By Lakshmi:

If you’ve read a few of our posts, you know that we are indeed paupers without travel.  But how does one travel without becoming a pauper?

When people hear about our trips, the frequent comment is….oh that’s too expensive.  We can never do it.  And my answer is life is a series of trade offs!

In our household, when it comes to making a choice between a new experience or buying something, we always pick a new experience.   No ifs or buts.

But what really helps us do as much as we do is the points and miles we gain by frequenting the same airline or hotel.   My husband and I also travel for work and typically, our choices are one or two airlines.  And each of us, including our kids have a frequent flyer account.  For those not engaging in this activity to date, there is no cost to join these programs, and the opportunities to earn points and miles without ever leaving your home are endless.  We carry credit cards with the same airlines, racking up miles for every dollar we spend on all things mundane….gas, groceries, you name it, it goes on the card.

Isn’t it really complicated to keep track of who has what points?  Not really.  Websites like awardwallet.com enable you to keep track of all your rewards in one place.

Of course, I am a newbie in this point collection space as compared to the pros who have entire blogs dedicated to the art of earning points and miles.  One of my favorites is flyertalk.com.  On any given day, there are several posts on the most creative ways to fuel the point earning frenzy.  My most amazing discovery was a class of individuals who do mileage runs, for example, taking a flight to Tokyo and returning back without even seeing the city to take advantage of  mileage boosting promotions.

In addition to providing you with twitter feeds on the latest deals we spot, we will dedicate a section called Points and Miles to feature the earning opportunities we learn about.

We hope you find our own tips for navigating this landscape helpful and we look forward to hearing your tips for making travel a priority in your lives!