My Miles and Points Strategy

How I travel for longer and cheaper

Hi! Hello!

This post is a little different than my normal book/NYC/food content but I hope you’ll stick around. Last year I acquired a new hobby - miles and points hacking. I’ve long used points to book flights but last year I got serious. But after reading a bunch and spending a lot of time on the internet, I’ve learned some of the sweet spots for rewards redemption. I’ve also come to find out that a lot of my friends and family have miles and points just sitting around so I would love to pass on my knowledge to you!

People are always saying “Savannah you’re always going somewhere” but what they don’t say is “how do you afford to do it?”

Simple, I make the money I am already spending work for me through rewards travel, maximizing my credit card points and airline miles.

The first travel card I opened was my American Airlines card. It’s gotten me back and forth to Europe several times using AAdvantage Loyalty Points. And this is without being triple-medallion-gold-lifetime member or whatever the most elite status is. There are pros and cons for airline branded cards. When I first opened my American Airlines card, I was almost exclusively flying AA. If you are loyal to one airline and fly frequently, that loyalty can really benefit you. I only travel for fun and never for work so building up status is not really possible given the limited times I fly each year. I’ve begun flying other US carriers just as frequently (hi Delta hi JetBlue) and so my AA card isn’t as useful.

Instead, I think the real sweet spot is instead of opening an airline branded credit card, opening a bank travel rewards credit card and then transferring those points outside the bank’s ecosystem to a travel partner. This is usually where you get the best redemption rates.

And if you can open a new card when they are offering a points bonus by meeting a spend minimum, then you can really build up the points in your bank.

I often envy my fellow miles and points hackers that have flexible jobs so they can drop everything to take advantage of a fare drop or a last minutes points redemption deal.

Because I work a 9-5, I’m a little restricted to when I can take vacation and how many days each year I can take. I’ve become a long weekend warrior - choosing to plan my trips around my company holiday calendar.

Traveling on holiday weekends means travel is usually more expensive - as are points redemption rates.

I started 2024 with a lot of miles and points in the bank so my goal for 2024 was to book all my trips using miles and points. And I was successful - last year we took 4 trips international trips and I was able to pay for all but 4 nights of hotels using miles and points. That includes round trip, international airfare for 2 people for each of those trips.

In 2025, I have less points saved so I’m more concerned with building my points back up and being more strategic about when it’s more valuable to use cash vs points.

This is not financial advice. I use my credit cards for my everyday purchases and do not run up a high credit card bill in order to build up my points or meet spending bonuses. I also pay my credit card off each month to avoid high interest rates and other fees.

Over the coming weeks I am planning to share more in depth how I do it as well as dedicating a post to what’s in my wallet to give you a better idea of how I’m using each card because there’s a system! I am no expert but I am happy how I’ve been able to use my points and make my money work for me!

If you have a bunch of points in the bank and are unsure how to best use them - I’d love to help you. Comment below or reach out via direct message! I would be happy to help you and potentially write about my strategy to give everyone else here some ideas on how to use their own points. Nothing I love more than planning a trip!

As always, I hope you’re taking care.

Xoxo,

Savannah

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📚 Currently Reading: The Favorites by Layne Fargo

🎧 Currently Listening: Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin

You can shop my 2025 reads so far here.

If you would like to learn more about my Reading Around the World Challenge, you can read more about it in my previous post.

You can see my reading list for my Reading Around the World challenge here.

You can submit reading suggestions for my challenge here - I am always looking for more ideas!

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