A Credit Card Points System for Photographers

How to Build a Travel Points System (So Your Family Can Vacation for Nearly Free)

You spend money every month to run your family photography business. Software subscriptions, studio rentals, camera equipment, editing presets. What if every one of those purchases was earning you free flights, free hotel stays, and even free theme park tickets for your family?

That is exactly what travel points coach Megan Lanford of Points Too Paradise teaches. And in this post (based on my conversation with Megan on the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast), I am breaking down her entire system so you can start building one for yourself. Whether you want to surprise your kids with a birthday trip, attend a photography conference without financial stress, or just take that family vacation you keep putting off, this is the system that makes it possible.

And yes, I am walking you through a real example: how I am planning a trip to Universal Studios Orlando for my son Jack’s fourth birthday using credit card points.

Before you go any further, you need to know your numbers. If you do not already track your monthly business expenses, grab my Bookkeeping Template for Creatives. It is the system my husband and I built so I could see exactly what my overhead costs are, what I owe in taxes, and how much I actually pay myself. Knowing your numbers is the starting point for everything in this post.

To watch the entire YouTube Episode Click Here 🎥

To Listen To The Entire Podcast Episode Click Here 🎙️

To Read The Entire Blog Post Keep On Reading ⬇️

What Is a Travel Points System and Why Should Photographers Care?

A travel points system is a repeatable process of earning credit card reward points on everyday spending and then using those points to cover travel costs like flights, hotels, and park tickets.

Most family photographers are already spending $1,000 to $3,000 per month on business expenses. Studio rentals, camera gear, editing software, CRM subscriptions, website hosting. All of that is going on a debit card or a single credit card, earning you nothing meaningful. A travel points system redirects that spending onto strategic credit cards, so every dollar also earns you free travel.

Megan shared that she and her family saved over $30,000 on travel in 2025 alone. They take seven vacations a year. And she started this system as the only earner in her household, because her husband could not even get approved for a credit card when she began. So this is not something that requires a dual income or a spouse with a business.

How Do You Get Started with Credit Card Points?

Start with one beginner-friendly card, put your existing business expenses on it, and pay it off in full every single month.

Megan recommends the Chase Sapphire Preferred as the best first card. It has a $95 annual fee and opens the door to the entire Chase points ecosystem, which includes hotel partners like Hyatt and airline partners like Southwest. Chase also has Ink business credit cards with $0 annual fees designed for business owners.

The real magic is in signup bonuses. When you open a new credit card, most companies offer a large chunk of bonus points (typically 50,000 to 100,000 points) if you spend a set amount in the first three months. That amount is usually around $4,000, which many photographers hit with normal business spending. One signup bonus alone can cover an entire family vacation.

Here is the part that matters: you are not spending extra money to earn these points. You are putting the money you were already going to spend into a card that rewards you for it. No debt, no interest, no late fees. Megan has 13 credit cards and zero credit card debt.

If you are not sure what your monthly business expenses actually are, that is your first action step before opening any card. My Bookkeeping Template for Creatives will help you see those numbers clearly so you know which signup bonus thresholds you can comfortably hit.

Can Solo Photographers Really Earn Enough Points for a Family Trip?

Yes. Megan has students who spend as little as $15,000 per year total and still earn enough points for international flights and hotel stays.

One of Megan’s students, Dara, is single, lives with her parents, and spends very little each month. Within two months of joining the Travel Points Academy, she had earned enough points to book flights to Ireland and Germany with points left over. Megan’s own sister signed up for a card where she only had to make one purchase, buy a pack of gum, and earn enough points for plane tickets (I mean, that is so wild to me!!!) 

The strategy that makes this possible is to open a new card every three to four months and collect the sign-up bonuses, rather than putting all your spending on a single card for the year. Someone who puts $40,000 on one credit card over a year might earn 100,000 points. Someone who opens a few different cards strategically can earn a million points in the same period.

For family photographers, think about the big purchases you already know are coming. New lenses, a camera body upgrade, conference registrations. If you have saved up cash for any of these, put that purchase on a new credit card to hit the signup bonus, then pay it off immediately with the money you already set aside. That is not reckless spending. That is being strategic with the system.

What Does a Real Trip Look Like When You Use Points?

A family of four can fly round-trip and stay in a hotel for under $100 total out-of-pocket using the right combination of credit card points and transfer partners.

I have over 107,000 Chase points and about 23,000 Southwest points right now. When I told Megan I wanted to take my family to Universal Studios Orlando in December for my son’s birthday (he and his brother are obsessed with the Super Mario universe), she mapped out a plan on the spot.

For the hotel, she recommended a Hyatt property near Universal since Chase points transfer directly to Hyatt at an excellent value. That hotel stay would cost zero dollars. For flights from Nashville to Orlando, we would use a combination of existing Southwest points and possibly open a Southwest credit card to top them up. Since we are close to Florida, the flights would not require many points.

For park tickets to Universal Epic Universe (where Super Nintendo World is), Megan recommended opening a Capital One Venture card. Capital One points can be used to cover ticket purchases. So the total out-of-pocket for flights, hotel, and park tickets for a family of four would come in under $100.

Theme park trips cost more points than a simple beach vacation because you are also covering admission. But even with that extra layer, the system works. We would need about two additional credit cards to make this specific trip happen.

How Can Points Help You Attend Photography Conferences?

Points can cover your flights, hotel, and sometimes even event-adjacent costs, so the only thing you pay for out of pocket is the conference ticket itself.

Megan shared her own example. She attended a conference in Florida that would have cost $2,500 for flights, hotel, and the event ticket. She used Southwest points to fly herself and her daughter for a total of $22.40. She used Capital One points to erase the hotel charge. All she paid was the $600 event ticket and parking.

If you are a family photographer eyeing a posing workshop or newborn photography intensive, think about the full trip cost: event ticket, flights, hotel, rideshare, and food. When flights and hotels are covered by points, the decision to invest in your education gets so much easier. My first photography conference was SHOWIT 2019, and it changed my business.

Do not let travel costs be the reason you stay home. If you want to make sure your business finances are set up to support this kind of strategic spending, my Bookkeeping Template for Creatives is a good place to start. And if you are looking for more business tools and resources for family photographers, I keep an updated list on my site.

What Tools Keep This System Organized?

The Travel Freely app is the primary tool for tracking credit cards, annual fees, and signup bonus deadlines. It is free, does not connect to your bank account, and sorts your cards into personal and business accounts.

When you have one or two cards, staying organized is simple. But as you add more over time (Megan and her husband manage about 30 between them), you need a system to track your cards, annual fees, and signup bonus deadlines.

Travel Freely handles all of that. Megan says it is the only organizational tool she uses. Everything is on autopay, so nothing slips through the cracks. And the app keeps personal cards and business cards separated, which is helpful when you are running a photography business alongside your personal finances.

One more thing Megan stresses: do not let your points sit unused. Points lose value over time, just like the dollar. Book a trip. Use them. That first trip is what turns the concept into a real, repeatable part of how you manage your money.

What If You Only Have 15 Minutes a Week for This?

Fifteen minutes a week is more than enough. The system does not require hours of research because the heavy lifting of card selection and trip planning can be handled inside a membership like Megan’s Travel Points Academy.

This is the part I love about Megan’s approach. You do not have to become a credit card expert. You do not need to memorize bank rules or spend hours comparing cards. As part of her membership, you can ask, “Which card should I open next?” or “I want to go to Orlando, what do I do?” and she will build a plan for you.

The Travel Points Academy walks you through everything from filling out your first credit card application to booking your first free trip. Most of her students book their first trip within three months. If you already have cards and points but do not know how to use them, her membership is where you get hands-on help with trip planning and strategy.

You can follow Megan on Instagram at @pointstooparadise and listen to her podcast, Points Too Paradise. She also has two free resources to help you get started:

• If you are brand new and want to know which cards to open based on a specific trip you want to take, grab her free CardMatch resource.
• If you already have points sitting in your accounts and want to find out what they are worth and where you could go, use her free Points Audit tool.

What Is Your Next Step as a Family Photographer?

Here is your homework. Right now, before you close this tab, do two things.

First, check your existing credit card accounts and find out how many points you have sitting there. Megan says it happens all the time: business owners log in and discover hundreds of thousands of unused points losing value.

Second, think about one trip you want to take in the next 12 months. A family vacation, a photography conference, a weekend trip with your spouse.

Get specific about the destination and the dates. Once you have that, you can start building a credit card strategy around it.

And if you want to get your business finances organized so you know exactly what you are spending each month (step one of making this whole system work), grab my Bookkeeping Template for Creatives.

Looking to build better marketing systems for your photography business, too? Check out The Family Photographer’s Marketing Society, my monthly membership that helps you create a consistent, repeatable marketing plan. When your business runs on systems, whether that is marketing or travel planning, everything gets easier. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Travel Points

Do I need good credit to start earning travel points? You need a credit score in the mid-to-high 600s to qualify for most rewards credit cards. If your score is lower, you can start building it with a secured card and work your way up. Megan’s husband started with a poor credit score and built it up over time while she earned points on her own.

Will opening multiple credit cards hurt my credit score? Opening new cards may cause a small temporary dip in your score, but responsible use (paying on time, keeping balances low) actually builds your score over time. Megan has 13 credit cards and maintains a strong credit score because she pays every card in full each month.

Can I use points for Airbnb stays? Some credit card programs, like Capital One, allow you to use points toward Airbnb bookings through their travel portal. The value per point may vary, so compare it against transferring points to hotel partners like Hyatt or Marriott to see which gives you more for your points.

How much can a family photographer realistically save on travel per year? That depends on your monthly business spending, but even photographers spending $1,000 to $2,000 per month on business expenses can earn enough points for one to three free trips per year. Megan’s students have booked trips to Ireland, Hawaii, Tokyo, and Niagara Falls using points alone.

Is this the same thing as “travel hacking”? It is similar in concept, but Megan’s approach is more of a repeatable system than a collection of hacks. You follow a process: know your expenses, open the right card, hit the signup bonus, use your points strategically, repeat. It is a system you can run alongside your photography business without spending hours on research.

Meet Your Favorite Marketing Strategist and Business Coach for Family Photographers (Dolly DeLong Education)

Hi, I’m Dolly DeLong, a Nashville-based family photographer, marketing strategist, and systems educator for family photographers who want structure, clarity, and consistency in their marketing.

My photography journey began in 2006, and over the years, I built a sustainable family photography business while navigating motherhood, client work, and the realities of running a solo creative business. Along the way, I discovered something unexpected: I loved the backend just as much as the creative side.

What started as organizing my own workflows turned into helping other family photographers simplify their marketing, build repeatable systems, and stop relying on last-minute posting or panic marketing.

Today, I focus exclusively on helping family photographers intentionally market their businesses (not with trends but with consistently showing up).

I offer two ways to work with me:

• The Family Photographer’s Marketing Society: a systems-first membership that provides a clear weekly marketing cadence for Instagram and email, so you always know what to focus on without starting over.

• 1:1 Strategic Marketing Support for established family photographers who want hands-on guidance in building a sustainable, SEO-supported marketing system.

Through my blog, podcast, and YouTube channel, I teach family photographers how to think like marketers, plan ahead, and create marketing rhythms that support both their business and their family life.

I still photograph families around Nashville because it’s one of my greatest joys. But helping family photographers build calm, consistent marketing systems that actually fit real life is a close second.

I’m so glad you are here, reading this blog, listening to the podcast, or watching the embedded YouTube video. I hope this educational content was helpful. Please let me know what future systems content you would like me to create!