👋 Hi Reader,

Happy Saturday! Hope your weekend is off to a great start! There weren't enough exciting things to share last week, but this week is filled with so much great stuff:

• 🏨 Amex adds transfers to Leading Hotels of the World
• 🛋️ Popular bank lounges cut Priority Pass access on 8/15
• 🏦 4 new bank bonuses worth up to $5,500
• 🔎 Seats.aero adds award prices to Google Flights
• 🔄 3 new transfer bonuses: LifeMiles, Asia Miles & Flying Blue
• 🛍️ 11,500 miles from 5 airline shopping portal bonuses
• 🗓️ Bilt Rent Day: Accor status match up to Platinum, today only
• ✈️ Alaska adds Philippine Airlines (biz from 75K)
• 💳 Best-ever 100K Flying Blue card welcome offer

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

💰 Where to Keep Cash for the Highest Return

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In this episode, I break down where to park your cash to earn the most, whether you have $10,000 or a few million. I'll explain the tradeoffs that actually matter and why the highest advertised interest rate isn't always the best choice. I also cover this tool I built to help you explore options.

🏠 Turn Your Housing Payment Into Points

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📋 My Past Three Weeks

• I spent the first of the last 3 weeks on a kid-free vacation with Amy to Bora Bora. While I love exploring new destinations, we keep going back here because we always leave feeling like it was the best vacation. Next week's episode will cover a lot more, but we managed to check out two new resorts and had an incredible time together. I think the next trip might finally be the time to bring the kids along!
• After we returned, we took a weekend family trip to Carmel Valley Ranch. We went last year and it was one of the best family weekend trips we've ever had, so we booked another trip this summer. It has so much to do, including a farm, pool, organic garden, tree swings, hikes, beautiful scenery, scavenger hunt and more. Even better, it's a Hyatt property, so you can book with points and as a Globalist or with a Guest of Honor certificate, you get an amazing free breakfast for the whole family. I highly recommend checking it out and now that we've already booked another trip in the fall, I might see you there!
• If two trips weren't enough, after coming back from Carmel, I headed up to Victoria, Canada for an event called Interesting People. It was an amazing time meeting so many people who fit the description. Also, Victoria is beautiful and I can't wait to plan a trip back with more time to explore. I'm excited to record a few episodes with some interesting people I met at the event, so stay tuned for those!
• On one day of the event, we went out to a lake, where I got a chance to try out an efoil. As someone who likes to snowboard, skateboard and surf, I thought I was going to be cruising around the lake in no time, but that was certainly not the case. While I eventually figured out how to ride, it was so much harder than I expected and I got thrown off at least a dozen times. I'd certainly try it again, but I probably don't see efoil ownership in my future.
• Another highlight of the event was showing people how easy it is to search for Unclaimed Money they are owed. During one conversation, I helped 3 people find $400, $1,800 and $20k+. If you've never looked on your state's unclaimed property site, it's worth a few minutes to see how much you're owed.
• Finally, I had an amazing birthday dinner with my family. I may not care about birthday gifts or parties like I used to, but I absolutely love spending the day with the family and getting to open the homemade gifts and cards my kids create.

⭐ My Top Picks

🏨 Amex Adds Leading Hotels of the World at 4:1

Amex has a new hotel transfer partner, and this one is worth paying attention to. Membership Rewards can now transfer to Leading Hotels of the World's Leaders Club at 4:1, which sounds awful until you realize Leaders Club points are worth ~8¢ each. That's roughly 2 cents per Amex point at 425+ luxury hotels (and a better ratio than Citi's 5:1). I'm very excited for this one and can't wait to share more after my first stay.

🛋️ Popular Bank Lounges Cut Priority Pass 8/15

Starting 8/15, a popular bank's airport lounges will stop accepting Priority Pass and LoungeKey, so Amex Platinum, Venture X, and Citi Strata Elite holders will lose the free visits. If you want to continue going to these lounges, you'll need to have one of the four premium cards offered by the same "popular bank".

🔎 Seats.aero Adds Award Prices to Google Flights

​Seats.aero is one of my favorite award search tools, and they just launched a new Chrome extension that shows award pricing on Google Flights results, so you can easily compare the cash fare and the points price. I haven't had enough time to compare it with PointsPath, which offers a similar Chrome extension, but it's always great to have more tools to make this hobby easier. In the same week, Seats.aero also started showing United and Delta cardmember award pricing for Pro members. Between these two launches, Seats.aero is quickly moving towards the top of the award search tools list.

🛍️ 5 Airline Portals: Up to 11,500 Bonus Miles

Five airline shopping portals are running back-to-school bonuses at once, worth up to 11,500 bonus miles combined if you hit every tier, and they all end between 8/8 and 8/10. These only make sense if you are shopping already, but can certainly be a nice boost if you are.

• Alaska: 300-2,000 Points on $150-$750​
• American: 400-2,500 Miles on $200-$1,200​
• Delta: 300-2,000 Miles on $100-$600​
• Southwest: 500-2,500 Points on $100-$500​
• United: 500-2,500 Miles on $150-$500​

✈️ Alaska Adds Philippine Airlines: Biz From 75K

Alaska quietly turned on Philippine Airlines awards, and there's a ton of availability right now. Lie-flat business class to Manila starts at 75,000 points + ~$26 and flies from SFO, SEA, LAX, YVR, ORD, YYZ and JFK. Economy starts at 37,500. Philippine Airlines will also join Oneworld soon, which should bring more programs to book from.

💳 Best-Ever 100K Flying Blue Bonus + 100 XP

Bank of America's refreshed Air France KLM Card is offering 70,000 miles after $3,000 spend in 90 days, plus 30,000 more miles and 100 XP towards status after $7,500 spend in 180 days. The annual fee is only $89. Full details here.

📺 Recommendation: The Agency S2

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I recommended The Agency last year after watching season one, but I just finished season two and it was amazing. It swapped the slower speed of the first season for a much faster pace as it follows a CIA officer playing a dangerous double game, while his own office hunts for a mole and a rookie agent runs her first undercover mission in Tehran. It's on Paramount+, which is free with Walmart+ (which is free with the Amex Platinum and Business Gold).

📰 The Rest of the Week

💳 Credit Cards & Points

• Amex: Green Card Pulled Ahead of 8/20 Rename — I'm very curious what will happen with the relaunch.
• Bilt: Authorized Users Now Allowed From Age 13 — Starting a teenager on credit building this early is interesting.
• Capital One → LifeMiles: 15% Bonus All August — It took me 3 years to use the LifeMiles I transferred in 2023 and the cancellation fees are very high, so proceed with caution here.
• Cathay: 10% Bonus on Transfers to Asia Miles — Needs registration, but not big enough to move the needle for most.
• Citi → Flying Blue: 20% Transfer Bonus — Great if you have a booking to make, but we've seen bigger bonuses in the past.
• Popular Hotel Card: Bonus Raised to 75K — If I didn't have the business card, I'd be eyeing this offer, because I keep ending up staying at these properties.
• Samsung: New card earns 3% on all Samsung Pay — Getting 3% uncapped mobile pay is interesting for Samsung users.

✈️ Airline News & Promos

• Air Canada: Adds Biz & Premium Basic Fares — Definitely don't love this trend.
• Alaska: Portal Bonus Points No Longer Earn Status​
• American: 24-Hour Refunds Only 7+ Days Out — One more reason to book close-in trips with miles instead of cash.
• American: AA Miles Now Book Oman Air Biz to India — Oman Air is small, but this opens up a new path to India & the Middle East.
• Delta: 4x on Delta Stays Through 8/6 — This makes for a better deal if you have a Delta Stays credit to use.
• Delta: Premium Basic Fares Get $300-$500 Fees — Another disappointing change for the industry.
• IHG: Triple United Miles on Stays​
• JetBlue: Adds 'BlueFirst' Domestic First Class​
• Singapore: You Now Need 1,000 Points for Award Search — It's annoying, but if you consider it a $15 fee it feels better.
• Southwest: Up to 20K Points + A-List for Biz Travel​
• United: Mile Play Is Back, Check If Targeted​

🏨 Hotel News & Promos

• Bilt: Accor Platinum Match for 15K, Today Only — I prefer a big transfer bonus, but this is great if you want Accor status.
• Hilton: Adds a Dozen+ SLH Properties, Incl. Nevis — Some of these properties cost $2,500+/night, which is a great value for Hilton points (if you can find availability).

💎 Award Deals

• 🇪🇺 Europe: Emirates Biz to Milan or Athens from 59K​
• 🇯🇵 Japan: JAL Biz to Tokyo from 60K AAdvantage for Jul-Aug​
• 🇪🇸 Madrid: Iberia Biz from 40.5K Points via Iberia or Alaska​
• 🇫🇷 Paris: Park Hyatt Vendôme Open for Summer 2027 from 35K​

🔗 Card-Linked Offers

• Air Canada: $100 Back on $1,000​
• Airbnb: $20 Back on $80+​
• Alaska: $80 Back on $400+​
• Capital One: $10 Back on $20​
• Hyatt Place: 7% Back, up to $50 back​
• Marriott: 10% Back, up to $50 back​
• Marriott: Up to $150 Back on $375+, Ends 8/5​

Some of these are targeted, so check your own accounts to confirm you're eligible. For compliance reasons, we can't mention all the cards by name, but the linked pages have all the details.

🏦 Bank / Brokerage Bonuses

• Popular Bank: Brokerage Bonus Up to $1,000​
• TastyTrade: 3% Transfer Match, Up to $3,000 — I did the last bonus here, and 3% is great, but it's a 36-month hold.
• Verve: Up to $600 Checking Bonus, Nationwide​
• Webster Bank: Up to $900 in 8 Northeast States​

💬 Parting Thoughts

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

Chris