Become Points Rich
Now that we know why the points are so valuable, let’s look at how to amass a small fortune in credit card points.
The quickest and easiest way to earn points and miles is by getting a new credit card with a massive signup bonus. Many credit card issuers try to entice people to pick up a new card by offering tens or even hundreds of thousands of points by signing up for a new card and spending a certain amount of money in a set time frame, usually the first few months of having the card.
The American Express Gold card for example is currently offering a 60,000 point signup bonus after spending $4,000 in the first six months. I value Amex points at 1.7 cents per point so that signup bonus is worth around $1,020. They also give you six months to meet the minimum spend requirement which equates to only $700 per month. That welcome bonus can be enough for a one way business class ticket to Europe! The signup bonus is like earning 15 points for every dollar you spend.
Now that you have the card and the signup bonus safely in your account, how do you keep building your points up? The easiest way is to make sure you use the right credit card at the right place. All the best credit cards will offer bonus points for spending on certain categories like on airfare, hotels, dining and grocery stores. The Amex Gold is one of the cards with some of the best bonus categories. It offers 4x points on dining and grocery stores as well as 3x on airfare. If you spend $15,000 ($1,250 per month) on dining and grocery stores every year you’d earn another 60,000 points which would help you get home from that trip we planned to Europe.
This is a pretty simple one card strategy and is usually what I recommend for people first getting into the points and miles game. Everyone has to eat and dining/grocery stores are usually most people’s most significant spending each month.
To take it a step further, why not pick up another card to not only get a new signup bonus but also make sure you earn more than 1 point per dollar on your next highest category of spending? The Citi Premier is one of the most well-rounded cards out there and offer 3x points on gas as well as on hotels, dining, airfare, and groceries. Not only is the 3x on gas one of the best out there but the 3x on hotels is too. Additionally, this card also offers a fantastic 60,000-point signup bonus.
The one thing that most cards don’t offer a spending bonus on is retail purchases. Looking to buy some new clothes or maybe the new iPhone? Unfortunately, there aren’t really any cards out there that will reward you for those purchases. However, in our quest for never earning one point per dollar on our spending we have some options. One of the best cards in my wallet is the Citi Double Cash. This card is one of the best for everyday purchases. The Double Cash earns one point on all purchases plus another point when you pay your bill. That means you’re getting 2x on all purchases. While this is a cash back card, you can pair it with the Citi Premier and they’ll allow you to combine those points so you can transfer them to their airline and hotel partners. I value Citi points at 1.7 cents per point (just like Chase and American Express) so 2x Citi points are the equivalent of a 3.4% return. The only other card I consider as good as the Citi Double Cash is the Capital One Venture X which also earns 2x points on all spending. However, the Venture X has a $395 annual fee which is offset by a $300 annual travel credit as well as a 10,000-point anniversary bonus.
There’s no one perfect card out there. It all depends on your personal situation and what your goals are with travel. Things also get tricky when you start getting multiple cards with different bonus categories and annual fees.
