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January 15, 2024

How I earned 2.9 million points in 2023

As promised, I’m breaking down exactly how my husband and I earned almost 3 million points in 2023!

Please note that this is a very close estimate as I don’t track this monthly.

Here are the cards we opened to earn the welcome bonus:

Cards I opened:

American Express Business Gold Card: 125,000

Chase Ink Business Unlimited: 90,000

Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard: 60,000

Chase Ink Business Preferred: 100,000

American Express Delta Gold Business: 70,000

American Express Hilton Honors Business Card: 130,000

Citi Business Aadvantage Platinum Select MasterCard: 65,000

Chase Ink Business Cash: 90,000 (opened Dec 2022)

Cards opened in 2023, with bonus posted in 2024.

Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card: 75,000 (bonus posted in 2024)

Santorini

How we earned 3 million points this year!

Cards spouse opened:

Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Business MasterCard: 60,000

Chase Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Premier Business card: 60,000

American Express Business Platinum: (upgrade: 140,000)

Chase Ink Business Preferred: 100,000

American Express Hilton Honors Business Card: 150,000

Citi Business AadvantageSelect Mastercard: 65,000

American Express Business Gold Card: 130,000

American Express Gold Card: 90,000

Chase Ink Business Cash: 90,000 (opened Dec 2022)

Total welcome bonus/sign-up points: 1,615,000

Amsterdam

Other ways we earned points:

We both opened an American Express business checking when they were offering 60,000 points: 120,000

We listened to a Marriott timeshare and received points: 100,000

Using Rakuten shopping portal; 32,400

Using American Airlines shopping portal plus gifted miles for delays: 34,000

Using Wydham Shopping portal: 30,000

Hyatt Bonus Journeys: 17,000

Referral Points:

Hilton Honors; 60,000

American Express: 70,000

Southwest: 120,000

Chase Ultimate Rewards: 480,000

Capital One: 50,000 (both of our links never had the 90k elevated bonus, so I used her link and split the points with my sister)

Most of these referral points are between my spouse and me referring back and forth. The 40,000 Chase referral bonus is huge! Most of the other referral points came from my siblings, parents and a couple of friends.

Other points:

I got 60,000 Capital One points from my sister.

Spend:

Total points meeting minimum spend plus multipliers like Amex Gold groceries and dining(4x), sapphire dining (3x), and platinum travel (5x). This includes any American Express special offers or Chase quarterly bonus categories that I maximized: 117,900

Total Points: 2,906,300

I hope this summary helps you to reach your 2024 points and miles goal!

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Hi, I'm Melissa and I help families just like yours turn everyday spending into nearly free flights, luxury hotels, and incredible vacations—using credit card points and miles. For over a decade, we’ve explored the world for nearly free, and now I’ll show you how to do the same. Your dream trip is closer than you think!

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Advertiser Disclosure: Melissa’s Travel Addiction has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Melissa’s Travel Addiction and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how or where products appear on this site. Melissa’s Travel Addiction has not reviewed all available credit card offers on this site.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are 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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    Advertiser Disclosure: Melissa’s Travel Addiction has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Melissa’s Travel Addiction and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. This compensation may impact how or where products appear on this site. Melissa’s Travel Addiction has not reviewed all available credit card offers on this site.

    Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are 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.