✈️ Don't make a mistake, know these top 5 rules

Good morning ☀️ from Booked It On Points: A curated collection to keep you traveling for less money and more know how 👊🏽

I hope you had a lovely Labor Day Weekend.

Let’s dive in.

Here’s what’s on today—

📉 This is a great example (yet, confusing sometimes) on how I manage to book flights on all different airlines, even when I don’t have those specific points. I found a great business class redemption: JFK→London for only 57k points. It’s flown by American Air, an airline that doesn’t take any major bank points. However, this flight is listed on Qantas Air and I know they accept miles from my favorite card (2x points on ALL purchases), and another highly valuable bank. Don’t forget, transferring points out to airline alliances is key strategy for maximizing points value! I found this flight on seats.aero 🙂 

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✈︎ Points + Miles

TOP STORY: Rules to our favorite game 🎲 → earn the most points & miles

Once upon a time, Geo and I looked at a map on our bedroom wall and contemplated where to spend 3 weeks the following fall. Have you ever been in a position to go anywhere? See, we knew we were going to take a trip, and we were open to the entire world because I knew I would be earning enough points to fly there virtually free. So with that mindset, we set our sights on Japan 🤤

I’m not particularly competitive but when I saw what using points + miles could afford us, I knew we would be flying business class and I kicked my learning into overdrive. Here’s how I got us from JFK to Tokyo in business class for less than $100→

1) Welcome offers are king→ With 1-2 sign up offers from a credit card, I knew I could transfer those points for a one-way lie-flat business class seat to Asia. In fact, we signed up for this card, and secured our seats for the return flight home in a United Polaris cabin. This was extra exciting because we got access to the United Polaris Business Class lounge in San Fransisco which was beautiful!

2) Utilize 2 player mode→ Ok, so I’ve signed up for this card (as mentioned above), I then referred Geo to the same card. This is called 2-player mode. In return, I got referral points and he got the welcome offer points and voilà, we secured our second one-way lie-flat business class seat to Asia.

3) Use a credit card for ALL spending→ In our circumstance, this was one of our first times using points to travel and therefore, we had a large chunk already secured from using a CC for every. single. purchase in our life previously. When I say ALL spending I mean NO debit cards, NO checks (is that a thing anymore?) and NO cash. Just that shiny piece of plastic, friend.

4) Meet the minimum spend→ You know what missing the minimum spend equals in the game of points + miles? It’s like picking up the “Go To Jail” card in the game of Monopoly, only it hurts much, much worse.

 After recieving our new cards, you better believe we had our big purchases mapped out to confirm we would hit the minimum spend, even set calendar reminders to ensure we didn’t mess this part up!

5) Understand that points are NOT created equal→ The value of the point can vary depending on how the points are redeemed. Points can be transferred to partner airlines or hotels giving them major value that you wouldn’t find if you simply “covered the purchase in your portal.” How you search for your redemptions is the most important factors in finding a great deal. In fact, some transfer when done correctly can yield points up to 8x their value!

Bottom line→When I tell you it’s possible to use credit cards to travel nearly free, I’m saying it because it’s exactly how I book our family of 4 time and time again, I promise!

✈︎ Travel News

New standardized carry-on rules for traveling in the EU

The EU has introduced some upcoming regulations as of this month as it relates to your carry on requirements. This is a plan to standardize all size, weight and liquid allowance for each carry on and hand bag regardless of airline. Wow! Uniform requirements for ALL, that simplifies things!

These 8 new airline routes to get you abroad for cheaper this fall

It’s fall and that means you can start traveling without the crowds and at much cheaper costs. If you’re like me, you’re always open to trying new destinations. We’re in the beginning of a beautiful season to experience travel and here is a list of new routes to inspire some fall adventures.

✈︎ Poll

Time to get on with the week, see you Friday!

Thanks for being here,

Allie