Author: matt

Introduction

The Bilt credit card program has had a few missteps over the years, they’ve cut the earning structure on the card, and they’ve told us about a couple more negative enhancements coming soon:

(Side note: On October 7, I wrote “Hopefully the ratio of Rakuten points to Bilt Rewards will be 1:1, but given Richard Kerr’s involvement I wouldn’t call that a foregone conclusion. Go ahead Richard, prove me wrong.” Oops.)

Bilt is practicing death by a thousand cuts, and we may have reached the “one cut too many” threshold.

The Good and Bad

Let’s talk about the good of the Bilt credit card and Bilt Rewards program, both of which are made better together:

  • Hyatt, Alaska, and JAL are valuable transfer partners
  • Periodic 50-100% transfer bonuses
  • A “kewl helicopter ride” after major spend
  • Rewards on rent payments (though the card isn’t required for that, it’s just better with the card)

But, there’s plenty of negativity go with that, moreso when Cardless takes over the program on February 7, 2026:

  • Earning multipliers are relatively poor
  • Cardless isn’t friendly to churners, and is sometimes actively hostile and vindictive
  • Bilt+Rakuten (see above)
  • New account on your credit report (see above)
  • Unknown earning and annual fee structure going forward
  • Customer service is objectively bad

Personally, I can handle two or even three of these negatives, but taken as a whole, I’m over the edge, this thing no longer makes sense. Stick a fork in it, it’s done.

The Exceptions

Your situation isn’t the same as mine, and you’re all adults so obviously you can make your own assessment. But, there are a few cases where Bilt might still make sense:

  • You’re shutdown by Chase and you want Hyatt points or United miles
  • You don’t care about a new account showing on your credit report
  • Maybe the unknown Cardless Bilt card family’s earning structure is better
  • You want to earn Bilt points on rent payments without other games
  • You have a Kerr-resistant loophole

Of course, you do you, and remember it’s good advice to not blindly listen to a rando on the internet, even on a Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday!

Bilt credit card: Current status.

  1. Do this now: Register for double points at Enterprise through February 28, 2026.
  2. The new Shop Your Way Rewards Visa issued by First Bank has a few targeted sign-up bonuses. You can find yours by logging into your Shop Your Way dashboard, or you may have been emailed a (possibly different offer). We’ve seen:

    – 2x points for 90 days + 50,000 points after $1,000 spend
    – 1.5x points for 90 days + 50,000 points after $1,000 spend
    – 500,000 points after $5,000 spend

    You can get the 1.5x + 50,000 points offer here. The card earns 5x at gas, 3x on grocery, dining, and travel. Currently all earnings are uncapped, and for those of you who can’t math: 2*5x = 10x and 1.5*5x = 7.5x. (Thanks to Tyler)
  3. The Chase Aeroplan Visa has a heightened signup bonus of 75,000+25,000 Aeroplan miles:

    – 75,000 miles after $4,000 spend in three months
    – 25,000 miles after $20,000 spend in three months

    Based on my super computer predictive analytics (or maybe just knowing that Mondays after heightened Chase offer are special), this offer should be available via referrals too.
  4. Two Incomm gift card shops have fee-free cards:

    – MasterCardGiftCard.com: No purchase fees through November 30 with code NOFEES25
    – VanillaGift.com: No purchase fees on $250+ through November 27 with code VGTHANKS25

    These are Pathward or Sutton / Incomm gift cards.
  5. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday. Buy these in even multiples of two for bigger discounts.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  6. Raleys, Nob Hill, and Bel Air stores have 15x points on several gift cards including Amazon, Target, and BestBuy through November 27 (EDIT: Date was wrong, thanks to Bryan for the correction). I hope you need lots of cheap groceries for some random holiday that no-one’s ever heard of next week.
  7. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 70% transfer bonus to Marriott Bonvoy through November 30. Generally this turns a really bad deal into just a bad deal, but there are opportunities and sweet spots especially outside of the US.
  8. Dollar General has a 15% discount on various gift cards through Sunday, including both Zift Zillions and Cracker Barrel gift cards.
  9. Bilt has announced that their Rakuten partnership will be devalued to some unknown transfer ratio on at the end of Q1 2026. #BiltAlwaysCuts

Happy Monday!

Probably why we’re having all of these sales.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I call dibs on first to say “cool story bro” for this article.

One of the myriad techniques of generating spend on credit cards is buying something, shipping it to a buyer’s group, then getting paid back by the group.

There was a time when I went really big with this game. The evolution was approximately:

  1. Buy a few things, sell quickly for portal and credit card profit
  2. Buy more things, sell quickly for portal and credit card profit
  3. Learn that holding things may let them sell for more, earning more profit
  4. Fill up my living room and garage with things to sell
  5. Rent a storage unit for things that are waiting to sell
  6. Get really sick of all the manual labor involved, and cut back on buying
  7. Pivot to a private label business and hire people to do the labor
  8. Sell the business
  9. Do exactly zero buying group or selling activity

I’m happy that I arrived at (9), but after a while I started back on the path of (1) and (2). This time I’m really selective about what I buy though, and I’m actively avoiding (3)+, because:

Recently, one type of high value thing that I buy and sell quickly ships from the same address every time via UPS. Evidently, someone at UPS figured out the same thing, and whomever that is periodically opens boxes, takes the contents, reseals them, and passes them on for delivery.

The first time I had a tampered box arrive, I didn’t notice until a few minutes later, after the UPS driver was long gone and I’d already signed for the package. The lesson from that experience, which in hindsight should have been obvious:

  • Lesson: Always do a quick inspection of boxes on your porch before signing for a delivery

I learned the lesson quickly. The next time I had a tampered box show up, I spotted it, refused delivery, and showed the driver what I saw. Unfortunately, there were five more times that a tampered box showed up after, but fortunately because I had shown the driver what to look for, he inspected the boxes preemptively and discovered the next tampered package before he even got to my door. When he arrived, he asked if I wanted to refuse delivery, which, duh.

  • Lesson: If you show people how things can malfunction, they might help you spot problems early

I stock $10 Starbucks gift cards for cashiers, delivery people, and others who help me play my game. After the last tampering incident, I gave the UPS driver a gift card as a thanks. That $10 Starbucks card marked a changeover point, after which he smiles and chit-chats with me anytime there’s a delivery.

  • Lesson: Take care of people who help you play your game; when someone is happy to see you, they’re more likely to help you when something goes wrong

Happy Friday!

/csb

MEAB’s ramble as a Nintendo game.

  1. The American Express Business Platinum has a targeted offer for 300,000 Membership Rewards after $20,000 spend in three months.

    You can often get this to appear by using a combination of VPN + different browser + incognito mode, and letting the landing page timeout sometimes shows a higher offer too. Don’t let anyone fool you though, you are working for American Express to find this bonus.
  2. The Capital One Venture X Business Visa card has a heightened sign-up bonus of 200,000+200,000 miles:

    – 200,000 miles after $30,000 spend in three months
    – 200,000 miles after $150,000 spend in six months

    This card is now a Visa and continues to be a charge card. This bonus is effectively a 4.67x earner for your first $150,000 in spend, which is pretty, pretty, pretty gold good.
  3. The Capital One Venture X Personal Visa card also has a heightened sign-up bonus of 100,000+0 miles:

    – 100,000 bonus miles after $10,000 spend in six months
    – 0 bonus miles after ♾️ spend in ♾️ months

    This offer is also available via referrals, so go that route rather than applying head on.
  4. Kroger has a promotion for 4x fuel points on third party gift cards excluding fuel cards, on Amazon gift cards [ultra-rare promo unlocked], and on fixed value Visas and Mastercards for a full three weeks through December 2.

    Each thousand Kroger fuel points is good for $1 off per gallon of fuel, or worth somewhere in the mid-teens of dollars on the resale market.
  5. Southwest has a promotion for double companion pass qualifying points at wholesale clubs and department stores through December 31. (Thanks to FM)
  6. Wyndham has a couple of promotions, both of which expire at the end of 2025:

    – Promos: +5x earning on paid stays (registration required: Diamonds, everyone else)
    – The annual limit for transfers to Caesars Rewards doubled to 60,000 points

    (Thanks to lenin1991)

Happy Thursday!

Even more 4x ultra-rare.

  1. Chase Ultimate Rewards can be redeemed for 1.5 cents each on Apple products for Sapphire Reserve holders through December 7.

    You can combine this with Sapphire Reserve’s $500 Shops at Chase credit too which makes it even more compelling. There are decent options for resale if you’re just looking to cash out for a high value too.
  2. AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue has a promotion for 20 miles per Euro spent at Hertz when booked through the FlyingBlue portal for rentals made by December 12 for travel through March 31, 2026. Bookings are valid worldwide.

    With current exchange rates, that’s about a 17.2x earn rate for US Dollar bookings. Of course, comparison shop with whatever quasi-public Hertz codes you have. I did some price shopping and the portal’s upcharge is reasonable for my travel, so I’ve switched a few upcoming bookings. (Thanks to FFB)
  3. AirFrance / KLM’s FlyingBlue program has updated its annual campaign for paid status matches, and USA residents continue to be excluded. But, Canada residents (and “Canada residents”) are eligible, and you can match up to Platinum which lets you book La Premier award bookings.

    A table of status match tiers can be found on their terms page, and has favorites like AA Platinum Pro and United Premier Platinum matching to FlyingBlue Platinum. (Thanks to FFB)
  4. Marriott Homes & Villas has a promotion for 26,000 bonus points after two night or longer stays that cost at least $2,000, registration required. For those playing math at home, 26,000 points * 0.005 dollars per point (a generous valuation), this is a $130 bonus which works out to a 6.5% rebate on spend.

    It sucks but it’s not nothing. Honestly that’s a great tag line for Marriott Bonvoy in general.

Happy Wednesday!

The Marriott promotion as a sale.

  1. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U brands have 10x points earning on Zift cards through Saturday, and because in J4U land 10+4 = 12, you’ll probably get 12x earning on Saturday too.

    Some Zift cards can be converted to high value bulk brands like Amazon and Home Depot, for the others, well, I hope you like Cracker Barrel.
  2. Staples has fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. Giftcards.com has a promotion for a $10 giftcards.com gift card with a $100 Visa, Mastercard, or One4All card using promo code BONUSSEASON for purchases through tomorrow, limit one per transaction and three per account.

    These promo codes are showing on portals, so you should earn shopping portal rewards and seasonal bonuses too.
  4. The American Express Hilton personal cards have increased targeting on no-lifetime language (NLL) links:

    – Aspire: 175,000 points after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Surpass: 155,000 points after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Honors: 100,000 points after $1,000 spend in six months

    These are also available via referrals albeit with lifetime language, so go that route if NLL doesn’t matter. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. ShopRite stores have a promotion for $25 off of groceries with $100+ in One4All gift cards. Some One4Alls can be converted to high value bulk brands like Home Depot and GameStop.
  6. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through November 20.
  7. American Express offers has a card linked offer for $100 back on $300+ at Small Luxury Hotels through December 31.
  8. Chase Offers has multiple card linked offers:

    – 5%-7% back at Hyatt House & Studios, max $28-56 through December 15
    – 7% back at Park Hyatt, max $28-$56 through December 15
    – 10% back at Kimpton, max $62 through December 19

    Gamers gonna game, but these prizes aren’t as good recent ones so I guess #shrinkflation?

Hint? Troll? You decide.

Introduction

The current DoT mandate for a 10% reduction in flights for major US Airports means a few things:

  • Airlines are moving quickly and implementing IT quickly (poorly)
  • Widespread travel waivers are in effect
  • Airline employees are dazed and confused

Taken together, there are a few unique opportunities for a travel hacker. We’ll talk about two in particular, but there’s always another game around the corner.

Un-Tying Up FUnds

When major disruptions happen, travel credits and wallet funds that you’ve got stuck at an airline can often either be refunded, or be changed into more flexible funds. Games vary, but under current waivers:

  • Basic economy tickets may be refundable
  • Name-locked funds may be able to be converted to flexible funds
  • Travel credits may be able to be partially refunded

There a number of success stories over the last few days with each of these. Always be probing.

Getting the Expensive Flights for Cheap

High-demand, close-in travel is often very expensive (duh). Crappy flights with terrible timing and long connections are often cheap (also duh). Current travel waivers like those at Delta, United, AA, and Southwest allow you to make a one-time change to travel in the near future. So the game becomes:

  • Find a cheap flight
  • Book it
  • Use the waiver to switch to the flight you want

You’ll find that each airline has different terms and conditions about which flights are eligible, but you’ll probably also find that none of these airlines have properly implemented their IT in all cases. Just make sure you complete these steps within 24 hours so that if something goes wrong, you can still cancel your original booking for a full refund.

Fin

Apropos of nothing, support your local Air Traffic Controller, they deserve it.

Happy Monday!

McDonalds gives us a November travel outlook.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a follow-up bonus guest post from SideShowBob233 thrown together after yet another run-in with a bank.

After my American Express scam a few months ago I’ve been living the dream, no account hacks and a normal, quiet, rake-free life.  That rake-free life came to an abrupt end a few weeks ago when I tried to login to my main AmEx login and found the account was locked and required a password reset.  No worries, this happens from time to time, usually due to external logins like AwardWallet.  I reset the password and login, everything is wonderful.

I then tried to login to a different online login, which was also locked.  I may not be a smart clown, but I know what love suspicious is. I sat back, ran my fingers through my thick red hair and thought about this situation and how it was like a box of chocolates (both involved something brown).  Both logins recently had a new card issued (an upgrade).  One login is NOT connected to AwardWallet.  Both logins were fine the day before (I logged in to both).  

I eventually came to the conclusion that my accounts were locked by someone trying to reset the password a few times and failing due to the two factor authentication that I’d turned on after the scam/hack a few months ago.  Which leads me to the unhappy conclusion that someone has my new card numbers and used them to try to reset my password, access my account, and do the same thing they tried to do in the prior hack.  

The new cards left the house one time and were used at a single store recently.  Now maybe the twenty something girl behind the counter somehow got photos of the cards, but I doubt that.  For one, I used several cards at this store and ONLY the two that were recently replaced had their login locked.  Second, a family member who got a new card around the same time also had their login locked yesterday.  And their card is still sitting in a sealed envelope not activated yet.  

Again I find myself at an unhappy conclusion that the cards were likely compromised at the factory somehow.  The card that was used to hack me months ago also had been recently replaced.   And as I found out this week it was replaced again right before the hack – but I never received the replacement (which I didn’t know I was getting since I hadn’t requested it).  Maybe it’s not the factory, maybe it’s the shipping carrier, but my rake is still pointing to the factory.  

Now maybe it’s just another coincidence but too many coincidences make me think something is up.  Not much we can do if I’m right but turn on two factor authentication, lock your SIMs, etc.  And remember what my uncle used to say until the guys with the nets caught him – just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get you. And also you miss 100% of the shots you take.

Stay safe out there!

– SideShowBob233

SideShowBob233’s key chain holder’s security definitely had nothing to do with the hack.