Stack Your Points

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Stack Your Points episodes

December 07, 2024Death, Taxes, Devaluations
Back to Basics of the Week: American Airlines

Viewer Questions
With sweet spots disappearing and devaluations happening regularly for travel partners, are we all heading towards cash back and travel portals with a boost like with Chase and USBAR? - Anthony
What is the top destination on your bucket list and how would you get there? If you say the Maldives, then I’m unsubscribing. - Keith
RJ and Lani talk about how "travel day is sacred". Wondering if you could get more into that, like where you find value in "travel day" benefits from your cards, status, other memberships like Clear, etc. - Double Double Animal Fries
Would you get the $0 AF Bilt Card in 2025? Please elaborate. - Keith
News Round-Up
None

Topics
Matt
Which Card or Issuer had the “best” year in 2024? (Could be based on perception changes, card buffs, transfer partners, etc; and I’m NOT going to name Wells Fargo)
Lani
As a “Team Take the Trip” advocate, over these past trips, my family (and I) have gotten really spoiled with luxury properties. Most of which outside of my plan A strategy, meaning, booked outside of IHG, United miles. More so Amex FHR/Chase Edit (2 Waldorfs, JW Marriot, etc).
Thinking of trip coming in 2025, I’m looking at Evermore resort Orlando, and my wife wants to stay at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Now these options do not take points (kinda). Hearing about from your partner aside, if “take the trip meant” cash even tho you’re sitting on a pile of points, do you still do it or not?
Tariq
I was recently denied for a card that’s on my game plan. How would you go about making any adjustment if deemed necessary?
RJ
What is the “best” card with an AF of between $1 and $99?
Yes this is going to depend on the ecosystem but for a moment let’s set that to the side.
2 hr 46 min
November 16, 2024 An Unexpected Lani Sighting
Back to Basics of the Week
- Status Highlight Number 5: Hyatt
Viewer Questions
- What’s your credit card hot take that is not about the Chase Sapphire Preferred? Mine is - the Amex Centurion card is a garbage card; it’s a bad earner and has a reverse-SUB. - Keith
- What card do you have that you continue to hold and use because it provides incremental value, but you'd never sign up for it again as a new card? (Spaethco)
- Amex is so far ahead of Chase and Capital One at building and running lounges. What airports should Chase and Capital One be targeting to make a splash? Please, no answers about Chase buying The Club.- AP
- Do you think credit card companies should only offer status and lounge benefits on business cards? My thinking is a lot of the complaints come from Business travelers. I like to chat about the lounge being overcrowded - acmeacresa
- What’s your favorite pool side drink?- Anthony B
News Round-Up
- US Bank has been pulled from the website the Altitude Reserve, and launching the Smartly Rewards card.
- Chase losing the Austin Terrace, but likely to gain an Austin Lounge in Time.

Topics
Matt
- You know, I’m beginning to think that Status only matters at higher-end Hotel properties…regardless of the level of Status it seem?
Tariq
- What is a spending category/benefit from a card in your collection that you’ve ok utilized more than you expected?
RJ
- Lani's comment from last week got me thinking about choosing your own adventure cards. If you could make a credit card with either (three 3X categories and 1.5X everything else) or (one 5X category, one 4X category, one 3X category and 1X everything else) which would you pick and what would you pick for the categories?
2 hr 28 min
November 09, 2024Book A Helicopter Ride
Back to Basics of the Week
Status Highlight Number 4: United
Viewer questions
If you were to move overseas then where would you move to? - Keith
If you have citizenship in 2+ places is it possible to get that other country’s version of credit cards as well? (American express is one bank that comes to mind that has a few cool options) - Anthony
If you were to enter into a six month period of gardening and wanted to concentrate all of your spending on one of two points ecosystems, Chase or AMEX, which would you choose if your goal was to NOT piss off the bank you don't spend with? How much activity would you keep on the non-preferred bank? - Jason
Outside of YouTube and credit cards what’s one thing you’re proud to have accomplished this year or looking forward to tacking next year? - K1d_Cat37
Non-credit card question: Which ice cream flavor are you? - Vincent
News Round-Up
None
Topics
Matt
Does it ever seem/feel like we overthink the whole game and still do pretty well with a flat earning card/Coupon sites and apps/buying the points you want?
Lani
What’s your points “sweet spot?” How many points is too many points?
RJ
If you had the power to make one major change to credit cards/issuers, what would you do?
Outro
2 hr 20 min
November 02, 2024SYP Now With Tasting Notes
Back to Basics of the Week
Status Highlight Number 3: IHG
Viewer questions
Favorite Whisk(e)y or non-water beverage? (Keith S)
If you had $20k/Month of non category spend would you use a 2X/2% catch all card or would you use a co-branded Hotel/Airline card to get extras like status and/or free night/upgrade certs? (Anthony B)
Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott and IHG get so much attention in the community. Can each of you make a use case for why one of the tier two hotels brands are best and could possibly serve as a primary choice or the best secondary option?
Examples for a single/couple, family of 4, and business traveler.
Best Western(Tariq), Choice(RJ), Wyndham(Lani), Sonesta(Matt). - You can choice who gets which brand. (k1d_Cat)
Imagine that overnight every card available to us becomes a 1% cash back card, so the only thing differentiating cards are the other features that already exist (credits, status, lounge access, free night certs, companion certs, customer service, etc), and any annual fees still remain the same.
When everything earns the same, which cards in your quiver are still worth keeping and why? (SpaethCo)
News Round-Up
Capital One renames Savor One to Savor…why?
Chase changes travel protections
Topics
Matt
You are 3/24; you have $800 in previous cashback; you want to jump into Travel; how do you approach it.
Lani
Just left MIA airport that does not have a United Club. I have Priority Pass, Star Alliance Gold status, and Amex Platinum card (even tho its far away from United gates, so you know what that means…) I ended up taking my family to Turkish Airlines lounge, small, dated, etc. but had access via both Priority Pass and Star Alliance Gold. Also a few other lounges within a reasonable walking distance.
Lounge Access is getting crazy (in my opinion). Too many lounges with shared access (i.e. Star Alliance, One World status access), priority Pass access, or direct card access
With that said, which would you prefer, more lounge options with limited access (mediocre or small), or less lounges with more accessible access (larger, more space, larger buffet, etc)
Tariq
With the Uber One benefit set to expire on the “new” Savor card in a little over two weeks, do you think we will see that credit come back on the Venture X (if it comes back at all)?
RJ
If co-branded credit cards were no longer allowed, how would that change your overall strategy? Which cards would you no longer have, which cards would you have to pick up to “recover” lost value? - RJ
Cards like Amex Platinum, CSR and Venture X that give you status or lounge access are okay but cards for Delta, United, IHG, ect no longer exist.
2 hr 57 min
October 26, 2024Mets Fan Blues with Special Guest Key!
Back to Basics of the Week
Status Highlight Number 2: Marriott Bonvoy
Viewer questions
Who are each of your top 3 CC YouTubers (present company excluded) and why? - AP
In this game there are opportunities for crazy good deals if you're willing to invest the time and effort and maybe a bit of risk. Good examples on the redemption side might be things like booking United to Hawaii via Turkish Miles & Smiles or transferring to programs with non-extendable miles expiration policies (ANA, Emirates, etc). On the earning side examples might be buying gift cards at office supply stores or participating in buying groups. - SpaethCo
Some people say that this is currently the Golden Age of Credit Cards, but the last 18 months we’ve seen some major devaluations by most of the loyalty programs — which devaluations do you think were worst, and did any affect your future credit card plans? - Keith
Alaska just restructured their points and loyalty programs; do you think that Alaska & BofA will release a high annual fee co-branded Alaska Card? Similar to American, Delta, and United Airlines. Hopefully Alaska’s card would be a more reward focused card than the other three airlines since Alaska’s lounge network isn’t very good. - Keith
News Round-Up
Citi Adds Preferred Hotels and Resorts I Prefer Program at a 1:4 Rate
Topics
Matt
Do unique transfer partnerships drive customer acquisition to Transferable currency cards or is just jumping to a cobrand sufficient?
Key
How often are you evaluating your annual fees? Any triggers to this?
Tariq
Do you have any cards that give you some sort of “buyer’s remorse?” If so, what were the cards, why did you apply for them, and why do you regret opening them?
RJ
How much do you worry about “overlap” in categories when it comes to your “everyday” credit card line up? Do you want to see 3 or 4 cards with the same categories or do you try to have just 1 or 2 with the “major” ones, i.e. dining or gas.
2 hr 23 min
October 12, 2024Just Chillin’ With Five Stages of Grief Over Regional Airports
Hosts | Matt Clausen of Credit Tidbits | Lani from Call Me Lani | Tariq Gaines from Riq’s Rewards | RJ from Do You Take Cards

Back to Basics of the Week | Hilton Honors Status

Viewer questions
There always seems to be a lot of buzz around "travel protections" on cards, but when you dig into the terms only a small subset of events are covered and the insurance generally excludes the really expensive things that a lot of people assume are covered like buying last-minute replacement flights. (Chase specifically never covers additional/alternate transportation on any of their cards) What's your take on these protections, are they appropriately revered or are they overrated, and is your opinion based on personal experience with the claim process? - SpaethCo
Follow up from Keith - Or is a $250 annual travel insurance policy a better option?
What if you all traded locations? Say RJ moves to Lani's location, Lani moves to Matt's location, Matt moves to Tariq's location, and Tariq moves to RJs location. Would you still keep your strategy or adopt the strategy of the person you are taking the place of, or something in between or entirely different? Thanks (again) for considering. Listen to a bunch of CC content but you guys are my favorite, appreciate the many perspectives on each scenario! - @Double_Double_Animal_Fries
As tech continues to rapidly develop What features / real world applications would you like to see merged with credit cards and the overall points & miles game?
Bonus question: what’s your favorite app/UI in the credit game? It could be an issuer or 3rd party.
What’s your process(es) for determining which card(s) to cancel and how do you approach the cancelation process? I’ve made some mistakes over the years. I won’t cancel a card that is older than my average credit card age. - Keith

News Round-Up
New Hyatt Card Welcome Offer.
Sapphire Reserve adds Air Canada Lounge Access for card holders.
American Express Green Card losses Loungebuddy credit, and Loungebuddy to be discontinued

Topics
Matt
Is the Slumbering Giant (Chase) starting to rouse from its lengthy Slumber (CSR moves and improvements, CSP Welcome offer, etc)
⠀Lani
‘Tis the Season! Holiday travel, Holiday planning, and Card Strategy all coming together. CSP with $300 travel credit offer, CSR with it’s recent changes, Ink Unlimited with “99K” offer, transfer bonus offers, and other offers on the way for sure. Black Friday now starting on November 1st with travel deals, kids eat free, Daily credit deals, and more. How are you looking to take advantage of this holiday season? New card, get a good redemption for a future vaca with the BF deals, etc?
⠀Tariq
Is it worth to redeem points for domestic travel via a travel portal for the sake of better earning cards with lower/no annual fees? Ex. Using Wells Fargo and/or Citi Cards since they have better earnings multipliers.
⠀RJ
With now just having the BCP and BCE, is now the time for Amex to allow their two cashback cards to become points like Chase does?
3 hr 18 min
October 05, 2024Hey, KeyKEYadventures Is Here!
Hosts | Matt Clausen of Credit Tidbits | Lani from Call Me Lani | Tariq Gaines from Riq’s Rewards | RJ from Do You Take Cards

Back to Basics of the Week | When is the best time to get a new card and what do you do once you get the card?

Viewer questions
What preparations do you make for a long domestic/international trip in case of emergencies? - K1d_Cat37
Since AS-HA transfer is live and everyone is moving HA miles to AS, at what point does AS need to make a devaluation (especially considering MR > HA > AS). It seems the more valuable, lower supply AS is about to be overrun by lower valued, easily acquired HA.- AP
Dugroz had a live show a few weeks ago where he noted his top 5 overrated cards. I would like to hear what are your top 3 overrated cards each. - AP
There has recently been a sharp increase in the number of videos addressing “Premium/luxury” cards. What are your views on holding multiple luxury cards? Are you only looking are tangible credits and value or do intangibles play a role in your decision making process. (ie lounge experience, possible upgrades from status, etc) - K1d_Cat37

News Round-Up
Amex quietly removed the Cash Magnet, the Everyday and the Everyday Preferred from their site.
Why is no one talking about the Chase transfer bonus to Marriott?

Topics
Matt
Quarter 4 starts tomorrow; do we think anything major will happen (Citi and Wells drop their big travel cards, more AmEx refreshes, What is Cap1 cooking?)
Key
What have we learned about waiting for cards/having them no longer taking sign up bonuses by the time we want them”
Tariq
How do you manage the annual fees on your cards, and do you have any ways to subsidize those fees (cash back cards, programs, etc.)?
RJ
What is your favorite credit card? Not the best, not the most useful but your favorite.
2 hr 38 min
September 25, 2024Left In For Context
Back to Basics of the Week | Business Credit Cards

Viewer questions
What business card do you think receives undue hate from the community that could genuinely help new or new to credit small business owners? (K1d_Cat37)
What business card would you recommend for an Uber driver (probably the most popular, ubiquitous small business that most have)? Why? - AP
Can we start a petition for a Chase Ink Reserve Card? Why hasn’t Chase released an Ink Reserve Card? They’ve built out some of their Sapphire Lounge Network, this card would fit in very well in their portfolio and service offerings.- Keith
Business cards lack some legal consumer protections available to consumer credit as defined in legislation like the Truth in Lending Act and CARD act. How does that affect what charges you're willing to put on a business card vs a personal card? - SpaethCo

News Round-Up
None
Topics
Matt
Issuers struck gold with Travel hacking’s discovery of Business cards, and it probably ruined everything for advanced credit card “players.” (and the game in general)
Lani
Are Credit Card enthusiasts ruining business credit cards for the “real” business owners, and as more and more people begin to adopt business cards for their strategies, will the issuers “nerf” it?
Tariq
Would business cards get as much love from the credit card community who have “businesses” if they reported to personal credit bureaus?
RJ
Is there a “problem” with business cards getting personal offers for cashback or points? I’m thinking like a business gold with Amex getting basically all the same offers as the personal gold.
2 hr 28 min
September 21, 2024Smash and Grab
Back to Basics of the Week | Effective Annual Fee

Viewer questions
Question for you guys to consider for future. How do you evolve your CC strategy over time? Maybe you realize you picked the wrong ecosystem or partners from the get go, maybe you started cash back but want to go travel or vise versa. Maybe life changes and therefore amount/ type of spend or location (thus partners) change. How do you reassess this on an ongoing basis and how do you make a pivot? Thanks for considering, y'all are great! - @Double_Double_Animal_Fries
Do you think the Amex consumer Green Card is going to be refreshed this year? If so, what would you like seen changed from this underrated card? - Keith
For @CallMeLani what would citi or c1 have to do in order for you to transition some of your spend/focus from Chase and Amex? - K1d_Cat37
Inspired by a bit of self reflection as I'm looking over this US Bancorp wealth management stuff: What's the most ridiculous amount of effort you've ever expended in pursuit of getting a credit card? (ie, joining credit unions, getting a card for a year on the hopes of a PC, etc) - SpaethCo

News Round-Up
Q4 categories
United CEO Scott Kirby has some words about the DOT

Topics
Matt
-Welcome Offers are the most effective “Return on spend” but there are only so many and only so many pertinent to those who are entrenched with their partners; besides stacks, how else can people maximize their daily spend without making it too much of “job?”
Lani
Extended Sign-Up-Bonuses: Your thoughts? Chase Freedom Unlimited & Flex recently had 12 month offers/options (extra 1.5X on everything for 12 months up to $20K, Double points no cap after 12 months, 5x on gas/grocery for 12 months. etc.) We’re starting to see this more and more, Ink Business 3 months+3 months, Amex+Resy 6 months with 3 months of 10x dining. Is this the new normal? Do you like it? Thoughts/Opinions?
Tariq
What are the benefits (if there are any) of being a travel free agent?
RJ
Are credit card points and miles a sort of spontaneity cheat code?
•One of the underrated benefits of being in the credit card “game” is the ability to get a lot of value but it’s also the ability to do things spontaneously. Credit card points/miles allow you to text a friend and say “you wanna do X” and move points/miles to cover the trip or part of it. Or if paying cash do so effectively.
3 hr 5 min
September 14, 2024$95 Crap Card
Hosts | Matt Clausen of Credit Tidbits | Lani from Call Me Lani | Tariq Gaines | RJ from Do You Take Cards

Back to Basics of the Week | Balance Transfers
Viewer questions
Question for @Tariq Gaines. What would Hilton, Marriott, choice, Wyndham have to do to win your loyalty from Hyatt and IHG? - K1d_Cat37
Who will end up with the Apple Card? - AP
How many banked transferable points in your account before you’d switch to cash-back or pay-yourself-back? Transferring points gets you the highest returns but they are worthless just sitting in an account until you use them. 250k/$2,500, 500k/$5,000, 1M/$10,000, etc. it’s tax-free money.- Keith
Now that Matt has experienced his first lounge, is there any desire to expand his access network? - K1d_Cat37
If you could fix a card by adding one multiplier to the card then which card and multiplier would it be? - Keith
Hard mode, it can't be 2x base earning on the Platinum. - SpaethCo
News Round-Up
US Bank new card
Topics
Matt | One card in your Wallet has to change the issuer; which one, where does it go, does it change features (if so what) and would it still be worth it to you? Can be a Cobrand or bank card.
Tariq | Are credit card roadmaps worth it? Do you have one, and if so, have you made any adjustments to it since you first made it?
RJ | What is a card you want but you just haven’t hit submit on the app yet and why?

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2 hr 3 min

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Stack Your Points episodes

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