Travelling Lens

A Travel, Photography and Points Blog

  • About
  • Blog
    • Photography
      • Client Photography
      • Gear and Products
    • Travel Destinations
      • Australia
      • Explore Perth
      • Greece
      • Iceland
      • Malaysia
      • New Zealand
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Itineraries
    • Reviews
      • Stay
      • Eat & Drink
      • Lounges
      • Cabin Review
    • Personal
    • Expat Life
  • Newsletter
  • Portfolio
  • Contact

Rocky Mountain’s best short hikes, exact steps to redeem business class flights and practical photo tips for when you feel unmotivated.

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

Now, onto this week’s letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

  • 🥾 When you receive this letter, I’ll be exploring Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado! Excited to see some epic mountain views and stunning lakes and waterfalls. Dirt In My Shoes is my go-to National Park blog, written by a former park ranger. If you’re thinking about visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, here are 5 of the best and easy short hikes—I’m trying them all and will report back.
  • 💳 Become a points & miles expert using this 4-step framework (and use these 8 tips to stop leaving points and miles on the table).
  • ✈️ Aspirational travel in business or first class seats using points can be hard to find and book. This points & miles expert gives you her exact blueprint to book your next seat in business class, in under 16 minutes (real life example used).

(Like what you’re reading? Pass it along to someone who might love it too. And if that’s you, make sure to subscribe here! Thanks so much 😀)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Posted by Janice on May 24, 2025 Leave a Comment

Emirates First Class flight redemption changes, avoiding in-flight theft and how to take better outdoor photos

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

Now, onto this week’s Travel + Photo letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

💰 Rakuten was thecashback portal other expats recommended to us when we first moved to the US.Watch this 11 minute breakdown from Frequent Miler to learn exactly how you can earn AMEX Membership Reward points with Rakuten and how you can optimise your Rakuten cashbacks or points earnings.

✈️ Most Australians will have a stash of Qantas points, and we Qantas Frequent Flyer members narrowed avoid some bad Emirates news this week. Emirates announced recently that First Class Emirates redemptions are now limited to Emirates’ Skyward Silver, Gold, and Platinum tier members from May 12, 2025 onward. Thankfully (for now), Qantas members regardless of status level still have access to redeeming First Class Emirates flights via Qantas!

​
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Posted by Janice on May 17, 2025 Leave a Comment

Demystifying the US credit Score system, a huge 130K points credit card deal and 10 common travel photography mistakes to avoid

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

Now, onto this week’s letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

  • 💳 As an Aussie Expat in the US, the US credit score system was really confusing when we first arrived in the US (it’s totally different in Australia). This 1 hour All The Hacks episode is an excellent deep dive into everything you need to know about credit reports, credit scores and their real-world impact.
  • 💰 Turn on the TV and it feels like economic doom and gloom right now. But don’t let that stop you from traveling. There are still savvy ways to save money and take that next trip in 2025. I’ve also noticed some great flight prices and award deals right now too (maybe it’s the airlines struggling to fill seats).
  • ✈️ After 48 flights (and counting) in the last 21 months, I’m nailed down my flight research and booking process into a well-oiled machine. This 2308 word ultimate guide shows you exactly what I do. You might find it useful if you struggle with this part of the travel planning process.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Posted by Janice on May 10, 2025 Leave a Comment

Why we’re being forced to gate check bags, colour theory made easy for photographers and clearing up confusing points & miles lingo

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

Now, onto this week’s letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

  • 🧳 Why are we being forced to gate check bags when flying in US—even when there is plenty of overhead bin space! And it’s getting worse. I personally had this experience when flying domestically on United Airlines from San Francisco to Houston. 😠
  • 🗺️ There is a lot of lingo that gets thrown around in the travel points and miles world in the US. If you’re confused by any of it, this Encyclopedia of Points and Miles is your reference point to clear anything up.
  • ​🌸 My March 2025 roundup and recap. It was a busy month of Cherry Blossoms, 1-Michelin star dining experience and another round of Houston Rodeo.
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Posted by Janice on May 3, 2025 Leave a Comment

Travel journalling, redeeming 100k points and a 90 minutes crash course on street and travel photography (free).

Welcome to Travelling Lens Insider, where every weekend I send you a carefully curated letter of all things travel, photography and points optimisation.

Now, onto this week’s letter…

✈️ Travel, Points and Miles

Headline should lead Directly into the first LINK →

  • 💳 The Chase Sapphire Preferred has a banging offer right now—100k in Ultimate reward points! I’ll be jumping on board soon myself. But if you’re not sure if this card is for you, listen on from minute 36 to learn how to earn points, save money and redeem your 100k points for great value.
  • 📝 Do you keep a travel journal? If not, these are 3 big benefits of having one as you travel the world.
  • ✈️ There are 2000+ airlines in the world 🤯 But these are the top 10 airlines serving the world’s best in flight food. And the winner who took the number one spot was unsurprising. Can you guess which airline it was?

(Like what you’re reading? Pass it along to someone who might love it too. And if that’s you, make sure to subscribe here! Thanks so much 😀)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Newsletter Posted by Janice on April 26, 2025 Leave a Comment

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Subscribe to get new post updates

You will only receive new-content emails. Nothing else, I promise.

Join 21 other subscribers.
  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Threads

All images and content Copyright © 2025 Janice Kho