Roadmap to 1 MILLION Points
Does your family want to earn 1 million+ points/miles in a year.
It’s much easier than you think.
This plan assumes:
- You are starting at 0/24 – 2/24 with Chase’s 5/24 rule
- That you can get business cards (spoiler alert.. you probably CAN!)
- That you have a Player 2 to work with
This roadmap can be used in sequence, out of sequence, or just partially if you prefer.
January (you don’t need to start in January, consider this month 1 if starting a different time)
Player 1 signs up for Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Earn 75,000 points
- Player 1 signs up for card, spends $5K in first 3 months, earns 75K Points.
- Player 1 refers player 2 and player 2’s application is accepted. Player 1 gets 15K referral points.
- Player 2 meets minimum spend of $5K in purchases in first 3 months. Player 2 receives 75K Points.
Minimum spend required: $5K in 3 months x 2 = $10K total in 3 months
Total annual fee for 2 cards: $190
Total points earned: 175K (including minimum spend)
March (or month 3)
Player 1 signs up for Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Earn 100,000 points
- Player 1 signs up for card, meets minimum spend of $8K in first 3 months, receives 100K points
- Player 1 refers P2. When P2’s application is approved, P1 receives 20K referral points.*
- Player 2 signs up for card, meets minimum spend of $8K in first 3 months, receives 100K points
*P1 will only receive referral points if P2 doesn’t have other Chase business cards.
Minimum spend required: $8K in 3 months x 2 = $16K total
Total annual fee for 2 cards: $190
Total points earned: 236K (including minimum spend)
June (or month 6)
Player 1 signs up for Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
$250 travel credit & 75K bonus miles
LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Enjoy $250 to use on Capital One Travel in your first cardholder year, plus earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
- Player 1 signs up for card, spends $4K in first 3 months, receives 75K miles.
- Player 1 refers player 2 for same card. Player 1 gets 10K referral points.
- Player 2 meets minimum spend of $4K in first 3 months. Player 2 receives 75K Capital miles.
*You will only received Capital One referral points if the person you are referring does not already have a Capital One card.
Minimum spend required: $4K in 3 months x 2 = $8K total
Total annual fee for 2 cards: $190
Total miles earned: 168K (including minimum spend)
September (or month 10) –
Player 1 signs up for American Express® Gold Card
American Express® Gold Card
As High As 100,000 points
You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.
- Player 1 signs up for card, meets minimum spend of $6K in first 6 months, receives up to 100K points.
- Player 1 refers Player 2 for same card. Player 1 gets up to 25K referral points (*American Express referral points can vary).
- Player 2 meets minimum spend of $6K in 6 months. Player 2 receives up to 100K Amex points.
Minimum spend required: $6K in 6 months x 2 = $12K total
Total annual fee for 2 cards: $650 (rates & fees)
Total points earned: Up to 237K (including minimum spend)
December (or month 12)
*There are 2 options this month depending on your travel style
Option 1: Timing a luxury card to get maximum benefits
December we focus on a card we can double dip into the credits.
December is also a great month to open a card that requires higher spend.
Player 1 signs up for American Express Platinum Card®
American Express Platinum Card®
As High As 175,000 points
You may be eligible for as high as 175,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $12K in first 6 months of account opening
- Player 2 refers Player 1 – American Express cardholders can refer others to any Amex card. Player 2 earns 25K referral points (Amex referral points vary) when P1’s application is approved.
- Player 1 meets minimum spend of $12K in first 6 months, receives up to 175K points.
Minimum spend required: $12K in 6 months = $12K total
Total annual fee for 1 cards: $895 (rates & fees)
Total points earned: Up to 212K (including minimum spend)
Option 2: Southwest Companion Pass
Use this strategy to earn a Southwest Companion Pass for the following year.
Using the 1 Million Points
You can TRANSFER the Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points to Hyatt.
If you stay in Hyatts that average 20K points a night… that’s nearly 27 free Hyatt nights!
Some Hyatts are as low as 3500 points per night, so you could stay way more than 27 nights if you throw some of these super cheap ones in.
You can transfer your Capital One miles to Flying Blue (Air France’s loyalty program) for economy roundtrip tickets on Air France to/from Europe. These average 30K – 40K per person (depends on availability & departure airport).
You can transfer American Express Membership points to many different hotel and airline programs. They even transfer to Hilton at a 1:2 ratio. Keep an eye out for transfer bonuses when you can really get outsized value from your points.
You can use your Southwest points to get your family to Hawaii. Use Southwest’s “low fare calendar” to find flights for 30K – 40K per person round trip to Hawaii. Since you have TWO companion passes, you’ll only be using 60K – 80K for a family of 4 to travel to Hawaii!
**Using points/miles for nearly free travel is only worth it if you pay your balance in full/on time every month and don’t spend more than you normally would just because you are using a credit card. Keep your credit score high by spacing out your applications (as shown above) and keep all cards for a minimum of one year (I keep almost all of mine long term).
