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TPG Talks episode four: A virtual walkthrough of the TPG Beginner's Guide
Richard Kerr
Contributor
Richard Kerr is a veteran naval officer and founder of the Award Travel 101 Facebook community. He’s one of the foremost experts in points and miles strategy, featured in Forbes, US News, Money Magazine, Kiplinger Personal Finance and presented at #SXSW 2017. Richard has visited over 45 countries, lived in England and Japan, and spends his spare time dissecting loyalty program award charts to maximize the value of points and miles. Richard holds a BBA in International Business and has his wife and two small children in tow for his travels as often as possible.
May 09, 2020
•
3 min read
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In episode four of TPG Talks, we went straight to one of our our largest audience segment: points and miles beginners! Joining us was TPG Lifestyle Editor Samantha Rosen, author of TPG's Beginner's Guide. This comprehensive resource gives you all the basic information you need to start your journey in the world of loyalty programs and travel rewards. There's a lot of information to digest, so make sure to watch the replay of episode four and start working toward your first award trip.
Show notes:
- 8:20 - What are points and miles?
- 14:22 - How do you earn points and miles?
- 16:40 - Why should I use a credit card?
- 21:55 - What credit card should I get?
- 26:50 - Common terms on the site
- 30:53 - Q&A
- 31:22 - Tracking credit cards and fees
- 32:37 - Should you close a card that you're not using?
- 34:14 - How do decide that annual fees are worth it?
- 36:40 - How do you decide if an airline card is worth it?
- 38:50 - Strategies for looking for award seats for more than one person
- 41:09 - Should you leverage more than one points program?
- 43:22 - What are the best strategies for finding airline award availability?
- 49:16 - Now what do I do?
- 51:30 - Application restrictions
- 53:15 - Best program to use when booking award flights
Follow on reading and important links:
TPG beginner's guide: Everything you need to know about points, miles, airlines and credit cards
TPG's monthly valuations of points and miles
Maximizing online shopping portals
How Do You Keep Track of Your Points and Miles?
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Bottom Line
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- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
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- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
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- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month
Apply for Capital One Venture X Business
at Capital One's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees
Best for businesses with high spending
TPG Editor‘s Rating
Go to reviewCard Rating is based on the opinion of TPG‘s editors and is not influenced by the card issuer.
Rewards Rate
| 2X miles | 2 miles per dollar on every purchase |
| 5X miles | 5 miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel |
| 10X miles | 10 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Business Travel |
Intro Offer
Earn 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200K miles when you spend $150K in the first 6 monthsLIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus milesAnnual Fee
$395Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO® Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.740-850Excellent
Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month