I get asked this question a lot - "where do I start with points & miles?" My answer is usually something along the lines of getting a credit card and importantly DO NOT REDEEM THE POINTS FOR STATEMENT CREDITS, GIFT CARDS, OR PRODUCTS. I feel a small part of me die inside when people tell me that's how they use their points. So I thought why don't I actually write down step by step how I would start in the points & miles world. And it just so happens that with the birth of our

2025 was a big year for us as we welcomed our first child. Going into 2025, I knew the second half would have very limited travel, but with some work projects winding down the first half also wasn't that busy. I actually ended up traveling fewer miles in 2025 than I did in 2020 when COVID shut down the entire world for most of the year. I thought I would for sure lose United 1K status this year, but I learned that once every 5 years you can request a status extension due to l

United's Excursionist perk has been around for many years but I've found surprisingly very few people know about it. This perk allows you to add a free one-way award on a multi-city ticket booked with miles, similar to the free stopover perk that many airlines offer. When booking a roundtrip flight in and out of the same region using points, this perk allows you to book a free flight within that same region - perfect for a vacation where you are planning to visit 2 destinatio

The first half of 2024 was as busy a 6 month stretch as I can remember. Between work, class, and a couple personal trips I was on the road nearly every week. Thankfully, I was able to enjoy the Chicago summer as I traveled much less in the second half of the year - a couple work trips and a handful of weddings. Our hotel branded credit cards came in handy this year with how many weddings we had. The free night certificates make the annual fee worth it in my opinion and we uti