🤑 Latest Deals, Finds and Recommendations from All the Hacks (5/18/24)
👋 Hi there, happy Saturday!
Here are some of my favorites from the past two weeks:
🕵️ Great Finds
🤑 Latest Deals
🛫 Travel, Points & Miles
🤩 Recommendations
Feel free to forward this to anyone and have a great weekend!
-Chris
🕵️ Great Finds
🏠 Rent vs. Buy: What’s The Better Option?
This week, I did a dive deep into the dilemma of renting vs. buying with Katie Gatti Tassin. We discuss current market dynamics, debunk misconceptions about homeownership, and share insider tricks to help you navigate this significant life decision.
🎧 Listen to Ep172 Rent vs. Buy
👫🏼 Nick Gray’s Crazy Tokyo Blind Date
My friend Nick Gray recently publicly arranged a blind date online, soliciting recommendations for someone to meet him in Tokyo for a few days (flights/hotels covered). It ended up going even better than planned and Nick chronicled the whole experience on his blog.
Speaking of Tokyo, All the Hacks subscriber Chris Stephenson, recently shared a summary of his Japan Trip Hacks and how and his fiancé flew there in business class and got 5 nights FREE thanks to his points.
💪 How Much Time Should You Exercise?
I enjoyed this short video from Dr. Peter Attia, who argues that time isn't the most important factor when it comes to exercise. Instead he suggests that the ultimate indicators of sufficient exercise are good VO2 max and adequate muscle mass. If you want to go a little deeper, here’s Peter's compilation of clips, articles, and podcasts focused around exercising for longevity.
🤑 Latest Deals
💳 Best Card-Linked Offers
Here are some good card-linked offers that have come out recently. Note that not all cardmembers will have all offers in their account.
Amex (many of these are exclusive to The Platinum Card® from American Express, because it’s celebrating its 40th anniversary)
Air France/KLM: $200 off $1,000 (through 6/30)
Dell: $50 off $250 (through 9/30)
Hilton: $40 off $180 (through 7/31)
JetBlue: $50 back off $200 (through 8/6)
Delta: $75 off $200 (through 8/15)
Hertz: $40 off $150 (through 6/30)
IHG (select brands): $50 off $250 (through 6/15)
Lyft: $15 off $50 (through 8/15)
Blue Bank
IHG Hotels & Resorts: 10% cash back on $100 (through 5/20)
ResortPass: 20% cash back on $100 (through 5/3)
DoorDash: 20% cash back - max $10 (through 5/31)
Westin Hotels & Resorts: 10% cash back on $100 (through 6/8)
Turo: $10 cash back on $100 (through 6/14)
Activating Card Linked Offers
And if you want to automate all these card-linked offers, defintiely check out Cardpointers Pro, which will do it all for you and is 30% off for All the Hacks subscribers.
🪢 25% off Tug-o-Wobble: Tug of War With A Twist!
My good friends Heather and Jonathan created an outdoor game during the pandemic called Tug-o-Wobble. It’s basically tug of war but with an interesting twist and it's a ton of fun! They’re currently having a Memorial Day sale with 25% off through 5/28.
😴 $200 Off Eight Sleep’s New Pod 4 Ultra
We got an Eight Sleep last year and have loved it ever since. If you're interested in one, despite the Memorial Day sale discount being $150, we got a $200 discount for subscribers here. If you're on the fence they have a generous 30-day return policy and even cover return shipping.
🤑 10% Off Gift Cards for 100+ Brands
Giftcards.com is having a “Summer Kickoff Sale-a-bration” by offering a 10% discount on gift cards for over 100 brands like Netflix, Groupon, Dollar Shave Club, and Hulu. Use code SUMMERKICKOFF at Giftcards.com from 5/13 to 6/2.
🛫 Travel, Points & Miles
💳 75k Welcome Bonus: New Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
The Citi Premier® Card retired on 5/9 only to re-launch as the almost-identical Citi Strata Premier℠ Card with the addition of 10x via CitiTravel.com and 3x on EV charging. You can earn a bonus of 75k ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in 3 months but only if you haven’t already received a bonus for Citi Premier in the past 48 months. I said I’d be getting this card the next time the bonus jumped since I don’t have any Citi points cards, but I might hold out to see if the Citi Strata Elite is more than a rumor.
💰 Points & Miles on Sale
After my Points vs. Cash Back episode, I started tracking when points go on sale. Here’s some of the latest deals for buying points and miles. I wouldn't speculatively buy any of these points, but if you have a redemption in mind or are very familiar with the individual programs, there are some good deals.
American Airlines AAdvantage: 2.45¢ each with a 35% bonus
JetBlue TrueBlue: 1.44¢ each with a 75% bonus (through 6/28)
Alaska Airlines MileagePlan: 1.85¢ each with a 60% bonus miles (through 5/23)
IHG One Rewards: 0.56¢ each with an 80% bonus (through 6/8)
Avianca LifeMiles: as low as 1.27¢ each with up to a 160% bonus (through 5/31)
👎🏼 United MileagePlus Devaluations
Without any formal announcement, United Airlines has rolled out more devaluations to a few different business and first class partner awards. For example, first class on ANA between US and Japan jumped from 121,000 miles to 242,000 miles. This is a bit of a trend from United which has mostly caused me to give up on the program and focus on Avianca LifeMiles and Air Canada Aeroplan when it comes to booking Star Alliance flights (including on United). More context here.
🤩 Recommendations
📚 MasterClass: Great Father's Day Gift + 15% off
If you love learning new things and level up your skills, you’ll probably love MasterClass. With 200+ of the world's best experts, you can learn to become a better artist, chef, leader, filmmaker, negotiator and so much more. MasterClass is also a great father's day gift (my Dad loved it). You can get 15% off here.
🎧 Moneywise: Money Stories with High Net Worth's
My friend Sam Parr, recently launched a new finance podcast I'm loving called MoneyWise, where he talks to high-net-worth individuals about their personal finances. They get really transparent about everything spending habits, investments, and so much more.
🎮 Tetris: Based On A True Story
Even if you didn't grow up playing Tetris, I think you'll really enjoy the film (I know I did), which is based on the true story of American game salesman Henk Rogers, who risked his life to patent Tetris by traveling to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It's free on Apple TV+.
💬 Parting Thoughts
Thanks so much for reading!
Please feel free to reply to this email with any thoughts, feedback or even if you just want to say hi! :)
Chris