Stack Your Points

Every Kick In the Groin Begins with K

00:00:00 - Welcome to the show!
 
00:01:38 - Question 1 - For a very long time, people with a “business” have been able to apply for Business credit cards and all the bonuses and perks associated with them despite the fact that their “business” might not be super duper legit. What changes that have nothing to do with “business” verification could banks do to slow this down?
 
00:09:32 - Question 2 - So how much points diversity is too much points diversity? I currently have points in all 6 transferrable currencies ecosystems. Is it worth it in your opinion to have your points balances split to take advantage of transfer bonuses when they suit you?
00:19:55 - Question 3 - I have a non credit card question for you, if you won $2 million would you keep your job and what would you do for the rest of the year? It's April now so from April to December what would you do and where do you see yourself in 5 years after the winnings?
 
00:30:17 - Question 4 - We often talk about the credit card game as travel and often coded for middle class folk. How do you think people rebuilding credit or low income earners can effectively and efficiently leverage credit?
 
00:43:14 - Question 5 - With what seems like a regular series of issues with DCA regarding safety and near misses, what are your thoughts regarding travel to that area? Do you think it’s still incredibly safe and convenient and fly to DCA or do you look to maybe fly into IAD or heaven forbid BWI?
 
00:53:41 - Question 6 - Question for the podcast, but probably mostly Matt. Wells Fargo has had transfer partners for almost a year now. Does it bother you that they haven't had any transfer bonuses yet?
 
00:57:49 - News
 
01:13:34 - Tariq - Store cards. We all know about them, and for the most part we avoid them in the game. What store/retail cards are actually worth getting, and if a certain store closes, does the issuing bank close the account, or do you get an involuntary product change? 
 
01:26:12 - RJ - Should banks have a similar program to hotels/airlines around buying points or being able to have a “subscription“ to points other than the multipliers on the cards? What would you want them to look like?
 
01:39:41 - Matt - With modular cards an impossible dream, what other incentives, besides credits, do you think issuers could use to provoke more loyalty/dedicated spend?
 
01:50:15 - And we’re out

Lani’s Moving to Only Fans?

Viewer Questions
What was your worst travel fail? What are your tips for dealing with travel disruptions? - DDAF 
What airlines/hotels and related programs are prime candidates for acquisition in your opinions? - AP
How do you think international travelers boycotting the US and these new tariffs will affect this hobby and the travel industry? - Keith
 If you were to do a two-card setup what would you pick and why?- Thic Boii
Rich with Points
Before any refresh, if the banks go crazy and make amazing cards what would you most want out of any refresh/new release from each major bank? - Jared_T
Topics 
Matt
Given the current economic climate, do you think we’re going to see a retreat from those on the fringes of points and miles and a future boom cycle of amazing deals?
Lani 
With credit card changes and refreshes seemingly getting less profitable for the average consumer needs and wants, do you think with the rise of AFs and credit people are less interested in will lead more cardholders to “end game,” or less applications?
Tariq
We all know the credit card game is a niche within a niche, but how do you think the community should respond with generalized criticisms from people in the personal finance space? 
RJ 
If you could take any co-brand card and turn it into a transferable points earning card, which would you pick and which ecosystem? 

We’re All A Little Mad Here

00:00:00 - Welcome To The Show
00:01:45 - Question 1 - What is the flight or hotel you are most looking forward to staying at/flying? Why are you looking forward to it (what is special about it) and how are points/miles going to get you to that goal (tentative game-plan)? - AP
00:18:58 - Question 2 - Do you have any cards that are close to a 50/50 decision on whether you will keep or cancel them going forward? - Spaethco
00:27:46 - Question 3 - My wife will never take a cruise and I would hate an all-inclusive resort on a beach. What kind of travel absolutely doesn’t interest you? - Jason
00:38:59 - Question 4 - If you had multipliers covered, but could only have 3 cards for the benefits, what would they be (duplicates count)? - Points Precision
00:44:41 - Question 5 - What is your least favorite music genre? - Ronald 
00:52:31 - News
01:10:28 - Tariq - Inspired by Key’s goal of visiting every MLB ballpark, do y’all have any aspirations to visit every stadium/arena/venue of your preferred sports/entertainment niche?
01:24:27 - RJ - What is the next card you plan to apply for, what role will it fill and what’s stopping you from hitting the apply button? 
01:35:34 - Lani - Credits! Credits! Credits! I think with some new Chase refreshes, there are a lot of credits out there. For those who have a lot of cards, how do you navigate credits? Do you care? Do you try to use every single one, every single month (i.e. Amex Gold), or do you take it in stride and if one dies, then one dies?
01:53:36 - Matt - Let’s take a break from credit cards; what two/three historical figures would you want to have a meal with, and why (lets assume you’re picking up the bill on the dining card of your choice)?
02:03:51 - Goodnight And Good Luck
 

The $2,700 Louis Vuitton Bag to Nowhere

00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:51 - Question 1 | What got you into CCs in the first place?
 
00:08:40 - Question 2 | What’s the best unexpected travel surprise that brought just a little bit of joy to your trip?
 
00:16:56 - Question 3 | How do you earn points if you don't really spend a lot of money? 00:33:30 - Question 4 | If you could go to any concert in the world, which musician or group would it be, and where would you like to see them?
 
00:43:57 - Question 5 | Using credit cards with high multipliers that are already on the market, High multipliers defined as 4x, 5x, or 6x. Create a trifecta of these cards to achieve YOUR best points/cash earnings scenario. Which cards would you choose and why? You can use any combination of business, personal, travel currency, cashback. The goal here is to think about your monthly spend and how to best maximize it with high multipliers that already exist.
01:03:15 - News | United Cards
01:16:25 - Craig | Route of the parks and the beauty of America. How do you prepare to visit places off the beaten path? Also, why do we so rarely hear about domestic travel?
01:47:13 - RJ | How do you handle travel when your travel partner(s) have different non-negotiables, wants, maybe even budget than you do? 
02:10:48 - Matt | Credit card coupons are here to stay and will only get worse (so, so, so much worse). Cutting bait on the worst ones will likely be the only way to stay Sane, how are you planning to keep your sanity?
02:22:52 - Tariq | What the hell is going on with the airlines? Are they going broke? Are they just getting more greedy and money-hungry? Who’s next??
02:54:42 - Ending
 

Southwest Slept With Your Brother

Take the SYP Credit Card Survey | https://forms.gle/MCZ5fUoaHRRTMGeP8
 
00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:26 - Opening
00:04:44 - Can you go over when it makes sense to transfer points to hotels (other than Hyatt) because hotel points are always less the 1 cpp and you could do better with things like the cap1 travel eraser or the chase portal with the CSP or CSR. It seems like it makes more sense to either earn those with a cobrand credit card or buy them on sale. - Thic Boii
00:20:49 - Where do you see Priority Pass domestically in 3 or 4 years?  Priority Pass and the bank’s with their own lounges seem to be growing apart. - Keith 
00:39:20 - If you could steer the CC YouTube content in a different direction, what would you like to see more of and what would you like to see less of? - Jason
01:07:53 - We see many videos about the extreme success that people have in applying for cards and seemingly NEVER getting denials.  The only time a denial seems to be talked about is when an application goes through a successful reconsideration process.  I personally have scores over 820+ with all the bureaus, a 25+ year old pristine profile and the income/spend to be an attractive customer, and I still get denied for cards.  The question is, how honest are creators being when it comes to how many cards they are NOT actually getting? - Sha-Tan
01:25:21 - We’re a quarter into the year. Do you have at regrets or major course corrections to be made to your travel habits, partners, or overall strategy? - K1d_Cat37  
01:39:06 - News
01:47:19 - Tariq - Congratulations! You just won the Powerball jackpot! After taxes you walked away with over $100 million. How do you adjust your strategy now that you don’t need points and miles anymore because you can essentially afford whatever trip you want to take? Do you just go with a flat catch-all card, or do you just get all the premium cards for the benefits? Also, what’s the first trip you’d take once the money hits your account?
02:08:19 - Lani - Quality vs. Quantity; it’s not always about getting the most points: After you hit a certain number of cards, you begin to experience overlap of categories or benefits. Piggy backing on Picking Partners, do you ever use a lower points earning card based on what you need or trying to achieve vs. what can earn the most points. If so when?
02:24:19 - Matt - Wyndham just launched a rewards debit card. After the Durbin Amendment that more or less killed off debit rewards, do you think this is a good play, would you want to see any other companies also take this on?
02:44:05 - RJ - PUJ is better than flat rejection even if it is more opaque. Both in terms of not submitting an app if you can’t get the sub AND in terms of allowing people to decide if the card is worth it for them without a SUB.
03:03:49 - Closing
03:06:29 - Ending

The Tangent Episode

Hosts | Matt Clausen of Credit Tidbits | Lani from Call Me Lani | Tariq Gaines from Riq’s Rewards | RJ from Do You Take Cards
 
Viewer Questions
If you woke up on January 1st, 2026 and was gifted one status via a hotel or airline program what would status would you request?  And @ RJ , why wouldn’t you request Globalist? - Keith 
What is your favorite Hilton credit card? What's the best way to get 1 million Hilton points? - M2K 
The Hilton Aspire card offers a Free Night Certificate on your card anniversary date. This certificate becomes available 8-10 weeks after your anniversary and expires one year from issuance. Considering that Hilton releases room availability exactly 365 days in advance (when award availability is typically best), what time of year would you choose for your card anniversary date to maximize the value for your personal travel schedule? - JP  
Assume you're keeping the card long-term, your annual fee timing works with your budget, and there are no special sign-up bonuses to consider.
Do you ever foresee the big three domestic carriers implementing (international style) business class on shorter domestic flights and if they did, would you have any interest in flying them?  (categorizing short domestic flight it’s anything under five hours.) K1d_Cat37 
I recently was looking through all of the cards I signed up for in 2024 between me and my P2 and every card is either being product changed or canceled except for one (ironically, the much-maligned Bilt). Do you do any kind of similar analysis and what have you changed about your card acquisition over the years to make sure you're getting things that provide value? - Jason
Topics
Matt
Thinking on the AmEx Zync card we talked about, would you pay a fee (Monthly or Annual) to add multipliers to a card instead of just applying for SUBs; this would potentially be in addition to any annual fee you currently pay or turn a No Annual Fee card into a card with an optional fee.
Lani
We talk a lot about credits we use, but what about the ones we lose? Do you have any credits which which you just let die?
Tariq
We’ve seen recent pushes to cap credit card interest rates in Washington D.C. I’m curious to see what you all think about the effects of the points and miles game if that were to happen.
RJ 
How do you handle SUBs? Do you put that one card for EVERYTHING for a month or five to hit the magic number? Do you wait until you have a major buy? Do you use it as you plan to typically use that card (Gas card or supermarket card or what have you) and just do the math to make sure you hit?

Be an Adult and Get the Venture X

Hosts: @MattClausen | @CallMeLani | @RiqsRewards | @DoYouTakeCards
Viewer questions  (~30 minutes; separate video)
Can we have a dramatic reenactment of the lost episode from last week? - Jason 
Are you a cat or dog person? - Anthony 
How much is top hotel status actually worth for the normal family that travels maybe twice a year? - M2K 
Please build a 3 card setup staying under $200/year on annual fees for a person who makes less than $40K/year and wants to take one budget friendly trip a year. Please note why the card is selected including multipliers and benefits of note. - AP 
There are lots of discussions about "what cards would you keep forever" and long-term pick-ups. What are your thoughts on picking up cards for shorter term goals as part of a campaign?  ie, having P1 and P2 acquire Aspire and Surpass cards to rack up a pile of FNCs for one planned trip with the intent to downgrade/close the cards after that goal is met? - SpaethCo
News Round-Up (45-75 minutes)
Chase business cards accidentally reported 
Topics 
Matt
Have you experienced Burnout with credit cards and welcome offers? Welcome Offers may be the best return for you on credit card spend, but…there are too many to chase and even fewer worth chasing (for various reasons). Have you experienced Burnout, are you experiencing it? How are you handling it?
Lani
 
Tariq
Out of the three main ways to get around in the city you travelled to (ride share, rental, or public transit), which do you gravitate to the most and why?
RJ 
Should companies make their credit cards weird again? It feels like so many cards are the same now it’s less choice via more choice. 
Outro - 1 to 3 minutes 
Where to find us 

An Accidental Tech Podcast?

Viewer Questions
What are your thoughts on holding multiples of the same card (IHG cards, Hilton Aspire cards, CCCs, etc)? Do you hold doubles or see yourself ever acquiring doubles? - AP 
Now that most premium smart phones cost over $1,500 and are creeping up towards the $2,000 mark, it seems that cell phone coverage through credit cards leaves us with only partial coverage.  Most banks provide between $600 - $1,200 of coverage for lost or damaged phones.  Which cards do you currently use to pay your phone bills, and is there a better overall points-earning card on the market for monthly phone bills? - Keith
So I been considering the best route to get status to get a better experience. So if I pick American Airlines as my domestic/ secondary partner I could earn status more specifically by stacking using AA E Shopping portal, AA Dining program, AA travel portal for hotel ie.   Possible spend on credit card. I am considering adding Citi / AADVANTAGE EXECUTIVE WORLD ELITE MASTERCARD ($595) which would provide me some additional benefits when flying on AA steal and would provide me lounge action for the Admiral club when I fly Cathay Pacific. So here’s my theoretical question just imagine
That there’s no premium travel cards for you United flyers there’s no premium united club card, there’s no Delta Reserve, and there’s no premium good JetBlue card sorry, Matt. And no stacking ways to build loyalty points. But you have a route to earn status through one your airlines partners such as my is Oneworld. This airline has a a premium credit card that allows you lounge access when you fly your US airlines. And they have all the stacking options. All of the airlines in your in your airline alliance have the same options. So which airline would you pick from the alliance and would you choose to earn status throughout an another airline? - Jared_T
What is your favorite card? Why is it your favorite? - Keith 
If you could add one feature, category multiplier, transfer partner, or protection to your favorite card, what would that be?  And would you be willing to pay a higher AF for that improvement? And why do you think the card needs this improvement? - Keith 
News Round-Up
None
Topics
Matt
No, you don’t NEED a retention offer every year on every card.
Lani
Timing of the strategy. Just get the card you want vs. family language
Tariq
Is the credit card game really that complicated, or does the community like to overcomplicate the game?
RJ 
Tomorrow you wake up with 0’s across all of your point totals. How would you rebuild your point stocks?

Here's Your Salad Bar...You get the Lettuce for Free

Not In The Cards

Viewer Questions
What shopping portals are your favorite? Why? Any bad experiences or ones you’d tell someone to avoid? Why? - AP
Which shopping and dining portals stack the most value for the most people?  - What’s The Points 
Do you apply for bank account bonuses?  I’ve been thinking about getting into bank account bonuses but it’s not as natural for like opening and spending on reward cards. - Keith
Do you fund bank accounts with credit cards to hit SUBs and bonuses?  I know that there is some risk involved with that strategy.
Do you believe there’s any moral or ethical responsibility as content creators to pass along information that helps to mitigate risk to your audience or is it purely on the audience standpoint to do their own research? -Kid_Cat37
Keeping in mind that none of this is financial advice and all for entertainment purposes.
What do you think your personal credit card situation will look like in five years? - Jason
 
Topics
Matt
If we are starting to see banks tighten the ability to “free” points, should we be adjusting our approach to redemptions (local stays of cash, or limits on cash vs points domestic on cash etc)? 
Lani
These refunds and any included fees (i.e. upgrade fees, bag fees, additional fees, etc.) will be refunded to original form of payment within 7 days for credit cards, and 20 days for cash/checks.
The question is, how this affects points/miles bookings. Miles direct with airlines, easily refunded to account, but points via travel portal can be a little more different (i.e. chase, you’ll need to contact chase for your credit attached to your chase account), I’ve never booked flight thru BILT or Amex, but what about 3rd Party booking platforms? Where does your money go?
Does this affect the way you book flights? Will this affect how you inform others how to book flights?
It’s OFFICIAL! DOT has made an official rule for Airlines operating out of the US to provide automatic refunds to consumers who experience cancellations or ‘significant’ delays.
Tariq
How do you go about teaching friends and family about the credit card game when they express interest?