Aaron Hurd joins us today to share a more rational, math-based approach to the world of credit card rewards.

Aaron is a long-time expert in the space who has written for major publications like Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Points Guy. After years of writing for others, he recently shifted focus to become an independent content creator with his Cards and Points YouTube channel.

In this episode, we dig into Aaron’s unique backstory—from buying $250,000 in dollar coins to rack up rewards to his “economist” philosophy on point valuations.

We also cover:

• The “Hustle” Origins: How Aaron got his start stacking rebates on Dell computers and exploiting the U.S. Mint’s dollar coin program to generate massive rewards.

• The Economist Approach: Why focusing on “cents per point” is often a trap. Aaron explains why you should value points based on what you would actually pay in cash, rather than the inflated retail price of a luxury flight.

• Rational Decision Making: The key questions you should ask yourself before redeeming, such as “What is my alternative?” and “Can I earn cash back instead?”

• Wallet Strategy: A breakdown of how Aaron categorizes his cards into three buckets: Daily Spenders, Benefit Buyers, and Free Night Earners.