Wow time really does fly when you’re having fun! I can’t believe that it’s already been a whole year since I started blogging about the crazy quests for points and miles (and travel) my family and I have participated in over the last 12 months.
The backstory:
For those who have been with the blog since the beginning, you might already know that I started blogging as a way to document my uncontainable excitement about all things points and miles. The spark of inspiration was ignited after attending a phenomenal weekend at the Chicago Seminars in 2011, where my entire perspective of travel was forever changed for the better.
Growing up, I was always grateful to be part of “points-savvy” family, but I never really knew the true possibilities and potential of this quirky hobby until I was introduced to an entire community of people dedicated to frequent flyer miles and hotel points; and now, a year later, I can honestly say that this very community now contains some of my new best friends (a big shout out to you all!).
After blogging independently for 2 months, I was stoked to wake up to an email in my inbox from the king of frequent flyer miles himself, Randy Peterson, asking me to join the BoardingArea community. Now those who know me already know that I am the last person in the world to ever get “starstruck”; so I don’t know if it’s embarrassing or not to admit that I got a teensy-bit of that “omg” feeling when I read that email…Â With that said, what an amazing year it’s been so far, and a tremendous “thanks” goes out to all of the amazing readers out there!
Now, let’s celebrate!
What’s a birthday party without gifts? As a way to celebrate this milestone (and the fact that I’m moving in January and can’t take all this “swag” with me), I have a bunch of giveaways to pass along to some lucky winners. Some of the prizes include: some Star MegaDo 4 swag (pictured below), Club Carlson points, Lounge Passes, free GoGo in-flight wifi codes, AwardWallet 6-month upgrades, a Cathay Pacific collectible Teddy Bear, and some other miscellaneous travel items I’ve accumulated over the year.
So how do you win?
Simply leave a comment below introducing yourself as a reader, and explaining how you stumbled across the blog for the first time and what kinds of posts keeps you wanting more. I’ll randomly select a few winners for the various prizes by Monday, December 3 at noon ET. There are plenty of prizes to give, so be sure to participate below!
For brownie points, you can also follow me on Twitter and tweet @ me or leave a comment on the Just Another Points Traveler Facebook wall.
Thanks for a great year, and I look forward to the many days ahead!
Happy travels!
I found this blog on Twitter, it’s been a great resource ever since!
One please! I cam across your blog in the Boarding Area website I believe.
Srini here…I think I’m still a newbie in the miles & points world…
I came across your blog while I was looking for more ways to earn Priority Club points…
You were also the first to post the club Carlson’s SOGO offers direct links…as far as I was concerned.
Thanks.
Best Wishes,
Srini
Happy Birthday! I found you through Kat, who found me when she bought 6 cases of $3 propel and had to use them as an ottoman. Can’t wait to see you at the next DO!
Hi Angelina, I came across you in The Boarding Area and have followed your exploits (and your dad’s) since lat spring when I was introduced to the world of miles and points. I attended this year’s Chicago Seminar’s and am so stoked I want to tell everybody all about points and miles.
Keeping my fingers crossed for a prize :)
It’s funny, I don’t remember how I came across your blog, but I think I might have come to it via Twitter. At any rate, I definitely follow you on Twitter and appreciate the timely alerts for deals and the variety of interesting posts. Congrats on one year!
Happy Anniversary! I found your blog through Boarding Area and enjoy reading about deals you post and the travel adventures of you and your dad.
Ran Across you on boarding area
Found you on Boarding Area. I especially like your trip reviews.
Boarding Area & MilePoint – congrats on 1 year!
I found Gleff (I think on boarding area) and then I just went through all the blogs on BA.
I found your blog on Boarding Area. Congratulations on your first anniversary! All the best!
I am just a casual points fan, do a little here and there. This year my wife and I flew to Italy and back for free using the miles I have collected.
I first came across this blog from another blog. I keep coming back to stay up to date on new point opportunities and of course the giveaways!
I found it when I first started to explore the world of points earlier this year! Looking at boarding area and your page in particular has opened up a whole new world to me. Thanks!
Hi Angelina
I believe I found you through a #followfriday from another travel dedicated twitterer and have stayed with you since to learn more about how to get great deals.
Congratulations on your first year anniversary! The information that you share has been fantastic! I found your blog on Boarding Area and subscribed immediately. I really enjoy the information you share about trip experiences, ways to maximize miles & points earnings and the “dad posts”. Congrats again!
I found on your BoardingArea’s homepage as well. Congrats on the one year!
I follow your blog I found you on Million Mile Secrets and been following you ever since and hope to see you this weekend at the FTU.
I found this blog through links from other Boarding Area blogs
Congrats on 1 year! Thank you so much for your blog, esp. those Accor points :-) found your blog on BA.com.
I found this blog via milepoint poking around the Boarding Area blogs, and I’m glad I did. :)
Ed here… found your blog through Million Mile Secrets Friday interview blog. Really enjoy what I’ve been reading. Nice to follow you on Twitter-space as well!
I found the blog via the BA twitter feed, and I’m really glad I did!
Found you through other Boarding Area blogs. Really like your posts about various deals.
Congrats! I started following you after I saw @verygoodpoints tweet you. Keep up the wonderful content. Safe Travels :-)
grats!
Congratulations on your “birthday”. :) I found you right before you got picked up by boarding area. I love all your posts especially your Dad’s posts. No need to put me in the drawing. :)
Came across your blog on Boarding Area and loved how you wrote a lot if posts about obtaining Priority Club points as that’s my main hotel program. Staying at Priority Club hotels satisfies my wife and I as we are able to actual tons if points and maximize nights. I enjoy trading this blog since you typically stay in more budget friendly hotels!
As a reader, I found you from Boarding Area. I enjoy your posts on the various deals – especially the second titled “Worth It?”.
Congratulations!
Congrats! I found the blog through the Boarding Area twitter.
hey Angelina
i think i met you first through boarding area? i enjoy the good credit card offer’s you often post about. i am been following you for quite a while. you go girl!! we would love a lounge pass as i will be taking a trip with my wife to India in Febuary for one month! where are you taking your next trip?
evan and yukiji
Hi Angelina, I’m a newbie to the points world which I stumbled across quite by accident last spring when I started planning our fall vacation to Disney. I have followed you from the beginning of my journey and feel like you are a friend as you come into my inbox on a daily (or quite close to it)basis. I was able to rally and get the appropriate credit cards and did enjoy a free flight for two and a stay at the Swan for a night before checking into our timeshare, and I have already gone away two weekends on the Priority Club points break. I look forward to everything your write as well as the other great people that I follow. It is amazing and I feel like I learn something new everyday! Thank you! Pat
I enjoy your perspectives, found you on Boarding Area
I was reading Boarding Area for years, so it was matter of fact to read yours as well. Congrats on one year aniversary!!
I found you on boardingarea and twitter!
I found your blog on Boardingarea. My favorite articles are those great deals that pop up, like the JFK-EZE fare price! Keep it up!
I started reading all of the boarding area blogs after attending a frequent traveler university in Newark in April. Congrats!
Hi! I found you on Boarding Area. I like the female slant. I like good points redemption opportunities, cheap business fares, and easy ways to earn more points!
Happy Anniversary! I found you on boarding area and just love your trip reports. I’m new to miles and points and have learned a lot from you this year.
Thanks!
Found the blog on Boarding Area’s RSS feed. Congrats on a year!
I came across your blog while perusing boarding area. I’d like to hear more about your cheap travels! =)
Hey Angelina,
Thanks for the great posts during the year. I enjoy you individual perspective on the issues you write about.
I think I first found your blog through a link from someone on boarding area just before you joined them.
Best wishes for another great year.
Congratulations!!
First found your blog on Boarding area. Really like the fact that this is a hobby for you like so many of us.
Thanks Angelina. I saw the blog on Boarding Area and began following on twitter as well. I enjoy your (and your dad’s) trip reports!
Found you on Boarding Area!
Hi Angelina!!! Congrats on the first year of your blog. I found your blog on the Boarding Area (hidden on the link to “Our Bloggers” and then another link to “All of Our Bloggers”) and I had no idea it was less than one year old since all the content is amazing and I come here every day to read your postings and follow you on Twitter. Keep the great work and hope Boarding Area brings your blog to their home page since many people don’t find you under the hidden links.
Found you on BoardingArea, your natural excitement keeps me reading!
i found your blog through boarding area, and love the different deals you highlight!
Came here from checking out BoardingArea.com. Always check out this blog for travel tips and how to earn more points of course.
Found you on Boarding Area. I love your posts on how to get free points. The 2000 Accor points were great.
Happy birthday! I’m a newbie points traveler and I would be very grateful for a gift! I subscribed to your blog a few months ago. I discovered your blog when I first stumbled upon boarding area. I plan to be a long time subscriber.
Cheers!
Found you through Boarding Area, keep the deal notifications coming!
I came across your blog on boardingarea and have been hooked since. I love posts on hotel promotions.
I came across this cos I started reading boardingArea.
The deals you post are often of my interest :)
Happy first! Another boardingarea reader who was drawn to your blog. Here’s to many more years. I enjoy my subscription to your blog, and follow you everyday. Thanks for you being you…
Happy blog birthday! Found you through Boarding Area, which I also recently discovered and am now hooked on.
Hi, Congrats on the success you’ve had on your blog for the past year! I stumbled across your blog when I got intrigued by the points/miles game, and started looking through all the boarding area blogs. Keep up the good work!
Congrats on your blog’s first anniversary. I found your blog through a reference on another Boarding Area blog and have been following you ever since. I like all of your posts but the one I viewed many times is you in a suitcase.
Saw it on Boarding area!
Read it on BA!
Via the BoardingArea home page.
I found your blog in the Boarding Area website I believe.
Found your blog on BoardingArea.com and I have been a loyal reader ever since!
Keep up the great work…
Happy Anniversary!! I came across your blog in boarding area a few months ago when I started getting hooked on miles. I really appreciate your posts on ways to get free bonus miles and your posts on deals, especially when you put all the current rental car deals together on one page, for instance.
I stumbled onto your blog from One Mile At A Time! I absolutely love the posts about free points! Who doesn’t like free points?!
:)
Found this blog through the MegaDo! Happy anniversary and congrats!
I came across it through my near-daily browsing at BoardingArea. I like it because it’s informative and offers a different point of view. Congrats!
Congratulations!!
I think one of the other Boarding Area bloggers did a feature on you, and that’s how I started reading your blog.
Ran across your blog on BoardingArea, and your cheat sheets for accor points saved me research time. Thanks and congrats!
I met you on set one day and we spoke about our love of traveling. You told me that you had your own blog and I’ve been reading it ever since! Keep the posts coming! I really like reading the posts from your dad as well.
Hi my name is Dale, I found your site through the Boarding Area family of sites. I am interested in the best credit card offers to earn points.
Hi Angelina! Congrats on your anniversary! Where are you moving?
The one year anniversary of my blog (www.WillRunForMiles.com) is next month, so I’m right behind you. Since I won a lot of the same swag at the SMD4 as you(which I likewise will be giving away), no need to enter me in the contest.
Hi!
Congratulations on your one year anniversary!
I discovered you on Twitter. I’d love to write a blog but would never be able to have as many exciting suggestions and advice. So instead I just subscribe.
Thanks for any opportunities!
Came across the site on BoardingArea, would like to see more posts on good redemption opportunities with points and miles
Found you on the Boarding Area RSS feed.
I found this site through boarding area and I like reading about the many ways to earn miles and points
Hi Angelina – congrats on a year of blogging! I found the blog through BoardingArea. I’ve been OBSESSED with points & miles for about 3 years now. I’m only 24, so I think I got into it a little earlier than average, at least for someone not from a mile-savvy upbringing like yourself :)
I recently started my own blog, but it isn’t solely about points/miles…that sort of thing is just so much work to keep up! so bravo to you on having such a fantastic blog!
Very much enjoyed your walk through the recent accor facebook promotion, you are always good humoured in your posts.
I was in Chicago in 2011 too! I think I found you when you joined Boarding Area as I get their new blog posts come through to me via text msg (unlimited plan of course). I chuckled with:
“to document my uncontainable excitement about all things points and miles” – this is actually a disease. No cure has been discovered yet!
“this quirky hobby” – See above diagnosis
Congrats on 1 yr anniversary. I am trying to get first to 1 month, I feel exhausted:-)
Hi, huge fan of the blog! I stumbled upon it through Boarding Area and have been hooked ever since. I love the posts that have a roundup of all the good deals out there, those are my favorite. Congratulations!
Hi, I found you on the boardingarea.com main page Happy “birthday”!
I found you thru boardina area and have read you since Day 1. Happy Anniversary!! I met you at the Chicago Seminars this past fall for the first time. It was a pleasure to meet you!
I found your blog through the boarding area site. I enjoy hearing about bonus point deals and trip reports.
I found your site through boarding area. The blogs here have inspired me to do a mileage run in January. Now just have to find some cheap fares from Detroit on United.
Congratulations and Happy Birthday, Angelina! Honestly, I can’t remember how I stumbled upon your blog, even after going through pages of previous posts. The important thing is that I keep coming back. Originality and your writing style make for a good read. We are in the same age range which makes you more relatable. And of course, the miles and points are nice to know about. :) As long as you have the passion, keep it up!
I came across your blog after someone retweeted one of your posts. Specifically, it was the article about traveling impulsively and not sacrificing your love for travel. Fantastic post!
Found you on twitter
I found out about your website when you were the only blogger I could find who posted cheat sheets to the Le Club Accor points hotel matching game. That’s when I became a serious subscriber and when I started to follow the blog daily.
Before that, I have been an occasional reader for your trip reports. I enjoy your travel experiences the most.
That’s for offering some awesome SWAG for your one year anniversary! Cheers to another great year!
I found your site through Milepoint…and I have kept reading ever since!
From BoardingArea
Congratulations on a fabulous first year! I’m not sure, but, I think I found you on BA. If not, it was a link from another blog. I love it when your dad fills in for you. He sounds like a trip! I’d be thrilled to win something. The Club Carlson points sound fantastic. Rick has a favorite golf course about 150 miles away and we stay at the Country Inns & Suites there. (They take dogs!)
Don’t remember how I found you, but glad I did! I remember your pre-Boarding Area days… :-)
I found you through Boarding Area. I enjoy reading your travel stories and always appreciate learning new ways to use my points
Hi Angelina, I came across you in The Boarding Area. I like hearing about your travel adventures.
Happy Blogiversary! I follow your blog regularly. I was introduced to your blog for the first time via BoardingArea and posts regarding DEALS and giveaways keep me wanting more!
I found you on Boarding Area and really enjoy your posts. Even though it didn’t work, you inspired me to do the Travelocity hotel and flight deal. Really enjoy your blog!
Hi Angelina
A big thank you (and your Dad) for all the miles and smiles of point savvy inspiration this past year. I have had – and I am having so much fun.
I have learnt so much about this “art” from reading your blog.
As the saying goes “I do not know much about art but I know what I like.”
Well – I like points and your blog.
I found your blog earlier this year while researching points opportunities on the worldwide web. I try to never let a chance go by.
During 2012 I have accumulated many many points in credit card sign up bonuses.
Participated in two for one deals and transfer % bonuses. Whenever possible used a 3 points per $ credit card at supermarkets and earned at least 1 point per $ on all household bill payments.
……. and most importantly travelled so much just looking at my passport stamps and visas says it all.
April / May 2012 – My wife and I travelled to Europe 5 weeks (Frankfurt, Prague, Paris, Canal Du Midi – South of France, Rapallo Italy, Small villages in Germany and even into Switzerland for a day)
May 2012 – My wife and I travelled to – Melbourne Australia (Business class upgrade on points) for a 5 day weekend.
September / October 2012 – Chiang Mai Thailand for a 4 day weekend. (Business class upgrade one way)
November / December 2012 – South East Asia 3 weeks with my adult son – Bangkok Thailand, Yangon Myanmar, Then a rail and road trip Bangkok to Siem Reap and Phnom Phen Cambodia into Vietnam and fly home to Perth Western Australia.
We are currently in Yangon.
The only downside to all this travelling is – “no – I cannot think of any” – (:-)
Love your work cheers Chris Kirwin
Perth Western Australia
Found you on Boarding Area. We pay for all of or own travel, so it’s nice to mix it up with Starwood and Hyatt and add in some great Priority Club stays. So thanks for the tips!
Congrats! Another reader coming over from Boarding Area!
I think I got here originally from Million Mile Secrets…thanks for all of the helpful tips!
I found you on Boarding Area. I would love more trip reports but I enjoy reading no matter what
I was driving to Trader Joe’s and milecollector texted me saying that we need to book some travelocity packages because a blogger from NNJ had explained a great Asia hotel trick. Even though the deal didn’t work out, I decided to check out her blog…few months later I found myself on the same flight as her.
I found it on Boarding area. Keep the good ideas coming.
I stumbled upon you through the boarding area twitter account. Finding new promotions is always nice!
Congrats – been following from boarding area.
I found you on Boarding Area
Great website! Read it daily. Congratulations on your 1 year anniversary! And thanks for all your hard work sharing information – we really appreciate it!
I found you on boarding area! Happy 1 yr anniversary and can’t wait to meet ya in one of these FTU or MegaDos :)
Happy 1 year anniversary! I found the blog via google. Have enjoyed all the tips.
Congratulations on your 1 year! I first came across your blog while browsing the headlines on boarding area, and after a few reads I now have you bookmarked!
I found you via boarding area about a year ago. Keep it going!!!
I stumbled upon you somehow,somewhere,sometime…not sure…but…i do enjoy your info. and tips!
I think i first found out about your travel blog while fooling around on “view from the wing” about 8 months ago.
Congrats!!! on your 1 year of frequent flyer blogging. There are quite a few blogs/websites out there…all seem to help our cause…miles and points…yours included!!!! Thanks!!!!
I cannot remember how I found you but I believe you were listed as another blogger’s list of regular blogs he/she reads. I check on your posts every morning and you’ve helped me understand a complicated but profitable world. Here’s to another year!
found you on boardingarea.. and glad i did!
Congrats! Stumbled across your website through boarding area. Thanks for all your do!
I think I found you from Boarding Area after finding gleff’s site first. Your blog is good as you don’t barrage the CC links and such. Look forward to meeting you at FTU.
Pick me! I cam across your blog in the Boarding Area website.
Congratulations on your 1 year! I found you on Boarding Area
Nicely done – as most blogs are abandoned well before one year!
I found your blog via Boarding Area when I started looking into taking a trip to Europe next spring on the cheap.
As to content, I think the unique angles for credit card bonuses and various “deals” are what I’m most interested in.
Thank you for your time and effort.
Found your blog when somebody gave you credit for explaining a deal, though I am not sure what the deal was.
I really like when you write posts like an outline with section titles and bullet points. They are great for quick reference!
Thanks and congratulations!
Angie your awsome! Great advice and keep the stories coming about your traveling! I’ll be reading
thanks for all the advice and wisdom
found your blog through MMS interview.
Found you on boarding Area. I love your down to earth approach and that instead of boring pics of food, you post awesome pics like the one of you in the suitcase- still my fave blogger pic lol.
Boarding area got me here…just keep up the great work!
I found this blog because I’m a sucker for free things, including free pens.
Found you through canadiankilometers. Always looking for points bonuses. Cheers!