Hey everyone! The name is Robb, the creator of The Point Calculator.
I created The Point Calculator website in March of 2017, which was shortly after I jumped into the game of earning points and miles. The idea came from calculating which credit cards would give me the best value using Microsoft Excel.
Then this crazy idea popped in my head: What if I was to create an online calculator to do this so that others can easily calculator rewards? And then I through about it even more: What if it had hundreds of cards that could just be compared side by side?
Being the Mathematics Major that I am and looking for a fun challenge, I went with that idea and now The Point Calculator is a thing.
Building the site
When I started building The Point Calculator in 2017, I only had an ounce of HTML knowledge and no knowledge of any other web language. The only programming knowledge I had was come C++ and Quick Basic (QBasic)... neither of which is of much use for a website.
When the site launched, the credit card and rewards calculators were made out of ASCII characters ('+', '-', '=' and other symbols) and featured really basic HTML.
Fast forward to now and I've learned a lot more HTML as well as JQuery, PHP, SQL, and some basic Javascript. It's been a really fun learning these languages and the hands-on application has really helped.
Between 2017 and now, I've taught myself several programming languages and learned about hundreds of cards from different countries to create the site.
It's a hobby that I enjoy and I'm always down for the challenge of creating new and exciting ways to calculate rewards. Plus, I get to help lots of people and I receive messages from time to time thanking me for making these calculators.
Future plans
As time goes on, I plan on adding as many credit card calculators and rewards programs as possible as well as adding features that can better help users make good decisions on which cards might be best.
I plan on adding as many rewards programs and credit card calculators for the United States and Canada.
For other countries outside of the US and Canada, my main focus will be credit card calculators as it is a little challenging to dive into rewards programs for other countries, especially for one person. I've already started down this path as I provide over 100 credit card calculators between with both the United Kingdom and Australia (and I do provide some point/mile value calculators and conversion calculators for these countries as well).
My elite status
I hold elite status with a few loyalty programs. I don't chase status as much as I used to, but I do try to at least hold my Marriott Bonvoy status every year at minimum due to the benefits.
| Loyalty Program | Current Status |
| Marriott Bonvoy Titanium |
Marriott is my main hotel brand (since they took over SPG). Between me and my wife, we have about six Marriott credit cards which comes out to a lot of elite nights and free night awards. I make it my goal to hit Titanium every year... this is currently the only status that I "chase". |
|---|---|
| IHG Rewards Club Platinum Elite |
IHG randomly gave me IHG Spire status after my one IHG stay in 2019 at InterContinental Yokohama Grand. Due to Covid I held the status until 2022 and even purchased IHG Ambassador status to keep it another year for 2023... guess how many IHG hotels I stayed in between 2019 and 2023? Zero. So I let it go. I only have status now because of the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card which I currently only hold onto because of the high credit line. |
| Hilton Honors Gold |
I receive complimentary Hilton Honors Gold due to having The Platinum Card. I stay at a Hilton maybe once every two years. Even still... it's nice to have status when I do stay at one. |
| United Silver |
I receive complimentary United Silver due to having Marriott Titanium. While Delta is my "preferred airline", I will fly any of the big three... it really depends on the layover and the cost of the flight. I have flown United several times since having Titanium status and the free checked bags are appreciated, so I do not take this status for granted. |
| Enterprise Gold |
Enterprise is my primary car rental company. I rent cars several times per year and I don't rent with anyone else so it has been very easy to build status with them. I appreciate the complimentary upgrades and small discounts on rentals. |
My favorite hotels and resorts
I've been all around the world and have come across some very excellent resorts, some of which I've visited multiple times. Here are a few of my favorites
| Resort & Location | About |
|
Excellence Playa Mujeres
Cancun, Mexico
|
Favorite all-inclusive resort and probably one of my top-resorts of all time. I visit this resort just about every year and have taken both family and friends. |
|
W Maldives
Male, Maldives
|
Words cannot describe the fun time I had celebrating my wifes 35th birthday here. The room was fantastic and the food and drinks were great! I will plan on revisiting this place with family in the near future! |
|
The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Hotel
Bali, Indonesia
|
Booked a week at one of the luxury pool villas and it was paradise. The food was also top-tier. I plan on visiting this place again in 2025 for a friends birthday. |
|
Blue Palace, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa
Crete, Greece
|
I had been eying this place since Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) was a thing. Even had it as a background for a program I designed at work. Finally got to go here for my 35th birthday. While it was a tad bit cold when we went (May), I still had a blast and would happily go back! |
Countries I have visited
My first time traveling out of country was November 2015 to Cancun, but it wasn't until 2017 in which me and my wife took a weekend trip to Amsterdam that I caught the travel bug. I had a blast and wanted to travel to many more places... so that's what we did. I found myself out of country several times per year, hitting as much as 3 different countries during these trips.
Here's the places I've been over the years:
| Year | Places traveled |
|---|---|
| 2017 |
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| 2018 |
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| 2019 |
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| 2020 |
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| 2021 |
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| 2022 |
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| 2023 |
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We also frequent various places we haven't been in the United States often which would make the list above much, much longer.
A few photos from my travels
I'm truly grateful for the places I've been able to visit on points and miles. Never would I have been able to visit so many different countries otherwise.
Bali — Enjoying the luxury pool villa at The Laguna.
Crete — Relaxing at Blue Palace with wine in hand celebrating my 35th birthday.
Mexico City — Out at the Teotihuacan climbing pyramids.
Paris — A tired version of me after taking the steps to the top of the Eiffel.
Tokyo — Having a fun time with friends and family in Tokyo.
Maldives — Taking a toast on the rented private island at the W Maldives for my wife's 35th.
Social networks and message boards
You can spot me in the wild across various message boards and websites. There's only 1 me and listed below are those me's on the websites I find myself on frequently.
- Twitter: @ItsRobbTheThird
- Instagram: ItsRobbTheThird
- Doctor of Credit: RobbTPC
- MyFico Message Boards: Komp
- Reddit: ThePointCalculator
If you wish to follow the site instead of me, myself, and I, you can check out the website's socials.
That's all folks!
That's it!
I hope you find the site to be useful in calculating rewards and I appreciate everyone that has used the site over the years. I also appreciate all of the kind messages I've received via social networking and emails.
As of March 2024, the site has hit a whopping 6 million views since July 2021.
There's also the 2 million views between the time the site was created in 2017 up until June 30th, 2021. That's a total of over 8 million views in which I am truly amazed at.
I look forward to continuing to help out the credit card community.
Stay awesome *points at you* and Happy Calculating!
