Estimated read time: 5 minutes and 11 seconds

Good morning from beautiful, chilly Toronto. 🇨🇦

I’m getting settled back home (a.k.a. drafting my fantasy hockey team before doing more important things), but I’ve got a really fun newsletter for you guys today.

Let’s get into it:

• 💳 How to use this $300 hotel credit

• 🚂 Amtrak is now a transfer partner

• ✈️ Quick tip for saving on Aeroplan fees

💳 How to use this $300 hotel credit

As you know, we’re seeing an all-time best welcome offer on the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

After meeting the spending requirement of $4,000 in the first three months, you’ll earn 75,000 Capital One miles.

But also, immediately upon approval, you’ll get a $300 credit to use toward hotels and vacation rentals in the Capital One Travel portal in your first cardholder year.

So today, let me tell you how you can put that $300 credit to use.

Book a nice hotel for a night

You could think about it this way:

Spend $95 on an annual fee, get a $300 hotel stay.

For example, as I write this, I’m looking out my window at the brand-new Canopy by Hilton hotel in downtown Toronto.

You could come visit me and book this place for under $300 per night, including all taxes and fees:

That’s pretty awesome as a free bonus in addition to the 75,000 miles you can earn.

If you stayed a couple blocks further west, you could book the Anndore House (a Hyatt hotel), which costs $174 per night next month.

I spent 3 nights there last month and loved it, so I highly recommend it. Now, your $300 credit is getting you almost two nights in Toronto.

Take it to the next level

If you go somewhere like Bangkok, you could REALLY maximize this credit.

For example, this villa in Bangkok costs $276…. For NINE NIGHTS.

Is it glamorous? Nope. But it looks comfy, and it has great reviews. I’d stay there.

Is NINE free nights enough to justify the $95 annual fee? I’d hope so.

If nine nights isn’t enough… how about ten nights? In Italy? 😏

Look at this cute B&B near Bologna, which costs $30 per night, or $298 for TEN nights!

Bring the whole family somewhere

One of the nice things about this credit is that it also applies to vacation rentals. So if hotels aren’t your thing or you just need a little more space, you’re in luck.

For example, you could bring a family of four to Cancun and stay in this vacation rental for a week for just $22 out of pocket after the credit.

It sleeps four people, is centrally located in Cancun, and has a 9.5/10 guest rating.

Again, a week with the family in Cancun for $22 out of pocket is not bad at all for a card with a $95 fee (which, again, is in addition to the 75,000 miles you can earn).

The bottom line

Need I say much more?

(That was a rhetorical question.)

This offer is VERY good. I got it when it first came out two years ago; almost everyone I know has also gotten it, and I think you should too.

No matter what your travel style, party size, destination preference, or budget, there are endless ways to put that credit to use.

And you don’t even have to wait to use it since you get access to the $300 Capital One Stays credit instantly upon approval. (Those 75,000 miles… you do need to earn those through spending.) 🤷🏼‍♂️

And if you missed Monday’s newsletter, check it out to see how you can pair this card offer with another offer to earn 250,000 miles with one purchase. 👍

🚂 Amtrak is now a transfer partner

Speaking of credit cards, let’s talk about a new, exciting way to use your credit card points to book trains on Amtrak!

Bilt Rewards has just added Amtrak as its latest transfer partner, which is exciting.

Some of you may remember that Amtrak used to be a transfer partner of UR points back in the day, so I think it’s awesome to see it come back.

But here’s the kicker you need to know:

The transfer ratio is 2:1. So transferring 1,000 Bilt Points will yield just 500 Amtrak points.

So is it a good deal?

The short answer is…. Yep. Almost always.

Let’s forget about “cents per point value” here and just look at what you get for your points.

For example, if you need to get from Boston to New York, there are plenty of Amtrak departures that will run you around 1,500 points in economy or 4,200 in business class.

That equates to about 3,000 Bilt points or 8,400 Bilt points, respectively.

If we look at flights, you could fly from Boston to New York on Delta for 5,000 Flying Blue miles, which is about the cheapest option out there.

But…

You still have to pay taxes and fees on those flights AND get to/from the airport on both sides (read: expensive Uber rides or lengthy public transit journeys).

The train is city center to city center, no fuss, no taxes and fees, no Ubers, and solid pricing. 🤝 

This also opens up some more fun opportunities

Amtrak doesn’t just have East Coast commuter lines… There are some really cool scenic routes across the U.S. that are a journey in and of themselves.

For example, you could take the Empire Builder from Minnesota all the way out to Glacier National Park in Montana using Amtrak points.

A private room on this route would run you 40,000 Bilt points, but it also takes 22 hours… so you’re getting the journey and the accommodations.

Spending 17,000 Bilt points on the economy seat is also a fun deal for some of the most amazing scenery the U.S. has to offer.

Great deals for families

Amtrak has another unique quirk:

They price premium cabins based on the cabin, not the number of people.

So if you’re traveling long haul in a private room on a sleeper train, you can book a single cabin for two adults, like this one from Chicago to California:

They even have “Family Rooms” on certain trains, which accommodate two adults and two kids.

Anyway, here’s the bottom line:

This is awesome. I’m jealous of anyone who has a Bilt card (I haven’t been able to get one yet, but still trying).

Between transfer partners like Hyatt, Japan Airlines, Atmos Rewards, and now Amtrak, their points are looking more and more like the most valuable ones out there.

✈️ Quick tip for saving on Aeroplan fees

I’ve got a very quick tip for you before I let you go.

As you know, Aeroplan is a great program for booking flights all over the world, despite being the points program of Air Canada. Four of the main credit card issuers transfer to Aeroplan, so they’re easy-to-get points too.

Since I’m now Canada-based again, I’ve been getting back into the habit of earning and redeeming Aeroplan points.

And there’s a trick you should know about.

Aeroplan’s cancellation fees are unacceptable

Aeroplan still charges an egregious cancellation fee of $150 CAD plus tax on standard award flights, which comes out to around $170 CAD or roughly $120 USD total.

The same applies for standard business fares as well.

It’s an unacceptable practice in 2026. So let me tell you how to avoid them.

Unlike the cancellation fee, Aeroplan change fees are more reasonable ($75 CAD or around $53 USD), as you can see from that screenshot above. 👆

So here’s what you should do:

Instead of cancelling, change your award flight to a Latitude fare (you can change it to any route, so just pick a cheap one that costs the same or fewer points), which comes with free cancellation as a perk.

Then, cancel that new award for free.

Basically, you’re paying the change fee to cancel your award, which is usually around $100 less than the cancellation fee (for some reason they often don’t add the tax onto the change fee… only the cancellation fee).

I just did this yesterday with two Aeroplan awards I had booked. It took an extra five minutes of my time, but saved me close to $200.

And, just to be clear, this applies to any flights booked with Aeroplan points – that includes partner bookings on United, Singapore, ANA, Lufthansa, or any other Aeroplan partner.

Let’s end the tyranny of insane fees. ✊

That’s it for today, friends! I hope you enjoyed today’s tips and exciting news – I know I did!

See you tomorrow. 🫶

43.6532° N, 79.3832° W

With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.