I can’t count the number of times I get asked to help book flights for a honeymoon. I’d say easily 10-20% of the clients I work with are getting married and want to use their points and miles for an incredible honeymoon. Most are doing a pretty good job collecting points and miles. But what should newly engaged couples, or even those thinking about popping the question consider?

Start Planning Early

When I work with clients to build a credit card strategy, one of the first things we talk about is what their goals are for their points and miles. A fair number don’t have any plans or ideas on where they want to go. All they do know is that they don’t like flying in coach and don’t want to pay more than they should for their trip! Even if you don’t have a destination or date of travel in mind, you should always be thinking about how to maximize your points and miles.

I hear people say “oh we aren’t worried about earning points because we don’t have any trips coming up.” That’d be like saying “oh we aren’t saving for retirement because we still have another 40 years to work.” Unfortunately points and miles don’t earn interest (it would be cool if they did), but they never expire. So there’s no reason not to earn them today and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try to earn as many as you can! You never know when your next trip might be and if you find a good deal but can’t book it because you don’t have enough points, you’ll be out of luck.

If you’re talking about getting married, you’re going to have to go from booking one ticket to two. While the number of miles you’ll need will double, you will soon have a Player 2 or P2 as some call it in this game, i.e. your new spouse. Having a P2 means you can both earn huge sign up bonuses on credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred’s 100,000 point offer.

Authorized User vs. Joint Applications

Speaking of transitioning into P2 mode, when you open any new card, always always (and I can’t stress this enough) ALWAYS open your new card just in your name as an individual applicant. You may think that now that you’re engaged or even married you should apply for new credit cards jointly. While on the surface that could make sense, the downside to this is that your joint applicant won’t be able to earn their own sign up bonus on that card. That potentially wipes out hundreds of thousands of points in sign up bonuses alone.

The decision to add your partner as an authorized user is certainly a personal one and is something I won’t give you advice on outside of the benefits. I’m a points and miles expert, not a relationship expert.

Most credit cards will allow you to add an authorized user for no additional fee. Some, like the American Express Platinum charge you $175. You need to consider if the benefits of adding an authorized user outweigh the cost. For a card like the Amex Platinum, the best reason to add an authorized user is so they can get lounge access. Normally, I would tell you they should just get their own Platinum card as we’ve seen some crazy high sign up bonuses on the card like up to 150,000 points. The flip side to this is most of these offers are either targeted to only certain people or you need a friends referral link for the best bonus. The $695 fee for the card can definitely be a tough pill to swallow even though all the benefits on the card more than make up for the annual fee.

Additionally, American Express will have offers to add an authorized user and will give you 20,000 bonus points to do so. At 1.7 cents each, picking up 20,000 points is the equivalent to $340 which more than outweighs the $175 fee to do so.

Other cards, like the Capital One Venture X have incredible authorized user benefits and best of all there’s no fee to add one! The authorized user of a Capital One Venture X gets everything the primary cardholder gets from lounge access at the amazing Capital One lounges to double points on everything. The one thing they don’t get is the $300 annual travel credit the primary cardholder gets which is understandable.

Lastly, every purchase they make you’ll earn points on. However, be prepared to pay it back as authorized users don’t have any financial obligation to pay the bill. Refer Your New P2 to Their Own Card

*After you get married, you’ll need to get two tickets, and soon three!*

Refer Your P2 to Their Own Card

American Express, Chase and Capital One all offer referral bonuses to their cardholders if they refer a friend to that card. Most will earn 20,000 bonus points for a successful referral. Since you’re now in P2 mode, that new 100,000 point signup bonus just went up to a total of 120,000 points (100k for your spouse and 20k for you).

*Refer your friend (significant other) to get even more points!*

Earn Bonus Points on the Engagement Ring (and wedding expenses)!

When I bought my now wife’s engagement ring six years ago I didn’t have the option to pay for it with a credit card. He’s a local jeweler who doesn’t want to deal with the added expense of it. I’ve since booked him and his family on multiple trips with their points and miles so maybe he’s open to it now! John, pretty please?

I know first hand how expensive rings are and I’m pretty sure most women don’t think “I’ll be happy with a small diamond” so you’ll likely be looking at one of the largest single purchases of your life outside of a car or a house. If you’re not loyal to one jewelry store, certainly shop around and see where you can get the best deal. If all things are equal, go with the one that will accept a credit card so that you can earn the points.

My friends over at East West Gem Co. have rings for everyone’s budget and best of all, each of their three brands take credit cards! Whether you’re looking to meet the minimum spending requirement on a new credit card or just want to maximize your return, pull out that card for the purchase.

But What if They Charge a Fee if You Pay With a Card?

If you’re smart and use a card that earns 2x points on all purchases like the Citi Double Cash or the Capital One Venture Rewards card, the points you earn can make up for the fee you have to pay. I value transferrable credit card points at 1.7 cents each so you’ll earn an effective 3.4% back on your purchase. If the fee is less than that, why not earn some points in the process.

Another thing to consider is meeting the spending requirement on a new credit card sign up bonus. A card like the American Express Business Platinum card comes with a huge $15,000 spending requirement but also has an equally as huge 250,000 point bonus. If you don’t normally spend $5,000 a month, putting your engagement ring purchase on a credit card can make a lot of sense.

Wedding Planning and Expenses

All of this advice is the same for when you get into your wedding planning. All of your deposits and payments for things like flowers, catering, the band and the venue should all go on your credit card if they’ll allow it.

Are your parents paying for the wedding? Just tell them you’ll put it on your card since you’re signing the contract and have them send you a check. Boom, free points!

What if My Credit Limit Isn’t High Enough?

Some may have concerns about not having a high enough credit limit to pay for such a large purchase. Every single card issuer will gladly increase your credit limit for a big purchase like this even if it is only temporary. Now, you may have to prove to them that you can pay it back so be prepared to share financials with them. If the credit limit is permanent, that’s only a good thing for you since the more available credit you have the better it is for your credit score.

What to Consider With Having Multiple Accounts

The great thing about airline miles is that you can use them to book pretty much anyone you want a ticket. There are some weird exceptions to this with some Asian carriers. All of the major credit card will only allow you to transfer your points to a loyalty program if the name on the account matches the name on the credit card. Citi and Capital One will let you share points with others but American Express and Chase will not. However, if you are an authorized user they will let you transfer those points to your frequent flyer account. This is also not something you should wait on as adding an authorized user and then transferring points immediately can trigger a fraud alert and slow down the booking process.

I would also recommend signing up for a free Award Wallet account to track all your points and miles along with their expiration date. They allow you to add your partner so you can track their points and miles too.

Hotel Room Block

If you’re getting a big room block for your wedding guests at a hotel, many times they’ll offer you a suite for you and your fiance as part of the package. It also never hurts to ask for points too! When negotiating the room block and the event, ask them if they’ll throw in a ton of points. Keep in mind hotel points are worth different amounts based on the hotel chain. Keep in mind 100,000 Hyatt points are worth more than 100,000 Marriott or 100,000 Hilton points. The worst they can say is no, so there’s no harm in asking!

Add Your Referral Links to Your Wedding Website

Referral links are a great way to earn bonus points. Couple that with shopping portals and you can earn a ton of points each year. Share the love with your friends and family on your wedding website. Rakuten is a great way to earn American Express points. Capital One and Chase both have shopping portals to earn bonus points for online shopping as well. Airlines also have their own portals to earn bonus miles. Best of all you can even pick up some bonus points by referring friends through your link. Why not earn some points while your friends and family do too.

Wrapping Up

If you’re getting married or are even thinking about getting married. Its probably time to start thinking about your credit card strategy with your new spouse.

How to Go on Your Honeymoon with Miles