226. How to Play the Travel Credit Card Game to WIN with Janelle on a Jet

Financial Feminist

Her First $100K

Self-improvement, Education, How To, Business

4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2025

⏱️ 94 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you've ever scrolled through Instagram wondering how your favorite creators are jet-setting to Paris, sipping cocktails in Bali, or scoring first class seats—all “for free”—and thought, "How the hell are they doing that?”, this episode is your step-by-step guide. I sat down with one of my closest friends (and the first person I text whenever I’m stumped on how to use my points), travel and credit card expert Janelle Rupkalvis. She’s saved over $100,000 on luxury travel using credit card points and miles, and today, she's sharing exactly how to play the credit card game—and win. We’re talking about how to find the best travel deals, the most common credit card mistakes (and how to avoid them), how to redeem points the smart way, and the exact tools Janelle uses to unlock five-star experiences without the price tag. This episode is perfect if you're new to travel hacking or if you’ve got a ton of points and zero clue what to do with them. We’re talking business class, tropical destinations, travel insurance, sign-up bonuses—and yes, how to make credit cards work for you, not the other way around. Janelle’s Links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janelleonajet TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@janelleonajet Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@janelleonajet Mastering SkyMiles course waitlist: https://ashleygetsaround.kit.com/a1c49dce16 Resources: Award travel search engine: https://seats.aero/ Search and compare award flight options: https://www.point.me/ How to Travel More in 2025 with Brian Kelly (The Points Guy): https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/213-how-to-travel-more-and-well-in-2025-with-brian-kelly-aka-the-points-guy/ Read transcripts, learn more about our guests and sponsors, and get more resources at https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/226-how-to-play-the-credit-card-game-to-win-with-janelle-on-a-jet/ Our favorite travel and cash-back credit cards, plus other financial resources: https://herfirst100k.com/tools Looking for accountability, live coaching, and deeper financial education? Check out our exclusive community! Join the $100K Club: https://herfirst100k.com/100k-pod Not sure where to start on your financial journey? Take our FREE money personality quiz! https://herfirst100k.com/quiz Special thanks to our sponsors: Squarespace Go to www.squarespace.com/FFPOD to save 10% off your first website or domain purchase. Rocket Money Stop wasting money on things you don’t use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to RocketMoney.com/FFPOD. Quince For your next trip, treat yourself to the luxe upgrades you deserve from Quince. Go to Quince.com/FFPOD for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Netsuite Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/FFPOD. Masterclass Get an additional 15% off any annual membership at Masterclass.com/FFPOD. Indeed Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com/FFPOD. Gusto Run your first payroll with Gusto and get three months free at gusto.com/ffpod. ZocDoc Visit Zocdoc.com/FFPOD to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. ResortPass Visit Resortpass.com and use code FFPOD to get $20 off your first ResortPass experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Financial feminists, if you've been watching me and all of the Instagrammers you love traveling for free using credit card points and you're like, how do I actually do this?
0:08.5	This is the episode for you. Hi, financial feminists.
0:28.7	I'm thrilled to see you as always.
0:30.8	My name is Tori.
0:31.6	I'm a money expert, a multimillionaire, and I fight the patriarchy by making you rich.
0:35.4	And today, I not only have a friend, good friend of mine on the show, but it's such a good
0:40.9	conversation.
0:42.0	I would recommend first going and listening to our episode with Brian Kelly, who is the points
0:46.3	guy.
0:46.6	We released that a little bit ago.
0:48.4	This is a great companion guide to that episode because we are talking about credit card
0:54.0	points, how to accumulate them,
0:56.0	how to get more of them, but also how to use credit card points to actually travel for free
1:02.5	or severely discounted. We're talking being able to use these points, redeem them in a way
1:08.5	that can get you anywhere from Paris to Japan to even just across the country.
1:14.5	And yes, business class seats, first class seats, but also just your regular old economy,
1:20.0	if you want to go that way too. I will say before I do her whole official intro,
1:24.2	Janelle is the person I go to for advice. The amount of times I have texted her and been
1:29.5	like, hey, I have this amount of points in this place. What should I do? And she actually helped me
1:35.7	redeem my first ever business class flight to Europe in 2022. So we're talking about exactly how to
1:41.9	do this. If you've heard people talk about traveling for free, traveling for discounts, and you're like,
1:46.6	but how do I redeem these points?
	...

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