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“Nothing Surprises You More Than Waking up to Find 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points in Your Account!”

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    Welcome to the next installment of our interview series where folks share their thoughts about Big Travel with Small Money!

    Miles & Points Interview:  Pointimize

    Keith created Pointimize to help readers and travelers search for available awards and cash prices for hotels and flights.

    Check out the Pointimize search engine, and follow them on Twitter and Instagram!

    I Love Taking a Drone With Me When Traveling. It Explores Views From New Heights

    How and when did you start collecting miles and points?

    I started when I was studying in Japan.  I was excited to see a SMBC ANA credit card offering 20,000 ANA miles.  I used that bonus for my first award ticket – a coach flight from Tokyo to…I literally can’t remember where.

    Why did you start your website?  What’s special about it?

    The short version is, I want to make miles & points accessible to everyone.

    The long story is, I started blogging about points and credit cards while I was studying in the US.  And folks just weren’t that interested.  Not because miles & points are not lucrative enough, but because it can be complicated to understand.

    As a computer science major, I wanted to come up with something to lower the entry barrier for newbies.  So I created the website with 2 other friends.

    What’s great about Pointimize is it helps folks find deals.  And beginners can easily get the whole picture with our new interface.

    My Job Was to Drive the Train to Take People to the Peak of Schilthorn! Just Kidding, the Driver Was on the Other Side

    What’s the one single thing people can do to get more miles?

    Educate yourself by subscribing to Million Mile Secrets, AwardTravel.com, and Pointimize.

    What’s your most memorable travel experience?

    Definitely the first time using my Hilton free night certificate at the Conrad Koh Samui.  I had done zero research and didn’t realize it was that pricey until I arrived.  So I ended up eating instant noodles during my stay.

    What do your family and friends think of your miles & points hobby?

    They all think I won the lottery, but their story doesn’t make sense with me eating instant noodles while staying at the Conrad Koh Samui. 🙂

    I Met Tim From “Points to Be Made” at the Web Summit 2017 in Lisbon

    Is there any tool or trick which you’ve found especially useful in this hobby?

    Pointimize and ITA Matrix are my Bibles for finding incredible deals.  I never get tired of spotting airline ticket loopholes with Pointimize.

    What was the least expected way you’ve earned miles or points?

    Nothing surprises you more than waking up to find 80,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points in your account!  When Chase discontinued the Fairmont credit card and replaced it with the Chase Sapphire Preferred, all my Fairmont points were converted to Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

    I Am Always Working

    What do you now know about collecting miles and points which you wish you knew when you started out?

    I wish I knew about the unofficial deadline extension some banks have for earning the sign-up bonus.

    What would your users be surprised to know about you?

    I let 90,000 United Airlines miles expire – tragic.

    Any parting words?

    Thanks for having me here.  The interview got me to look back at some of the worst failures of my miles and points career. 🙂

    Tech Crunch 2017 Was a Big Milestone for Pointimize

    But seriously though, my team and I have been working around the clock for some exciting new projects for y’all!  And hopefully, next time when you hear about Pointimize and AwardTravel, you will be benefiting from our whole new product!

    Keith – Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Big Travel with Small Money!

    If you’d like to be considered for our interview series, please send me a note!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)