13 ways to increase credit card spend (and get most of it back)

25

a person holding a credit cardPop quiz: when was the last time we talked about ways to increase credit card spend and get most of it back on our podcast? You’ll have to listen to this week’s Frequent Miler on the Air to find out, but the short story is that it was nice to discuss ways to turbocharge your earnings by increasing your spend without incurring much cost. That makes it possible to earn big new credit card bonuses and to leverage category bonuses to maximum benefit.

Elsewhere on the blog this week, we cover Marriott’s bird bath, the portal that’s pricing Rakuten out of my rotation, and a lot more. Watch, listen, or read on for more of this week at Frequent Miler.


1:41 Announcements. Tim Goes Full Time
3:10 Monthly Ask Us Anything 5:42 See Nick live at FTU Washington DC
13:02 Card Talk: Amex Bonvoy Brilliant Card
23:36 Award Talk -Marriott now allows online point transfers
25:38
Helping Maisie book a last-minute business class award to Europe
29:03
Using a soon-expiring IHG Free Night Certificate
32:49
Spirit Status Challenge Update
41:23
: Main Event: 13 Ways to increase credit card spend (and get most of it back)
41:41 #1: Don’t take “No credit cards” at face value
43:50 #2 Pay your taxes
45:42 #3 Pay bills that don’t ordinarily accept a credit card with services like Plastiq and Melio
48:05 #4 Fund college savings or pay student loans
50:14 #5 Make loans through Kiva
55:08 #6 Coordinate events with friends 55:54 #7 Pay bills for friends or family
57:06
#8 Fund new bank accounts
1:00:28 #9 Buy and sell merchandise
1:03:53 #10 Buy and sell gift cards
1:07:27
#11 Buy Visa and Mastercard Gift Cards
1:13:07 #12 Reload reloadable cards
1:16:32 #13 Gambling on riskier business
1:23:31
Question of the Week: How can I use the Hilton Aspire $250 resort credit without staying at a resort?

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This week on the Frequent Miler blog…

Greg’s Top Picks for April

a man standing in front of a stack of credit cards

Wondering about the latest and greatest offers? Our Best Offers page lists all the best offers as objectively as possible, but in Greg’s Top Picks, he offers his subjective analysis of what’s hot and why.

Shifting shopping portal habits (On Nick’s Mind)

Online shopping laptop

I love a big shopping portal payout as much as anyone and for most of the past few years, Rakuten was my go-to portal for increased payouts thanks to the ability to earn the rewards in the form of Membership Rewards points. However, choosing to earn Membership Rewards points comes at the cost of the opportunity to instead earn cash back — and with the amazing rates we’ve seen lately from a competitor, the cost of earning Membership Rewards points has priced me out of earning with Rakuten for now.

Marriott’s 2023 “Devaluation”: Much Better Than Expected

a balcony with a view of a grass field and a sunset

If you were preparing for the worst with Marriott’s change to all-dynamic pricing, you may have prepared prematurely. Stephen collected a whole bunch of data weeks before the devaluation so that he could compare the before and after and it turns out that the changes weren’t as bad as you may have expected. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but there is probably more sunshine than you expected (so far).

What are Marriott Bonvoy points worth?

a close-up of colorful beads

Stephen’s post about the devaluation mostly centered on the changes in points costs, but how do those “devalued” amounts compare to cash costs? Greg found that not much has changed at all in terms of the value of each point. That’s pretty good news when you consider the fact that many hotels have decreased in points cost. Personally, I’ll keep my aim of using Marriott points for at least 1 cent per point and it sounds like that should be pretty doable.

Shortcuts to Marriott Elite status

a hand holding a phone

Now that we’ve found that the Marriott devaluation isn’t as bad as we’d feared (so far), you may be tempted to hop back on the elite status hamster wheel. However, you don’t really want to spend 50 or 75 nights in Marriott hotels, do you? If you’re looking for shortcuts to get status with head in fewer beds, this post has you covered.

Don’t try to cut your steak with a butter knife

a steak being cut with a knife and fork

Some credit card benefits are very straightforward and easy to use and others have more limited scope than you might like them to have, but success often relies on identifying the right tool for the job — or perhaps which jobs best suit the tools you have in your kit. This post has my tips about the best ways to use a bunch of different key credit card benefits.

No joke: Tim goes full time at Frequent Miler

a man wearing sunglasses and a hoodie using a computer

After a little over a year writing part time at Frequent Miler, Tim started full time this past week and I am excited about it. As Greg mentions in the post, the entire team was in enthusiastic agreement with the decision to bring Tim on board and none of us have regretted the decision for a second. Personally, I am very excited for readers to get to know Tim’s personality. I can’t lie, he’s a funny guy — and I look forward to readers getting to know his sense of humor — and getting to more about miles and points in the process.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Guide and Review

a card on a beach

The Bonvoy Brilliant card doesn’t particularly interest me. The $650 price tag and monthly dining credit just don’t excite me much. The automatic Platinum elite status could certainly make the card worthwhile for someone who has high-end Marriott stays planned and won’t otherwise make the cut for Platinum status, though I’m otherwise pretty lukewarm on this card.

Platinum Card Now Available With Physical Coupon Book + New Benefits

Platinum card coupon book

Tim isn’t the only member of the team with a great sense of humor. Stephen’s April Fool’s Day post about the Amex Platinum card had many readers laughing out loud. If you want to mentally turn the clock back to April 1st for a moment, enjoy this post.

US Bank: Up to a $600 Bonus When Opening a New Checking Account (Can Fund with Credit Card)

a screenshot of a video

I’m including this Quick Deal post in this week-in-review specifically because we called it out in the main event on the podcast in our discussion about ways to to generate spend and get most of it back. This account could potentially be a good way to knock out a new card welcome bonus in your pajamas — and add an extra six hundred bucks on top.

Come see Nick at FTU Signature Washington DC on 5/6/23

a man holding a microphone

Calling all points and miles enthusiasts! Frequent Traveler University is back in Washington, DC next month and I’ll be speaking (That’s Nick — Greg won’t be able to make it unfortunately). If you’re interested in attending, get your ticket now and please do come up and say hi as I love to meet readers.


Keep your eyes out for this week’s last chance deals so you can get them while they’re still here.

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