Welcome both of you to Flyertalk.

Most of this website is dedicated to helping travelers find better deals for a better travel experience. That said, we really dive into the details around here. Poke around our forums and you will see what I mean. Each credit card issuer has it's own forum, as does each airline. In the credit card forums, you can find ways to maximize your points/miles earnings. In the airline forums, you can find many tips on using the points or miles that you've just earned. Good luck, and, in the meantime, I'm going to move this thread to the Information Desk forum, which has many entry level tips to get you headed in the right direction.

Moderator Note: Please follow the thread as it relocates to the Information Desk forum.