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EDITORS NOTE: In 2024, I’ve introduced Guest Post Saturdays. Today’s guest post is from the witty, inspiring, and definitely-not-a-giga-chad irieriley.

If you’re like me, you likely didn’t set out in this hobby thinking you’d end up where you did. I was a backpacker when I started back in 2016, dreaming of free economy flights and upgrading from hostels to Hyatt Houses.

I did not think it would lead to hours spent probing fintechs, the rise and fall of the world’s greatest bodybuilding supplement company, and using developer tools to identify offer codes and account masking patterns.

Of course, there’s a lot of steps and shifts in perspective between seeing a TPG ad on TSA bins at LaGuardia and not giving a second thought to 99x Amex AU offers.

MEAB‘s wisdom posts contain a lot of thought provoking questions, but my all time favorite post is this one – concerning perception of dollar value, scaling your spending, and how things change as you go deeper down the rabbit hole. 

To build on Matt’s original premise, I’d posit that the same perception shift occurs with redemption. For the sake of discussion, let’s look at the value of 150k Amex MRs – a sign-up bonus that anyone with a pulse can earn with a personal Platinum card.

  • Non redeemer: What are transferable points? I’m just a giga-Chad cashing out my points for Home Depot gift cards.
  • Beginning redeemer: Wow, $6k of spend in 3 months is a lot. But 150k points transferred to Delta Skymiles must be enough to get to the moon  roundtrip to Europe in business class apparently, a one way basic economy award to Lubbock.
  • Intermediate redeemer: Look at those fools wasting their points on gift cards and transfers to domestic carriers – I got 30cpp by transferring to ANA and booking last minute one way J flights to Japan. 
  • Advanced redeemer: Things have come full circle – I have so many points that I will never be able to redeem them all for travel. I’ll book my travel a year out, and I’ll cash out the rest. 150k MRs = $1,650 with a Schwab Plat or ~$1,950 depending on my bargaining skills.

Pictured: A local business owner/giga-Chad on his way to Home Depot to convert the spoils of $7m of Amex spending into a patio furniture set.

Depending on your situation, each viewpoint can make sense. However, I’d imagine most MEAB readers fall into the final segment. 

And in a community that is largely a perfectly aligned Venn diagram with other optimizer communities like FIRE, cash is king, especially when you hit the inflection point where your ability to earn wildly outpaces your ability to burn. 

I was talking to my P2 (and fellow Waldorf Pedregal enthusiast) about how poorly I had strategized earning and redeeming early on, and she provided some much needed perspective on the whole thing when actually looking back at those first redemptions.

Some of our first cards and subsequent redemptions:

  • Citi AA Platinum pre-derAAilment – SUB used to fly AA Y to Europe, where we attended music festivals and yacht cruised as backpackers
  • Chase Southwest chasing Companion Pass – used to book Y flights to the Caribbean, where we got engaged
  • Capital One Venture – I hit the SUB on the engagement ring, and used the cashback to erase the insane VS surcharges on our first J redemption for our honeymoon

Pictured: Mr. and Mrs. irieriley in 2017 enjoying the spoils of their very first award redemption

While the strategy was akin to SideShowBob233 stepping on a rake over and over again, those first few forays into earning and burning provided more to enrich P2 and I’s lives than another $2,000 into VTI ever will. 

I think it’s ok to occasionally zoom out of doing finger math to avoid looking like a kiter or mourning your Paypal burner to remember why you started this hobby in the first place, and it’s very unlikely that you started because you wanted what sometimes feels like a second job. Instead, you wanted a way to take a trip for free, or some extra cash for bills. 

Pictured: MSers determining whether they’re clear to pull back into their hub account

If there’s anything the last 4 years have taught us, it’s that life is short. This is a friendly reminder that points can be used for something besides booking T-355 Qsuites, cashing out or selling – they’re also a tool for engineering unique experiences for you, your friends, and your family. 

Personally, I’m blowing the Chase Sapphire Reserve grocery cash out equivalent of $1,700 of URs to spend 3 nights at a Hyatt SLH 20 miles from my home. A year ago, that would have really pained me. It still does, a bit. But hey, the Hamptons in summer is otherwise too rich for my blood – may as well enjoy it before this particular hotel joins Hilton and becomes 95k 120k 150k HH/nt. And we’re definitely not going because P2 wants to be in the background of Summer House.

And yes, even for those who don’t travel and are firmly #teamcashback. Don’t forget to use your proceeds to treat yourself or a loved one every once in a while. Even if it’s just a boba during a money order run. 

– irieriley

Pictured: In keeping with the Simpsons motif, a fitting desk decoration for a MSer deep in the weeds of earning looking for some perspective

EDITOR’S NOTE: The feedback I’ve gotten for guest post Saturday has been resoundingly positive. I’ve got a few posts left to publish, but I’m running low. If you’re interested in a guest post, please reach out!

  1. Chase is sending targeted offers on its personal Southwest cards for 3x points at gas, grocery, and dining through the end of 2024, and bonus points count for companion pass but not toward other status levels.

    What does Southwest have to do with gas, grocery, and dining you ask? Well, they’re probably the worlds biggest supplier of pretzel snack-mix bags, and the snack-mix bag cabal knows how to pull strings, trust me. (Thanks to Lava121)
  2. We’re not yet at the point that the Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card moves from Unsung Hero to just Hero, but we’re approaching it. In addition to holding a card with greater notoriety, holders also saw a new round of targeted offers for online spend through March 14:

    – 200,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $750 or more in spend (MS Ninja)
    – 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $1,000 or more in spend (Jacob)
    – $50 statement credit after $750 or more in spend (David 99)

    Yes, these offers stack with the 2024 monthly statement credits for grocery, gas, and dining provided of course that you spend in those categories online. What does Citi have to do with gas, grocery, and dining you ask? They’re a credit card issuer and they want to attract spend on their cards, duh.
  3. The Marriott Bonvoy Business card has a best offer sign-up bonus of five free night certificates for up to 50,000 points per night each after $8,000 spend in three months. [insert joke here about overpriced Marriott hotels in Lubbock]

    I’m not linking to anything on this one because I hope that you can find someone to give you a referral, so they’ll earn points on your successful application too. Using a referral is a great networking icebreaker in the miles and points community for those of you looking to expand your network. (Thanks to DoC)
  4. Having a stable of burner phones and phone numbers is eminently useful, and DDG highlights a great, low cost option for adding a new device to your portfolio: A Moto G Stylus 5G plus a month of service for $40. Make sure you activate the phone, and I’d suggest only leaving it active for the first month then moving to a cheaper service. It’ll unlock automatically in 180 days.

Have a nice weekend!

The leader of the the pretzel snack-bag mix cabal.

EDITOR’S NOTE: All of the feedback I’ve gotten for guest post Saturday has been resoundingly positive. I’ve got a few posts left to publish, but I’m running low. If you’re interested in a guest post, please reach out!

What’s a weekend kerfuffle you ask? You don’t want to know, but it involves this:

  1. Do this now: Register for your targeted United Mile Play bonus. I got “Book and take a trip one time by March 15 to earn 3,000 bonus miles, minimum $100,” which frankly isn’t bad. But the bad news? The trip must be on United or United Express (shudder) metal.
  2. The Chase IHG One Premier personal credit card has a new 165,000 point sign-up bonus after $3,000 spend in three months. The card’s $99 annual fee is not waived for the first month.

    There’s still value in the IHG program, especially for stays in the middle of nowhere and for Intercontinental brand hotels in conjunction with 4th night free. RIP PointBreaks though, amirite?
  3. Chase went nuts with gameable card linked offers:

    – Southwest: 10% back on $50+, up to $400 spend through March 5
    – Marriott Fairfield: 10% back on $100+, up to $380 spend through March 19
    – Sheraton: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19
    – Le Meridian: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19
    – Westin: 10% back on $100+, up to $680 spend through March 19
    – Four Points: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19
    – AC Hotels: 10% back on $100+, up to $570 spend through March 19
    – Springhill Suites: 10% back on $100+, up to $430 spend through March 19

    The simplest way to game the hotel offers is to buy a gift card at the front desk. But, there are always other ways. With Chase offers, breaking correlation isn’t necessary.
  4. Delta always has targeted no-lifetime language (NLL) cards available at deltaamexcard.com, but they’ve refreshed which accounts are targeted The offers:

    – Personal Gold: 70,000 miles after $3,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Platinum: 90,000 miles after $4,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 100,000 miles after $6,000 spend in six months

    – Business Gold: 80,000 miles after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Business Platinum: 100,000 miles after $8,000 spend in six months
    – Business Reserve: 110,000 miles after $12,000 spend in six months

    These offers expire on March 17.
  5. The Chase United Business MileagePlus 100,000 miles after $5,000 spend in three months offer and the United Club Business 75,000 mile + 1,000 PQP offer after $5,000 spend in three months offer are both now available through referrals. If you’re going to get the card, use P2’s link or use a friend’s link and make their day.

Have a nice weekend friends!

I told you that you didn’t want to know.

  1. Do this now: Register for Best Western’s promotion for a free night voucher after two nights stayed in the US, Canada, or the Carribean before May 5. The free night voucher is valid through August 25.

    If you haven’t stayed in a Best Western in a a while, you’re really not missing anything, but there’s still a good arbitrage opportunity here. A quick search of Best Westerns in Lubbock shows plenty of $45-$55 nights, and after two of those you’ll earn a certificate that could be used at $500+ a night Best Western Properties in a place where people actually want to visit. Pro-tip: you don’t actually have to sleep in the $45 / night hotel.
  2. Two airline portal shave a promotion for bonus miles after cumulative spend through February 12:

    – AA eShopping has 500 bonus miles after $200 or more in cumulative spend
    – United MileagePlus shopping has 500 bonus miles after $150 or more in cumulative spend

    In totally random news giftcards.com is back on AA eShopping and on MileagePlus Shopping, albeit at 1x as of this writing.
  3. There’s a new, relatively low bonus no-lifetime language (NLL) American Express Business Gold link with 70,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 in spend.

    Normally this would still be worthwhile thanks to call-in offers for adding up to 99 employees, but those aren’t available on the Business Gold card while they’re updating systems with the increased annual fee. (Thanks to DoC)
  4. The Target RedCard debit card has a $50 sign-up bonus through May 4, which is enough time to churn this at least once. (Lately you’ve got to wait about eight weeks in-between closing and reopening one of these for auto-approval.)

    The double redemption, once online and once in-store, is now dead, but there continues to be no credit impact for churning the debit card.

In other random news, attorneys are still attorneys.

We’re going to go short form, followed by long form, followed by short form today because that’s how the wind is blowing. Let’s just call it the churning burger.

  1. Staples has fee free $200 Visa gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit eight per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards so have a liquidation plan in place.
  2. American Express’s COO said they’d be refreshing 40 global cards in the next year late last week, and we’ve just seen the first set of updates, all on Delta cards. The changes:

    Personal Gold (annual fee: $150, up from $99)
    – $200 flight credit after $10,000 spend
    – $100 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays

    Personal Platinum (annual fee: $350, up from $250)
    – $10 monthly Resy credit
    – $10 monthly rideshare credit
    – $150 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays
    – Companion certificate now valid for first class and for international trips

    Personal Reserve (annual fee: $650, up from $550)
    – $20 monthly Resy credit
    – $10 monthly rideshare credit
    – $200 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays
    – Companion certificate now valid for international trips

    Business Gold (annual fee: $150, up from $99)
    – $200 flight credit after $10,000 spend
    – $150 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays

    Business Platinum (annual fee: $350, up from $250)
    – $10 monthly Resy credit
    – $10 monthly rideshare credit
    – $200 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays
    – Companion certificate now valid for first class and for international trips

    Business Reserve (annual fee: $650, up from $550)
    – $20 monthly Resy credit
    – $10 monthly rideshare credit
    – $200 Delta Vacations credit for hotel stays
    – Companion certificate now valid for international trips

    The annual fee increase starts on May 1. There’s a path to Delta status just by holding a set of these cards too, the Platinums and Reserves each have a $2,500 MQD “head-start”, and according to the terms and conditions each card type is eligible (up to $10,000 MQD per card holder per year), which means you’ve got a path to Gold status just by holding the right set of credit cards.

    For those keeping track at home, this leaves 36 refreshes left on the AmEx refresh-o-meter, and I think the Resy credits and annual fee increases are a telling sign of what’s to come.
  3. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card, the original MEAB’s Unsung Hero credit card, has a targeted spending bonus for February, March, and April for 15% back on up to $1,200 spend at home improvement stores, once per month. This one arrives either by USPS, email, or both. (Thanks to FlashStash)

Have a nice weekend!

The limited edition churning hamburger gift card; yes, it works on PayPal Bill Pay.

  1. Kroger stores are running a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards through Tuesday, February 13.

    The resale market for both fuel points and gift cards is traditionally soft in the first couple of months in a new year, and we’ve settled into that funk in 2024 too. I do expect the funk to evaporate in the next month or so, but right now the game will probably involve longer inventory hold times.
  2. Bilt figured out how to effectively get credit card sites to write a feature post about the Bilt card and program at least monthly with their cringe-worthy “rent day” promotions. I do my best to abstain from the chicanery, but sometimes there’s still something genuinely valuable like today’s tiered Aeroplan transfer bonus:

    – Blue: 75% transfer bonus (1,000 points to 1,750 miles)
    – Silver: 100% transfer bonus (1,000 points to 2,000 miles)
    – Gold: 125% transfer bonus (1,000 points to 2,250 miles)
    – Platinum: 150% transfer bonus (1,000 points to 2,500 miles)

    Aeroplan is one of the best transfer programs for Star Alliance awards because it they’ve got good technology and low-friction booking, though they still have cancelation fees on their lowest awards and their prices are occasionally more expensive than other Star Alliance programs. I’ll be transferring most of my Bilt points to Aeroplan, but don’t do something just because I’m doing it.
  3. The Barclays Hawaiian Airlines Business card has a heightened sign-up bonus, and the $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year:

    – 60,000 miles after $2,000 spend in 90 days
    – 10,000 miles for adding an employee card and making a purchase in 90 days

    This card has plenty of other features, but frankly probably none of them are worth using or holding past year one. (Thanks to C-MontgomeryChurns)
  4. Today may be the last day for adding employee cards with spending bonuses online to several American Express cards; they were set expire on February 2 according to the terms and conditions but one of them has already died:

    – Business Platinum: Spend $4,000 get 15,000 Membership Rewards, limit five
    – Business Gold: Spend $4,000 get 15,000 Membership Rewards, limit five
    – Blue Business Plus: Spend $4,000 get 15,000 Membership Rewards, limit five

    Hopefully new offers replace these, but you know what they say about hopes. Also, could you tell me what they say about hopes? Because I don’t actually know. Anyway, if you have spend capacity to meet these bonuses I’d order the cards right now.

If the gift card and resale market in January and February were a food, it’d be week old ketchup on ramen.

  1. The Chase United Business MileagePlus card has a heightened sign-up bonus of 100,000 MileagePlus miles after $5,000 spend in three months. The $99 annual-fee isn’t waived, and neither is the surly service that you’ll get onboard either.

    This probably isn’t the best option to hold on to after year one, but I do like holding at least one United card at a for expanded award availability (XN acccess).
  2. The Chase United Club Business card also has a heightened sign-up bonus of 75,000 MileagePlus Miles and 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points after $5,000 spend in three months. The $450 annual-fee isn’t waived, and the card also gets you access to unlimited crackers, cheese cubes, and Coors Light when visiting a United Club.

    I’d hold this card if I were regularly flying United out of an airport with a United Club for XN access and club access, but fortunately for all of us I’m not currently doing that; if I was you’d have suffer through me whining about United a lot more than you already do.
  3. Kroger.com has $10 off of $150 or more in physical Visa and Mastercard gift cards through January 31 with promo code NEWYEAR2024. A few notes:

    – The activation fee recently increased to $6.95 on the $100 cards
    – You’ll be earning 2x fuel points
    – You won’t earn a grocery category bonus
    – These are US Bank cards

    You’ll pay shipping too, but the cheapest option is ~ $0.50.
  4. Staples has fee free $200 Mastercard gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit eight per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards, so have a liquidation plan in place, in-store limits are $480 every six minutes, unless you get lucky and your store cycles through merchant accounts.
  5. The Chase Marriott Boundless Visa card has a heightened sign-up bonus for five free night certificates for up to 50,000 points per night after $5,000 in spend in three months, and the $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year. The certificates expire one year after issue.

    Given Bonvoy’s hyper-inflated currency, 50,000 points may not get you a night at your favorite hotel, so double check that you won’t need to burn these in Lubbock because everything else is priced out of your range. No really, the Courtyard Lubbock is 39,000 points.
  6. Giant Food and Martin’s stores are running a 10x points promotion on Apple gift cards through February 1, limit $2,000 in spend per account. (Thanks to GCG)
  7. Some American Express accounts have a targeted upgrade from a Business Gold to a Business Platinum with 120,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months. To see if you’re targeted, look for a popup on the dashboard. (Thanks to joremero)

With hip styling like this, who wouldn’t want to burn 39,000 Bonvoy points at the Courtyard Lubbock?

One of the tenets of common sense that transcends travel hacking, miles and points, and churning is “if something seems too good to be true, it probably is“. To an untrained eye, it’s good advice and will probably keep you out of a tight spot.

If however you’re skilled in a particular field, the general advice can fall flat on its face and hold you back. In travel hacking and churning, there are currently and there have been plenty of examples that you’d miss out on if you thought they were too good to be true, like:

– Earning 24% back when buying Visa gift cards at home
– Earning tens of millions of Delta SkyMiles for buying money orders with a real bank debit card
– Getting enough cash to buy a new Subaru for adding employees to your account
– Paying a credit card’s bill with another credit card
– Flying to Europe in business class for 15,000 miles
– Buying airline miles at or below 0.5 cents a piece, in seemingly unlimited quantities
– Getting millions of AA miles with rapid card churning without paying annual fees

So, don’t let the idea of too good to be true prevent you from running a few tests when you’re a subject matter expert, instead, protect yourself and always be probing. Also, try not to visibly wince like I do when someone says “if a deal is too good to be true, it probably is”, it’s bad form.

Frat boy Chad said that Flamin’ Hot Cheeto cheeseburgers were too good to be true, and this, err, exists.