Why the holiday season is the best time to start earning points and miles
As the holiday season approaches, there’s no better time to dive into the world of earning points and miles, particularly for those who enjoy traveling or are planning future trips. The Points Guy (TPG) emphasizes that holiday spending can be strategically utilized to accumulate significant rewards that can be redeemed for flights and hotel stays, making travel more affordable. With many individuals spending a substantial portion of their annual budget on holiday-related expenses such as travel, gifts, and food, this season presents a prime opportunity to kickstart your journey into the rewarding realm of travel points.
One of the easiest ways to accumulate points is through welcome bonuses offered by rewards credit cards. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 within the first three months, while the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card provides a similar bonus for a slightly lower spending threshold. These bonuses can translate into substantial value, often exceeding $1,000, depending on how the points are redeemed. TPG suggests that to maximize these rewards, cardholders should consider transferring points to airline and hotel partners, as this can unlock even greater value for travel. Additionally, using the right card for holiday shopping can significantly enhance rewards. For example, the Chase Freedom Flex® allows users to earn 5 points per dollar spent at select retailers during the holiday season, which can add up quickly.
Beyond welcome bonuses, savvy shoppers can further amplify their rewards by taking advantage of shopping portals and issuer offers. Major credit card companies like American Express and Chase frequently provide targeted offers that allow cardholders to earn extra points or cash back when shopping with specific merchants. Coupled with platforms like Rakuten, which enables users to earn rewards even when shopping at non-affiliated stores, the potential to accumulate points is substantial. For instance, a recent Black Friday purchase through Rakuten netted one shopper an impressive 30,000 Membership Rewards points, enough for several domestic flights. With the right approach, holiday spending can transform into an exciting opportunity to earn travel rewards, paving the way for dream vacations in the future. This holiday season, consider leveraging your expenses to unlock the world of travel rewards, making your next getaway not only possible but also economical.
If you like traveling or want to plan a trip in the future, I can’t emphasize enough how much you should care about
earning points and miles
. It’s a great way to travel for less since you can
redeem the rewards
you earn for flights and hotel stays.
Here at TPG, we’ve used points and miles to reach dream destinations, cover
last-minute travel plans
and make it easier to visit friends and family.
The holidays are a great time to take your first steps into earning points and miles. Many people spend a lot of their annual budget on holiday travel, gifts, food and decorations. These expenses are a great way to get a jump-start on earning lots of rewards.
If all of that sounds intriguing to you, let’s get into the ways that your holiday expenses can help you unlock great travel opportunities.
Earning a welcome bonus
Rewards credit cards
almost always extend a
welcome offer
to new cardholders. These welcome offers are the best and easiest way to earn a huge stash of points or miles. Most cards require that you meet a certain spend threshold in order to earn the welcome bonus.
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Your holiday spending can cover a large portion of a card’s
spending requirement
or even get you to the finish line. Some great welcome offers that you might be able to earn with the help of end-of-year purchases include:
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
(see
rates and fees
): Earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Citi Strata Premier® Card
(see
rates and fees
): Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
Chase Freedom Flex®
(see
rates and fees
): Earn a bonus $200 cash back after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.*
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
(see
rates and fees
): Earn a bonus $200 cash back after spending $500 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.*
*Rewards are earned as Chase Ultimate Rewards points, despite being marketed as cash back.
What are these welcome bonuses actually worth?
One of my favorite things about points and miles is that their value fluctuates depending on what you redeem them for. If you want to hunt for extremely high-value redemptions that are impossible to afford with just cash, you can. Or, if you’d rather use your rewards for simple redemptions that get you where you want or need to be, that works, too.
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In order to maximize the value of your points and miles, we recommend
transferring them
to your card’s airline and hotel transfer partners. Each month, TPG releases valuations for every issuer’s rewards currency. If you’re curious about the value of the rewards you’ll earn with the above welcome bonuses, check out our
valuations page
.
With the exception of the two Freedom cards, all the welcome offers mentioned will net you at least $1,000 in value, based on our November 2025 valuations.
The right bonus categories can earn you a lot of rewards
When it’s time to head to the grocery store for Christmas dinner or to open your wallet for holiday gifts, you want to have the right card in hand to pay with. Rewards cards generally come with bonus categories that earn multiple points or miles per dollar spent.
If you have a credit card with a bonus category that covers an aspect of your holiday shopping, make sure to use it. Cards with bonus categories for
groceries
,
online shopping
or specific merchants are your best bet.
As an example,
through Dec. 31
, you can earn 5 points per dollar spent at Old Navy and department stores with the
Chase Freedom Flex
. Starting in December, you can also earn 5 points per dollar spent when paying with PayPal with this card (on up to $1,500 in spending each quarter; activation required).
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If you strategically plan your holiday shopping to max out that $1,500 in spending, you’d earn 7,500 bonus
Chase Ultimate Rewards
points, which is worth about $154, according to our November 2025 valuations. The Freedom Flex is a
favorite card of mine
because of how powerful its quarterly categories can be.
If you’re shopping with a merchant that isn’t covered by any of your cards’ bonus categories, use a card that earns more than 1 point or mile per dollar spent on
general purchases
.
A couple of great examples include the
Chase Freedom Unlimited
and the
Capital One Venture Rewards
. The Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5 points per dollar spent on all nonbonus spending, while the Venture Rewards earns 2 miles per dollar spent on all purchases.
Shopping portals and issuer offers can earn you even more
Major issuers like
American Express
,
Chase
and
Capital One
extend offers to existing cardholders. These offers generally give cardholders the opportunity to earn bonus cash back, points or miles in exchange for spending with a specific merchant.
During the holiday season, it’s important to check your card often for these opportunities. Offers can vary per card, and some issuers may target a cardholder with a specific offer, so you should always monitor them yourself.
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These offers can be combined with deals from shopping portals like
Rakuten
. Rakuten is a favorite of mine since I can
earn American Express Membership Rewards points
through it, even if I’m not paying with an Amex card. Of course, you can’t earn Membership Rewards points through Rakuten without a
Membership Rewards card
, but it’s a great perk for eligible Amex cardmembers.
Last year, I purchased a new LG TV during Black Friday through Rakuten. Thanks to that decision, I earned an additional
30,000 Membership Rewards points
. That’s enough points to cover many round-trip economy flights within the U.S.
If you don’t hold an eligible Amex card, you can also now
earn Bilt Rewards Points through Rakuten
.
Aside from Rakuten, individual card issuers and airlines also offer
online shopping portals
that can help you earn your preferred rewards. Overall, if you have any holiday purchases to make, you could be leaving a huge chunk of rewards on the table by skipping out on issuer offers and shopping portals.
Bottom line
If you haven’t started earning points and miles yet, now’s the time. By putting your holiday expenses on a rewards card or purchasing gifts via online shopping portals, you can earn enough points and miles to redeem for your 2026 vacation.
Using points and miles, many TPG staffers have been able to take dreamworthy trips to everywhere from
underrated wineries in Slovenia
to the
beaches of Hawaii
.
With a little work, you can take these kinds of trips without breaking the bank, too.
Related:
‘This is a marathon, not a sprint’: TPG’s Gen Z staff members share credit card tips
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
