Point Me To First Class

Are you a business owner, entrepreneur, or employed professional with higher-than-average expenses? Do you ever feel like you have to choose between paying bills or saving for retirement and traveling?  You can actually have both - because your expenses can be turned into currency to help you travel the world. Hi! I’m Devon Gimbel, and over the last 9 years I’ve taught myself all the tips, tricks, and strategies to turn my expenses into credit card points which I’ve used to book incredible trips for myself and my family - and save tens of thousands of dollars doing it, and now, through Point Me to First Class, I want to help you do the same. If you want to learn how to leverage your expenses and turn them into travel, but don’t have time to put the pieces together or have no idea where to start, let me help. I condense 9 years' worth of my own mistakes into something more tangible and actionable so you get to skip the lengthy research and trial and error, and get right to the point where you’re booking trips you never thought would be possible. I believe that travel, whether it's domestic or international, in economy class or first class, is the single most transformative experience we can have and share with others. But travel - even luxury travel - doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg… all thanks to credit card points and miles. Each week I’ll share tips, strategies, and mindset tools to help you uplevel your skills and abilities in managing credit card points so that you can travel more, travel better, and travel often. It’s time that your expenses start working for you - and this will be the place where you can find a streamlined, focused way to accelerate your ability to use your expenses to get a ton of credit card points and maximize their value.  Traveling with points doesn’t have to be confusing or complicated - but it can change your life. So if you’re ready to start traveling using points but don’t know where to start, let me show you how.  I look forward to seeing you in the next episode!

Discover how you can start having first-class travel experiences without the first-class price tag. I share why I’m so passionate about the opportunity to use credit card points for travel, and I’m showing you how to leverage your most important untapped asset, your expenses, to satisfy your wanderlust without compromising your savings and investments for your future.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/new-way-think-expenses 

Discover the five most common mistakes people make when they enter the world of credit card points and reward travel, and how you can avoid all of them. I’m sharing how you might be leaving points on the table, costing yourself an astronomical amount in interest, and some places you can utilize and leverage your rewards credit cards that might surprise you.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/avoid-credit-card-points-mistakes

Understand what contributes to your credit score, the short-term and long-term impact that applying for new credit cards has on your score, and how to protect your credit score while continuing to get more rewards credit cards.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/truth-rewards-cards-credit-score

Discover a framework that will help you evaluate your own personal situation to accurately determine whether cash-back credit cards or rewards credit cards are the best way for you to leverage your expenses. Over the next two episodes, I’m walking you through how I think about comparing the potential returns of cash-back credit cards and points-earning credit cards, so you can make the decision that gives you the biggest bang for your buck.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/rewards-cash-back-credit-cards

Is hanging on to these store-specific credit cards and using them despite not earning points and miles from these purchases a good idea?   In part two of my rewards vs. cash-back credit cards showdown, I help you decide whether you could be further ahead by using store-specific cash-back credit cards for certain purchases, or if you’d be better off using your rewards cards for the same purchases.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/rewards-cash-back-credit-cards-2  

If you’re a high-earning professional or a self-employed business owner, your tax expenses represent an enormous points-earning opportunity that you may not even be aware of. So, tune in this week to start evaluating whether this doing so is the right decision for you, the fees involved, and the potential payoffs in the form of credit card points. Be sure to come back next week for part two, where I’ll be sharing the specific cards that will allow you to maximize your rewards.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/paying-taxes-credit-card  

In the second part of the Paying Your Taxes by Credit Card series, I’m sharing everything you need to know about which credit cards are best for paying taxes, how to leverage and maximize the points you can earn, and what you need to keep in mind when choosing which card or cards you want to use to pay them.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/paying-taxes-credit-card-2  

I’m joined by Dr. Payal Patel Ghayal, an amazing physician who’s here to share her story of points travel with all of us today. Discover the mindset side of points travel and what stops high-achieving professionals from getting started on their points travel journey. Payal is sharing her experience as a Woman of Color sitting in the front of the plane, the fun and play involved with points travel, the value of picking one place to start, and her advice for anyone else thinking about starting their points travel journey.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/points-travel-dr-payal-patel-ghayal   Get on the waitlist for my online course, Points Made Easy, here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

I’m joined by Kelly, a surgeon and points enthusiast based in Los Angeles, California. At work, she serves as a division director for her surgical field while working on projects regarding sustainability in healthcare. On the side, she loves promoting intentional reward travel to prevent burnout among medical professionals, which I think is an incredible mission.   Discover why rewards travel offers a unique opportunity for physicians who want to travel more. Kelly and I are discussing the travel experiences she’s been able to take that wouldn’t have been possible without points, how reward points free up money to spend in a sustainable way, and Kelly’s tips for leveraging your expenses as a medical professional so you can have more luxurious travel experiences.   Get full show notes and more information here: www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/points-miles-physician   Get on the waitlist for my online course, Points Made Easy, here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

There are some amazing sign-up bonus offer on the market right now. Even if you utilize several different methods of earning points for your expenses, new card sign-up bonuses are still the easiest way to earn lots of points quickly. However, you want to be absolutely sure that when you get approved for a new rewards credit card, you don’t make a mistake that’s going to cost you your sign-up bonus. This week, learn how to avoid common sign-up bonus snafus.   Get full show notes and more information here: www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/sign-up-bonus-snafus   Get on the waitlist for my online course, Points Made Easy, here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

My guest this week, Cherie, is a client in my Points Made Easy program who recently sent me a message saying that she had redeemed points worth $20,000 in travel in just one year. I immediately had so many questions and I knew I needed to get her on the podcast.   Cherie is a pediatrician and the founder of Doctor Moms Lounge, a membership designed to help women physicians take the busywork out of "momming" so they have time for what matters to them most. Discover how she went from having zero points-earning credit cards to redeeming $20,000 worth of rewards travel in just 12 months!   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/redeeming-20000-points   Get on the waitlist for my online course, Points Made Easy, here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

There's a big difference between loving the idea of using points to save thousands of dollars on travel and actually knowing how to earn and redeem points for the travel experiences that matter most to you - listen in on this bonus episode to hear exactly how Points Made Easy can help you bridge that gap and what that has to do with the time Devon got hopelessly lost in the souks in Marrakesh.   To join Points Made Easy before doors close on May 26, visit: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/joinpointsmadeeasy

My guest this week is Dr. Priyanka Venugopal, a physician-turned-coach for high-achieving working moms. Priyanka and I have been working together for a while, and she’s here today to tell us about her first trip with her husband and kids all together to visit their extended family in India. Not only was this trip booked using points, but it was Priyanka’s first-ever first-class flight.   Discover why your points journey doesn’t have to be planned out a certain way. As an entrepreneur, Priyanka didn’t realize how many points she was accumulating. However, when she learned what she was sitting on and how to leverage those points, she was able to book four first-class tickets going halfway around the planet. She just needed to ask for help to make it happen.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/fly-first-class-priyanka-venugopal   Grab your spot inside Points Made Easy: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

You guys have a lot of questions. So, we’re doing something a little bit different this week. Instead of me teaching you about a specific topic within the world of credit card points travel, I’m bringing you a listener Q&A.    I’m talking transfer bonuses, airline-specific cards, business credit cards, and maintaining a good relationship with banks. I’m also providing a framework for understanding the reasoning behind these answers, so you can decide what’s best for you.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/rewards-travel-qa   Grab your spot inside Points Made Easy: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

Julia Menez is a points strategy coach, speaker, and host of the Geobreeze Travel Podcast. Having traveled to more than 30 countries before the age of 30 and saving thousands of dollars using points and miles in the process, Julia has distilled the strategies from top award travelers around the world and shares them with her audience.   Discover some of the amazing things we can learn when we diversify the conversation around points travel and discuss our mistakes along the way. Julia Menez is sharing why your points journey doesn’t have to start out a certain way in order to be successful, her favorite lessons she’s learned from opening up the conversation on her own podcast, and her strategic tips for points travel that everyone can benefit from.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/blog/luxury-travel-strategies-obstacles-mistakes-julia-menez   Grab your spot inside Points Made Easy: https://www.pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy