Maximizing value with credit cards to experience the world. I make weekly videos teaching people how to optimize the value they get from credit card points & benefits, to travel redemptions and better financial habits!
I wouldn’t even try this in peak season. I know how tempting it is to score last minute business awards since they do open up availability. I am surprised P2 was okay with this.
Don't airlines in the destination country, at customs checkpoint, ask if you have a flight back? And some do verify this also. What happened in your case when you were in Osaka?
That's a great one, and yeah I've been asked before! I think going to Japan, we technically had a flight out (to Korea), and this time going to Korea they never asked!
It's not for everyone! Fortunately it's something I enjoy (both points & travel, but also finding the best deals), and only took like a couple minutes a day, so at least that worked out! At the very least most the stress was gone after booking that refundable Delta flight
Getting around JFK terminals is actually not that bad. Hopped between T8 and T4 in about 10mins with CLEAR + Precheck. The AirTrains are very reliable there.
Interesting, yeah I heard depending on the line it could work out, though I heard mixed things about getting through security at different terminals if you don't have a departing flight from there?
@@KevinYang the precheck agents are really chill about it. I’ve been to the “wrong” terminal at quite a few airports and haven’t had any issues thus far. Just tell them you’re here for the lounge, in case they ask. In fact, when I checked in to the Amex lounge at JFK T4, the receptionist acknowledged I was in the wrong terminal but just reminded me to depart from the lounge sooner than usual, so I have enough time to get back to T8.
@@KevinYang i get exceeding value from all of them except the amex platinum is borderline every year. Especially much so now since i'm based overseas and most of the credits cannot be used abroad.
@@Re3iRtH That's great to hear! Yeah the Amex coupon book takes some work to really fit in. And by cannot be used abroad, do you mean Amex has less acceptance for example?
@@ChristianTroy02 Those are both good currencies to stock up on if you're eyeing those trips! I would definitely check out Seats.Aero, even if you don't pay for it, you can search in the next 30-60 days to see what your options are like. Flightconnections.com also helps you visualize what kind of routes you can take to get you from BOS to wherever you wanna go
Do you have a video explaining how to change your backup ticket to business class? I booked an economy seat using lifemiles but seems like I can't change or cancel to get a business class seat when available.
I haven't personally used Lifemiles, but looks like you can change for $150 according to onemileatatime.com/guides/change-cancel-lifemiles-award-ticket/
I think for Aeroplan booking Air Canada itself, the points needed varies, so you'll have to find a day where the points is low enough for what you'd like!
Kevin, I'm glad things worked out in your favor mostly. As you probably know June to July is very busy time for visiting most of Asia. Usually highest airfare during the year other than Christmas time. I'd never take the risk like you did, but if you are flexible with schedule, sometimes things will work out.
That's another great point about time of the year (last time finding 3x ANA Business was for early October)! Yeah it was a pretty high risk.. but really goes to show theory is one thing, doing everything 100% correct in practice is another! Everyone will have their own risk appetite and that's totally expected. Have you gone on a similar trip?
@@KevinYang I've visited Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Philippines. Not at the same time. I haven't used much points yet. I am thinking about visiting either Europe or Asia using miles for airfare and hotel soon. My usual favorite time to visit S.E Asia is January/February. Typically the best weather and low season for airfare.
@@KevinYang It's not decided yet. Possibly Istanbul or Budapest if I decide on Europe. I should have at least enough points for Business class RT from US to Europe. In SEA, possibly Laos.
It's not actually correct to make full on-time payments, this will lower your score, you need to have at least one account in debt for example 10 USD, my advice if you have just only one credit card do not pay in full, you will get -19 point down (in my case). That called all zero penalty.
3:30 “hey dude wanna go grocery shopping together?” “Uh, sure I guess” “hey dude, can I pay for your groceries and you venmo me back?” “I don’t want to be your friend anymore, weirdo”
Hey Kevin , really nice video ! I was wondering if I could help you with more Quality Editing in your videos , make a highly engaging Thumbnail and also help you with the overall youtube strategy and growth to grow your channel ! Pls let me know what do you think ?
@@KevinYang Money management so you have more margin for travel, maybe walk throughs of how you research and plan your trips ( + the points redemptions you use)?
Haha thanks for answering my question, CJ needs someone to take him on a trip though haha! And agreed! Regardless of how people feel, meet Kevin is a beast and delivers on the news in such a quick and streamlined way! With you there man! Great video Kevin man!
Hey Kevin! Long time viewer, first time commenting Thanks first off for your channel in general, I’ve learned a ton over the years and I’m big fan of this new Q&A format! So far on my channel, Ive done reviews for mostly US/EU airlines such as UA, AF, AM, & AA. Im looking forward to trying out JL & QR this Fall, esp since the Asia airlines dominate your top 3 list.
Thanks Mark! Haha other than UA, don't think I've flown on any other of those airlines! JL & QR are gonna be amazing, and I hope to fly one of those myself sometime soon too!
There’s one missing step in your cpp calculations, the cash back value of buying travel in cash. For instance, getting 2, 3 or even 5% cash back when buying travel in cash, or even more if using something like Rakuten plus earning miles or points with the individual airline or hotel from paying in cash. This could give you an effective 6% cash back. So if a $1000 booking was 100,000 points meaning 1cpp, it’s not, because if paid cash it would only be $940 effectively and .0094 cpp. Summary, buying in points is an automatic 6% increase in price, so that must be accounted for.
That's a great point! There's so much nuance to it, with some covered in the video, and some like you mentioned here. The most accurate way is to calculate the values for your own situations given your cards, travel desires, any special links or offers, etc!
Now, Dillards is dropping the Wells Fargo credit cards and will be transferring their credit accounts to Citi. The letter I received said the perks are all going away--the phone protection, the purchase security, the extended warranty coverage, and the travel and emergency assistance service. What a crock.
I love the Green Card. I used it to book a hotel for a trip, the room I got was through the Hotel Collection through the Amex travel portal and since I'm also a Gold Card member of Amex, I got a free room upgrade to a suite and a $100 credit I used for parking. I got all that plus the 3X points all in one shot! I used my Gold card for dining and my Blue Cash Everyday for shopping. I absolutely LOVE American Express! Having the Green Card made my vacation that much better!
Hey, as a Canadian, how have you been able to get the American version of CC’s? I ask because my girlfriend is Canadian and we would like to start playing the referral-bonus-player-2 strategy. But so far all she can get is the Canadian version of these cards. Thanks.
I'm Canadian, but have been living and working in the US for several years now, so applying for US cards wasn't an issue! Unfortunately if she's not in Canada, it's not straightforward, but I believe there are ways that I'm not familiar enough to comment on unfortunately. I believe @PrinceofTravel has good resources there though!
Hello, I enjoyed this video. Very informative but I have a question. I’ve had my venture one card for 6 months and just recently was approved yesterday for the (VENTURE) card . On my account I have the option to upgrade my venture one to the savor one. In your opinion would you keep the venture one in conjunction with the VENTURE card? Or would you upgrade the VENTURE ONE card to the SAVOR ONE card and pair that with my newly acquired VENTURE card?
@@KevinYang yw and mines my ccc is for my groceries, CSP dining when traveling, CFF which I already maxed out 7% dining. My catch all card is either my WF active cash or my CFU.
Great video! We're trying to understand if we should use our Chase Sapphire Reserve points or pay cash for an upcoming flight. Could you please help us with this scenario? For some reason, when we look up a flight we are trying to take through Air France, the price is much higher when trying to book it through the chase portal. $2,034 versus $1,694. Any idea why that would be? Regardless, could you help us understand a formula to decide whether it would be worth purchasing the flight with cash or using the points? Also, if by chance the prices were the same on the portal as they are on the air france website, what formula would we use in this case to decide which to use? I hope that makes sense. Thanks in advance for your help!
I look at reasonable replacement value - i,e. what would I buy if I paid cash. If a business class ticket is 100k points, it doesn't matter if the sticker price is $10k because I would never pay $10k cash for it. If an economy flight is $500, I might pay $1k for business so it's 100k points for $1k worth of value. Also I don't limit myself to just the major US chains for hotels. If its 25k Hyatt points for a $500 night hotel, but an equally good local hotel is only $250, I'm only getting $250 value from 25k points.
Great way to think, and same here! It's also important to look at round trip prices divided by 2, instead of one-way given airlines jack up the prices for those... Also hotels outside of the US, especially in Asia could be so much cheaper for really good quality!
That's a good question! I haven't needed to do that myself yet, but from looking at datapoints online, seems like it should (at least via points.com which buying Aeroplan points uses)
