Over 1.6 Million Points and Miles Earned in 2024 for Free Travel

Points and miles are the currency of travel hacking. And if you’re looking for significantly discounted or even free travel, it’s a no-brainer that you want to earn as many points and miles as possible.

In the last two years, we’ve gone to Zurich, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Vienna, Dublin, and Edinburgh thanks to points and miles. And those are just our international trips. We’ve been to Hawaii (twice), Santa Barbara, and Hilton Head Island using points and miles as part of our travels to eighteen different states and thirteen national parks. The sheer volume of trips wouldn’t have been possible without subsidizing our costs using points and miles.

We earned more than 1,000,000 points and miles for travel in 2023. At the end of last year, we were sitting on more than 450,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points and over 100,000 American Express Membership Rewards points. Those numbers didn’t even include points we had sitting in our loyalty accounts – most of which sit with United and Marriott. We had more than enough for the travel we wanted to book for 2024, and we knew we’d continue earning through our regular spend. In our 2024 Travel Resolutions, I wrote that I wanted to earn more than 500,000 points and miles for travel because we planned to rely less on sign-up bonuses this year. That seemed realistic and attainable based on our plans.

Spoiler alert – there were a lot more than 500,000 points and miles earned in 2024.

Here’s how.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Sign-Up Bonuses

Stating the facts – we did not open as many credit cards for sign-up bonuses as we did in 2023. However, we did open more cards than we originally planned. It’s no secret that sign-up bonuses are the fastest way to earn points and miles for travel.

P2’s biggest sign-up bonus came when he opened the United Business credit card when it had the elevated 100,000 miles offer. Some people aren’t fans of co-branded credit cards, but if you’re hotel or airline loyal like we are, they can pay off significantly. My highest sign-up bonus in 2024 was when the Chase Ink Unlimited had its 90,000-point offer.

Earning sign-up bonuses was a large chunk of our points and miles earnings in 2024 , but not all of them. If you don’t want to frequently open credit cards, you can still earn plenty of points and miles for travel.

Here’s how we do it.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Referral Bonuses

Because we use two-player mode for travel hacking, we’ve been able to capitalize on referring each other to several cards this year. When P2 opened his United Business card, I sent him my referral link and earned 10,000 United miles when he opened the card. In return, he sent me his Ink referral link, and he received 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when I opened the card.

If a friend or family member asks me about travel hacking, I’m more than willing to share all the details (probably more than they want). If they’re interested in travel hacking and don’t have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, that’s the first one I encourage as its (in our opinion) the best travel hacking starter card.

We’ve gotten referral bonuses ranging from 5,000 – 40,000 points (or miles) this year from referring the Chase Ink Unlimited, Chase Freedom Unlimited, Chase Sapphire Preferred, United Club Infinite, and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless cards.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Retention Offer

When my American Express Gold card annual fee hit, I decided to see if my account was eligible for a retention offer. It’s good practice to reach out within 30 days of your annual fee hitting because if you decide to close the card within 30 days, the annual fee will be refunded.

The AmEx Gold card offers 4x on groceries and dining, but I wasn’t using the other benefits enough to justify the $250 annual fee. (Note: that annual fee has since increased to $325).

Not every card/account is eligible for a retention offer, but I reached out to American Express customer service to ask. I opened my American Express app and started chat. Here’s the script I used to request a retention offer:

“Hello, the annual fee on my American Express Gold card recently posted. While I like the card, I’m not sure if the annual fee is worth paying for another year. Are there any available offers that could help me justify keeping the card?”

In most cases, they’ll try to highlight the benefits of the card without offering a retention bonus. I noted I was aware of the benefits (like the elevated earning categories). But I also shared that I had comparable elevated earnings on other cards with lower annual fees. The customer service representative also mentioned their monthly credits, like $10 to Uber. I explained I didn’t really use those either.

Eventually, I was offered 15,000 Membership Rewards points for $2,000 worth of spend in three months. I happily accepted the offer. I then saved a screenshot of the conversation to ensure I received the points after hitting the spend. For five minutes of effort, I received an extra 15,000 points on top of the points for that spend.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Transfer Bonuses

Throughout the year, credit card companies will offer transfer bonuses when points are transferred to one of their travel partners. In 2024, Chase offered a 70% transfer bonus when you transferred Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott. Because we’re loyal to Marriott, this was a great option for us. We know that we will continue to travel stay at Marriott hotels in the future, so even though we didn’t have a stay in mind, we transferred 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Marriott and received 70,000 Bonvoy points from the transfer bonus.

Do we leverage every transfer bonus? Absolutely not – it doesn’t make sense for us and the way we travel. But in this case, when it’s a provider that we know we absolutely will travel with in the future, it made sense for the “free” points.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Regular Spend

This probably goes without saying, but we earn credit card points on our daily expenses. This year, we made sure to maximize our elevated earning categories.

For example, I used my American Express Gold card for all grocery purchases because it earns 4x Membership Rewards points at grocery stores. I also occasionally purchase gift cards from grocery stores using this card. Those that I purchase cover retailers where I only earn 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points. Or when I travel, I use my Chase Sapphire Preferred because it earns 2x on travel categories like rental cars, tours & activities, and has no international transaction fees. My every day credit card remains the Chase Freedom Unlimited because it earns 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points on everything – plus 3x on select elevated categories like drugstores. Dining goes on my Sapphire (3x), Freedom Unlimited (3x), or the American Express Gold (4x).

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: 5x Categories

Where we really focused on those elevated categories are those glorious 5x categories on the original Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex. In 2024, those quarterly categories were as follows:

• January–March (Q1): Grocery stores, fitness clubs, gym memberships, and self-care & spa services
• April–June (Q2): Hotels booked through Chase Travel, restaurants, and Amazon
• July–September (Q3): Gas stations, EV charging, select live entertainment, and movie theaters
• October–December (Q4): PayPal, McDonald’s, pet shops & veterinary services, and select charities

Cardholders can earn a maximum of 7,500 Ultimate Rewards points per card per quarter on these categories. Leveraging strategic purchases, I was able to max out my earnings in Q1, Q2, and Q4 by pre-paying where I could and leveraging gift card purchases for future spend. I was able to stock up for future spend while earning 5x on things like my dogs’ recurring food subscription. So instead of earning 1.5x on their monthly food orders in 2025, I have gift-cards already loaded and have earned more points for future travel.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Shopping Portals

Shopping portals are a super simple way to earn points or miles for travel on top of the credit card points you’re already earning. You click once to activate, shop as you normally would, and watch the points and miles rack up. American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines all have online shopping portals. Choose your favorite airline, install the browser extension, and watch for a notification when you’re shopping on a website that offers miles. Because we’re loyal to United, I have the United browser extension installed. I earned more than 4,000 miles this year through the United shopping portal.

You might be thinking to yourself – that’s nice, but it’s really not that many miles. Well, here’s why.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Rakuten

Rakuten is a shopping portal where you can get cash back at tons of retailers when you make a purchase. The way it helps with travel hacking is if instead of cash back, you opt to receive your funds in the form of American Express Membership Rewards. Like with the airline shopping portals, these are points you earn on top of the credit card points for the spend with the retailer.

You can only use an airline portal or Rakuten, so I compare which option is offering me the most amount of points or miles. Rakuten frequently has 10, 15, or 20% cash back (or 20x Membership Rewards points), so I often choose Rakuten over the United shopping portal. In 2024, I earned over 30,000 American Express Membership Rewards points for travel from Rakuten. One thing to be aware of – you don’t need to shop with your American Express card to receive these points. You simply need to have an American Express card that earns MRs so that your earned Membership Rewards points can be transferred to that card quarterly.

If you have purchases you can wait to make, it’s a good idea to wait for elevated offers from Rakuten. Rakuten frequently increases the cash back amount offers at holiday times when lots of people are looking for deals.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Shop through Chase

Shop through Chase works similarly to the airline shopping portals or Rakuten. Chase has offers at select retailers for increased Ultimate Rewards earnings. You click through their portal and shop as normal. I frequently forget this option because you have to start at Chase and search the retailer you’re interested in. Both Rakuten and airline shopping portals will have a notification pop up if you’re on a website that they partner with. P2 is much better than I am at checking Shop Through Chase, so he was able to take advantage of some offers to 15x Ultimate Rewards points.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: United MileagePlus X App

The United MileagePlus X app is my favorite travel hacking app. I forget how I first learned about it, but it’s become a key part of my miles-earning strategy in recent years. The United MileagePlus X app, or MPX, is not a shopping portal. It is a really great tool for earning miles that I haven’t seen with any other airlines.

United MileagePlus members can earn bonus miles by shopping with select retail partners. The program’s app serves primarily as a gift card platform, ideal for purchasing cards for personal use or as gifts. These miles are earned in addition to the credit card points from the purchase. The number of miles earned depends on the specific retail partner. The MPX app also does sometimes have elevated offers throughout the year, so make sure you capitalize on that.

I earned over 34,000 United miles from the United MileagePlus X app in 2024. And no, I didn’t do that by spending $34,000 – not even close. I do hold a United Gateway credit card, which earns me an extra 25% miles through MPX. My purchases through MPX earn 2, 4, 5, 6x (or more) miles on my purchases. P2 doesn’t use MileagePlus X as much as I do – but he’s still been able to earn more than 10,000 United miles from MPX for our travel hacking pool.

Another amazing feature of the United MileagePlus X app is that you can use a gift card bought through MPX and a shopping portal like Rakuten when you’re shopping online. Activate the cash back on Rakuten or miles on an airline shopping portal, and then use the gift card from MileagePlus X for your purchase. Super simple stack, and you still earn the credit card points in addition to these two other ways of earning.

Pro Tip

Make sure you use a Chase card when you’re shopping through the MileagePlus X app. Purchases made through MPX using a Chase card code as the category (i.e. Starbucks codes as dining so you’ll earn 3x on the gift card purchase if you use the Sapphire or Freedom Unlimited). If you use an American Express credit card, however, it will not code as the category, and you’ll only earn 1x. This applies even if it’s an elevated category for AmEx. Don’t leave any points on the table!

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Linked Programs

A great “set it and forget it” way to earn points is through linking rewards programs to apps and retailers you use regularly. Link your accounts, make purchases as normal, and watch the points add up.

In June of this year, Starbucks and Marriott announced a partnership. The benefit to Bonvoy members? Earning Bonvoy points for making purchases during designated “Bonvoy weeks” throughout the year. Every month from July to December, there was a Bonvoy week. For four of those months, making three Starbucks purchases earned 100 Bonvoy points. Two of those earned 500 points. I earned 1,400 Bonvoy points from purchases I was already making. Marriott Bonvoy also has a partnership with Uber where you can earn Bonvoy points from Uber rides or ordering Uber eats. More of a Hilton fan? Link your Lyft account for Hilton Honors points.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Travel Spend

Yes, we earn points and miles on travel spend, obviously. But there are a few ways we maximize our earnings here. First, by primarily flying with one airline (United) and staying with one hotel chain (Marriott). Both P2 and I have Gold Premier status with United, which means we earn 8 miles per dollar spent. And when we pay for flights, we use P2’s United Club Infinite card, which earns an additional 4 miles per dollar on United purchases.

P2 earned Titanium status with Marriott for 2024. Titanium members earn 17.5 Bonvoy points per dollar on Marriott spend. That’s from the 10 base points per dollar plus a 75% bonus on base points for Titanium status. P2 holds a Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card, so we earn an additional 6 Bonvoy points per dollar on paid stays.

Points and Miles Earned in 2024: Timeshare Presentation

In January, we attended a timeshare presentation as the Westin Kierland Villas in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to the discounted stay, we also received 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for our attending the presentation. While this is not always a part of our points-earning strategy (and likely won’t be in 2025), it was worth the 90-minutes in this case.

Conclusion

Through consistent and creative strategies, we are able to maximize our points and miles this year. From sign-up bonuses and referral rewards to maximizing elevated spending categories and loyalty partnerships, there are a variety of methods that we used to earn more than 1.5 million points and miles this year. We hope this post encourages you to take small steps towards earning points and miles for your dream adventures!