Step 2: Get Organized

Points and Miles Beginner’s Guide

You’re going to apply for many credit cards on your points journey. Not getting organized around credit card applications and your to do’s can have costly consequences. You have to get organized to ensure you’ll get your big sign-up bonuses and avoid paying interest charges or unexpected fees!

So how do you make sure you’re as organized as possible?

I like spreadsheets and think this is the best way to keep everything up-to-date and in one place. I found a great spreadsheet starting point on Frequent Miler’s Start Here page. His spreadsheet is perfect for tracking your credit card applications and other applicable credit card details. I took his example and added tabs to store information about my favorite loyalty programs, a to do tab and a sign-up bonus tracking tab. You can download my example spreadsheet here.

To Do Tab

This tells me month-by-month what tasks I need to accomplish and what my projected points balances will be at the end of each month. Extrapolating this out until the month we go on our vacation helps me know what I need to do to accomplish my goals.

• Column A captures the month from current date to when I want to take my vacation
• Columns B/C are actions I or my wife should take each month
• Columns D/E are the E-rewards* balance I or my wife should have at the end of each month
• Columns F/G/H show my conservative projections for my Chase Ultimate Rewards, Hilton Honors and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points
• Column I are notes showing what points I expect to receive or what redemptions I should make on E-rewards*

*Note: for more on E-rewards and taking surveys to earn points, see Step 7: Earn Points

Points and Credit Trackers

While I love my spreadsheet and it keeps my on task, I also recommend using third-party apps or websites to track your exact points and miles balances and to check your credit.

• Award Wallet – let’s you track all of your airline, hotel and credit card reward balances in one place either online or through their app
• Credit Karma or Credit Sesame – these tools will track your credit and give estimated credit scores

Now that you’re organized, let’s talk about loyalty programs.