The points game can be quite lucrative, and quite frenetic. In fact, I’m sure many of you probably check daily, if not hourly, on potential new point bonuses that you’d like to acquire or award bookings that you’d like to redeem. It’s pretty easy to get caught up in the frenzy of finding the best deals. Trust me, I know… It’s addictive.
If this sounds like you, you may need to ask yourself – is this “addiction” getting to be too much? Is it taking away time from your other hobbies? Are you over-optimizing your credit card spend, to the point that you’re wasting hours of your day? I’ve been there. Maybe you have too.
I love the credit card and points game just as much as the next person. But if your family and friends notice you’ve become obsessed to the point of social reclusion, maybe it’s time to reevaluate. My girlfriend definitely noticed this in me. It’s all I could talk about at times. But luckily, there is a solution. One that can help you take a step back without missing out.
All that’s needed is a reframe. When you’re starting out, you get a bit excited about economy redemptions, and you start redeeming miles. Then you graduate to wanting more complex business and first class bookings, and suddenly you realize you need a lot more points. Sometime shortly after you make a couple big redemptions, you realize you need to re-accumulate miles. A ton of them. And that’s when the anxiety sets in. That’s when you say to yourself, “How the f*** am I going to get my 150K UR points back!?”
Calm down. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Yes, take advantage of the fat sign up bonuses, and yes, try to have 2-3 routine credit cards to maximize rewards. But when you get anxiety over missing out on your authorized user bonus for 5K miles, or you use your Chase Freedom Unlimited instead of Chase Sapphire Reserve to get that extra 0.5 UR point per dollar, you may be running into trouble. Just take a moment to re-calibrate, and tell yourself that you will be able to accumulate the miles you need to travel. Just focus on playing the long game and I guarantee you will prosper and improve your quality of life.