Why Points and Miles

When my wife and I bought our first house in 2016, we had a lot of major expenses. We had to pay for new flooring, appliances, landscaping, etc. We had worked hard to save our cash to pay for these expenses, but I had learned that you can take free vacations by signing up for credit cards, meeting minimum spending requirements, and using the points that you earn to book vacations. We decided to test the theory and see if it worked. Sure enough, the theory works! I applied for 4 credit cards right after we closed on our home and started making purchases.

We made sure to only use our credit cards for expenses that we had planned for in advance. We also used and continue to use credit cards for normal routine spending such as utilities, gas, insurance, groceries, etc. Using our credit cards for normal spending allows you to earn points and miles when you would otherwise just be paying with cash or using a credit card with no rewards system. We have also been very careful to never have a late payment and to pay off our balance in FULL every cycle. We do not want to pay credit card company’s high interest rates if you carry a balance.

Flash forward to 2020 and we have almost 30 credit cards between my wife and I. Sounds crazy right? And maybe it is, but by signing up for credit cards and earning points and miles through credit card promotional bonuses, we have experienced so many things the world has to offer through travel. We have traveled to Paris, London, Cabo San Lucas, Orlando (3 times), New York City (2 times), Vermont, Oahu, Maui (2 times, Japan, and the Maldives and have done it using points and miles! Even though we have applied for so many credit cards over the years, our credit scores have both gone up. When I applied for my first travel card, my score was in the 750’s and now it is 810! My wife started out in the 760’s and her score is 805!