Working With Others For Way More Points!

If you are fortunate enough to have a partner join the hobby with you, playing in two-player mode is an often overlooked opportunity. It can affect your point balances and redemption options just as much as signup bonuses, and in many cases, even more.

Having a second person to work with allows you to collect points and miles at nearly twice the speed. You can take advantage of referral bonuses, bank rules that allow point sharing, and systems that let you combine rewards into a single account. When done correctly, two-player mode dramatically improves both earning power and flexibility when it comes time to redeem.

Flexibility

Two-player mode works best in programs that make it easy to combine points.

Chase and Capital One are the frontrunners for two-player mode

1. Chase allows Ultimate Rewards transfers to a significant other living at the same address.
2. Each player can open cards within the same Chase ecosystem.
3. Both players can earn signup bonuses and referral bonuses.
4. Points can be combined into one Ultimate Rewards account.
5. Those points can be transferred to high-value partners like Hyatt, Southwest, and United.

This approach makes it easier to book premium flights or hotel stays without splitting redemptions across accounts.

1. Capital One allows point transfers to any other Capital One cardholder.
2. There is no household requirement.
3. Points can be combined with a parent, sibling, or friend.

This makes it easy to pool points for a shared trip.

Utilizing two-player mode in other systems

Other programs can still work in two-player mode, though with more restrictions.

1. Citi allows ThankYou point transfers to anyone with a ThankYou account.
2. Transferred Citi points expire after 90 days.
3. Because of this, only combine Citi points when you are ready to redeem.
4. Take advantage of status and credit card perks from co-branded hotel and airline cards when in two-player mode
5. Book the reservation on one person’s account to extend card benefits like free checked bags, priority boarding, early or late checkout, and possible upgrades to both travelers.

Referral Points

One of the biggest advantages of two-player mode is referral bonuses. Most cards offer a bonus for referring a friend, and that friend can be your significant other. This is why we generally don’t recommend authorized users instead of applying separately.

Referral bonuses allow you to earn points without additional spending.

How referral bonuses work:

• Player 1 (P1) signs up for a card and earns the signup bonus.
• P1 refers Player 2 (P2) for the same card.
• P2 earns the signup bonus.
• P1 earns referral points once P2 is approved.

With certain cards, you can repeat this process across multiple products within the same bank, including personal and business cards, before moving on to another system.

Referral Points Tool

We created a tool to make earning referral points easier.

Here's how it works:

1. You refer a friend to Points Navigator by email or text.
2. If they click an “Apply Now” link for a card you already have, your referral is applied automatically.
3. Once they are approved, you earn the referral points.
4. You simply enter your referral links and invite others.

Learn more here

Two-player mode rewards coordination. When done correctly, it can significantly increase both your point balances and the quality of your redemptions.