Good travel Tuesday! Let’s jump in with both feet this morning.

1. That Elevated Welcome Offer is 🔥

2. The #1 concern in the travel points/miles game.

3. A look at what’s possible using your points.

4. Travel news: What’s up Southwest?

Mind if I start with a quick share? This week we partnered with the Daily Drop affiliate program and we are stoked! What this means for our relationship (you and I 🧡 )- is that if you apply for a credit card, you could use one of my affiliate links to do so! This is a HUGE support for me as I continue to grow Booked It On Points and I will feel forever bonded with you.

🚨Buckle up, this one is for you: The MOST POPULAR travel credit card just increased its welcome offer last week to its highest of the year!

Its elevated offer is 75,000 bonus UR points rather than the normal 60,000 UR points —> this is worth nearly $950 when redeemed through its travel portal 🤯

And those 75,000 bonus points could actually be worth WAY MORE when transferred out to the bank’s many travel partners! This is seriously a HUGE offer and won’t stick around too long.

Already have this guy? Ready to step it up in luxury travel perks? I got you. Another elevated offer on this premium travel card could be just what you need in your wallet - the “big sis” of sorts 😉

*Elevated offers are one of the leading factors when deciding to open a new credit card, so don’t miss out if you have yet to secure my All Time Favorite travel credit card! Want to open your wings and soar to new heights? Check out my top overall cards for this month.

The People’s #1 Concern: Using points to book travel sounds swell, sure, but the reality is, people are skeptical and nervous. Maybe you feel comfortable (mostly) but you have a partner or friend that paints a fearful image of the credit score gods raining down on your family. Your credit score is this big, illusive, looming bully that makes us feel like we’re either killing it in life, or well, failing miserably. (You don’t control me credit score…I control me…and milkshakes- ahhh peanut butter please🥤)

It’s important, I certainly recognize that. And I’m not a risk taker. Well, I am if you count trekking in Guatemala by myself and getting held up by machete that one time… But the guy ended up letting me leave with my life and my memory card from the camera after I convinced him in Spanish of it’s importance to me. Hey, guess he had a heart after all. Where is that damn memory card anyway?? Aside from that- I’m buttoned up and straight edged! So I’m not messing around when it comes to my credit. 

The #1 concern I hear when I talk about CC points/miles is credit score. It’s a reasonable concern, and I applaud you for being cautious in your life decisions! But most people are thinking like my husband- he heard it from somewhere, probably some ding dong on the world wide web who preached “your credit drops when you open up credit cards.” Ding dongs then make other people look like ding dongs now. Viscous cycle…

I’m here to set the ding dongs free! 🎉

I’m about to make your day by reassuring you that you don’t have to live under the weight of that worry any longer. What if I told you your credit score would ⬆️⬆️⬆️ with this strategy? (for reals-mine did!)

 Let’s take it slow, friend. I’m not about the peer pressure. 

First, start by understanding how your credit score is determined. I do believe it will put you at ease. 

Pro tip: Length of credit is an important factor making up 15% of your credit score. So, before canceling a card, consider down grading instead to a no-annual CC.

Real Life Example—> Have a card with an annual fee that you don’t get value from anymore? Consider a downgrade after 1 year to a no annual fee card. This allows that length of credit to live on and keep your credit score healthy. Already got a card with no annual fee? No problemo, live and let live.

*To note: most business cards do not show up on your personal credit report or factor into length of credit. Business cards are a great way to earn a higher welcome bonus and they can be cancelled after a year (at minimum) if you do not have a need for it any longer.

Second, give it a go. So long as you don’t carry a balance on any of your cards and you’re prepared to pay down each monthly statement in full, go ahead and live a little! Get some shiny new plastic in your wallet! A hard pull on your credit- which is what happens each time you apply for a new CC could initially lower your score a couple of points. This is why I’d always avoid opening too many cards too quickly. As you’ll see though, this score rebounds with time and often surpasses your previous score (“new credit” makes up 10% of your credit score!) I personally use CreditWise to monitor all the changes that take place with my credit score and find my current 830 score quite satisfying.

Third, and MOST fun! Let’s take a 👀 at what could be in your future. Let’s say you have your heart set on visiting Europe. You have a friend, me, who is so stoked for you that I now become your very best friend and I’m completely invested in your travel plans, you’re welcome. 

I show you this:

Now this flight is with Iberia Air. These guys accept Avios points as currency. There are multiple ways to accumulate Avios points and 1 of the ways is so simple! Ready for it? Just use those UR points (those you earned on the elevated offer mention above with this fan favorite and transfer them to your Iberia Airlines loyalty program (free to sign up) and BOOM 🤯 

Already have that piece of plastic? Check out this list of my top favorite cards this year!

The 2 Step Plan: 

1) Sign up for 1-2 credit cards. You will earn the welcome bonus of 60k-100k points depending on which card you have chosen.

2) Refer your partner to the same card, earn referral points plus your partner will earn the sign on bonus.

*If you apply to this business credit card - it’s a fav- and refer your partner, that would yield you upwards of 240k points between both welcome offers’ plus referral points. 

It’s that easy, friend. This business class flight would cost you $128 one way in taxes/fees. And that is the magic of this whole game. 

Action step: To break it down even further and give you a step by step plan, refer this newsletter to 2 people and receive my free download: Road map to up to 500,000 points.  (Your unique share link is located at the bottom of this email!)

Sad news about our favorite domestic airline: Southwest Airlines is on the financial struggle bus. 😭 This week the airline put out poor first-quarter financial results and as a result stated they will be pulling out of 4 airports and cutting over 2,000 jobs. One possible implication to us? The airline said it is studying changes to its boarding and seating to boost revenue. I am team open seating, how about you? Reply and let me know.

In the meantime, if you want to show them some love- they are running a spring sale if you book before 5/9 and this includes summer travel dates!

Hotel news: Hyatt has now acquired the luxury platform Mr. and Mrs. Smith. What does that mean for us? That means that the World of Hyatt is now opening up over 2,000 more accommodations throughout the world! The upside? You can redeem your Hyatt points for any of these properties. The down side? These properties will use dynamic pricing rather than Hyatt’s usual fixed pricing. Check out all these new locations!

Not sure what seats to reserve on the plane? For rows that are 3 seats across opt for the window and the aisle seat (same row). Chances are, no one is going to go for the middle seat and you’ll get the whole row!

Travel Content We Enjoyed

👀 Watch: Check out what makes this stretch of sand so unique.

📘 Read: Everyone wonders about when is the best time to book tickets when planning for a trip. While there isn’t an exact science, there is some advice for this summer’s travel plans. Hint: it’s not too late!

📹 Watch: Don’t call us Japan experts, but we have been in the country for a total of 7 days and visited 4 cities. So we have that going for us. There is one place we wish we spent more time- The Most Underrated City in Japan.

✍️ Write: Got questions on which card sign up for? Can’t decide between the different options? Just hit reply, I’d love to talk travel with ya!

Looking at these photographs, I know that I will never understand the world I live in or fully know the places I’ve been. I’ve learned for sure only what I don’t know – and how much I have to learn.”
― Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach