How to Book a Round Trip to Japan

#55: Points expert, Julia Menez, joins Chris to go deep on all things points and miles, including points stacking, optimizing rewards, tools to help organize your points and miles, using buying clubs to earn lots of points, and Chris shares how a somewhat sketchy website saved him an extra 15% off a new couch!

Julia Menez (@geobreezetravel) is a points strategy coach, speaker and host of the Geobreeze Travel podcast, where she interviews travelers from all walks of life about their points and miles strategies.

Full show notes at: https://allthehacks.com/maximize-points-julia-menez

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Selected Links From The Episode

Connect with Julia Menez: Website | Instagram | Facebook

Julia’s Podcast: Geobreeze Travel

Julia’s gift to All the Hacks listeners: Geobreeze Hotel Upgrade Template

Buyers Clubs

• PFS Buyers Club
• MYS Buying Group
• BuyForMeRetail
• @thepointsanalyst
• Pack Your Bags With Points
• Julia's Monthly Buyers Club Masterclass

Earn More Points + $$$

• Grabr - Get paid to bring items when you travel
• Rakuten - Cash back
• Fluz - Cash back
• Seated - 20%+ back at restaurants
• Dosh - Additional rewards
• Cashback Monitor - Find the best cash back
• Honey & RetailMeNot - Get Promo Codes
• SearchTempest - Search Craigslist
• Savendeals - Buy coupons
• MyVegas Rewards - Get points for Vegas
• Frequent Miler
• Doctor Of Credit
• Pay1040.com - Pay taxes with credit card
• ID.me - Discounts for teachers/military

Optimizing Your Points

• Feedly
• AwardWallet
• Travelfreely
• CardPointers
• Credit Karma
• Point.me
• ANA Around the World Redemption
• United Excursionist Perk
• Scott’s Cheap Flights

Credit Cards

• American Express® Gold Card 
• Bilt Mastercard®
• For other cards mentioned visit our Best Credit Cards Page

Podcasts

• Geobreeze Travel podcast:
• Episode 7 - How to Stack Points and Rewards Programs with Angel Trinh (@pennywisetraveler)
• Episode 56 - How to Earn More Points on a Teacher's Salary with Zac Hood (travelfreely.net)
• Episode 67 - Brazil Travel Tricks and Military Benefits with Mark White
• Hacking the American Dream

Full Show Notes

How people on a smaller budget can earn enough points for travel (03:05)

Outsource buying, how participating in buying groups can work to your advantage (05:14)

When sourcing items, do buyers usually pay more the item costs? (07:04)

Buyer’s groups: are they reliable? (08:36)

Using multiple cards to earn more points (11:10)

Bringing electronic and medical devices to Latin America (11:55)

Chris & Julia walk through an extreme example of how valuable ‘stacking’ can be along with ways to automate the process (13:40)

The unbelievable benefits of stacking through dining portals (14:54)

Using Cashback Monitor (18:45)

Julia’s favorite app for stacking deals in Las Vegas (23:53)

Chris highlights the “crazy amounts” of point stacking deals (26:39)

Specific places to search online for timely deals to help organize your point balances (28:52)

Why it’s important to understand the 5/24 rule and its exceptions (31:54)

Julia Menez’s go-to cards and her advice for travelers who are just beginning to accumulate points (35:16)

Amazing points redemptions (40:02)

Buying points, is it worth it? (50:55)

When paying taxes on a credit card might make sense (52:54)

Hacks for military and their spouses (57:49)

Julia's hotel upgrade template (59:56)

Where to find Julia Menez online (1:01:50)

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