Intro to Travel Points
What Are Miles and Points?
The goal of travel points is to leverage miles and points to offset or cover travel costs.
The basic process I use to earn millions of points is this:
The Miles & Points Cycle
Of course, traveling with points is a lot more complicated than simply opening cards and taking trips. That's why we've created this course!
What Are Miles and Points?
Miles and points are the "currency" that banks, airlines, and hotels use to reward customers for their loyalty.
More specifically, when we use the term "miles and points" we are referring to bank rewards, airline frequent flyer miles, and hotel points.
The loyalty program will determine whether they use miles, points, or another type of reward currency. On Katie's Travel Tricks, we typically use the terms miles and points interchangeably.
Types of Points
Airline Points or Miles
Most people are familiar with these points that are tied to a specific airline. These are best used to book flights. If you have United miles, you can book a United flight with them. Prices vary based on routes, dates, and destinations. Many airlines also have airline partners which allows you to book on more airlines. You could also use your United miles to fly on any Star Alliance carrier like Lufthansa or EVA Airways which opens even more destination possibilities. We'll dive into this more later.
Hotel Points
Major hotel chains all have their own loyalty programs and points currencies. You can use those points to book free hotel stays. Price per night will vary based on date, hotel chain, and quality of hotel. Even more than airlines, the value of a hotel point can vary greatly by program. A credit card might offer just a 60,000 point sign up offer for Hyatt points. But those Hyatt points might actually go a lot farther than 150,000 Hilton points you might see advertised. That's because Hyatt award nights start at 3,500 points per night.
Bank Points or Transferrable Points
Most major banks also have their own points currencies. Chase, for instance, has Chase Ultimate Rewards®. Citi has Citi ThankYou Points. American Express has American Membership Rewards. Capital One has Venture miles.
These bank points generally offer you the most flexibility for use. You can redeem them for cash back (typically the lowest value per point), by booking through their bank travel sites (which operate like Expedia), or by transferring those points to specific airline or hotel partners that bank has.
These points are more complicated but also more powerful! We'll dive into how to use these later in the course. My favorite starter cards all earn this type of rewards.
What Are Points Worth?
There's a lot of factors that go into the perceived value of a point. How you redeem that point can make a difference, too! Throughout the course, I hope to give you tools so you can feel good about using your points for what matters to you.
Quiz
What is the best redemption value?
