There's a good chance one of your best rewards cards quietly stopped paying its full bonus rate months ago, and never said a word about it.

It's called a bonus category spending cap, and more of the cards you carry probably have one than you'd expect. These limits are one of the quietest ways to leave points on the table, and they catch even seasoned points travelers off guard.

In this episode, I walk through which popular cards have these caps and which don't, how to tell whether you're close to hitting one, and what to do when you are, because there are more ways around a cap than most people realize. The goal isn't to collect more cards for the sake of it, it's to keep the money you're already spending earning at the rate you signed up for. If you've ever picked a card for one great category and funneled all your spending to it, this episode will help you make sure those points are still landing where you think they are.

Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/credit-card-spending-caps

Eager to learn the secrets of award travel so that you can turn your expenses into unforgettable experiences? Join the Points Made Easy course waitlist here: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

One of the most useful hotel programs in my wallet right now is also the most boring, and that turns out to be exactly why it works.

That program is Accor, and it tends to get overlooked in the points world, often by the very people who would get the most out of it. My guest, Dr. Suzanne Manzi, is the one who got me paying attention to it, and she knows the program inside and out.

We talk through what makes Accor so different from the hotel programs most of us default to, why its quietest qualities turn out to be its most useful ones, and the kinds of trips where it has come through for me when my usual strategy couldn't. If you travel internationally, travel with a family, or just want a dependable backup for the moments your favorite program comes up empty, I think you'll finish this one seeing Accor very differently.

Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/accor-points-explained

Eager to learn the secrets of award travel so that you can turn your expenses into unforgettable experiences? Join the Points Made Easy course waitlist here: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy

You can have a small fortune in points between two people and still not be able to book the trip you want.

That's the trap this episode is built to help you avoid. Combining or sharing points with a partner, a spouse, or a family member sounds like it should be simple, but every points currency plays by its own rules, and a couple of them won't let you share points with someone else at all. Knowing which is which, well before you've found the award you want to book, turns out to be one of the quietest but most important parts of planning travel with another person.

I walk through all six major transferable currencies: Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bilt, and Rove, and grade each one on how easily it lets you combine points with someone else. Not all of them pass. More useful than the grades, though, is what to do about them, the setup worth doing now so the points you've earned together are usable when the trip you want finally appears. If you earn points with a spouse, a partner, or anyone you travel with, this is the housekeeping that keeps you from finding out too late that half your points are stranded in the wrong account.

Get full show notes and transcript: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/combine-credit-card-points-with-partner

Eager to learn the secrets of award travel so that you can turn your expenses into unforgettable experiences? Join the Points Made Easy course waitlist here: https://pointmetofirstclass.com/pointsmadeeasy