How to start

/ the loyalty lounge guide

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Getting started with airline loyalty programs

Step 1: Sign-Up for Loyalty Programs

First things first, you should open a loyalty account with every major airline, hotel chain, car rental agency, and/or train company. Yes, I know it sounds like a lot, but there are plenty of ways to earn points and miles across all these programs without even directly using them (flying, etc.). It’s free to sign-up for all these programs, so there’s no reason not to. While you may have multiple accounts, you need to sit down and think about your strategy and where you want to give your loyalty. For example, if you live in Philadelphia, you may chose to stay loyal to American. Others chase low fares and bank on transferring points between programs. However you may do it, it’s important you are earning points and miles for your activity from the start.

Step 2: Choose the Right Credit Cards

The next step is choosing the right credit cards and a spending strategy. Having credit cards with large sign-up bonuses is a great way to jumpstart your point gathering. Before you start applying for cards, I would recommend pulling a credit report and analyzing your current state. After that, I would think and write down all the categories you think you spend the most money. This will help you determine what cards are best for you based off your spending habits. Additionally, you will want to take into account the type of perks you’d like to have with a card and how much you are willing to spend on an annual fee. I have  put together a calculator to determine potential return based off different spending strategies you can find HERE. Also, check out my post on the top current credit cards HERE.

Step 3: Create a Spending Strategy

When you begin to have multiple credit cards open, it’s important to develop a spending strategy. What I mean by this is determining which credit card you will use when and why. For me, I try to diversify my cards and get ones that offer different categories and perks. Determine which card is best based off each scenario and stick with it. For example, you might want to put your Chase Freedom in your back pocket when you are going out to eat and pull our your Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Step 4: Maximize Online Shopping Portals

This is a step most people skip over when they join the points game a very valuable strategy to earn some points for a little additional work. Credit Card companies and airlines will give you points and miles to shop on retailers like Macys.com if you go through their travel portal. This is an easy way for you to “Double-Dip” on points and miles. I use https://www.cashbackmonitor.com to figure out which portal is going to offer me the best reward.