If you are starting to collect credit card points and miles for travel, you may start hearing “experts” tell you to earn and burn them. Credit card points and miles lose their value over time, so it’s not a best practice to hoard them. However, here are a few reasons you should think about stockpiling points for rainy days.
Amanda and I have both entered the travel hacking hobby in recent years. Historically, we would have credit cards that gave us between 1-2 points back per dollar spent on the card. I would cash out these points each year right before my work international trip. This would give me enough money to add a 1-2 day extension to my trip to see more of the country I was visiting. Or another country nearby. Or another country on the way! Eventually, I stumbled on the world of points and miles. Suddenly my everyday spend could bring me more opportunities to do what I love best – travel!
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Bucket List Travel
I am fortunate in that my work takes me all over the world. But I wanted to introduce my kids to international travel. Yet our yearly vacation fund just wouldn’t stretch that far. With a stockpile of points and miles available, however, I have taken my family to England, France, and Japan over the past few years. All of these trips end up being about the same price as our typical domestic vacation.
Take Advantage of Deals
Due to her stockpile of points and miles, Amanda was able to take advantage of a tremendous deal on a Virgin Voyages cruise one summer. She was able to go to Greece, Croatia, and Montenegro for free using Chase Ultimate Reward points and United miles. Not only that, she was able to share the experience with someone special, our friend Theresa! I’m still wishing this great deal would come back so I can do it!
Enhance Necessary Travel
My daughter just started college. In the past two years, we went on a tour of the various universities on her list. We used Chase points transferred to Hyatt to pay for our hotels for this trip. What would have cost us several hundred dollars was free!
Most holidays, my family goes to visit grandparents in Central Illinois. We always fly free on Southwest. Our hotel in Central Illinois is paid for using our Venture X credit. And we like to enhance this travel by spending a few days in Chicago in a Hyatt hotel for free using Chase points! There was a time when visiting far-flung family was the only vacations we were able to take. Now we can take these, enhance these, and also take a few more excursions as well.
Be There When It Counts
My final example isn’t as fun, but it’s a reality. Points and miles can give you the opportunity to travel for emergencies when time is of essence. When you have elderly parents or relatives, sometimes you need to get somewhere last minute. This can be incredibly costly and might be impossible for some people to do. But if you have a stash of points and miles, it’s easy to just book a last minute flight and be there when it counts.
I hope these reasons inspire you to start your own points and miles journey. Not sure where to start? Check out my post on how to travel for free in six easy steps.
What would you do with a stockpile of points and miles?
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