What are Points and Miles?!

How do points and miles work? How do you earn them? What are points and miles worth? What benefits do credit cards and being part of loyalty programs present you?

Here's Pack Your Points at a glance where we'll discuss miles, points, loyalty programs, and their benefits! 

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For the full breakdown of all the outlined topics, click the WELCOME TO PACK YOUR POINTS button at the bottom of the page. 

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TRAVEL CREDIT CARDS

After living abroad for ten-plus years and traveling all over the world, travel credit cards have become one of the best tools when it comes to enhancing my travels and saving money at the same time. 

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LOYALTY PROGRAMS

When you're a frequent traveler, most of the time, using the same companies can become beneficial. 

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POINTS & MILES

Travel points can be broken down into two types. You have hotel points and transferrable points. Let’s go through both to get you a better understanding. They can be earned from stores to airlines and are accumulated by signing up for free. 

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DO POINTS AND MILES EXPIRE

This is a yes and a no. There are some workarounds to ensure they don’t expire, but others will expire no matter what happens. 

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HOW TO GAIN

Gaining points and miles has become extremely easy over the years. There are many bonus categories even though most cards earn 1x per dollar spent no matter what.  

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CARDS WITH MEMBERSHIP

Some travel credit cards come with airline and hotel memberships. Some have ways to earn higher tiers from spend. 

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USING POINTS AND MILES

Points and miles can be used for everything, literally. You'll have to decide on what is valuable or not, but in the end, it's possible to use points and miles on everything but exact cash. (Except Platinum Schwab and Morgan Stanley)

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DOWN PAYMENT

While you pay an upfront annual fee on most of the better travel cards, in the end, if you choose the right card, you’ll get more value than your yearly fee.

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HURT CREDIT

Building my credit was the reason I got my first two credit cards. Credit cards can help your credit as long as you practice good habits!

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Pack Your Points will have the complete breakdowns of our trips showing the perks and benefits associated with travel credit cards and loyalty programs. I’ll detail everything from booking the trip to reviews of our experiences after.

For expats and domestic travelers alike, PYP is here to help you leverage the perks and benefits associated with travel credit cards and loyalty programs to enhance your traveling experience and save you money simultaneously!

Until next time, before you pack your bags, don’t forget to PACK YOUR POINTS!