Our 2018 Miles and Points Earning

How is Your 2018 Miles and Points Earning so far? Which new cards have you earned bonuses on, and which spending bonuses have you taken advantage of? For our family, our miles and points earning is focused on opportunities to book first class and business class awards, which are also the highest value you can get out of your frequent flyer miles and points, at redemption values of 5-10 cents or more per mile or point. No cash back card comes close.

Because of the nature of my business and our own travel preferences, we ignore hotel credit cards and points. After all, the best luxury hotels and resorts, such as Aman Resorts, Four Seasons, Cheval Blanc, Oetker Collection and similar cannot be booked with miles and points. And as nice as flying first class can be, it can't compare to hotels such as Cheval Blanc Randheli, Laucala, Amanpulo, The Peninsula Paris or the like.

But back to the topic of this post–2018 miles and points earning. Here's the rough breakdown of the miles and points we've earned or that are in progress so far in 2018, by category:

• 76%: Credit Card Signup Bonuses and Spend Required to Obtain

• 19%: Spend and Category Bonuses, Including AMEX Offers and Shop Through Chase

• 5%: Referral and Relationship Bonuses

And here's a breakdown by the type of miles and points earned:

• 44%: Delta miles

• 32%: American AAdvantage miles

• 21%: Chase Ultimate Rewards points

• 3%: AMEX Membership Rewards points