I love this particular part of the forum as it combines my two crazy passions - travel hacking and FIRE. What an awesome combination!
I am obsessively interested in early retirement. Partly because I want to travel. And partly because I want to do it while our kids still want to hang out with us.
The majority of people I know don't think early retirement is possible, let only with travel included. Typically my coworkers live paycheck to paycheck. Or just think they are going to rely on government and work pensions. They cannot imagine adjusting their spending to fit a shorter work career. That means they're working until 65.
When I started collecting points a mere 18 months ago I was initially planning to convert my hotel points to airline points. It just seemed the status quo thing to do. I love best practices and it seemed this was the best way to go. I wasn't interested in cash back credit cards or travel credit cards because they weren't airline points (unless they transferred 1:1 of course).
But now I've adapted the outlook of points and miles as an international currency that doesn't have much hassle attached to it. Or any giant loss of value. In fact, it often seems to be a big gain.
Cash back and travel points are a great way of earning more of that currency. Since I have to spend money on things anyway, and I'm likely to incur travel costs anyway, I may as well maximize my spending to it's full potential.
I still love airline points the best. But my credit card sign up bonuses cannot carry me through the entire year (sadly I'm stuck with a Canadian selection). I've learned to diversify with hotel credit cards and hotel rewards programs. These hotel points take me an especially long way for free travel. When I first started out hotel points seemed pretty much useless - destined to be converted. But I've learned that whatever points you are earning are ALMOST always the best value when redeemed for what they are intended for. And when you add in status with certain programs, those hotel points are stellar. No foreign currencies. No exhange fees. No forex credit card processing fees. AND no taxes. Awesome!
I earn more hotel points by using my cash back or travel credit card sign up bonuses to pay for regular hotel stays that I would have made anyway throughout the year. And I try to target status because they often come with some nice perks.
Just like airline points, hotel points have their sweet spots. There are crappy redemptions. But then there are some super lucrative ones that help you avoid a ton of cash out of pocket.
The point of all my rambling is I've learned that points are more valuable than they seem, even for seasoned points hounds (not me yet). Collecting and maximizing them is just like everything else … there is a fine balance and art about it.
I've decided to view them as an international currency. Lots of nuances for exchanging them. Way more valuable than a regular old dollar. And when you think of it, despite the devaluations, they are more stable, at least for a few years at a time.
I am obsessively interested in early retirement. Partly because I want to travel. And partly because I want to do it while our kids still want to hang out with us.
The majority of people I know don't think early retirement is possible, let only with travel included. Typically my coworkers live paycheck to paycheck. Or just think they are going to rely on government and work pensions. They cannot imagine adjusting their spending to fit a shorter work career. That means they're working until 65.
When I started collecting points a mere 18 months ago I was initially planning to convert my hotel points to airline points. It just seemed the status quo thing to do. I love best practices and it seemed this was the best way to go. I wasn't interested in cash back credit cards or travel credit cards because they weren't airline points (unless they transferred 1:1 of course).
But now I've adapted the outlook of points and miles as an international currency that doesn't have much hassle attached to it. Or any giant loss of value. In fact, it often seems to be a big gain.
Cash back and travel points are a great way of earning more of that currency. Since I have to spend money on things anyway, and I'm likely to incur travel costs anyway, I may as well maximize my spending to it's full potential.
I still love airline points the best. But my credit card sign up bonuses cannot carry me through the entire year (sadly I'm stuck with a Canadian selection). I've learned to diversify with hotel credit cards and hotel rewards programs. These hotel points take me an especially long way for free travel. When I first started out hotel points seemed pretty much useless - destined to be converted. But I've learned that whatever points you are earning are ALMOST always the best value when redeemed for what they are intended for. And when you add in status with certain programs, those hotel points are stellar. No foreign currencies. No exhange fees. No forex credit card processing fees. AND no taxes. Awesome!
I earn more hotel points by using my cash back or travel credit card sign up bonuses to pay for regular hotel stays that I would have made anyway throughout the year. And I try to target status because they often come with some nice perks.
Just like airline points, hotel points have their sweet spots. There are crappy redemptions. But then there are some super lucrative ones that help you avoid a ton of cash out of pocket.
The point of all my rambling is I've learned that points are more valuable than they seem, even for seasoned points hounds (not me yet). Collecting and maximizing them is just like everything else … there is a fine balance and art about it.
I've decided to view them as an international currency. Lots of nuances for exchanging them. Way more valuable than a regular old dollar. And when you think of it, despite the devaluations, they are more stable, at least for a few years at a time.
