Over the past 6 years or so, I’ve earned millions of points that have gotten me probably a quarter of a million dollars worth of free travel. However, very few of them actually came from actually flying or staying in hotels. How was I able to earn so many points so quickly? How was I able to scale up and earn so many points to enjoy lots of travel?
I can’t say that it was easy. There were a couple of moments where I got burned and actually end up getting hosed on generating points (people who have been in the game for a while shutter at the letters “TPM”).
However, websites dedicated to generating points for free/cheap are a dime-a-dozen and can have some outdated ways of getting points in their guides (although, Frequent Miler, who is the best at keeping a running tally of every economical way, does a fantastic job of keeping the 100+ ways of getting points up-to-date).
Thus, the purpose of this blog post is to provide a list of the 4 (+1) major ways that a.) very likely won’t change over the next decade and b.) are easy for everyone from beginner to expert to greatly increase the number of miles and points they earn without much thought.
1. Flying and Staying in Hotels
If you’re going to a points and miles website, it’s likely that you have a strong interest in traveling. The easiest way to start your journey to cheaper travel is to fly and stay in hotels. Now, this probably isn’t the easiest way to get points and miles (see the remaining points), but you have to start somewhere, right?
Maybe you use Southwest to fly a few times a year to go see your family. Sign up for a Southwest Rapid Rewards account. Maybe you have a hotel that’s a Marriott that you and your partner go to once a year to rest and unwind? Sign up for a Marriott Bonvoy account. When you pay cash, you’ll get points. It doesn’t matter who pays for the ticket (maybe it’s your employer), you still get the points because you did the traveling.
You may find that those miles in random programs do come in handy. For example, I flew from Memphis to Quebec City through Toronto on Air Canada. I went ahead and credited miles to the Air Canada Aeroplan rewards program. Fast forward a few years, and Air Canada released a whole new program that made it an awesome way to get over to Europe for relatively few miles. Even though I only had 1000 miles or so in my Aeroplan account, it has me on my way to more quickly be able to fly my wife and I over to Europe.
Even if you don’t think you’ll ever fly that airline again, sign up for the account! After visiting close friends in Fes, Morocco, I flew Air Arabia to Amsterdam. They didn’t have a partner I could credit to, but I still signed up! It was fun to be greeted as a “loyalty member” in the Fes airport, even though I haven’t flown them since (maybe one day!).
2. Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses
The fastest way to get points and miles is through credit card sign-up bonuses, hands down. Since I began this hobby, I have applied for and successfully obtained over 24 credit cards, generating over 1.5 million points just through credit card sign-up bonuses alone, and I still aim to open between 5 and 7 cards every year just for the sign-up bonuses.
This is the fastest (and easiest) way to generate a lot of points quickly. Oftentimes, these offers are as simple as spend $500 in 3 months and get 15,000 points. Others are spend $3,000 in 3 months and get 75,000 points. My best haul ever on a single sign-up bonus was for my American Express Platinum Card, which offered 125,000 points with $5,000 spend in 3 months plus 15 points per dollar at grocery stores and restaurants for 6 months on up to $25,000 in spend. While I ended up only obtaining 350,000 points, there was potential for up to 500,000 points!
I know some people are weary about opening credit cards because of going into debt. I’ll note two things: 1.) This hobby is only for people who stay on top of their finances pretty religiously. I got into that habit in graduate school, where I made so little each year, I had to know where every penny was going. 2.) I know many people use Dave Ramsey for his debt snowball and budgeting, and I think they are great! However, while you may not become a millionaire off of credit cards, you can make some great memories that, in my mind, are worth millions of dollars. Just stay on top of what you are spending, and you’ll be fine (treat it like a cash-only budget).
Note: If you have any questions about what card to get or would like a referral for a card, let me know! I love helping people earn travel rewards. I just ask that you use my referral link (and if I don’t have a card you want, not a problem, I’ll help anyways!).
3. Targeted Spending on Credit Cards
There are often times when you aren’t wanting to open and close credit cards continuously and are wanting to maximize your everyday spending. You may be about to apply for a home loan in the next few years, are looking to pay down debt, or just want to raise your credit score to get access to better credit cards.
You’ll want to make sure get a great credit card combo that can maximize your spending everyday. With the cards currently out there (such as a Chase Sapphire Preferred/Freedom Unlimited, Amex Gold/Everyday, or Citi Premier/Double Cash), you should never be collecting less than 1.5 points per dollar spent on anything. If you spend $30,000 across one year (very attainable for most people), and get 1.5 points per dollar (you can often get more), you can get 45,000 points. Depending on the program you get your points in, that’s a free roundtrip flight, a couple of nights in a hotel, or $450 in cold hard cash.
I personally never earn less than 2 points per dollar, and I often get more than that, allowing me to generate at least 100,000 points per year just on my everyday spending (when not going for a sign-up bonus).
4. Shopping Portals
Over the past two decades, the percentage of shopping trips that are online has slowly increased a little every year. Since the pandemic, the percentage of shopping trips that have been online has skyrocketed, with over 30% of dollars being spent online and 75% of individuals shopping online (Statista, 2021).
One thing that I do every time that I shop online is make sure to go back to a cashback site. There are tons of websites that give you a couple of percent back on orders through thousands of different stores, including big stores like Walmart, Best Buy, Home Depot, and Lowes.
My two favorite websites are TopCashback and Rakuten (referral links if you want to sign up for an account; we both get money when you use my referral and make a purchase), which I find often have the best returns on spending at the stores I shop at. Each year, I probably get about $200 worth of points and cash back which I apply to my travel (whether it be flights, hotels, or just experiences). Whenever you shop online, I would highly recommend starting at one of these websites to get some money back every time you shop.
If you’re worried about these sites going under, I highly doubt that. They’ve been around for almost a decade (and Rakuten even has their logo on the Golden State Warriors jersey!).
Bonus: Manufactured Spending
Ah, manufactured spending. While most people won’t get into this, I really got into this in graduate school and during my postdoc. Whether it was buying money orders (RIP), selling giftcards (burned, baby, burned), or participating in buying groups, I was able to scale up and get over 1 million points per year just by manufactured spending, where I spent money on products, got my money back in various ways, and paid off my credit cards. It was a lot of effort, but it was worth it, as it paid for me being able to see my now-wife every month! I’ll talk about this some, but, generally speaking, these are more advanced techniques if you really want to get into it.
Conclusion
There’s tons of ways to earn points and miles out there, but, with a little bit of effort, you can gain hundreds of dollars worth of travel each year doing the things you do already. It is my hope that you are able to gain some travel, see the world, and make memories that you will cherish the rest of your life.
What do you plan on doing to help yourself gain cheaper travel in this next year? Leave a comment below and let me know!
-PoP
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