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Points and Miles mistakes we have made and seen others stumble into, and how you can be better prepared!
We All Make Mistakes
If I could chronicle the number of mistakes I have made over the course of this journey, we would be here all night. From missing transportation, to bad redemptions, to missing tickets for one child, I have made many mistakes. But the good news is, we can learn from our mistakes!
Common Mistakes
Getting all the Cards, super fast.
Naturally, when you enter this hobby, you are thrilled! To be honest, years later I still get really excited every time I get a new card. However, there are rules you need to abide by like the 5/24 rule, 12 month rule, and watching your credit score that should encourage you to utilize restraint.
Not tracking well.
Tracking is really important in this hobby. Not only tracking your spending, but tracking what cards you have and when payments are due, and when annual fees come due are all really important. We recommend the Travel Freely App for this purpose!
Not learning about Alliances.
While it may seem easy to earn miles and just redeem them within the Chase app, you are doing yourself a disservice. Many times, it takes just a couple simple steps to transfer these to another airline and book a flight for far less points than you would have within the portal. The key to understanding these transfers is often learning about Airline Alliances and how they work for your benefit to save you money and points.
Not getting flexible points.
While the Southwest card can certainly be valuable, putting all your eggs in the Southwest basket deters you from some of your best vacation options. Having flexible points, lets say on a Chase card, allows me to book a flight with Southwest or United or Virgin Atlantic (Delta) rather than only having Southwest as an option.
Falling for Phantom Award Space.
In sewing we have a rule, measure twice, cut once. This is what I would recommend anytime you are looking to transfer a large amount of points. However, Phantom award space does exist. A couple things you can do to avoid it:
- Call the Airline to check on the award availability
- Put the award flight on hold with the airline, giving you time to check on it, and gather the points needed.
- Check with other Alliance partners to ensure the flight exists.
- If you try everything and it still ends up being a Phantom award – you can always call and ask them to refund your rewards. This isn’t often successful, but occasionally people have luck with this.
Transferring without a plan
You will frequently see transfer bonuses of up to 40% come through each bank. It can be incredibly tempting to jump on those bonuses. And, if you fly that airline monthly, maybe it makes sense for you, or if you have a distinct plan to fly that specific airline, then we support the transfer. However, the reason we have flexible miles is because the best awards are often found in different places, and we want the flexibility to move those where we need for the trip we need.
Mistakes We Have Made
Missing an Annual Fee
The first time we missed an annual fee I was distraught. I thought since the fee hit my account, I had to pay it and keep the account another year. In practice, you often have about 30 days to call and ask them to cancel the card before having to pay the annual fee. This is another plug for Travel Freely who will alert you to your upcoming fees.
Not fully understanding a redemption before pursuing it.
I like to chase shiny deals, and I have made the mistake of booking no luggage flights, flights that get in after the hotel shuttle is running, the list goes on and on. So….learn from my mistake and read the fine print before pursuing a deal.
Not reviewing refund rules of individual airlines.
This goes with reading the fine print above. Some airlines have really generous refund rules, especially as it pertains to points, and others will charge you $50-$100 to reschedule or cancel a points flight. It’s important to know what you are booking. Also, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture X have stellar insurance for all sort of trip cancellation issues, so consider booking your trip with those cards….but read that fine print too!!
If You Make a Mistake
The bad news – a lot of times these mistakes are learned the hard way.
The good news – we can always earn more points. It may take a little while, and it may change vacation plans, but usually with points and miles we are not putting a lot of cash on the line, which makes these mistakes easier to palate.
Points and Miles is fun and rewarding! If you are ready to get started, grab our Beginner’s Guide!
