Points and miles are best earned for occasional travelers

We periodically receive the question from readers: “What points or miles should I collect if I don’t travel often?”

There is no single answer that is best for everyone. For example, one Cash back rewards card might be best if you don’t travel much. However, if you really love a particular loyalty program or airline or hotel then that will need to be considered.

For ease, I’m assuming you want to earn points and miles instead of cash back rewards. With this assumption out of the way, let’s dive into a few topics to help you decide which one to watch points and miles to collect.

If you’re reading this article, you probably already know the benefits of points and miles. You can usually earn points and miles on your trips by Sign up for a loyalty program and enter your loyalty number for the relevant program when you book hotels, flights and car rentals.

These points are often an added benefit when booking directly with a hotel, car rental or air travel program. You can use points and miles to save for future travel, which may allow you to travel more often or more comfortably.

There are many aspects to consider when deciding which points and miles to earn if you don’t travel often. First, consider earning points and miles with one or more loyalty programs you like through credit card rewards.

If you don’t travel often, you may have difficulty accumulating enough rewards to redeem if you only earn rewards through your travel. Where is this travel rewards credit card can help.

If you have a few loyalty programs that you like when traveling, consider purchasing a co-branded card with one or more of these programs, such as United MileagePlus for flights, World of Hyatt for hotels and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards for rental cars.

In this case, you can benefit from receiving United℠ Explorer Card or Hyatt World Credit Card to earn more rewards in the loyalty program you already use. Additionally, both cards offer valuable perks for even occasional travelers. For example, the United Explorer card will give you and your travel companion a free first checked bag when flying United, and the World of Hyatt card will give you free Explorer status.

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Below are links to our tutorials airline credit card best depends on the airline you prefer:

Likewise, here are links to our guides on hotel credit card Best based on your preferred program:

These co-branded cards help you earn rewards with a specific loyalty program. However, as we’ll discuss in the next section, occasional travelers can also benefit from earning transferable points.

Related: Best credit cards for achieving elite status

Points can be transferred redemptions can be unlocked with more hotel and airline loyalty programs.

Earlier in this story, we looked at someone who likes to fly with United, stay with Hyatt, and rent cars with Hertz. Chase Ultimate Rewards could be the perfect transferable currency for this person because you can Chase points transfer to United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt — among other airline and hotel loyalty programs.

If you don’t know which transferable currency would be best for you, check out our guide on credit card transfer partner. This guide provides useful tables showing which loyalty programs are transfer partners for each transferable currency. The simplest approach is to determine which transferable currency is most transferable to the programs you use or already have points or miles for.

Related: How to transfer credit card rewards to partner programs

However, a more sophisticated approach is to look at programs through which you can book United, Delta, and American flights (often at lower prices than the airline’s loyalty program). operator will charge a fee). See ours Domestic awards sweet spot post if you want to take your flight redemptions to the next level, even if you’re an infrequent traveler.

If you’ve found the transferable currency you think is best for you, here’s our guide to each scheme:

Transferable points add complexity compared to simply earning airline miles or hotel points on credit card purchases. However, Transferable points are worth more than other rewards because you can access redemptions using multiple programs instead of just one.

Related: 10 free annual credit cards with transferable points

Earning transferable points can be more valuable than hotel points or airline miles simply because you have options when it’s time to redeem your points. For example, there is an argument to be made that Delta flyers must have a Membership Rewards card instead of (or in addition to) one Delta credit card.

But ultimately, the best number of points or miles to earn as an occasional traveler also depends on the rewards you’ll be using. If transferable rewards seem too complicated, it’s best to buy a hotel or airline credit card that’s co-branded as your favorite program.