Earning Membership Rewards American Express has a family of cards that earn flexible Membership Rewards. You can earn and spend Membership Rewards from any card that earns Membership Rewards. The Platinum Card® from American Express The Business Platinum Card® from American Express American Express® Business Gold Card American Express® Gold Card Welcome & Retention Offers […]

*Bank welcome offers listed in this post are subject to change. If Disney World is on your family’s trip list, this points and miles strategy is for you! This plan assumes you can work a two-player system and have a business. TWO significant things to remember here. 1. ANYONE can be your Player 2. It […]

My family of four just took a 3-week European vacation. Flights, trains, rental cars, accommodations, and prearranged activities were under $2000. Rome was our first city in this summer adventure. Flights / Transportation: One-way tickets were booked from Kansas City (MCI) to JFK to position to Rome. This positioning flight saved me 100,000 American Airlines […]

Rental cars can be an expensive part of travel. Some sites like Autoslash and companies like Costco and AAA offer discounted rates. The NEA is a teacher union that provides up to 30% discounts on rental cars. Your company or industry may have something similar. Using your Capital One Venture X card, you can also use […]

We recently returned from an epic road trip through Arizona and Utah. Along the way, we stopped at Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon National Parks, tons of little state parks, and National Forest spots near Sedona, and on our way back to Las Vegas to catch our flight, we made a pit stop at the […]

I love two main annual fee cards regarding Hyatt stays on points: the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (or Chase Sapphire Reserve®) and The World of Hyatt Credit Card. I’ll go over this more below. Cards I hold for access and perks The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card has a $95 annual fee and allows me to […]

What is a shopping portal? A shopping portal (Rakuten, AAdvantage eShopping, Southwest Shopping, etc.) is a third-party website that rewards shoppers with bonus points, miles, or cash back for making online purchases through their website. Shoppers pay the same price when shopping through the portal. When a purchase gets made, the portal receives a commission, […]

Free night certificates are part of a lucrative points and miles strategy.  When it comes to Hyatt, there are five ways to earn free night certificates. 1) Hold the Chase World of Hyatt personal card. Upon card renewal, you receive a free category 1-4 night every year. The annual fee is $95.   2) Spend $15,000 […]

Getting outside and enjoying America’s National Parks is one of the best ways to explore nature and connect with your family. In order to use points and miles, flexibility and variety are key when booking accommodations. Check out a few of my favorite options below. As well as a way to save on National Park […]

Each of these four brands comes with its own pros and cons when it comes to booking stays with points. So far, in my personal travel strategy, I primarily stay in Hyatt properties and fill in stays here and there with Hilton. This isn’t to say I’m opposed to Marriot or IHG, I just like […]