wanderfoundus
$22.40. That is how much we each spent for tickets to Maui. $11.20, each way. Check below; we’ve got the receipts.
One day when we should have been planning our trip to Japan in the Fall, Eric told me he had found a round trip flight to Maui, economy outbound and a business class on the return, and asked if I wanted to go over the winter holiday break. I asked him, “How can we afford that? We just paid for our tickets to Japan.” He smiled and said, “It’s all about the The Points Game baby – it comes out to a total of $44.80 for us both.” Needless to say I enthusiastically agreed to the idea of spending Christmas in Hawaii. Good thing I did too because that trip ended up being where Eric proposed. It was perfect!
When I made the commitment to travel more often in 2014 I started doing what I think most people do: save up for the year and try to go on one big vacation (and hope to find a cheap airline ticket in economy). Flights, especially long flights around the world, were just too expensive to do more frequently and flying business class was impossibly expensive. Eric and I had heard about ways to travel using points and credit cards but it all just seemed like there was a catch. However, our desire to travel more often and to far away places led us what I’ll call “The Points Game.”
As in any game, you need to put in work to get the win, and if you don’t know my husband Eric, let me tell you two of his most prominent traits. He is extremely competitive and very analytical, like maybe too analytical (but that is probably how he got his BS in Aerospace Engineering in only 3.5 years). Fortunately for us “competitive & analytical” are a great combination for “winning” at “The Points Game.” Eric is someone who obsessively researches everything: from the best TV or smart home devices down to the right toothbrush for home and toothbrush for travel we should buy. So after many weeks of research and spreadsheets, we had all the information we needed to get our travel adventures started. In the summer of 2015 we went on our first international trip together using points (to Greece, which I loved but I’ll talk more about that another time).
What I want to share with you today, however, is the “winning” part of “The Points Game.” Because anyone can accumulate lots of airline points overtime and spend (waste) them all on a 3 hour trip from Florida to Texas for what would’ve been a modestly priced ticket… or you can use those same points to travel to Hawaii (8+ hours) or Greece (10+ hours). One of those scenarios is winning (hint: it’s the one where you go to Hawaii or Greece).
But before you can “win” at the “The Points Game” you have to accumulate the points, so Eric and I have developed some best practices to earn points and find the best travel redemption over the years.
Sign Up for the Right Card
After a ton of research, we decided that the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard would be the best for us for several reasons. The most important was the sign-up bonus that it afforded us: 60,000 bonus miles! The points bonus varies from month to month so try to wait until you see it for 60,000 for the best redemption. You can go on economy to Hawaii on MileSAAver Off Peak for just 20,000 one way, although we have found that difficult to find. The easiest to find was the MileSAAver (Peak) for only 22,500, which was only 2,500 more each way.
The “catch” here was that you get 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. $2,500 is a lot of money but we found ways to do this at the time by changing two habits: adding authorized users and focusing all payments on this specific card.
Adding Authorized Users
The first thing we did was add an authorized user. The Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard allows you to add authorized users for free. Eric signed up for the main card and then added me as an authorized user. When I received my personal card, we switched all of our recurring costs to either of the cards: Utilities, Car payments, Amazon, Netflix, etc. Unfortunately we weren’t able to pay our rent with a credit card or we would have switched over for two months and quickly hit that $2,500 threshold!
Focus on Growing Your Miles Bank
The second thing we did was that we focused on growing our AA miles by utilizing their bonus miles. You get 2x miles on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 mile per dollar for all other everyday spend, as well as 2 miles per dollar spent at restaurants and 2 miles per dollar spent at gas stations. It isn’t as much as other industries but we had a plan to rack up AA points to get these flights. We made sure to only put our purchases on this card for the next three months.
Find The Right Mile Saver Deals
Reduced Mileage Awards: This was something that was extremely important. Because of this card, we have access to reduced mileage awards that can save up to 7,500 miles per round-trip saver award or up to 3,750 off a one-way saver award) to or from any of the airports listed in the current quarter’s promotion.
Other Card Perks
We wanted to find a card that gave more than just a sign-up bonus and we found this card gave us things we wanted:
- No Foreign Transaction fees on purchases
- Free checked bags: With the credit card, you get the first checked bag fee on domestic AA operated flights for you and up to four companion on the same reservation. You don’t need status to have it! Since checked bags are $30, it only takes four avoided checked bags to pay back the $99 annual fee. That felt worth it to us. Especially since my husband spent a ton of time looking up the best suitcases.
- Preferred Boarding: At the time, we didn’t have status so we were boarding with Group 9. With the card, we would be boarding at least Group 5. The value for that perk depends if you want to check your carry-on or wait in line to board!
- 25% Discount on In-flight purchases: This was a great perk as we tend to buy snack and food on the plane.
- Great Airline Partnerships: Cathay Pacific, Etihad, and Japan Airlines have some amazing routes and business class lounges. When you get a business class ticket, you usually get the opportunity to go into their business class lounges for free (free food, drinks, mainly focusing on the champagne! )
Recap
Because we wanted to fly in Business class, we used the strategy above twice: once when Eric signed up for the card and once we hit the threshold, I applied for the card as well and then made him an authorized user. In just a few months we had at least 125,000 AAdvantage award miles (2.5K spend x 2 + 60K bonus x 2).
We never thought playing the “The Points Game” would afford us the opportunity to travel to so many gorgeous places like Maui, Thailand, Maldives, Bora Bora and more, but it has! We have Singapore, Bali and Egypt pre-booked on miles right now for later this year. This card was the perfect credit card for us as we ventured into traveling on points because of its relatively low purchase amount, high sign-up bonus, and great mile redemption rewards. Playing “The Points Game” has been worth it for us and if you follow the steps above as well as other tips we’ll share, we know it will be worth it to you!
With wanderlove,
Daniella & Eric
BONUS: The main photo from this post is from staying at the Westin Maui, an amazing hotel under the Marriott brand. Apply for an American Express Card with this link. Each friend can earn 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after they use their new Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card to make $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership.We can both get rewarded if you’re approved!
Did you like this post? Have you tried using any of the tips above? Have further questions? Write a comment below!
