I earned over a million credit card points and miles during the pandemic — here’s how I’m spending them

Between credit card sign-up bonuses and promos, my family earned enough points for business class flights to South Africa and tons of domestic trips.

The pandemic interrupted a family trip to South Africa, so we’ll pick up where we left off this year using credit card points and miles. Photo: michaeljung/Shutterstock

By Jason Steele

It’s been a long, hard time since the pandemic hit the US in March of 2020. Everyone had their own way of making it through the lockdowns including exercising, cooking, and spending time on Zoom. I did all of those things too, but I also doubled down on my favorite hobby — collecting travel rewards points and miles.

Doing so was my way of reminding myself that the pandemic will eventually pass, while looking forward to the time when normal life would resume and travel would be safe again.

And after an unprecedented drop in demand for travel, credit card issuers created some fantastic incentives to acquire and use their travel rewards credit cards. From March of 2020 until now, I was able to earn at least a million points and miles. Here’s how I did it.

We’re focused here on the rewards and perks that come with each card. These cards won’t be worth it if you’re paying interest or late fees. When using a credit card, it’s important to pay your balance in full each month, make payments on time, and only spend…