As I said in my last post, I’ll be travelling to the UK during Carnival and will be there for 3 weeks. This trip wasn’t in my plans, especially considering my husband and I were there just 6 months ago. But in the current circumstances, we need to go.
We would have liked to go in the end of the year, but tickets were pricey then. So I researched the next cheapest dates and, as it has been in the past few years, Carnival was the best option. Tickets are cheaper paying in cash or in points/miles. So I managed to issue tickets for two people for 136.000 Multiplus points + R$ 1294 (duties and taxes). And those are all direct flights GRU-LHR-GRU.
I’ve seen a lot of people saying it’s no good in accumulating points and miles because you can never actually use them, you always need way too many points, they expire too fast. But for years now I have travelled to Europe issuing the ticket of one passenger solely with points. This time I’m even issuing all the tickets like that! So, yes, it is possible!
But to be able to accumulate enough points/miles to issue one ticket per year, about 75000 points to Europe, you need some discipline. Here are some tips to get there:
✈️ Choose one main program to accumulate points in. I am registered with Multiplus (Latam), Smiles (Gol), Amigo (Avianca), Milemiglia (Alitalia) etc., but I concentrate my points in Multiplus. That means whenever given the chance to transfer points to different airline programs, I choose Multiplus. That way I can accumulate points in this program faster (Multiplus uses the term points instead of miles because you can exchange them for various items, not just flights).
✈️ Fly preferably with the ‘mother’ airline of the program, or the airlines that are part of the same alliance. I chose Multiplus because Latam operates the main destinations I fly to, in Brazil and abroad. So, it is my usual airline of choice. While working I used other airlines as well, of course. And that’s why I am registered with other programs – except Alitalia’s, which I used while on holiday when I went to Italy after a few weeks in the UK some years ago and their price was much lower than everyone else’s. If I can’t fly Latam, be it because of the cost or because it doesn’t match my needs regarding dates, destination etc., then I try to use other Oneworld members nowadays. Before Latam changed to Oneworld, I used to fly United a lot, which is part of StarAlliance (Latam’s former alliance). You usually get the same amount of points by flying another member of the alliance.
✈️ Try to get a credit card that gives you points in the program you chose. I have three cards issued by Itaú and one by Nubank. Nubank’s reward program is different – you ‘erase’ purchases from your bill with the points you accumulate. Itaú allows you to transfer points to various programs. One of my cards from Itaú is a Latam Itaucard. It’s old, it seems they don’t even issue it anymore. It’s been replaced by a Multiplus Itaucard. But both have points transferred automatically to Multiplus every month. The other ones accumulate points in Sempre Presente – Itaú’s own program – which allows the transference to Multiplus.
✈️ Concentrate your expenses on the card that gives you the most points. Since I got an Itaú Personnalité Mastercard Black card, which accumulates more points per USD, I pay everything with it. I haven’t used other cards in months. Had I been charged annual fees, they would all have been cancelled by now. But since I don’t pay anything for them, I keep them in case of an emergency.
✈️ Leave your chequebook and debit card home. A lot of people are afraid of using credit cards, but they are actually good to control your expenses. If you have the discipline of checking your statement regularly, you won’t get surprised once the bill comes. And there’s the advantage of leaving your money in the bank during the whole month, building up interest, and then paying everything in one single bill. If your credit card gives you points for paying bills, do that as well. For a long time, I used to pay rent with my credit card. The duties and interest were charged only on the days from the day of the expense to the date of paying the bill, so I used to pay rent one day and then make an advance payment of the credit card the next. But Itaú has changed it since and no longer gives points for those expenses, so it’s not worth it anymore. You should check if your credit card allows it or not.
✈️ Hire the points accelerator. Yes, it’s a small extra fee per month. But if the benefit is high, it’s well worth it. In Itaú, for instance, the accelerator costs 4% of the bill, but gives more than double the points – 5 points/USD for Mastercard Black, while you’d normally get only 2.
✈️ Check if the companies you do business with have a partnership with the program you chose. If you’re online shopping, check if you can get points for that purchase. Also check telephone companies, cable TV etc. I was surprised to find out that Vivo had a loyalty program whose points could also be transferred to Multiplus. Thanks to those points, I was able to issue all the tickets to London for free.
Well, I believe with these tips you should be able to start building up points more seriously and take advantage of the benefits. My last tip is: don’t let your points expire. If they are about to and you don’t need them to travel and don’t know anyone else who might need them, then use them to get something else. That’s how I got my Nespresso coffee machine, for instance.
Now all you need is to be disciplined and not waste opportunities. Accumulate the points and enjoy your trips!
