Our Favorite Resources

One of the greatest things we've found as we've gotten into the points and miles hobby is that there is endless information out there on how to maximize earnings and redemptions. People who travel hack seem really willing to share their tips and finds with the whole world - or at least with those who are listening! Tom and I both like to look at several different places for info, but here we've narrowed it down to our top five go-to points and miles resources. See if you notice any differences between our favorite sites (hint - Melissa likes to redeem and Tom likes to earn).

Tom's Top Five:

1. The Frequent Miler 
This is Tom's number one, go-to website, podcast, YouTube channel, newsletter - everything! - in the points and miles world. He particularly likes subscribing to their newsletter where time-sensitive alerts about great deals and offers come as frequently as you decide you want. They cover a wide range of information and are committed to sharing it freely without a lot of ads or solicitation. 

2. Doctor of Credit
Tom has a whole points and miles-adjacent hobby of earning free money from bank account bonuses. Doctor of Credit keeps him up to date on any great bonuses out there, and he particularly likes the forums and comments that give information about people's experiences with certain banks. Doctor of Credit also has plenty of info about credit card sign up bonuses, great shopping portal deals, improving your credit, and really anything bank-related you could think of. 

3. RJ Financial/Run the Bank
Tom likes RJ's YouTube channels for great info on banking in general and of course, leveraging banking incentives and bonuses. RJ takes more of a cash-back approach, but this information helps balance out the travel hacking/points and miles perspective. 

4. Ask Sebby
This is a great all-around resource for all things financial, banking, and points and miles. He has well organized info on the website about all of the major points and miles programs as well as reviews on just about every card you can imagine. He also has a very active YouTube channel if this is your preferred way to get your info. 

5. Geobreeze Travel
Tom likes to listen to Julia's podcast because she interviews a wide range of guests and covers just about every topic in the points and miles world with a particular interest in the intersection of personal finance and award travel. From stacking shopping portal offers to tips on finding the best hotels in a certain country, this podcast is always a fun listen!

Melissa's Top Five:

1. The Frequent Miler
What do you know!? The same number one! Melissa is frequently amazed at how quickly this small team can put together content and most likes to read their trip reports and hotel reviews. She has some interesting new aspirations because of these guys, which include getting offered a free cruise and going on a dirt-cheap vacation in exchange for sitting through a timeshare presentation. We shall see!

2. Katie's Travel Tricks
Melissa stumbled upon Katie in her Instagram reels, where elder millennials find everything worth finding. She loves this site for its easy-to-follow information on travel-hacking for families. Katie's site includes maps of all-inclusive hotels, maps of hotels for large families, and user-friendly guides for booking all kinds of reward travel for your family. 

3. Miles to Memories
Melissa loves listening to this podcast, and she's not even sure why. Maybe it's the soothing intro music? She started listening to it as a cross-over because her Disney travel agent is an editor and contributor. This podcast is the rabbit-hole that piqued her interest in points and miles, and she has continued faithfully listening to it for its fun spin and interesting interviews. 

4. Geobreeze Travel
Melissa also really enjoys the Geobreeze podcast. Julia has a very down-to-earth style, and the people she interviews are at various stages of their own points and miles journeys - from people who are experts in a particular airline reward system to people who are just starting out and have to work around certain scheduling or income restrictions. All very helpful content!

5. Travel On Points
Travel on Points has a really excellent website with solid information about strategy and very useful resources for understanding flexible travel partners and booking international award flights. While their website is great, what Melissa likes best about ToP is their Facebook group. People post questions, trip reports, and other interesting tidbits all day long, and the moderators, many of whom also have non-travel hacking day jobs, respond quickly and keep the group running in one of the most positive Facebook groups out there.