How a Custom Home Builder Funded 30 Years of Family Travel—Including 7 Trips to Turks and Caicos

Brenda Frucht has been the accountant for Benchmark Custom Homes for 29 years, managing the books while her husband runs operations. For three decades, they’ve been earning points through business spending, long before they even knew they could optimize the strategy.

Because of this, their three kids (now 23, 21 and 18) grew up traveling to places that would have been financially out of reach without points—seven trips to Turks and Caicos, regular flights to see family, spontaneous trips when emergencies hit and the freedom to say yes to travel without calculating the cost.

“Their childhoods would have been very different without the points game (and I wasn’t even very good at it),” Frucht said.

The Numbers: Variable But Substantial

• Monthly business spending: $25,000 to $100,000 (highly variable based on construction projects)
• Top spending categories: Lumber, windows, doors, flooring, concrete, cabinets, lighting
• Monthly points earned: 25,000 to 150,000 (mostly 1.5X via Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card)
• Years earning points: More than 30 years
• The challenge: Many construction vendors now charge credit card fees, limiting which purchases can go on cards. Frucht refuses to pay fees, so she’s selective about when cards make sense.

The Card Evolution: From Accidental to Strategic

Cards Frucht Held for 25+ Years (Before Finding 10xTravel):

• United Quest℠ Card: Her husband lived in Chicago before moving south, making United the obvious choice back then.
• Hilton Honors American Express Card ($0 annual fee, see rates and fees): “We’ve stayed in hundreds of Hampton Inns raising three kids and spending weekends at sporting and academic events.”
• Beaches Visa Signature® credit card: They fell in love with the Beaches Turks & Caicos all-inclusive resort in 2004, got the card, only to discover it didn’t actually get them free rooms. “I used this travel portal for years,” Frucht said. She’s sitting on points she can now finally use for a stay.
• Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Cards (one for each spouse): Free checked bags when flying American out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

For decades, Frucht earned points consistently but inefficiently. She was using consumer cards for business expenses, not seeing the need to expand into business cards.

Cards Frucht Holds After Finding 10xTravel:

“I had never had a business credit card,” Frucht said. “I knew we are personally liable for all business debt, so didn’t see the point of getting business cards.”

Then everything changed.

• Citi® / AAdvantage® Business™ World Elite Mastercard®: American Airlines is their primary carrier from Charlotte.
• Multiple Chase Ink Business cards: The Fruchts have several small businesses, so they referred each other and collected sign-up bonuses. Now they primarily use one Chase Ink Business Unlimited for regular spend (1.5X points on everything).
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Cards (one for each spouse): Frucht’s daily personal spend card; her husband’s was mainly for the sign-up bonus and to transfer points to him if needed.

The Status Strategy: Choosing Upgrades Over Points

Most points enthusiasts focus on maximizing earn rates. Frucht had a different priority— American Airlines Executive Platinum status and the upgrades that come with it.

“I like to get to Executive Platinum with AA,” Frucht said. “I like the good seats and the frequent upgrades (though less frequent lately).”

Her strategy evolved from:

• Old approach: Try to get both her and her husband to Executive Platinum level.
• Problem: At 200,000 loyalty points each, they’d both be low on upgrade lists.

To a new strategy of:

• Current approach: Concentrate about $400,000 annually on one card.
• Result: Often being at the top of the upgrade list.

This is a fascinating trade-off many business owners face: spread earning rewards across multiple programs or concentrate spend to achieve meaningful status in one.

For Frucht, reliable domestic first-class upgrades on American flights from Charlotte beat marginal category bonuses elsewhere.

The Real Value: Freedom and Flexibility

Frucht intentionally hasn’t calculated the monetary value of her points redemptions.

“As an accountant, I have purposefully never tried to calculate this,” Frucht said. “I like to think of our travel as ‘free’ when I know I could get some cash for the points instead.”

But the trips tell the story.

Recent Favorites:

• Greensboro, North Carolina, to Durango, Colorado: Just 9,000 AAdvantage miles each way. Visited Mesa Verde National Park. “My husband was amazed by the cliff dwellings,” Frucht said.
• Zemi Beach House, Anguilla: Used AAdvantage miles to get there and Hilton points for the stay.
• Park Hyatt St. Kitts: AAdvantage miles for the flights and transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards to Hyatt for the hotel.
• Washington Commanders Games: “Sometimes the best (trips) are just when the kids all fly in from their respective colleges to D.C. so we can all go see our Commanders together,” Frucht said. “Weekends that would cost an absolute fortune without points.”

When Points Become More Than Vacation

For Frucht’s family, points aren’t just about beach resorts and nice hotels. They’ve provided:

• Regular family visits: “Points have allowed us to visit extended family on a regular basis,” Frucht said. “When there is an unexpected death and funeral, the cost of a flight isn’t even a worry.”
• College support: “One of our daughters went to school in Houston,” Frucht said. “We visited her at least once a semester, and she flew home for holidays. Again, we gave little thought to the cost of the flights (or hotel rooms and rental cars in Houston).”
• Emergency problem-solving: When Frucht’s daughter showed up at Houston airport without her passport before a family vacation to Baha Mar, points made the solution possible. Her daughter had to reroute through Miami to catch the last flight to Nassau, Bahamas. “Booking that flight same day on the AA app with miles was only possible because of points,” Frucht said.

The Mistakes That Cost Her

Mistake No. 1: Not Using Business Cards Earlier

“I used personal cards for business expenses for years,” Frucht said. “I didn’t realize the business cards don’t affect my credit score.”

She said her credit score was periodically dinged for large amounts on personal cards even though she paid them off monthly. Business cards would have avoided this entirely.

Mistake No. 2: Managing Due Dates in Her Head

“As your number of cards grows, it’s hard to keep up with due dates,” Frucht said. “I relied on my brain for a while, and that was a mistake.”

Because they charge huge amounts and don’t always pay from the same checking account, she doesn’t use autopay, she said. Now she uses a spreadsheet to track due dates and payments.

The Bottom Line for Construction and Trade Businesses

Frucht’s 30-year journey offers an example strategy for construction, contracting and trade businesses:

The reality:

• Many vendors now charge card fees (typically 2.5% to 3%)
• Construction materials don’t fall into bonus categories
• Spend is highly variable based on project cycles

The strategy:

• Negotiate fee exclusions with key vendors based on relationship and payment history
• Choose cards that have an elevated flat earning rate for all non-category spend
• Use sign-up bonuses strategically when starting new projects
• Consider airline status concentration if you fly frequently on one airline
• Don’t overthink it. Consistent earning over time compounds.

The result:

• Decades of family travel for nearly free
• Freedom to say yes to trips without calculating cost
• Emergency flexibility when life happens
• Memories and experiences that wouldn’t have been financially feasible otherwise

Frucht isn’t a points optimization expert. She’ll be the first to tell you she still has a lot to learn. But after 30 years, three kids, seven trips to Turks and Caicos, regular flights across the country and countless family memories, she doesn’t need to be an expert. She just needed to be consistent.