Go Somewhere: Volume 11

We made it through Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday. All I bought was some Gymshark shorts.

Did you book a trip? I saw some pretty great deals - 30% off Southwest, 50% off MSC Cruises, and so much more.

I’m getting great feedback from you all on this newsletter - please let me know if there are any ways I can serve you better, or if there’s specific topics you want addressed.

Let’s get into this week’s content!

My favorite credit card right now.

I’ll start by saying I just really like how this card feels in my hand.

It’s black, it’s metal, and it just looks cool.

But, it’s also got some pretty amazing benefits.

Spoiler: It’s the Bilt Mastercard.

The only card on the market that allows you to earn points from paying rent, with no steep transaction fee.

This card is a must-have for renters, but I’d argue that everyone should have it.

You can easily earn a few nights in a Hyatt hotel just from paying rent, but there’s even more compelling reasons to get this card.

➡️ Bilt Rent Day Promos:

• Every “Rent Day”, Bilt offers elevated award-earning opportunities. If you want to plan a date night at a Bilt Dining location on the 1st, you can earn 16x points! Your $250 meal could earn enough points for a night in a hotel.

➡️ Bilt has perhaps the best transfer partners out there. Specifically, Bilt Transfers to American Airlines and Hyatt. Two of the BEST programs that exist. It is very hard to earn AAdvantage points - Bilt is the only option other than their card.

➡️ I could fly Columbus to LA, San Francisco, Aruba, or Puerto Rico for only 8.5k AAdvantage points one way. Amazing value.

➡️ You can also transfer to Virgin, Hyatt, Marriot, IHG, United, and more - literally all of my favorite partners. Amazing transfer partners, decent ways to earn points, unlimited referral bonuses, educational travel portal, and no annual fee! This card is worth it.

I highly recommend you click this and sign up today.

Convenience is worth paying for.

There’s a big difference between what an overnight flight looks like on Google Flights and the reality of trying to sleep on a plane.

When we’re excited about travel, especially cheap travel/award travel, it’s easy to rationalize poor decisions.

I’m here to tell you, slow down.

Think through what you’re about to book.

I’m working with a client right now for whom comfort is paramount.

We’re only looking at beach destinations they can fly to directly. They simply don’t want to take connecting flights.

And you know what? I love that. They know what they want. They don’t want to make travel more stressful than it already is.

Here’s a short list of small travel conveniences that are worth paying for:

• Direct flights.

• Exit row seats/aisle seats.

• Noise-cancelling headphones.

• Good food to take through security and eat before the flight.

• A slightly larger rental car.

• A dinner out your first night instead of trying to figure out groceries/cooking.

• A hotel with a king bed.

• A hotel with a balcony (you need air).

• A vacation rental with a large kitchen.

• TSA Pre-Check.

And of course, the most important thing in all of this, is your attitude.

You simply have to stay cool and calm during travel, because it can be stressful, and you could snap.

If you have the money, pay for the extra conveniences.

Go after airlines/hotel statuses to get perks, use your travel cards to cover pre-check, use points to fly business - get creative!

One couple’s epic Italy & Morocco Adventure

Logan planned an incredible trip with his wife and used mostly points to do 2 weeks in Italy and Morocco.

He didn’t get fancy with transfer partners, he just used the Chase travel portal.

• How’d they earn points?

  • Two-player mode! Logan and his wife each got the sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card and earned over 130k points.

• How much did they spend?

  • They spent all 130k points in the travel portal, and another $500 on flights/hotels/food.

• Where’d they stay?

  • Hotel La Ninfa - Amalfi Coast, Italy.

  • Hotel Riad Dar Dar - Morocco

• Their advice for new travel hackers:

  • “Just start (so long as you can handle a credit card well)! Standardize before you optimize. Open a card, redeem the points and learn as you go about all the complex strategies to maximize the points rewards.”

• What was the best part about this trip?

  • “My wife and I got to stay on a beach side hotel in the beach of the Amalfi coast in Italy. Since we went in the off season the stay was paid for with points, was super empty and extremely beautiful place to stay. Getting to eat Italian food on the beach knowing we used points to get there made the stay even sweeter!”

Logan, GREAT WORK!

This is how it’s done, people.

Until next week, peace.