👋 Hi Reader,

Hope your weekend is off to an amazing start! Here are some highlights from today's newsletter:

• 🚀 The path to becoming an expert in points & miles
• 🏦 Bank bonuses worth $1500+
• 💳 3 ways to pay any bill by credit card
• 🧾 A new report that shares your paycheck info
• 😳 Another Hilton devaluation
• 🇯🇵 New Japan Airlines partners
• 🤩 Deals for Costco, Sam's Club & more
• 🛒 Free Instacart+ and $10-20/mo in credits
• 🎙 My recent podcast appearances and more!

If you enjoyed reading this, please feel free to forward it to anyone else who might (and if that's you, you can subscribe here). Thank you!

Chris

🚀 The Path to Becoming an Expert in Points & Miles

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Feeling stuck or looking to level up your points and miles game? Check out Devon's 4-step framework that mirrors how we actually grow and learn in this space. We also cover high-yield earning strategies like paying processing fees, bulk ordering, and leveraging business expenses, plus tactics for scaling award travel for multiple people.

or...

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🛫 Travel, Points & Miles

💳 Pay (Almost) Anything By Credit Card (w/ Fee)

In this weeks' episode above, we talked about how you can use a few services to be able to pay almost any bill with a credit card. Most of these services are primarily for business payments, but Plastiq supports personal payments for Auto/Home/Student Loans, Tuition, Rent/HOA Fees, Utilities, Insurance, Day Care and more.

• ​Plastiq (← $1,000 in fee free dollars with this link)
• ​ZilMoney (← $300 in credits with this link and code CHRIS300)
• ​Melio​

Note: they all come with a ~2.9% fee, which probably doesn't make sense for everyday points earning. However, it might make a lot of sense for a signup bonus where the effective return on spend (ROS) is way more than 2.9%. For example, if you're getting 100,000 points for $5k spend, that's a 20% ROS, which would defintiely justify a 2.9% fee.

🇯🇵 New Japan Airlines Partners: Bilt + JetBlue

Japan Airlines is now a transfer partner of Bilt Rewards and an award partner of JetBlue. These two additions open up more options to use miles to get to Japan and JAL is a fantastic experience.

✈️ Alaska/Hawaiian Adds Tokyo-Narita Flights

Speaking of Japan, Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines has launched daily nonstop flights from Seattle to Tokyo-Narita, marking a major new transpacific route. The airline is also planning to launch a Seattle to Seoul Incheon route later this year and some Europe flights next year. When I quickly checked, the SEA-NRT had some decent award space.

😳 Another Hilton Devaluation: Up to 200k Points/Night!

Hilton Honors has once again increased award prices at many high-end properties, including some SLH and Waldorf hotels. Standard rooms now costs up to 200k points/night, which is a huge increase in the past year. Fortunately, Hilton free night certificates from credit cards haven't been affected and I hope that doesn't change!

💰 Points & Miles on Sale

Do you have a redemption in mind or are you familiar with these programs? Check out these deals with expiration dates in parentheses.

• Air Canada: 1.32¢ with a 90% bonus​​ (6/5).
• Marriott: 0.89¢ with a 40% bonus​ (7/16).
• IHG: 0.89¢ with a 100% bonus​​ (5/22).
• World of Hyatt: 2.17¢ with a 20% bonus (7/21).

😎 Earn Double Status: JetBlue and Dunkin'

If you fly the JetBlue Dunkin’ plane on a Monday between 5/19 and 9/1, you can earn TrueBlue Mosaic 1 and Dunkin’ Boosted statuses. To become eligible, all you need is to join TrueBlue and Dunkin’ Rewards® and opt into JetBlue marketing emails.

🤝 Instant Status Pass from American Airlines

If you have elite status with Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United, you get complimentary entry to American Airlines' Instant Status Pass, a unique status challenge that let's you earn elite status in three four-month phases. I went ahead and matched my Southwest A-List to AA Platinum and with my new Citi AA Business card am hoping to push to Executive Platinum before the end of the year.

🚫 New Restrictions on Emirates First Class Awards

As of 5/12, Emirates first class award tickets are only bookable by Skywards Silver, Gold, and Platinum elites. Non-elite members can no longer redeem miles for first class awards, but they could upgrade a business class award to first class, earn status via a co-branded credit card, or book through an eligible partner like Air Canada or Qantas.

🏨 Earn 1k Etihad Miles Per Hyatt Stay (Select Regions)

Earn 1,000 bonus Etihad Guest miles for each Hyatt stay (between 5/15 and 7/14) in eligible properties in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East. You must register here before 7/1 to qualify.

🤑 Latest Deals

🏦 Bank Bonuses Worth $1500+

Bank bonuses are a great way to maximize your savings, so here are some worth checking out:

• Up to $600 from Raisin​: Earn up to $500 when you open a Raisin account using the promo code BOOST and deposit a qualifying deposit before 6/30. Plus, get an additional $100 if you open a new Raisin account via TopCashback with a minimum deposit of $10,000.
• Up to $480 from SoFi: Earn $325 when you open a new SoFi Checking and Savings account using this link and set up a qualifying direct deposit. Plus, earn $125 when you use Rakuten to open the account (+ get $30 here if you don't have a Rakuten account).
• Up to $450 from U.S. Bank: Earn $450 when you open a new U.S. Bank Smartly® Checking account before 6/26 and sign up for online banking or the U.S Bank Mobile app and complete 2 qualifying deposits within 90 days.

🛒 Free Instacart+ Membership + Up to $20 in Credits

Most cardholders of a popular bank* now get $10–$20/month in Instacart credits along with a complimentary 3-month Instacart+ membership through 12/31/27. Best of all, if you have multiple cards, you can extend the Instacart+ membership further out in the future.

​*For compliance reasons, we can’t include names of all cards/banks.

👨‍🏫 2025 Chicago Seminars: Get $20 Off Tickets

2025 marks the 15th edition the Chicago Seminars, one of the original miles and points conferences. I went last year and learned a ton and am excited to be speaking this year. It's happening from 10/24-26 and you can get $20 off with the code CHRIS20. See you there!

🤩 Membership Deals for Costco, Sam's Club & More

Here are some great offers on memberships I found this week:

• ​Costco Gold Star Membership: Free $20 Costco Shop Card with a $65 membership. Expires 5/18.
• ​Costco Executive Membership: Free $40 Costco Shop Card with a $130 membership. Expires 5/18.
• ​BJ’s 1-Year Club Membership: $20 (Reg $60).
• ​BJ’s 1-Year Club+ Membership: $50 (Reg $120).
• ​Sam’s Club 1-Year Plus Membership: $60 (Reg $110).
• ​Amazon Prime Student 1-Year Membership: First 6 months free, then $69 (Reg $139).
• ​Amazon Prime Access Monthly Membership: $6.99 (Reg $15).

📺 TV Subscriptions on Sale

If you use these services, make sure to take advantage of these deals.

• Peacock Premium: Get 1 year for $24.99 (normally $80) when you sign up using the promo code SPRINGSAVINGS before 5/30.
• Disney+, Hulu & ESPN Bundle: Get the new stand-alone ESPN streaming service for $29.99 per month, bundled with free access to Disney+ and Hulu for 1 year.

🍔 50% Off Your Next DoorDash Order

DashPass members can get 50% off (up to $15) with code WEARTESTERS50. There's no expiration date mentioned, so it's worth checking out sooner rather than later!

🚲 $5 Off for New Lyft Bike Riders

Through 5/23, new Lyft bike-share riders can get a $5 credit with promo code BTWD25. Valid in select cities including New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, and Washington, DC.

🕵️ Great Finds

🧾 Shocked to See My "The Work Number" Report

Did you know that The Work Number Report collects and sells your paycheck and employment history? I checked mine (it's free to check) at it was wild to see how much detail is on it (e.g., exact dollar earnings). I went ahead and froze mine, but here’s a quick guide on what it is and how to lock it down.

🌍 The Design of Airline Route Networks

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Here's a fascinating look into how airlines design global route networks—covering why you connect where you do, hub dynamics, and profitability trade-offs.

🎙 My Recent Podcast Appearances

Even though I love hosting my own podcast, I also really enjoy being a guest on other shows to share my expertise. In case you're interested, here are some episodes I was recently featured in—hope you enjoy!

• Niche Pursuits Podcast: How to Turn a Side Project Into a Thriving Personal Brand​
• Mitlin Money Mindset: Unlocking Life's Potential: Hacks for a Richer Life​
• The Speaker Lab: Travel Hacks Every Speaker Should Know​
• Point Me to First Class: Life, Travel, and Money Hacks​
• The James Altucher Show: The Ultimate Guide to Smarter Living​

And if you haven't already subscribed to my podcast, you can do that on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

💬 Parting Thoughts

As always, thanks so much for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s newsletter, and if you enjoyed it, please let me know why!

Chris