Want some advice? I’ve decided to offer two amazing services through this blog: POINTS PALS and CHURN CHUMS.
POINTS PALS
This idea came about when a reader emailed me asking for an opinion on a flight she was trying to book. I spent a half hour looking into various options because for some reason this is fun for me, and that’s when it hit me that I should have my own award booking service.
But what’s a pitch without a bulleted list of reasons why you should use my service? With that in mind, here’s what makes Points Pals different from all the other guys:
- The name is ridiculous. You could go with PointsPros, or BookYourAward.com, but wouldn’t you rather just be pals? I certainly would.
- I don’t know what I’m doing. Because my knowledge of the points world is limited to the type of awards I usually research for myself, I don’t really know anything about obscure sweet spots or routing rules, but god dammit I intend to find out.
- The swearing. You know the other guys aren’t going to tell you that it’s “fucking bullshit” that American Airlines doesn’t have any availability or that British Airways wants $750 in fuel surcharges to fly from London to Paris, but that’s exactly what it is. One of the key “Points Pals” promises (KPPPs, for short) is that I will probably find something to swear about when responding to your request.
In sum, there are tons of knowledgeable, professional, and expertise-laden services that you can go to, but part of the allure of international travel is that you don’t know what you’re going to get. And why shouldn’t that extend to the award booking service you use for your flights? That’s where Points Pals comes in – unqualified advice from a weirdo with no experience.
If you’d like to avail yourself of the full Points Pals experience, get in touch via the form below. I currently charge $0.00 for your first ticket and $0.00 for any additional passengers. Also, I won’t actually book the award for you, since I don’t know how to do that. I will tell you what to do, though, and I’ll take it personally if you don’t take my advice. After all, I thought we were PALS!
CHURN CHUMS
I mentioned Points Pals on the blog a couple weeks ago, but then I realized that I could offer my sage advice on the other half of the equation – the credit cards you use to earn the points in the first place. Enter Churn Chums, which is my new advisory service for credit cards. This is actually something I’m really knowledgeable about, so tongue-in-cheekedness aside, if you’re wondering about what card to get started with or just the next card to target in your churning strategy, I can probably offer some decent advice.
The best part is that, just like Points Pals, I’m not charging for any of this. The only compensation I’ll ask for is that you use my referral link for a particular card, but only if I happen to have a referral link to that card, and then only if the bonus through the referral link is the highest publicly available bonus. I promise I won’t shy away from recommending cards I don’t personally have, and since I don’t have any commercial relationships with any banks, my advice won’t be influenced by anything except my own opinions. (Also keep in mind that referral links aren’t the same as affiliate links; I won’t earn any money if you use a referral link, just some bonus points.)
If you’re interested in advice on credit cards or award booking, just get in touch using the form below! Thanks pal (or chum).
Windbag Miles 