CardWise Compass / A clearer path to free travel.
Hi {{first name | friend}}!
My sweet brother just came to visit us in the UK, and wanted to "talk shop" about his cards. I confirmed he has a good setup, and in just an hour, I also helped him find $2,000 in unused credits and a wasted annual fee. As his big brother, don't worry, I sent him a Venmo for the full amount afterwards 😉
Just kidding, of course. But if you think $2,000 an hour is nothing to scoff at, book your free call so I can save you money too!
That $2K was hiding because of the exact mistake we're covering today: disorganization (one we all can be guilty of!). Last issue, we covered mistake #8: hoarding points. This week's mistake seems like boring housekeeping, but it really helps every other principle pay off.
Estimated read time: 3 minutes
Today's Issue at a Glance:
Signal: Google Flights getting in on the points and miles game?
Strategy: Being disorganized costs you precious points and valuable credits.
Scenario: How to 10x the value of your points…!?
Step: Set up one free tool this week!
Signal
Google is beginning to show flight and hotel prices in points and miles directly inside AI Mode. It's limited for now, but this could be a major step toward making award travel easier. Thrifty Traveler has a helpful short breakdown. It's far from perfect, and is glitchy, so it's still always worth verifying accuracy. I'm not threatened by this tech. If you win, I win!
Strategy
If you remember one idea from this week's newsletter, let it be this:
Being disorganized costs you precious points and valuable credits.
Most premium cards carry annual credits (travel, dining, etc) that reset every year. Use ‘em or lose ‘em. Some airline and hotel programs zero out your balance after 18-24 months of inactivity. And a forgotten annual fee can offset the perks and points earned from your cards.
I’ve linked the six free tools I use below, in order by how often I use each one:
Google Flights: the best cash-price baseline, so you know whether a points redemption is a good deal or not
PointsYeah and Seats.Aero: search award availability across dozens of programs in seconds, instead of checking each airline one by one
Flight Connections: find what airline flies where, so you know which loyalty programs are possible to consider transferring to for your flight
Travel Freely: tracks every card, its fee date, and unused credits, and reminds you before you'd forget
Scenario
Let's say Person A and Person B each have 20,000 Amex Membership Rewards points, both planning the same one-way trip for a family of five from Boston to London.
Person A redeems the 20,000 Amex MR points for a statement credit at the standard 0.6 cents per point: $120 toward the trip.
Person B checked Google Flights and Flight Connections first to see what was possible. Cash for five one-way economy seats for their date was about $2,000, and Flight Connections showed Virgin Atlantic flies the route nonstop. Then, using PointsYeah / Seats.aero, they found five economy seats open on the same date with Virgin points. Person B transferred all 20,000 Amex points to Virgin Atlantic with a (temporary) 30% transfer bonus, earning 26,000 Virgin Points. They booked all five seats, Boston to Heathrow, for 25,000 of those points plus $449.60 in taxes and fees, banking the leftover 1,000 points toward next flight. This was a redemption of 6.2 cents per point, over 10 times what Person A got.
Plot twist: Person B was me. I booked that flight for our family, and it shows the power of being organized and using the tools. I used to be Person A though, so you can do it too!
Step
Pick one tool from the list above and use it this week. Play around with it for 5-10 minutes. That's it! Bonus points if you try two or three tools. Next week, try the other ones.
If this was helpful, would you please share it with a friend who travels? It's a great free way to support me. Sharing this link will let them get their points guide and subscribe. Thanks!
Next issue, we'll cover mistake #10: being afraid a new card will hurt your credit score, and what really happens to your score when you apply (it’s nowhere near as bad as you think).
Blessings, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Ross
CardWiseTravel.com