About Us - pointsNplaces
What we are about...
...using rewards points to
travel well to destinations you want to see.
You are here: About us
What we are about...
...using rewards points to
travel well to destinations you want to see.
It is about both "points" (how to obtain and get best use from them) and "places" (where we have been and also places we would like to go - and think you would too).
Among other things, it includes:
After many years (and miles) travelling while working in specialist parts of the finance industry, I now have more time to enjoy travel at a leisurely pace. Knowledge I have built while travelling and skills learned from analysis and arbitrage mean I have learned how to use loyalty program points to save money and travel in far greater comfort than most folk.
My travel in the past has been predominantly in the corridor between Australia and the UK, especially Scotland, with stops along the way in Asia or the Middle East. With friends and family in Australia, England and Scotland (including one son studying overseas - I think he has caught the travel bug too), this is where my "places" writing focus is likely to continue.
The "points" content though will take a global focus, just like the programs themselves.
I continue to seek a higher standard in all things, but now also keep a keen eye to efficiently get the best luxe travel, often through canny use of airline and hotel loyalty programs. More recently, with an eye on greater sustainability, I have expanded this to also include rail travel.
I love sharing my knowledge (and discoveries) with like-minded folk through pointsNplaces.
Like most Scots, I have keen eye for true value, rather than just run of the mill ("pay peanuts and you'll get monkeys") and love uncovering a great deal on all aspects of travel almost as much as the travel itself.
My goal is to share my knowledge and help a community of folk as passionate about travel as myself.
2 February 2022: An evolutionary step. I became a Travel Agent with Fora Travel and launched Rewarding Travel to better advise and serve travellers who wish to use their Hotel Rewards or Frequent Flyer points and also those who just wish to enhance the luxe level of their travel without wanting to feel tied to any particular program or brand.
I am committed to ongoing training to remain knowledgeable and provide evidence-based advice to readers. Shown below is a sample of my hotel and airline accreditations.
I created this site and blog, because it combines many of my interests. Travel, arbitrage, operations research, technology and my love of photography. Sound geeky? So are my qualifications - degrees in mathematics, computer science and finance, combined with 20 years of my own travel. It is this background that means I can optimise travel programs and rewards.
I want the site to be visually appealing and celebrate our world through pictures as well as words. There are some techy things to help make it as easy to use as possible (hopefully).
I enjoy the analysis of opportunities using travel loyalty points in itself, but really the aim is to use them for travel to destinations - so: points and places.
I do hope you enjoy reading Points N Places as much as I enjoy creating and curating it.
Neil
We respect and value your privacy.
We believe in treating folk fairly, openly and honestly.
We work hard at analysing options to result in our opinions which we share. We respect the fact that others' opinions may differ from ours.
Travel is fun, rewarding, broadens our horizons and leads to self-development. It is a privilege that not everyone can share in. We look for ways to support folk who are less fortunate than ourselves.
points -
places - with the covid-19 virus severely restricting travel options, our destination content has had to be curtailed. No less important than before, but for now the focus is on building points and improving our readiness for when we can travel more freely once again.
other ideas -