From Points and Miles to Passports and Memories
I started brand new to the points and miles world In September of 2024, now less than 6 months later I have already booked my first trip, worked on the maximizing my card benefits, and have enough points to book trip number 2 as soon as I convince my family that it is a good idea! I want to show people who are brand new to this world what is possible even when you are starting at the bottom and climbing to the top of the world!
Episodes
38 episodes
So I have a card that earns points, now what?
One of the most common questions that I get is from people that have been stacking or hoarding points and what they can do now that they are sitting on a stack to earn enough to come back from an amazing adventure!
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15:52
When to open a new card, and how to earn with what you have.
Today I am going over things to look for when you are considering opening a new card, as well as some information on the challenge that our family is taking on over the first quarter of 2026 to see how many points we can earn without opening ne...
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18:11
How to make 2026 your year of travel
Today I go over some practical and fast steps that you can take to make 2026 the year that you are finally going all the places and doing all the things!
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19:03
Can a cruise pay for itself?
Today I go over our most recent family vacation on a cruise and dive into some of the activities that we would have paid for separately at home to answer the question: Can a cruise pay for itself?
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19:15
A quick episode on how to maximize the Citi strata elite annual fee in December....and again in 2026!
Today I go over quick ways to go over the Citi strata elite benefits and how to make sure you are getting your calendar year offers! It is short and sweet as we all head into the holidays!
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9:59
Maximizing the Amex Platinum fee by getting those rewards!
I go through many of the rewards that are expiring in December of 2025 and my plans on using them or how I have used them for this year, as well as some of my plans for how to use them in 2026.
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25:25
Traveler stocking stuffer ideas.
Today I go through some of my favorite amazon purchases over the last year, how much we loved them, and which ones we use on a daily basis. I have provided the Amazon links, please know that I receive a small commission for anything purchased t...
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23:36
How can I earn points on home renovations?
Today I go into some things to consider in the process of home renovations and how to earn more points in remodels and renovations.
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20:18
Our first retention offer
Today I go into what we are doing as far as canceling and keeping cards as we are hitting our one year mark in our journey of points and miles.
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16:44
Don’t Miss These Holiday Miles: Simple Steps to Maximize Each Purchase
Today I dive into how to categorize holiday spending and purchases to earn more miles, more places.
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25:35
What else can I do with credit card points?
Today I go over the other things that can be done with credit card points other than travel. I weigh the costs and benefits of using them other places and go over how to get the most value out of your points!
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17:25
When is the best time to start earning points and miles?
Today I go into some easy ways to start if you see your redemptions further down the road, I also dive into some of the reasons that now is the time to start banking your points and miles.
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19:16
Earning maximum points without opening a business card
Today I dive into some details on how people without major businesses can earn more points without worrying about getting business cards. I dive into the details on ways to use the system, shopping portals, and maximize offer values to ge...
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17:47
What does transfer partner mean?
Today I take a dive into what it means to have and use transfer partners and why it is usually a better deal than booking directly with the credit card portal.
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15:17
Multiple Reward Multiplier Value Vs. Cobranded Cards
Today I discuss and math the math on some of the multiple reward currency multipliers on cards compared to that of cobranded cards. I explain how some people may get excited about higher multipliers but then do some math to figure out if they a...
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18:52
How a normal person books redemption flights.
Today I go through the steps that I took to book our family's most recent redemption, and some of the hiccups we ran into along the way. I go through real life steps and some of the real life issues that we ran into to help you out when y...
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20:55
Elite Card Lounge Access for Families
Today I go through some of the popular elite cards on the market that offer lounge access for families, I go into briefly the benefit of the travel credit, the net cost of the card, and use that to math out how many visits it would take your fa...
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25:57
As Little Time As Possible
Today I go over some of the fast and easy things that you can do before or as soon as you dive in to points and miles to make sure that you are racking up as many miles as possible, without having to put too much thought or too many details int...
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15:07
How we earned over 700,000 points our first year.
In this episode I go into what cards we got our first year, what types of bonuses came into play and the amount of time and effort (which was little!) that we put into getting these points. I also discuss where we plan on going from here ...
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21:14
Annual Fees- What we pay and are they worth it?
Today I dive into the details of 3 of our favorite family cards. I go into the details of what annual fees are, how much we pay on each card, and what some of the benefits are that people might. not know or take advantage of. All to...
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20:56
Is Business Class Out of Reach?
Today I dive into some small but quick point comparisons and go over some of the questions that I have asked myself as we have been planning trips for our own family.
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19:23
What I Really Do, and a Bit on How I Do It.
Today I answer the question of what I do to help explain the process and how I am able to amass about 200,000 points a year without spending anywhere near $200,000. It comes down to sign up bonuses and triaging of the spending the best th...
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13:47
A quick getaway, a Capital One Lounge, and why an extra point currency made the trip possible!
Today my daughter and I go into our recent quick getaway to Washington DC and the stops we made at a Capital One Lounge and Capital One Landing on our way through the airports. We also go into a bit of deal on the epic reward costs that w...
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23:13