In today’s episode, we discover that not all heroes have capes, some redeem rewards! We learn a trick for extending Southwest flight credits, and we tell all: how we increase our credit card spend.
(01:06) – See our podcast episode 197, “13 ways to increase credit card spend” here
How we increase spend to earn big card bonuses
Watch here:
Or listen here (or click “Follow” on the player below to select your preferred podcast app instead):
Giant Mailbag
(01:37) – Mike: We can be heroes…just for one day
Listen to our episode about sharing miles and points here
(03:58) – Brent: Charitable giving
Listen to our podcast about rewards from giving here
Card News
(09:15) – Bilt quietly removed eBay & Facebook Marketplace as exclusions
Read more about this here
Mattress Running the Numbers
(10:39) – Bilt Rent Day transfer bonus to Accor
Awards, Points, and More
(19:21) – Southwest credits are valid for 60 months in some situations
(23:22) – JetBlue 25for25 stats
(29:16) – Capital One Shopping Home Page Bonus Offers
Read more about Capital One Shopping home page bonus offers here
Main Event: How we increase spend to earn big card bonuses
(32:55) – See our podcast episode 197, “13 ways to increase credit card spend” here: https://frequentmiler.com/13-ways-to-increase-credit-card-spend-and-get-most-of-it-back/
(33:57) – Today, we’ll describe the ways we (Nick and I) increase spend in real life
(34:15) – About paying fees
(37:43) – Pay taxes
Read about paying taxes via credit card here: https://frequentmiler.com/pay-taxes-via-credit-card/
(45:23) – Use a service to pay bills that don’t ordinarily accept a credit card, like Plastiq
Learn more about Plastiq here: https://frequentmiler.com/plastiq-bill-payments-by-credit-card-guide/
(52:07) – Melio
Learn more about Melio here: https://frequentmiler.com/melio-pay-business-bills-by-credit-card/
(53:49) – Fund college savings or pay student loans
Learn about miles for college here: https://frequentmiler.com/miles-for-college/
(1:01:12) – Make loans through Kiva
Learn about Kiva here: frequentmiler.com/kiva
(1:03:40) – Pay bills for friends or family
(1:07:10) – Fund new bank accounts
(1:11:52) – Buy and sell merchandise
Learn about buying groups here: https://frequentmiler.com/using-buying-groups-to-increase-credit-card-spend/
(1:13:13) – Buy and sell gift cards
(1:16:09) – Donate to charity
Learn about earning rewards for charitable giving here: https://frequentmiler.com/rewards-for-charitable-giving/
Or listen to our podcast about rewards from giving here: https://frequentmiler.com/rewarding-giving-frequent-miler-on-the-air-ep332-11-14-25/
(1:18:14) – Cruise ship spend
(1:23:03) – SUMMARY
Question of the Week
(1:24:02) – How do you decide when to downgrade vs when to cancel, and how do you keep the banks happy?
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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Greg and Nick laugh at the idea of “things we do to keep the banks happy” but only after they spent the Main Event discussing how they spend extraordinary amounts on credit cards – which surely keeps the banks happy! I appreciate Nick mentioning that his habit to keep Amex cards >1 year might make Amex happy, but it’d be nice to keep some perspective given that most listeners/readers/watchers aren’t spending nearly the same amount as you two. So it’s logical that we might think more about “keeping the bank happy”.
If I could give some unsolicited advice: the podcast release timing here is awful. I follow you guys pretty closely and didnt even know you had a podcast for years because I, like most people, have stuff going on during the weekend so I’m not watching feeds as closely. I think if you would release this at a normal podcast release time (morning EST, basically any day Mon-Fri), you would have much more success. Saying this as someone who wants you guys to succeed!
My farm offers a round trip airline ticket to anywhere in the world to any intern who stays longer than 5 months. We just ask that they give us enough notice to find award space, and have some flexibility. It has always worked out.
Great episode!!