Are You Building, Earning, or Burning Points?

One of the questions I get asked most often is surprisingly simple:

“What travel card should I get?”

The problem is that it’s usually the wrong question.

Before we talk about cards, transfer partners, airline miles, or hotel points, it helps to understand where you are in your points and miles journey.

Because someone who has never earned a single point has very different needs than someone sitting on 300,000 points wondering where to use them.

Over time, I’ve started thinking about points and miles in three phases:

• Building
• Earning
• Burning

And while most people move through them in that order, it’s common to be in more than one phase at the same time.

The Building Phase

This is where most people start.

You’ve probably heard friends talk about points, seen Business Class flights on social media, or come across terms like transfer partners, award travel, and welcome bonuses.

But you don’t really know how any of it works yet.

That’s okay. Everyone starts here.

In the Building Phase, your goal isn’t to maximize anything.

Your goal is simply to learn.

You’re learning:

• What points and miles are
• How travel credit cards work
• What a welcome bonus is
• The difference between cash back and transferable points
• What transfer partners are

If you’re in the Building Phase, your search history probably looks something like:

• What is a transfer partner?
• What is a good travel credit card?
• Why does everyone talk about Chase Sapphire Preferred?
• What are points worth?
• How do people fly Business Class with points?

You’re not trying to maximize anything yet.

You’re trying to figure out whether this hobby is even worth learning.

One thing many beginners don’t realize is that you don’t need a destination in mind yet.

That’s one of the biggest advantages of flexible points.

Whether you start with Chase, American Express, Capital One, or Citi, you’re building options for the future rather than committing to a specific trip today.

The destination can come later.

The foundation comes first.

This is also when many people open their first travel card.

For many readers, that first card may be something like the Chase Sapphire Preferred, which I discussed in my previous post.

But the card itself isn’t the important part.

Understanding the system is.

Interested in getting started? Read: Could the Chase Sapphire Preferred Be the Best Way to Start Earning Travel Points Right Now?

The Building Phase is about curiosity.

Not expertise.

The Earning Phase

Eventually, you earn your first welcome bonus.

Now what?

This is where many people enter the Earning Phase.

At this point, you’ve learned the basics and are trying to accumulate points intentionally.

You’re asking questions like:

• Which card should I use for dining?
• Should I put this expense on a travel card?
• Is it worth opening another card?
• How do I earn points beyond the welcome bonus?

Over time, I’ve noticed there are really two types of earners.

The Passive Earner

The passive earner uses one card and earns points naturally through everyday spending.

They don’t spend much time thinking about categories, transfer bonuses, or maximizing every purchase.

And honestly?

That’s perfectly fine.

The Active Earner

The active earner starts paying closer attention.

They may have multiple cards, time applications around large purchases, or take advantage of transfer bonuses and category spending.

But every active earner started in exactly the same place:

One card.

One welcome bonus.

And one decision to learn a little more.

Before you fall down the rabbit hole of points blogs, award charts, and transfer partners, focus on the card you already have.

Learn how it works and what those points can actually do.

Most importantly, earning points should complement your existing spending habits.

It shouldn’t force you to create new ones or make your life more complicated.

Most people spend far longer in the Earning Phase than either of the other two phases. That’s normal. Points accumulate slowly, travel goals take time, and earning often becomes part of your everyday financial routine.

The Burning Phase

This is my favorite phase. It’s also the phase where points finally become travel.

Ironically, it’s the phase many people struggle with the most. Earning points feels productive. Watching your balances grow feels productive. Spending them? That can feel surprisingly uncomfortable. What if a better redemption appears later? What if you’re not getting maximum value? What if you’re using your points the “wrong” way?

This is where analysis paralysis starts to creep in.

The reality is that points are meant to be used. Airlines change award charts, hotels increase redemption costs, and programs evolve. A stash of points sitting untouched for years is rarely becoming more valuable.

My first redemption wasn’t perfect—and that’s kind of the point.

When I earned my first Chase welcome bonus, I simply used the points to offset the cost of a flight. At the time, I didn’t know there were potentially better ways to use them. I wasn’t thinking about transfer partners or calculating cents per point. I was just excited that points were helping me travel.

And honestly? That’s enough.

A little later, I used a Marriott welcome bonus for a week in London. My goal wasn’t to find the fanciest hotel. My goal was to stay longer.

That led me to a property in Canary Wharf because it required fewer points per night than many hotels in central London. Some points enthusiasts would probably tell me there were better uses for those points. Maybe. But my goal wasn’t maximizing points. It was maximizing time in London.

Every night I reduced the cost of my hotel stay was another night I could spend in one of my favorite cities. And because Canary Wharf was so well connected, I never felt limited by the location.

That trip taught me something I still believe today:

The goal isn’t to maximize every point. The goal is to maximize the experience.

Sometimes that means Business Class. Sometimes that means a luxury hotel. And sometimes it simply means staying an extra few nights somewhere you love.

Eventually, the best redemption is the one you actually take.

Most People Are In More Than One Phase

Most people aren’t exclusively Building, Earning, or Burning.

They’re doing some combination of all three.

You might be:

• Learning about hotel programs for the first time
• Earning points through everyday spending
• Planning an award trip for next spring

These phases aren’t linear.

You can move between them throughout your travel journey.

A traveler who has been redeeming airline miles for years may suddenly find themselves back in the Building Phase when they start learning hotel programs.

Someone who spent years earning points may enter a long Burning Phase while they work through existing balances.

That’s normal.

Where Am I Today?

If I had to estimate, I’m probably:

• 75% Burning
• 25% Earning

I’m currently focused on using points I already have.

Part of that is intentional. I’m trying to keep my expenses lower right now, which naturally limits how many new points I’m earning.

At this stage, I spend more time asking:

“What can these points do for me?”

than:

“How can I earn more?”

A few years ago, the answer would have been the exact opposite.

How To Identify Your Phase

If you’re not sure where you fit, ask yourself one simple question:

What problem am I trying to solve right now?

• If the answer is, “I don’t know how any of this works,” you’re probably Building.
• If the answer is, “I want to earn more points,” you’re probably Earning.
• If the answer is, “I have points but don’t know how to use them,” you’re probably Burning.

And if more than one of those sounds familiar?

Welcome to the club.

Most of us are.

Need Help Figuring Out Your Next Step?

One of the reasons I created this framework is because so many people jump straight to asking which card they should get.

The better question is:

“What phase am I in?”

Once you know that answer, the next steps become much clearer.

If you’d like help identifying your phase, building a points strategy, or planning an upcoming trip, learn more about my Points & Flight Strategy Session.

→ Learn More About the Points & Flight Strategy Session

Final Thoughts

The goal isn’t to stay in one phase forever.

The goal is to understand where you are today.

Once you know that, the next step becomes much easier to identify.

So which phase are you in?

Building?

Earning?

Burning?

Or a little bit of all three?