You’ll find out your biggest problem is not bringing in the stuff…but what to do with all the fucking cash!
-Frank Lopez- Scarface
An excerpt from Everyone’s Advice Is Wrong demonstrates how this will become your points problem:
How do you earn these points? The idea is simple and legal. You can earn points in a number of ways including flying to the four corners of the globe to gain preferred airline status, staying in a ton of hotel rooms to qualify for free suite upgrades, or, by buying one too many [Michigan] teddy bears during a 1-800-FLOWERS Valentine’s Day points promotion.
If that is not economically viable, consider racking up millions of points from the comforts of being ‘in couch’.
All you need is the following:
– A dial-up internet connection
– An excellent credit score
Then:
– Apply for an award credit card once a quarter.
– Meet the minimum spend requirement for that card.
– Patiently wait for the points to accumulate.
It’s that simple.
Before you get all the points in the world appreciate that Step 3 is a preemptive measure whereby you make a commitment to not hoard your points. This is known as Churn ‘n’ Burn. Looking at your points in a pretty Excel document that you have spent too much time at work creating is worthless when all of a sudden it costs twice as much to go somewhere than it would have had you not been so emotionally attached to your points.
I too used to have this problem and would spend all my time looking at my snazzy collection of points. See Exhibit below:
Then this year United devalued its points requiring 42,500 more points to travel on a foreign carrier from Europe to the US! With this wake up call, I decided to burn all my United miles and booked two flights from Germany to Los Angeles all in first-class for 67,500 miles and $145.20/ticket.
Had I waited here’s what it would cost today post-devaluation!
I can’t emphasize enough how useless it is to have a stockpile of points that you never use, that will go down in value, all the while you are paying annual fees for credit cards for no reason.
I have a friend that followed all the subsequent steps but has done nothing with his points.
Therefore, in order to move onto Step 4 you must promise from the outset to not be a points hoarder.
By clicking on Step 4, you are agreeing to adhere to the Churn ‘n’ Burn philosophy.
Now let’s get to the good stuff:
