We’re proud to announce two new members to the 10xTravel writing team. There were a lot of great applicants, and it was incredibly hard to narrow it down but we’re excited to introduce our new team members Emily Jaekel and Jeffrey Lucas Jr. You’ve seen some of their work around here already as they’re putting up some great content for you already!

You’ll be seeing some work from them out soon, and we hope you welcome them warmly to the 10xTravel team. Without further ado, here’s some Q&A with them to help you get to know them better.

Emily Jaeckel

Tell Us A Bit About Yourself

Emily JaeckelI’m a bluegrass music lover who grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey. I’m currently on what I’m calling a “corporate sabbatical” where my boyfriend, my dog, and I are driving around the country in a 1997 Chevy camper van. I’m looking forward to listening to great tunes and exploring the country.

How Did You Get Started With Points And Miles?

I actually saw a 10xTravel ad on Facebook that went through how Bryce traveled to Thailand for almost free and I was immediately hooked. I convinced my boyfriend that we could do it too and after a year and a half of earning points, we finally took that trip in February, 2019.

What’s Your Favorite Trip You’ve Taken With Points and Miles

Thailand, no contest. It was a kind of luxury neither of us had experienced before and we loved learning about a different culture. We do have a big trip to Greece and Croatia coming up so there may be some new competition for my favorite trip.

What’s The One Piece Of Advice You Would Give To People New To Points And Miles

I’ve spent many hours trying to convince my family and friends to get on the points and miles train and my first and most critical piece of advice is to use credit cards responsibly. The points and miles quickly lose their value if you put yourself into credit card debt.

What Are Some Of Your Favorite Cards?

I am a big fan of the combined power of earning points with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and redeeming them using my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. When I’m not trying to meet a minimum spend this is typically how I rack up a lot of Ultimate Rewards points. I would also like to give an honorable mention to the Southwest credit cards that earned me the Companion Pass for 3 full years.

Anything Else You’d Like To Share With The Points And Miles Community?

Just really excited to be here and writing with 10xTravel!

Jeffrey Lucas Jr.

Tell Us A Bit About Yourself

Jeffrey Lucas JrI’m a pastor and a homeschool dad to five kids and have a background in the financial services industry. We love to travel during the off-peak season because our kids aren’t in formal school.

I have a lot of hobbies including roasting my own coffee, raising chickens, playing instruments, blogging and of course points and miles.

I like to think of myself as a ‘family-friendly Hemingway’.

How Did You Get Started With Points And Miles?

A friend told me about 10xTravel.

Within 48 hours of hearing about it I had read the (then) E-book and applied for my wife’s and my first cards.

What’s Your Favorite Trip You’ve Taken With Points and Miles

We’ve been keeping it domestic. With our kid’s ages and interests, we use points and miles to take a couple of week long vacations per year.

Taking nine people to Destin, Fl was my first real redemption and so far my favorite trip. It made points and miles ‘click’ for me and my family and we made a lot of fun memories.

What’s The One Piece Of Advice You Would Give To People New To Points And Miles

Just start. Whether you travel now or not.

Apply for a simple card or two, cash in the points and see if it’s for you.

People find reasons to ‘nay-say’ it before they even start. There’s no risk in applying for a card or two and seeing how it pans out.

What Are Some Of Your Favorite Cards?

I love my Chase Sapphire Reserve®. The trip insurance has saved me over $700, and I use the 1.5 redemptions on the Pay Yourself Back feature and the portal often.

The Capital One Venture Card is quickly becoming a new favorite of mine, because we often use vacation rentals rather than hotels. The ‘point eraser’ feature is helpful for those stays.

Lastly, the American Express® Gold Card with 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1X). is another new favorite as that is easily our largest monthly expense.

Anything Else You’d Like To Share With The Points And Miles Community?

I’m no world traveler.

Although I’d like to see more countries, the logistics and responsibilities of a large family make that challenging, but points and miles are still fun and helpful for our family.

Using points and miles greatly reduces our travel budget and increases the quality of our trips. Points and miles have helped my family bond together and dream bigger.

I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with the community.