History
Kelly was raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 with a degree in Spanish. [5] Before founding TPG, Kelly worked at Morgan Stanley as an IT recruiter and ran an informal travel agency-type operation for his colleagues aimed at helping them maximize their return on earned travel reward points. [6] While still working for Morgan Stanley, Kelly launched The Points Guy blog in 2010, where he wrote about frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and travel goals. [4] [3] [7] TPG began monetizing content through affiliate marketing in February 2011, which became the main source of the company's revenue. [3] [7] Shortly thereafter, Kelly quit his job at Morgan Stanley. [3]
In 2012, Bankrate, a company that publishes and promotes financial content, acquired TPG. [3] In a 2014 interview, Brian Kelly stated: "I still have a vested ownership interest in TPG and I retain 100% editorial control." [8]
Between 2012 and 2017, TPG acquired three competing websites: Million Mile Secrets, Mommy Points, and Travel is Free. [2]
In 2016, TPG started Points for Peace, a partnership with the nonprofit PeaceJam Foundation, which donates frequent flyer miles to help Nobel Peace Prize winners travel to developing countries. [3] [4]
In 2017, Brian Kelly was named the top influencer for travel by Forbes . [4] Bankrate was acquired by digital marketing company Red Ventures in 2017. [9] The company now operates out of offices in Austin, Charlotte, New York, and London. [2]
In 2020 Business Insider reported that multiple TPG employees had anonymously accused Kelly of fostering a toxic work environment, including drug use and abusive behavior toward staff. [10] Red Ventures responded with a statement saying Kelly unequivocally denied all allegations and that TPG did not tolerate any forms of harassment or discrimination. [10] [7]
In September 2021, TPG released an app to track airline points and miles across multiple airlines. [11]
On January 11, 2022, TPG preemptively sued American Airlines, asking a Delaware court to make it legal for customers to manage their frequent flyer data on a third-party website. [12] [13] The filing was in response to a cease and desist letter from American Airlines, demanding TPG not track the data of its AAdvantage members who opted-in to share their info with the TPG app. [13] On January 22, 2022, American Airlines filed suit against The Points Guy in a federal court in Texas, claiming the company's app violated its trademark and the terms of the airlines’ frequent flyer program. [12] [11] [13] The case was settled in November 2022, but no details of the settlement were disclosed. [14]
Operations
The Points Guy is a subsidiary of American media company Red Ventures. [15] Liza Landsman is the CEO. [16] The company is headquartered in New York City. [17] As of 2025, The Points Guy had around 150 employees. [18]
The Points Guy operates a travel-focused website and app. The website includes news and sponsored content, with a focus on tips for accumulating airline points and miles, [19] as well as more general aviation, hospitality, and credit card news. [20] The app allows users to track points and miles from different loyalty programs. [21] The Points Guy receives revenue through affiliate marketing partnerships with credit card companies. [22] These fees are based on traffic from the site related to credit cards participating in loyalty programs. [23] Among the company's partners are Citi, Bank of America, Chase, and Capital One. [24] [6]
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20 (2017) [2]