The Points Project

The Points Project
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Places & Travel

The Points Project is a podcast going deep into the life of a credit card optimizer. We talk about wins, fails, award trips and everything that falls in between.

  1. Jun 21

    Episode 13: Award Program Changes, An Unhinged Paze Promo & a Mid-Year Check-In

    Mid-year check-in time on the public feed. Kristoff and Raymond take a step back to assess the state of the game in mid-2026. But first, we have some alliance moves, award travel findings, and a Paze promo that got way out of hand. Our main topic is how we’re feeling, a sort of ‘meta’ discussion in which we come away with the overall takeaway of: the game isn't dead. It's just asking more of you. We hope you enjoy the show! -TPP 01:52 - Philippine Airlines Is Joining OneWorld 09:01 - Alaska Airlines Removes Status Point Accrual on 'Saver' fares 11:54 - Alaska Infant Tickets For Partner Awards 17:39 - United MileagePlus Points Pooling Discussion 22:20 - Chase Sapphire Preferred UR to Hyatt Transfer Ratio Now 4:3 30:24 - Paze: Spend $10, get $10 back — up to 10x per card 39:23 - Main Topic: Mid-Year Check-in – A 'Meta' Discussion + Trend Lines -- Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    1h 18m

  2. Mar 27

    Episode 12: 2x, 5x and 57x

    Hey there TPP Listeners, In this show, we focus on a new Amex Graphite Business Charge Card (the 2x), 5x opportunities in Q2 as well as a 5x platform that's going away, and we also get into a crazy 57x Rove booking stunt that could turn into a way to buy JL miles at ~1.1 - 1.2 cpp. In our main discussion, we talk about how Kristoff spun up a brand new player to the churning game (and how we got spun up ourselves) Timestamps: 01:09 - Amex Graphite™ Business Cash Unlimited Card 04:41 - Q2 reminders (5x cards) 07:43 - FutureCard (evicted by their banking partner) 11:14 - 57x back on Rove on Prepaid Booking (transfer to JL at 1:1.5 before 3/31/26) 21:39 - Spinning up brand new players to the game We hope you enjoy the show! -TPP Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    38 min

  3. Jan 30

    Episode 11: It's Incidental Season

    Hey TPP listeners, It’s January and you know what that means, we’re getting to work on incidentals, but also we’re taking some time to think about how we approach incidentals. Other than this, we have some feelings about all the Bilt v2.x noise. We end the show with upcoming vacations we’re (still) gardening. We hope you enjoy the show! -TPP Timestamps [01:30] - BILT v2.1 [15:20] - Incidental Season [36:24] - Calendar Year Product Downgrades and Cancellation [42:40] - BofA Alaska Ascent to Summit PC [48:40] - Booking Vacations / Award Gardening

    1h 7m
  4. Episode 10: Q4 News & Learning From Past Credit Cards

    10/09/2025

    Episode 10: Q4 News & Learning From Past Credit Cards

    Timestamps [00:33] - Japan Airlines Added to Capital One Transfer Partners [13:49] - Amex Delta Card Portfolio Elevated Offers - Expiring 10/29/2025 [22:20] - Bank of America ‘More Rewards Day’ 11/06/2025 [25:42] - Q4 3-5% cap reset  [30:37] - Shop Your Way Nerf [33:02] - Main Show Topic – What cards offer long-term value post-SUB? Cards you can no longer obtain (what made them special) What to look out for in current offerings (possible long-term keepers)We hope you enjoy! -TPP Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    57 min

  5. 08/19/2025

    Episode 9: The Credit Card Game Is Always Changing

    00:43 - Citi Strata Elite Details: 80K TYP | $4K | 90d | $595 AF ($450 AF w/ CitiGold)2:05 - Pulling 100K Offer—2 options In-branch US Credit Card Guide US Card Forum (still alive as of 08/18/2025) Citi Nights - 6x on Dining? First to market with hourly CC benefits Strata Elite Benefits Raymond’s P2 approval via 100K link Did Kristoff apply? Multiple Strata Elites? Year 2 options and beyond… 18:18 American Airlines enables up TYP transfers (again) Is this a good thing or bad thing? Incremental value vs. newcomers to AA Is a devaluation now inevitable?23:00 - Atmos Rewards Summit Visa Infinite Credit Card (FM article) Rumored SUB Details: 5K upon approval | 100K | $6K | 90d | $395 AF 25K Global Companion Award 100K Global Companion Award after 60K spend No partner award booking fees (save $12.50 p/p on a partner award booking) Up to 3.3x on dining spend and foreign transactions $50 voucher for 2 hour flight delay or cancellation 1 EQM per $2 spend 10K EQMs each year on account anniversary Mileage Plan and HawaiianMiles will become Atmos Rewards on 10/01/2025 Will it be possible to spend up to top-tier MVP Gold 100K? ($200K spend in year 1?) Do we spend for AA status or shift to spending towards AS status? 2x spend on AA cobranded cards vs. possibility to spend at 3x on the Summit How excited are we about this card?40:42 - US Bank Altitude Reserve - Devaluation US Card Forum leaked document Long time coming - no more 4.5% cashback uncapped effective 12/14/2025 3x mobile wallet spend now capped at 5K per statement cycle Points now worth 1cpp if redeemed for travel or as deposit into eligible US Bank account $325 Travel / Dining credit can now only be used for travel purchased through US Bank Travel Transfer partners? TBD Pour one out for a legend46:54 - US Bank Smartly - Devaluation Within 6 months of release, 4% cashback is now borderline useless Now, 100k in checking/savings with $10K per statement cycle cap on 4% with many MCC exclusions Grandfathered Smartly cards 100K in investment accounts still grants access to 4% cashback $10K per statement cycle Hopefully US Bank is done with nerfs Seems like the credit card market is shifting toward more premium cards with higher annual fees, with banks aiming to induce breakage Positive shifts with Citi and BofA Negative shifts with US BankWe hope you enjoy! -TPP Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    56 min

  6. 06/03/2025

    Episode 8: Mesa Homeowners Card, Saying Goodbye To A Dear Friend, and Reflections on P3's First Big Trip

    Kristoff and Raymond hop on this week to chat about some elevated sign-up bonus offers for: Mesa Homeowners Visa Signature Card (issued by Celtic Bank) Limited-Time Offer: 50,000 points after $5,000 spend in 90 days using code Bonus50. No annual fee. Card comes with a laundry list of unique 'coupon book adjacent' credits. Raymond messes up the application process #noobmistake? Points are likely going to be most useful if transferred to Finnair Avios.IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card Historically High Sign-Up Bonus: 5 Free Nights (each valued up to 60,000 points, total up to 300,000 points) after $5,000 spend in 3 months. Raymond's P2 may have to take a long look at this one to see if it makes sense.Kristoff's Mini Biz App-O-Rama Mix of P1/P2 business apps for Alaska, Hawaiian, Citi AA, and Wells Fargo cards.In addition, we also eulogize a long-time friend in the hobby, Simon Gift Cards. We also touch on some negative Capital One Shopping redemption option changes, and the newest relationship JetBlue has gotten into with United Airlines. Lastly, Raymond gives a retrospective on his recent trip to HNL, with this trip being P3's first 'big' trip. Masa & Joyce Okazuya (Japanese delicatessen) Ho’omaluhia Botanical Garden Lake Lookout Point We hope you enjoy! -TPP Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    1h 12m

  7. 03/22/2025

    Episode 7: Transfer Bonuses, End of Q1 Reminders, and a Baby Bonding Roadtrip

    Spring is here! Kristoff and Raymond check in on the public podcast feed to discuss: 1.  Current transfer bonuses with the big 4 bank point currencies. 2. Reports of the Amex Resy credit triggering at Walgreens? 3. Adapting to the need to hit spend requirements with Amex. We noodled on paying taxes and whether or not we need to reconsider buying groups. Lastly, a few Q1 spending reminders. 4. We touch on loyalty program devaluations including Southwest and Hyatt. The Southwest changes especially felt like a paradigm shift. 5. An End of Baby Bonding Roadtrip: Burning Hilton FNCs and Hilton GCs/Amex Hilton benefits at higher-tier Hilton properties in California. Also an unplanned trip to Disneyland with 2.5 month old P3. Join The Points Project Patreon! Intro/Outro Music Credits: "Vibing Over Venus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    54 min

  8. 12/06/2024

    Episode 6: 'Tis the Season to Be Churning

    Happy Holidays! Kristoff and Raymond dive into the holiday spirit, covering increased shopping portal offers, Citi and AAdvantage becoming exclusive partners, end-of-year credit card housekeeping notes, and insights into elevated BofA and US Bank benefits when banking as a preferred client. To wrap up our last public episode of the year, we reflect on what we're most thankful for this year... - TPP The Points Project Patreon Intro/Outro Music Credits:"Vibing Over Venus"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

    50 min
See All (13)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The Points Project is a podcast going deep into the life of a credit card optimizer. We talk about wins, fails, award trips and everything that falls in between.

Information

  • Creator
    The Points Project
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The Points Project

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