I preach about points and miles to anyone who will listen. As a matter of fact, I am funding most of my hotel stays and flights this trip with points and miles.

My flight to Malta was on Condor Air in business class, which I paid for with JetBlue miles. My hotel stay for two weeks in Malta at the 5 star Hyatt Centric was covered by Chase points – yep, the entire two weeks. My next stop, Scotland, is also covered with points, with both Edinburgh and Inverness stays paid for with IHG points and Chase points.

These stays and the airfare would have cost me almost $10,000 if I had paid cash.

But what most people do not tell you when they tell you about the fabulous trips they have taken “for free” is that there are no free rides.

Literally.

I have spent probably $200 on rideshares since arriving in Malta two weeks ago. Yes, I could have taken buses, but Malta’s bus system is confusing, and frankly, I wanted easy this trip. I have walked miles and miles, but some places are just not accessible without wheels – or a ferry.

Food, of course, isn’t covered by points, nor are most of the historic sites you want to visit. You can sometimes use points to purchase excursions through a credit card travel portal, but that 25 euro boat ride is really not the best use of your hard-earned points.

The trick is learning when to use your points and when to use a credit card to earn more. That’s a subject far too extensive to cover in this short post.

But just remember – there are no free rides.

And really, what’s $200 in rideshare charges when your points have already funded $10,000 in travel?