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We started with a Costco Citi Card because it had travel insurance. When they dropped that benefit, we went looking for a replacement and landed on the Chase Sapphire Preferred. At first the $95 annual fee felt weird — now it feels like one of the best $95 we spend all year.

Now most of our hotel stays and a good chunk of our flights are covered by points. We didn’t change how we spend — we just changed which card we put everyday spending on.

The basic move is cashing out points directly — simple and decent value. But the real leverage comes from transferring points to airline and hotel partners. That’s where a point can go from being worth 1 cent to 3–5 cents depending on the redemption.

It sounds complicated but you don’t need to master it overnight. Start with the Sapphire Preferred, learn the basics, and go from there. The resource that helped us most is Max Miles Points on YouTube — practical, up to date, and easy to follow.