How TPG built its points balance using credit cards
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As a business, The Points Guy has earned millions of American Express, Chase, Citi and Capital One points this year. Through strategic spending on some of the best travel credit cards, we've earned millions of points that we use to send our global network of employees on trips across the world, often in business- and first-class cabins.
Being The Points Guy, we use these points to reduce our business travel expenses. For example, prior to and after the launch of TPG UK earlier this year, the UK team has done frequent trips back and forth to the New York office. Instead of paying for the flight tickets with cash, we've used points for most of their trips. This strategy doesn't just save cash, but it can also allow us to send the UK team in a premium cabin at a fraction of what it'd cost in dollars, or pounds.
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When starting The Points Guy, Brian Kelly realized the importance of maximizing business spending by putting it on the right credit cards. When looking at TPG's biggest spending categories, he realized that they fell in two large buckets: advertising and travel. While most businesses use direct bank payments or a company-wide charge card to pay off business expenses, Brian decided to open a few American Express and Chase business credit cards to leverage bonus categories to multiply the company's points earning.
Since TPG is a digital business, we spend lots of money on online advertising. The American Express® Business Gold Card earns 4x points on such ads if it's one of your top two spending categories each month (up to $150,000 in spending per calendar year combined with one other category, then 1x). Through our advertising spend, we easily max out that category every year, which nets us 600,000 American Express Membership Rewards points, more than enough to send an employee from London to New York 20 times in economy class. If the average cost of the economy ticket is $500, we're saving $10,000 by strategically earning our points using cards that offer rich spend multipliers.
| Spend Category | Card Used |
|---|---|
Advertising | American Express® Business Gold Card and Ink Business Preferred Credit Card |
Airfare | The Platinum Card® from American Express |
Other travel | Ink Business Preferred Credit Card |
The Chase Ink Business Preferred also earns a multiplier on online advertising. To boost our Chase Ultimate Rewards points, we also put some of our advertising spend on that card. Although the card only earns 3x points on online ads for up to $150,000 in spend per year (compared to 4x with the Amex Business Gold), we need Chase points to fund some of our travel. Chase points are great for transferring to United and Hyatt among others.
TPG's not just a digital business; we're also a team of travelers. We're always taking review trips, commuting to our parent company's headquarters in Charlotte or organizing reader events throughout the country. Sustaining such travel would be cost prohibitive without using points.
Instead of paying $10,000+ for an ANA first-class ticket, for example, we transfer Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic and then book there for 120,000 miles round-trip.
Related: Unlock incredible value with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
We can't always use points for our travel, since award seats aren't necessarily available on a given date. So we sometimes find ourselves in situations where we need to purchase our tickets using cash. When booking airfare with cash, we use either the Amex Platinum or Chase Ink Business Preferred. Each card earns 5x and 3x points per dollar, respectively, for airfare purchases.
While it's not necessarily ideal to purchase airfare using cash — we are The Points Guy after all! — we soften the blow by making sure we're earning really valuable points that can be used for future travel expenses.
Related: The best credit cards for airfare purchases
At TPG, we value Membership Rewards points and Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each, so we're effectively earning between a 6% and 10% rebate on all of our airfare spend. The points we earn on paid travel are then used to offset future travel costs when award seat availability exists.
Through strategically choosing certain American Express and Chase cards, TPG has leveraged bonus categories to quickly boost our mileage balances. With these points, we've purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of airfare, which in turn help us reduce our business expenses.
Your business can do this too. It doesn't take a business with million dollar expenses to earn thousands of Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards points. Start by identifying the categories in which your business spends the most money. Then, make sure to use credit cards that earn a bonus multiplier for your top categories. After earning all the bonus points, redeem your points towards expensive airfare that you can offset with your company's points. Your CFO may just thank you later.
Featured photo by Emily McNutt/The Points Guy.
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| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 5X | New! Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App, or purchased directly from airlines. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases. |
Pros
- Valuable dining and food-related credits
- Flexible rewards with airline and hotel transfer partners
- Multiple travel and purchase protections
- No foreign transaction fees
- Access to Amex Offers for additional savings (enrollment required)
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- New! Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App, or purchased directly from airlines.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- Pay It® lets you tap in the American Express® App to quickly pay for small purchase amounts throughout the month and still earn rewards the way you usually do. Plan It® gives you the option to split up big purchases into equal monthly payments with a fixed fee. You’ll know upfront exactly how much you’ll pay.
- Updated! $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That’s up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin’ locations. Enrollment required.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
- New! As an American Express® Gold Card Member, you can enjoy complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status. Enjoy benefits like skipping the counter at select locations, adding an additional driver at no additional cost*, and vehicle upgrades**. Benefit enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration are required. *Additional drivers must meet standard rental qualifications and must be a spouse or domestic partner to qualify as complimentary. Other additional drivers subject to fees. **Benefits are subject to availability and vary by location. Additional Hertz program Terms and Conditions including age restrictions apply.
- Take advantage of a $100 credit towards eligible charges* at over 1,300 upscale hotels worldwide when you book The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App **. *Eligible charges vary by property. **The Hotel Collection requires a two-night minimum stay.
- Book your travel through the Amex Travel App with added peace of mind – backed by American Express® service and support. Only for American Express® Card Members.
- Whenever you need us, we're here. Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. From lost Card replacement to statement questions, we are available to help 24/7.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.