While playing Minor League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019, we didn’t find out where we will be playing that season until the last day of spring training. This left the entire team only two days to find a place to live for the next 6 months before opening day. A group of 5 members of the team decided we will look for a place to live together and checked local apartment complexes around Clearwater, FL. All apartment complexes we contacted wanted a minimum 7-month lease but the season was only 6 months long. That meant we would still pay an entire month’s rent for an empty apartment on the other side of the country after we had gone home.
We aren’t chumps, so naturally we looked for other options. I discovered a 3 bedroom Airbnb house nearby that offered a “long-term” discount, which was any stay that was 30 days or longer. After running the numbers and comparing them to our best apartment option, it was actually a less total amount of money for the Airbnb- plus we could pick our exact move in and move out dates. A hidden bonus to the vacation rental house was that it was already furnished, had cable, internet, TV, trash pickup, a yard, parking, and all other utilities already included in the price- around $2k/month total. These are luxuries that are unheard of while playing in the Minor Leagues, making $36 and a PB&J a day (I’m not joking. And that’s before any expenses). Now came the big question- Who will put their card on the Airbnb rental? They will be responsible for all rents paid, any liabilities or accidents that happen along the way, etc. All it takes is one botched slam dunk during an overly competitive beer pong match (I’m no snitch, but you know who you are) to create some undesirable financial burdens due to minor property damage. Plus, there’s a good chance that most of us will not even be there by the end of the season due to call-ups, injuries, trades, etc. so it could possibly be an entirely new group of guys living in our house by the end of the season.
I realized the risk, but I saw it from a different angle. I saw a Points Gang jackpot. I was able to talk to the owner and get us moved in that same afternoon. I immediately signed up for a new credit card- I chose the Chase Sapphire Reserve in this case. I put that beautiful free-money-machine of a card on the Airbnb account ASAP and began racking up points as well as crushing the intro bonus. The best part was that although $2k/month was getting put on the card, the rent was split between 5 guys so I was only paying $400 of that out of my own pocket- the rest was paid to me by the other roommates. After a couple months went by, I applied for another new card so I could swap them out and get another intro bonus. I chose the United Explorer card. I threw that on the account as soon as I got it, and smashed that intro bonus also. The kicker here is that I had just been promoted and was living in Pennsylvania at this time. This meant I was racking up the rewards and bonus of $2k/month on this card, with a whopping ZERO of that coming out of my own pocket. I felt like Jordan Belfort.
So after the season ended, I had two intro bonuses and racked up enough points between the gold mine of the Airbnb along with normal life expenses that I was able to put them to good use (These points are accessed directly from my account. Our “Redeeming Points” page can show you how this works). I used the United Explorer points to book a round trip flight to Kauai for my lady and I. No cash involved. Only points- with some extra points left over. Then I used the Sapphire Preferred points to book us an Airbnb for a week. Again- all points, with enough extra points leftover to cover the cost of a decent rental car to get around the island for the week. No cash involved. It may not have been perfect execution, considering the Sapphire Reserve points have additional value when redeemed for travel. But it still worked, and I just saved whatever points were left over and ended up using them down the road anyways. So we’re all good.
The point of this story is to show how easy it can be to take advantage of the opportunities that are presented in every day life. I had a unique situation but we are confident that every person can find these opportunities. Getting gas? Throw it on a card. Out to dinner with friends? Get one bill for the table and throw it on your card – have them Venmo you. Expenses like this can add up and as long as you have a purpose to your spending, you can be kicking your feet up on some island in the middle of the Pacific sipping a mai tai. It will taste better when it’s free. We promise.
Just don’t be an idiot and make sure to pay off your cards on time. Don’t spend what you don’t have.
Remember the Points Gang 5 Rules to Credit, and go get ’em. We’ll see you at the lodge.
-Grant, Points Gang