If you like to travel like me, you have likely stumbled upon articles or interviews convincing you to hack credit card points to travel on the cheap. I have listened to countless stories about upgrades and traveling glamorously for free. Travel influencers even offer paid classes on how to play the points game! I was beginning to think myself nuts in not seeing the value and finally decided to investigate for my personal situation.
In theme with other areas of my life, I prefer to keep the number of credit cards I carry to a minimum. I don’t carry a balance and probably put around $1,000 per month on average on a credit card. A few years ago I decided I didn’t want to be beholden to a specific company with points redemption and that a cash back card would be best for me. So after researching cards with no annual fee, I settled on the Citi Double Cash card which pays me 2% cash back. I just credit the money back to my account–plain and simple. The downside is that the card does not cover foreign transaction fees.
Fast forward to 2020 and I decided to see what all the hype was over using points to travel. I attended a travel show and a self-proclaimed “points guru” spoke at one session. I cornered him afterwards and asked my burning question…I do not see myself benefiting from playing the points game, what am I missing? I explained my situation: single with no family, not self-employed, a minimalist who doesn’t spend a lot, etc. He confirmed my suspicion–I won’t benefit. He even knew my Citi card and and said it was a good card for my situation. This is what I learned: the people who are truly benefiting from playing the points game usually have a spouse + family and often times own their business and they are putting every expense on credit cards. And I have a hunch, based on my experience as a loan officer observing other’s financial behaviors, that playing the points game can lead to reckless spending. The points earned from spending are the proverbial carrot being dangled in front of the card holder to spend more.
Having said this, I did wind up opening a second credit card after hearing a few speakers at the travel show recommend some options. As I mentioned, my Citi card does not cover foreign transaction fees and I was meant to do some extended travel abroad this year. I opted for the Capital One Venture card. I should meet the requirements to get the initial point bonus that may be useful for a future travel perk and it waives foreign transaction fees which will come in handy. It will also cover the cost for Global Entry/TSA Precheck. There is an annual fee on the card, but it’s waived for the first year so I have some time to decide if it’s worth keeping. I haven’t had the opportunity to redeem points yet but it appears pretty easy with their points erasure. My plan is to use it initially to earn the “sign-on bonus” then strictly use it for international travel. By the way, the Venture card has a slider bar at the bottom of their website to see how many points you can earn in a year based on your monthly spending and it also confirmed I would not earn many points. Justification…I’m not nuts!
So when you hear travel gurus trying to convince you that you should be playing the points game, make sure it truly is beneficial for your situation. Because it is not for me, the single minimalist. If you decide it is for you, please proceed with caution and don’t let the points game subconsciously increase your spending habits.
the single minimal(ist) 