Maximizing Miles & Points in Two-Player Mode

Travelling the world on points can take on different forms depending on whether it’s a solo undertaking or a group effort.

Solo travellers benefit from a high degree of flexibility and the relative ease of finding a single award seat on the most desirable flights. Meanwhile, couples or families who travel together might have a slightly more challenging time with availability, but in return they get to share the experience and create lasting memories from their trips together.

As we all know, couples who chase credit card signup bonuses and redeem points for amazing value together… stay together. With that in mind, here are some optimal strategies specifically for those of you playing the game in “two-player mode” – that is to say, you and a partner are looking to cooperate in order to get as much as possible out of your points.

Getting Your Partner in the Game

Before you even think about maximizing your points as a couple, you need to make sure the other person is on-board with your plans in the first place. As plenty of us have witnessed, many couples in this game tend to consist of one person who’s super enthusiastic and one person who just sort of goes along with what the other person says.

Typically, one person scours the blogs and forums, meticulously tracks the credit cards, and spends hours upon hours crafting creative routes for an upcoming trip. Meanwhile, the other person was reluctant to be involved in the first place, begrudgingly signs up for credit cards when their partner asks them to, and maintains little interest in the nitty-gritty side of things.

Usually, the real buy-in from the reluctant one in the pair happens after the first business class flight or aspirational hotel experience. As you’re sipping on free-flowing bubbly onboard your flight or enjoying a magical sunset from an overwater villa far away from home, all of the inconveniences of credit card applications and learning about which card to use where suddenly become an afterthought.

If your partner is initially hesitant to get involved, your best bet is to lay things out for them and demonstrate the potential benefits as clearly as possible. If that still isn’t enough to tide them over, then you’ll have to put in the work on your own in the beginning stages and truly dazzle them with a memorable trip in order to change their mind – you’d…