Welcome! You have just started your first step in taking advantage of the various travel benefits that U.S. airlines, hotels, and credit card companies afford you as a service member. Using these tips and tricks, you will have a better travel experience and do it nearly free. Before getting started, this article is a basic overview of earning points and miles. For more in-depth articles on some of the other quirks and features of the points and miles game, continue to visit the site, read its various articles, and watch its videos. To fully take advantage of this website’s value and the guide below, there are several requirements you should meet.
- Some perks require an active military Common Access Card (CAC)
It will not matter if you are Active Duty, a Reservist, or a National Guard service member, but it must still be active to take full advantage of some of the perks described within the website. If you don’t have an active CAC, you will still find a lot of useful information below.
- Your credit score should be above 700
The most valuable and practical way to earn frequent flyer miles is through credit card sign-up bonuses. To be approved for the top travel credit cards, you will need a credit score of at least 700 or higher.
- Pay your bills in full each month
Each month, paying interest on your credit card will negate any value you may earn from having a travel card. So be sure to pay your credit card bills in full each month and never spend beyond your means.
Top Seven Concepts
- The basics
- What are points and miles?
- Military Perks
- Credit cards to have in your wallet
- How to earn
- Travel the world
- Where to get started
The basics
The best way to maximize your miles and point earnings is to use payment methods that allow you to earn travel rewards. Which means you need to stop using cash and your debit card. I only use a debit card as a dedicated ATM card for those rare occasions when you have to pay with cash. When you use a travel credit card, you will be earning valuable points and miles every time you pay for something, and soon, that daily $5 coffee will land you on a dream vacation. So let’s dive further into travel rewards that will have you visiting new places in no time.
What are points and miles?
Points and miles are essentially a different currency type you can use to pay for your travel experiences. Whether that’s flying, staying at a hotel, or taking a local tour in a foreign country. You should be aware of three types of travel rewards: airline miles, hotel points, and transferable currencies.
Airline Miles
Airline miles are unique to each airline. An example of airline miles is the United MileagePlus program. To earn United miles, you will need to register for a frequent flyer account with United. Then, whenever you fly with United or one of its partners, you can input your United frequent flyer number on your reservation to earn miles for the flight.
The number of miles collected on a flight will depend on many factors, including the type of seat you book, the distance flown, and the ticket’s cost. Afterward, you can redeem your earned miles for award tickets on that airline or its partners.
Hotel Points
Hotel points work a lot like airline miles. Most hotel chains have their loyalty programs, including Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt hotels.
You can earn points on paid hotel stays or use that hotel chain’s co-branded credit card. One example of a card I recommend for military members is the Hilton Aspire Credit Card. Like airline credit cards, each hotel chain’s credit cards encourage consumers to use them by awarding bonus points for using the card at their hotels. The Hilton Aspire Credit Card, for example, earns 14 Hilton Honors points per $1 for purchases at Hilton properties. This value often outweighs other travel cards in this bonus category.
The typical best use of hotel points collected is to use them for an award night, also known as a “free night.” Hotel chains offer free nights to encourage loyalty and continued spending at their hotels. While, in some cases, hotel points are transferable to other programs such as airline miles, the transfer rates are typically weak and should be discouraged.
Transferable Currencies
Transferable points are the most flexible and valuable type of travel rewards points. Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards are examples of transferable points. The points are incredibly versatile because you can redeem them in many ways, including gift cards, cash back, or transferring to specific airline partners. However, we will concentrate on using these points strictly for travel.
For example, Chase points are transferable to United and Hyatt hotels at a 1:1 ratio. Because of their flexibility, transferable currencies are more valuable than airline miles or hotel points individually.
Transferable points are earned using credit cards specific to the transferable point currency, unlike airline miles and hotel points. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and the Platinum Card from American Express will earn Membership Rewards points.
Military Perks
Numerous airlines, hotels, and travel cards repay service members through various discounts, deals, bonuses, and perks that you can use to save significantly on travel. Sometimes these deals are available only to active-duty military personnel, and sometimes the perks extend to U.S. military veterans and their families.
These benefits often appear in free checked bags, discounted rates, and access to member lounges, seat upgrades, and the waiving of annual fees. Yet, no matter what form these travel benefits may seem, they will help you travel for less and enjoy more of your military leave. Throughout this website, you’ll learn the tips and tricks to take full advantage of them.
Credit Cards
The entire purpose of having a credit card that earns points and miles is for the money you usually spend on everyday expenses will allow you to fund your next trip. But with so many different credit cards out there, it can be hard to decide which the best one for you is. So don’t worry; I have a few suggestions to help you figure out what works best.
The first question you should ask when choosing a travel card is, what are your travel goals? Do you primarily travel internationally or domestically? If international travel is your goal, then a Southwest or Frontier airlines credit card won’t bring you closer to your goals as other options may.
I recommend you start by setting a travel goal. For example, do you want to spend a week in Europe, or take the family to Disney World, or maybe lie on the beaches of Hawaii? Next, start studying which credit cards can help you earn the points to make your travel goal happen as quickly as possible. Getting a card with transferable points is an excellent place to start because you can transfer the points you earn to various airlines and hotels or book through the card’s travel portal.
Here are some of my preferences:
Chase
Chase is a fantastic place to start for beginners and offers several excellent travel credit card options. Chase Sapphire cards are transferable points earning cards that allow you to transfer points to 13 hotel and airline partners. Chase’s most well-known and valuable partners are British Airways, United, Hyatt, and Marriott.
One quirk to Chase’s credit card program is the “5/24 rule” that you must be familiar with going forward. To obtain a Chase credit card, you cannot have opened five or more personal credit cards with any bank in the last 24 months. So, in short: If you’re intending on signing up for multiple cards in the next two years, it’s best to get your Chase cards first.
My favorite Chase cards are the ones below:
American Express
American Express has a lot of solid travel credit cards to choose from, as well as an excellent rewards program and 19 transfer partners, such notable ones as Delta, JetBlue, and Marriott.
The one quirk with Amex is that it does restrict credit card bonuses to a once-per-lifetime policy. So you’ll want to hold out for the most significant sign-up bonus that you can find and be strategic for when you apply.
Some top Amex cards to consider:
The Platinum Card from American Express
How to Earn
Some of the best ways to earn the points and miles for your next trip are listed below. Utilize all of these and get to your destination sooner.
Sign-up bonuses
The fastest and most effective way to earn points and miles is by signing up for a credit card that offers a large sign-up bonus and using that card’s bonus categories. Often these bonuses have a minimum spending requirement attached to them. For example, you must spend $5000 within three months of opening the card. If you don’t meet these minimum spending requirements, you won’t receive the sign-up bonus and may not earn them again. These sign-up bonuses can be as high as 100,000+ points, depending on the offer. Typically, an offer of 50,000 points/miles or more is considered a reasonable offer.
Credit cards come out with elevated sign-up bonuses all the time, so try and obtain the most significant sign-up bonus you can before applying. However, rule number one for applying for these travel credit cards ensures you can meet the spending requirement before applying.
Everyday spending
There are few things more satisfying than earning points or miles on items you need to purchase for your everyday life. All of your regular expenses, from dining, groceries, gas, gym memberships to your cellphone bill, will get you closer to your travel goals. Depending on what card you have, you can earn even more miles for different categories. For example, some cards offer bonus points when you spend on dining, and others offer more points when using a ride-share service.
For instance, if a card gives you 4x points/miles for every dollar you spend on dining, and your morning coffee and bagel cost $10, you would earn 40 points/miles. Although, of course, the 40 points/miles you received will not pay for a trip, they will add up over time. If you continued to get a coffee and bagel every weekday for the next year, you would earn 9600 points/miles. Depending on the award, you just gained a one-way domestic flight somewhere for free simply for purchasing breakfast for yourself. The strategy is to pick the right credit card that closely matches your everyday spending habits, and soon, those points or miles bring you closer to your next trip.
Flights and Hotel Stays
The most obvious way to earn points and miles is by flying and staying directly with your favorite airline and hotel programs. You will earn miles nearly every time you fly with an airline, and you’ll earn hotel points for each overnight stay at a hotel. Ensure that you’ve signed up for the airline or hotel’s loyalty program and include your loyalty number when you reserve your flight or stay.
Shopping Portals
One of the favorite ways to earn additional points and miles by double-dipping is to utilize online shopping portals. A large portion of shopping occurs online from the comfort of your home. Rather than going to a store, when you buy an item through an airline’s shopping portal, you will earn airline miles in addition to the points you’ll earn on your credit card statement.
For example, instead of buying flowers for Mother’s Day directly from a website, you’ll start on your favorite airline’s shopping portal and navigate the flower shop’s website. You can often earn a bonus of 20-30x miles per dollar spent.
My favorite way to compare shopping portal earn rates is through the comparison tool located at CashBack Monitor. Search for the best rate, click the link and start earning points on every item you buy online.
Dining Programs
Dining rewards programs are another easy way to pick up airline miles or hotel points by eating at select participating restaurants. Sign up for a free account with your favorite dining program and add your credit card to the account.
Frequent flyer miles should automatically post to your dining account every time you visit a participating restaurant and use the card on file. Most significant airlines currently offer dining programs. Most programs allow you to add five credit cards, but each card can only participate in one program. So choose the right program for you and your goals.
Travel the world
So now that you’ve learned the basics let’s talk about how to accomplish your travel goals and take advantage of your military benefits to open up more possibilities and help you travel the world more comfortably and at a lower strain on your wallet.
Airlines, hotels, and credit cards are closely intertwined, and one example of this entanglement is Airline alliances. Alliances are a method for the airlines to cooperate and get you to your next destination. There are three main alliances you should know about: Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance. As far as U.S. airlines go, American Airlines is part of Oneworld, Delta is part of SkyTeam and United is part of Star Alliance.
Most importantly for you, this is where all of those points and miles you have earned start to pay off. You can take advantage of airline alliances use your points and miles from one airline’s program to book a flight on another. For example, you can use Turkish Airways miles to book a flight on United Airways and vice versa.
Now, why would you need to know this? Because you utilize “sweet spots” in each of these programs to use fewer points and travel farther than you may have thought. Turkish Airways allows you to travel anywhere within the United States one-way for 7,500 miles in the previous example. This sweet spot includes Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
If you ever looked up the price for an airline ticket from the East Coast to Hawaii, you would know that it may cost $1000+. Instead, you can utilize Turkish Airways miles and get there for the extremely low mileage amount of 7,500 miles. That is a steal!
Hotels operate a little differently. Unfortunately, there are no true alliances, so you can’t use your Hilton Honors points to stay at a Hyatt or Marriott. However, you can transfer the travel credit card points you earned from Chase, American Express, and others directly to those hotels.
For example, an outstanding value from your Chase points is to transfer them to Hyatt hotels. Every Chase point you transfer to Hyatt, you’ll receive 1 Hyatt point in return, so if you move 5,0000 Chase points to Hyatt, you have 5,000 Hyatt points and can stay at any one of their category one hotels for free anywhere in the world.
Where to get started
The points and miles game can seem overwhelming at first, and while there is a learning curve to some of the more advanced tips and tricks, you can start immediately taking advantage of your benefits on your very next flight and vacation. The best way to get started is to bookmark this website, subscribe to our social media pages, and follow along to learn at your own pace. Next, apply for a travel rewards credit card that matches your spending habits and maximize those rewards before redeeming for that aspirational vacation you’ve been thinking about taking. You’ve already started by visiting this website, and it will put you on the track to traveling the world for nearly free.