It seems most people have some sort of points and miles, but they don't always know exactly what to do with them. Here in Seattle "everyone" has the Alaska Airlines credit card. That means they have a pile of miles they don't always know how to use and so they end up using those miles to book a trip to Mexico or Southern California. Not that those are bad choices either to use your miles or to visit. However, you can gain a lot more value using those miles on one of Alaska's many partners.  For example, you can use 40K Alaska miles to fly economy one way anywhere in Asia on Singapore Airlines or 57,500 miles to fly in Business class on American Airlines. Those represent much more bang for your buck.

While Alaska is a fine airline and has a great frequent flyer program, I am a big believer in variable use currencies. What I mean by this is earning points with one of the credit card companies own currency. Capitol One, Chase, Citi and Amex all have amazing programs that can earn a lot more miles than that Alaska card can due to category bonuses and promotions. You can then transfer these miles to one of the many airline partners (each banks program has different partners) to maximize value across airlines and not tie yourself to one program. Because when you want to use miles to Europe you may not want to be tied to Alaska and it's partners, for example. There are nine airlines that fly nonstop to Europe from Seattle. 4 of them are Alaska partners, 5 of them are not. Using an Amex card I could use miles to book 8 of them (sorry Condor -- gotta use Alaska miles for that one).

Does this all sound terribly confusing? Well, it can be. Just like fly fishing is confounding to me because it's not an interest or hobby of mine, the points world is not confusing to me because I take the time to understand it. When I am able to make a sweet spot award booking (for me or for someone else) it's like finding a hidden jackpot and it's so fun.

This is why I've added a points consulting aspect to my business. If you're looking to use points as part of a bigger trip you're booking with me for a nominal $50 fee I will help work with your current points stash to help you find a flight that works for (almost) free.

If you just want a points consultation and some recommendations on how to build up a nice stash of points (including help with elite status) so you're ready to book when the time comes, that's a service I also offer.

In future blog posts I'll discuss some of my best points redemptions and how I combined them with cash for other items to create an amazing trip!