The world of points is complex, and you have to earn and redeem points the right way to get the best value. With the stress and busyness of wedding planning, running a business, or just life itself, the last thing you want to do is spend hours deciphering airline and hotel award charts. I’ll help you navigate through the intricacies of the points world, set you up with a good strategy, and help you get your trip booked!

Weddings are expensive, and no matter what, you have to pay for it. You could pay for everything with a debit card/checks, or you could decide to leverage credit cards and earn a lot of points. When it comes to redeeming points, the sweet spot for award availability is usually 6-12 months out, which aligns well with the timing for honeymoon planning.

So, weddings are a situation where you can earn a lot of points and redeem them easily for flights and hotels.

Small business owners, especially those spending over $15k/month on cards, have a unique opportunity to earn a lot of points. At $15k/month, a good strategy will net you at least 360k points a year. Those 360k points are worth $3,600 at minimum, but with partner redemptions, they could be worth up to $36,000. Same capex with different cards = drastically different outcomes.

You should only pay an annual fee if the math works out in your favor. Here’s an example - one of my favorite cards has a $95 annual fee. It usually also has a 60k points sign-up bonus after you spend $5k. You’ll easily spend $5k on wedding expenses so those 60k points, which are worth at minimum $600, are guaranteed to be yours. Even after the annual fee, you’ll be $505 better off.

Here’s the kicker - if you know how to use those 60k points well, they are potentially worth thousands of dollars. At that rate, the annual fee is more than a worthy investment.

In the short term, applying for a new card decreases your credit score by a few points. In the long term, a larger credit line can actually build your credit score, if you always pay off your cards on time. You can read more about this here.

Yes, it’s terrible. No one should ever pay a 20-40% interest rate on anything.

You should only consider redeeming points for free trips if you’re able to pay off your credit cards on time and in full. Hopefully, you are able to pay off your wedding expenses without interest. If not, there are some interest-free cards that you can consider.