Hi there, it's Ernest from Trip Astute. In this video, we're going to be doing
something a little bit different. We're going to talk about the crazy things
that we do as points and miles collectors.
(light chiming music)
Collecting points and miles
is an awesome hobby, and many of you here know the incredible feeling of booking
travel for free or minimal cost. In most of our points and miles videos, we focus
on a specific aspect of the hobby. Well today, I thought we would do something a
little bit different. We're gonna talk about the crazy habits and behaviors
of points and miles collectors. Keep in mind that this is just meant to be fun, but
I'm hoping that you can relate to some of the weird things that we do to earn
points. So, let's go through the list. Number 1: Searching for places to
maximize points. This is especially the case when you have a
broader category like Apple Pay or Android Pay. For example, since Apple Pay
was one of the bonus categories on the Chase Freedom card for quarter 1, 2018, I
actually looked for places where I could get lunch using mobile payments. What I
found was that the Chipotle near my work allowed me to pay for my food using
Apple Pay via the mobile app. As a result, I probably ate more Chipotle than I
should have! A bonus tip though -- you may already know this, but if you order a
veggie bowl at Chipotle, you get free guacamole with your order.
Guacamole is usually extra, so getting it for free while reducing my meat
intake seemed like a good compromise to me. Number 2: Offering to pay for dinner
or travel. This is a common scenario for me. I'll be out to dinner with friends or
coworkers, and we decide to try and split the bill in multiple ways.
Inevitably, one or two people will want to pay with cash. To make it easier, I'll
often volunteer to pay for it on my card and let everyone pay me back via cash or
Venmo. This works even better if your work is reimbursing you for travel or
dining expenses. Even though submitting an expense report can be a pain, I'll
volunteer to pay the bill to earn the points, especially when I know I'll get
reimbursed. Number 3: Volunteering to buy gifts. A few weeks ago, a co-worker of
mine and his wife were expecting the birth of their second child. So we
decided to pick up a gift as a baby shower present. Guess who
volunteered to buy the gift card? Yeah, I know it's shameless, but I couldn't
resist the opportunity to earn points. And in case you're wondering where I
bought the gift card, I went to Rite Aid since they accept Apple Pay and at the
time it was a 5% bonus category on my Chase Freedom card. Number 4: Carrying
lots of credit cards in your wallet. Once you get deeper into the hobby, you're
likely to start carrying more than one credit card. I'm used to carrying multiple
cards now, but I know my friends still comment when they see how many different
credit cards are in my wallet. Number 5: Cringing when you see people
pay with cash or debit card. As someone who tries to squeeze points from every
dollar that I spend, it hurts to see people pay with cash or debit card when
they have the option to pay with credit card. And when people say to me: "Well,
paying with a debit card is safer than a credit card",
I really have to hold back the urge to explain why that's not actually true.
Number 6: Changing your auto pay cards frequently.
You know the drill. You realize that you have a new bonus category or you need to
make a minimum spend requirement, so you ask your gym to update your auto pay
credit card, or perhaps it's your phone or internet provider. If I tracked how
many times I've changed my auto pay credit cards on different accounts, it
would seem like I'm a crazy person. Number 7: Obsessing about your
spending and credit score. This hobby can definitely make you a bit neurotic about
measuring your spending and your credit score. I won't lie -- I literally have a
weekly reminder to check my credit score on Credit Karma and Credit Sesame. And
when I have a minimum spend requirement, I make sure that I'm tracking every
dollar toward my spending goal so I don't lose out on the opening bonus.
Number 8: Getting annoyed with a charge that is coded improperly. This
one drives me nuts. One of my biggest pet peeves is finding out that a travel or
restaurant expense is not coded properly, meaning that I don't earn the extra
bonus points. This recently happened to me at a hotel in Sedona, Arizona. I
charged my two night stay on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but didn't get the
triple bonus points for travel since the charge was encoded as an online, mail, or
telephone transaction. Number 9: Getting annoyed when
salespeople try to push store credit cards. This is an annoying situation in
general, but it's even more irritating when you're a points and miles collector.
While it might just seem like another credit card, points and miles collectors
know that it means another credit pull that can potentially prevent you from
getting another card in the future, and usually not worth the effort unless you
spend tons of money at that specific store. Number 10: Avoiding cash only
businesses. This is a tough one to admit, but I really hate having to pay cash for
things. Even worse for me is when a merchant has a sign saying that they
only accept credit cards for transactions over a specific amount. I
know that merchants hate the fees imposed by the credit card companies so
I understand their frustration. However, I do think that it really hurts their
business not to accept or limit credit card transactions, especially as we
become more digital. Can you relate to these situations? What crazy things do
you do as a points collector? Please share in the comments section below. If
you're interested in applying for a new credit card, please check out our Credit
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