Friends ask me all the time how I travel everywhere for next to nothing. After reading ThePointsOfLife Infomercial you should know the answer is points.
But before you run off and apply for twenty credit cards and lie about your income and number of businesses you own, let’s take a step back and ask the question “Is that your car?” If you answered yes, then you probably have terrible credit and the points game isn’t for you.
If you are like everyone else, then your credit score is somewhere between someone who owns that beautiful white pearl taken in Bucharest, Romania and a fortunate Bentley driver (who should still travel on points to save for the cost of gas.)
“I think my credit is good,” also is not an acceptable answer. The only way to know is to check. If you want to participate in the points game, then start off by going to the Annual Credit Report website which is the only one that is free and provided by the U.S. government.
Figure out what your credit is from all 3 Bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. Note that Equifax may not make your credit report available to you online so you may have to request it in writing. That is normal and shouldn’t be skipped. You may have to pay $8 per credit score but this is well worth the cost and you won’t ever have to pay for it again.
Simultaneously, before you can leave here:
To go here:
You need to have zero credit card debt. If you are paying interest, then you are already losing the points game.
So check your credit scores and check your bank accounts and then we can move on one step at a time.
Any questions?
