(Nearly) free points: rebates!

I used to do this a while ago but got lazy. I am now back on track! I buy items that are free (or nearly free) after rebates for the sake of earning the points. In this case it is a mixture of office supplies and software from Office Depot and Staples. I am earning 9 and 15 points per dollar spent respectively. And I get my money back!

I am now keeping track of deals like this so I can continue to rake in more. I have some future travel plans that I don't have enough points for. They require quite a lot for the two of us so I have to get everything I can. Even if plans change I won't be upset with having an abundance of points. They are just too valuable for premium cabin international travel.

These rebate deals usually occur once per month. I have built a spreadsheet to keep track so I know how I am doing overall. I just have to be careful with the paperwork since they look for any reason not to fulfill the rebates. It takes a little time but pays off in first class to Bangkok :)

Maxing out points bonus: Chase Freedom Double Dip!

The bonus categories this quarter ending 6/30/2012 are grocery stores and movie theaters. I don't go to the movies so I am trying to max out the $1,500 spending cap at grocery stores. I don't come anywhere close to that in food!

The good news is that Kroger sells a LOT of different gift cards. To make the deal sweeter they are currently offering, until 6/16/2012, 4x fuel points for branded gift cards (except Kroger, Visa, Master Card, and American Express). I did my best to maximize both without buying cards I don't need. I settled on:

• $500 Kroger gift card (bought before I saw the 4x fuel points deal)
• $500 Visa gift card (I needed flexibility more than fuel points)
• $50 Amazon.com card
• $100 Shell Gas card
• $100 Shell Gas card
• $50 Kroger card #2

As you can see I spent $1300 in gift cards. I had already spent $200 at Kroger normally since 4/1/2012 so I have now reached the limit for the 5x Chase points for the quarter. I am working my way through the Kroger gift cards for food and gas. I just used the Amazon card to order what I was going to buy anyway. I am keeping the Shell cards for future gas needs for myself as well as company travel (reimbursed!). The $500 Visa card cost me an extra $5.95 fee but not bad for the flexibility and extra 2,500 Chase points. I can use it anywhere and spend normally.

 I am selling the second Kroger gift card to a friend for $50 cash. Money he would have spent anyway and I get 250 more points out of it. Being creative is all part of the game!

Looks like I will be giving the credit cards a break for most things until I burn through these gift cards. Carrying them around is a slight hassle but worth it for all the points and benefits I get.

Flying for free takes points: FLEXIBLE points

I fly nearly all of my vacation travel using the points I earn from my fun game of promotions and credit card offers. And of course my work travel that earns me points with a few programs. Now that I have been in the game for a while I have my overall strategy figured out: Do not put all my points into one program!

A lot of programs lately have "devalued" their points by changing the rules. These changes make the rewards I want take a lot more points to redeem. Delta was the worst and fell way down my list. British Airways switched to a distance based approach with removed some great redemptions but added others. Half of the battle is to keep up with the rules and tricks to get what you want for the least amount of points.

The only way to stay a step ahead of the game is to earn points that you can transfer to multiple programs. As it stands today my top 3 are American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Sapphire Preferred Ultimate Rewards, and Starwood Hotels Group. Each of these allows me to transfer their points to a long list of programs. I can move to where I find the best deal and am not married to a single program.

My current favorite is Chase Ultimate Rewards since they transfer to United. I am most interested in international business/first class. United has lots of great partners in Star Alliance and availability. I can first find the seats I want, transfer to United instantly, and book the ticket. Fantastic!

My main problem is earning points fast enough. With promotions and credit card offers slowing down I will eventually run out if this trend continues. I know this game is not going to be sustainable forever so I need to make the most of what I can get today.

How my points game pays off big!

I have been "churning" credit cards lately and have raked in a lot of points. I have used those points for lots of fun trips in premium airline seats that I could never afford to actually pay for! 2011 was a great point earning year for me. Here are some rough numbers of what I gained:

• United+Continental: ~115,000 miles
• Delta: ~100,000 miles
• British Airways: ~104,000 miles
• American Airlines: ~85,000 miles
• US Airways: ~41,000 miles
• Hilton: ~44,000 points
• Club Carlson: ~54,000 points
• Chase Sapphire: ~66,000 points
• AMEX Membership Rewards: 75,000 points

That is a lot of points! I didn't realize how much it truly was until I sat down and calculated my "earnings" from the relatively small amount of work. I have redeemed a lot of those points already since I use an "earn and burn" strategy so I am not as prone to devaluation. My girlfriend and I have some great memories from this hobby :]

It is only day 10 of 2012 and I am still on the prowl for more offers and bonuses. I am trying to piece together enough offers to have another worthy churn. I am being more selective so I don't get reg flagged by credit card companies by becoming too greedy. Pair that with the fact that I simply don't get enough time off to use them all!

I still have more travel goals in mind in the future that I need to build up some points for. I want to do the world cup in 2014 in Brazil and also would like to do Asia again possibly in 2013. I am hoping work travel can offset some of that but I will still need a good offer or two if I want to do those in business/first class.

As I do this more I learn all the neat little tricks to getting the most for my money/points so I can stretch them further. Admittedly my weak spot now is hotels since I rarely stay in pricey rooms for pleasure or work. I tend to prefer the mom and pop hotels, hostels, and guesthouses. They are much cheaper and more local. I need to utilize hotel points in a way that I can get more miles for travel.

It is all a constant game of earning, learning, and burning to what works best for me. Rules and programs change all of the time, mergers happen, and of course devaluations occur. Just have to adapt and make the best of it. It is a lot to keep track of but in the end the payoff is huge!