It's
they're they're real. But before wewrap up here, you know, we
are a travel show. Therefore,I do want to do our fun rapid
fire segment for our listeners. Youknow, five travel related questions in quick
(40:15):
succession. Are you ready? I'mready? Okay. The best dish you've
ever had in a foreign country,and what is it? I have a
huge sweet tooth. There was atimisou in Florence, Italy, at a
place called Loggiostra, and it justit was like five or six years ago
and I can't stop thinking about it. Awesome. Favorite country that you have
(40:36):
visited and why? Japan? Theculture, the food, it's beautiful.
It's so incredibly different from where Ilive. I just I loved it.
Definitely on my bucket list. Thecountry that you would most like to visit
Australia. I gotta go see akangaroo. I like the wallabies. But
to each their own. Best localdrink alcoholic or otherwise in any country you
(41:01):
have visited. Last year, Iwent to Lisbon, Portugal, and they
had a drink called Jingmia And thereare these small elderly women on the streets
of Lisbon that will sell you thisalcoholic beverage on the street. And it's
a communal, fun kind of ashot type experience and it tasted great,
(41:22):
but mostly I'm in it for themoment with friends and these women who are
selling the drinks. Awesome, veryoriginal answer, by the way, last
one, most adrenaline filled experience you'vehad abroad, good or bad? Oh?
No, most adrenaline filled experience waslast month. I was on safari
(41:43):
in Kenya. First day on safariand these lions approached our safari truck.
They were only a few feet away, and I was so scared. But
our guide was cool as a cucumber. He knew that. You know,
as long as we stay calm andin the truck, we are not a
threat to them. They weren't goingto do anything. But I did not
know that at the time, andI was pretty freaked out. I don't
(42:07):
know how I would act. Yeah, big cats are just absolutely terrifying,
beautiful and majestic. They belong overthere, not in a cage. I
need to be way, way,way far away from them. I've seen
way too many YouTube videos of thingsgoing wrong and like limbs being ripped for
me to stay home, but Iwould still want to do it. Highly
recommend awesome. You have delivered somuch useful information that I am actually going
(42:31):
to go back and transcribe this entirerecording so that I can note all the
travel hacks that I'm going to implementfor myself in the future. If our
listeners want to learn more about you, learn more travel hacks, where where
can they find and possibly follow you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but
you do have like a free travelcredit card points cheat sheet that people can
(42:52):
download on your I believe it's yourwebsite anyways, where can people find you?
Absolutely so, I'm Points by jon both Instagram and TikTok, and
you can also find me at Pointsby Jay dot com, which is where
you can download that cheat sheet thatyou just mentioned. Awesome, It's been
such a pleasure. I've learned somuch. And if our listeners want to
(43:15):
learn a little bit more about us, they can do so by visiting our
website at www dot gts podcast dotcom. You can find us on Instagram
or Facebook at Globetrotters Podcast, Twitterat globetrot Pod. Make sure you drop
us a review on Apple Podcasts orSpotify if you enjoyed listening to this conversation.
Editing on this podcast was done byour very own Jonathan ordero. Thanks
(43:37):
for listening until next time. Four
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