Join Spencer Reese and Carissa Rawson, Director of Travel and Marketing at Rove and Air Force veteran, for an in-depth discussion about maximizing credit card rewards and travel benefits as a military service member.

Carissa shares her journey from enlisted Arabic translator to becoming a leading voice in military credit card content, having written for The Points Guy, NerdWallet, USA Today, and Forbes.

Building Credit from Scratch

• Starting with secured credit cards (Capital One recommended)
• Using personal loans from Navy Federal or USAA to establish credit history
• Career starter loans for new officers
• Building from no credit to premium cards

Strategic Card Acquisition

• Best starter cards: Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Strata Premier, Amex Green
• Understanding bank application rules and restrictions
• The famous 5/24 rule with Chase
• Timing your applications strategically

Military-Specific Benefits

• SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) vs MLA (Military Lending Act) protections
• Annual fee waivers on premium cards
• Advantage for reservists and guard members opening cards before active orders
• Two-player mode: How dependents can also benefit from MLA protections

Premium Cards Worth Getting

• American Express Platinum Card ($895 annual fee waived)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve
• Capital One Venture X (SCRA benefits)
• Hilton Honors Amex Aspire
• Multiple Amex Platinum cards strategy

Tools and Resources Mentioned

• Award Wallet - Tracks points balances, expiration dates, and travel itineraries
• Seats.aero - Award flight search engine
• Max My Point - Hotel search tool for maximizing FHR credits
• PointMe (roame.travel) - Award alert tool for flexible travel
• Use Your Credits - Tracking Amex statement credits
• Card Pointers - Auto-adds Amex offers and tracks credits
• FSAFeds.gov - Application rules by bank
• Rove Miles - Earning transferable points through shopping portal and hotel bookings

Rove Miles Platform Highlights

• 13,000+ shopping portal stores (vs Rakuten's 3,900)
• New "Loyalty Eligible" feature - book hotels while maintaining elite status benefits
• Earn Rove miles that transfer to 12+ airline partners
• Commission-based earning rates (up to 75x miles per dollar on some bookings)
• Immediate points posting on non-refundable bookings

Guest Bio:

Carissa Rawson served 7 years in the US Air Force (2009-2016) as a cryptologic language analyst (Arabic translator), including a deployment to Jordan supporting counter-ISIS operations. She's written extensively about military credit card benefits for major publications and now helps travelers earn rewards at Rove Miles.

Website: rovemiles.com

Contact: Reach out to Military Money Manual at [email protected] or on Instagram @militarymoneymanual

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Spencer and Jamie offer one-on-one Military Money Mentor sessions. Get your personal military money and personal finance questions answered in a confidential coaching call. militarymoneymanual.com/mentor

Over 20,000 military servicemembers and military spouses have graduated from the 100% free course available at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3

In the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course, you can learn how to apply for the most premium credit cards and get special military protections, such as waived annual fees, on elite cards like The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card.

• https://militarymoneymanual.com/amex-platinum-military/

• https://militarymoneymanual.com/chase-sapphire-reserve-military/

Learn how active duty military, military spouses, and Guard and Reserves on 30+ day active orders can get your annual fees waived on premium credit cards in the Ultimate Military Credit Cards Course at militarymoneymanual.com/umc3

If you want to maximize your military paycheck, check out Spencer's 5 star rated book The Military Money Manual: A Practical Guide to Financial Freedom on Amazon or at shop.militarymoneymanual.com.

Want to be confident with your TSP investing? Check out the Confident TSP Investing course at militarymoneymanual.com/tsp to learn all about the Thrift Savings Plan and strategies for growing your wealth while in the military. Use promo code "podcast24" for $50 off. Plus, for every course sold, we'll donate one course to an E-4 or below- for FREE!

If you have a question you would like us to answer on the podcast, please reach out on instagram.com/militarymoneymanual.