It's All JD's Fault! Chris' story of addiction to points and miles

For JD it was getting stood up for dinner that got him into the points game.

(As a side note...if I was one of the ones that stood you up JD, I am sorry. Well...not really because you found this hobby, but you know what I mean.) 

In my case, it was all JD's fault! Once JD was hooked I kept seeing him come to Happy Hour and dinner with a new credit card to use. I kept wondering...what is this guy doing?!?! 

When he plopped his new Chase Sapphire down (and if you have the Sapphire, you know it's a plop sound) I finally had to ask, "Why do you have so many cards, and what are you doing!?!" JD went on to explain that he had started collecting airline miles and hotel points so that he could travel more. I was intrigued, but I was convinced that all of those credit cards was destroying his credit, so I simply wished him the best of luck and would give him a hard time anytime he pulled out a new card. 

But, a few months later I was in slogging away at grad school and I saw JD take his first trip on points and miles (more on that in a future post). I knew that he was on to something, and as a poor grad student, I knew this was something that I needed to look into. I finally sucked up my pride and asked him how I could get started reading about points and miles. He sent me over a list of blogs that he regularly read, with a healthy dose of teasing me about not being interested in the past, and sent me on my way. 

Well, much like JD on his first night discovering the miles and points community, I was hooked. I quickly read post after post after post after post on all of the blogs until I was four months back into the archives. I knew that this was a hobby that I had to adopt to travel the way that I never thought I could.

In retrospect, the miles and points game actually helped me in a big way. Before I started collecting miles and points I had a minimal knowledge of my credit. I always used my debit card and would only use my credit card when I was buying place tickets to visit my parents. When I would use that credit card, I would carry a balance and take on interest charges. In a weird way...miles and points taught me how to take control of my credit and use it to my advantage! 

Now here I am, addicted to points and miles and about to set off on my second free trip in October. What an amazing hobby I stumbled into. :)