First 1 Million Travel Points: My Journey

My journey into the world of travel points truly began in March 2022, thanks to an invitation from my brother Nate to sign up for the Venture X credit card. Although I had previously dabbled with an Alaska Airlines credit card and an Expedia credit card, it wasn’t until this point that I really dove into the travel points game.

The Start with Venture X

What sold me on the Venture X was a YouTube video highlighting its benefits: lounge access, a $300 travel credit, 10K bonus miles each year, and 2x points on every dollar spent. At the time, the sign-up bonus was 100K points after spending $4K. Within three months, I had accumulated over 188K points. This covered round-trip airfare for three people using the Venture X travel portal, though I didn’t yet understand transferring points to travel partners, which might have offered even better value.

Expanding with AMEX

In June 2022, I opened an AMEX Gold card, followed by an AMEX Platinum card in August. These cards netted us about 190K points after spending $4K over three months. I transferred 97K points to Hilton to book lodging for our 2023 London trip, and used 20K points for hotel stays in Portland and Marysville.

Discovering Travel Partners

By February 2023, I learned the benefits of transferring points to travel partners like Air France. For our February 2024 trip to Madrid, we used 240K points to fly all six of us. Additionally, we found a round-trip flight from Madrid to Lisbon for $66, covered with travel credits and 26K points. For lodging in San Diego in June 2023, I transferred 38K points from AMEX to Hilton.

Booking Business Class and Diving into Chase

Our April 2024 Italy trip included a business class flight from NYC to Florence for 112K AMEX points and a flight home from Naples to Seattle for 22K Venture X points. In June 2023, I opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred card, followed by a Chase Ink Business Unlimited Card and a Chase Ink Cash Card, netting over 240K points from sign-up bonuses.

We used 60K points for three rooms in Lisbon for our February 2024 stay, 49K points for a Florence hotel, and 18K points from Chase to Hyatt for a night in Naples. For our April 2024 New Orleans trip, we transferred 51K points from Chase to Hyatt for lodging.

Adding Bilt and Citi Premier

In October 2023, we opened a Bilt card under Andrea’s name to pay for Bella’s apartment, earning points on rent payments. We redeemed 15K points by transferring to Hyatt for a night in NYC as part of our Italy trip. For the Huskies National Championship game in Houston, we transferred 14K points from Chase to Hyatt for our stay.

The final push to over 1 million points was for our December 2024 Christmas trip from San Francisco to London. We used 132K points and supplemented with 29K points from Citi Premier transferred to Air France.

Our Go-To Travel Points Credit Cards

Here’s a quick rundown of the credit cards we use to maximize our travel points:

Venture X: Our all-purpose card, earning 2 travel points per dollar spent. This is our go-to for general expenses.

AMEX Gold: The primary card for dining and groceries(not Costco), earning 4 travel points per dollar spent. It’s perfect for everyday spending in these categories.

AMEX Platinum: We use this card exclusively for flight purchases, as it earns 5 travel points per dollar spent. It’s ideal for booking travel.

BILT: This card is dedicated to paying Bella’s rent, earning 1 travel point per dollar spent, and also offers 3 points per dollar on dining. It’s a great way to rack up points on essential expenses.

Citi Premier: Originally an Expedia-branded card, it was converted to the Citi Premier. Ben primarily uses this for dining and groceries, earning 3 points per dollar spent in these categories.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: We initially got this card for its generous sign-up bonus, but it also earns 3 travel points per dollar spent on dining, making it a valuable addition to our travel points strategy.

Using this mix of credit cards strategically has allowed us to accumulate points quickly and efficiently, turning everyday spending into incredible travel experiences.

Summary

In total, we used 1,102,902 travel points: 330K from AMEX, 536K from Venture X, 192K from Chase, 15K from Bilt, and 29K from Citi Premier. This incredible journey covered 10 cities over a couple of years, paying for airfare and lodging for trips to London, Portland, Marysville, San Diego, NYC, Houston, Madrid, Lisbon, Florence, and Naples.

This adventure has been an eye-opening experience into the power of travel points. Stay tuned for more tips and stories from our travels!