Points and Miles Travel Chats
Welcome to the Points and Miles Travel Chats podcast. I'm Michele from Fancy Travel Pointers, and I believe your everyday spend is the secret to extraordinary travel.
If you’ve ever worried that points are too complicated, or wondered if a busy family with public school schedules and competitive sports could really travel with points — I’m here to show you it’s absolutely possible.
Here’s what I know for sure: it’s not about spending more, and keeping my credit score sky-high is always front and center. I’ll give you actionable steps and teach real, repeatable strategies that transform the way you earn points and the value you get from them.
Points and Miles Travel Chats
2025 Business Class Flight Recap: How we scored points deals during peak travel multiple times
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In today's episode, we're chatting about
- How I booked three business-class seats to Africa in peak summer — and why I locked in the return flights before even knowing how we’d get there
- The exact search tools I use (and how I search broadly to uncover rare availability)
- Why I chose to book through a partner airlines instead of direct, and where I want my points to land if plans change
- Reviews of Emirates A380, Singapore Airlines, JetBlue Mint, Turkish Airlines, and Condor — including which lived up to the hype and which didn’t
- How transfer bonuses quietly shaved tens of thousands of points off multiple flights
- The role paid flight alerts played in saving the day — twice
- Why I always book long-haul trips as one-way awards (and why it gives you way more flexibility)
- The mindset shift that made this year possible: finding the deal first, then building the trip around it
📋 SHOW NOTES
Thrifty Traveler Premium Newsletter: $20 off 1st year with my link at checkout
Seats.aero - This is the only search tool I pay for
How I booked JetBlue Mint via Qatar, using a British Airways transfer bonus
How to earn Bilt points via Rakuten
Rakuten Sign Up Bonus - New sign ups get $50 off after making $50 purchase in 1st 90 days
📋 READY TO LEVEL UP YOUR POINTS TRAVEL?
Free points & miles guide – PDF downloaded over 17K times
Free online, self-paced course – join over 1800 students
Fancy Travel Pointers Instagram – keep up to date on all the latest points news
Fancy Travel Pointers Facebook – great place to share wins, ask questions
Fancy Travel Pointers Newsletter – sent weekly to over 24K points lovers!
👋 Hi! I'm Michele!
A points and miles expert, using points for family vacations to Japan, Hawaii, Thailand, Greece, Italy, Spain, theme parks and so much more.
I don't believe in spending more to earn more points. The key is knowing how to earn the best points and getting massive value from them.
With a teenager in competitive sports & public school, traveling during the busiest of times is our family's norm. I'll show you my best tips & strategies to use points for making incredible family travel happen.
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Fancy Travel Pointers is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as Bankrate.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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Information was correct to the best of my knowledge at time of recording. Always double check/verify information about cards and or bookings.