Award Trip to Paris - Breakdown

So I have mentioned to my friends/family about our upcoming trip to Paris before, but I wanted to do a detailed breakdown of our trip to give my readers an idea of what is possible via the PointsPursuit. I did this recently for our trip to Hawaii as well, feel free to give that a read of a tropical vacation is more up your alley. Also, I try to do these not in boasting, but rather to demonstrate that great vacations are realistically in reach for many people that never realized it!

Best Credit Card Signup Value

Ever wondered what card has the best signup offer? It's hard to know, especially with all the different point types. The following list, while not all inclusive, has most of the popular cards along with relevant information (annual fees, past offers, min spend requirements, etc). Hopefully this will help you to make a decision on which cards to target in your points earning strategy.

Analysis of Chase British Airways 100k Miles Promotion

                Today (9/17/2015) Chase re-launched a promotion they do every year or so on their British Airways card. Normally this card earns 50,000 Avios after $2k spend and the first year's $95 fee is waived. However, right now they are offering 50k/75k/100k Avios if you spend $2k/$10k/$20k. The $95 is NOT waived for the first year. Let’s take a look and see if this deal is worth it.

Mile Valuations

                As you know, there are tons of airlines and hotel chains, each with its own loyalty program. Additionally there are many flexible rewards programs out there (think Chase, American Express, Citi, etc). How do you value each of these points programs? 80,000 points sounds like a lot, but if they are denominated in Hilton Hhonor points, are they actually worth more than 30,000 Starpoints?

Hawaii For Free? Yes Please!

Some people have asked realistically, where can I travel on frequent flier miles/hotel points? How many credit cards do I need to apply for, and what will this cost me? This answer is really up to you and how much time and research you put into it. You should start your earning strategy with a destination in mind. I will give an example if what I did to give you an idea.

Discover's Deal of the Year

               If you know me in person, you have probably already heard about this deal. It is too good to not talk about to everyone I know. It seems almost too good to be true, but it is. May I announce the Discover Double Cash Back promotion + the Discover Apple Pay promotion.

Starters Guide - Churning and Manufactured Spending

To get started with this hobby, one must know the two basic principles for obtaining points/miles.

• Churning - the act of applying for credit cards to obtain sign-up bonuses (multiple times if possible)
• Manufactured Spending - the act of artificially increasing your spending by purchasing cash equivalents (gift cards) or by some other means.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time! - An Intro to Points/Miles Game

About 6 months ago I came across a few blogs online designed to help people “travel hack” affordably. Do I want to fly to Hawaii and stay there for free for a week or two? Heck yeah! Since then I have become pretty obsessed with this hobby.