🚨 Chase Just Raised the Sapphire Reserve Welcome Bonus to 150,000 Points!

🚨 Chase Just Raised the Sapphire Reserve Welcome Bonus to 150,000 Points!

Chase quietly made a big move — the Chase Sapphire Reserve is now offering 150,000 bonus points to new cardholders, and this is one worth paying attention to.

Full disclosure: I have a complicated history with this card after last year's refresh (you can read about that here), but I also just used it for a nearly free Las Vegas weekend in January 🎰 — so clearly we've worked things out.

Here's what the current offer looks like:

Spend $6,000 in the first 3 months and you'll earn 150,000 bonus points. Those points are conservatively valued at around $2,500 — but depending on how you redeem them, (transfer to a dozen different airlines and several hotel chains including Hyatt) they can stretch significantly further.

The annual fee is $795, which I know sounds steep. But before you close the tab, take a look at what's included:

• ✈️ $300 Travel Credit
• 🎟️ $300 StubHub Credit
• 🍽️ $300 Dining Credit
• 🏨 $500 Edit Hotels Credit
• 🏨 $250 Select Chase Hotels Credit
• 🛂 $120 Global Entry Credit
• 🚗 $10/month Lyft Credit
• 🛵 $25/month DoorDash Credit
• 🎵 Complimentary Apple TV+ & Apple Music
• 🚴 $120 Peloton Credit
• 🛋️ Priority Pass Lounge Access (you + 2 guests)
• 🛋️ Sapphire Lounge Access

If you actually use these credits, the math works strongly in your favor. That said, it does take some intentionality to make sure you're not leaving value on the table — this card rewards people who engage with it.

A few things to know before you apply:

You can hold both the Sapphire Preferred and the Sapphire Reserve at the same time. However, if you've received a welcome bonus on either personal Sapphire card in the past 48 months, you likely won't qualify for this one. The good news? Chase will show you an eligibility pop-up before the hard credit pull, so you'll know where you stand before anything hits your credit report. 👍

If this fits how you already travel — or how you want to travel — it's a genuinely strong offer. Hit the link below to apply through my referral link, and feel free to reach out with any questions!

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

Score 10,000 Free Miles for Your Fall Europe Trip ✈️

Score 10,000 Free Miles for Your Fall Europe Trip ✈️

Planning a trip to Europe this September? Here's a deal worth knowing about: book a qualifying flight now and you'll pocket a bonus 10,000 Flying Blue miles — no hoops, no tricks.

Here's what you need to qualify:

• 📅 Book by May 3rd
• 🗓️ Travel between April 22nd – September 30th, 2026
• 🛬 Fly at least one segment from the US to Amsterdam or Paris (CDG)
• 💺 Economy class only
• 🇺🇸 US residents only
• New bookings only — existing reservations don't count

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So what can you actually do with 10,000 miles? 🤔

More than you might think. Every month, Flying Blue — the loyalty program shared by KLM and Air France — releases a promotional transatlantic route priced at just 18,750 miles. That means your 10,000 bonus miles put you well over halfway to a completely free flight to Europe. You'd only need to earn (or buy) the remaining 8,750 miles to redeem a one-way award ticket.

Plus Capital One, Bilt and Chase are transfer partners with Flying Blue. 👏

If a fall trip to Paris, Amsterdam or anywhere in Europe is already on your radar 🗼, this is a genuinely solid reason to book sooner rather than later. That May 3rd deadline moves fast.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities.

How Transfer Bonuses Can Stretch Your Points Further 🚀

One of the smartest ways to get more value out of your flexible points is to transfer them to airline and hotel partners. And here's a little bonus (pun intended) — almost every month, one or more partners run a transfer bonus ranging anywhere from 10% to 80%. That kind of boost can make a real difference. 💪

Not every transfer partner is worth your points even with a bonus, but the good ones become genuinely great when a promotion hits.

This Month's Standout Deal 🌟

Chase Ultimate Rewards is currently offering a 20% bonus on transfers to Air Canada Aeroplan — and this one is worth acting on. On the flip side, IHG even with a 70% bonus is not usually a good value, however, if you need to top off your account, it might be good option with the bonus. 

Aeroplan consistently offers strong redemption rates, and it's one of the best ways to book flights on United Airlines without actually using United miles.

Here's a real example to show you what that looks like:

Booking Method	Cost
Aeroplan miles (San Diego → Denver)	15,000 miles
Chase points transferred to Aeroplan (with 20% bonus)	13,000 points
United miles for the same flight	15,000 miles
Chase Travel Portal	~18,000 points

Transferring Chase points to Aeroplan with the current bonus saves you money compared to every other option though you will pay $47 in taxes. That's a real win. 🎯

How to Transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards Points 📲

It's easier than you might think. Here's how to do it:

1. Log into Chase and click "Redeem Points" — the same button you'd use for the travel portal
2. Select "Transfer Partners"
3. Enter your loyalty number to link your accounts
   
   
   
4. Enter the number of points you want to transfer (in increments of 1,000) — for our example, you'd transfer 13,000 Chase points to receive 15,000 Aeroplan miles
   
   
   
5. Confirm the transfer — it usually processes immediately, though occasionally it can take a couple of days

Once the transfer goes through, pop over to the Aeroplan website to confirm the miles landed in your account, then book your flight. Done! ✅

Keep an eye on these transfer bonuses — they rotate regularly and can quietly deliver some of the best value in the points world. 👀

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities. 

You Have the Points—So Why Are You Still Paying Cash for Flights? ✈️

Both new clients I met with this past week had a serious stash of points and miles—and were still planning to pay cash for their next flights. 🤔✈️

The first client had 800,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points sitting in their account… and had just purchased a flight to the East Coast. When I asked why, she said she was saving them for a “big trip someday.”

Family trip to Finland to see the Northern Lights

The second client? 2 million Amex points. Yes, really—two million. And they were about to pay cash for round-trip flights to Europe.

And here’s the kicker: both are still actively earning points every month.

This isn’t unusual. I’ve seen it over and over:

• A client with 100,000 Chase points planning to pay cash to fly to California
• Another with 275,000 Chase points doing the same for a West Coast trip

So what’s going on? Why do smart, points-savvy people collect all these miles… and then not use them?

I asked ChatGPT, and the answer lines up exactly with what I see in real life:

1. Mental accounting
Points feel like a “special” currency—too valuable to touch. Cash feels easier to part with. If you have a steady paycheck, paying $500 for a flight doesn't seem like as much as paying 50,000 points even though it's the same value. 

2. Loss aversion
It took effort to earn those points, so spending them feels like losing something.

3. Endowment effect
Once you have a big balance, it starts to feel like something to protect. People hold out for a “perfect” redemption that rarely happens.

4. Optimization paralysis
Transfer partners, award charts, dynamic pricing…it can get complicated fast. When people aren’t sure they’re getting the best value, they freeze—and default to cash.

5. Future fantasy vs. present reality
Points get saved for a dream trip someday, while real trips—family visits, college tours, quick getaways—get paid in cash.

Here’s the reality:
Points and miles don’t get more valuable over time. They quietly lose value. Meanwhile, your travel life is happening now.

Once we talked it through, each of these clients made a shift:

• 800,000 points → used 100,000 for a round-trip flight to Europe ✈️
• 100,000 points → used 40,000 for a round trip California trip 🌴
• 225,000 points → used 40,000 for a round trip West Coast flight 🌊
• 2 million points → used 492,000 for two round trip business class flights to Europe 💺✨

Did they use their points well? Yes. The round trip business class flights to Europe priced out at $14,000.  
Do they still have plenty left? Also yes. That same client has 1.5 million Amex points left. 
Are they still earning more? Absolutely.

Over the water bungalow in Moorea paid with points

And maybe most importantly—they’re actually enjoying the benefits of what they’ve earned.

If you’re sitting on a pile of points and thinking about paying cash for your next flight, let’s take a look before you book. A quick consult can save you thousands of points—or help you finally use them with confidence.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process. Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the program. 

Or you can book a consulting call with us for just $100. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

***In honor of every new paid client, we will make a donation of 10% to one of our favorite charities. 

Client Success Story! 100,000 Point Bonus Earned

 

Love getting emails from clients about their wins! This one made my day because it’s the first time this client has used points and miles for a trip—and it’s a big one. 🎉

They’re heading to Europe to celebrate their anniversary. The plan starts in Amsterdam during tulip season 🌷, then a flight to Prague, followed by a train ride to Vienna. Not a bad way to celebrate an anniversary!

Honestly, I wish I could tag along.

They reached out because they had some Chase Ultimate Rewards points but weren’t sure how to use them effectively. They wanted help turning those points into a memorable anniversary trip to Europe.

We talked through the best strategy: how to use their Chase points for flights, how to structure the itinerary, and how to leverage the rest of their travel spending to earn even more points that could offset additional costs.

Here’s what we put together:

✈️ Flights

• 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points covered two round-trip flights from LAX to Amsterdam

🏨 Hotels

• $300 Capital One Venture X annual travel credit applied toward a hotel stay

💳 Additional travel

• 100,000+ Capital One bonus points available for hotels and their flight from Amsterdam to Prague

We estimate this client will save approximately $3,000 on their anniversary trip! Woohoo! 😄

And that brings up a great question: What can you do with 100,000 Capital One points?

Quite a lot.

Depending on transfer bonuses and award availability, that balance could potentially cover multiple flights to Europe or several hotel stays.

Here are a few of the ways we like to use Capital One points:

✈️ Transfer to airline partners for award flights
🏨 Transfer to hotel partners for hotel stays
💳 Use the travel purchase eraser to offset travel charges
🌍 Book through the Capital One Travel Portal

You can read here about how I used Capital One points to get a free rental car and Lavatubing tour in Tahiti or how I used Capital One points for a 2 week family trip to Ireland. 

One thing we generally don’t recommend: redeeming points for gift cards or statement credits. Those options typically deliver the lowest value for your points.

If this is your first time using points and miles, this is exactly the kind of strategy that can turn a pile of credit card points into a memorable trip. And honestly, there’s nothing better than seeing it all come together. ✈️🌍

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities.

How To Get Thousands of FREE Airline Miles Without Spending Extra $

I talk about shopping portals all the time because they’re one of the easiest ways to earn airline miles and hotel points on spending you’re already doing. 🛍️✈️

Today I want to show you a few real examples — plus some bonus offers that can help you stack even more points and miles.

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Rakuten is my current favorite shopping portal 💻✨

Rakuten.com has become my go-to for earning extra rewards on everyday purchases.

For example: I buy cat food from Chewy.com every few months. If I take the extra step of starting at Rakuten and then clicking through to Chewy, I’m still shopping at the exact same website — but now I earn:

• 2% cash back from Rakuten

• Plus 1x–2x points from my credit card

Chewy is listed on a bunch of shopping portals, so it’s always smart to check cashbackmonitor.com before you buy. When I checked, most portals were offering 1x points or miles at Chewy… but the Chase Freedom portal was offering 2x. 👀

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The best part: Rakuten can pay out in points 🎯

Rakuten lets you earn rewards as:

• Cash back

• American Express Membership Rewards points

• Bilt points

I linked my Rakuten account to Bilt, so every 4 months my Rakuten rewards automatically transfer into my Bilt account.

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Quick Bilt refresher (because these points are legit)

Bilt points are a newer flexible currency — similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex, Citi, and Capital One.

You can transfer Bilt points to airline and hotel partners like:

• Southwest

• Alaska

• Iberia

• Virgin

• Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)

• Hyatt

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A huge current Rakuten offer: Kraken 💰

Right now on Rakuten, the crypto platform Kraken is offering:

$150 back on a $225 deposit and purchase

If you’re earning in Bilt points, that’s essentially 15,000 Bilt points (since it transfers 1:1).

To put that into perspective:

• My last flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles cost 4,500 Alaska points

• The one before that cost 2,500 Southwest points

• And yes, I brought a companion along for free 😅

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Want to stack the deal even more? 🔥

If you open a Rakuten account using my referral link, you’ll get an extra 5,000 points after you spend $50.

So if you did the Kraken offer, you’d be looking at 20,000 Bilt points total.

And just to show how real this is: transfer those points to FlyingBlue.com and you can potentially book a one-way economy ticket on Air France from Los Angeles to Athens. Seriously.

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Not into crypto? Totally fair 😄

If crypto isn’t your thing, you can still use the referral offer and earn the bonus on a normal purchase.

I used it once to send flowers to a friend as a thank-you and earned the 5,000 points that way. You could also use it on something basic like… cat food. 🐾

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More bonus offers to earn points on everyday life ✈️🍽️🚗

United + Instacart 🛒

If you link your Instacart account with your United account and make a grocery purchase within 60 days, United will give you:

• 500 miles for free

If you’re a new Instacart customer and make 4 orders in 8 weeks, United will give you:

• 5,000 miles

I just did this and added another stack. I clicked on Rakuten.com which was offering 3x points on Instacart then placed an order with my Capital One Venture X to earn 2x points and 500 bonus United miles. Woohoo! 

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Lyft partnerships 🚙

Link your Hilton, Alaska, Bilt, or United account with Lyft and earn points every time you ride.

Prefer Uber? You can link Uber + United for extra miles too.

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Airbnb miles 🏡

• Book through Delta Airbnb to earn Delta miles

• You can also earn British Airways Avios on Airbnb stays through their earning portal

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Rental car miles 🚗

I’ve linked my Budget Rental account to my Southwest Airlines account — so every rental earns me 500 Southwest miles.

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VRBO + United 🧳

United also has a partnership with VRBO, so you can earn United miles on stays.

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Dining points through IHG + OpenTable 🍷

On the IHG website, you can access OpenTable and earn:

• 150 IHG points every time you dine out

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The takeaway

None of these require extra spending — they just require one extra click or a quick account link. And over time, these little wins can add up to real flights and hotel nights. 😎

There are even more offers like this out there, so check the websites (or social pages) for your favorite brands and see who they partner with for rewards.

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities.

How to Attend a Destination Wedding in Cancun (Without Blowing Your Budget)

 TRS Coral Costa Mujeres, a Registry Collection Hotel

How to Attend a Destination Wedding in Cancun (Without Blowing Your Budget)

Beautiful Cancun, Mexico 🌊
Destination weddings are more popular than ever. For the bride and groom, they often mean a stunning setting and a more affordable celebration. For guests, though, they can quickly turn into a pricey commitment once you factor in flights, hotel minimums, and resort rates.

So what do you do when you’re invited to a destination wedding—but don’t want to drain your savings? Here’s exactly how I approached a recent invitation and ended up saving thousands.

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The wedding hotel reality check

We were invited to a wedding at the TRS Coral Costa Mujeres—gorgeous, no question. The couple reserved a wedding room block at a “special” rate of $408 per night 😬
But there was a three-night minimum stay.

That’s over $1,200 before flights or transfers.

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Step one: look beyond the wedding block

A quick search showed that TRS Coral Costa Mujeres is an all-inclusive Wyndham property. On the Wyndham website, rooms were priced a bit more than the wedding rate—but with no three-night minimum 👀

Even better:

• Rooms were available for 30,000 Wyndham points per night

I already had 18,000 Wyndham points, so I was part of the way there. But how do I gather enough points?

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Step two: run the math on buying points

Wyndham offered me the option to buy points with a 45% discount. To cover three nights, I’d need an additional 72,000 points, which would cost $514.

For three nights at an all-inclusive? $514 is already a huge improvement over $1,200.

But could I do better? Of course.

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Step three: stack promos and transfers

Wyndham was also running an 80% bonus on purchased points. Buying 72,000 points would cost about $520—roughly the same.

Then I asked the most important question:
Do any flexible points transfer to Wyndham?

✔️ Yes—Capital One and Citi Thank You transfer 1:1.

I had 14,000 Capital One points. If I transferred those to Wyndham, I’d only need to buy 58,000 points, dropping my cost to about $420 💡

The points sale runs through February 18th, so there’s also time to:

• Shop through the Wyndham Shopping Portal to earn more points

• Keep earning points on my Capital One card

• Reduce the number of points I need to buy

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Step four: consider staying fewer nights

What if I stayed at the wedding hotel for just two nights?

• Two nights = 60,000 points

• With just Wyndham points, I’d need 42,000 additional points
  → Cost: about $300

• With the Capital One points transfer to Wyndham, I would need 28,000 additional points
  → Cost: about $200

But is that the best value for my Capital One points? or does it make more sense to pay the $300 and use Capital One points to erase other travel purchases like the shuttle or flights? 14,000 Capital One points will erase a $140 travel purchase and I will have 90 days to continue erasing. Unfortunately, purchases to buy points do not usually code as travel so they cannot be "erased".

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Step five: mix in another hotel

So where would I stay the remaining nights? Easy.

I checked the Chase Travel Portal and found:

• InterContinental Presidente Cancun Resort by IHG for 18,428 Chase points

• I could use the $250 Sapphire Reserve IHG hotel credit and pay just 6,000 Chase points. 

  
  
  
  
  

I could:

• Stay three nights for 35,000 Chase points + the $250 Sapphire Reserve IHG hotel credit, or

• Use my IHG credit card free night + 8,000 points for one night 🏨and the $250 Sapphire Reserve IHG hotel credit for a the second night. 

• There were also several Edit hotels in the area where I could use my Chase Sapphire Reserve Edit credit and points. 

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The takeaway

With a little flexibility and some points strategy, I turned a $1,200 hotel stay into a much smaller out-of-pocket cost—while still staying at the wedding resort and celebrating with the couple 🥂

Destination weddings don’t have to wreck your travel budget. Celebrate the bride and groom—and keep your savings intact.

Right now, there is a hot 75,000 bonus offer on the Capital One Venture credit card, you can read about it here. 

Want more personal help using points and miles for almost FREE travel? Talk to me about your next trip and I'll figure out the best way to use your points and miles, Book a 1:1 consulting call, download my ebook, custom tracker or Join my Travel Coaching Program and we will design your personal strategy to travel for almost FREE and guide you through the process.

Right now, you can use the promo code "FREETRAVEL" to get $50 off the coaching program. I would love to help you make priceless family memories affordable. 

*For every new client, we will donate 10% of the proceeds to one of our favorite charities.