How I earn 18k points a month

Happy Monday! It’s Tiffany here to kickstart your week while Mike is off the grid. I’ve got some helpful tips and exciting news to share with you, so let’s jump in!

• 🛍️ How I turn everyday spending into 18k points a month

• 🌍 The best way to stay connected while you travel

• ✈️ NEW Points Deals feature in Daily Drop Pro

🛍️ How I turn everyday spending into 18k points a month

One of the most common questions I see online is how one earns so many points to travel regularly?!

The truth is, I haven’t used a debit card since I was in college. Every cent of every dollar of every purchase is strategically put on a credit card.

And I’m super serious about it. 😅

I don’t just swipe any old card for any purchase — I maximize how much I earn by selecting the card that earns the most on any given spending category.

It’s a very deliberate, conscious, and intentional choice as to what card is chosen — and it really does make a difference in accelerating the points you earn over time.

So I thought I’d break down what it looks like to earn around 18,000 points a month from (mostly) everyday spending for two people.

Here’s how I do it:

Dining and Groceries

My absolute go-to card when it comes to all things food is this golden card, which earns 4x MR points per dollar at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year, then 1x after) and at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per year, then 1x after that).

Here’s a bonus tip — at supermarkets, I not only try to buy my food there, but I also find ways to stock up on other non-food items, such as cleaning supplies, medical and healthcare products, and even pet supplies.

And trust me, with five cats (I know 😬), it really adds up.

Between food, other household and healthcare items, pet supplies, and eating out, we spend around $450 a week, or approximately $1,800 a month, which earns us 7,200 MR points each month.

Gas Stations

Since I work remotely, I don't drive a car daily, but we still have one. Our average monthly cost to fill up our car is around $400.

With this underrated card, we earn 3x points per dollar at gas stations, yielding 1,200 ThankYou points a month.

Again, every little bit helps.

Travel

Now I can already sense the eye rolls for this one — travel may not be considered a regular “everyday” purchase for some people, but it truly is for me. 

I use a combination of two cards for travel purchases. 

First is our most popular card, which earns 2x UR points on travel, and the second one is this premium card, which earns 5x MR points on flights when booked directly with the airline. 

So if I’m paying cash for a flight, it goes on this card. If it’s another type of travel item, I’ll usually swipe this card just to keep earning UR points whenever I can. 

I’ll conservatively estimate that we spend around $1,250 a month in this category as “normal” expenses (considering that around $15,000 is set aside for travel each year, divided by 12 to determine the average monthly cost). 

As noted, some months we’ll rack up more points if I’m actively booking multiple trips, but to keep this realistic and conservative, I might earn a combination of 5,000 points per month on travel.

Miscellaneous 

I use my trusty Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card as the catch-all for everything else that doesn’t fall into a higher spending category — thanks to its 2x miles per dollar earned on everything.

Think new clothes, veterinary bills, bike accessories, utilities, etc.

In general, we can usually expect to spend around $2,500 a month on miscellaneous items (some necessities, some wants), which brings in 5,000 Capital One miles a month.

The big takeaway here is that I’ll do literally anything in my power to avoid ever earning just one measly point per dollar. 

The Total

Drum roll, please…

The total miles and points earned for my household across all spending categories are 18,400 per month, on average.

I also acknowledge that these earnings are spread across a few different banks, but hey, many banks transfer to the same airline and hotel partners, where you can then pool your points in one place — and the separate pools also continue to grow as the months pass. 😎

So what can you do with 18,400 miles and points earned on average per month??

Well, we used to be able to book flights to Europe for just 15,000 Flying Blue miles during their monthly promos — that’s since gone up to 18,750 miles, but… still almost reachable.

I also recently booked a flight to Mexico City (MEX) through Aeroplan for just 12,900 points, which I could have transferred from a combination of Capital One miles and MR points if needed.

At this rate, you can see just how realistic it is to earn points on everyday spending to help you book your next trip (or three) for nearly free.

I hope this demonstrates that I don’t do anything fancy, and I don’t have any secret cheat codes — I’m just very particular with how I use the different cards in my wallet to my advantage. 

…some might even say I’m a little crazy. 😜

🌏 Stay connected around the world

Presented by Airalo

You know what I used to do? Carry around a clunky case that had an excessive number of physical SIM cards. That was the old me.

The new me has switched to using Airalo, the app that offers country-specific, regional, and global digital SIM cards that live right in your phone — gone are the days of carrying around too many physical SIMs 🤗

In fact, Airalo is the world’s first eSIM store, and I’ve personally used over 40 of their eSIMs whenever I’ve touched down in a new country.

Here’s how I use Airalo:

• I initially downloaded the free app way back when

• Before I leave for my next destination, I always select and install the eSIM I need

• I then turn on my phone when I land and immediately have cell service (yay!)

• Plus, I get to keep my home cellphone number for texts, calls, and everything else

Airalo is trusted by 20 million travelers and offers coverage for over 200 countries and regions worldwide.

So, what are you waiting for?? Install Airalo for free today and stay connected wherever you travel. Oh, and you can use our unique code, DAILYDROP, to get $3 USD off your first eSIM! 💪

✈️ NEW Points Deals feature in Daily Drop Pro

Speaking of using your hard-earned points for travel…

We just dropped a new feature in Daily Drop Pro that’s going to change the game: LIVE Points Deals (and alerts!).

And yes, we’re talking legit deals, like:

• San Francisco (SFO) to Tokyo (NRT) in business class for 59k points one-way

• Vancouver (YVR) to Taipei (TPE) in economy for 15k to 22k points one-way

• Los Angeles (LAX) to Auckland (AKL) in economy for 25k to 30k points one-way

• New York (JFK) to London (LHR) in economy for 9k points one-way

These are real, bookable, limited-time award flights that are updated and sent to you as soon as we spot them. 👀

We’ll only send you an alert if the deal matches your pre-selected preferences, but you can always head to your Daily Drop Pro dashboard to see what other amazing points deals have popped up around the world.

And don’t worry — you can still do your own point searches within Daily Drop Pro if you’d like.

But let’s be honest. Half the fun of this whole travel thing is letting the deal decide the destination!

We show you:

• ↔️ Where the deal is from and where it’s going

• 💳 How many points it’ll cost you

• ⭐️ What program you can book through

• 💰 And what the taxes/fees are (so there aren’t any scary surprises)

You can test run this feature with a free account (five award searches and select deal alerts) or go all-in with the Pro Membership ($149/year) for unlimited access.

Either way, don’t miss out on some of the best award drops we’ve seen in a hot minute.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about our new Daily Drop Pro Deals feature, as well as some of my daily practices to help accelerate the amount of points you can earn every month!

See you next time 🙋🏻‍♀️

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