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Step 1: Credit Cards are your Friend!!

You know the saying, those who understand interest EARN it, those who don't PAY it.  You must always pay your credit card bills in full and on time, otherwise this is NOT an efficient way to save money on travel. APPLYING FOR A CARD: A lot of people I know are very wary of applying for credit cards and scared thinking they will ruin their credit score.  While it is true your credit score will take a dip when you apply for a card, please understand it is a very small dip and it is temporary (only about a month), then your score goes right back up.  As long as you pay your card on time and in full, your score will remain high regardless of how many credit cards you close and open over the years.  I promise!  My score is around 800 and I have applied for somewhere around 5 credit cards in the last couple years, closed some too, and my score is still around 800.  So relax!  Also keep in mind that if you are married, you don't share a score.  You each have your own, so you can te

Step 2: Ready to Play with Miles and Credit Cards?

Some things you'll want to understand as you begin applying for credit cards. American Express cards have a "once in a lifetime bonus" rule.  What that means is you can only earn the bonus on each of their cards one time in your life (so make sure you apply when a bonus is at it's highest or close to it, since you only get one shot!).  Remember though, there are lots and lots of Amex credit cards (especially if you are married and your spouse can also apply for each amex card) so this rule isn't really all that "restrictive".  For example, my husband and I can each apply for and earn the bonus on the Delta Gold card, AND the Delta Platinum card.  Just because you have already had one Delta amex card doesn't mean you can't earn the bonus on a different Delta amex card.  HOWEVER, you must work your way up (not down) in order to earn each cards bonus.  For example start with Delta Gold, cancel after a year, then later apply for the Delta Platin

Step 3: Time to TRAVEL!!!

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Once again, if your big question is which credit card should I apply for???  Well that depends on where you want to go.  What is your next travel destination that you want to make happen?  That should determine what cards you apply for.  If you are happy to travel anywhere and just want a stash of miles to give you possibilities, then I would say get a stash of Delta miles.  They will be the easiest to use for those of us living in SLC.  To get a bunch of Delta miles, I recommend applying for the Delta Gold, the Delta Platinum, and the Amex Gold (this is different than the DELTA Gold) and Amex Green Cards.  Remember if you are married, you AND your spouse can each apply for each of these cards (so that is a total of 8 credit card offers you can take advantage of).  Make sure you apply when the offers on these cards are at their highest since Amex only lets you apply (and earn) the bonus once in your lifetime.  Once you have applied for and earned a bonus on one of these cards, start fo

Apply for a Credit Card using my Referral Codes

My Referral Codes: If you are wanting to apply for one of these cards, please click the link and use my referral.  It generally gives you a better bonus and it helps me out too! Amex Gold Card   90k   High Offer Currently !!!  Normally it's 60K-75K points for sign up.  The highest offer is 90k, sometimes you can get 90k by opening this link in a website using "incognito mode".  For example, when using chrome, there are 3 vertical dots on the upper right corner of the screen, click then select "new incognito window".  Once your new incognito window is open (it'll be black) type in my website milesfromslc.com and then come to this page and click the link for Amex Gold.  The annual fee on this card is $325 but you are getting $120 in Uber Eats credits, and $120 in Grubhub credits, $100 in Resy credits, and $7 monthly credits at Dunkin, so the card is free if you take advantage of the credits.  You can read more about the fee and all the credits here . Amex

Miles Vs. Cash Back

Years ago, we had a cash back card and I thought it was the greatest thing ever.  Then I started looking into miles programs (delta was the first one I looked into) and I wondered which I should do?  Well I did the math, I looked at the year previous and totaled up how much $ we had earned from our cash back card.  I then figured out how many miles we could have earned if I had put all that money on a Delta card.  I realized that the miles earned would get me a plane ticket to Europe a whole lot faster than saving that money every year on my cash back card would.  Here's why........  "typically" miles tickets are cheaper than $ tickets.  For example I saw a great sale recently on flights from SLC to Long Beach California for $140, when I looked at the miles price it was only 9k miles (to keep things simple I equate 9k miles to $90, just take 2 zero's off whatever the miles price is and it will give you a good comparison to $).  The other reason why I personally like

My Favorite Credit Card: Amex Gold

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When people find out that I have gotten into credit cards, points, and miles, they generally ask what is your favorite card? My favorite is a new card called the Amex Gold and they are offering 100k points sign up on it right now (THAT IS THE HIGHEST OFFER EVER!). The reason I love the card is that it offers 4x points on grocery stores and restaurants (my 2 biggest spend categories, by the way restaurants includes fast food places!) and 3x points on airline purchases. The fee for the card is $325 which sounds high, but you can earn that fee  back through uber and restaurant credits (read more on that here ).  Just be aware that grocery shopping at "super stores" (Walmart and Target) will NOT earn 4x points.  Smith's Marketplace is totally fine though. To get the highest offer, first try  clicking here , if the offer is lower than 100k, you will need to open a google chrome window, then on the far right of the search bar, there are 3 little vertical dots, click on that an

Delta Miles and Credit Cards

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To RACK up lots of Delta Miles If you live near SLC, Delta is generally the best airline with the most options for us (since SLC is a Delta hub). So there are 2 credit cards (the Delta gold and Delta platinum, not to be confused with the Amex Gold and the Amex Platinum) that offer great sign-up bonuses (generally 70K and 90K respectively).  Don't sign up when they aren't offering this much, just wait and they'll bring back these great offers.  Credit card bonuses are a FANTASTICALLY EASY way to earn a BUNCH of miles. So I personally believe that EVERYONE should apply for these 2 cards at some point in their lifetime. If you are married, then your spouse should apply for these 2 cards at some point in their lifetime as well. That is a total of 4 bonuses available to couples, and most couples only take advantage of 1 (I know from personal experience!). A few years ago, my husband Matt got the platinum card, made me an authorized user on the card and that's all we used fo