We did a Q&A show!
What got you interested in points and miles? - Jason
At what point in life do you see yourself transitioning into a complete Cash-back setup? - Ronald
Will the Citi Strata be the new food card for 2025? Add in the gas & EV charging categories and with possibility of AA as a new transfer partner from the Citi & AA deal last week.
Chase and Wells do not want to play in the grocery category, Amex increased the Gold Card to a $325 AF and ALL of their credits feel like a chore.
The Savor card seems like a lost soul because Capital One makes it so difficult to get their bifecta. (Keith S)
AS-HA is the 5th largest airline in the country. They are quite a force in the Western US but fairly irrelevant on the East coast. If AS wanted to greatly expand its reach and be more competitive on a national level they need hubs and focus cities in these locales. Pick one hub and two focus cities that AS should expand to for future growth (no repeat locations please, otherwise it’ll all be NYC). - AP
Matt talks a lot about “ghost cards” or discontinued cards . If you could bring a card back from the dead - that was killed more than a year ago - which card would you bring back? - Sam
What Goals do you have for the podcast and your individual channels for 2025? - K1d_Cat37
What's the story of the worst hotel stay you've ever had? - SpaethCo
Have you ever had such a bad experience with a hotel chain or with an airline that you’ll never use them again? Name and shame. - Keith
What are your credit card/travel wins for 2024? - Vincent
What card does the community like that you don’t agree with (like Matt for the CSP). Why don’t you think the card is that great and why does the community overhype it? - AP
Do you ever seek out or utilize 0% apr offers? What’s your typical game plan for funds (CD, HYSA, etc) and do you payback gradually or wait till the last month and pay in whole? - AP
What is your trigger to get a new card? - Double Double Animal Fries
Is it a specific future redemption? The next step in a grand strategy? A really good SUB? Incidental upcoming high spend? An opportunity to try out a new card/ecosystem?
What are your endgame setups (no more than 5 cards)? - AP
Should Bilt’s points value be reevaluated since they no longer offer transfer bonuses like they used to? (And American Airlines left the program). (Keith)
Let me further elaborate; Bilt convinced some of us to accept 1x earnings (which we normally never would accept) and to hope & wait for Rent Day transfer bonuses to the likes of Aeroplan and FlyingBlue with 150% transfer bonuses. Those are all but gone and if there is anything decent then the number of bonus points are capped.
I finally came to the realization that earning 2x on my VX with a 20%, 30%, or 40% bonus to some of these programs comes out just as good or better than what Bilt is offering on a one-day transfer bonuses every few months. This is the current math since they nerfed double points on Rent Day by 90%.
By lowering the Double Points offerings to 1/10 of the original rates and the extremely limited Transfer Bonuses, I no longer see much of the same value in the Bilt program as I once did.
You can get 1x on an Alaska or Hyatt card all day long. If you want Hyatt points then the CFU for 1.5 unlimited and 3x dining is better.
