I have a $24k trip next year planned for only $3k cash using points/certificates! Can't wait for that experiential trip since I've never flown business or first class.
Some of the phrases he says are the same from one video to another and since he’s said the same credit card phrases literally hundreds of times, he says them a bit too quickly now. I’ve been watching him for the past 5 years and if I go to an older video of his it’s like he’s in slow motion. I hope that makes sense. The same thing happened to JoJo Siwa except even worse. I think new subscribers to Sebby might have a difficult time understanding.
@@DeborahE7 I think it's exactly this. For regular viewers, certain phrases (min spend, intro bonus, FNC, return on spend, cents per point, etc.) are normal lingo and they can connect the dots. For new people, it's a lot of new phrases being thrown at them without much context. Same thing with sports. I "understand" football but would get lost if people were talking shop. On the flip side, I'm an NBA fan / stats nerd and happily use terms (WS, WARP, RAPTOR) and nicknames (AD, Greek Freak, Sky Fu**er) that would sound confusing to casual fans and especially non-fans. It's definitely a balancing act. On my end, I've mixed in some "beginner" videos (credit 101, best 5 cards for beginners, etc.) where I'm a lot slower and more thorough. At the same time, I want to respect long-term viewers who get the basics but still want to "grab a coffee" and talk shop on the credit card world. Same way someone might go to the bar and talk sports with other enthusiasts :)
There is a rushed tone when he speaks. I got used to it after watching him a bit. He is like a speed reader cramming a bunch of information. IMO people like the speech a bit faster as it’s appalling for those who are in the video ‘frenzy’ of RUclips videos or ticktock. Everything is fast news nowadays.
YES to adding the trip report to these! One thing that could be cool at the very end would be visually show a table or similar with your combined travel savings and spend. Thanks for sharing and happy holidays!
We spent xmas eve in chicago and booked the Langham through Amex FHR. Got upgraded to a junior sweet, the credit paid for room service breakfast, and got a free bottle of wine and cookies (for the kids) for booking through amex. Great experience!
⛷️ I love trip reports. We are going to Thailand and Vietnam in 4 weeks and flying Qatar QSuites and First all on points and your previous trip reports are what inspires us to do these trips on points! As for being snowed in, I was stuck at SFO for 2 days because PDX was shut down. Luckily AA was really good, paid for my hotel and got me home on Christmas Eve. Just in time for dinner.
⛷I think you've convinced me that the CSR is a really viable luxury travel option, especially if you're traveling domestically... I'll probably add it once I can get the SUB in 2026 (since I got the CSP in Jan 2022). Also, you need to come visit Austin next! We got some great barbeque here as well. This was a great video as always!
⛷Nice Sebby! Love the hustle! Working until 2-3am after a day of skiing is no joke. After skiing, I can barely stay awake past 9pm haha! Great setup. Will probably consider the WOH as my catch all when I get it eventually!
Current wallet is running the Venture X (Flights, hotels, rental cars, and 2x catch all), the metal Savor card (Dining, Entertainment, and streaming services), and just signed up for the Amex EDP (Grocery and Gasoline) to replace the Gold Card which I’m canceling next month at renewal. Next card up to get is the Amex Hilton Aspire.
🏂 pro tip, for your sore foot or feet, wear Smartwool Ski Zero Cushion Socks instead of a fully padded sock. Your feet or foot has a loss of circulation, make sure you have your toenails clipped as short as possible. Lastly if you ski over 20 days a season a professionally made molded footbed in your boot is so worth it. This is all from over 8 years living and riding in resort towns, painful lessons to learn but being comfortable is key to a great day on the hill. Cheers!
I stayed in Park City in the Fall, we left on the last warm day before winter cold hit. A quick switch after Myrtle Beach was damaged by the hurricane. We'll have to try skying in the winter next time.
Currently: Discover It, Chase Unlimited, Amex Blue Cash Preferred, Amex Blue Business, and just got Amex Hilton Honors Business. Next will be either Chase Flex or Preferred depending on what branch tells me I am eligible for in next 4-5 months (want the Flex but need the Preferred, ok if it is just the Preferred). Short list for 2023 is the Bilt and maybe Gold and that will be enough for me for awhile. Although the Platinum is always tempting.
Thanks for sharing your cards! I love the way you used to show those card comparisons in tables, which to me is much easier to follow. I basically just using BOA cards with the 75% boost of rewards. It's just easy to manage.
Would like to point out that you can get primary CDW coverage with the AMEX Platinum as well. The difference is that you need to sign up for it in your benefits page (“Premium car rental protection”) and it does cost extra. The top plan is a one time charge of $24.95 per rental period (not per day) for $100k of loss and damage coverage, for up to 42 consecutive days. The coverage also includes theft of your personal property from the vehicle (secondary to any other insurance you might have like renters or homeowners insurance) and coverage for accidental injury and accidental death & dismemberment for you and your passengers. We can argue whether or not this card should have these coverages by default considering the annual fee, but it is there and it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than paying the car rental company per day for it.
That coverage is worthless if the rental car company won’t release the usage records on the car. Like it or not, paying for the rental car company LDW is the only way to guarantee you can trash the car and drop it off and make it the rental car companies problem.
Yes, good boots are KEY! Might be a good idea to buy your boots and just rent skis. Buy a good pair (sales start late Feb/March), you’ll be glad you did. Bad fitting boots can ruin a trip and/or waste a lot of time going back for better fitting boots. Instead of a scarf, try getting a balaclava. It’s likely warmer when just on your neck, and more versatile when used up on your face and/or over your head. The Montage has an awesome s’mores bar also, free to anyone, not just guests. More ski related vids, please, and how to maximize points + skiing.
⛷️ enjoy your vacation Sebby! We decided not to do much traveling this later part of the year. Looking forward to spending some Alaska miles next year.
I’m currently carrying my AMEX Platinum Schwab, AMEX Gold, AMEX BBP, Chase Freedom Unlimited (5x on gas until February), Citi Custom Cash (using the 5% on drugstores), and I’m still trying to max out the 5% on the Discover it in digital wallet spend.
Hi Sebby! I've been watching a lot of your videos lately and I'm sorry it took me so long to subscribe to your channel. Your videos are not only insightful but also entertaining! I watched a lot of your credit card reviews before finally deciding on getting the Amex Gold and I'm loving it. Keep up the good work!
Sebby: This format is better. Maybe have the trip report first....Have a happy holiday and great 2023! We are going to London and Paris for 2 weeks. Got 2 Best western premier credit cards. We will be using all of our 220,000 points for 1 week worth in London. Decent return. In Paris we are just paying cash for AirBnB with some friends
⛷️ Breckenridge for the first time, despite Southwest Airlines' best efforts. The 22h of driving from Santa Cruz was not fun, but our AirBnb had become non-refundable. Also rocking the Hyatt, which for me has great additional multipliers this quarter (10x gas/5x grocery & Amazon on $1.5k, already burned through the same on my Marriott Premier). Additionally, the Amex Bonvoy Biz, with a 7.5k bonus offer on $2k spend. Love riding Park City, but have had trouble finding award availability at any compelling locations. Looks like you found some. Any favs?
⛷more vacation or traveling content please! You are correct, videos on how to maximize cards is great but more content on you using points would be even better
Really enjoy your videos. Nice ⛷️ footage. Booked a 2 week trip to Japan and used my Hilton points and award for a 2 night stay at the Conrad Tokyo. Also, booked a business class award flight on JAL 😎
⛷️ Appreciate the content Sebby. I’m still in a steep learning curve. Your videos and site help. Thank you. We’re also in the Bay Area. I’ve historically favoured BA and One World. Considering SFO is an United hub, should I focus more on their program?
⛷️ AMEX Plat (100k bonus offer, credits match my lifestyle in general, lounge access), AMEX Gold (food cause nom), AMEX Delta Plat (status boost & catch all). Also have Ritz card for Marriott and car rentals thanks to your advice and Amazon/Costco. Plan for 2023 is to possibly add the Hilton Aspire and Venture X, but I’m basically at end game and chose MR points, SkyTeam, and Marriott/Hilton for now.
Wait can you sign up for a CSR and get welcome bonus if you had it in the past? I downgraded and was going to open the CSP but if I can get the CSR again with welcome bonus 😮!
Data point that you may see when leaving out of SLC...Delta Sky Club requires the physical Platinum card for entry. Got caught by this recently when I forgot the card.
My three week excursion started in Uganda, now am in Jamaica, next to Dubai. Flying Delta/Air France/KLM. The Saudi Airlines portion of my trip had to get rebooked.
Hey Sebby, Happy New Year. Can you share how you balance out the spending between plat+gold and reserve, I was doing the calculations but found it a bit hard to justify the reserve since they have overlapping categories. Is it because of the 1.5x for UR points?
I have: 1.) BoA Cash Unlimited = 2.6% cash back on anything is the highest cash back card I know that doesn't require paying some sort of indirect fee, just need to have 100k with BoA/Merrill. 2.) CSR = Main travel card, book airline tix via Chase to get 5x and rental car insurance is a +. 3.) Citi Prestige = Don't use it as much, mainly for restaurants earning 5x and some travel to use up the $250 annual credit. ThankYou promos with discounted Apple GC is what I mainly spend points on, can get 6-7% return on Apple products. Waiting to see what the new top tier Citi card will become 4.) Amex Aspire Hilton = $250 airline credit and $250 resort credit makes this a fee free card, plus annual free night at top tier hotels and Diamond status is great. 5.) I have all the low tier cards for Marriott, Hyatt and IHG just for the free nights.
⛷ I enjoy the trip reports. We visited Colorado over the holidays and used points for flights and hotels, plus Hyatt free night cert. We have 4 kids, so most of our points get used for economy flights and hotels. The SW companion pass has been clutch. Enjoyed the video
Hey Everyone, how soon after landing in AmEx Popup jail do you recommend trying again? I'm increasing spend across a few of my previously semi-sockdrawered cards
I’m a 20 year old college student so I don’t spend much money but here’s my current lineup and plan for my main spend categories in quarter 1: Gas: 5% cashback with the Chase Freedom Flex first year offer Grocery: 5% cashback with the Discover It student card and Chase Freedom Flex Restaurants/Fast food: 5% cashback with Citi Custom Cash Catch all card: 3% with Sofi Credit Card (goes down to 2% after I hit 1 year anniversary) I also have the Apple Credit card and the APGFCU student card but both of those don’t get used. The cards on my wishlist for 2023 are the US Bank cash+ for its 5% categories, the Kroger card for 5% Cash back on the first $3000 of mobile wallet purchases, the AAA DAILY ADVANTAGE VISA for 5% on grocery, and the AAA TRAVEL ADVANTAGE VISA for 5% on gas. I’d love to hear thoughts, opinions, and critiques or areas I could improve my setup!
Hi Sebby, thank you for this report and also Happy Holidays! You mentioned you do some angel investing, it is something that I’ve always wanted to get into, any tips for getting started? Jose from San Jose ✌️
⛷ I just moved from Virginia to Oregon and used CSR to book ABNB or hotels along the way. With the 50% its hard to look away. Now trying to figure out how to spend a weekend with a certificate night in seattle, wa as a first timer. Btw vacay reports is a +1. Thank you for all the info and tricks.
⛷️ really enjoying all the vids, planning to really up my cc game in 2023 😁 picked up the brilliant and the Bonvoy business cards as were very into the Marriott line and have been for a long time using the chase Bonvoy card.
The biggest problem of your "$14000" travel is that you probably could have only spend half of that if you chose the most economical means. Most people in most cases don't really care much about how spacious of their flight seat is or how delicious their flight meal is, or how big their hotel room is. Travel is meant to be having fun and rarely about the flight or hotel itself. I am not saying they don't have value, but it's that they don't have nearly enough value as it costs. I have about half of million Chase points and kind of having hard time spending them because the available hotel/flight via Chase is almost never the most economical ones. Why would I spend $400 equivalent Chase points to book a flight where equivalent alternative (similar time and date and everything) ones only costs $250 (but not available via Chase portal)? It happens so often that I ended up just convert my points to 150% cash and use that cash to book a cheaper one from somewhere else like Expedia. It worked very well for the last 3 years.
But some people do. I _much_ prefer arriving in Paris refreshed and ready to enjoy the day after having flown there in Business Class, getting some sleep on the way. I'm also 6'4" making that impossible to do in economy. But that's the credit card points game: Choose Your Own Adventure.
@James P agreed plus in my case I enjoy the full travel experience. The more comfy I am thanks to those perks that I get with a CC and status the better. As Sebby says YMMV .
Do you recommend having both the chase trifecta along with the amex gold/platinum? My goal is to earn and maximize travel points. However I don't know if diluting the points by earning both in amex and chase is worth it. What are your thoughts?
Hi Sebby I wanted to ask why you would choose the world of Hyatt card as your “catch all” card since it only get 1x points on everything except select categories? Would it not be more beneficial to use a freedom unlimited and transfer over to Hyatt? Am I missing something?
2 nights towards status for every $5,000 in spend. I'm probably overvaluing Hyatt status though and why I think CFU, BBP, Double Cash are more rationale picks :)
⛷ Sebby living large, Loved the trip reports. I’m working at home this holiday season. Plat, CSP (thanks to you), CFF, BCP in my wallet. I’ve earned lots of points and benefits this year. Happy new year to you and Mandy! Enjoy your ski trip!
IHG breakfast due to status? Did you earn Spire/Diamond once and get it extended each year due by paying for Ambassador or are you getting it some other way? I've long ignored IHG because their status seems too difficult to earn/maintain and they don't have any lifetime status.
We did a status match to Spire in 2020 (or 2021?) and they kept extending it despite us doing no stays. Looking at my account, we have Diamond until Dec 31, 2023. Super wonky system or maybe we got lucky with extensions. I think ignoring IHG is still the right move and just buy Ambassador if doing a lot of stays. Not worth chasing IMO.
I have a cardholder from Ferragamo that I picked up using some Saks credits years ago: www.ferragamo.com/shop/us/en/men/wallets-small-leather-goods/card-cases-2/revival-ganc-744849
Invest with Fundrise: fundrise.com/asksebby
💳 Sebby's Card Picks: www.asksebby.com/credit-cards
I have a $24k trip next year planned for only $3k cash using points/certificates! Can't wait for that experiential trip since I've never flown business or first class.
Congrats!!
I like the trip reports. +1 vote for keeping those segments in future videos
The AMEX Gold is the workhorse for us. All those grocery trips add up real quick at 4x. I can pull in 4-5k in points per month in just groceries.
I use it for my wife's food trailer business. Those 4x for groceries sure do go a long way.
AMEX Gold is a stalwart of my wallet.
4x. Peasant class earning. Amex Cobalt earns 8x on food.
Exactly!! With eating out and groceries per month, I can easily get 5k+ points per month.
For amex gold, if you don’t use amex travel card does it still work? Let’s say travel card is chase sapphire preferred?
I don’t understand the comments about Sebby speaking too fast. I watched this (and all videos) at 2x speed, sounds clear/understandable to me.
😂 I watch him on 1.5x speed just like almost every video I watch and it’s fine
I understand him but I agree with whoever stated he speaks too fast.
Some of the phrases he says are the same from one video to another and since he’s said the same credit card phrases literally hundreds of times, he says them a bit too quickly now. I’ve been watching him for the past 5 years and if I go to an older video of his it’s like he’s in slow motion. I hope that makes sense. The same thing happened to JoJo Siwa except even worse. I think new subscribers to Sebby might have a difficult time understanding.
@@DeborahE7 I think it's exactly this. For regular viewers, certain phrases (min spend, intro bonus, FNC, return on spend, cents per point, etc.) are normal lingo and they can connect the dots.
For new people, it's a lot of new phrases being thrown at them without much context.
Same thing with sports. I "understand" football but would get lost if people were talking shop.
On the flip side, I'm an NBA fan / stats nerd and happily use terms (WS, WARP, RAPTOR) and nicknames (AD, Greek Freak, Sky Fu**er) that would sound confusing to casual fans and especially non-fans.
It's definitely a balancing act. On my end, I've mixed in some "beginner" videos (credit 101, best 5 cards for beginners, etc.) where I'm a lot slower and more thorough.
At the same time, I want to respect long-term viewers who get the basics but still want to "grab a coffee" and talk shop on the credit card world. Same way someone might go to the bar and talk sports with other enthusiasts :)
There is a rushed tone when he speaks. I got used to it after watching him a bit. He is like a speed reader cramming a bunch of information. IMO people like the speech a bit faster as it’s appalling for those who are in the video ‘frenzy’ of RUclips videos or ticktock. Everything is fast news nowadays.
YES to adding the trip report to these! One thing that could be cool at the very end would be visually show a table or similar with your combined travel savings and spend. Thanks for sharing and happy holidays!
We spent xmas eve in chicago and booked the Langham through Amex FHR. Got upgraded to a junior sweet, the credit paid for room service breakfast, and got a free bottle of wine and cookies (for the kids) for booking through amex. Great experience!
As a "newbie" to card points, would love to see a "how to use" on the points systems. Thank you.
Setup for 2023:
Dining and Groceries: Amex Gold
Travel: Amex Platinum
Catch All: Capital One Venture X
Rotating Categories: Chase Freedom Flex
⛷️ I love trip reports. We are going to Thailand and Vietnam in 4 weeks and flying Qatar QSuites and First all on points and your previous trip reports are what inspires us to do these trips on points! As for being snowed in, I was stuck at SFO for 2 days because PDX was shut down. Luckily AA was really good, paid for my hotel and got me home on Christmas Eve. Just in time for dinner.
Nice! Asia trip sounds fun!
⛷️ little bit of work and a little bit of travel for me. Hope you enjoyed the snow!
⛷I think you've convinced me that the CSR is a really viable luxury travel option, especially if you're traveling domestically... I'll probably add it once I can get the SUB in 2026 (since I got the CSP in Jan 2022). Also, you need to come visit Austin next! We got some great barbeque here as well. This was a great video as always!
Love Terry Black's BBQ! Will ping you next time I'm in Austin :)
Isn't the SUB after 48 months?
You can get another SUB after 48 months from your previous Sapphire SUB. So you’ll have to wait till sometime in 2026 😅
Of course I've been trying to convince you and no dice, but Sebby can 😂
@@wanderingdoc5075 Hahah you played a big role in that Doc!!
⛷Nice Sebby! Love the hustle! Working until 2-3am after a day of skiing is no joke. After skiing, I can barely stay awake past 9pm haha! Great setup. Will probably consider the WOH as my catch all when I get it eventually!
Current wallet is running the Venture X (Flights, hotels, rental cars, and 2x catch all), the metal Savor card (Dining, Entertainment, and streaming services), and just signed up for the Amex EDP (Grocery and Gasoline) to replace the Gold Card which I’m canceling next month at renewal. Next card up to get is the Amex Hilton Aspire.
Can't beat the travel protection on the CSR!!! Thanks for the info + video!
🏂 pro tip, for your sore foot or feet, wear Smartwool Ski Zero Cushion Socks instead of a fully padded sock. Your feet or foot has a loss of circulation, make sure you have your toenails clipped as short as possible. Lastly if you ski over 20 days a season a professionally made molded footbed in your boot is so worth it. This is all from over 8 years living and riding in resort towns, painful lessons to learn but being comfortable is key to a great day on the hill. Cheers!
I stayed in Park City in the Fall, we left on the last warm day before winter cold hit. A quick switch after Myrtle Beach was damaged by the hurricane. We'll have to try skying in the winter next time.
Currently: Discover It, Chase Unlimited, Amex Blue Cash Preferred, Amex Blue Business, and just got Amex Hilton Honors Business. Next will be either Chase Flex or Preferred depending on what branch tells me I am eligible for in next 4-5 months (want the Flex but need the Preferred, ok if it is just the Preferred). Short list for 2023 is the Bilt and maybe Gold and that will be enough for me for awhile. Although the Platinum is always tempting.
Love these videos! Just booked a two week trip to Dubai/Doha/Waldorf Maldives flying Qatar Qsuites on points.
Congrats!! 🍾
Thanks for sharing your cards! I love the way you used to show those card comparisons in tables, which to me is much easier to follow. I basically just using BOA cards with the 75% boost of rewards. It's just easy to manage.
Just came back from park city ! Stayed at the Waldorf and the St Regis, praise the points!
Nice!!
I love fast and concise speakers. This makes the world a better place
Would like to point out that you can get primary CDW coverage with the AMEX Platinum as well. The difference is that you need to sign up for it in your benefits page (“Premium car rental protection”) and it does cost extra. The top plan is a one time charge of $24.95 per rental period (not per day) for $100k of loss and damage coverage, for up to 42 consecutive days. The coverage also includes theft of your personal property from the vehicle (secondary to any other insurance you might have like renters or homeowners insurance) and coverage for accidental injury and accidental death & dismemberment for you and your passengers.
We can argue whether or not this card should have these coverages by default considering the annual fee, but it is there and it’s still a heck of a lot cheaper than paying the car rental company per day for it.
That coverage is worthless if the rental car company won’t release the usage records on the car. Like it or not, paying for the rental car company LDW is the only way to guarantee you can trash the car and drop it off and make it the rental car companies problem.
Yes, good boots are KEY! Might be a good idea to buy your boots and just rent skis. Buy a good pair (sales start late Feb/March), you’ll be glad you did. Bad fitting boots can ruin a trip and/or waste a lot of time going back for better fitting boots. Instead of a scarf, try getting a balaclava. It’s likely warmer when just on your neck, and more versatile when used up on your face and/or over your head. The Montage has an awesome s’mores bar also, free to anyone, not just guests. More ski related vids, please, and how to maximize points + skiing.
⛷️ enjoy your vacation Sebby! We decided not to do much traveling this later part of the year. Looking forward to spending some Alaska miles next year.
Can you do a video of Amex platinum and gold together benefits? Is gold free with Amex platinum?
I’m currently carrying my AMEX Platinum Schwab, AMEX Gold, AMEX BBP, Chase Freedom Unlimited (5x on gas until February), Citi Custom Cash (using the 5% on drugstores), and I’m still trying to max out the 5% on the Discover it in digital wallet spend.
Godamn. How much do you spend a month? 👀
Like that your starting to include more trip and point usage information:
2023 Wallet:
Business Plat Sub
AMEX Gold
Chase Hyatt - 15k annual spend
Sebby, welcome to my home. Hope you had a great time here in PC. Epic snow week! As the saying goes, there are no friends on a powder day! Enjoy
I would definitely appreciate a video on how to use those points!
Hi Sebby! I've been watching a lot of your videos lately and I'm sorry it took me so long to subscribe to your channel. Your videos are not only insightful but also entertaining! I watched a lot of your credit card reviews before finally deciding on getting the Amex Gold and I'm loving it. Keep up the good work!
I just got back from a month in Portugal and Norway made use of the Centurion lounges in Philadelphia and London.
Loved the trip report Sebby. And glad you enjoyed the skiing in my home state!
Sebby: This format is better. Maybe have the trip report first....Have a happy holiday and great 2023! We are going to London and Paris for 2 weeks. Got 2 Best western premier credit cards. We will be using all of our 220,000 points for 1 week worth in London. Decent return. In Paris we are just paying cash for AirBnB with some friends
I vote a HUGE YES on regular trip reports!!!🥰🥰🥰
How flat is the ski back in from the mountain to the WA? Wondering if it’s going to be doable w my snowboard
Honey pig is good but you should try Bori next time! High end Korean bbq. Well worth the try!
Hahaha the CLEAR clip at 7:00 is golden 😂. Happy holidays Sebby and Mandy!
Not always faster 😂 Happy holidays!
⛷️ Breckenridge for the first time, despite Southwest Airlines' best efforts. The 22h of driving from Santa Cruz was not fun, but our AirBnb had become non-refundable.
Also rocking the Hyatt, which for me has great additional multipliers this quarter (10x gas/5x grocery & Amazon on $1.5k, already burned through the same on my Marriott Premier).
Additionally, the Amex Bonvoy Biz, with a 7.5k bonus offer on $2k spend.
Love riding Park City, but have had trouble finding award availability at any compelling locations. Looks like you found some. Any favs?
Amex Platinum, Delta Amex Platinum, Amex Marriott Bonvoy, BILT Mastercard, Chase Amazon Prime.
Opinion and video about Bilt Mastercard.. patiently waiting for your review on it
Coming soon!
Thanks so much for sharing! Nice video!
⛷more vacation or traveling content please! You are correct, videos on how to maximize cards is great but more content on you using points would be even better
Great video Definitely include trip reports in your videos because you always stay at nice spots
Sebastian, what's the best card for paying medical expenses? Does any card offer a points multiplier for prescriptions and medical expenses?
Really enjoy your videos. Nice ⛷️ footage. Booked a 2 week trip to Japan and used my Hilton points and award for a 2 night stay at the Conrad Tokyo. Also, booked a business class award flight on JAL 😎
I love seeing your travels. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏻
Why hyatt if you get status with amex?
Are aspie and brilliant worth their AFs?
Amexp worked great at conrad dc.
Also received gold and room upgrades.
⛷️ Appreciate the content Sebby. I’m still in a steep learning curve. Your videos and site help. Thank you. We’re also in the Bay Area. I’ve historically favoured BA and One World. Considering SFO is an United hub, should I focus more on their program?
⛷️
AMEX Plat (100k bonus offer, credits match my lifestyle in general, lounge access), AMEX Gold (food cause nom), AMEX Delta Plat (status boost & catch all). Also have Ritz card for Marriott and car rentals thanks to your advice and Amazon/Costco.
Plan for 2023 is to possibly add the Hilton Aspire and Venture X, but I’m basically at end game and chose MR points, SkyTeam, and Marriott/Hilton for now.
Wait can you sign up for a CSR and get welcome bonus if you had it in the past? I downgraded and was going to open the CSP but if I can get the CSR again with welcome bonus 😮!
Plat, Gold, BBP, CFU, CSP, Venture one
Data point that you may see when leaving out of SLC...Delta Sky Club requires the physical Platinum card for entry. Got caught by this recently when I forgot the card.
⛷️ happy new year! Park city is amazing!
Excellent video 🎿🎿. Enjoying Jamaica for the holidays. Happy New Year Sebby and Mindy. Renting a private villa relaxing by the pool.
My three week excursion started in Uganda, now am in Jamaica, next to Dubai. Flying Delta/Air France/KLM. The Saudi Airlines portion of my trip had to get rebooked.
I always love Sebby's footage from in the restaurants. Such great looking food and beverages too! 👍 But always makes me hungry! 😆 ⛷
Just hanging out at home here, next year will (hopefully) be busy ⛷
Hey Sebby, Happy New Year. Can you share how you balance out the spending between plat+gold and reserve, I was doing the calculations but found it a bit hard to justify the reserve since they have overlapping categories. Is it because of the 1.5x for UR points?
I have: 1.) BoA Cash Unlimited = 2.6% cash back on anything is the highest cash back card I know that doesn't require paying some sort of indirect fee, just need to have 100k with BoA/Merrill. 2.) CSR = Main travel card, book airline tix via Chase to get 5x and rental car insurance is a +. 3.) Citi Prestige = Don't use it as much, mainly for restaurants earning 5x and some travel to use up the $250 annual credit. ThankYou promos with discounted Apple GC is what I mainly spend points on, can get 6-7% return on Apple products. Waiting to see what the new top tier Citi card will become 4.) Amex Aspire Hilton = $250 airline credit and $250 resort credit makes this a fee free card, plus annual free night at top tier hotels and Diamond status is great. 5.) I have all the low tier cards for Marriott, Hyatt and IHG just for the free nights.
🎿 new subscriber and fan! Really appreciate your tips as a newbie to the whole points systems 🙌🏼
Am I the only one who uses the Wells Fargo active cash that gives 2% cash back on everything?
⛷ I enjoy the trip reports. We visited Colorado over the holidays and used points for flights and hotels, plus Hyatt free night cert. We have 4 kids, so most of our points get used for economy flights and hotels. The SW companion pass has been clutch. Enjoyed the video
Hi Sebby! Will card consultations ever return on your website? I feel like it’s been on pause for awhile so just want to set my expectations haha
Hey Everyone, how soon after landing in AmEx Popup jail do you recommend trying again? I'm increasing spend across a few of my previously semi-sockdrawered cards
I’m a 20 year old college student so I don’t spend much money but here’s my current lineup and plan for my main spend categories in quarter 1:
Gas: 5% cashback with the Chase Freedom Flex first year offer
Grocery: 5% cashback with the Discover It student card and Chase Freedom Flex
Restaurants/Fast food: 5% cashback with Citi Custom Cash
Catch all card: 3% with Sofi Credit Card (goes down to 2% after I hit 1 year anniversary)
I also have the Apple Credit card and the APGFCU student card but both of those don’t get used. The cards on my wishlist for 2023 are the US Bank cash+ for its 5% categories, the Kroger card for 5% Cash back on the first $3000 of mobile wallet purchases, the AAA DAILY ADVANTAGE VISA for 5% on grocery, and the AAA TRAVEL ADVANTAGE VISA for 5% on gas. I’d love to hear thoughts, opinions, and critiques or areas I could improve my setup!
how long are you staying at the waldorf for? we’re coming to park city in two days
Hi Sebby, thank you for this report and also Happy Holidays! You mentioned you do some angel investing, it is something that I’ve always wanted to get into, any tips for getting started? Jose from San Jose ✌️
For early stage stuff, it's all about the founder. Invest in people who are the top 1% in that field and have a competitive advantage :)
What Tex Mex restaurant did you eat in Houston ?
⛷ I just moved from Virginia to Oregon and used CSR to book ABNB or hotels along the way. With the 50% its hard to look away. Now trying to figure out how to spend a weekend with a certificate night in seattle, wa as a first timer. Btw vacay reports is a +1. Thank you for all the info and tricks.
⛷️ really enjoying all the vids, planning to really up my cc game in 2023 😁 picked up the brilliant and the Bonvoy business cards as were very into the Marriott line and have been for a long time using the chase Bonvoy card.
Which hotel is this in Park city?
The biggest problem of your "$14000" travel is that you probably could have only spend half of that if you chose the most economical means. Most people in most cases don't really care much about how spacious of their flight seat is or how delicious their flight meal is, or how big their hotel room is. Travel is meant to be having fun and rarely about the flight or hotel itself. I am not saying they don't have value, but it's that they don't have nearly enough value as it costs. I have about half of million Chase points and kind of having hard time spending them because the available hotel/flight via Chase is almost never the most economical ones. Why would I spend $400 equivalent Chase points to book a flight where equivalent alternative (similar time and date and everything) ones only costs $250 (but not available via Chase portal)? It happens so often that I ended up just convert my points to 150% cash and use that cash to book a cheaper one from somewhere else like Expedia. It worked very well for the last 3 years.
But some people do. I _much_ prefer arriving in Paris refreshed and ready to enjoy the day after having flown there in Business Class, getting some sleep on the way. I'm also 6'4" making that impossible to do in economy. But that's the credit card points game: Choose Your Own Adventure.
@James P agreed plus in my case I enjoy the full travel experience. The more comfy I am thanks to those perks that I get with a CC and status the better. As Sebby says YMMV .
Hi Sebby, Can an added user get the 120 dinning credit? Thanks
Also grandfathered in to the $49 AF IHG card, think its worth cancelling and opening the new IHG Rewards Premier card for the SUB?
If you are going to stay with IHG, then it's probably better to keep the card for the free night and open a new Premier.
What’s in my wallet? Amex gold and platinum. Love these two cards a lot and don’t plan on swapping out anytime soon
sebby always dropping the bangers, I have a big trip to europe soon, paid for mostly by points :)
Nice! :)
Nice what airline ?
🎿 - Went to Vegas the week before xmas. Came back with a nasty sinus infection I have been dealing with ever since. Fun times!
⛷🎿Great video! Which property is this in Park City?
Thanks! Waldorf Astoria Park City.
Do you recommend having both the chase trifecta along with the amex gold/platinum? My goal is to earn and maximize travel points. However I don't know if diluting the points by earning both in amex and chase is worth it. What are your thoughts?
At the minimum, open them all for the bonus, and then decide which set up works better for you.
I just got the reserve again during the elevated offer also 👍🏾
Hi Sebby I wanted to ask why you would choose the world of Hyatt card as your “catch all” card since it only get 1x points on everything except select categories? Would it not be more beneficial to use a freedom unlimited and transfer over to Hyatt? Am I missing something?
2 nights towards status for every $5,000 in spend. I'm probably overvaluing Hyatt status though and why I think CFU, BBP, Double Cash are more rationale picks :)
⛷️happy new year Sebby!
Happy New Year! :)
You were in my neck of the wood yes Korea BBQ is a far better bang for your buck then on the west coast (I'm originally from shoreline Washington.)
Sebby. Could you do your review of BILT Mastercard from Wells Fargo?
Coming soon!
Always love these types of videos 😊 happy holidays! ⛷️
Happy holidays!
AMEX Duo of Gold and Platinum is a no brainer!
Where did you stay at park city?
⛷️ I spent my holiday in London/Paris. AMEX Platinum and CSR came in clutch.
What hotel in park city
⛷ Sebby living large, Loved the trip reports. I’m working at home this holiday season. Plat, CSP (thanks to you), CFF, BCP in my wallet. I’ve earned lots of points and benefits this year. Happy new year to you and Mandy! Enjoy your ski trip!
Happy holidays!
Any reason you don’t have the Venture X in your wallet?
⛷️⛷️good video, thanks!
IHG breakfast due to status? Did you earn Spire/Diamond once and get it extended each year due by paying for Ambassador or are you getting it some other way?
I've long ignored IHG because their status seems too difficult to earn/maintain and they don't have any lifetime status.
We did a status match to Spire in 2020 (or 2021?) and they kept extending it despite us doing no stays.
Looking at my account, we have Diamond until Dec 31, 2023. Super wonky system or maybe we got lucky with extensions.
I think ignoring IHG is still the right move and just buy Ambassador if doing a lot of stays. Not worth chasing IMO.
🎿⛷ Loved the video!
Waiting for Sebi to make videos over seas.
Hey Sebby.. what's your preferred wallet? Figured I'd asked since you're providing the cards in the wallet. 😃
I have a cardholder from Ferragamo that I picked up using some Saks credits years ago: www.ferragamo.com/shop/us/en/men/wallets-small-leather-goods/card-cases-2/revival-ganc-744849
@@AskSebby Way to use credits from Amex Plat. :)
Did you say where you are staying in Park City?
Looks like the Waldorf Astoria
⛷ Feliz ano nuevo Sebby.
Did you get upgraded?
1 step up to the jr. suite
Bilt Mastercard, Citi Custom Cash, PayPal Mastercard. Bank of America Customized Cash. Schwab debit card.