My first post was going to go live on Monday morning, but after the wonderful evening I had last night I just couldn’t wait. I met up with some Frequent Traveler University friends at a lounge in the area. They were here on a CVS trip for Vanilla Reloads, since they don’t have a closer CVS.  We had a wonderful evening talking about mileage run opportunities from our [relatively] near-by airports, hotel promotions, travel experiences, and hopeful future experiences. Nights like tonight always heighten my excitement about the wonderful world of points and miles and the experiences that I am guided towards because of them.

Every time I meet someone from the frequent traveler community, I am so surprised at how much we have to talk about. It doesn’t matter if there are 2 years between us or 50. It doesn’t matter if how we got into the game. It doesn’t matter if we earn our miles and points from manufactured spend, from mileage/mattress runs, or business travel. We all have the same goal; travel more often, in more style, for less money. I am normally pretty shy, but none of my points and miles friends would ever guess that, because I can talk about this stuff forever!

I came across this game pretty early in my life, and I believe I am truly lucky. I have so much time to learn about the different programs, and so much time to see the rest of the world. The blogs that I have been reading for the past year or so have totally opened my eyes to ‘free’ travel; I only have to pay the very small price of devoting enough time to this hobby (job?) to maximize my rewards and unlock the rest of the world along the way.

Throughout my very short time experiencing life as an adult, I have realized that many people my age (and older!) don’t realize what they are missing out on. Friends that are interested in travel don’t realize that they could be traveling to exciting places for minimal cost. Friends that aren’t interested in travel don’t realize that they could be getting [better] cash back on their spending. I want to change this. At the most basic level, I want to help people maximize the return on their purchases. At a more obsessive level, I want to share my experiences as a self-proclaimed points and miles junkie, and encourage redeeming points and miles for valuable experiences based on your travel and life goals. I specifically want to bust the myths that young people can’t participate in this game because of short credit histories; because it just ain’t so! As of writing this post, I am 21, I have 15 open credit card accounts, with a total available credit of almost $40,000. That may not seem like much to some of you, but keep in mind that I just graduated from college (last weekend!) and have only been working part time throughout school. If I can get into this game — you can too! All you need is a good credit score to begin with (otherwise you need to work on building that first), and you need to pay off your balances in full every month.

I am so excited to embark upon this journey. I hope that I can provide unique insight into the world or points and miles for at least a handful of people out there. I want to help young people realize that this is a game that they can play too — there is so much hidden value to unleash… free spring break anyone?! It’s possible. I hope that I can also provide valuable information to anyone interested in this hobby, regardless of age. I want this journey into the world of points and miles at least as exciting for you as it has been for me!

You can contact me anytime at PointPrincess@hotmail.com, on twitter @Point_Princess, or on facebook at facebook.com/PointPrincess.