Now Is The Time To Get Organized: Take Your Miles & Points Game To The Next Level

Get Organized and Make Things Easier on Yourself

Current events have involuntarily slowed to a crawl so much in our hobby.  We have been forced to adjust our earning, booking, and travel habits.  Back when things were “normal”, I spent most of my time on these aspects of the hobby.  Recordkeeping and organizing were activities that I usually saved for a “rainy day” which never came.  Quite simply, these activities are not as fun as earning, booking, and traveling.  While we are in travel hibernation, why not make an effort to clean things up?  Let’s step through a few simple tasks to get organized which can make so much else in this hobby easier.

Know Your Points and Miles Expirations

The first way I recommend to get organized is to create a loyalty accounts spreadsheet itemizing all of your points and miles currencies.  I group by point type (bank point, hotel point, airline miles) and have separate columns listing the following info:

• Point/Mile Currency Name
• Point/Mile Balance
• Expiration Date
• Last Activity
• Expiration Policy
• Activity Options

In the Activity Options column, I list the simplest options which are considered as account activities to push out the expiration date.  Within the same spreadsheet file, I have two worksheets: one for my accounts, and one for my wife’s accounts.

A variety of websites and apps exist which aggregate some of this points and miles information.  If those work for you, great!  I prefer to do everything myself, as it keeps me more engaged in the hobby.  I’m also able to customize a bit more by taking on these tasks myself.

Keeping Track of Credit Card Applications

I also recommend tracking all of your credit card applications in a spreadsheet.  Ensure to list each card you applied for, even if you were declined.  I maintain columns holding the following info:

• Card Name
• Application Date
• Account Closure Date
• Welcome Bonus Terms
• Notes

Many in this hobby have a lot more items they keep track of in their spreadsheet, and I bet for good reason.  For me, I’ve found keeping track of the above items is a good balance of depth and simplicity.  The Notes column is a great catch-all for other unique aspects of any given card application.  For instance, I keep track of card product change info here.  Also, on the infrequent occasion I’ve been declined for a card, I list the reasoning the bank provided here.  Additionally, I track all annual card benefits here, such as Amex Platinum airline credits and Hilton Aspire resort credits.

I also group personal and business cards separately in this spreadsheet, as that gives me a quicker picture of application activity level based on card type.  Similar to the loyalty accounts spreadsheet, this spreadsheet has separate worksheets for me and my spouse.

What To Do with All That Paper

Along with this hobby comes lots of snail mail.  And lots of paper.  While I can appreciate the simplicity of shredding or trashing all papers that come with new cards, I can’t bring myself to do so.  While much of this credit card information can be found online, I’m the type who likes to have certain information at my fingertips and without an internet connection required.  For instance, I keep paper copies of new account terms and the card brochures itemizing point earning structure and card benefits.

To control this paper beast, I use a couple three-ring binders.  I thought my days of those were completed in high school, but alas, no.  Both 1-inch and 2-inch binders have worked for me.  More importantly, the sheet inserts are vital.  I’ve found these Avery binder pocket dividers work great, but there are plenty of options out there.  Within each divider, I store the vital credit card paperwork and the actual credit card itself (when I’m not actively using it).

For those of you who are minimalists who get rid of all credit card paperwork, I have seen that plastic sheets for baseball cards work great to store credit cards.  As a former baseball card collector, I think that storage solution looks pretty cool.

Bank Account Bonuses

Similar to credit card applications, I have a separate spreadsheet to track bank account bonus activities.  I keep track of the following:

• Bank Account Name
• Account Type
• Account Number
• Date Opened
• Date Closed
• Bonus Terms

Admittedly, I’m spending more time keeping track of bank account bonus information lately.  I’ll be diving further into my bank account bonus adventures in a separate article.

Get Organized by Getting Rid of Stuff

When you close accounts, shred account paperwork and throw out the old stuff!  This may sound obvious, but I need to remind myself about it all the time.  As I type this, I’m looking at a Southwest Companion Pass card from five years ago.  I also recently found my AirTran A+ Rewards card.  All of this stuff is useless and can just distract you from the active cards, documents, and information that matter.  I justify hoarding points and miles because they are usually just numbers on a computer screen.  When points and miles turn into paper form, that’s where things can get out of control.

Conclusion

I want to highlight that the above is not an all-inclusive list, and I customize my organization for my own situation.  In my opinion, the esoteric parts of this hobby are intriguing and must be appreciated.  Likewise, no one organization solution is perfect for everyone.  What organization strategies have worked best for you?

Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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