Escape Artist Q&A: Dan Miller of Points With A Crew
Photos by Dan Miller
This column, Escape Artist, is a series about folks who have escaped. More importantly, this biweekly column is for those thinking about trading in their 9-to-5, leg-shackled-to-the-desk existences to forge their own way. The brave outliers featured in this collection of interviews are the digital nomads, online entrepreneurs and lifestyle trendsetters who decided it was time to say to hell with the humdrum and grab life by the roots.
Travel blogger Dan Miller runs Points With A Crew, a travel blog that covers Miller’s adventures with his wife and six children. Though Miller still has a 9-to-5 job, he’s not stuck in a cubicle. He wisely looks for travel deals and finds ways to use points and miles to travel on a budget with his family. Sometimes he and his wife take solo trips together, and the couple also plans one-on-one trips with each of their children. In early 2017, they look forward to traveling to Peru.
Paste Travel What was the “aha” moment that sparked this idea of travel for you?
Dan Miller My family has biannual family reunions in the summer. Back in 2013, as we looked ahead to the 2014 reunion at Lake Tahoe, I knew that buying eight cross-country tickets was going to be super expensive. I realized that miles and points might mean the difference between us being able to attend or not. I was familiar with the concept, but I never acted on it until then. So in 2013, I did my first “churn” of putting those miles and points to good use, and it’s been going ever since.
PT What inspired you to start blogging, and how did you first build a following?
DM I started Points With A Crew because it seemed like, at the time, most miles and points blogs were written by single guys or couples with no kids. They also seemed to predominantly feature first-class flights and five-star hotels. Although those types of reports are fun to read, it’s just not how my family (or most people I know) travel. I wanted to give a voice to families and say, “Hey, it’s okay to drive to your vacation and stay at a Holiday Inn Express!”
PT Why did you decide to focus on the “Points With A Crew” idea and brand?
DM There are SO many travel blogs, and it’s hard to find something that is truly yours. As I thought about how I could make my site different, I knew that one thing I have that others don’t is all these kids! Plus, I wanted to share tips for larger families. We run into problems traveling that other people (even other families) don’t encounter. Forget about having to book two hotel rooms—which is a given for our family—we often have to rent two cars when we’re traveling.