September 27, 2022 | View Online | Sign Up

As much as I love being the center of attention, this week’s Smart Points is all about you. I wanna know what you’re interested in, where you’re at in your points journey, and how you think I’m doing. Growth and self-love and all that. You know the drill. 

So if you have a minute, I’d be super grateful if you could fill out this survey. I can't offer you free flights but I am throwing in a $100 gift card to one lucky filler-outer. Everyone else just gets love.

Let’s get to the points.

In this week’s cheatsheet:

• The Capital One Venture X’s 75k point bonus

• The Japanese airline that takes you further

• Why all our point earning might be for nothing

• Is a hotel card right for you?

Cheers,

Steven

| TRAVEL CARDS

Image: Capital One

Capital One's Free-Flight-Scoring 75,000 point intro offer

Compromises rarely come as sweet as the Venture X from Capital One. Bridging the gap between high-end, high-cost options like the Amex Platinum and lower-end cards built for specificity, the Venture X offers a stellar intro bonus, a range of top travel perks, and a fair annual fee that can be canceled out easily in direct value.

Currently, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 within three months of opening the card. While Capital One Points aren’t quite as versatile as some other travel currencies, regular improvements to their partnerships allow that bonus to go a long way. Here’s just a small example of what 75,000 points could grab you.

• Round Trip Economy Class - JFK to Paris 

• 5 Round Trips - Continental US to Hawaii 

• One Way - Business Class - Miami to Paris

• One Way - Business Class - JFK to Lima, Peru 

If the $395 still seems daunting (although not as much as the $695 Amex Platinum fee), don’t worry too much. If you know you’ll be spending more than $300 in travel throughout the year, you’ll get $300 back in statement credit. Throw in a 10,000-point anniversary bonus, and you’ve offset it with ease. You’ll also enjoy some premium perks like a Priority Pass membership and a fair range of daily points-earning opportunities.

The X could be the step up you’ve been looking for.

| WEEKLY SWEET SPOT

Your secret weapon: Off-peak ANA Reward Flights

There’s a fair chance you’ve never heard of one of our favorite airlines, ANA (All Nippon Airways), but the Japanese airline’s points currency is one of the most valuable systems out there. Despite some glaring caveats, round-trip business class flights to Asia and beyond aren’t out of the question if you’re willing to do the research.

If you take a quick glance at ANA’s partners, you’ll find airlines like United, Singapore, Avianca, and Aeroplan — all useful airline currencies to have at your disposable. But ANA’s points regularly go twice the distance as their counterparts. If you've got an Amex travel card of any kind, you can transfer points directly to your ANA account.

For example, United Airlines often charges well over 100,000 points for a one-way business ticket from the US to Japan. Booking using ANA Mileage Club would allow you to grab a round-trip on the same route for as little as 75,000 points — and yes, that’s business class. Other options include business-class round-trips from US to Europe for 88,000 — also a steal.

The downsides: ANA’s website is tough to navigate, so working through the award charts and other odd navigation quirks can be cumbersome. You also can’t book one-way flights, and to get the lowest points cost, you’ll need to book during off-peak times. But if you’re flexible, and happy to work out the kinks, you’ll struggle to find a better use for your points.

| POINTS NEWS

Why our credit card points could be at risk

You may have heard in recent weeks about the new Bipartisan Bill named the Credit Card Competition Act that’s making its way through the US Congress. To summarize its contents, lawmakers are hoping to introduce legislation that would require major banks to process credit transactions on two or more networks. The kicker? One of those companies can’t be Visa or Mastercard.

At first glance, this could be good. It might increase competition and in turn drive down credit card charges, passing on savings to the consumer and the retailer. But we’re a points newsletter, and it our take is that it could be disastrous for that side of things.

Many of the amazing benefits we earn through credit card usage is funded using these fees. It’s a way to make the cards more competitive in their own right, and with a chunk of the big names’ profits headed to smaller platforms, it’s very possible that loyalty programs could be scaled back considerably. In their place could come higher interest rates, more fees, and stricter decisions on who can even receive a credit card.

In reality, most reward and loyalty program users fall into a high-income bracket. While they could lose some of their benefits, lower income card users, who also carry balances more are going to take the heavier brunt of the fees. While it’s unlikely to be law anytime soon, it’s something to keep an eye on as it develops.

| TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES

3 ways to hit pause on credit card interest until 2024

Many low-interest credit cards now offer extended periods of 0% APR on balance transfers or 0% APR periods on purchases.

You can often find a credit card with a great sign-up bonus and cash back rewards, too.

Find the best credit card for your financial and situation and goals.

| CREDIT CARD OF THE WEEK

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express

I’m taking a look at a different kind of card this week, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express. Unlike the past two weeks, the Brilliant is a hotel co-branded card, so your points can only be used at Marriott properties, but that can be hugely useful for the right person.

First off, it’s an expensive card. At $650 a year, it falls firmly on the premium end of travel cards, especially for a hotel-specific one. But its massive 150,000 point bonus goes a long way in offsetting that. It could be used for as much as a week of hotel stays depending on which country you’re looking at, or two to three days in some high-end luxury hotels in the US and Europe.

When considering the potential value, it could be a strategic move for Marriott loyalists and road warriors alike. It also comes with a few stellar perks, like a free night worth 85,000 points each year.

Pros:

• 150,000 point bonus

• Free one-night stay a year

• $300 restaurant credit a year

• Marriott Platinum Elite Status

• Priority Pass Select Membership

Cons:

• High $650 yearly fee

• Other cards offer loyalty status

• Suited primarily for loyal Marriott customers

| STEVEN'S TIPS

Prioritize, then maximize

I was tempted this week to jump on a business class fight to Munich. I had more than enough points to cover the whole trip for my partner and I, but I knew I had more flights coming. I held myself back, sighed deeply, and went economy. It was tough, but I’ve now got enough on that account for two more flights if I play my cards right.

Before you go straight for the highest class of ticket possible, decide what’s more important; one amazing flying experience, or continued free travel. There’s no wrong answer. It all depends on what you want.

For some, saving for that all-out first-class experience is worth it. Those flights are usually thousands of dollars, and we’re unlikely to be able to afford it on any given day. I’ll definitely do it at some point, but right now, my goal is keeping traveling costs to an absolute minimum.

| WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

• The best travel credit cards for people with bad or fair credit
  

• 6 Instagrammable hotels you can book on points 

• The college freshman guide to credit cards

• Buying a house could earn you some serious Amex points

• Apple Pay Later gets delayed until next year

• Bilt’s “Rent Day” helps you earn points on your living expenses

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