Who Are The CC Reward Miles Experts?

[realityinabox]

I am in the October session of the course.  It is has been helpful.  The Facebook group they setup for your month is a pretty great resource for asking noob questions that would just annoy people on churning forums.  I wasn't aware that we got access to a forum after the course is over.  I'm sure that will be worth it as well.

[FiguringItOut]

I'm the guilty party.

The course is monthly, so the next one starts November 1. All are welcome.

It's 100% free. We make our money from affiliate links if you are nice enough to sign up for cards through our cards page, but we only include the best available offers regardless of whether or not they are ours. (Sadly, many aren't!)

Our goal is to get you up to speed with all of the tools necessary to collect millions of miles within 30 days. And the feedback has been amazing.

No Canadian course yet, and many of the offers are U.S. specific, but the strategy should be fairly applicable on a philosophical level, and there are Canadian bloggers to fill in the missing pieces for Canadians.

Feel free to ask any questions here or PM me if you like.

I want to vouch for this class and forum.  I just booked my first award trip.  Two tickets from New York to Berlin and returning from Dusseldorf to New York in July using my Chase UR points plus $194 in fees.  Traveling to Europe for 10 days for 2 people for under $200 is unthinkable to me.  Very excited.  Now will be figuring out my hotels using the rest of my points.   

[Richmond Savers]

I'm the guilty party.

The course is monthly, so the next one starts November 1. All are welcome.

It's 100% free. We make our money from affiliate links if you are nice enough to sign up for cards through our cards page, but we only include the best available offers regardless of whether or not they are ours. (Sadly, many aren't!)

Our goal is to get you up to speed with all of the tools necessary to collect millions of miles within 30 days. And the feedback has been amazing.

No Canadian course yet, and many of the offers are U.S. specific, but the strategy should be fairly applicable on a philosophical level, and there are Canadian bloggers to fill in the missing pieces for Canadians.

Feel free to ask any questions here or PM me if you like.

I want to vouch for this class and forum.  I just booked my first award trip.  Two tickets from New York to Berlin and returning from Dusseldorf to New York in July using my Chase UR points plus $194 in fees.  Traveling to Europe for 10 days for 2 people for under $200 is unthinkable to me.  Very excited.  Now will be figuring out my hotels using the rest of my points.

I'm so glad that worked out so well and that the video I whipped up for you was able to answer a lot of the questions and make it a reality :) Love those British Airways Avios 'sweet spot' redemptions!

[Left]

hm, Nov 1 came and I didn't get an email about the class...
did it cancel? Or did it somehow not get to me?

I got busy during the week and put off asking until today.

[Thegoblinchief]

hm, Nov 1 came and I didn't get an email about the class...
did it cancel? Or did it somehow not get to me?

I got busy during the week and put off asking until today.

At least in Gmail it was buried in my "promotions" inbox tab at first.

[Richmond Savers]

hm, Nov 1 came and I didn't get an email about the class...
did it cancel? Or did it somehow not get to me?

I got busy during the week and put off asking until today.

Definitely didn't cancel!  Sorry you're having trouble, I suspect the emails we send out each morning ended up in your spam or Gmail 'Promotions' folder. 

I'll PM you shortly...

[elaine amj]

I still consider myself a newbie and we've been playing the game for about 4-5 years now. My big advice is to read, read, and read some more. Try to understand everything about the card you are applying for, what you will get out of it, and exactly how you plan to use it. This helps a lot in the beginning.

And keep in mind that you win some, you lose some. (so don't get too frustrated - keep the risk level at one you feel comfortable with. Always consider worst case scenarios)

I remember one of my first cards, I read and read and read some more. And even then, I got burned at redemption when it didn't process the way I had planned. In the long run, it was OK as I was able to use the leftover points for something else but it was a little frustrating in the beginning. Now I know how to roll with the punches :)

Have fun! We started out small and now apply for 5-10 cards a year. It's a really fun game (but does take some time). In recent months, we haven't had as much time and energy for it so we have scaled back some.

[Left]

Thanks for link, no idea why I didn't get it/see it. I'll spend wednesday catching up, yay for holiday!

I'm wondering if you titled the email subject "similarily" like Day 1, Day 2, Day 3... Gmail would consider those spam/promotions because they come daily in sequential order. I noticed it with Groupon sometimes.

[Richmond Savers]

Thanks for link, no idea why I didn't get it/see it. I'll spend wednesday catching up, yay for holiday!

I'm wondering if you titled the email subject "similarily" like Day 1, Day 2, Day 3... Gmail would consider those spam/promotions because they come daily in sequential order. I noticed it with Groupon sometimes.

That's a good call, thanks!  We were actually thinking about switching up the course format from a monthly one to more of a rolling admission as it doesn't make sense to have people waiting weeks to get started.  I'll try to change up the subject lines to see if that helps. 

I checked our stats and over 80% of the people on the list opened the Day 1 lesson for November, so it doesn't appear to be a systemic issue, which confounds me even more as to why some people just don't get it...

[Richmond Savers]

I still consider myself a newbie and we've been playing the game for about 4-5 years now. My big advice is to read, read, and read some more. Try to understand everything about the card you are applying for, what you will get out of it, and exactly how you plan to use it. This helps a lot in the beginning.

And keep in mind that you win some, you lose some. (so don't get too frustrated - keep the risk level at one you feel comfortable with. Always consider worst case scenarios)

I remember one of my first cards, I read and read and read some more. And even then, I got burned at redemption when it didn't process the way I had planned. In the long run, it was OK as I was able to use the leftover points for something else but it was a little frustrating in the beginning. Now I know how to roll with the punches :)

Have fun! We started out small and now apply for 5-10 cards a year. It's a really fun game (but does take some time). In recent months, we haven't had as much time and energy for it so we have scaled back some.

There are so many gems in this post (sorry I missed it when you originally posted!) :)  Everyone can start off slowly and ramp up to what they feel comfortable with, there are good and bad redemptions but in the end you're getting nearly free travel so how bad can it be?, have fun above all and realize that there are a lot of details and you'll always feel like a "newbie" because you're learning something new every day. 

There is definitely an 80/20 approach to travel hacking that I suggest that most people take if they don't have the time to keep up with it on a fairly regular basis.  And even that 80% can easily get you 1-2 nearly free vacations each year, which is pretty awesome!

I know many Mustachians are a rare breed who like to maximize things fully, and that can be wonderful with travel hacking.  There is almost no limit to how far you can take this, so you just do what you're comfortable with and take it from there. 

[elaine amj]

I still consider myself a newbie and we've been playing the game for about 4-5 years now. My big advice is to read, read, and read some more. Try to understand everything about the card you are applying for, what you will get out of it, and exactly how you plan to use it. This helps a lot in the beginning.

And keep in mind that you win some, you lose some. (so don't get too frustrated - keep the risk level at one you feel comfortable with. Always consider worst case scenarios)

I remember one of my first cards, I read and read and read some more. And even then, I got burned at redemption when it didn't process the way I had planned. In the long run, it was OK as I was able to use the leftover points for something else but it was a little frustrating in the beginning. Now I know how to roll with the punches :)

Have fun! We started out small and now apply for 5-10 cards a year. It's a really fun game (but does take some time). In recent months, we haven't had as much time and energy for it so we have scaled back some.

There are so many gems in this post (sorry I missed it when you originally posted!) :)  Everyone can start off slowly and ramp up to what they feel comfortable with, there are good and bad redemptions but in the end you're getting nearly free travel so how bad can it be?, have fun above all and realize that there are a lot of details and you'll always feel like a "newbie" because you're learning something new every day. 

There is definitely an 80/20 approach to travel hacking that I suggest that most people take if they don't have the time to keep up with it on a fairly regular basis.  And even that 80% can easily get you 1-2 nearly free vacations each year, which is pretty awesome!

I know many Mustachians are a rare breed who like to maximize things fully, and that can be wonderful with travel hacking.  There is almost no limit to how far you can take this, so you just do what you're comfortable with and take it from there.

Thanks :) My biggest thing I'm learning now is not to get too fussed if I don't fully optimize a redemption.

Right now I am trying to find a new Canadian CC with a bonus I like and haven't really turned up much. I've met all my other minimum spends now and have some big expenses coming up so I really need a new card.

[Richmond Savers]

Thanks :) My biggest thing I'm learning now is not to get too fussed if I don't fully optimize a redemption.

Right now I am trying to find a new Canadian CC with a bonus I like and haven't really turned up much. I've met all my other minimum spends now and have some big expenses coming up so I really need a new card.

Agreed!  While it is wonderful to get that perfect redemption (and what I still strive for in a 'perfect world'), I try to take that step back and realize that the 1.5 million miles I have sitting in reserve were basically accumulated for free (some opportunity cost for sure, but still minimal in the scheme of things) and they allow me to travel the world for pennies. 

This really is the perfect Mustachian pursuit and it complements everything else I'm doing with my financial life!

Definitely tougher being a Canadian travel hacker as the major bonuses just aren't there on the scale of US cards...