I want to write the post that everyone should share with their completely beginner friends. This is that post.
My newbie friends recently got a ton of free flights and have been “singing the praises” of miles and points to their friends and family. But… their eyes glaze over as soon as they hear the details.
This is common. Get excited about an “easy” and “free” flight… and then feel overwhelmed about the work that has to go into it.
I’ve thought a lot about how to introduce people to the miles & points world without overwhelming them, and these are my sincerest thoughts…
Just Start!
Just get a few cards with a decent miles bonus. Then figure it out.
If I start giving you all the details now, it will sound intimidating… when it’s not that complicated. Maybe it’s because we’ve got our own lingo. Or maybe it’s not explained well.
Don’t get me wrong, it can be as time consuming as any hobby. But I know lots of people who don’t think about it until they need to book a flight. And otherwise they may or may not get a credit card or two every now and then.
Most people find the spend requirements intimidating. I’m super tempted to link to posts of tricks explaining how easy it is…
However, I’m not! Just google it, or tweet me, after you’ve got the cards.
“What if I get the wrong cards?”
Oh no! Then you get 1 roundtrip to Europe instead of 2. Not a big deal, imo.
And to be honest, I likely have that second tier card now anyways. Not a big deal.
“What happens to my credit score when getting multiple credit cards?”
It goes up. It goes down when you mishandle your credit – mainly if you’re late for payments.
But you should pay off your credit cards in full and on time to avoid fees! That’s good for your score and wallet.
But don’t take my word for it. Get a few, and monitor your credit. View it as a test, worse case scenario you get the miles and decide it’s not worth it to continue. Best case scenario, your credit score goes way up… like everyone I know.
Where The Rubber Meets The Runway
I’m tempted to say don’t worry about it. You can always figure out how to do something, or how to use your miles later (and it’s not that hard).
But here are my tips:
- Bigger bonuses are better, in general. (Pretty obvious so far, eh?) 50,000 miles and up is a good place to start.
- Airline miles and bank points are better than hotel points, in general.
Credit Card Recommendations would be to start with cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, AA miles, United (when it’s 50,000+), and American Express points. That’s pretty broad.
But if my tips got too complicated… ignore them.
Just go figure it out. Just get some carts. A card! Just do something.
Why not? The upside to be gained is a flight or two. The downside? … None! Just try.
Luck favors those who take action.
Again, I’ve seen people get overwhelmed by the details… and believe me, it’s not that complicated. But when it’s perceived to be complicated, it paralyses people from doing anything.
So contrary to my normal lengthy and complicated style, I honestly believe the info above is everything you need to know to get started! In fact, more than this can often be detrimental. This is the maximum you need to know.
When you get to the next stage, come back, and then browse the resources. Because instead of then seeing infinite possibilities you will say, “hey I’ll have ____ amount of miles” and you’ll chart a less overwhelming course. It will be a lot simpler this way.
![Nick of FM on #40kFarAway [TIF Podcast]](https://travelisfree.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/travel-is-free-podcast-nick-40K-120x86.jpg)
Good post, thank you. Advising to dig a hole and get out of it, especially with minimum spend, probably should at very least come with some financial advice or warning, maybe keep track of your expenses, don’t spend money you don’t have, don’t go for $5k minimum spend requirements, etc. just some stewardship advice, as you and I know this rodeo, your new readers do not.
Thanks for posting again, nice to see it!
Cheers,
PedroNY
Well, definitely there should be financial responsibility. Debt isn’t a strategy, which I try to say. Make I should take out the hole line. :-p
Although there are very easy ways to meet spend requirements, that don’t even involve money orders.
But I suppose it depends on where you get the advice. The complicated stuff might be overwhelming… but it’s totally doable too!
On a random note, I hope these $x,000 hotels in French Polynesia and Orbitz don’t mind my cancelation of pre-paid but refundable reservation coming up. Due to a change of plans. Just not financially responsible considering I spent two weeks there without spending a dime on hotels, with IHG free night certs. But at least I met my spend.
It doesn’t go back to your original CC?
It does. I’m not trying to MS with it.
Terrible advice IMHO.
The random newbie would probably take your advice and apply for a 25k PRG and a 25k SPG through an affiliate link without knowing.
People new to the game should be warned at the earliest moment that most advice in the big blogs is heavily biased. They should learn to set their own goals rather than follow a titan’s recommendation such as buying miles for “only” 2.5 cents so they could fly F for just $3,000 instead of $10,000.
At least tell them to plan where they want to go and apply for CC whose points are relevant to get the kind of miles and hotel points they actually need.
Well, agree to disagree. Especially given that:
1) I actually recommended 50k+ cards,
2) I don’t see getting the 25k SPG card a big deal. In fact, getting the lower offer is certainly worth it if it increases the likelihood of someone getting started,
3) Not sure how titans and 2.5 cents possibly comes into play given that I’m saying to ignore these things.
4) I’m certainly not paranoid about the “titans” leading people astray. This is a long time narrative on FT that I ignore. Especially when you consider MMS only posts the best credit card offers, it seems like all your concerns above would be solved if newbies followed “titans” (whatever that means) like MMS.
Newbies reading, MMS is http://www.millionmilesecrets.com
It’s a great source of information that curates the best credit card offer. You’ll certainly benefit from these titans curating the info for you full-time.
I agree, just jump in and start! I wouldn’t explicitly recommend AmEx cards because of the once in a lifetime language and the fact that their bonuses can be so incredibly variable. I’d feel bad if someone got a PRG with a 25,000 bonus.
But it’s true that getting a 25k bonus now is better than waiting a year to get started (or never starting) because you want to get everything figured out first.
Exactly. I’m explicitly contrasting this to a person likely never to start. What’s worse, the 25k offer now and learning a lot now… or not doing anything?
Plus, I agree, which is why the things I do say is start with 50k cards, and the two actual cards I recommend are Chase.
Ha, I actually made a website for the same exact reason – Got tired of re-explaining how this works (and isnt illegal/detrimental to your FICO) to friends and Famm.
Main point I’d include: TRY to Sign up for a card when its at its ‘highest bonus’ – which you can figure out by googling. And if you have a ‘destination in mind’ – you can plan your cards around that more easily.
Also – The hierarchy IMO goes ‘Transferable Points Cards’ – ‘Airline Cards’ – ‘Hotel Cards.’
I don’t think any of the advice you gave was poor. When people ask me I give a couple card recommendations (Chase Sapphire usually)and move on until they want to know more.
I do have a question though. You mentioned Manufactured Spend (MS) in the article and to message or tweet for your tips. I’d like to know them so I can get more cards faster.
BTW, your blog has been one of my favorites since discovering it. Plain, simple, and adventurous. One thing though, the use of acronyms. For newbies (even me) I have to think what they might actually means at times.
Thanks Drew