by Lisa Mays | Oct 26, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
Food is one of the easiest ways to earn travel rewards, because you’re already paying for it every week. Restaurants and groceries add up fast, and the right rewards setup turns that spending into points you can use on flights and hotels. Here’s how it...
by Lisa Mays | Aug 24, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
I get asked constantly how I actually find award flights, because staring at an airline’s award chart and hoping for the best is not a strategy. For years I bounced between a handful of tools, checking each one manually, comparing screenshots, losing time...
by Lisa Mays | Jul 2, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
Most travelers know about airline miles, hotel points, and travel rewards. But one tool that’s often overlooked is the online shopping portal. Before I started using Rakuten, I didn’t realize you could earn cash back on purchases you were already planning...
by Lisa Mays | Jul 2, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
Travel is one of those things many of us look forward to all year. Whether it’s a weekend getaway, a family vacation, or an international adventure, the excitement of planning a trip can quickly be followed by a reality check when the costs start adding up....
by Lisa Mays | Jul 2, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
If you’ve ever spent an evening jumping between airline websites trying to find an award flight, you’re not alone. I’ve done it myself. Search one airline, check another, change the dates, try a different airport, and somehow still come up...
by Cherry | Senior Travel Editor, The Miles Academy | Jan 21, 2026 | Maximizing Points and Miles
Most of us have a weird relationship with points. We want more of them, we swear we will optimize “later,” and then we discover a setting we should have turned on months ago. When that happens, we recommend one mindset shift: celebrate the new stream you just unlocked...
