The Path to Becoming an Expert in Points & Miles with Devon Gimbel

All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins

Chris Hutchins

Business, Education, Investing, Society & Culture, Places & Travel, Self-improvement

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#227: An actionable 4-step framework to master points and miles while maximizing personal value. We cover high-yield earning strategies like paying processing fees, bulk ordering, and leveraging business expenses, plus tactics for scaling award travel for multiple people. We also explore alternate pathways to earn and redeem points without chasing “perfection.” Devon Gimbel is the founder of Point Me to First Class, an educational platform and podcast that teaches people to maximize their spending for extraordinary travel rewards. She is also a double-board certified physician. Link to Full Show Notes: https://chrishutchins.com/rethinking-points-and-miles-devon-gimbel Partner Deals DeleteMe: 20% off removing your personal info from the web Upwork: Free job posting to find, hire, and pay top freelance talent NetSuite: Free KPI checklist to upgrade your business performance Bilt Rewards: Earn the most valuable points when you pay rent Green Chef: 50% off your first meal kit with code 50ALLTHEHACKS For all the deals, discounts and promo codes from our partners, go to: chrishutchins.com/ Resources Mentioned Devon: Point Me To First Class | Podcast | Instagram Free Starter Guide to Points Dunning Kruger Curve Payment Platforms Plastiq Melio Zil Money (Coupon Code: ATH300) Venmo Business Airlines with Great Award Availability Emirates Condor Singapore Airlines Rakuten: $40 bonus here Savewise: 20% off with ALLTHEHACKS20 ATH Podcast Ep #166: Best Award Search Tools for Booking Flights with Points & Miles with Greg the Frequent Miler Leave a review: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Email for questions, hacks, deals, and feedback: [email protected] Full Show Notes (00:00) Introduction (02:31) Devon's Non-Traditional Approach to the Points & Miles Game (05:38) Stage 1: Peak of Mount Ignorance (08:18) Stage 2: Valley of Despair (09:41) Stage 3: Slope of Enlightenment (13:06) One of the Biggest Mistakes People Make in the Points & Miles World (14:47) Lessons from Chris' Skiing Experience (21:03) Stage 4: Unconscious Competence (23:48) Why the Learning Curve Never Stops (27:08) Identifying High Yield Opportunities for Yourself (29:54) How to Evaluate If Credit Card Fees Are Worth It (38:43) The Importance of Understanding Earning Rates (40:26) Ways to Leverage Business Expenses (43:43) Maximizing Award Travel When Booking for Multiple People (48:16) Airlines That Have Good Award Availability (Fifth Freedom Flights) (55:00) Why You Should Practice Looking for Award Deals (58:11) Rakuten Bulk Ordering to Earn Flexible Points (1:01:37) Setting Alerts for Deals (1:03:49) Alternate Pathways to Earn and Redeem Points (1:09:12) Using a Venmo Business Profile to Make Payments (1:10:13) Where to Find Devon Connect with Chris Newsletter | Membership | X | Instagram | LinkedIn Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if the way you've been thinking about points and miles is the very thing holding you back?
0:06.9	Today I'm talking to Devin Gimble, who has a perspective that as soon as I heard it, I knew I needed to have her on the show.
0:12.7	So we're going to break down her four-step framework for points and miles.
0:16.0	We'll explore some tactical ways to overcome analysis paralysis,
0:19.8	and why using points for maximum personal value
0:22.6	beats trying to optimize the wrong things. We'll also cover a few new tactics for accumulating
0:28.4	points, scaling point strategies for families, and a lot more. The best part about this
0:33.5	conversation is that I think it will be just as valuable to someone early in their points journey or a little bit further along feeling stuck as it is to someone who's as far
0:42.0	down the rabbit hole as I am. Speaking to me, I'm Chris Hutchins. And if you enjoy this episode,
0:47.1	please share it with a friend or leave a comment or review. And if you want to keep upgrading
0:51.1	your life, money, and travel, click follow or subscribe.
0:56.8	Now let's get into it right after this.
1:05.7	The latest report from the FTC showed that in 2023, $10 billion was lost to consumer fraud, and $2.7 billion of that was lost to imposter scams, which had over 850,000 reports last year.
1:14.0	So what do you do about it?
1:15.3	Well, first off, just learning more about the tactics these scammers use can help you know
1:19.8	what to look out for.
1:21.1	But a big way I try to keep our family protected is to make sure all our personal info is
1:26.2	removed from as many data broker websites as possible,
1:29.4	so we're less of an enticing target. You'd be shocked at how many sites out there are sharing your
1:34.5	address, phone number, birthday, email, and more. Fortunately, you can get these data brokers to
1:39.7	remove your info. But unfortunately, the process takes hours and hours to do yourself. I know because I
1:46.0	tried to contact them and only after spending 10 hours did I give up and start using Delete Me,
	...

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