About Me & This Blog

(love looking into the peaceful Aegean Sea)

Hi my name is Steve.

I’ve loved to travel & collect/redeem points since I was approved for my 1st credit card in college. I still remember it being a Sony credit card, and I couldn’t wait until I had enough points to redeem for a free Playstation (giving away my age here!) since I couldn’t afford to buy one off my internship salary. I was hooked once it actually came in, but only over the past few years have I found out how much more value I could get from my points.

Within a year of starting credit card sign ups and finding bonus’, I became a point millionaire. It felt awesome, and I couldn’t wait to get more. Even more rewarding than collecting the points was the ability to go on trips I could never previously afford (like flying in upper cabins & staying in suites in 5 star hotels. This wasn’t only for me either, I was also helping my family go on vacations they normally wouldn’t. Hopefully I can do the same for you.

In early 2013 I finally decided to publish my own blog. People were already asking me “which is the best card to sign up for right now? , what’s the biggest bonus?” I figured someone else might be wondering the same thing, so why not share all the research I’ve done with friends & family, & perhaps some new friends.

My vision of the blog is to always provide you with awesome content. That may be in the form of a trip report with original pictures, credit card benefits information, and case studies, where I take requests on how I would set up someone’s trip. From time to time I may post about my other passions, which include photography, basketball, & sneakers. Travel and photography go hand in hand, but I have to find a way to work hoops & kicks in there!

I’m not 100% sure where my experience as a blogger is going to take me at this point, but hopefully you enjoy reading the content and are benefitting from it. I believe in full disclosure, so I’ll always do my best to give you the most accurate information possible.

If you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it.

21 Responses to "About Me & This Blog"

Phil Lai says:

October 17, 2013 at 1:07 pm

I do the points thing too. Can’t believe we’ve never talked about it.

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  October 17, 2013 at 2:09 pm
  
  That’s awesome Phil. I usually don’t bring it up because people who aren’t too familiar with points always think it’s a scam. I always knew you were a smart guy so it doesn’t surprise me you’re into points. Hopefully you find some of the stuff on this site useful.
  
  Reply
Brian says:

October 29, 2013 at 1:55 pm

Hi Steve, I’ve been collecting pts/miles for the past year and nowhere near a million points/miles and just wondering what your seacret is in doing this within a year? Did you really get into points/miles in your college days or only within the past few year? Thanks!

Brian

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  October 29, 2013 at 2:26 pm
  
  Hey Brian,
  
  The “secret” is credit card sign ups & transfer bonus’. They offered such lucrative bonus’ in the past that they were hard to turn down. While there aren’t the same 100k sign ups right now, they often still have great ones, along with transfer bonus’ as well, and I took advantage of most of them. There are still some great offers out there. (Lufthansa 50k, Southwest 50k)
  
  I got started in the points game during college years, but only within the last few years have I really started to build a lot more points quickly.
  
  Thanks for reading. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I want everyone to be able to benefit from points as much as I have.
  
  Reply
Mike L. says:

October 30, 2013 at 4:17 pm

Great blog Steve! Really good insights for someone like myself, who would like to have perks the cheapest way possible.. haha

Thank you, Mike

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  October 30, 2013 at 4:23 pm
  
  Thanks for reading Mike. I hope you get to travel the world for free, and in style.
  
  Reply
Jonathan says:

November 10, 2013 at 6:21 am

Hi Steve!
I found your blog reading some forums about the WP theme you’re using. I have a question for you : how did you move the meta informations at the bottom of your posts?

Thanks for your answer!

greetings for France 🙂

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  November 11, 2013 at 8:24 am
  
  Hey Jonathon, which tags were you referring to specifically?
  
  Reply
Shauna Armitage says:

December 6, 2013 at 8:31 pm

Lots of valuable information here. This kind of stuff is always super hard to navigate for most of us. You’ll have to guest post on Pure Wander some time!

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  December 6, 2013 at 9:11 pm
  
  Hi Shauna,
  
  That sounds like a great idea. Let me know when you’d like to do some work together.
  
  Thanks for reading
  
  Reply
Brian says:

January 30, 2014 at 3:25 pm

Hi Steve!

Wanted to know what are you thoughts on Virgin Atlantic miles? Since they will no longer offer 1:2 ratio when you transfer to Hilton after Feb 6 and that Hilton has devaluated their points; it doesn’t seem like a good idea to transfer over to them esp. if it will take 80K+ points per night on their top tier hotels. Do you know if there is a way to check for availability online to use VA miles for Hawaiian Airline or Singapore air to HK from the NYC area. Any advice you have is appreciated. Thanks again!

Brian

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  January 30, 2014 at 3:30 pm
  
  Hey Brian. Transferring VA points to Hilton was great before the deval. Afterwards, not so much. Now that the option is going away, it really isn’t bothering me all too much. My personal favorite is to use VA points on VX. 50k is good for a main cabin select flight on domestic transcon.
  
  In terms of using them on Hawaiian air or SQ, I don’t know for sure but I can check. I know redeeming VA on VX requires a call as they are the only ones who can see award availability.
  
  Btw, have you reached 1 million yet? We’ve seen some decent offers over the past year.
  
  Reply
Brian says:

February 1, 2014 at 8:43 am

Thanks for that info! I actually did reach a million points and mile if combined both my miles/points with my wife. I think we will do our next AOR sometime in May or June and will def. use your links if you have any (I’ll ask you if I don’t see it on your site).

Doesn’t VA charge you an arm and a leg if you fly with them on domestic transcon due to they always layover in London just like BA?

I try calling VA about using their miles on Hawaiian Air and it seems like not one agent knows what they are talking about. Every agent tells me a different story therefore I’m starting to feel that VA is not as useful as the other airline programs out there. And there is no way to search for availability online except to call them.

Also, I read a lot of blogs about miles and points and don’t really see anyone talking about VA miles except to transfer them to Hilton and that’s what I did before the deval. Maybe you can be the first to write about VA miles? 🙂

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  February 1, 2014 at 8:53 am
  
  Brian,
  
  That’s definitely one problem when using miles and points is that you often have to know the program better than the agents themselves.
  
  VA does charge hefty taxes & fuel charges though. I’ll have to do some more research as to how to utilize them. Again, my favorite redemption is flying VX coast to coast in main cabin select. 🙂
  
  Congrats on your family becoming point millionaires, and thanks for the support using my links during your next AOR. It’s definitely appreciated. I’d be happy to help you plan out your next vacation. I’m actually considering offering a service, to plan out a vacation and applications for my readers.
  
  Reply
  1. Brian says:
    
    February 1, 2014 at 10:46 am
    
    A quick note: how come I don’t get any email notification from you when you reply to my comment? I do have the “Notify me of follow-up comments by email” checked. Thanks!
    
    Reply
    1. Steve says:
      
      February 1, 2014 at 12:23 pm
      
      That’s odd. Spam filter?
      
      Reply
      1. Brian says:
        
        February 2, 2014 at 11:39 pm
        
        Nope, nothing in there.
Godfrey Tsui says:

March 26, 2014 at 9:20 pm

Thanks for all the great advice Steve! I got my cards and can’t wait to take some trips!

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  March 26, 2014 at 9:22 pm
  
  Glad I can help buddy.
  
  Reply
Kenny says:

June 27, 2014 at 1:40 pm

hey Steve,

BTW, you have a great blog here, you’re referred to me by your friend Jenny… I recently applied for the Barclay arrival and have been using for close to two months, the offer is 40k miles. Do you know anything about card, can the miles actually be used for travel or it has to be converted to statement credits/ gift cards?

Trying to book a trip to Taiwan in a few months.

I read the barclay site, but didn’t say anything about 40K miles equal around trip ticket to any location.

Thanks,

Reply
1. Steve says:
  
  June 27, 2014 at 1:44 pm
  
  Hey Kenny, Thanks for reading/supporting P2S! First I want to say thanks if you used my application link. If not, I’m still happy you got an awesome card. The Barclay arrival card is one of the most flexible cards out there and I mention it frequently because of how easy it is to use their points. You basically book something that is coded as travel, and once it shows up on your account (granted you already have the 40k points deposited), you can use those points to credit the travel charge. You never have to really pay for it. 40k is equal to $400 in travel value. You also get 10% back, so that means another 4000 points, or $40 for a future travel charge to redeem.
  
  You do NOT want to redeem for gift cards, as they will decrease the value of the points significantly.
  
  Best of luck!
  
  Reply

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