In part two of our Japan family trip recap, Brandon and I cover our five nights at the Park Hyatt Kyoto, every activity we did in Kyoto (from TeamLab to the Nintendo Museum), the travel home connection that almost went terribly wrong, and the complete points and cash breakdown showing exactly what nine days in Japan cost our family of four.

Hear the unfiltered reality of planning and taking a family award trip to Japan. In part one of this two-part series, my husband Brandon and I recap our spring break adventure – from booking Japan Airlines first class after an unexpected award dump to staying at the Park Hyatt Tokyo to traveling with two kids through Tokyo and Kyoto. Complete with points breakdown, what worked, and what we’d change next time.

Registration is now open for the 2027 Point Me to First Class Conference in Austin, Texas (April 29-May 2). Dr. Andrea Mabry and I share why we’re hosting another live event, what makes in-person learning irreplaceable, and all the details about the venue, speakers, format, and how to register for in-person or digital attendance.

Get answers to your top points questions—from Rakuten rewards strategy to navigating Chase credit card approvals. Plus, hear how the fundamental advice around earning and using points has shifted over the past decade, including why Chase is no longer the automatic starting point and why co-branded cards are more strategically important than ever.

Episode Description Today we’re picking up where we left off last week with Dr. Alison Curfman—and diving into what happens after the flights are booked. Part 1 covered how Alison finds award flights and books hotels for her family of six to eight people when they travel. In Part 2, we’re talking about execution—the systems […]

Discover how Dr. Alison Curfman books international business class flights and hotel stays for her family of eight using points and miles. Learn her exact strategy for finding award availability for large groups, booking multiple hotel rooms strategically, and organizing complex itineraries that actually work.

Discover the most valuable points lessons from 2025—real insights from actual travelers on everything from transfer timing and phantom space to the importance of flexibility, progress over perfection, and actually using the points you’ve earned.

Get a detailed breakdown of everything that shaped points earning in 2025. Learn which credit cards were opened, how points were allocated across ecosystems, what worked, what didn’t, and what’s on the radar for 2026.

Have you ever taken a step back and reviewed your full year in points? In this episode, I invite you to do your own Year in Points Review and explain why a year-end review is worth doing. I walk through what you can learn by looking at how you earned points, how you used them, and how reviewing those details together can help you better understand your overall approach to earning and redeeming points.

Episode Description In this episode, we bid farewell to 2025 with a year-in-review analysis of the biggest news, changes, and trends in rewards, credit cards, and award travel over the last 12 months. This episode is part one of a two-part year-in-review series, and I’m joined by Kelly, the Points and Miles Doc, to break […]