Resources

One of the things that I failed to do some years ago was keep track of my points.  I had signed up to countless accounts when booking through travel sites, but since there are so many I'd forgotten my login and/or passwords to them. (Agoda, Expedia, Flybuys, Travelocity, Wotif, etc.) I've since recovered them and now track all of them, even accounts for some family and friends.

I'd also learned that to truly benefit from credit cards you need to track many details about each one.  I created a good spreadsheet. (or you could use paper) 

In this Resources section I've included tools I personally use and recommend, for you to use too.

1. Award Wallet

 

This program allows you to track many hundreds of loyalty programs.  It stores your login, account number, password, status.  After you've added your loyalty program, then you can click directly on the loyalty account name, and it will auto-log you into the loyalty website.  For an extra $5 every six months, it will also track the expiration date of all loyalty programs in your account. Well worth the small extra cost in my opinion. 

Though the program is US centric, it contains lots of other loyalty programs from around the world: Qantas, Velocity, AirAsia, and other Asian-based loyalty programs, are just a few of the many offered.

Here's a great write-up from Million Mile Secrets.


2. Spreadsheet
It's important to keep track of all your credit cards, information like:

• signup date
• promotion bonus
• fee, if any
• ongoing fees after 1st year
• cancel date
• user ID

This information will help you when speaking with the bank, when deciding what new cards to get, when negotiating credit lines for new cards, etc.  I've included a link for you to access a copy of my own personal spreadsheet so that you can see how to create your own, or feel free to modify mine to create your own.

The spreadsheet is in Open Office format, easy to open in Excel, or install Open Office free for those of you frugal enough to already be using the program.

3. Qantas Points Table

4. Velocity Points Table