How many points can you earn in a month? November 2024
Points Earning Recap for November 2024
The last month has been a whirlwind for flights, redeeming miles, and travel. As of today, November 19, 2024, I just finished New Orleans and Plattsburgh, NY, and will be heading to LAX on Wednesday to then come back to New York before finally heading to Fort Lauderdale for the rescheduled travel conference on Friday.
With my Delta Status, I was able to get a Delta One Upgrade for free from LAX to JFK. It was my first upgrade to Delta One and I was so excited about it.
It feels like now that I have experienced it, it feels like it will be so hard to go back to my normal economy, comfort + or first-class seat. I am really pushing myself to dive deeper in the points world so that I can make that more of a reality for myself.
From mid-October to now, I have been preparing to travel in January. My spending and points transfer reflect me starting to purchase flights.
I transferred and used a lot of points this month to fund future travel so let’s take a look! You can hear me go more in-depth about this month and give some feedback about my strategy for November 2024.
| Reward Program | October 2024 Points | November 2024 Points | How? |
| American Express Membership Rewards | 110,094 | 80,457 | I paid the taxes for my London Flights on this card! I put both my friend’s and I’s taxes here. I also sent points to Delta to book one of my Jamaica Flights. I got my Rakuten Quarterly Bonus of 2,363. |
| Chase Ultimate Rewards | 127,963 | 78,634 | I transferred points to Virgin Atlantic to book two flights to London and flights for my mom, niece, and nephew for Valentine’s Day weekend in New York. I sent points to Jetblue to book one of my flights to Jamaica. |
| Delta Skymiles | 36,457 | 32,940 | I bought a flight to Jamaica for New Year’s. Luckily, a few weeks after buying the flight, it went down, and I got a refund of 13,000 miles. Also, I have taken flights to New Orleans and LA. I did have to transfer points from my American Express Gold to purchase the flight to Jamaica. |
| Bilt Rewards | 11,827 | 13,951 | I paid rent and bought some snacks through the vending machine at my apartment. |
| United Airlines | 5,200 | 7,125 | I took a trip to Colorado to present at a conference. |
| Jet Blue Airways | 15,193 | 35 | I booked one of my flights to Jamaica. |
| American Airlines | 8,606 | 8,613 | I haven’t had any flights on American recently, but I did use Simply Miles to earn 7 miles from an Amazon Package. If you want to learn more about Simply Miles, check this out. |
| Capital One | 26,977 | 29,470 | Normal spending includes insurance, facials, and some travel expenses. |
November Goal Review
I have gotten closer to my goal of earning Gold Medallion on Delta. I am considering upgrading some of my flights to ensure I meet it. I am waiting on credits from Delta Stays and a car rental that I booked through Delta that should help me be only about 100 MQDs away from the goal.
I still need to convert last year’s MQDs which will help me reach the goal as well. Hopefully, in the next update, I will be Gold for 2025!
I realized I could also be earning more Delta SkyMiles, if I book more of my car rentals through them but I typically book directly through Enterprise or Hertz or I book a Turo.
December Goals
For December, my goals are to maximize my points earnings using Rakuten, Credit Card Offers, and shopping portals. With the Holidays coming up, I plan to search for items and ensure I am maximizing my points.
I need to shift my focus from my American Express Delta Platinum Card to my Chase Card because I want to use some of those points to pay for Jamaica and the trip I booked for my mom, niece, and nephew to come for Valentine’s Day weekend. If you are interested in learning how to transfer points from Chase to hotels and airlines, check out this video that shows the step-by-step how to do the booking.
I am considering opening another Chase Business card once I pay off one of them because I want to earn the sign-up bonus. I have some big spending coming up with Sorority Dues, my birthday, travel in January, and probably a trip in February, so this could be a great time to earn a bonus.
I typically open up a new card for taxes so I am thinking about what that plan can look like for me and which cards would work. I am considering American Express Business Gold for taxes.
