I’ve changed since I started TPG – but it’s one thing that has remained the same throughout my life
As we approach the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Molecule, I look back at how far the business has gone since I started at the speed of my work on Wall Street. A lot has changed over the past 15 years, but one thing remains the same: the power of points and miles to change the travel experience.
Related: Start your trip with points, miles and credit cards
I was really a kid before becoming the “key point guy” and my first job was booking a trip for my dad. Travelocity has just been launched and although he thinks it’s a long and complicated process to use it, I think it’s an easy task. I processed all his reservations and charged him only $10.
By the time I was 12, my dad had accumulated so many common flyer miles from his work trips that he challenged me to book a trip for our family of six using only airline miles and credit card points. challenge accepted. I left big and decided to Grand Caymanman. (I probably got some inspiration from John Grisham’s novel The Firm.
I booked my mom and me on my flight at Miami International Airport (MIA) while he and my siblings kept flying. I was panicked and thought it was either an epic victory or an epic failure. If it were the latter, I might have been rooted for a long time. But when we landed, my dad met us on the plane with his biggest smile and assured me that I knocked it out of the park.
It was this trip that inspired my love for travel planning and points and miles.
After college, when I went to Morgan Stanley as a company recruiter, I traveled around the country, traveling with credit card points and frequent flyer miles while trying to convince college students to work in technical work. It was during the Great Depression, I was rich but cash-poor. (My boss once joked that my bonus wasn’t fired.) Flying first class, staying in a hotel and enjoying a free breakfast is actually cheaper than going to the grocery store or eating in New York City.
In 2010, my then-boyfriend encouraged me to turn my passion for travel, points and miles into a business. I initially started with TPG as an online form where people can submit information about their views and what they want to travel. Then I only paid $50 and I would give them personalized advice and help them book their trips with points.
That same year, I started writing a blog about travel, points and miles and published my first story on June 7, 2010. The site did take off after an interview with Seth Kugel, a columnist for “Frugal Travel” in The New York Times.
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Actually, I found his email in my spam folder and asked for an interview with me, but I’m a month old. He is a staunch opponent of frequent flyer miles and credit cards, even calling it “useless” in his original email. I emailed him asking him to take him to lunch so I could change my mind. During that lunch I actually helped him book a trip to Brazil to meet his long-distance girlfriend. His eyes lit up and I knew his entire outlook for the points and Miles might have changed.
After traveling in Brazil, Seth wrote an article about the key steps that reading TPG should be a pivotal step for anyone who wants to get into points and miles. He links directly to the TPG website (and crashes for the time being!) and gives the site valuable credibility in Google’s eyes.
As a travel expert, his recognition of me “Point Guy” has forever changed the trajectory of the website. Nine months later, I quit my job at Morgan Stanley and became a full-time “points guy”.
Today, TPG has a headquarters in New York City and employs nearly 150 people worldwide. They bring you the latest news on loyalty programs, points and miles, travel and more.
Looking back over the past 15 years, many things have changed in the travel and credit card industry. Today, I have a credit card that didn’t exist in 2010. A new loyalty program has been created, and the new airline has already taken the sky. I have also experienced changes in my personal life. I’m now the father of two boys, Dean and Cooper, and it’s so exciting to start showing them the world.
I really think we are in the “platinum age of travel”, not only from an elite identity and credit card perspective, but also because of how airlines continue to innovate. The competition to create the best airport lounges and the most luxurious in-flight experiences continues, but these products (and travel in general) are very easy to use, especially if you take advantage of the loyalty ecosystem. This is something powerful.
Throughout my entire career (and indeed my life), points and miles have been there, allowing me to make memories with my family, build successful businesses and share my passion with millions of TPG readers around the world. Without them, I wouldn’t be today.
My biggest advice is simple: whether it’s back in your pocket or transferable rewards to unlock luxury travel, find the value of your daily expenses. Points are pretty much everything we do, so if you don’t spend every dollar you’re missing out on.
Thank you for helping point out what the point is today, this is the next 15 years!
