Now that you have done your research, let’s start earning points!
Step 1: Open at least one travel specific credit card (in my case I opened 7 over the course of a year)
Disclaimer: Do not begin opening new credit cards if you are in credit card debt or will not be able to pay off your credit card in full each month. Most travel branded credit cards come with very high interest rates that will quickly outweigh any bonuses and points earned from the card.
Do not fear if you fall into this category as I will talk about other ways to earn points without opening a new credit card in Part 4 of this series.
Step 2: Make sure that you hit the minimum spending on the card to get your bonus
Most cards will give you anywhere from 1-4 months to spend anywhere from $1,000-$7500 during that time period to earn a sign up bonus which varies by card. They start counting from the day you applied for the card not the day that you received the card. I highly suggest keeping a spreadsheet that list the date you open your cards especially if you plan on opening up multiples so you can keep track of the sign on bonus but also so you can track when the anniversary date of the card is in case you want to cancel or downgrade to a lower fee card. Or plenty of people try calling the credit card company to get the annual fee waived or reduced. It doesn’t always works but it never hurts to ask!
Step 3: Put as many purchases on your cards as possible:
I have always been a planner. So I am often the person in my group of friends trying to organize us going to a concert, events, weekend away, etc. Since I am usually the one doing the research, I usually just suggest that I buy the tickets and they can venmo me. I get the money from them before I even need to pay off the credit card. It is a win-win situation for everyone. I spent the time doing research and I get the reward of the points for the tickets, hotel rooms, etc. Other times, if I notice my friends are paying with cash when we dine together, I may ask to take the cash and put their portion on my credit card instead.
Step 4: You may even be able to pay your rent with your credit card
Again I am assuming that you have the extra cash flow to pay this purchase off in full. My building allowed me to pay my rent with a credit card but it charged me a $46 fee. This sounds ridiculous to pay but I was able to put $5000 at a time on my card. So I paid several months at a time and the credit card I put it on gave me 2% back on all purchases. I ended up with a $100 in points for paying a $46 fee. So I came out ahead by $54 in points. Plus I was able to hit the minimum spend needed on the card by simply putting my rent on it which allowed me to open up two cards at once. This resulted in me earning an additional sign on bonus worth $600. So my $46 fee actually got me $700 in points netting a total of plus $654. In this case, it made sense for me to put my rent on the card. But if you are only getting 1% back and not needing the purchase for a minimum spend then it wouldn’t make sense for you. You really have to do the analysis for your own situation to make sure it is beneficial
From what I found, there aren’t options to pay your mortgage with your credit card. I tried to do that as well but no such luck!
Step 5: Make sure you are using the right card for each purchase
Over the past year, I haven’t been tracking that as much because I have been focused on hitting the minimum spend needed on each new card that I have opened. Again it is the most important thing to do to make sure you hit those bonuses. Once I have done that, I have opened a new card. But now that I am done with opening credit cards and have hit all my minimum spends, I can focus on maximizing the amount of points per purchase by choosing the right card.
All cards aren’t created equal and don’t give the same percentage back so get to know your cards. For example, my Chase Freedom has rotating quarterly bonuses of 5% back. This quarter it is 5% back on all grocery store purchases which is higher then any of my other cards. So it makes to use my Chase Freedom for all grocery store purchases this quarter but normally I would want to use my Hilton Honors Card since it gives me 6 points per dollar at the grocery store. The Points Guy currently values Hilton points at .6cents per point so it is like getting 3.6% back on my grocery store purchases and all my other cards give me 1 point per dollar. So even with The Point Guy valuing Chase Ultimate Reward Points at 2.2 cents dollar, the Hilton Honors Card still gives me the highest percentage back.
Confused yet?? Honestly this part takes a bit more calculating and planning and can just be downright confusing. Admit what you don’t and ask a friend or a stranger :). This can be one of the times that you can jump on one of the Facebook group dedicated to travel hacking and points and ask. I see these questions pop up often in the forum especially for big purchases. People in those groups love answering them so ask away!
Hope you are finding my guides help, let me know if you have any questions!
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