The entire points and miles world has been all a-buzz lately about the recent 100K welcome bonus offer from a long-time favorite starter travel rewards card. But as is the case for everything in the points and miles world (and maybe everything in life in general), there are all kinds of insights you should keep in mind to make sure you’re making the most of that opportunity.
This week we had a lot of discussion about this particular opportunity, but also a broader discussion about how a beginner in this hobby might approach their first credit cards. Luckily, our Best Offers page ranks cards by their estimated first year value so you can quickly get a read on which cards are the most likely to bring you high value. But how do we come up with those first year value estimates? (It’s not as simple as just publishing the advertised value of a card or benefit for example.) This week we also showed a behind the scenes look at how we calculate this metric, which you’ll see on every credit card on our Best Offers page, just below the thumbnail image of the credit card itself.
Check out a few summaries below.
This week on the Frequent Miler blog…
Beyond 100K: Earn more points, save money, get great value | Frequent Miler on the Air Ep302 | 4-18-25 | Podcast
If you’re one of the many people who decided to go after the 100K point welcome bonus from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you should know a few things to help make sure you’re earning even more points, saving money, and getting great value. This podcast episode is a must-listen for anyone who decided to pursue this offer.
Estimated first year value
This is such a cool post for anyone who appreciates our Best Offers page. You’ve probably noticed that each card on that page has a “1st Yr Value Estimate” to help you determine which cards have the highest potential value to you. But you may not realize how much goes into these meticulous calculations. This post breaks down how we calculate these first year value estimates. In short, it’s the estimated value of the welcome bonus plus the estimated value of significant card perks minus the annual fee, minus the estimated cost of reaching the spend requirement for the bonus. But each of those individual variables requires some calculation of course. This post walks through all those variables as well as other factors which come into play.
Got in on that 100K offer? Here’s what to do next…
One of the most popular starter cards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, just came out with a generous 100K point welcome bonus offer that a lot of people are very excited about. But some of the things that make this a great card (and especially a great starter card) may not be that obvious to…well…starters. This post is a must-read for anyone who got in on this offer and wants to make the most of this card’s point earnings, savings opportunities, and powerful award redemptions.
How I accidentally paid taxes with my wife’s Business Platinum card
As you probably know by now, you can pay for taxes with a credit card, which can be a great way to rack up points or meet minimum spend requirements. Greg for example wanted to pay for his taxes with his Bank of America Travel Rewards business card. Having Platinum Honors for Business, he earns 2.62% back “towards travel”, (then he can move those points to his Premium Rewards card and cash them out, essentially giving him 2.62% cash back from that card!) Unfortunately he uncovered an important issue that everyone should be wary of. One way to make sure a business card is accepted for tax payment is to pay via PayPal (with your intended card attached). The problem is (as Greg discovered), PayPal uses the other cards in your PayPal wallet as backup methods in case of card errors on your primary card. I’m sure by now you can predict exactly what happened – Greg’s primary payment method (his Bank of America Travel Rewards Business card) encountered an error, which kicked the payment to other cards in his PayPal wallet, eventually landing on a successful transaction with his wife’s Business Platinum card. (But what if it had landed on an even lower earning card?) Just to be safe, empty that PayPal wallet before you make your tax payment!
United MileagePlus Complete Guide (2025)
We’ve updated our United MileagePlus Complete Guide to include program changes (like the recent abolition of award charts, the 33%-46% increase in award prices to/from Europe, and a new line up of credit cards) for 2025.
What’s the Best Starter Rewards Card? | Coffee Break Ep52 | 4-15-25
On a different recent podcast episode, we talked about all the important considerations when you’re just getting start in the points and miles game, from a high level perspective. But in this Coffee Break episode, the focus is more specifically about which credit cards you might want to start with. I found this episode super useful because this is a question I get from friends all the time.
Best ways to get to the Caribbean / Central America using points and miles (2025)
Tim has been working on updating our guides for the best ways to get to specific regions of the world using points and miles. This week he updated our post on getting to the Caribbean and Central America using points and miles.
Best ways to get to Europe with points and miles (2025)
As part of that same effort, Tim also updated our “Best ways to get to Europe” post. There are a lot of useful tricks in here so make sure to give it a look!
That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Keep an eye on the upcoming last chance deals to be sure you get them before they’re gone.
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