About

The Points Brief starts with the life you are already in. How you spend. Who you travel with. Which trip is next. Then we recommend the few cards, tools, and redemptions that turn that spending into tickets and nights you can actually use soon.

I am Drew Jolesch. I write this.

What this is for

Three beats, on purpose.

Travel. Where to go, and when it is worth going, for the time, money, and people you have. A family trip is different from a couples trip. A remote-work week is different from a weekend getaway. The advice should change with that.

Technology. The apps and gear that make those trips easier. If something does not save you time, money, or a headache, we will say so.

Finance, points, and miles. How to earn them for the life you are in. One or two cards is usually plenty. Time a welcome bonus to a trip, not to a points balance. If the points sit unused, the advice failed.

The blog is for the longer pieces. The emails are the brief: what changed, what is worth doing this month, and what you can ignore. If you only read one thing, make it the email.

How we write

We lead with lifestyle and itinerary. We name one to three cards, not a stack, and we say who should skip the offer. Helpful beats exhaustive. The next trip beats the someday stash. We would rather you skip a signup, downgrade a card, or take cash back than collect points you never redeem.

When an offer or a fee changes, we update the post or we kill it. A brief goes stale fast. If we use an affiliate link, we say so. Trust is the product.

The Brief

Some pieces stay free so you can see if this is for you. The emails and the deeper guides sit behind The Brief: $7 a month, or $70 a year. Cancel any month you stop getting value.

If you want travel advice that matches the trip on your calendar, you are in the right place.