THE POINTS PROJECT

The Points Project is a podcast going deep into the life of a credit card optimizer.

We talk about wins, fails, award trips and everything that falls in between.

  • Episode 8: Mesa Homeowners Card, Saying Goodbye To A Dear Friend, and Reflections on P3’sFirst Big Trip

    Kristoff and Raymond hop on this week to chat about some elevated sign-up bonus offers for:

    Mesa Homeowners Visa Signature Card (issued by Celtic Bank)

    • Limited-Time Offer: 50,000 points after $5,000 spend in 90 days using code Bonus50.
    • No annual fee.
    • Card comes with a laundry list of unique ‘coupon book adjacent’ credits.
    • Raymond messes up the application process #noobmistake?
    • Points are likely going to be most useful if transferred to Finnair Avios.

    IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card

    • Historically High Sign-Up Bonus: 5 Free Nights (each valued up to 60,000 points, total up to 300,000 points) after $5,000 spend in 3 months.
    • Raymond’s P2 may have to take a long look at this one to see if it makes sense.

    Kristoff’s Mini Biz App-O-Rama

    • Mix of P1/P2 business apps for Alaska, Hawaiian, Citi AA, and Wells Fargo cards.

    In addition, we also eulogize a long-time friend in the hobby, Simon Gift Cards. We also touch on some negative Capital One Shopping redemption option changes, and the newest relationship JetBlue has gotten into with United Airlines.

    Lastly, Raymond gives a retrospective on his recent trip to HNL, with this trip being P3’s first ‘big’ trip.

    Masa & Joyce Okazuya (Japanese delicatessen)

    Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden Lake Lookout Point

    We hope you enjoy! -TPP

  • Episode 7: Transfer Bonuses, End of Q1 Reminders, and a Baby Bonding Roadtrip

    Spring is here!

    Kristoff and Raymond check in on the public podcast feed to discuss:

    1. Current transfer bonuses with the big 4 bank point currencies.

    2. Reports of the Amex Resy credit triggering at Walgreens?

    3. Adapting to the need to hit spend requirements with Amex. We noodled on paying taxes and whether or not we need to reconsider buying groups. Lastly, a few Q1 spending reminders.

    4. We touch on loyalty program devaluations including Southwest and Hyatt. The Southwest changes especially felt like a paradigm shift.

    5. An End of Baby Bonding Roadtrip: Burning Hilton FNCs and Hilton GCs/Amex Hilton benefits at higher-tier Hilton properties in California. Also an unplanned trip to Disneyland with 2.5 month old P3.

  • Episode 6: ‘Tis the Season to be Churning

    Happy Holidays!
    Kristoff and Raymond dive into the holiday spirit, covering increased shopping portal offers, Citi and AAdvantage becoming exclusive partners, end-of-year credit card housekeeping notes, and insights into elevated BofA and US Bank benefits when banking as a preferred client.
    To wrap up our last public episode of the year, we reflect on what we’re most thankful for this year… – TPP

  • Episode 5: New Apps & The Schwab Elephant In The Room

    Hello Points Project Listeners,


    In this episode,  we are reminded that it’s already October 2024, and that means Q4 is in full swing. With that, we’ve decided to load up on some new cards, but not everything on that front was a success. Synchrony, Amex & Chase have some highs as we prepare for more wedding banquets, while BofA and Wells Fargo are still odd and fickle beasts. Lastly, we review what’s left for cashing out MRs post-October 1st—hopefully less valuable cash outs mean we’ll be focused on high-value aspirational travel in 2025. -TPP
    Please consider subscribing to our Patreon for access to our credit card rewards enthusiast content, including access to the members-only The Points Project Slack community at https://www.patreon.com/ThePointsProject.

  • Episode 4: New CC Applications, Plans for 2H 2024, and a Japan Trip Report

    In this episode, we discuss some new cards we’ve recently applied for, and our churning strategy for the rest of 2024. Raymond also talks about his recent trip to Japan. Enjoy! -TPP

  • Episode 3: Plus 10x Dining Recap, Southwest Strategies, and a couple trip recaps

    In this episode, we recap our Amex 10x dining referral offer, go over some news and updates we’re working on, focus in on how to maximize your Southwest bookings to minimize your cash outlay, and give our thoughts on a couple trips we’ve taken in the last few weeks. Enjoy!

ABOUT TPP

The Points Project is a podcast going deep into the life of a credit card optimizer. We talk about wins, fails, award trips and everything that falls in between.

We offer a public (free) version of the show, which should appeal to even the most casual of credit card fans. That said, we also aim to provide advanced credit card hobbyists interesting insights in our free show.

We also host a Patreon feed of the podcast, called the Enthusiasts Tier, where we go deeper into certain topics that aren’t discussed on the public show. We post about 3x the amount of content for our Patreon podcast feed than is what is posted on the public podcast feed. Included in the Enthusiasts tier level is access to a growing Slack community of like-minded avid credit card fans, where you can ask questions, share data points, and just talk shop as you’d like.

Regardless of if you subscribe to our Patreon or casually listen to the public show, we truly hope that you enjoy the conversations! -TPP

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Don’t forget the trusty 3X Citi Straaattta premier!

-Kristoff

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