Travel Like a Millionaire (on Points!) with Megan Lanford

If you've ever dreamed of taking more vacations, exploring new places, or saying "yes" to unforgettable experiences—but felt like money was the obstacle—this episode is going to shift what's possible for you.

We're diving into the world of travel points: how to use credit card points to fly for free, stay in luxury hotels, and take the trips you've always dreamed about—without going into debt or spending a fortune.

Whether you're new to points or you've heard about them but felt overwhelmed, today's guest breaks it down into simple, doable steps so you can start creating the life of freedom and abundance you desire—one trip at a time.

Meet Megan Lanford, a true expert in helping people turn their dream vacations into reality-without breaking the bank. Megan is a travel points coach and the host of the Points Too Paradise Podcast where she teaches you how to leverage credit card points for nearly free travel. Once struggling to afford even one vacation a year, she now takes over six trips annually, saving an incredible $20,000 a year. She’s now on a mission to help others do the same. Megan simplifies it all so that anyone can start traveling more for less.

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Transcript

   Hello and welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad you're here. I know you have so many things to listen to. It means the world to me that you're here and today I have a special treat. I'm super excited to share this, amazing soul with you. Her name is Megan Lanford, and she is a true expert in helping people turn their dream vacations into reality without breaking the bank.

If you've ever dreamt of taking more vacations, exploring new places, or saying yes to unforgettable experiences, but felt like money was the obstacle, this episode is going to shift what's possible for you. We're diving into the world of travel points and how to use credit card points to fly for free.

Stay in luxury hotels and take the trips you've always dreamed about without going into debt or spending a fortune. Whether you're new to points or you've heard about them but felt overwhelmed, today's guest breaks it down into simple, doable steps so you can start creating the life of freedom and abundance you desire one trip at a time.

Welcome, Megan, to the show. Thank you for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. I am so excited to talk to you because who doesn't want free travel or luxury travel? Can you share how your travel journey began and how points and miles changed everything for you? Yeah, so I always have loved to travel, but we were like the typical family that barely could afford one vacation a year and would save all of our money up with the Holiday Inn and the cheap Southwest flight and, , all of those things.

And it just didn't feel good. And I was pregnant at the time and I really wanted something different for my daughter. My husband did not fly for the first time till he was 18 and it was to go to, the military. And I spent my whole childhood camping and I just, we really wanted something different for her.

So we discovered travel points and I started learning all the things and now we get to take six trips a year and we save over $20,000 doing it. And I just knew that I needed to share this with more people. Oh my God, I love it so much. What was the first big win you had using travel points and how did that feel?

Yeah, so my husband was really reluctant for me to try this. I asked him if I could open up a credit card and try this, like travel points thing. And like most husbands, he was kind of like, eh, I don't really know. And he goes, well, you can open it and just like, you know, see if it works. And he really didn't believe it.

And so our very first trip, it wasn't anything fancy. My daughter was, um, like four months old. We just flew over to Austin, Texas for the weekend. It was a nonstop flight. Super simple. But we went over there and the whole trip for three days was $11 and 20 cents for him, and $11 and 20 cents for me. So two people.

And he looked at me and he was like, so we're staying like this hotel for free, right? And I said, yeah, and just like blew his mind. And so after that he was like, okay, get all the credit cards you need to make this happen. And we just started building upon that. And now we take luxury vacations and fly first class and stuff.

But the first trip was pretty simple. Wow, that is so incredible. So for somebody that's brand new to the travel hacking, what's the very first step they should take? I. Yeah, so it, it can be overwhelming in thinking about how it all works, but it's actually super simple and it's just stop using your debit card.

If there's one thing that you can do after this call, it's go get a Travel Points credit card. There's tons of them out there. The one I really recommend everyone starts with is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It's a low annual fee of $95. They're super valuable points, and just stop using your debit card.

I haven't used mine in over four years. I put. Everything, gas, groceries, medical bills, you name it, it goes on that card, and then I just pay it off in full every single month. So if you can just switch from your debit card, you're gonna start earning thousands of dollars every year just by the stuff you're already buying.

Mm. I love that. You've gotta be careful though to not , to pay it off in full, right? Yeah. Like you said. Yeah. Pay it off in full. We're not spending any extra money that we wouldn't normally be. It's just like your regular groceries that you'd be buying and stuff. Um, and making sure like, yeah, you stay on budget.

We're not spending any extra money. We don't pay late fees. No interest, nothing like that. And when you do it correctly, it'll actually really boost your credit score. Mm, that's amazing. So what are your top two to three favorite credit cards right now for earning travel points? Yeah, so definitely the Chase Sapphire Preferred, like I said, is a great beginner card.

Um, those points are so valuable. You can use 'em at Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, Southwest Airlines, United, like, there's just so many ways to use them. The other one that I really love is the Capital One Venture Card. It's another really good beginner one, and it'll do a lot of those things that the other cards won't do.

So like Airbnbs. Disney tickets, rental cars, cruise ships, like those out of the box types of travel things. Capital One is really great for. Um, but like I said, there's just so many travel credit cards out there. As long as you have one and you're using it instead of your debit card, that's like the best place to start.

Hmm, I love it. So, let's see. Are there any common mistakes people make when trying to use points for travel? Yeah, the biggest thing I see that people are making is when you have these points, and like let's say you log into your Chase account, there's a travel portal that they direct you to and they say, Hey, you have.

$600 worth of points, like come book your vacation or whatever. When you do that, it's actually giving you a lot less value on it of it, especially too, if you cash out your points, like if you get cash back. So if you have 60,000 points, let's say that cash back is worth $600. But if you transfer those points out to like Hyatt hotels, like I was just saying, you can easily turn $600 into $2,000 worth of travel points.

So utilizing those transfer partners is a huge thing that I don't see people doing, and they're using that travel portal or they're cashing out their points and you're actually losing out on a lot of money when you do that. Mm. And I was watching one of your, I think, Instagram posts or stories and you said something about, um, what did you say?

It was really powerful and oh, I'm not paying $95 a year for a credit card, but yet that's the card where you're gonna save thousands. Right? Yeah. Can you on that a little bit? Yeah, so I, I see a lot of people that are like, oh, but I don't wanna pay an annual fee, $95.

Those are usually the lower ones, but that $95 gets me two to $5,000 worth of free travel every year. Like I will easily pay $95 for a vacation to Hawaii. And so I. A lot of people are shocked when I tell 'em I pay about $1,200 a year in annual fees and yeah, that seems like a lot, but I save over $20,000 on my vacations and I get to take multiple trips.

So when you put it into that context, then it's like kind of a no brainer to pay $95. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 'cause you have to just reframe it's the bigger thinking, right? It's the vision. Yeah. So what are some of the most memorable trips you've taken using points. Yeah. Uh, we've taken a lot of amazing trips, but the biggest one was this last, uh, January, actually, of this year, 2025.

We, um, saved a ton of points up and my husband is 41 and his family had never taken a family vacation and his entire life, he has three brothers. And his mom and his stepdad, and they just never were able to afford a vacation of any sort, even a road trip. And so his mom had been telling me for a long time, she was dreaming of going to Hawaii, but she knew she would like never get there.

So for Christmas, we gifted all of them a trip to Hawaii for three nights and paid the whole hotel and flights and stuff with points, and they were just blown away. And his mom was. In tears on the beach and looked at me and was like, I, I cannot believe that we are here. Thank you so much. And so we've taken a lot of great trips and my daughter's gotten to see different countries and stuff, but to be able to like gift your family and your friends with things like that, that they wouldn't be able to do otherwise has been really special.

That's so cool. Tell us what you were doing before you got into this. Yeah, so I was a wildlife biologist. That was my career, before my daughter. And then I got pregnant and decided to be a stay at home mom. And I love being home with her, but I really needed something else for me to do. And. Everyone kept asking me how we were traveling so much and my husband goes, I think you should turn this into a business.

So I am still a full-time stay at home mom. She's actually sleeping right in front of me right now. Um, and then I run this business with her at home. Nice. How old is Shane now? Uh, she is gonna be three in a month, which I cannot believe that. And so we're actually taking her on a trip for her birthday using points.

Oh wow. Where are you guys going? We're taking her to San Antonio, so we're gonna go stay at a really nice resort and take her to Six Flags and ride some rides and stuff. And we're really excited 'cause the older she gets, we're gonna allow her to choose where she wants to go on vacation for her birthday.

So I'm really excited for that. That's so sweet. I love that. And tell everyone where you are in the world right now. I am in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Okay. Is that what it's called? Or you're just, it's actually called that, it's a very small town, uh, it's called Truth or Con.

Oh my goodness. That's so cute. Yep. It's called Truth or Consequences. Oh my goodness. Um, so I was gonna ask, how has this travel freedom impacted your overall life and sense of abundance? Yeah, abundance is like. The key word that I can describe our life now, um, from going from like holiday inns and cheap flights and stuff to flying in first class and staying in these like amazing resorts that, I mean, there's been some rooms that we've stayed in that cost $1,200 a night, and I just, I can't even fathom paying that.

And we've stayed there for $0 and so it has brought so much. Freedom in our life to be able to, like on a Friday, just say, Hey look, let's go on vacation this weekend and I can just book it because we have the points. But the freedom and abundance that has given us and just the joy of vacations, it's so much more fun when you have that flexibility and you can go anywhere in the world, it just, it opens up a whole new world for you.

I know it does because I love that you said that it didn't feel good when you were going to Holiday Inns and like these like mm-hmm. You listened to how you were feeling and you didn't like it, and you took an action and now this whole thing opened up when you were honoring yourself and also just taking a trip.

Changes your frequency, even if you're not doing the luxury, like going from one place to another. I just know when I do anything, even if it's just go to Disney for the day, I come back. Yeah, some amazing thing opens up for me. So I just love this so much because you are putting yourself in these expansive places.

It is luxurious places and you belong. ,  and, it's really gigantic to what you're doing beyond just saving money. And, um, like I went to a retreat or an event in, on Palm Beach, Florida. I did two different things. But anyway, and I stayed in this five star resort, like phenomenal.

Like, 'cause they were, they, they got a discount for us. It was only right, so it was like half price and it was, it was expensive still. Maybe I paid probably 400 or something a night. And that was a discount. Yeah, so I mean, it was, I was in heaven there. Like I literally was, tears were pouring down my face when I was standing in front of the pool in front of the ocean.

Because I felt like I belong there and I still love it. It's the O in, , Palm Beach, Florida. Anyway. Nice. It's, yeah, like it's a huge mindset shift. Yeah. It's so amazing when you, because it's like this is available to us, right? Yeah. And yeah. So I love that so much. Do you have a favorite destination, or trip that felt especially luxurious?

But was nearly free. Yeah, so my favorites are all inclusive resorts. We really love going down to Mexico just because when you pay for it, it's $0 and then all of your food and drink is included and it just feels like super luxurious. Uh, so like this last October we went to Puerto Vallarta and we flew first class down there.

Wow. And stayed in this like amazing resort. $0. Our flights were less than a hundred dollars for first class. And so it just made the whole trip like super luxurious. And then of course we were like in the lounges at the airport before we got on the plane, and it just made the whole experience. And we had an ocean front view, uh, like our own plunge pool.

It was just. The best trip ever. And so we're going again to Mexico. We're gonna actually go to Tulum this time, this October. But we really like going down there to those all inclusives and just, we like to try different hotels. That's the other thing, like we went to Mexico for four days and I was like, well, we have points, like let's go try two different luxury resorts.

So we spent two nights at one and then went two nights to another. And so you get to just do that because you have the points. And so yeah, I really like going to Mexico. That's incredible. I love that. I have never flown first class and it's on my vision board. It's on my list of what I desire, and I just love that so much.

Yeah, it's a game changer. It's hard to go back to economy after that. Yeah. I mean, I try to do comfort, comfort where, yeah. More leg room, but, um. So what advice would you give to moms, a single woman or entrepreneurs who think travel like this is out of reach? That's the great thing I love about travel points.

I was actually just talking with someone about this is it doesn't matter if you are a single mom. I was talking to someone who's 70 years old and retired and they have like a smaller budget. There are credit cards out there for every single person that no matter what your budget is, so like there's a card that I just opened and I get 60,000 American airline miles for buying one thing.

I just have to make one purchase on the card. For a $99 annual fee, and those are were enough points to book two first class flights. Hmm. So there's something for everybody. No matter what, every card has a signup bonus that's spending a certain amount of money in a certain timeframe. This usually looks like $3,000 in the first three months, and you get a large chunk of points.

That's how I accumulate a large. Amount of points. And so it can be anything that fits your budget. And that's why I love, there's just so many cards out there. And at a price point for everybody, if you're looking for no annual fees or low annual fees, there's something that will fit everybody's budget.

Hmm. I love that. Thank you so much for sharing all of this. So tell us about your podcast. Yeah, so I have a podcast called Points to Paradise, where I share, , stuff like this every single day on credit cards. Which cards you should get open. I do destination days every single month where I talk about a destination I went to and how you can go there too.

But pretty much anything you wanna know about travel and points, definitely go tune in. It's a a really great podcast. I love it. What is in the near future for you? What, what's next? Anything different? Uh, yeah, so I am launching a whole new membership here in the next month or so. I'm still working on it.

I haven't actually really announced it anywhere, but, , it's a full encompassing membership where you get actual help. Planning your vacations and stuff. I just see everybody else in the Points world with courses and PDFs and it's like, here you go. Like have fun. And I really like the behind the scenes of helping you pick the right card and helping you plan the vacation and picking the fancy resort and that kind of stuff.

And so it's all gonna be a whole membership community of women who are doing the exact same thing as you and booking luxury trips and we're all gonna be doing it together. That's amazing. I love it so much. Where can people go and find. About your work. Yeah, so definitely listen to the podcast and then I am most active on Instagram at Points to Paradise

feel free to send me a DM and say where you wanna go and I'd be happy to help you pick your first credit card. Oh, that's amazing. Thank you Megan. That's so cool. Is there anything else you wanna share or talk about, today regarding the points and the cards and. No, I would just say get rid of the debit card, start making thousands of dollars, and come into my world and I'll help you save so much money.

I promise. It's so fun. Oh my gosh. Let me ask you this. When did this begin for you? When did the, trips with the points start? How long ago? Yeah. So I opened up my first card in 2022. My daughter was born in August of that year, and then in January of 2023 was our very first trip that we took on points to Austin, Texas that I talked about.

Yeah. Um, and then that year of 2023, we took six trips that first year. Mm. Amazing. And then, so it can happen really quick. Most, most people can take their first free trip in about three months of joining my academy. Incredible. And did you notice anything else in your world and in your life? Just, by, like I said, traveling and putting yourself in these beautiful places.

Yeah, the first time I walked into like that luxury resort, I almost kind of felt like I didn't belong and I had, I had to really shift my mindset to like, I should be here too. Like, I deserve this. I'm worthy of this. Were they? Mm-hmm. Yeah. There was some really deep worthiness that I had to do from that very first.

Trip that we took, that was like a really nice one. I was just like, oh, these people are like doctors and lawyers. And I just, I didn't even pay to be here. And so it was that worthiness to now that I'm like, oh, I heck yeah, I'm gonna go to first class and stuff. So it was a really great mindset shift and it really kind of upleveled us in lots of different areas of our life.

Um, we've surrounded ourselves with a lot of new friends and just kind of upleveled our circle and stuff. And yeah, it really had a ripple effect. Mm. Thank you for sharing that vulnerable story and the truth because that is so wild. Um, you know, I teach worthiness. I talk about it all the time. The podcast.

Mm-hmm. My coaching and it's a thing, you know, where. Didn't, you were like, oh, they're doctor, like they're no better than you though. Yeah. So what if they have a degree? Like, I could have that degree. Yeah. I could have gone to college. It's like, you know, so I just, I just, I love that you shared that.

Thank you. And, um, I just, it took a long time for me to realize that, you know, your degrees and all these things do not, change your worthy, like we're all worthy just for breathing. So yeah. It doesn't matter what your degrees or what you've achieved or how much money's in your bank account, you are, we're all worthy.

You know, I was listening to a friend who, , she's a, a spiritual mindset coach and abundance coach, and she was sharing on her podcast that. She had to dress a certain way to go into a certain place. I forgot exactly how it went down, but she was saying that she realized she doesn't have to dress up like she gets to.

You know what I mean? And I used to be that way too. Like, oh my gosh, I have to dress a certain way. It's like, no, like, you know what I mean? So I just thought that was cute. , That's so funny. 'cause I was like in a really nice dress when I checked into that first hotel because I like, wanted to look like, and my husband's like, why are you wearing that?

I was like, well, I wanna like fit in. And so yeah, that's totally spot on with what it is. And now I'm like, oh, I can wear whatever I want. Be me. Exactly. Exactly. And I just love it. Well, thank you so much. This is such a delight. And once I am in a better situation, I'm gonna start getting the points.

I mean, I already have the , Delta, American Express or whatever it is, and you the stuff, but I mean, I think you've got something way beyond all that, you know? Mm-hmm. So, thank you for being here and sharing. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. We're gonna put all your links in the show notes and people can start traveling and living more abundantly and knowing they are worthy of staying in beautiful places and going to beautiful places.

And it's available to everyone. You have proven it. Just that you were, in a certain situation, didn't think you could have it, and then you created it. So it's beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. Yes.