How We Got $27,300 of FREE Travel With Credit Cards
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 29. 04. 2023
- đł My Top Credit Cards: danielbraun.me/TopCreditCards
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In this video weâre going over the credit card strategy that my fiancĂ© Jackie and I have been using to earn tens of thousands of dollars worth of free travel using credit cards and credit card points! Iâll talk about the 3 key factors that we think about the most as weâve planned our strategy such as sign up bonuses, points categories, and more.
I started using credit cards strategically around 5 years ago by beginning with Chase credit cards and eventually moving on the Amex credit cards and a few others, and once I met Jackie I was able to get her to start using the right credit cards as well so that we could double the points and miles we were earning. So far weâve earned millions of points combined that have been worth a lot towards free travel, and weâve been able to use these credit card rewards to go to many cool places.
Hopefully this video will work as a guide to show you our general credit card strategy right now in 2023 so that you can do something similar if youâre using credit cards with a partner, significant other, or even a friend or family member in a 2 player credit card setup! Weâre constantly getting new credit cards to capture the best sign up bonuses while also optimizing our strategy to earn the most amount of points back from our highest areas of spending. On top of that weâve also educated ourselves on how to redeem credit card points so that we can experience luxury travel that otherwise would be way too expensive to afford.
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CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER VIDEOS:
You Only Need THESE 5 Credit Cards In 2023: âą You Only Need THESE 5 ...
Bilt Mastercard - Pay Rent & Travel For Free: âą Bilt Mastercard - Pay ...
How I Save 60% My Income (My Budgeting Method): âą How I Save 60% My Inco...
The 8 BEST Credit Cards of 2023: âą The 8 Credit Cards You...
How To Climb The Credit Card Ladder (Explained): âą How To Climb The Credi...
How To Redeem Chase Points Like A Pro (Part 2): âą How To Redeem Chase Po...
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Daniel Braun is not a financial advisor. This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only, it is not financial advice.
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The flight vs. Hotel discussion has been one Iâve been struggling with but I think after this Iâm definitely going for Hotels. Like you say, being in a business class flight is great but itâs only 6-8 hours for places Iâm thinking of going and Iâd rather spend 4-5 DAYS in a nice hotel vs 1/3 of a day on a flight. Thanks!
That depends. I just took first class on Japan Airlines for 80k American Airlines miles. 11 hour flight. For about $800. But Iâm 6â2â 230 lbs. I donât think I could survive for 11 hours in coach to Tokyo. Was a great experience that Iâd never be able to pay cash for. But if you can hang out in coach and focus all your points onto hotels I canât argue with it
If you're doing destination travel and not a staycation, it's unlikely you're going to be in your hotel room beyond sleeping and getting ready. Perhaps taking a nap. The amount of waking time you're in your hotel room is maybe 2-3 hours per day. Whereas I find it hard if not impossible to sleep on a flight.
But the thing is, when youâre traveling youâre not spending majority of the hours in the hotel. Youâre out and about for at least 10-12 hours, going back to the hotel just to shower and sleep.
Unless youâre going to a resort for the hotel like All Inclusive Cancun hotels
Also 6â2 and 200 lbs. Iâm never flying coach over 4 hours.
@@StephenLester-kl7oyagreed this is my mindset
This is probably the most concise and informative credit card strategy video I have seen so far, and I've seen a lot of these videos. Thank you for sharing all this!
Daniel your content has 10x since I first found you & you have the perfect voice for this btw thank you for sharing all this knowledge
Thank you so much for saying all of that Cheyenne! I really appreciate the support!
A Two-Player setup is sooo valuable for unlocking significantly more value from CC Points & experience some really cool travel experiences with your significant other as well! Great video Daniel!
Itâs always great being able to experience the travel you get from points together! Makes it that much better!
Totally agree, it's been so fun getting to experience this travel together that we've both worked towards!
No it doesnât.
Great video! Holy smokes your channel is growing so fast! Youâre definitely hitting 100k by the end of the year!
Thanks Jake! Haha yeah I'm really excited with the growth and looking forward to hitting that 100k milestone very soon! Appreciate the support man
Thank you for your videos Daniel! Your channel is an amazing resource and deserves a lot more recognition!
Thanks to you, at age 22, I have opened my next two credit cards as I am soon moving out of my parents house. Going with the Bilt for my rent and CSP for the sign up bonus and great travel benefits. Looking forward to adding my girlfriend into the credit card game as well to have a good 2 player setup like you guys do!
The Player 2 game unlocks some insane value in the credit card world. I'm just getting introduced to it after having my gf open her first credit card (the Chase Freedom Unlimited), but I'm excited to keep doing more of it! Side note, those are some awesome redemptions y'all got. Looking forward to hearing about more to come!
Amazing video, great visuals . This helps a ton! I'm just getting started in this game
Thank you so much for sharing! This is a topic that I have been wondering a lot about. I know a lot of people that are interested in doing this and are looking for ideas. I'll be sharing this video a lot! Thanks again!
Having a Player 2 helps so much in the CC game. Thanks for the info + video!
Great video, my girlfriend and I have more or less been using this same strategy to stack up points! That's a good tip about saving Chase/Bilt points for Hyatt hotels vs Amex points for flights. I made the mistake of recently using most of my chase points towards flights for us but later realized that it probably would've been better spent on hyatt hotels...
Brilliant! I like the way it was explained
This is awesome! Iâve been contemplating on how to use my Hyatt points. Might go to NYC just for fun this summer since Iâve only been once and it was during a winter storm lol. Would you say 2CPP is a good use of points? I know there are higher redemption options out there but typically abroad, which is not an option atm
Thanks for this Danny. Just remember not to "force spend" and always payoff on time in order to maximize value from the front-end. It's how you redeem on the back-end that determines the real value you get
real informative vid!
Thanks for this video! I didn't even think about making credit cards a two player game! Sign-up bonuses, referral bonuses, and traveling together!
thank you for making this video!! as i move in with my partner soon, this information couldn't be more relevant and essential. i really appreciate you explaining this in depth!
Great video! Is your player 2 an AU or does she have her own card? E.g., do you share an Amex gold or do you each have your own?
Thank you for mentioning the hotel vs flight thing, most seem to ignore it. Even on flights to Asia, where Iâm spending 18 hours on 2 legs of a flight, Iâd rather put the money/points into hotels, for the same reason I wonât pay triple for a luxury Uber: I see transportation and accommodation as being completely different (except cruises which are sometimes both). Plus my air travel rarely falls into the sweet spots where itâs worth it, so the taxes and fees are somet8mes S much as I would pay for an economy flight. So I compare what the points would get me in a hotel for the stay vs the flight, and the hotel is always the clear winner.
Great video, keep it up. Congrats on the player 2 help. My player 2 is super frugal, so after the SUB, she doesnât generate many points.
Current setup: CFF, CFU, Costco visa, WF autograph, Amex Platinum,Amex Gold & BCE.
Possible Future cards: Chase: CIP or CSP, CIC. Amex: BBP
Although, if I drop the Platinum one day, I may go to VX just for priority pass/plaza premium lounge access.
Thoughts on best combo of Amex/Chase cards to complement each other & keep most spend in the Amex/chase ecosystems?
Very good strategy! Whenever I do get myself a p2, itâll be time to completely crush the game.
10:40 & 13:43 While Hyatt hasn't devalued their points program, yet, they're still the only hotel chain who is đ€š *holding out on their members to provide them with more value when booking entirely with points.* The Hyatt still *doesn't offer a Stay 4 Nights, Get the 5th Night Free (Marriott & Hilton)* or *Stay 3 Nights, Get the 4th Night Free (IHG Hotels)* program. Also, I noticed the majority of their rooms in lower categories (1-4) don't even come with a microwave, for starters. Just a heads up.
Great video! Do you happen to know if Capital One Venture X Miles can be pooled together? Or if when booking flights, would my spouse and I have to book our own tickets separately under our own frequent flyer accounts?
Nice video. Great information
Any tips to starting a CZcams channel. I saw your first video and your editing got amazing! Do you write a script before you shoot on how to present the video?
I just applied for the Bilt credit card(10,000 limit) after watching your video a few months ago. I used your referral code. Keep up the good work.
Hey Daniel. Great Content. How do you feel about cashing out your chase UR points and using that cash value to invest in a stock market fund like the VTI with returns of 10% or more yearly for those people looking to maximize points long term.
My wife and I churn out about $4k a year in total rewards. You guys are killing it.
2 player game is where it's at! Especially in hotel cards and with referral bonuses!
Great video! Quick question on opening new credit cards to get offers...opening a credit card is fairly easy but what about closing one? It seems that you have a good number of credit cards, are you thinking of closing some so you can re-apply and get the offer again? I heard from the past that closing a credit card is not recommended as it hits your credit score negatively.
Never close out your credit card it does effect your credit negatively. I found out the hard way many years ago.
I have this same question - actually asked it here as well but since you havenât received an answer in 3 months I wonât hold my breath. You canât just keep opening cards non-stop so this strategy eventually runs its course when youâve âmaxed outâ your number of cards or revolving accounts. The only solution that I see is to close cards so that you can reapply for the bonuses. Otherwise, this strategy is only a one time big shot of points and then youâre back to just earning on spending. I would like to know how to keep the game going long term.
Thanks for deep explanation on it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. My wife was an authorized user on my CHASE CARDS to maximize spending. Now we are going to get her own TRIFECTA to get the bonuses. My question is if she gets the Sapphire Preferred and request to bring it down to the Flex or Unlimited are we able to get the bonus as if she signed up for it?
Or should we collect the bonuses from FLEX and UNLIMITED first, then collect the bonus from the SAPPHIRE PREFERRED. Before the 1 year mark request it to be switched to the FLEX or UNLIMITED?
Thanks for everything Daniel!
What allows you to link Chase accounts to share points? I know you mentioned fiancé and I always assumed you needed to be married and share a last name. Does domestic partner qualify? Thank you for the insight and great video!
Just call Chase and yeah my domestic partner and I were able to link our cards
I'm new to churning CCs. I have the CSP card. Would I essentially cancel it if I want to apply for a new CSP card to capitalize on the signup bonus? I still have the points in my account.
Also Considering getting another travel card like the CSR (upgrading the csp) or the Capital One Venture X.
Wow, this video is eye-opening! I have the Bilt Credit card and it's my favorite now. What's your fav perk of your cards?
How did you fly out to Napa Valley? Did you pay cash or redeem points for that?
Looking to park a hotel card with my sky miles card. Any suggestions on what cards would be good with not to high of an annual fee?
This is good. Last time I did one of these types of videos I was at $23,000. Probably at over $50k now, maybe need to do an update. At yeah 2 min layer mode really rocks
Yeah 2 player mode is awesome! Weâve got a few more trips later this year so our value is gonna keep climbing too. Youâve referenced some really great flights and hotel stays in your videos so $50k doesnât surprise me haha - definitely wanna see an update!
đ this is funny and ironic, been sub'd to both ya'lls channels; just need Sebby to comment for the trifecta đ this is an awesome points rewards breakdown vid, too; Simple, Clear, Concise, Prioritize and Execute.
Do you pay off all of your cards from a joint checking account, or do you pay different cards from either her checking account or your checking account? Do you use all of the cards for joint expenses or are some of the cards for your or her separate personal use?
Can you accumulate points from chase as well from blt card to use in one trip?
Spot on
When you make someone an authorized user on the Amex Platinum.. can both of you get TSA or can only one person get it for the account?
Wow, thank you for all this great info. Anyone know whatâs the best way to redeem Citi points? Flights, hotels, etc
i got a question thatâs unrelated but do you still use sofi?, if you do how are you able to get the high yield with direct deposit when your income is from your own business?
Nice observation on the flights vs hotel redemption utility. Never thought of it like this. Flight is only 7 - 8 hours and you need 2 ticket whereas a Hotel room can be enjoyed by 2 people for a single redemption. Would love to see more examples of high utility redemption on Amazing Hotels.
How do you find out the best way to transfer points? I.E. certain hotel or airline partners. Currently have an AMEX Gold w/ a few points.
Nice videos, can you make one with capital one cards savor and venture x
How do have travel insurance come along with travel plan / points cards . Which one is the best ?
This is the way to do it! Lots of people add a Player 3 onto this strategy as well for even more rewards⊠who knows Daniel, you might have a P3 one day đ
My fiancĂ©e and I do similar strategies. Itâs more my thing and she plays along lol. Question thoughâŠ.. do you know if you can transfer chase points from a lower tier to the sapphire reserve? Like from the freedom flex
Yes. You can
Do you still use the Amex trifecta? or is it better to just have one
Over how long did you sign up for all of your Chase cards? Itâs been 9 months since I began (9 mo freedom unlimited, 3 mo freedom flex) and I was wondering, if I wanted to get my Sapphire Preferred in 3 months would that be too soon? I am still within the Chase 5/24 rule and am really excited to complete the Trifecta. Thank you so much for all of your videos over the past months, they have been extremely extremely helpful
How do these airlines and hotels get their money from points? Is it the bank that pays them directly for the points that you used?
Now the big question, how do I find my player 2 to use all these knowledge I gained?
If your opening new cards every 6 months or so, are you then closing out the cards after youâve collected the sign on bonus points?
Im 8:10 in , you have the bilt card which is cool but the card is from isnât from chase and I was wondering how can the point s gain be use with chase or capital one cards đł itâs not like they are connected right
Can you make a video around any new credit cards you and your fiancé will be opening to maximize points accrual for your wedding expenses?
Sincerely,
Another fiancĂ© đđ»ââïž
The thing that always kinda stumps me with 2p mode are those referral bonuses. Sure - I can share my link with my partner, but what if they found a higher signup bonus by opening up an incognito browser or by getting a targeted offer? Can you actually double-dip - let them use their higher targeted offer AND your referral link at the same time?
My wife opened the AMEX site for the Gold card and it said 60,000. I visited the same site on my laptop and got a 75,000 special offer. We were going to have her use my laptop and get a referral from a family member when she clicked on an offer from a card comparison site and was offered a 90,000 point opening bonus which we couldnât get if we used the referral link so we just took the 90k.
what brand are your shirts?
Thatâs how I roll! Player 2 is the gameđȘ
Absolutely! We've been able to get so much more value with the 2 of us doing this setup with our credit cards!
so other than hyatt, are other hotels not really good for using points?
Wish Amex will make a premium platinum card. Like platinum and gold all in one card . Annual fee is $1,000 Im in! So no need to carry two separate cards. Anyway So you prefer to spend your points on luxury hotels aVS business flights -shorter and more expensive) that make sense. Keep up the great work !
Can i refer a cc to an authorized user or do i need to remove them an au first?
If your player 2 is your spouse (and they are an authorized user) can they separately apply for the same card?
Well I carry 75% of the work load in cleaning our place. So I think itâs a good balanceđ
Fair point⊠I probably forgot to do the dishes once or twice last week as I was working on this video đ
Haha love it when the comment section gets meta.
Is it better to have each personal amex card than adding her to your authorized user?
We can call chase up and combine credit card points with our boyfriend/girlfriend?
What do you spend in order to meet all those minimums? If opening multiple cards every 3-6 months, the total spend is going to be high.
What about guys who want to travel alone ? I like to travel alone. Any tips for the singly wayfarer?
How does this strategy play out in the long term? 48 months in, you each have a number of cards and youâve collected the signup bonuses, which is great for now but you canât just keep opening cards indefinitely. Wouldnât that make this short term? Once youâve opened all your accounts, youâre not going to close all the cards and start over are you? How do you keep this going over the long term and I suppose I mean getting the signup bonuses because thatâs where the real benefit is.
I had a question for you Daniel or for anyone that can help me out. I have a chase preferred card with that 80,000 point offer. If I buy things with the card can I pay it off right away? Will it count towards that 4k?
Yes it would still count. Any spending you do counts
5:56 how do i get points like that? i only have the chase freedom flex & the unlimited and only have $300 in points with the two cards combined, any data points? im trying to take free flights
Every time applying credit card it brings down credit store, not May not want to apply new cards every few months. Suggestion?
Any advice for getting bonus rewards ? Iâve been doing this and now Iâm not able to get approved for bonuses anymore I think Iâve just opened too many cards in a short time frame . Has anyone run into this as well ?
Where do you get those shirts from?
The introductory bonus is one time only so not a long term strategy?
So once you get a sign up bonus from a card you wonât continue to use, what do you do with it then? Especially if it has an annual fee
Cancel it or threaten them to cancel so that they waive the fee for a year
So how does downgrading after the first year work? If it has to be after the first year, dont you still have to pay the annual fee that happens at the beginning of the anniversary?
So you'll have to pay the annual fee in the first year no matter what, but once the next annual fee approaches around the date you opened the card then you just call and ask to downgrade. If you downgrade around that time then you won't be charged the annual fee
Does this card offer a $50 hotel credit ? Seems like player 1 and 2 having this card could be advantageous.
This guy talks at 1.5 speed love that for him
Whatâs the best credit card for travel to everywhere or hotels?
Do you know anything about DBS Bank cards for travel?
Thanks! We plan on using our points for our Summer Thailand and European Christmas market trips to Get Travel Content for our Channel, Chasing Charisma. We will let you know how it goes!!
Used my chase points for business class seats to Rome for out honeymoon this fall. 75k points and would have been 3k + in cash
Can you make a course for this?
Donât see the budgeting template video in the description?
Just added it to the description! Thanks for letting me know. Here it is as well: czcams.com/video/8CTvAvA8iq4/video.html
Can you do a video on strategic cancelling of cards? Which ones, how to assess, etc. You touched on it here with you and your fiancée not both needing the sapphire.
Don't cancle your credit card, ever. It effects your credit negatively. He was talking about down grading the card, from a high level card to a lower level card within the same credit card company.
Adding new credit cards every 3-6 months is an awful idea. It negatively effects credit rating, and lessens available credit on each new card. We keep cards for 5-7 and credit lines of 40,000+ on multiple cards and a rating of 800+
@@texasgirl6000you 100% can cancel a card, especially after the 2nd annual fee hits. (Even more so for amex charge cards) And if you have a decently lengthy credit history, it may actually increase your score as your average age of accounts will actually increase
Is it possible to combine points systems for the same reward? Could you use Citi points and Chase points over to Hyatt?
Hey Russell, Citi doesnât transfer to Hyatt, but both Chase and Bilt do so in that case you could transfer points from each card to Hyatt
@@ryanccc777 well ok great. I didn't know and couldn't understand why have so much diversity if you couldn't combine points from different cards to the same partner where applicable
for the sign in bonus, can i get the card buy with and return the items and will still count for bonus limit?
I wouldn't risk returning
If i had a player 2, playing the CC game would be a bit easier for sure.
I just started a business and one of the goals that I have is to use the new business credit card points, that I accumulate through the business, for travel with my family. One trip in particular is a dream trip to Tokyo Japan. Please share a strategy or method to reverse engineer a particular trip using points please. Thank you for your content!
chase awards travel is currently running 55k points, or the equivalent of $550 for award travel to HND from PHL next september (and many other dates). take the bullet to hakone, kyoto, then osaka. first, rent a car out of kyoto, costs $150 for 3 days, with extra ins/and all fuel... 26% discount on the yen right now vs USD. $10 at any bar for wagyu hibachi meal... sushi is better and way cheaper... hotels, $45 for business class in kyoto, or 4 star $150 goood luck on your trip
Nice
Thanks for watching James!
As much as I hate to admit it, I'd rather have a nice hotel room than a first class flight đȘ It feels amazing to eat meals on the plane, free alcohol , and to lay flat. BUT having a nice hotel room for a much longer time than a flight is the better move for me.
If I have a Flex and Freedom Unlimited and later get a reserve, do I have anything to downgrade to?
No.
Me opening a tjmaxx card on accident because I thought it was a rewards program & not an actual credit card đ now I have no purpose to use it because I rarely ever go shopping anyway haha! Just made me think about it since mentioning the store credit cards being no goodđ€Ł
Can someone explain how i can link my sapphire reserved to my wifeâs account?
You max out your referral bonuses, I assume.
When you call and "Ask Chase to link your Sapphire Preferred to her Chase Account" - Is that the same as adding an authorized user? Or is this different? And if so, is there a fee to "link" them? Thanks!
Hey Jacob, this is different! She already has the Chase card herself that earns UR points so all she did was call Chase and say that she had points and wanted to transfer them to me so that we could book travel together. She gave the Chase rep my card number and then my card appeared in her Ultimate Rewards account under the Combine Points tab so that she could move her points to my card
So not an authorized user
@@Daniel_Braun Awesome, makes sense. Thanks!
@@Daniel_Braunso you mean its better to have your own cc than adding them as authorized user ? Correct? Is that also the same with AMEX?
So if I take on a second full time job of applying for, managing, and learning about credit cards, I can earn enough money over a couple years to go on a vacation? I was thinking about getting a CC for travel points.. but this seems like a lot of effort for minimal value.
Itâa not that much work if you keep it simple. Learn about some cards, see which one you like and apply for it. Use the card, pay it off and get the points. It might seem like a lot but the point is not to overwhelm yourself and itâs not like youâre gonna start a CZcams channel to teach others. Youâre just learning for your own use.
Doesnât it damage your credit getting new cards every 3-6 months?