You’ve probably heard of “miles hacking” by now. You know, the silly nerds who are obsessed with racking up hundreds of thousands (or millions) or airline miles, hotel points, and other credit card reward program currencies.
So, confession: I’m one of them.
Of course, most of those people spouting the advice are also dropping affiliate credit card links in those same posts showcasing you how they’re staying in a $1,000 per night hotel room free of charge.
Having been a bit of a junkie for a few years myself now, I thought I’d shed some insight light on the situation. Without further ado, here are seven things you must know about credit card point collecting.
1. It Does Work
I’m sitting on a bank of over 500,000 miles at this point in my life. I’ve been on the road full-time as a digital nomad for nearly a year, and miles have funded nearly all of the costs of my travels at this point.
So, move past your doubts. Right now. It does work, so this now becomes a matter of setting yourself up for success with a system. Because there are a lot of things that can go wrong. There are requirements to making it work for YOU, which we’ll dive into.
2. You Have To Be Responsible
You can’t be stupid. If you’re the type to forget to cancel things, or are prone to paying your bills on time—forget it. You’ll get hit with hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars of annual penalties and fees that will put a real dent in the glory of flying for free.
You must be organized in the process.
The real gist of the entire “game” is this:
You open a credit card. You spend X amount of dollars and receive Y amount of points. Typically, Y is worth several hundred dollars, whereas an annual fee is around $100 (though it does vary quite a bit).
So how do the credit card companies make money, when they’re practically giving away a currency (points) for free?
Because they’re counting on YOU to not pay things on time, to spend more than you can afford, and to forget to cancel the card (and therefore miss the annual fee after your year is up).
Don’t be the person who does one of those, much less ALL of them.
3. But What About My Credit?!
Another common hangup is that this will hurt your credit.
First off, another rule: if your credit is below 700, you don’t really have the capacity to be playing this game. Get your credit up, then come back and consult this article. For those of you who have a credit score above 700—the truth is that you will see ebbs and flows as you play the credit card game.
When I started in January of 2015, I had a credit score of 760. Over the course of the next year (as I opened 10+ credit cards), the lowest it ever got was 707. Now, in October of 2016, it’s 787. It should be noted that I haven’t really opened any since I started my journey as a location independent digital nomad.
4. Like Stocks, Diversification Is Good
You wouldn’t put your entire savings into one stock, would you?
Your credit card points should work exactly the same. Just last year, I was sitting on a nice pile of nearly 250,000 American Airlines miles. Then, American made the decision to raise the reward prices across many of their regions. Suddenly, the value of those points dropped significantly.
Fortunately, I was on the verge of booking a very large trip for multiple people (more on that below).
But what if I hadn’t been?
What if my 250,000 miles had suddenly had their value cut and I had no way to get rid of them? Talk about being on a sinking ship.
The point is, don’t put all your eggs in basket. This can be applied to most things in life, credit card gaming is no different.
5. It Makes Amazing Things Possible
I waited to share this part last, and it’s a little cheesy. But this little game of miles hacking has allowed me to do some pretty remarkable things for my family.
Just this year, I coordinated getting four of us living across three different continents for a two week trip around Europe. The value to fly my parents from the United States to Venice, Italy would have normally been $2,500 one way—each.
Instead, they just paid the $150 in taxes each.
I redeemed enough points to get everyone flights, that, if had been bought in outright cash, would have exceeded well over $10,000. Sure, there is always the “make more money” option—but that isn’t always feasible.
And when you are making (and therefore, spending) enough money that you can afford a $10,000 flight—you should be making miles on that, anyway!
And A Bonus
It’s completely silly, but some credit cards are really cool. Something like a Chase Sapphire is 100% metal, and feels SOLID when you hold it in your hand. An AMEX gold card with your business on it looks cool, too.
…and girls notice this stuff.
Unless she’s looking for a sugar daddy, she won’t say anything—but if you just “happen” to leave it out in clear view while waiting for the waiter to pick up the bill—watch her eyes.
This only works with the high-end cards that signify status.
And sometimes, the dating game is so tough in America that you need every edge you can get.
Conclusion
If you’ve had your doubts about using credit card miles, opening multiple new credit cards, and are confused on how to use them—I don’t blame you. There is an information overload out there. The fact of the matter is, it does work. But you need to be careful, be well organized, and to plan properly to use them.
But if you do all of that, the world is truly your oyster.
Read More: How You Can Fly Anywhere In The USA For Less Than $50
I pay everything by card that I can. And pay the full amount by automatic draft. As a result, I have flown so many times, even to Japan, for free with frequestem nt flier miles.
But I have never paid a cent interest. Just be conservative financially. Fortunately, my wife can control herself shopping better than most women.
Nice topic for article. Make system work for you. A great article on how to live in a dissolute Sodom and Gamorah culture. Whether it is women or credit cards or guns, a man must step up and take chaarge.
There’s an entire book that could be written on this chapter, but nice introduction. Too many people think they’re getting one on the system by paying cash everywhere, but not only is it unfeasible, but it’s becoming downright impossible in the modern world. Learn this system – or be learned by it.
While I haven’t gotten into the whole points for trips game I do use credit cards for the majority of my purchases which actually see the bank paying me at the end of the year when i redeem them for a check. Since savings rates are non-existent, I actually make money off the bank like this.
In reality you’re not making any money off of the banks. The banks charge merchants a percentage of the transaction amount so the merchants incorporate it into the sale price. You’re just getting back something you already paid. It’s like the filing your taxes and getting a refund. It was already your money they overcharged you.
If you can negotiate with the merchant on the price if you pay cash that will save you more than the measly 2%, then you’ve taken the middleman out of the transaction and saved more.
Not sure what state you live in but here in Texas it’s against the law to have a different price for credit cards. Cash or credit here is the same price. So while the bank may be making money off the merchant, I always pay off my cards and make ~$300-$400 a year when i cash in my points.
The big box stores like Walmart can’t negotiate a different price. I was thinking like the smaller shops where the owners can give you a cash price off the books. Cash transactions are not traceable.
Yep, and the merchant is charged far far more than 2% by the card processor. I’ve seen some as high as 12-17% in processing fees per transaction. So yep, those cashback programs are just handing you a cut of the merchants fees really. Cash is by far a better way to do business for both parties.
The merchants pay transaction fees and this directly impacts the price you pay regardless of legislation. If 50% of customers use plastic and my margin drops you better believe I will raise prices for everyone.
http://www.returnofkings.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/business-300×200.jpg
Can you guys stop using these terrible terrible totally fake unrealistic grinface successful-businessman bullshit stock photos? Thank you.
We’re all HAPPY To live in America
What, because you’re far away from me?
Wouldn’t you love to slap the guy in the middle over the head with a great big monk fish. He looks like a complete ass wimp who’d fuck you over for a miserable % of zero.
He looks like one of those smeary little-cog workers in a major insurance corporation. Or rather, how a smeray little-cog worker in a major insurance corporation imagines himself.
Wow. I mean slapping the guy in the face with a fish is one thing…but a monk fish…that is next level
It’s that big flat head with all those razor sharp teeth that gives it the cubic factor!
That is one ugly fish. Tasty, but ugly as sin.
Yeah, you have to be very careful around its mouth. It can cut straight through your fingers in a heartbeat, but, it sells per kilo like no other fish. Always in demand for its taste.
Yup. I make a fish stew with it that is pretty excellent if I do say so myself.
The jag off in a Target suit who cant shave or shower in the morning?
“The great thing about this company is YOU get to be your own boss. We make a billions of dollars and Fortune 500 n’ stuff. We just need you to buy this startup kit for $250 and get as many people as we can working underneath you.”
“Hey, is this a pyramid scheme?”
“No, not at all, let me draw you a diagram.” (Draws pyramid) “I like to call it a success tree.”
“I’m a little confused. What am I selling? Er….. or.. what are WE selling?”
“You’re like a successful marketing, market.. marketing manager who controls all kinds of different markets. We think you’re a really good fit. Let me introduce you to Todd. Last year Todd led our team in sales and got to drive the company BMW with a big ugly sticker magnet on the side. Do you like BMW’s?”
“Well yeah, who doesn’t, so I’m still confused about the $250, why would I have to pay to work, like if you guys think I’m a good fit n all?”
“Trust me, when you’re pulling in 10 g’s a month, you won’t even be thinking about that $250, haha, just a small price to pay for success, am I right?”
“Well you just laughed, you’re wearing a suit, that guy over there is on a lap top analyzing data while we’re discussing business stuff and you have like simple charts n stuff with arrows pointed up and down. Here’s $250 I’d like to begin soliciting my family members as soon as possible.”
Rofl. Hit the nail on the fucking head.
You forgot to add that most people are not as sensible as you may be when it comes to handling credit or to understand all the ins and outs of the credit card point system. US national credit card debt totals over 1 trillion $. It may benefit some individuals through cautious calculation but for the most part It’s a toxic tool and it poisons economies all over the world. These cards are peddled like meth by bankers to university students, single mothers etc…
If they really did benefit the stupid masses, banks would stop issuing them immediately.
Besides usury is forbidden by most religions.
A real man makes his OWN money honestly and spends it wisely. Get yourself a simple Visa Debit Card and sleep soundly at night.
+ If you can’t afford to fly all the way to Japan then stop in Anchorage or Honolulu. Or just work harder.
“Beware of Greeks bearing gifts”
Aeneid (II, 49)
‘If they really did benefit the stupid masses, banks would stop issuing them immediately.’
Non-sequitur. They would stop issuing them if they stopped profiting from that business.
touché
Stupid people deserve what they get.
One downside is that banks, and by extension the State, know your purchasing habits and where your money is. Use cash when possible and help screw the IRS.
Exactly. It also shows them habits and tells them when you are traveling and to where (Oh look, this guy goes to Wal Mart every Sunday after church). Also, I am extremely frugal, but I’ve found since switching to mostly cash, even my purchases are smaller than they are when I can just charge it to a card, and don’t have to think about the amount I’m spending.
Spot on.
I love using $2 bills and dollar coins. Always throws people for a loop in the big box stores.
gonna rack up some points on my AMEX at Golden Corral …
I used a credit card in the past for almost every transaction I made. Today, it’s more 50/50. I do have a really good card that pays me 2% cash back on every purchase. Cash back cards are always superior to reward cards, in my book. With cash rewards, I’m free to spend the reward money however I want, not only on “United Airlines” or whoever issued the bonus. Southwest is often cheaper domestically–but I can’t take it overseas. With cash rewards, I can take advantage of super cheap deals (There is currently a $350 R/T fare from NYC to Colombia–but only on one airline). Plus 2% is typically better than most of the reward cards give anyway, even ignoring the fact that you’re tied in to using the points on their system only.
But more than that, I’ve found using cash has great benefits. I tend to spend less when using cash, because I’m actually thinking about my total purchase, and how it relates to the cash in my wallet, whereas I will spend more on credit. And I’m a very frugal guy anyway, so I imagine this effect is MUCH larger with the average person.
So I’d bet I’m saving far more than 2% off my spending just by using cash, in many cases.
Also, it gets you perks. I just returned from the farmers market. Lots of trendy girls go there, dressed to impress and showing off their materialism, they purchase things on their cards from the vendors using Square or something similar. I pay in cash, and about half the time I get something for free from the merchant (also I am friendly, engage in conversation, don’t act like a tool) but they have told me they appreciate cash purchases, and often at the end of the day will give me product they don’t want to haul back home. Today I spent $15 and ended up with $10 in free merch. Show me a reward card that can beat that.
People remember you when you spend cash, because it’s quite rare and you stand out. Also, if you care, nothing impresses women like cold hard cash. I laugh every time a woman makes a comment if I whip out $250 in cash, as if that’s a lot of money or it took me a long time to earn it or something. $250 is nothing, but millennial chicks have never seen that much money together in one place, so it makes them think you’re rich.
Finally, as mentioned, there’s the anonymity of cash. I don’t like banks and governments knowing everything I’m doing.
Off topic: Trump gave one of the best speeches today I’ve ever heard in my life!
Where can I find it?
https://youtu.be/XzkzNIA_e1c you will have to skip ahead to the 96 min mark, but its worth it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzlh3hMWwjs
Great speech.
Donald J. Trump 2016.
I thought the energy would dissipate……..how wrong I was. This is the biggest fuck you to the establishment. This is beautiful…….Make America Great Again!
After serpentile Paul Ryan Judas stabbed Trump with the bus video it was on. The best thing about it was it shows what a real man Trump is that he can rise to the occasion under oppression of such adversity.
wouldn’t it just be easier to stowaway in the wheel well?
How do you figure that a return flight to Venice is $5000? Are they flying business class?
There is a promotion right now to fly from Brazil to Europe for $330.
Two-way trip.
On an airbus I wager… Those planes are so badly flawed. Working in aerospace and for neither boeing or airbus I will say… “If it ain’t boeing I ain’t going” commercially at atleast
How so? IMO it’s about the age of the plane, new planes are nice, old ones are shit, regardless of the maker..
Stinky old 737s are the worst, even business is crammed and shitty.
I don’t get it either. I am constantly flying US-Europe for almost ten times less than that.
6th truth:
It only works well in the States.
In other countries, one could never rack that amount of miles. Card fees are high and mile bonuses non-existent.
Better save and buy tickets in promotions.
This paragraph is pathetic (see copied below). Note: the harder men work for pussy, the lesser is the quality of the former. Quality of pussy comes from CULTURAL enforcement, not from individual self-improvement. I am a foreigner living in the US and I have ZERO interest in American women for anything more than a nasty ONS.
“It’s completely silly, but some credit cards are really cool. Something like a Chase Sapphire is 100% metal, and feels SOLID when you hold it in your hand. An AMEX gold card with your business on it looks cool, too.
…and girls notice this stuff.
Unless she’s looking for a sugar daddy, she won’t say anything—but if you just “happen” to leave it out in clear view while waiting for the waiter to pick up the bill—watch her eyes.
This only works with the high-end cards that signify status.
And sometimes, the dating game is so tough in America that you need every edge you can get. ====> LOL”
I’ve done plenty of long haul’s business and fist class, rack up plenty of miles – then points expire – assholes…
I prefer “thank you” points linked to my amazon account…great for regular small items
I”ve never tried fist class, but I would think it’s quite a pain in the ass.
What is a pain in the ass? First class travel? If that’s what you mean definitely not, otherwise people wouldn’t pay the extra for it. You get free drinks and so on in the lounge for business/first class, priority boarding, priority check in, baggage handling, tons of space on board, better food and drinks, and on most planes the seats recline to basically a bed, bigger TV, and usually the business/first class cabin is empty more or less. Plus flight attendants tend to be very nice and sometimes flirty which is fun.
I take business a fair bit if the surcharge is not too big.
Gentlemen,
I strongly encourage you to watch the Trump speech today (10/22/16) at Gettysburg that outlines his first 100 days in office. I personally do not like his speaking style but that is my opinion. The content in this speech is on point and remarkable coming from a presidential candidate in this day and age. Every rational person should take away something they like from what he plans to do. There are a number of gut shot and fuck you policies where if he can only accomplish 10% of his agenda; it will be a death blow to the establishment politicians. Make this sucker go viral brothers; this is what we have been waiting for.
Humbly yours,
Beartastico
Cash is still king to a point. However, maybe it’s because I’m getting more radical and non-compliant with the years, but, it started about 5 years back when I saw a whole gang of sheepish tourists waiting to get into a famous museum in Europe. I said, to hell with this and wandered about the vicinity and saw a back entrance where there was catering stuff going in and out, so I just strolled up with confidence and said to myself what have I got to loss? I’ll just play dumb if I’m stopped and I strolled in like I worked there, no bother straight into the Museum without paying a red cent. It was a great feeling to buck the status quo and all the conformism sheep outside, since then, I’ve done it often, and, I’ve had some successes. I do it for the pure kicks, just to see what happens, but confidence is key, but, the great thing you experience is that uncanny sense of freedom from breaking the rules. Everyone should try it on occasions, it’s what makes us human.
“Why shouldn’t I?” or “Whats the worst that could happen?”… That is the only way to live
That’s very true. It’s like when people say to you when you do these things- “if everyone broke the rules they’d be chaos”- I say, bullshit, 99% of people never BREAK THE RULES- EVER! More fools they are, the big guys in society are the only ones (like Hillary) who break serious rules and are allowed to do with impiety.
The rules, I break harm no one, like when I wear a nice white shirt and tie and wander into a hotel breakfast room and have a good meal as a guest of the hotel, when I circumvent the security lines in an Airport, it’s fun to give the clones the two fingers.
Yes, a few times I’ve looked at the departures board, pick a flight with 30 minutes to go and run through the lines telling others I’m late for my flight……works…..
Welcome to the Arab world.
I do the same when on a road trip and see that free breakfast sign-a doo doo bop bop thanks bitches.
I am a huge believer in cash as king for the most part. However, when I got the 2% cash back card I just started using it for everything and paying it off at the end of the month like a charge card so i never carry a balance.
I put my rent and my groceries and gym membership and cleaning service and laundry service and day to day living expenses on it, literally everything. At the end of the month that usually equates to a few hundred dollars back.
How can you pay rent with a card? I’ve been trying to figure that out forever.
My landlord has a thing online. I just log in and put in the info. 2% may not seem like enough but after a year with NYC rent it adds up to money
I had a similar experience in New York. We were trying to get into the natural history museum and thought we’d wasted a trip when we saw a few hundred people in line to get in the front door. Thankfully we didn’t give up and went around to the back of the building, where we found a rear entrance that had a total of four people in line…..and where the greeter decided to let us in for free with our military ID and even threw in tickets to the special exhibit.
A little bit of non-herd thinking can go a long way.
A little bit of non-herd thinking can go a long way. It certainly can.
X2 do the same, the seasonal employees are so easy to dupe.
For general rewards, the Citi Double Cash Back bonus card is best. 1% when you charge, 1% when you pay. And as a statement credit or deposit or something else easy, not points or miles. All easily done on the web site (could be easier, but I’m not complaining). I have three cards. This is my main one. A second has great balance transfer offers which I occasionally use. A third is from a credit union with the highest limit I have and a low interest rate if I carry a balance. (Zeal Credit Union Platinum card in Michigan, needs a $200 balance in savings or checking regular account). I’m no longer in MI but keep the card.
The key to the balance transfer card is once you transfer a balance with 0% APR for a year is to not charge anything with it until the balance is paid off before the year is up. You’ll accrue interest on the new charges. All payments go to the 0% APR balance first.
I cut my credit card up years ago cause I never had any money. Now I only spend money that I have! Living a life of working to pay off a credit card all the time was a depressing life!
Having a point system made me want to spend money that I didn’t have. It’s all a scam!
This site needs more election posts, perhaps everyday before the election. The elites are telling people to hold their noses and vote for Hillary while paying ever two dime gold digger to dish dirt on Trump. Yes, he’s no saint, but, honesty, the establishment overdrive campaign against him has been extreme and clearly anyone with half a brain can see that most of these women “accusers” are frauds who’ve been paid well.
Wouldn’t the best message to the establishment be a vote for him “despite everything” . A vote against the elites attempts to “rule America” in the name of their interests but rather a vote in the name of the forefathers who wanted America to a true nation for all her children.
In a rational world, with the accusations being so baseless and convenient, they should be backfiring on Hillary. It’s just a shame we don’t live in a rational world. People would rather virtue signal than stick to principle.
But, if you think rationally about it, who’s being dishing all the dirt! Hillary and her clan, and not Trump and the GOP. This to me, speaks volumes about the moral character of her and what she represents.
In addition think about the hypocrisy of a women who stood by a man who sexually assaulted a litany of females across the years. I’m sure in private good auld Bill has said worse things about women than Trump has.
Trump has never said anything bad about women. Just truth bombs based on personal experience.
I recently booked a round trip ticket from my location in North Carolina to Bangkok. I paid $820. That’s about $0.05/mile!!!!!! Utterly amazing that I can fly to the complete opposite side of the globe for this amount of money. For you schlubs who never travel, you have no excuses. I will have throngs of beautiful Thai women at my disposal this time in two weeks. As an added bonus I will get to miss the crapola of the American Presidential election. I already voted early. See you chumps later.
I did procurement for a few years for a small business. Had to use the personal credit card then get reimbursed because the business owner didn’t want a corporate line of credit. Fine by me I said as long as I got my money in less than a week. Racked up 500,000 miles in less than a year. Business owner could have had those if he had tapped corporate credit or just used his own card. Took me on five different trips with only paying taxes and service fees. All I said when taking PTO was that I was visiting family. Really I was flying down to an island to spend a week on his dime.
I have a client who runs a $100M business and all his procurement thru cards. Talk about points…. he gave me RT to europe full business class ticket as a bonus on a project.
The key is to be the guy who does the buying with their own card. Just make sure you get reimbursed WEEKLY and apply that reimbursement directly to your card.
That’s really the only way you can build up a substantial amount of rewards. A person’s individual or family spending is not going to do it.
Or lots of business travel. If you fly last minute 10-20 times a year and book your own travel at 2:1 points you are going to get a decent amount quickly. Add on meals, hotels, etc. and 150K in points is not out of reach every year. Just make sure you are getting reimbursed for every expense and in a timely manner. Doesn’t take more than a few late payment fees and/or interest to wipe out any benefit those points provide.
I don’t touch credit cards. If I don’t have the cash, I don’t buy it.
This dude is the snakeoil salesman of RoK.
Credit card points are fun. I’ve even gotten to the point of using my points-based card for all of my expenses, with me paying them off on time every month of course as not to incur interest or fees.
But even with my level of spending, at best I might earn about $20 or so a month in rebate points. It takes a long time to build up any substantial level of points so at best it turns into the occasional gift from Amazon every few months versus an expensive hotel or plane trips around the world.
IMO people should not shun credit cards entirely, as they provide 2 very useful things:
1. Automatic extended warranty protection for any purchase.
2. (this is the biggie) Any fraud doesn’t result in you losing money immediately like it would with a debit card.
Yeah, the last thing credit card companies want is somebody prone to paying his bill on time. They’ll smack you with every fee known to man until you learn your lesson and start sending in your payments two weeks past due.
The elites will soon want to do away with cash. A cashless society is just another way for a controlled society. Everything will be in credit form and accessed through some type of micro chip or nanotechnology. Of course, if you cause dissention or use free speech, expect your funds to be gone.
Is this credit card point business really worth it compared to using a good cash back card?
Very interesting discussion about using credit card miles.
Is that also possible for me, a Swiss citizen living mostly in Switzerland?
Can the miles be used on non-american airlines, such for example Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, etc.?