Our family using points and miles to travel

Points and miles have been a game changer for our family when it comes to travel.

Specifically, they've helped us in two big ways:

We travel more often, which means we get to experience more places together.
We travel better by staying at nicer hotels and occasionally flying in premium cabins.

When we first started learning about points and miles, we realized pretty quickly there was A LOT to learn. It could easily become a full-time hobby.

While this Enneagram 5 loves going down a rabbit hole, I also know that not everyone wants to spend hours every week learning all the strategies for earning and traveling with points and miles.

So instead, we've created a simple system that works well for our family. My hope is that sharing it will make points and miles feel much more approachable for your family too.

Our favorite strategy for making travel more affordable is opening travel credit cards and earning welcome offers.

What Is a Welcome Offer?

A welcome offer is a large number of points or miles you earn after opening a new travel credit card and spending a certain amount within a specific time frame.

For example, one of the cards we recommend most often, the Chase Sapphire Preferred®, typically offers 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 within the first three months. Occasionally, Chase even increases that offer.

That's a significant amount of points and can go a long way toward paying for a family vacation.

Now let's walk through exactly how we earn welcome offers without creating a complicated system to manage...because if you're anything like our family, you do not need one more thing to keep up with.

Our Step-by-Step Strategy for Earning Welcome Offers:

Step 1: Open a Travel Credit Card

The first question most people ask is:

"Which card should I open?"

We cover our favorite beginner travel credit cards in this article.

If you already have one of those cards, consider opening another to earn a new welcome offer.

One important tip: when you open the card, resist the temptation to immediately add your spouse or partner as an authorized user.

In the points and miles world, you'll often hear couples referred to as Player 1 (P1) and Player 2 (P2). We'll use those terms throughout this article.

While your partner can absolutely use the card later, there are situations where being an authorized user can affect their ability to qualify for certain cards in the future. We simply open the card in one person's name and wait before adding the other person.

Step 2: Add the Card to Travel Freely

As soon as we're approved for a new card, we immediately add it to the free app we use to keep track of our travel credit cards: Travel Freely.

This app helps us:

Track how many days we have left to meet the minimum spend
Keep track of when each card was opened
Remind us when annual fees are coming due

Instead of trying to remember all of that ourselves, we let the app do the work.

Travel Freely app tracking travel credit cards

Step 3: Activate Your Card and Start Using It

There are a few things we do right away.

First, we check to see if a virtual card is available. If it is, we immediately add it to Apple Pay (or another digital wallet) so we can start working toward the minimum spend before the physical card even arrives.

Once the card shows up in the mail, we activate it and add it to the other family member's phone as well so both of us can use it for everyday purchases.

The other thing we do immediately is set up automatic payments for the full statement balance.

Travel hacking only works if you're paying your credit cards in full every month. Interest charges and late fees can wipe out the value of the points you're earning.

AutoPay lets us set it and forget it…which, honestly, is essential for us, otherwise something will slip through the cracks for sure.

our family traveling using airline miles

Step 4: Reach Your Minimum Spend

This is the part that intimidates a lot of people, but for us it's actually pretty simple.

We use our travel credit cards for our normal everyday spending.

One question I hear all the time is:

"Do I need to switch all of my subscriptions over?"

Our answer?

Usually...no.

Unless we're working on a particularly large minimum spend, we rarely bother changing recurring charges like Amazon Prime or streaming services.

Instead, we simply use the new card for our other regular spending.

That includes things like:

Groceries
Gas
Restaurants
Kids' activities
Haircuts, nails, and dog grooming
Clothing
Gifts
Entertainment
Doctor bills not covered by our HSA

Then there are the larger purchases that naturally pop up throughout the year:

School supplies
Mulch
A braces down payment (really feeling that one right now!)
Furniture, appliances and other household items
Travel (that you aren’t using points for!) - let’s not forget that!

If you own a business, business expenses can go on a business travel credit card to help meet a minimum spend as well.

Another strategy we occasionally use is paying our taxes or estimated taxes with a credit card.

Yes, there's a processing fee.

But when we're earning a large welcome offer, the value of the points often far exceeds the fee we're paying. We personally only do this when we're working toward a welcome bonus.

The Bottom Line

If you already use a credit card now for your daily spending and pay it off every month on time AND you usually put $1500-$2000 a month on it anyway…you are in a great position to earn welcome offers by meeting a minimum spend.

You aren’t changing what you are doing in your day today, you are just switching the card you are using every now and then…how often depends on your travel goals.

Step 5: Decide Which Card to Open Next

Once we've earned the welcome offer, we usually open another card.

Rather than one person opening every card, Jeff and I alternate.

I'm Player 1 (P1) and Jeff is Player 2 (P2).

Each of us typically opens four to six travel credit cards each year.

How quickly you open new cards, often called your velocity, depends entirely on your travel goals.

A good rule of thumb is waiting about 90 days between applications.

We stagger our applications so that we are almost always working toward a minimum spend.

Do we follow the 90-day rule perfectly?

No.

If an unusually good welcome offer comes along, we may apply sooner.

But if you're just getting started, thinking in terms of one new card every three months is a great place to begin.

Our family using points to pay for a hotel

Final Thoughts

Our system isn't the most advanced points and miles strategy you'll find on the internet.

And that's exactly the point.

We've intentionally created a simple system that fits into our lives instead of taking them over.

We don't spend hours tracking every purchase or maximizing every category.

We open a card, meet the minimum spend through our everyday expenses, earn the welcome offer, and repeat.

It's simple, sustainable, and it's allowed our family to travel farther, stay in places we never thought we'd experience, and make memories together that we'll treasure forever.

If you'd like to learn more about which travel credit cards we recommend, be sure to read our Best Travel Credit Cards for Families guide.