👋 Hi Reader,

Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is off to a great start! Here are some quick highlights from today's newsletter:

💳 Are Credit Card Points Still Worth It?
🛍️ Amex Platinum Swaps Saks for Retail Offers
🏨 Marriott Quietly Raises Award Prices
🔄 3 New Transfer Bonuses Up to 30%
🎟️ Free 'When Will I Be Rich?' Workshop
🍽️ $300 Dining Credit List Gets a Refresh
✈️ Southwest's New Rapid Rewards Debit Card

If you enjoyed reading this newsletter, I'd really appreciate it if you would forward this to a friend who might too! And if that's you, make sure to subscribe here. Thank you so much!

Chris

💳 Are Credit Card Points Still Worth It?

With fees climbing, credits getting harder to use, and points constantly devaluing, it's fair to ask whether earning points and miles is even worth it anymore. In this AMA episode, I dig into when the fees are still worth it and when cash back might make more sense. I'll also walk through how I'd start earning points from scratch and how to squeeze more out of overlooked spending categories.

📺 Watch or 🎧 Listen

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📋 My Past Week

The highlight of the week was definitely getting to take my youngest on her field trip to our local fire station. We both learned a ton, got to meet a bunch of the firefighters in our community, and spray the firehose. I didn't get to slide down the pole, but maybe next time!
We've been through dozens of colds with the kids, but our oldest daughter had her first stomach bug this week and had to miss half a week of camp. Fortunately she's finally feeling great again!
We spent the 4th with my parents up in Napa last weekend and it really made us appreciate how much a local staycation can feel like a real vacation with so much less lift than a big trip. That said, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the idea of having a 4th of July without fireworks... a drone show doesn't come close!
The World Cup this year has been so much fun to watch. I've gotten to see at least half of the games and I can't believe how many have been decided in the final minutes (or even in PKs). I always love to cheer for the underdog, so now that the US is out, I'd love to see Norway go all the way!
This week I discovered that our bedroom CO₂ spikes while my wife and I breathe during sleep. It’s not an acute safety issue, but research suggests levels around 1,000 - 1,300 ppm can affect sleep quality, so I’m testing simple fixes like running the HVAC fan and cracking a window. This is part of a recent effort to optimize our home and I’m excited to share more soon.

⭐ My Top Picks

🛍️ Amex Platinum Swaps Saks for Retail Offers

As of July 1, the Platinum card's twice-yearly $50 Saks credit is gone. While it wasn't officially announced as a replacement, Amex did add a handful of new offers.

Bose: $75 off $300+
Eight Sleep: $200 off $1,000+
Nordstrom: $50 off $200+
Perplexity: $100 off $200+
TUMI: $50 off $250+

For us, $50 off $200+ at Nordstrom is probably more valuable than a free $50 at Saks, but I don't think we'll get any value from the rest.

✈️ Southwest's New Rapid Rewards Debit Card

Southwest's debit card is finally live, and if you're going for Companion Pass, it could be worth a look because cardholders can get:

2,500 point welcome bonus for making 2 direct deposits and spending $100 in 90 days
An extra 1,000 points for a $250+ direct deposit by 9/30
7,500 Companion Pass qualifying points each year
No monthly fee with a $2,500 balance

All the points earned (including bonuses) count towards companion pass, which means this card (which has no hard pull on your credit) could net you 11k points towards companion pass with very little effort. You'll also get a 20% promo code every January and a $35 statement credit on Southwest purchases.

🍽️ $300 Dining Credit List Gets a Refresh

A popular travel card just overhauled the restaurant list for its $300 dining credit, adding 91 spots and removing 64, with Las Vegas taking the biggest hit. If you had a reservation at a delisted restaurant, there's a 60-day grace period to still claim the credit. From an SF perspective, I think the changes are a net positive, with Frances (one of our favorite spots) getting added to the list.

🔄 3 New Transfer Bonuses Up to 30%

There are a few new transfer bonuses live right now:

Amex → Virgin Atlantic: 30% Bonus (through 7/31)
Capital One → EVA Air: 30% Bonus, a New Path to Asia Biz (through 7/31)
Amex → Hilton: 20% Bonus (through 7/14)

Without a specific redemption in mind, I can't get excited about any of them. That said, I was really tempted to find a reason to take advantage of the EVA Air bonus, because I know a Taiwan trip is on the horizon and EVA Air often has some great availability in their own program. Honestly, if EVA didn't have a hard 36mo expiration, I might have done it, but I'm not certain we'll have a use for them that soon!

🏨 Marriott Quietly Raises Award Prices by up to 16%

Marriott quietly increased award pricing at many properties by as much as 16%. It's especially annoying for people with free night certificates, because a stay that used to fit under the 35/50/85k point cap might not work anymore. I'm feeling pretty lucky that I happened to just make a big 300k+ point redemption a few days before this change. I guess we can be thankful it's not a bigger devaluation, but it still sucks.

🎟️ Free Workshop Recommendations

My friend Ramit Sethi runs I Will Teach You to Be Rich and they've been running some great free workshops recently. I hosted one a few weeks ago on credit card points (you can watch the replay here), and on Monday (7/13) they're hosting When Will I Be Rich?, where Ramit is going to break down what 'rich' actually means for your life and the systems that get you there. You can register for the free event here.

📰 The Rest of the Week

💳 Credit Cards & Points

Amex: Tighter Centurion Lounge Rules (Guests Must Fly Same Flight) – This change probably won't matter for most of us.
CLEAR+: Price up to $219, Amex Credit Will Match – Reminder to link your DL/AS/UA accounts for a discount too.
Hyatt: Personal Card Bonus Up to 75K (Really 60K) – Marking this as 75k is absurd, but it's better than the previous offer.
Marriott: Free Gold Status Is Back for a Popular Travel Card
Robinhood: Gold Card Adds 3% Foreign Transaction Fee – While this sucks, I'm honestly surprised they're still offering 3% back.
SoFi: New Card: Unlimited 5% on Groceries

Some of these are targeted, so check your own accounts to confirm you're eligible.

🏦 Bank / Brokerage Bonuses

Amex: $300 Checking Bonus With $7,500 in Direct Deposits
E*Trade: Existing-User Brokerage Bonus Up to $20K
Trump Accounts: $1,000 Contribution for Kids Born 2025–2028
Wells Fargo: Up to $825 Business Checking, No Direct Deposit

💬 Parting Thoughts

Thanks so much for reading! Hit reply and let me know what you think. I read every response. 🙏

Chris

Chris Hutchins

💰 My Top Picks, Recommendation & More (7/11/26)