As the world begins to open again, the travel industry is expected to have an influx of pent up demand. I know for me, traveling with my wife is something I have been looking forward to throughout COVID-19… its actually one of the reasons I started this blog! I had an entire trip lined up on points to Hawaii with a net cost of $22.50 for two weeks on the islands… fun fact you couldn’t island hop until recently so we postponed our trip. A friend of mine recently posted they were considering a Hawaii trip and it got me thinking… time to open a new card!
Should I open a new card?
The quick answer is ABSOLUTELY! Typically your greatest return on investment for credit cards is intro bonuses, which require a large amount of spend in 4-6 months but yield 20% or greater Return On Investment. If you are booking a trip with anticipated spend of more than $5,000 , this will be your best opportunity to hit the intro bonus. Keep in mind that most card issuers limit sign up bonuses to once in a lifetime or once every 4 years, so you want to take advantage of large bonuses when they are available.
What card should I get?
The best offer right now is the American Express Platinum, which will earn you 150k in American Express Membership Reward points for $6,000 spend in the first 6 months! This is one of the largest sign up bonuses I have ever seen for the American Express Platinum, which makes it easier to stomach the $695 annual fee. The American Express Platinum is my personal favorite for travel, with benefits like 5X points on all travel booked through amextravel.com or the airline directly, a $250 airline credit, access to the Delta SkyClub, access to the American Express Centurion Lounges, Hilton Honors Gold status, Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, National Rental Car Executive status, and many more non-travel related perks.
How do I maximize my benefits and points?
The first thing you want to do once you open your American Express Platinum is ensure you select your airline credit and enroll in Hilton, Marriott, and National Rental car status’. These benefits don’t take effect until you enroll in them and can be instrumental in saving you money. Hilton and Marriott Gold status both provide late checkout, room upgrades and in some instances free breakfast, while National allows you to pay for a midsize and rent any vehicle in the Emerald aisle. I have personally been able to rent Camaro’s, Range Rovers, Expedition’s, and several other “luxury” vehicles while paying for a midsize(Toyota Camry). The airline credit is a $250 credit that can be used for airline incidentals including checked bags, seat upgrades, and food/alcohol, however WiFi will not code as an incidental because it is often outsourced to a 3rd party. This credit must have an airline selected and can only be changed once a year… so make sure you know who you are flying on before you select the airline!
Along with enrolling in your benefits, the next logical question is… How do I use my points? Points are money and you want to maximize your point value, which typically will come with transferring the points to the travel partners or using them on amextravel.com. Currently Marriott and Hilton are running 40% additional promotions when you transfer American Express Membership Reward points to them, which can go a long way for booking hotels! If you consider most hotels fall between 35K to 70K points a night, you can easily cover a quick getaway or a portion of a YOLO trip just from the 150K sign up bonus!
What is the ideal strategy?
Your ideal spending strategy for booking travel isn’t a quick 5 minute exercise… it will take time! Here is how I would plan out a trip to maximize my points and decrease cash spend:
- Sign up for the insane 150K sign up bonus via American Express Platinum
- Explore the cost of booking flights/hotels using cash
- Convert the cash price to cents per point(Cash Price x 100 / Number of Points = Cents Per Point)
- Decide which portion of the trip you want to pay for in cash vs points.
- You want to use cash for items that are lower in cpp than others. For example if my flights come out to 1.5cpp and my hotel is .8cpp, I would book my flights on points and pay for my hotel in cash.
- Enjoy your hard earned vacation!
Where are you guys traveling to? What YOLO destination is next on your list? Leave a comment below and safe travels!
The Points Authority: Mastering The Points Game 