👋 Hi Reader,

Hope the weekend is off to a great start! Here’s a quick sneak peek of what’s included in today’s newsletter:

• ⌛ 9 ways high-achievers optimize their time
• 👑 5 promos for Southwest status
• 💸 $860 from 2 bonuses at the same bank
• 🏨 4 hotel promos for up to 6k points/stay
• 💰 Easy profit on AARP Membership
• 🏠 Bilt Rewards Rent Day deals
• 🛏️ 7 ways to get hotel upgrades and more!

If you enjoyed reading, please feel free to forward this to someone who might too (and if that's you, make sure to subscribe here).

Thanks so much!

-Chris

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Sidebar

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⌛ 9 Ways High-Achievers Use Time Intentionally

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This week, Sahil Bloom and I talk about why time ≠ energy and how being intentional with your time can transform your relationships, productivity, and overall quality of life. In addition to the episode, I've written a blog post to recap this episode as well!

🛫 Travel, Points & Miles

👑 5 Promos for Southwest Elite Status

Southwest Airlines has launched 5 promos, making it easier for Rapid Rewards members to earn A-List or A-List Preferred status. These limited-time offers are valid between 8/28/24 and 11/30/24 and you can register for all 5 at once here.

💳 Last Call for 4 Best-Ever Welcome Bonuses

• ​This Hotel Card is offering 5 Free Nights after spending $4,000 in 3 months.
• ​This Hotel Card is offering 100,000 points after spending $2,000 in 3 months.
• The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is offering 75,000 miles + a $250 travel credit after spending $4,000 in 3 months.
• ​This Business Card is offering 120,000 points after spending $8,000 in 3 months (expires 9/5/24 at 9am EST). If you think you’re not eligible for a business card, check out this article.

🏨 4 New Hotel Promos

Here are 3 ongoing hotel promos to take advantage of if you have upcoming travel plans:

• ​Up to 6k Mariott Points per stay You can earn 2k points for each 2+ night stay between 9/10/24 and 11/26/24 and another 2k points/stay at MGM hotels (register here). If you're a Marriott cardholder, you also get another 2k points/stay (register here).
• ​1k Hyatt Points per night: Earn 1k points/night at participating Unbound Collection hotels through 10/31/24 (register here).
• ​Up to 2k Hyatt Points per stay: Hyatt has a another promotion for targeted members to get 5k-90k bonus points for staying 5-45 nights in 90 days (see if you're eligible and register here).
• ​2x Points at Best Western: You can earn double points on all stays between 9/3/24 till 11/18/24 (register here).

🎰 My Bet on the Hawaiian/Alaska Merger

Unless you have a ton of Bilt Points, Alaska miles are tough to come by. And that sucks, because they have a bunch of amazing partner redemptions. For example, we booked round-trip flights to Iceland from SFO for only 55k miles in economy.

So, when you combine 1) the upcoming Hawaiian/Alaska merger 2) the confirmation that Hawaiian miles will convert 1:1 to Alaska and 3) the current 20% transfer bonus from Amex to Hawaiian (which ends today), I decided to transfer a bunch of points to Hawaiian to help boost my long term Alaska balance. Now I wouldn't do this if it was more than ~15% of my Amex balance, but it wasn't so I think it's worth the risk.

Greg from Frequent Miler is taking an even bigger bet on Hawaiian miles and also applying for their credit cards (personal and business) to earn up to 70k points on each for a fairly low minimum spend ($2k).

🗓️ Bilt Rewards September Rent Day

The promos for Bilt's Rent Day tomorrow (9/1) are pretty great:

1. 50% Transfer Bonus to Avianca LifeMiles (for all members)
2. 20-100% Transfer Bonus to Virgin (based on status)
3. 2 for 1 on ResortPass
4. 2 for 1 on Virgin Voyages cruises
5. Discount to Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Festival​

The transfer bonuses are great if you have a redemption in mind. While I don't, I might make a speculative Virgin transfer since I'm at the 100% level (reading this Virgin points post now). Full rent day details here.

Separate from Rent Day, Bilt also launched a promo to earn points at Walgreens on top of your existing cards. You can do this with a free Bilt Rewards account and don't need the Bilt Mastercard®​.

🛫 Free Delta Miles in Washington State

If you live in Washington state or you recently "moved there", you should definitely register for Delta's 12Status program. As long as the address on your Delta account is in WA, you'll earn 1 SkyMile for every yard the Seahawks throw, and main priority boarding on Delta flights at SEA during the NFL season.

🤑 Latest Deals

🏦 Two Wells Fargo Bank Bonuses

A few weeks ago, I also shared a $325 bonus offer for opening a Wells Fargo checking account when you set up direct deposits totaling $1,000 within 90 days. That offer has been extended through 10/1/24.

But there's another offer on the Savings side, where you can earn a $525 bonus by opening any consumer savings account using this promo code by 10/1/24. Then you need to deposit at least $25,000 within 30 days, and maintain that balance for 90 days.

🧓🏻 Make an Easy Profit on AARP Membership

Capital One Shopping (which you can use without even having a Capital One card) has a targeted ​$66 cash back offer​ on a 5-year AARP membership, which costs just $45 and comes with a range of discounts and perks. That's already a $21 profit, but you might get more by checking your credit card linked offers for potential statement credits on AARP memberships, which are common with many issuers.

🕵️ Great Finds

🛏️ Getting Free Hotel Room Upgrades

I helped contribute to this article with 7 tips for scoring a free room upgrade and thought you might enjoy. I'm still amazed at home many emails I get from subscribers who have gotten upgraded (or other perks) by booking directly and emailing the hotel to share how excited they are for their upcoming stay.

🚫 Blocking 'Scam Likely' Calls

I've been getting SO MANY spam calls, but while trying to make it stop I came across this​ article with some great tips. For example, on T-Mobile you can dial #662# + Send and all "Scam Likely" calls will be blocked.

🏈 TV Show: The League

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Despite ending in 2015, this show is one of my favorite comedies. It's about six friends navigating life through the lens of their fantasy football league. It's also the reason I first got interested in fantasy football (though my wife loved the show and never cared about fantasy sports at all). So if you need a good laugh, all 7 seasons are on on Hulu.

💬 Parting Thoughts

As always, thanks so much for reading - I hope you enjoyed it!

Please feel free to reply to this email with any thoughts, feedback or even if you just want to say hi! :)

Chris