the Jebba Journal: First Edition

So you want to get into the world of points, huh? You're in the right place.

Intro

For several months now I had been encouraged (ahem, pressured) by numerous friends, family members, and my partner, Kayla, to start a blog, or a website, or a newsletter talking about credit cards and credit card “points.” 

What started out as a hobby, browsing Reddit forums and YouTube videos, transitioned to engaging with friends and eventually it became my shtick. So I finally caved after basically already doing this on a one-on-one basis with friends who came asking for help, and thus the Jebba Journal is born!

My goal here is to share the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years so that hopefully some of you can also benefit from this credit card points game. Along the way, I plan to share how I’ve used points to subsidize my travel, talk about my experiences, review some places I’ve been, and of course, provide tips and tricks you too can use for points optimization. 

This blog isn’t going to be like That Famous Points Person everyone knows. I won’t just shill out credit cards that promise you entry into a swanky lounge with free-flowing champagne while you wait to board your first-class flight to Dubai. While that may be possible, it likely takes a lot more than giving Chase Bank your social security number and a $550 annual fee payment (where are my Sapphire Reserve friends at?). Everyone reading will have a different level of familiarity with topics, so feel free to skip around to find whatever may be most applicable to you. 

Why “Jebba?”

Jebba (pronounced Jeb-uh) is actually a very dear-to-me nickname bestowed by my paternal grandmother. An Eastern European Jewess with a thick accent, she loved to use nicknames for all of her grandchildren. My oldest brother Jordan became “Jordala” (Jord-uh-luh) and my middle brother Mitchel “Mitchala” (Mitch-eh-luh). I guess “Jeffala” sounded too weird, so it naturally shifted to “Jebbala” and eventually condensed to Jebba. 

As an aside, I never really loved my birth name (sorry Mom and Dad). Although I introduce myself as Jeffrey, it feels somewhat childish. And Jeff* is just the fucking worst. Aside from Jeff Goldblum, there really are not many super smooth and cool Jeffs in this world (sorry, again, to anyone reading this named Jeff). 

So here we are, me sharing information that I love to talk about with close friends and family members under the name that I also identify the most with close friends and family.

*If you only know me as Jeff or Jeffrey, you can keep calling me that I promise I’ve mostly gotten over how weird it sounds to me

Now, onto the good stuff….

What Are Points?

Simply put, points are a digital currency. They have existed for many, many years often as a way to reward loyalty to a specific brand. Everything earns points now, from hotels, airlines, and car rental companies, to Nordstrom, Sephora, and even fucking Domino’s Pizza. The points I focus on, as you can guess from the intro, are those that have to do with credit cards and travel.

When I say “points” I am using the term to encompass credit card-specific points, airline points (often called “miles”), and hotel loyalty points. Different programs have different terms which I will throw in from time to time, but really they are all the same. Sure Delta Airlines may call them “Skymiles” and American Express calls their own version “Membership Rewards,” but it’s all just fake digital currency that you can only use for very specific things. 

You earn points, and then you can redeem those points for tangibles like a night at a hotel, or an economy ticket to go to a distant relative’s wedding you didn’t really want to go to in the first place, or yes, maybe even a first-class flight to Dubai. Not all points are created equally, just like every currency has a relative strength compared to another. 

I would never transfer 100,000 American Express (Amex) points in a 1:1 transfer for 100,000 Hilton Hotel points, just like I would never transfer $100 USD in a 1:1 transfer for MX$100 Pesos. To understand why, we need to talk about fixed points vs. transferable points, something we will cover in my next newsletter. 

What’s Next? 

Are you curious to hear how Kayla and I got transatlantic business class tickets on KLM without paying the ridiculous $5,000 cash price? I promise I’m not gatekeeping, there are many more stories, tips, and words of wisdom coming soon!

On the next issue of the Jebba Journal:

• fixed vs. transferable points

• a review of everyone’s favorite points starter card

• my first major trip redemption using points

In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment on what you want to learn or any questions you have about utilizing credit card points.