September 1, 2025
When to Book Travel Through Your Credit Card Portal: 5 Reasons It Can Pay Off
Episode Description
Think booking through your credit card travel portal is always a mistake? Not so fast.
Last week, I shared five reasons why you’ll want to avoid making travel bookings through your credit card portal. But that’s not the whole story. There are also situations where using your card’s travel portal can be the smarter move.
In this episode, I’m breaking down the five most compelling reasons to consider booking flights, hotels, or car rentals through your credit card’s portal — from points-earning opportunities to unlocking annual credits and even finding better award pricing than transfer partners. I’ll share the key tradeoffs, what this means for real-world bookings, and my own approach to when portal bookings actually make sense in my travel strategy.
Turn your expenses into points and save tens of thousands of dollars a year on your wishlist travel. Don’t miss out! Click here to know more about my comprehensive online program, Points Made Easy. Enrollment opens on September 20, 2025 to September 27, 2025.
Want to know what’s really possible with your points? Don’t just take it from me—hear from members who’ve used Points Made Easy to completely change the way they travel. From business class flights to dream vacations, their results speak for themselves. Watch their stories here.
What You’ll Learn from this Episode
- Why cash bookings can earn outsized points through travel portals
- How annual credits sometimes require you to book through a portal
- When flights and hotels can cost fewer points booked through portals than with transfer partners
- Why portals sometimes offer broader access and inventory than loyalty programs
- The one reason booking through a travel portal is often the simplest and fastest option
- How I personally decide if portal bookings fit into my points strategy
Featured on the Show:
- Get on the waitlist for the Points Made Easy Course here!
- If you have any questions or you want me to dive deeper into a specific topic, email me here: podcast@pointmetofirstclass.com
- Episode 130: 5 Reasons to Avoid Credit Card Travel Portals
Click here to download full episode transcript
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Point Me to First Class is the show for professionals and business owners with higher-than-average personal or business expenses, who want to learn to leverage these expenses into credit card points they can spend on travel.
Each week, I share valuable tips, tools, and strategies to help you uplevel your skills earning and redeeming credit card points, so you can expand your travel and expand your experiences.
