How to TRAVEL FOR FREE with Miles & Points

People often ask me how I can afford to travel so much. The answer is simple: Miles and points. In this beginners guide to miles and points I will share the basics of airline and hotel rewards programs, and some advanced tips on how to maximize your mileage and points earnings so you can travel the world for free! 00:00 - 1. What are points and miles: A unit of currency that you can redeem for something (typically travel) Miles typically associated more with Airlines Points with Hotel Programs Bank points: The most valuable due to their flexibility Chase Ultimate Rewards Capital One Rewards Citi ThankYou Rewards American Express Membership Rewards Airline & Hotel points typically redeemed directly with that Airline or hotel. Bank points redeemed for some “credit amount” or transferred to a partner. But the value of a point or mile between programs can vary differently. 07:19 - 2. How do you earn them? Traveling Airline Points when you fly These programs started based on distance But now are typically somehow based on revenue. Usually a complicated formula based on dollars spent, class of service, elite status, and maybe distance flown This has made it harder for the common traveler to earn lots of points and miles. Whereas before you’d earn miles based on the actual number of miles you flew, now you earn based on how many dollars you’ve spent with the airline. You don't have to redeem for flights on the same airline.. Focus on one program in each alliance Hotel points when you stay All hotel award programs are revenue-based as well. Unless someone else is paying for all your travel.. Earning miles and points through actual travel is the most expensive way to earn miles and points The big ones are Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton. Marriott has the most locations. Hyatt has some of the best properties. Credit cards The easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to earn miles Five ways to earn: 1 - Every day spend Some amount of miles/points for dollar of spend. Typically based on categories… travel, dining, gas, grocery stores. Need to pay attention to which cards offer the best return in the category. To earn lots on “spend” you need to spend alot.. Many people have found creative ways to spend alot. Dollar coin story. 2 - Sign up Bonus Spend a certain amount of $$$ in a certain amount of time. Don’t just look at the amount of bonus, need to factor in how much it costs you to get that much spend for the bonus. 3 - Refer a Friend bonus Bonuses can range from 5k to 25k points 4 - Promotional Bonus Anniversary Bonus Special Bonus 5 - Retention Bonus If you’ve run through all the personal cards you can sign-up for, consider business credit cards. Shopping portals 2 slides: United Shopping, Ultimate Rewards Most airlines and banks have a shopping portal that you can click through to connect you to online retailers and earn points while you shop. Just takes a couple more clicks Cashback Monitor or other shopping portal aggregator You’ll earn the points from your CC, AND from the portal. Portals often have their own bonuses. Dining Programs A company called the Rewards Network lets you link your credit card to an airline, and you earn points at participating restaurants when you spend on the card. Rental Cars Typically airlines points associated with car rentals Partner deals Stay with this hotel.. And airlines miles When the airline delays your flight When the airline makes a mistake 38:30 - 3. How do you redeem them? Airlines: With the airline you earned them with But often better to redeem for flights on partner airlines Earn miles on United… Redeem for ANA. But often you really have to call to get the best flights. Most airlines don’t display all partner availability. I really like one way flights.. Open jaws Booking a really hard award? Try when the airline opens their schedule, 10-12 months out. Alot of award space often opens last minute. They want to dump those first class seats if they aren’t booked. Hotels: “Standard” room… some hotels only have 10 standard rooms (Andaz Maui) Sometimes minimum stay requirements for points 44:50 - 4. Tips for success 46:38 - Questions and Answers 😀 WHEN'S THE NEXT LIVE STREAM? Sign-up for e-mail notifications of future scheduled live streams here: https://update.yellow-productions.com ✅ Missed my last live stream? Browse through all my Live Streams in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOVadUHX1B-JGLMwqvLbS9kkgAlhNWTp2 ✅ Want to see behind the scenes of my live streaming equipment setup? Watch this video: https://youtu.be/j4mF2avIvXM 💡 Yellow Productions on Social Media: FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/YellowProductionsTravel INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/yellowwproductions/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/chrisraney 📢 Check out my blog: http://yelloww.net 😀 Yellow Productions Merchandise: https://www.etsy.com/shop/yellowproductions