Learn how Travel Advantage Loyalty Points work, how Elite and Turbo members earn points, where you can redeem them, and how to maximize their value.
Every rewards program sounds amazing until you try to use the points.
You spend a ridiculous amount of money, accumulate what looks like a small fortune in rewards, and then discover they’re worth approximately $7 toward a hotel room. Fantastic.
That’s one of the things I like about Travel Advantage’s Loyalty Points program. You don’t have to constantly book trips to earn points. They’re an additional benefit of maintaining your Elite membership, and they accumulate whether you’re traveling that month or not.
With Elite + Turbo, you can accumulate points even faster.
What I find especially interesting is what you can actually do with them. Between hotels, cruises, activities, and Life Experiences in destinations you may never have considered visiting, there are quite a few ways to put those points to work.
Let’s get into how many you earn, what they’re worth, and how to use them.
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What Are Loyalty Points?
Loyalty Points are an exclusive benefit of the Travel Advantage Elite membership, including Elite members who purchase the optional Turbo upgrade.
Unlike traditional travel rewards programs, where you generally earn points by spending money on hotels, flights, or credit cards, Travel Advantage awards Loyalty Points through your qualifying membership payments. Aka by just paying your monthly subscription.
You don’t need to book a trip every month to earn them.
You don’t need to hit a spending threshold.
You simply maintain your qualifying Elite membership, and the points accumulate.
Each Loyalty Point has an approximate redemption value of $1 USD toward eligible purchases through the Travel Advantage platform.
So, if you have 500 Loyalty Points, that’s potentially $500 you can apply toward eligible travel.
These points aren’t cash, and you can’t withdraw them. They’re a membership benefit designed to help reduce your travel expenses.
The best part is that you can accumulate points while you’re busy planning your next adventure, even if that adventure is still sitting on your Pinterest board.
How Do You Earn Loyalty Points?
There are two ways to accumulate Loyalty Points through the Elite membership: standard Elite and Elite with Turbo.
Both give you points through qualifying monthly membership payments, but Turbo allows you to accumulate them faster.
Elite Membership: 120 Loyalty Points Per Month
With the standard Elite membership, you earn 120 Loyalty Points each month, starting with your first monthly membership payment.
Here’s how it works:
- You pay a one-time $120 activation fee and your first $120 monthly membership payment when you join.
- Your first monthly payment earns you 120 Loyalty Points.
- Each successful monthly payment afterward earns another 120 Loyalty Points.
Your points continue accumulating every month, whether you’re traveling or not.
You don’t have to redeem them immediately, either. You can let them build while maintaining your active Elite membership and use them toward eligible travel bookings when you’re ready.
It’s like building a little travel fund in the meantime.
Elite + Turbo: Double Your Monthly Points
Turbo is an optional one-time $250 upgrade to the Elite membership.
With Turbo, you receive an additional 250 Loyalty Points when you activate the upgrade, and your ongoing monthly accumulation DOUBLES to 240 points.
If you purchase Elite and Turbo together at enrollment, your initial Loyalty Points total is 490 points.
That’s a combination of the Elite enrollment benefit, your first monthly points, and the Turbo activation bonus.
From there, you continue earning 240 Loyalty Points with each qualifying monthly payment.
| Benefit | Elite | Elite + Turbo |
|---|---|---|
| Points at signup | 120 | 490 |
| Ongoing monthly points | 120 | 240 |
| Optional Turbo upgrade | Not included | $250 one-time |
| Loyalty Unlocked eligibility | Yes | Yes |
| Eligible travel redemptions | Yes | Yes |
The difference adds up, especially if you’re someone who plans to maintain your membership and travel regularly.
I personally have Turbo, and I love it because it gives me more points to work with when I’m comparing travel options. It also comes with additional membership benefits beyond the points themselves.
What Can You Book With Loyalty Points?
This is where things get interesting.
Loyalty Points aren’t limited to one type of vacation. They can be used toward eligible purchases across several categories on the Travel Advantage platform.
These include:
- Hotels and resorts
- Cruises
- Flights
- Activities and excursions
- Airport transfers
- Getaways
- Life Experiences
- Eligible Lifestyle Mall purchases
The redemption amount varies depending on the booking, but having several categories to choose from gives you flexibility.
Maybe you’re planning a Caribbean cruise and want to put points toward your booking.
Maybe you’ve been looking at a hotel in Paris but haven’t convinced yourself to spend the money yet.
Or maybe you stumble across a Life Experience in a destination you’ve never even heard of, and now you’re suddenly you’re looking at flights.
That’s what I love about exploring travel options. Sometimes the best trips aren’t the ones you’ve been planning for years. They’re the places you discover while looking for something completely different.
How Loyalty Point Redemptions Work
Let’s say you’re looking at an eligible hotel reservation priced at $800.
If the booking allows you to redeem 150 Loyalty Points, you can apply those points toward the reservation and reduce the amount you pay to $650, assuming there are no additional charges.
Even if you have 1,000 points available, the maximum redemption for that particular booking is still 150 points.
Your remaining points stay available for future eligible purchases.
The same general principle applies to other travel categories. Each eligible booking has its own redemption allowance.
For Life Experiences, only one Loyalty Points redemption is permitted per booking, up to the maximum amount displayed for that experience.
I recommend comparing the final booking price after applying your points rather than focusing solely on how many points you can redeem.
After all, the goal is to spend less money on travel.
Loyalty Points vs. Travel Credits: What’s the Difference?
Travel Advantage has two separate rewards systems: Loyalty Points and Travel Credits.
They’re easy to confuse, but they serve different purposes.
Loyalty Points are what your Elite membership gives you. Travel Credits are what eligible bookings give back.
Here’s how they compare:
| Loyalty Points | Travel Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| How you earn them | Qualifying Elite membership payments | Eligible travel bookings |
| Value | Approximately $1 per point | $0.01 per credit |
| Who earns them | Elite and Elite + Turbo members | All membership levels |
| Earned without booking travel | Yes | No |
| Redeemed at checkout | Yes | Yes |
| Cash value | None | None |
Travel Credits are earned when you make eligible bookings through the platform.
You don’t earn Travel Credits on Life Experiences, car rentals, or Flash Deals.
Travel Credits don’t have a fixed expiration date while your membership remains eligible, but they’re forfeited if you cancel your membership.
Both Loyalty Points and Travel Credits can help reduce your out-of-pocket travel expenses. If your eligible rewards don’t cover the full amount of a booking, you pay the remaining balance using your payment method.
I think of Loyalty Points as the larger membership benefit and Travel Credits as an additional opportunity to save on future bookings.
What Is Loyalty Unlocked? The 12-Month Elite Benefit
This is one of my favorite parts of the entire Loyalty Program.
After maintaining your Elite membership for 12 consecutive active months, you can qualify for Loyalty Unlocked.
This applies to both standard Elite and Elite + Turbo members.
Once you qualify, you receive a Loyalty Unlocked badge that allows you to apply your accumulated Loyalty Points toward up to 100% of the room cost for up to two travelers on qualifying Life Experiences displaying the badge.
That’s a pretty significant benefit.
Imagine discovering a beautiful destination you’ve never considered visiting, and having enough accumulated points to cover the eligible room cost.
Maybe it’s a coastal town you’ve never heard of, a resort surrounded by mountains, or a destination that looks so ridiculous in photographs you have to see it for yourself.
This is the kind of travel opportunity that makes me excited about the membership.
There are a few important details to understand.
The benefit applies to the qualifying room cost, not necessarily every expense associated with the trip. Flights, transportation, additional fees, and other expenses may still be your responsibility.
The benefit is also limited to qualifying Life Experiences displaying the Loyalty Unlocked badge, and redemption is subject to the program’s rules.
Why the 12 Consecutive Months Matter
The qualifying period is based on maintaining an active Elite membership for 12 consecutive months.
You can’t pay for six months, stop paying for several months, reactivate your membership, and expect to pick up where you left off.
The whole point of the Loyalty Program and Loyalty Unlocked is to reward the company’s loyal members.
Keyword: Loyal.
If your membership becomes inactive beyond the program’s permitted suspension limits, your qualifying period resets.
That means you need to complete another qualifying 12-month period to earn the benefit.
For anyone planning to use Loyalty Unlocked, maintaining an active membership is important.
I cover the Life Experiences program in more detail in a separate article, including what these experiences are, how they work, and why I think they’re one of the most interesting parts of Travel Advantage.
Do Travel Advantage Loyalty Points Expire?
No, they do not expire.
Loyalty Points are designed to accumulate while you maintain your qualifying Elite membership, and maintaining your membership matters.
If a payment fails, your Loyalty Points become locked until billing resumes.
If you downgrade from Elite to a lower membership level, you forfeit your accumulated Loyalty Points.
Points are also tied to the primary membership holder. They can’t be transferred to another person, exchanged for cash, or withdrawn.
Another important rule involves cancellations. Loyalty Points redeemed toward a booking are non-refundable if that booking is canceled.
For Life Experiences booked using Loyalty Points, a membership that remains delinquent for more than 30 days can result in cancellation of the experience.
How I Would Maximize My Loyalty Points
I’m a big fan of finding ways to get more travel for my money, but I don’t think using points automatically means you’re getting the best deal.
Here’s how I’d approach it.
Compare the Final Booking Price
If one hotel costs $700 and lets you redeem 200 points, your out-of-pocket cost could be $500.
If another comparable hotel costs $450 without using any points, the second hotel is still cheaper.
I would rather save the points for another trip than use them just because they’re available.
Look Beyond Hotels
Hotels are an obvious place to start, but they’re not the only option.
Check cruises, activities, transfers, and Life Experiences when planning a trip.
Sometimes a smaller expense, like an excursion or airport transfer, is a convenient place to use accumulated points.
Other times, saving them for a larger eligible experience may make more sense.
Take Advantage of Loyalty Unlocked
If you’re planning to maintain your Elite membership long-term, pay attention to your 12-month qualifying period.
Loyalty Unlocked can create an opportunity to apply more of your accumulated points toward qualifying Life Experiences.
For someone who enjoys discovering new destinations, that’s a benefit worth exploring.
Consider Turbo If You Travel Regularly
Turbo doubles your ongoing monthly point accumulation and provides an additional activation bonus.
If you’re consistently using Travel Advantage to plan and book trips, the extra points may be worthwhile.
I would look at how often you travel, the types of bookings you make, and whether you expect to use the additional benefits before deciding.
Who Is the Elite Loyalty Program Best For?
I think the Elite Loyalty Program makes the most sense for people who genuinely enjoy traveling and want to make it a regular part of their lives.
You don’t necessarily have to travel every month to benefit from accumulating points.
Maybe you take one or two bigger vacations each year.
Maybe you’re working through a bucket list of destinations.
Or maybe you’re the person who sees a photo of some beautiful little village on the other side of the world and immediately starts figuring out how to get there.
I get it.
The ability to accumulate points between trips is appealing because you can continue building your available rewards while planning future travel.
On the other hand, if you rarely travel, don’t plan to use the platform, or aren’t interested in maintaining a monthly membership, Elite may not be the best fit.
Learn More About Travel Advantage
I’ve explored the platform, compared prices, and broken down the benefits so you can see for yourself. Whether you’re curious or considering a membership, here’s where I’d start.
My Thoughts on Travel Advantage Loyalty Points
What I appreciate about Travel Advantage is that the membership offers more than access to discounted travel.
The Loyalty Points program adds another benefit that can make trips more affordable, while Loyalty Unlocked gives long-term Elite members something additional to look forward to.
I also love that the platform introduces me to travel possibilities I might not have considered otherwise.
There are so many places in the world that never make the usual bucket lists, and sometimes all it takes is discovering one to completely change your travel plans.
Read my full guide to the Travel Advantage membership to see how the platform works, what’s included, and how the different membership options compare and costs, before deciding whether it’s right for you.
Until next time,
About the Author
A former travel agent, frequent traveler, and firm believer that seeing more of the world shouldn’t mean spending more than you have to.
I share honest travel reviews, real price comparisons, and practical ways to make your travel budget go further. Whether you’re planning your next trip or looking for a better way to book it, I’m here to show you what else is possible.
