My 100k-point mistake

Gooood morning, beautiful people! 🙋🏻‍♀️

I bet when you read that subject line you thought Mike made a 100k-point mistake… But NOPE. It was me (Tiffany) 🫢

Here’s what we’re rocking with today:

• 😳 My 100k-point mistake

• ✈️ Buy Aeroplan points with up to a 100% bonus

• 🤓 Travel Trivia: Can you guess the highest railway in Northern Europe?

😳 My 100k-point mistake

A few years ago, I made a mistake—a very big one. And it’s haunted me to this day.

When I was a newb in the miles and points world… I straight up canceled the single best travel credit card in the game.

There, I said it 😅

I called the bank, said I wanted to cancel, DECLINED THE RETENTION OFFER (Did I even know what that was at the time??), and proceeded to dispose of that precious little blue gem.

I was navigating this stuff all on my own without any guidance, and at the time, I thought I was doing the right thing.

I remember hearing the voice of one of my former burnt out high school teachers chanting, “Credit cards are bad. Debt is bad. You don’t want multiple credit cards.”

And so… I genuinely thought I needed to cancel that card before getting my next one.

I did, however, earn my 80,000-point welcome offer at the time and used it to make a few great travel redemptions—one of them being my first ever international business-class flight which was on United Polaris 👇

Believe me, to be 20-something and sitting in the front of the plane with the big boys was epic, and I have no regrets 😏

But why the “100k mistake” valuation you ask?

Because that is easily how many UR points I have missed out on earning EACH YEAR on that card alone since I canceled it.

With the card’s accelerated earning rates on things like dining out, delivery services, online grocery shopping, TRAVEL, and more, 100k points is a pretty dang conservative number to hit each year—and this is without any two-player mode action.

But there’s a silver lining to this whole thing.

This particular bank has a rule that allows you to earn a second welcome offer on a card if it’s been at least 48 months since receiving it the first time around… 👀

At this point, I’m well over that 48-month mark, and I’ve got a couple spots opening up on my 5/24 situation (you can read more here about what the 5/24 rule is and why it’s important if you aren’t familiar with it).

So I’m pretty pumped to say that 2024 is the year that I’ll be getting my second little blue travel card and a second tasty welcome offer 🎉

But I’m not acting on this immediately… I’ve just been sitting, stewing, waiting patiently until I see an elevated offer come on the market for this card.

We’re all about maximizing our miles and points, remember? 😎

But I hope this enlightens you to a few things:

1. Even us miles and points “pros” make mistakes.

2. You can and will recover (and can still come out ahead) despite making a bad, past move.

3. This particular card is insanely valuable, and if you’ve got it (or are looking to apply for it), it’s probably one you’ll want to keep and maximize for a very long time.

✈️ Buy Air Canada’s Aeroplan points with up to a 100% bonus

When I think of Air Canada, I can’t help but do a dramatic eye roll. With my home airport being Vancouver and Mike’s being Toronto… we fly on the airline a lot.

…and it’s not great.

BUT. When I think of their loyalty program, Aeroplan, my eyes light up.

And that’s because Aeroplan is one of the best frequent flyer programs around thanks to its massive portfolio of airline partners and its valuable stopover program.

So right now, until May 11, 2024, Aeroplan is offering up to a 100% bonus on points purchased.

However, everyone might not get an offer that high. I’ve read that varying bonuses are being offered to different members with an 85% bonus being quite popular.

I personally like to buy points (when there’s a bonus) if I need to top up my account for a particular redemption in mind.

Remember, buying points strategically can yield good value a lot of the time, but you’ll always want to make sure that you’re coming out ahead.

For me, I’ll be in Europe for part of the summer, but then I’ll also be making my way to Abu Dhabi from there.

I’ve been looking at this flight from Frankfurt:

45,000 points for a six-hour flight in Etihad business class is pretty great.

I’m thinking I’ll use this current bonus to snag some extra points in an effort to save a larger stash I have for another redemption I’m planning to make later on.

There’s another fun thing about point bonuses though… Let’s say you have ZERO Aeroplan points and ZERO transferable points, but you want to get this business class seat 🤔

Even if you received the “up to 85% bonus,” it would cost you $769 USD to buy the 45,000 points needed in the Aeroplan portal.

And the cash price for this same flight? Well… 👇

So even if you started with zero points across the board, you could save over $2,000 to get your bum in that fancy seat for a bucket list trip—if that’s how you wanted to allocate part of your budget.

The possibilities are endless, my friends. Just make sure you’ve got a plan in mind that will be in your favor.

🤓 Travel Trivia

Correct answer: The Oslo-Bergen Railway, which sits at a 4,058 feet elevation! 

Train travel is in right now (or at least that's my perception). Pinterest even named train travel as its top prediction last year. 

Among the plethora of train options, the Oslo-Bergen railway stands out as one-of-a-kind.   

The train's route is a picturesque landscape of Norway with breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, lakes, and fjords.   

Operating several times daily between Oslo and Bergen, the trip takes about six-and-a-half hours to cover the 267-mile route, with 21 stops along the way for travelers to explore various villages and vistas.    

It’s definitely recommended to reserve seats in advance, especially during peak seasons since the train often sells out.  

Want to learn more about it and add it to your bucket list? Read more about it here.  

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That’s all for today, but man, don’t you just love the world of miles and points? I sure do 😍

See you guys tomorrow!

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