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February 4, 2025 | View Online |
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January is behind us. I hope your resolutions (if you had any) are still going strong.
If they’re not. Thank you. I start my resolutions in February and feel better about myself when I see the dwindling gym numbers.
Not that it matters what I do in the gym. Existing in Kuala Lumpur is akin to living in a sauna. I’ll be sweating myself to a smaller waistline whatever I do.
Let’s get to the points:
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The ultimate Cap 1 pairing
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Why you need to stop saving your miles
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Delta’s new lounge restrictions
Cheers,
Steven |
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| CARD OF THE WEEK |
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The Ultimate Capital One Pairing |
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I’m all for diversity in credit cards. But sometimes, a specific company is just the right one for you. It might be a personal, unquantifiable feeling, or you just need tons of a specific transfer partner’s points—it doesn’t matter.
The issue, if that’s the case, is finding the best combo.
Capital One make it incredibly easy to combine cards. These two might just be one of the most powerful pairing on the market.
Card 1: The Base Layer
Every good strategy needs solid foundations, and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is as solid as they come. With a massive introductory offer and a spectacularly generous 2x miles per dollar on all purchases, you’re already well on your way. I recommend this card to almost everyone, as it ensures you never let a point go unearned. Throw in the high-end perks like lounge access and brilliant statement credits that help cancel out the annual fee, and you’ve got as close to a perfect card as could be.
Card 2: The Complimentary Sidekick
Now, this is a cashback card. Seems like a strange card to pair with the Venture X. But the Capital One Savor Rewards Credit Card can be just as valuable to miles-earners as cashbackers. That’s because if you own a miles-earning card from Capital One, like the Venture X, you can convert your hard-earned cashback into miles.
Now that you know it’s effectively a miles-earning card, too, you’ll be interested to know about the outstanding 3% cashback rates on dining, groceries, entertainment, and select streaming services. That 3% (or 3x miles per dollar if you’re converting) makes things interesting and jump-starts your earnings on high-spend categories.
For the Capital One loyalists, this is a pairing to be reckoned with.
Learn more here.
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| TECH NEWS |
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Elon Dreams and Mode Mobile Delivers |
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As Elon Musk puts it, “Apple used to really bring out products that would blow people’s minds.” Those days, however, seem to be behind us. Meanwhile, a new smartphone company, boasting an astonishing 32,481% revenue growth rate over three years, is stepping up to deliver the kind of groundbreaking moments we've been missing in the industry... They’ve just secured their Nasdaq ticker $MODE, and you can still make an investment in their pre-IPO offering.
Turning smartphones from an expense into an income stream, Mode has already helped users earn and save an eye-popping $325M+, driving $60M+ in revenue and a massive 45M+ consumer base. This ranked them the #1 fastest-growing North American software company in 2023, according to Deloitte.
Uber did it to taxis, Airbnb did it to hotels...And now, Mode Mobile is doing it to the $1 trillion smartphone industry.
Join 30,000+ shareholders and invest at $0.26/share today.*
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| STEVEN'S TIPS |
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Stop Saving Up Your Miles
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If you’re new to the world of points and miles, there’s a good chance you’re making this exact mistake.
It feels like common sense. You open a credit card, maybe you hit the bonus, and start earning points. You’re not thinking too much about it, but you’re hoping you might earn enough to cover a flight or two in a year or two. It’ll be a nice treat for you.
You start to do a little research and you find some flights with KLM for 20,000 points each way. You’re excited. You’re only a few hundred points away from a roundtrip. A month later, you go back and the cheapest flights are now 25,000 points. KLM and Air France devalued their points.
This literally happened last week.
Now that’s not a huge difference. But it’ll still take a while to earn another 10,000 points. Other airlines devalued their points drastically overnight, cutting hundreds of dollars in value from their customers. For example, American Airlines might choose to ditch its partner award chart and go fully dynamic. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen.
This is normal and it’s going to continue—especially as more and more people open rewards cards.
Now, I’m not saying you need to use your points the second you earn them. You’ll never redeem anything exciting that way. But holding onto them for years in the hopes you’ll have enough for something someday is setting yourself up for disappointment.
So, what should you do?
The odds are stacked against you. You’re playing a game controlled by huge corporate entities and they can move the goalposts at any time. Your job is to score as many points as possible before the next change comes.
I don’t really believe in passive points and miles. If you don’t want to build a proper strategy and learn how to redeem them properly, just open a cash card. If that’s not you, try and keep to these rough rules.
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Set short to mid-term goals
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Don’t put all your eggs in an airline’s basket, prioritize general cards
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Don’t leave your miles for too long
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Mazimize where possible
Interested in learning more? Take my points and miles crash course. |
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| TRAVEL HACKING NEWS |
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Delta’s New Lounge Restrictions Are In Operation
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As if to drive home my previous point, Delta’s new lounge restrictions came into effect last week. The airline pissed off its entire loyalty base by opting to reward high-spenders instead of actual loyal Delta customers, but hey ho, that’s where we’re at. At the same time, it severely cut accessibility for credit card holders and other groups. Here’s a rough overview of all the new changes and some tips for maximizing them.
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Credit card holders will receive either 15 or 10 visits a year depending on the product they own. Some cards have been cut altogether and those granted are limited to top tier Delta and Amex products. You can check the full list of eligible cards here.
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Unlimited access can only be unlocked by spending $75,000 in a year on one of those cards.
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Two visits in a single day will count as one trip. For example, if you enter a lounge at your departure airport, then spend a layover on the same itinerary in a SkyClub, you’ll only lost one visit.
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You can stack your visits if you have multiple eligible cards. 15 +10 visits.
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You can pay $50 for a visit after you run out of visits
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You could be sneaky and use a card’s airline credit to cover the cost of the extra visits.
It’s annoying for those of us who travel a lot and use Sky Club, but we have to be positive and acknowledge it’ll probably help with the brutal overcrowding lounges around the country have been dealing with. Let me know if you have any experiences with it. |
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| WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING |
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*This link is sponsored. |
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