Introduction
I was on the fence about posting this because I didn’t want to come off like a showoff. Just remember that the impetus of this blog was for me to track how many miles and points I could accrue over a year. I did that monthly in 2015 and then quarterly in 2016 and haven’t posted anything for the 2nd half of 2016 because a) I kept forgetting and b) the trolls come out. This post isn’t to brag – it’s to show you what’s possible. Some of you may have done more, some of you have done less. Do what you feel is comfortable. I’ve also decided to remove the cashback portion, which was actually less than 2015 (still miss you AGC!)
Quick Overview
It looks like in 2016, I banked about 1.5 million points through mostly MS activities. I also banked ~500,000 points through cc signups (including my wife’s cards) for a total point accumulation of about 2 million points. I realized I only actually applied for 3 cards in 2016 for myself – WF, Prestige, and Spark. For my wife, I got her all 4 Hilton cards, 3 AS cards, an MB Plat, a Flexperks, Spark, TR, OBC, and the ML cards.
Airline Points
| AIR | 180,221 | Portal | Spend |
| Alaska | 7,892 | 5,400 | 2,492 |
| American | 7,192 | 2,502 | 4,690 |
| British Airways | 111,382 | 95,890 | 15,492 |
| Delta | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southwest | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United | 26,340 | 26,340 | 0 |
| Virgin America | 27,414 | 0 | 27,414 |
I had stopped reselling in 2016, so what you see above is probably just a few portal bonuses here and there. The VX card was purely MS. The BA portal was an MS play that I’ve stopped doing and won’t write about and won’t divulge. The reason I didn’t try to accumulate that many airline miles is because I already have healthy balances in the programs and don’t use them that much.
Hotel Points
| HOTEL | 483,299 | Portal | Spend |
| Hilton | 200,448 | 200,448 | |
| Starwoods | 282,850 | 282,850 |
The Hilton points were MS’ed for my Seychelles trip. The SPG was my go-to MS card when I didn’t want 2%. I ping pong back and forth between SPG and 2%.
Bank Points
| BANK | 1,041,273 | Portal | Spend |
| AMEX MR | 208,062 | 208,062 | |
| Chase UR | 575,933 | 25,864 | 550,068 |
| Citi TYP | 210,255 | 210,255 | |
| Flexperks | 47,024 | 47,024 |
Don’t be too impressed. Those UR is what got me banned from Chase. The AMEX MR is tied to the BA portal above, so that’s my one and only hint. The Citi TYP was probably GCM before I got banned. Flexperks was MS at grocery.
Credit card signups
| Credit Card Signups | Points | Cash | |
| AMEX SPG | 30,000 | ||
| AMEX MR | 50,000 | ||
| Citi Prestige | 50,000 | ||
| Hilton | 225,000 | ||
| Capital One Spark | $1,000 | ||
| Alaska | 90,000 | ||
| Merrill | 50,000 |
I think all of that is correct. Pretty self explanatory.
Conclusion
Looking back at my 2015 numbers, I think 2016 ended up about the same although a bit more skewed towards the hotel and bank points. As for 2017 so far, it’s mostly cashback. I don’t really care for airline and hotel points anymore, even the transferable ones.
Thanks or sharing Vinh. Always interesting to see what you’re tallying. So 2017 is the year of cash back? I’m playing the points still being somewhat newer to the game, but wondering at what point I will make the switch. BTW, great advice you give…don’t replicate, do what you feel comfortable doing. I think that’s missed a lot when people take on this hobby.
I stopped once I got around 500K per program which is enough for wife and I to go anywhere in F.
I like to collect UR instead of cashback where it makes sense since it can technically be cashback too. I wish they would have a grocery bonus on one of their cards outside of the one quarter with Freedom. Not that I could actually get approved for it anyway haha.
Citi TYP through GCM? Is that from using Citi ATT at GCM for 3x? Does this still work?
Worked for me last month
Just spent the past hour on BA portal trying to figure out the link with AMEX MR and I came up with nothing haha
may not have been the best use of your time (see time post from a few days ago). haha
Oh I know, you purchased Sams Club produce through BA portal for 4x points and returned it for 200% money back. I see your tricks 😉
I think he spilled the beans a while back. Bullseye.
Would you mind sharing your household income? In respect to the amount of “spending” to acquire these all
It doesn’t really matter. it’s based on the time and effort you want to put into this game. Sure, more float enables you to gain more points, but it’s not a pissing contest. You should earn however many points you feel is comfortable.
Did you spend a half million through staples, or spend 100k at 5x and earn a half million UR?
100K at 5X
Over 12 moths or shorter?
Over 12 months
Hey Vinh, you should make a post on how many miles and points you burned last year
That’s a good idea. I’ll try to come up with it, but it’ll just be a summation of the 3 big trips I took last year.