Questions and Answers

I was wondering if anyone has a detailed step by step process that they did when they started.
Like these are the cards you started with and you got this many points, then you booked this flight and flew business class to (fill in the blank) and this is how you built up points (I saw a news report that some guy bought out a lot of rental cars for $X a day to collect a ton of points).

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

For those of us who don’t travel for business I think we’ve tended to open up a credit card or two, making sure to meet the sign-up bonus requirements and then moving on to the next card. If you don’t have a lot of paid travel, this is a hobby you typically want to ease into so that you’re sure you know what you’re doing.

And the steps you take may depend on your travel goals. For those who don’t fly very often but want to do so in style, gaining VIP status is not necessarily the goal.

Maybe if you tell us a little more about your travel goals we can provide guidance. And I’m assuming you’ve read the beginner’s guide (link under the Start Here tab at the top of the page).

Yes I read through the beginners guide but that gives more of a generalization, I’m interested in what worked personally for people.

Well my story is that I want to travel more so yes why not do it in style.
This will only be a hobby since my job only allows 2 weeks paid vacation. But I feel like the business/first class experience is an adventure in itself.

I am trying to plan an upcoming trip to Italy so deciding on the best cards to get started with now is ideal.

The best card often depends on where you want to go. Since you gave more info about your travel plans in your other post, we’ll follow up there.

[USER=3336]@LadyDiBs[/USER]

The story you read was about 37rentals?

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/09/15/the-guy-who-rented-37-cars-in-2-days/[/URL]

For me personally, my start into the whole thing was gradual. When I first stumbled upon One Mile at a Time and the other BoardingArea sites, I already had a decent stash of points and knew relatively how to use them.

But, for friends who are starting out and ask for advice, I almost always point them in the direction of the Chase Sapphire cards (Reserve or Preferred). Ultimate Rewards can be very valuable if used correctly (airlines or hotels), the annual fee is pretty easy to justify to a newbie, and it gets a lot of press. It’s actually really hard to convince someone to sign up for something like that American Barclay Aviator card because it gets such little press, very little advertising, etc.

Also, if you continue down this hobby, at some point you’ll be subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, so you may as well start off with them to get that out of the way.

[USER=268]@No Name[/USER]
[QUOTE=”No Name, post: 35396, member: 268″][USER=3336]@LadyDiBs[/USER]

The story you read was about 37rentals?

[URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/09/15/the-guy-who-rented-37-cars-in-2-days/[/URL][/QUOTE]

[URL=’https://youtu.be/gt54Zb4mMc8′]actually it was this video that I watched. The rental car segment comes at around the 4 minute mark [MEDIA=youtube]gt54Zb4mMc8[/MEDIA][/URL]

[QUOTE=”rickyw, post: 35420, member: 1436″]For me personally, my start into the whole thing was gradual. When I first stumbled upon One Mile at a Time and the other BoardingArea sites, I already had a decent stash of points and knew relatively how to use them.

But, for friends who are starting out and ask for advice, I almost always point them in the direction of the Chase Sapphire cards (Reserve or Preferred). Ultimate Rewards can be very valuable if used correctly (airlines or hotels), the annual fee is pretty easy to justify to a newbie, and it gets a lot of press. It’s actually really hard to convince someone to sign up for something like that American Barclay Aviator card because it gets such little press, very little advertising, etc.

Also, if you continue down this hobby, at some point you’ll be subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, so you may as well start off with them to get that out of the way.[/QUOTE]

thanks for the advice, I’d be happy to hear more.
I knew about the Barclay card but it can be a little suspicious since it is not heavily publicized. What is the Chase 5/24 rule. If I had to venture a guess it is 5 cards in 24 months? I was planning on getting one of the Sapphire cards.

Yep, the Barclay card is great if you’re chasing American Airlines status since it offers a fast track to the $$$ spend requirement, but other than that it isn’t an overly attractive card.

I was just using that card as an example of a more “random” credit card. Was just trying to say that for better or worse, the Chase cards get a lot of hype so it’s an easy first card.

I’d definitely recommend one of the Chase Sapphire cards. The Preferred is a $95 annual fee, and the Reserve is $450. But, you do get a travel credit each year which effectively brings that fee down on the Reserve. You mention you are looking to go to Italy, and Chase has some great transfer partners for their points that you get you across to Europe through StarAlliance airlines (assuming you are based in the USA?)

Yes, the 5/24 rule is 5 cards in 24 months. Ben recently wrote a post about it here: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2017/07/25/the-chase-524-rule-explained/[/URL]

Personally, I get a lot of use out of my Barclay ArrivalPlus card because I do a lot of manufactured spending. My friends and I like to do river cruises so I can offset the cost of those purchases by redeeming points against the various payments I make for these trips. But for airfare and hotels I’m usually using a different card.

I started with just one airline card long before this blog and others like it were around. But in years since everything in the points and miles game has kept evolving and the only thing that’s certain is change. Now, I hold about ten cards – all of which are part of a highly tailored approach to meet my future travel needs and lifestyle choices (basically how and where I spend on cards to maximize returns – either miles, points or cash back). As both hotel and airline rewards programs change, I’ve abandoned some in favor of others with better offers. And somewhat like the stock market with its peaks and valleys, this is a bear market at the moment for points and miles in my opinion. But it will probably cycle up again so it’s still very worth being in the game. Good luck!