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  • šŸ’³ This underrated card offer is actually amazing

šŸ’³ This underrated card offer is actually amazing

Plus, there are a TON of updates in the points and miles world to fill you in on...

Estimated read time: 4 minutes and 55 seconds

āœˆļø New lounge alert! Air France opened its first 11,840-square-foot lounge at LAX, its sixth in the U.S., on the sixth floor of the new Tom Bradley International Terminal West Concourse. Read more at this link.

Good morning and happy Monday from Surakarta, where Iā€™ve spent more days this year than in my ā€œhomeā€ of Toronto ā€” there are just too many good points and miles deals here!

Speaking of good points and miles dealsā€¦

šŸ’³ Top Cards Update: July 2024

I donā€™t know if you are aware of this, but itā€™s July. Which is crazy. It means weā€™re already HALF way through the year.

It also means itā€™s time for another update on the latest and greatest credit card offers. Wooh!

Fanned out credit card graphics

On the surface, this month looks a little underwhelming compared to the last two monthsā€¦

Since the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.name ]] lowered its epic welcome offer, its rank has suffered a little bit since last month.

Still, there are some pretty sweet cards with elevated offers right now.

For example, some of the Hilton cards are still offering free night awards as part of their welcome offers.

A few weeks ago, I used one of those Free Night Awards to book a night at a $2,000 villa in Doha, Qatar.

Katara Hills Doha

Just a free night in a villa with a private pool, no big dealā€¦

The fact that you could book the same hotel just by signing up for a no-annual-fee card, the [[ hilton-honors-american-express-card.name ]], is bonkers.

But today, I want to mix things up just a bit.

Thatā€™s because thereā€™s a card out there that consistently offers a high welcome bonus, has great transfer partners, a low annual fee, and solid earning rates.

And to be honest, I donā€™t think it has gotten a fair shake since itā€™s always been overshadowed by its slightly more exciting competitors.

Iā€™m talking about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Earn 75,000 Capital One miles from the Venture card

As you can see, the [[ capital-one-venture-rewards-credit-card.name ]]ā€™s annual fee is under $100, yet it still offers a TON of Capital One miles for signing up.

Those 75,000 miles can be used with some unique transfer partners, too.

For example, you can transfer your miles to Cathay Pacific, which uses a very generous award chart.

The welcome offer alone would give you enough points to book round-trip flights in Japan Airlines business-class from Tokyo to Hong Kong for just 74,000 miles.

HKG-HND for 32,000 Cathay miles in business class

But the best part about Capital One miles is that you can use them to offset ANY travel purchase at a rate of one cent each.

And while thatā€™s not the best value in the world, the flexibility FAR outweighs that fact.

For example, you could use your [[ capital-one-venture-rewards-credit-card.casual-card-name ]] to book this flight from New York to London for $115.

New York to London for $115

You could then use 11,500 miles to effectively ā€œpayā€ for this purchase.

We always talk about how Virgin Atlantic and KLM/Air France have such good deals to Europe for 10,000 miles or 15,000 miles one way.

With those programs, youā€™re still on the hook for hundreds of dollars in taxes and fees.

With Capital One, itā€™s just those 11,500 miles. No extra charges.

Thatā€™s hard to beat, folksā€¦

And if youā€™re worried about racking up more miles after the welcome offer, donā€™t be.

Because the [[ capital-one-venture-rewards-credit-card.casual-card-name ]] is one of the only cards in the world that earns a minimum of 2x transferrable pointsā€¦ on EVERYTHING.

So hereā€™s the bottom line:

You donā€™t need an amazing once-in-a-lifetime elevated card offer to get insane value. Sometimes, the most valuable offers are the ones that slide under the radar.

So, hopefully, anyone who missed out on the last round of great offers (or who already has those cards) can consider the Capital One Venture card for the next addition to their wallets. šŸ˜Š

šŸØ IHG is sending out more promos

Okayā€¦ wtf is going on with IHG latelyā€¦? I feel bad that 50% of newsletters in the past two weeks have included an IHG section.

But itā€™s not my fault - because they just keep relentlessly offering excellent opportunities, and all during the busiest travel season of the year.

The latest development includes targeted emails for co-branded cardholders offering SEVEN points per dollar on everyday spending.

Targeted offer to earn 7x IHG points

I received the above email a few days ago and obviously registered immediately.

Here are the details of the offer:

  • 7x (total) points on restaurants, gas stations, and groceries

  • Valid from July 1st through September 30th

  • Requires registration

Earning IHG points is obviously less valuable than earning transferrable pointsā€¦

But 7x is also a lot, so Iā€™m happy to rack up some extra IHG points toward my next hotel stay.

For example, spending $1,000 on restaurants, travel, and groceries would earn a total of 7,000 IHG points.

For me, I see that as a free night at a hotel like this one in Shenzhen, China.

Holiday Inn in China for 7,250 IHG points per night

Since there is a $1,000 cap on the total allowed spend for the promotion, this deal has no major opportunity cost.

Oh, speaking of opportunity cost, I have a question for youā€¦

Have you heard of "Opportunity Cost?"

Would you like me to write more in-depth about it?

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Anywayā€¦

In addition to this offer for IHG cards, the bank in question has also been sending out similar targeted offers for other co-branded credit cards.

So far, weā€™ve also seen offers like this pop up for a certain airlineā€™s co-branded cards. šŸ‘‡

Targeted offer to earn 5x Unite miles on cobranded credit cards

So hereā€™s the bottom line:

If you have a co-branded credit card with [[ ink-business-preferred-credit-card.issuer.name ]], check your email and accounts to see if you have a similar offer.

If you do, make sure you run the numbers to see if the extra points are meaningful to you.

šŸŖ Tasty Travel Tidbits

šŸ’° American Airlines is currently selling miles with up to a 50% bonus! These miles arenā€™t quite as cheap as when IHG or Hilton has points sales, but theyā€™re MUCH more valuable. If youā€™re a frequent user of AA miles, this could be a great way to pad your balance or save money on a premium redemption.

šŸ‡«šŸ‡Æ Speaking of American Airlinesā€¦ in a strange and potentially exciting development, Fiji Airways has announced that they will adopt American Airlines Advantage as their official points currency. This could mean some generous earning and redeeming opportunities in the South Pacific!

šŸØ Hotel Award Drop: One of the hardest Hyatt hotels to book, the Alila Ventana Big Sur, has wide-open award availability between January and June 2025! Since rooms here regularly cost around $2,000 per night, this is a great chance to experience a bucket-list hotel with points (especially if you recently got the [[ chase-sapphire-preferred-card.casual-card-name ]]ā€™s elevated welcome offer and transfer those points to Hyatt).

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ā€¦or you can just buy these prizes from our website if you want to keep us all to yourself. šŸ˜‰

Thatā€™s all for today, folks!

Sometimes, itā€™s tough to fit all of these opportunities into one five-minute emailā€¦ So, I hope you donā€™t mind that last section where I just listed out some quick deals.

Actually, how about you just tell me what you think now:

Do you like the quick tidbits sections?

Either way, tell me what you'd like to see most in those sections.

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See you tomorrow ā¤ļø

Mike Dodge
Head Writer, Daily Drop

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