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Caroline Lupini's image

Caroline Lupini

Former Content Contributor

15 Published Articles

About Caroline Lupini

Caroline Lupini always enjoyed traveling, but it became her goal to do as much as possible after a 3-week trip around Europe in 2011. In March 2014, Caroline left her job and embarked on nearly full-time travels. 

As a frequent traveler, frequent flyer miles have played a large role in planning her trips. Caroline has enjoyed discovering the ins and outs of how to maximize different types of miles, hotel points, and transferable points currencies. Over the years, Caroline has earned millions of frequent flyer miles and continues to grow that number every year!

Caroline enjoys learning and working remotely so she has the flexibility to discover the far reaches of the world. Recent travels have taken her to Colombia, Afghanistan, Poland, and more, with additional on- and off-the-beaten-track trips being planned every chance she gets!

Outside of travel, Caroline is passionate about good craft beer, the outdoors, photography, and skiing…and she absolutely adores dogs! You’ll also occasionally find her under the water on a scuba diving adventure.

Caroline has published her work across a number of major publishers, including: Forbes, The Points Guy Business Insider and many more. You can also find out more about Caroline and her travels at carolinelupini.com.

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Caroline's Latest Articles

53 Best Ways To Redeem Amex Membership Rewards Points for Max Value

53 Best Ways To Redeem Amex Membership Rewards Points for Max Value

The American Express Membership Rewards program provides amazing redemptions, thanks to its many airline transfer partners. From hops to Hawaii to once-in-a-lifetime trips around the world, dream vacations are often just a matter of finding the right award-flight sweet spot…

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43 Best Ways To Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for Max Value

43 Best Ways To Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points for Max Value

Chase Ultimate Rewards points are easy to earn and offer great redemption opportunities. To get the best value and use your points for maximum value, you’ll certainly want to transfer them to one of Chase’s airline and hotel partners for…

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How To Use The Delta SkyMiles Dining Portal To Earn More Miles

How To Use The Delta SkyMiles Dining Portal To Earn More Miles

Today you’ll learn how to easily earn extra miles for many of your dining purchases for no additional cost or work. It’s called SkyMiles Dining, a program put on by Delta and managed through the Rewards Network. Delta’s SkyMiles Dining…

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How to Use the American AAdvantage Shopping Portal to Boost Your Miles

How to Use the American AAdvantage Shopping Portal to Boost Your Miles

Need a few AAdvantage miles to top off your account in preparation for your next award flight? You’re in luck: there’s a super easy way to earn additional miles for shopping you’d probably do anyway! This article will tell you…

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How to Use Hilton Honors Dining to Earn More Points

How to Use Hilton Honors Dining to Earn More Points

Earning the number of Hilton Honors points you need for your next hotel stay can take quite a while, but there are strategies that can help you earn points even faster. One of the easiest ways to earn extra Hilton…

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How to Use United MileagePlus Dining to Earn More Miles [2023]

How to Use United MileagePlus Dining to Earn More Miles [2023]

If you’re looking for tips on earning more United MileagePlus miles, you’ve come to the right place! Earning enough to redeem for a ticket can be tough, but with MileagePlus Dining, you can get there faster. Today we’ll walk you…

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How to Use the Chase Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

How to Use the Chase Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

The Chase Ultimate Rewards program is one of the most flexible and easy to use rewards programs out there. These points can be transferred to several hotel and airline loyalty programs, used directly for airline tickets, or redeemed for cash-back….

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How to Use American Airlines AAdvantage Dining to Earn More Miles

How to Use American Airlines AAdvantage Dining to Earn More Miles

There are some cheap and easy ways to earn additional frequent flyer miles that you probably don’t know about. One of the best ones is through airline and hotel dining programs! This article walks you through American Airlines’ AAdvantage Dining…

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How to Use the United MileagePlus Shopping Portal to Earn More Miles [2023]

How to Use the United MileagePlus Shopping Portal to Earn More Miles [2023]

If you’re planning to shop online, what would you say if we told you you could earn extra miles just by clicking a few extra buttons? Pretty sweet, huh? This article will teach you how to use the United Airlines…

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How to Use the Delta SkyMiles Shopping Portal to Earn More Miles [2023]

How to Use the Delta SkyMiles Shopping Portal to Earn More Miles [2023]

Are you a fan of earning Delta SkyMiles? What if we said you could earn even more for no extra cost and hardly any additional work? Does it sound too good to be true? It’s not! This article will tell…

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How To Use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

How To Use the Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping Portal to Earn More Points

Earning extra points and miles for something you’re already planning to spend money on is a pretty great concept. Luckily for you, it’s also pretty easily done! This article tells you exactly what you need to know about using Southwest’s …

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How To Use Southwest Dining Rewards to Earn More Points

How To Use Southwest Dining Rewards to Earn More Points

Earning enough Southwest points to make a rewards redemption can be challenging, but there are several strategies that can help you earn miles and points faster at no additional cost. One of these methods involves signing up for an airline or…

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11 Best Ways to Redeem Qantas Points for Max Value [2024]

11 Best Ways to Redeem Qantas Points for Max Value [2024]

Based in Australia, Qantas is a member of Oneworld alliance and has a large number of partner airlines that can be utilized for redemptions. It’s easy to put together unforgettable trips with Qantas and its partners; all you need to…

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8 Best Ways To Redeem JetBlue TrueBlue Points For Max Value

8 Best Ways To Redeem JetBlue TrueBlue Points For Max Value

Update: Some offers mentioned below for the JetBlue Card and JetBlue Plus Card are no longer available. Though JetBlue might not give you a large number of options to redeem your points compared to American, United, and Delta, there are…

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8 Best Ways to Redeem Virgin Australia Points for Max Value

8 Best Ways to Redeem Virgin Australia Points for Max Value

You may not have heard of Virgin Australia since they have limited flights to the U.S., but members can actually earn and redeem miles for travel all over the world thanks to some strategic partnerships! Here, I’ll outline some great…

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Find out about other members of the team

Andrew Kunesh Picture

Andrew Kunesh

Former Content Contributor

Andrew was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and now splits his time between Chicago and New York City.

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Ashley Onadele Picture

Ashley Onadele

Content Contributor

Ashley discovered a love for travel in college that’s continued as her family has grown. She loves showing parents how they can take their families on trips using points and has contributed to numerous publications and podcasts.

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Brandon Brunner

Former Content Contributor

Brandon was born and raised in California and really didn’t travel much growing up, even outside of his own state. While attending college, he was constantly looking to find the cheapest fares to any destination abroad, and quickly learned about the motto- “Chase the fare, not the destination”. Luckily, his first international flight was to Costa Rica (under $300 roundtrip) where that “Pura Vida” lifestyle (and Imperials) hit him hard, and he knew he had to see more.

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Brian Graham

Former Content Contributor

Brian’s first ever airplane ride was in a private turbo-prop jet. He was merely an intern boy trying to make a good impression, but it turns out the plane made an impression on him.

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Charlie Page Picture

Charlie Page

Former Content Contributor

Charlie is a Senior First Officer and has been an airline pilot for nearly 15 years. He currently flies long-haul on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner after 10 years buzzing around Europe on the A320. He got into travel and aviation from an early age, fortunate enough to be taken on some great family holidays.

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Cherag Dubash

Content Contributor

Cherag was born in a family associated with aviation and was hooked on to planes since the age of 3, the time he undertook his first flight on an Airbus A310 from Mumbai to Dubai.

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Christy Rodriguez Picture

Christy Rodriguez

Travel & Finance Content Contributor

After having “non-rev” privileges with Southwest Airlines, Christy dove into the world of points and miles so she could continue traveling for free. Her other passion is personal finance, and is a certified CPA.

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David Slotnick

Former Content Contributor

Born and raised in New York, David still remembers his first flight when he was only four years old: a U.S. Airways trip from New York-La Guardia to Palm Beach, Florida. He formed his love of travel around that and other family vacations, including to England at age eight and Namibia when he was 13. During college, a four-country trip around Europe with a friend cemented his passion for seeing the world.

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Erin Miller

Content Contributor

An experienced points hacker, Erin is Alex’s partner-in-crime and contributes to Upgraded Points with in-depth guides and relationship management. Erin’s work has been cited in multiple major publications.

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Greg Stone Picture

Greg Stone

Content Contributor

Greg got bitten by the travel bug at a young age while traveling with his Dad on business trips to Asia. He took over the family business in 2012 and uses it to maximize his loyalty points earning. His obsession with earning and burning loyalty rewards points allows him to travel over 100 days every year.

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Jeff Brownson Picture

Jeff Brownson

Former Content Contributor

Since discovering miles and points in 2010, Jeff has traveled to over 35 countries, flying in first class, business class, and sometimes even in coach. Whether he’s staying in a hostel dorm, or in a luxury suite at a 5 star hotel, Jeff is constantly looking for the best deal to make travel as close to free as possible.

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Julian Kheel

Content Contributor

Julian Kheel first learned the ins and outs of credit card rewards and travel loyalty programs while flying more than 200,000 miles a year as a TV producer and director for World Wrestling Entertainment. With over 15 years of professional experience studying travel loyalty programs, Julian has served as CNN’s Senior Editor covering travel and credit cards, as well as the Editorial Director of The Points Guy, and has worked as a consultant for the Big 3 U.S. airlines.

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Lindsey Olander

Former Content Contributor

Currently based in New York, Lindsey spent her childhood in Connecticut dreaming of far-off places. Her first flight was to Disney World at age 11. Her second flight was for a high school field trip to Italy, though travel as a career didn’t stick until she studied abroad in London during college and discovered the true power of her passport. Since then, she’s worked as a travel editor at Jetsetter and Travel + Leisure, where she reported on everything from African safaris to hot hotel openings to, yes, Disney World.

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Lukas Picton

Former Content Contributor

Lukas escaped his hometown south of Sydney and moved to the big smoke immediately after high-school, but the bright lights of the city weren’t enough, and he soon set his sights on more exotic international destinations and has been in love with travel ever since.

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Michael McHugh

Former Content Contributor

Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Michael took his first international trip in 2013 with friends to the Bahamas. Although he didn’t travel much in his younger years, on that trip, he caught the travel bug and has been hooked ever since.

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Senitra Horbrook

Writer

Senitra Horbrook is a frequent solo traveler who began using points and miles in 2012. Formerly credit cards editor at The Points Guy, Senitra has also contributed to Forbes Advisor, AwardWallet, Insider, among others.

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Spencer Howard

Former Content Contributor

Always a fan of flying, it was only natural that Spencer was drawn to finding a way to improve the travel experience.

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Susan Wright Picture

Susan Wright

Former Finance Contributor

While writing about finance and insurance isn’t something that keeps most people awake at night, it is what Susan Wright has focused on for more than 25 years. As a financial copywriter, Susan has an eye for money-related details such as credit and savings, and she loves to pass along helpful information to consumers. Susan holds 11 financial industry designations (including CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, ADPA, CITRMS, CIPA) as well as several licenses.

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Jarrod West

Senior Content Contributor

Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.

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Carissa Rawson

Senior Content Contributor

Carissa served in the U.S. Air Force where she developed her love for travel and new cultures. She started her own blog and eventually joined The Points Guy. Since then, she’s contributed to Business Insider, Forbes, and more.

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Chris Dong Picture

Chris Dong

Editor & Content Contributor

Chris is a freelance writer and editor with a focus on timely travel trends, points and miles, hot new hotels, and all things that go (he’s a proud aviation geek and transit nerd). Formerly full-time at The Points Guy, his work can now be found at AFAR, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, The Washington Post, and Lonely Planet, among others

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Kellie Jez

Director of Operations & Compliance

Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s compliance operation.

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Nick Ellis Picture

Nick Ellis

Editor & Content Contributor

Nick’s passion for points began as a hobby and became a career. He worked for over 5 years at The Points Guy and has contributed to Business Insider and CNN. He has 14 credit cards and continues to leverage the perks of each.

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Christine Krzyszton

Senior Finance Contributor

Christine ran her own business developing and managing insurance and financial services. This stoked a passion for points and miles and she now has over 2 dozen credit cards and creates in-depth, detailed content for UP.

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Jessica Merritt

Editor & Content Contributor

A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little cash as possible.

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Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

Katie has been in the points and miles game since 2015 and started her own blog in 2016. She’s been freelance writing since then and her work has been featured in publications like Travel + Leisure, Forbes Advisor, and Fortune Recommends.

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Ryan Smith

Content Contributor

Ryan completed his goal of visiting every country in the world in December of 2023 and now plans to let his wife choose their destinations. Over the years, he’s written about award travel for publications including AwardWallet, The Points Guy, USA Today Blueprint, CNBC Select, Tripadvisor, and Forbes Advisor.

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Amar Hussain

Senior Content Contributor

Amar is an avid traveler and tester of products. He has spent the last 13 years traveling all 7 continents and has put the products to the test on each of them. He has contributed to publications including Forbes, the Huffington Post, and more.

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Ehsan Haque

Content Contributor

Ehsan is an avid traveler who has traveled to 100 countries, diligently using points and miles to fund his journeys. Currently, he holds 32 active credit cards and earns over a million points and miles annually, primarily using them for luxury hotels and long-haul premium cabins.

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Alex Miller

Founder & CEO

Founder and CEO of Upgraded Points, Alex is a leader in the industry and has earned and redeemed millions of points and miles. He frequently discusses the award travel industry with CNBC, Fox Business, The New York Times, and more.

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Lori Zaino

Senior Content Contributor

Lori is an intrepid traveler who loves creating itineraries that exude “luxe on a budget.” She’s written for CNN, NBC, The Infatuation, and more, and loves to muse about points-fueled trips to Sri Lanka, Sicily, and Myanmar.

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Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

With years of experience in corporate marketing and with a nonprofit, Keri is now Editor-in-Chief at UP, overseeing daily content operations and reviewing thousands of UP articles in the process.

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Juan Ruiz

Compliance Editor & Content Contributor

Juan has been involved in credit cards, loyalty, travel, and personal finance for more than 10 years. He has worked for several outlets including The Points Guy and Forbes and was previously Editor-in-Chief at Money Under 30.

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Victoria M. Walker

Senior Content Contributor

Victoria holds a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the Howard University School of Communications and is an award-winning journalist, travel reporter, and the founder of the “Carrying On with Victoria M. Walker” newsletter.

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Stella Shon

News Managing Editor

With a degree in media and journalism, Stella has been in the points and miles game for more than 6 years. She most recently worked as a Corporate Communications Analyst for JetBlue. Find her work in The New York Times, USA Today, and more.

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James Larounis

Senior Content Contributor

James (Jamie) started The Forward Cabin blog to educate readers about points, miles, and loyalty programs. He’s spoken at Princeton University and The New York Times Travel Show and has been quoted in dozens of travel publications.

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Daniel Ross

Senior Content Contributor

Daniel has loved aviation and travel his entire life. He earned a Master of Science in Air Transport Management and has written about travel and aviation in publications like Simple Flying, The Points Guy, and more.

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Michael Y. Park

Editor

Michael Y. Park is a journalist living in New York City. He’s traveled through Afghanistan disguised as a Hazara Shi’ite, slept with polar bears on the Canadian tundra, picnicked with the king and queen of Malaysia, tramped around organic farms in Cuba, ridden the world’s longest train through the Sahara, and choked down gasoline clams in North Korea.

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Stephen Au

Senior Content Contributor

Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used by hundreds of clients.

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Chris Hassan

Social Media & Brand Manager

Chris holds a B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management and managed social media for all Marriott properties in South America, making him a perfect fit for UP and its social media channels. He has a passion for making content catered toward family travelers.

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