Shopping Online? Earn More Points!

If you've been following the blog, you would know that Goober is putting his points/miles to work. That's one of the differences between us: he spends while I save.

And how do I save? ... By spending.

Leveraging miles for last minute bookings

Contrary to my typical nature of procrastinating, I tend to purchase my plane tickets 2 months in advance due to it usually(this used very loosely) being the cheapest time to do so. Airline tickets tend to become more expensive the closer it is to departure date. So what do I do when the unforeseen happens; when I have an emergency to attend to, or maybe a last minute vacation I was approved for? Spend those hard earned miles to go to Hawaii!
 

Redeeming Your Points (Part 1): Introduction and Southwest Airlines

You've signed up for a credit card, completed the promo to earn the bonus and you are now ready to unleash the point beast to do your bidding and spirit you to faraway lands.

Whether that point beast is a demure little thing that makes it easy for you to plan your trip or a too-high of a level Pokémon that ignores you when you need it most (I'm looking at you, Charizard!), is completely dependent on the program from which you are redeeming.

Some are fantastically user-friendly and easy to redeem while some are notorious for their limited seats/schedule.

This is the first of a multi-part series on point redemption; this post will focus specifically on my experiences with Southwest Airlines.

Chase Sapphire Preferred card

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred

This is a damn sexy card, literally and figuratively. It's dark blue, has a non-embossed front and is much heavier then any other card to the point where ~20% (complete guesstimate) of cashiers will compliment the card (you just might be able to finally score that number of the cute cashier).

The current promo is a bonus 40k Ultimate Rewards points after spending $3,000 in three months. The benefits are so good that this card should become one of your go-to cards for all your purchases even if you have no requirements to meet.