This is the Window Seat Points & Loyalty series, a practical look at how points and miles actually work, offering exact breakdowns, templates, and systems to help you secure lie-flat seats and 5-star stays for a fraction of the cost.
Ed. Note: Flights, accommodations, and experiences were provided by American Express. All opinions and recommendations are my own.
Be wary of bringing up credit cards around me. It probably won’t be long before I’m on a soapbox about points valuations, transfer partners, award charts, and redemption strategies. I’ve played this game for a long time, and for years, my brain was focused on one single metric: getting the most financial value out of every point.
But a recent trip to Amsterdam completely changed how I look at my wallet. For all the energy I’d put into pointsmaxing, I’d been looking at my credit card perks like they were random coupons instead of thinking how they could work together. Even more embarrassingly, I already had a card in my wallet that covered nearly every stage of a trip. I’d just never thought about using it that way.
Basically, I’d gotten very good at maximizing my points without necessarily maximizing my card. Because there’s another kind of return I’d barely been accounting for: how much time, money, and general travel misery can it save me? So, I came home with a few new rules. Steal them as you wish.
Rule #1: Start calculating the value of your time, too
The points community is obsessed with spending hours calculating whether a redemption equates to a “good” value. But like anything in life, if you focus too much on a single metric, something else suffers. You might snag a coveted business class seat, but at what cost? A 12-hour layover? A convoluted three-transfer routing? Just to get a fraction of a cent more in theoretical value?
Your time and stress levels are worth factoring into the calculation, too. A card perk that saves you time waiting in line or gives you a comfy place to chill before a long flight is, in my opinion, massively worth it.
Premium lounge access is a perfect example. On my way to Amsterdam, I stopped at the Delta One Lounge at JFK for a full sit-down meal and a shower; on the way home, I stopped into the brand-new Centurion Lounge at Schiphol for coffee and a quiet place to work before boarding. I can’t neatly assign a dollar value to either, but having somewhere to eat, work, shower, or simply reset makes the hours I spend at the airport significantly less painful.
Rule #2: Audit your travel day mishaps
An easy way to figure out what’s missing from your wallet? Think about where your last few travel days went wrong.
Did you take an expensive ride because you don’t have any rideshare credits or transit perks?
Were you stuck in a never-ending security line because none of the cards in your wallet reimburse CLEAR Plus or TSA PreCheck?
Did you end up sitting at a crowded gate because your card network doesn’t have a lounge (or partner lounge) in that terminal?
Were you forced to deliriously wander around after a morning flight because your hotel couldn’t offer early check-in?
That last one is a particular nightmare of mine, and one I managed to avoid in Amsterdam. I landed early in the morning and could check into the Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium immediately, thanks to the Fine Hotels + Resorts early check-in benefit. And the value of those extra hours compounds: yes, you get into your room early, but you also get to reset after an overnight flight so you don’t spend the first day or two of your trip recovering from getting there.
If any of these mishaps sound familiar, first, I’m so sorry. Second, check whether a card you already have solves the problem, and whether you actually activated the benefit. If not, you’ve just found a pretty compelling gap in your wallet.
Rule #3: Don’t forget about experience benefits
Confession: I’ve always scrolled right past the ‘experiences’ section of credit card travel portals because I wrongly assumed they’d be gimmicky. Then in Amsterdam, both a canal cruise and Delft tile-painting workshop (two genuine must-dos!) were booked through GetYourGuide, which I didn’t realize was an Amex partner. I’d even booked a canal cruise on a previous trip (like I said, a must-do) without knowing I could’ve gotten a discount through my card. Multiply that across years of booking activities, and I’ve left a lot of value on the table. And that hurts.
So now, before booking something I’m already planning to do, I’ll be checking my card offers and travel partners first. The key phrase here is already planning to do. Which brings me to the final rule…
Rule #4: A benefit is only valuable if you’d actually use it
Let’s say the quiet part out loud: all of this becomes much more consequential when the cards in question have annual fees pushing nearly $1,000.
I’ve fallen into the trap of making a spreadsheet of every available credit, adding up the ones I’ve used, and finally feeling justified in having the card once that sum surpasses the fee. But a $100 benefit isn’t worth $100 to me if it requires spending money I otherwise wouldn’t have spent. The only math that matters is what a card does for the travel you’re already doing.
Putting my own wallet to the test
After doing this little audit on my own wallet, I realized the card that checks the most boxes for the way I travel is one I’ve carried for years: the Amex Platinum.
Before you say it: yes, it does have one of the steepest annual fees on the market at a whopping $895/year, so it’s completely fair to hesitate and ask if it’s actually worth it. And I’ll be honest with you: if you’re only traveling a few times a year? No, it’s not. But if you’re trying to make travel a major part of your personality, then this is the card I’ll always, always recommend.
It makes the airport substantially less annoying. I already take Ubers to the airport, use CLEAR Plus, and have Global Entry/TSA PreCheck, so these are credits offsetting things I already use vs forcing new spending habits.
The lounge access alone gets a workout in my wallet. The Global Lounge Collection, to me, makes the biggest difference between being able to actually enjoy my time at the airport or not.
FHR is where the math gets a little fuzzier, but arguably more valuable. Sure, I’ll happily take the $100 property credit and free breakfast. But landing in Europe after an overnight flight and getting into my room at noon instead of 3 PM? That’s three hours of my trip I get back. Same goes for guaranteed 4 PM checkout when my flight home isn’t until that night.
You know I live and die by my spreadsheets, but the Amex Platinum isn’t worth $895 to me because I’ve managed to add up enough credits to make the math check out. It’s worth it because the benefits make the travel I’m already doing better. Turns out that’s something worth optimizing for, too.
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Window Seat covers the intersection of luxury hospitality, aviation innovation, and the culture of modern travel, written by Tori Simokov, a writer and designer based in New York. For partnership opportunities: tori@v1projects.com. You can also connect with her on Instagram, TikTok, or ShopMy.
Yes to all of this. I am so serious about using my benefits and perks. In two months, I'm taking my mom to London. I'm AA Concierge Key and will be using their fanciest lounge pre-departure. We land at LHR just after 9 am so a hotel that will give me early check in. Because of Concierge Key, I am Hyatt Globalist so booking one of their properties was a priority. I'm sad that the Hyatt/AA partnership is ending because Hyatt Globalist has been SWEET.
i honestly can't do luxury cc's anymore. i can't get over how they all feel like coupon books now (like groupon a la 2016). i used to love my travel cards - i was one of the first who got the chase sapphire reserve (and one of the only people allowed to also have the preferred at the same time). when they increased their rates recently i cut them both and changed my card to the amex delta gold card for now. i'm sure i'll miss my tsa precheck and hate the day i have to take off my shoes again whenever my global entry expires, but i feel like the lines for tsa precheck are longer now and some people have told me the nontsa precheck lines they've gone through haven't asked them to take off their shoes lately. i love being able to choose the exact hotels i want, the exact food i want, the exact concerts / activities i want. no more doing something because my travel card told me i have to in order to use up certain credits. it was so freeing to get away from these glorified coupon books! it's nice you were able to reframe their worth but i just couldn't!