Upload
edward-pizzarello
View
549
Download
0
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Getting Started With
Miles and Points
Summer Hull – Mommy Points
Ed Pizzarello – Pizza in Motion
Who Are We?
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Summer Hullwww.mommypoints.comTwitter: @mommy_pointsEmail: [email protected]: facebook.com/MommyPoints
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Ed Pizzarellowww.pizzainmotion.comTwitter: @pizzainmotionEmail: [email protected]
PizzaInMotion.com
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
What We’re Going to Talk About
•Why Collect Miles and Points• Things to Think about Up-front•How to Earn•How to Burn•Questions
Connect With Relatives
Show Your Kids the World
Connect With Each Other
Spread Out
Arrive Rested
Arrive Rested
Eat Awesome Food
Stay Places We Could Never Afford
Just Have Fun
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Things to Think About Upfront
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
What Are Your Goals?
• Domestic tickets for multiple people• International first class for one• Business Class for two• Top end hotels around the world• Family resorts• Flexibility to book any date• Tickets to Europe during off-peak times
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Your goals should dictate your actions. It’s much easier to know where to start
when you can see the end game.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Reach your first miles and points goal and then set a new one. The goal is to
use them, not to collect them!
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Start small• Don’t worry about what others
are doing• Do what is right for you• Don’t sweat the small stuff• Stay focused on your goals• Get organized
Tips for Getting Started
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Award Wallet
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Set due dates on the same day• Pay bills online• Use a spread sheet• Use service like mint.com if
you need extra help• Only use certain cards in a
given month
Tips for Staying Organized
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Miles and points collecting can take as much or as little
time as you want.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Reading blogs can save you time.
www.viewfromthewing.comwww.thepointsguy.comwww.millionmilesecrets.comwww.boardingarea.com
Many, many more.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Be aware that “free” isn’t always free…but sometimes
it can be close.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Burning well is harder than earning, so pay attention to
both.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Earning Miles and Points
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Credit cards• Debit cards• Online shopping• Traveling• Promotions• Dining Programs• Investments• Asking/complaining
Ways to Earn Miles and Points
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Credit cards are the fastest and easiest way to earn miles
and points.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
I have earned close to half a million points in
one year.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Remember Your Goals
1. Flexible and transferrable points cards
2. Hotel and airline specific cards3. Fixed value points4. Cash back cards
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Transferrable Points
• Ink Plus – 50k• Chase Sapphire
Preferred – 40k
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Transferrable Points
• Premier Rewards Gold– 25k• EveryDay Preferred – 15k• Mercedes Benz Plat – 50k
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Airline and Hotel Cards
• United MileagePlus Explorer Card• US Airways MasterCard**• Hilton HHonors Reserve Card• Club Carlson Visa - BOGO
Less flexibility, but often give “elite like” perks.
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Barclay ArrivalCard, Capital One Venture Card & US Banks FlexPerks
• Bad for premium cabins• Good for inexpensive domestic travel. • Good for those without flexibility• Good to leverage for sales
Fixed Value Points
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Category Bonuses• Ink Bold/Ink Plus 5x: Office Supply stores,
cell phone, home phone, internet, cable
• Chase Freedom 5x: rotating quarterly
categories with $1,500 cap (no annual fee)• Citi ThankYou: 3x on dining and
entertainment, 2x on airfare and hotel charges• Amex EveryDay Preferred: 3x grocery (6k
cap), 2x gas, 50% bonus for 30 uses
• US Bank FlexPerks: 3x charitable donations
(Kiva), 2x on grocery or other
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Chase Trifecta
Chase Checkingfor extra 10%
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Never miss a payment.• Don’t spend more just to get the
bonus or more points.• Be a good customer.• Annual fees can add up, so do the
math.• Credit score may go down in the
short run.
Dangers of Rewards Cards
What Goes Into Credit Score
Inquiries and age of account can hurt, but total debt to credit ratio can be helped.
My Credit Score Estimates
• Citi Identity Monitor
• Credit Karma• Credit Sesame
Online Shopping
Occasional Bonus Promos
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Buy a gift card to earn bonus points
• United MileagePlus X App• Then use that gift card via the
portal to make your purchase• Check Frequent Miler’s lab for
current success stories
Double Dipping in Portals
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Compare manually for large purchases for accuracy
• www.evreward.com• Pick2Pay
Compare Shopping Portal Rates
Dining Rewards Network
• 3x – 5x miles per dollar + sign-up and other occasional bonuses
• Currently 2,000 mile United promo but has been 3,000
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Contests, giveaways, sign-up bonuses, free point bonuses
• Occasionally very lucrative promos come along – hit them big if you can
• Worth doing for one, worth doing for the whole family
• Small Business Saturday
Look Our For Promotions
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Investments• Mortgages• LASIK• Partners (car rental, flower
orders, electricity, wine clubs, etc)• Daily Getaways (cheap purchase)• BarclayCard Travel Community• Buying them
Other ways of earning miles
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Always earn miles on trips• Credit to a partner if needed• Look out for promos and register• Mileage running can be
lucrative…but only for a few Mainly done for elite status
Earn Miles From Actual Travel
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Burning Miles and Points
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Learning to use miles and points to their max is the hard part, but don’t let “analysis paralysis” stop you from
starting the process.
Burning Miles and Points
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
If you started earning with your end goal in mind, then burning is easy.
Easy When You Look at Goals
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Look back at your goals• Look at your value per point, but
don’t get stuck there• Hotel points usually easier than
miles (no blackout)• Consider stopovers, open-jaws,
and free one-ways
Things to Consider with Burn
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Different award charts have different costs and countries located
in different zones.
Award Charts
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
US Airways – Australia biz 110k US Airways – North Asia F 120kAeroplan US – Europe 1 90k bizANA East Coast – Europe 68k bizBA BOS-DUB – 50k RT in biz
Learn the sweet spots for your desired destination.
Award Charts Zone Example
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
• Start looking at 11 months out, but don’t stop there
• Last minute can be great• Expert flyer alerts• Remember to check partners• Look segment by segment• Not all options online for all
airlines
Availability Issues
© Lypht, LLC All Rights Reserved
Questions?