Points Talk®: Your Travel Dreams, Made Possible by Points

Hey fellow travelers! It's Alex, Jess, and Pam, excited to share our best Washington, D.C. tips, ensuring your Capital visit is unforgettable! In this episode, we dive deep on everything you need to know when it comes to traveling to D.C. on points a miles. :) Hit play to dive in or keep reading for a sneak peek!  Logistics can truly set the tone for your trip. Take Alex's recent experience as an...

Hey there, it's the Travel Mom Squad—Alex, Jess, and Pam! Everyone has different preferences when it comes to travel. Some prefer the efficiency and speed of flights, while others enjoy the adventure and unpredictability of a road trip. Today is all about leveraging the art of award travel for road trips! Jess's recent journey is a perfect example. She and her family decided to drive from Houston...

Hey there, travel enthusiasts! It's Alex, Pam, and Jess—your fellow Travel Mom Squad. Today, we're all pumped up to spill the beans on one of our most treasured secrets: Capital One Venture Miles!  First we dive into the cards that earn Venture miles or Spark miles (the business version).  Then we discuss how to improve your odds of approval for Capital One cards. They can be kind of quirky, but w...

Ever wonder how we manage to open so many credit cards and score loads of points? Well, today, we're going to spill the beans! Get ready for a deep dive into our credit card strategies. We'll also share how many points we've racked up in 2023. Can you believe one of us has already hit a whopping 1.8 million points this year? Can you guess who? Here's a pro-tip: most business cards don't count towa...

Hey there, it's the Travel Mom Squad is back in action! Today is all about getting your partner in crime, your "player two," hooked on award travel with you. It's like getting them on board the thrill ride of free travel using credit cards and points!  Okay, so what exactly is a player two? Well, it's not just your better half—it could be your best friend, your sister, or anyone who's up for some...

Welcome back to the Travel Mom Squad, your go-to for exhilarating travel exploits using points and miles! This episode sees Jess delve into her recent Hawaiian escapade, comparing the Hyatt Regency Maui and the Andaz Maui in part two of our Hawaiian Hyatt Showdown. If you missed Episode 23, catch up to learn about Alex and Pam's adventures! Jess embarked on a hotel-hopping adventure in Maui with h...

Ever wonder which credit cards you should carry and how to effectively use them to cash in on max rewards? Well today we want to share with you what's in our wallets and how we decide which cards to use and which ones to keep tucked away. We are super excited for today's episode, not only to give you a behind-the-scenes look into what's in our wallets, but also to find out what each other's daily...

Join us today as we share our favorite tips for using points and miles to plan a trip to New York City. New York City holds a special place in our hearts, and through traveling on points we've discovered incredible ways to explore this vibrant city. Getting to New York City is a breeze, thanks to the multitude of airlines that fly there.  When it comes to airport hotels, the options at JFK and LaG...

Hey there! We're Alex, Pam, and Jess, the Travel Mom Squad. Today, we're diving into the world of business cards and why they're essential for maximizing points and miles. Business cards are a game-changer in traveling on points. They don't count towards the Chase 5/24 rule, except for a few exceptions like Discover and Capital One. This means you can keep opening new business cards, earning more...

Hello, fellow travelers! We're the Travel Mom Squad—Pam, Jess, and Alex. In this episode, we're taking you on a virtual journey to sunny Southern California, and the best part? We're showing you how to do it all on points and miles! We all love visiting Southern California. It's a quick flight for Pam from Denver and Alex from Salt Lake City, and even for Jess from Houston, it's not too bad. The w...

If you're a regular listener of the Travel Mom Squad podcast, you know that we're all about sharing tips and tricks to make the most out of our global adventures. This week, we're giving you a deep dive into one of our all-time favorite hotel chains—Hyatt!  On this episode, we - Pam, Alex, and Jess - opened up about our journey to becoming Hyatt superfans, despite having previously dabbled with a...

Welcome back to the show! Today, Pam and Jess are excited to share their incredible adventures in Scotland. Scotland holds a special place in our hearts, and we can't wait to share the scoop with you! Let's start with Pam's journey. It was a nail-biter as she narrowly caught her flight to Edinburgh after dealing with a delayed positioning flight from Denver to Newark. But the icing on the cake? Sh...

Maybe you've played the points game, your points and miles are at the ready, and now the daunting task of booking and planning your trip is up next. Overwhelmed? Don't be. Today, we're sharing a quick guide on how we make the most of points and miles when planning our trips! Alex shares that she always puts her accommodation first when planning a Hawaiian escape. With a multitude of flights availa...

Have you ever dreamed of jetting off to Italy or Switzerland on a luxury trip but thought it was out of your budget? Well, think again. We're the Travel Mom Squad, and we're here to let you in on our travel secrets! In this episode, we discuss our recent trips to Italy and Switzerland and share the smart tricks we used to travel in style while saving a fortune. First up, Jess spilled the beans abo...

Today we let you in on some of the hidden benefits of credit cards that have saved our day more than once! The points and miles are great, but the added perks? They're the unsung heroes of some of our travel stories! We begin with primary car rental insurance, a godsend for any traveler. Jess explains why she prioritizes this feature over anything else, even meeting a minimum spend. You'll also he...

Hello fellow explorers! We're the Travel Mom Squad—Alex, Pam, and Jess, and we're excited to take you along on our recent Caribbean adventures! Starting with Aruba, Pam recounts how she masterfully use Marriott free night certificates. It was a trek from the US west coast, but United miles and a clever flight booking made it possible. She first stayed at the Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino—and,...

In our latest podcast episode, your favorite trio of the Travel Mom Squad—Pam, Jess, and Alex— give you an exclusive peek into our jet-setting lives. As many of you know, we've spent years perfecting the art of award travel, and we're thrilled to share our insider secrets with our beloved community. For this episode, we did something a little different: we turned to our Instagram followers (@trave...

Today, we (Alex, Pam, and Jess) shared our experiences and compared two fantastic Hyatt properties in Hawaii - the Grand Hyatt Kauai and the Hyatt Regency Maui. Let's dive into our adventure and see which resort came out on top! First, let's talk about the booking process. We booked our stays using Hyatt points, which we mostly earned through Chase Ultimate Rewards cards. We highlighted the incred...

Welcome to Points Talk with the Travel Mom Squad podcast! Today Jess spills the beans on some incredible tips and tricks for saving money and making the most of points on Disney cruises. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let's dive in!   Disney Cruise Tips & Tricks: Jess's Top Picks:   Book Early & Save Big Jess reminds us that early birds get the worm! By booking your Disney cruise 12-18 mo...

In today's special episode, we'll be discussing the evolution of our credit card strategies over time. We will be sharing insights into our unique approaches and how we have adapted our points stratagies over the years! Jess began her journey of traveling on points back in 2015, initially focusing on cards with no annual fees. She was hesitant to open business cards, and her primary goal was to se...

Hey there, are you dreaming of visiting Paris without breaking the bank? Well, it's definitely possible! In this episode, we'll share our experiences visiting the magical city of lights using points and miles. If you are new around here, we are Pam, Jess, and Alex! We are the Travel Mom Squad and have visited Paris multiple times, and we're excited to share our tips with you. Paris is a destinatio...

Let's talk about credit card minimum spend! This is a GAME CHANGER for racking up those valuable points and miles fast. If you're new to traveling on points, this concept may seem a bit daunting, but don't worry, we've got some tips and tricks to help you out. First off, we define what we mean by minimum spend. It's the minimum amount you need to spend on a credit card within a specified timeframe...

If you're a travel enthusiast or looking to go on a trip soon, then you're going to love hearing about Pam's recent trip to Japan, Australia, and New Zealand! Pam, along with her husband, managed to take this incredible trip for a fraction of the cost, all thanks to points. They used points and miles to book their flights and hotels, saving them tens of thousands of dollars. Pam gives us the insid...

Hey there! It's your favorite Travel Mom Squad, Pam, Jess, and Alex, coming to you with another episode! Today, we're going to talk about one of our favorite topics...can you guess what it is? Points and Miles of course!   One of our biggest FAQs is - what's the difference between points and miles? We will give you the run down and explain why we prefer flexible points and how to find your fastest...

Dust off your mouse ears and get ready for a Family Trip to Disney! Hey, it's Alex and Jess here, your favorite part of the Travel Mom Squad! (Just kidding, Pam! We miss you! Pam is our traveling the world, so it's just us two today.) In this show we're going to share some tips on how you can turn your dream trip to Disneyland into reality without breaking the bank. We'll be covering how to save o...