๐ฐ My Top Finds, Latest Deals, and Best Recommendations (1/31/26)
This week, we'll cover how to earn millions of points & more listener Q&A, increased welcome offers on United & Delta cards, bank bonuses worth over $10,000+, business class award flight deals, latest gift card deals this week, 100% back on Paper Mate products at Staples, six reasons to learn DIY skills, and more!
๐ค How to Earn Millions of Points & More Listener Q&A
Check out this week's episode if you want to learn how I earned over 15 million points and miles. I also answer listener questions about spending strategies, credit scores, business cards, cash-back alternatives, and how to decide when a card (or perk) is worth it.
๐ My Past Week
Here's a quick recap of what I was up to last week:
- I spent a lot of the last week going deep down the
ClawdBotMoltBotโOpenClawโ rabbit hole. So far it's blowing my mind and if you want to learn more, there's a ton of articles (like โthisโ) and videos (like โthisโ) that give more context and I'll be recording an episode soon about my experience. If you decide to play around with this or any other AI tools, please take the time to set things up in a safe/secure way. - We ordered a Bambu Labs 3D printer as a holiday gift for the family and it finally arrived (was backordered). With so many things we could print, I'm feeling like I don't even know where to start. We've printed some fun/silly things for the kids, but I think the first real project might be setting up some โGridfinityโ storage. I don't think I realized some bigger prints take 12h+, which is likely the reason I'm overthinking what we print next. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
- For a few weeks, we've been wanting to paint one of the bedrooms in our house and do a full deep-clean of our cars. It seemed like finding the time to knock them out was getting harder and harder, so we decided to outsource to a painter and mobile car wash/detailer this week. As much as I love doing DIY projects myself (see below), it felt so incredible to knock both projects out so quickly. Having been such a saver my whole life it's been hard to learn (and hone) the skill of actually spending money, but it seems to be getting easier with practice. For anyone curious we found the painter or Thumbtack and the mobile car wash/detailer on Yelp.
๐ค Latest Deals
๐ฐ Bank Bonuses Worth Over $10,000+
Bank bonuses are a great way to earn some easy cash, so here are some worth checking out.
Personal
- โUp to $3,000 from Chaseโ: Open an eligible account or upgradeโ to it before 4/31 and complete qualifying deposits.
- โUp to $1,500 from Marcusโ: Oโpen a High-Yield Online Savings Accountโ before 3/11 and complete qualifying deposits.
- โUp to $1,000 from Bank of Americaโ (Targeted): Deposit a qualifying amount to a new or old savings account before 4/30. Check your email to see if you're targeted.
- โ$500 from Bank of Americaโ: Oโpen an eligible checking accountโ before 5/31 and complete qualifying direct deposits.
- โUp to $500 from KeyBankโ (Select states): Open a new Key Smart Checking or KeyBank Hassle-Free Account before 2/6 using promo code โKDMA1125โโ and complete qualifying activities.
- โUp to $500 from Citizens Bankโ (Select states): Oโpen a new checking and savings account before 3/15 and complete the required activities.
Business
- โUp to $2,000 from Citiโ: Oโpen a business checking accountโ in-branch before 4/6 and complete qualifying activities.
- โ$825 from Wells Fargoโ: Open a new eligible business checking account before 3/3 and complete the qualifying requirements.
- โUp to $500 from First Commonwealth Bankโ (select states): Opโen a new business checking account before 3/24โ with promo code FCBIZ2 and complete the qualifying requirements.
- โ$400 from Wells Fargoโโ: Open a new eligible business checking account before 3/3 and complete the qualifying requirements.
๐ฆ $10 Off $35 Costco Same-Day Delivery
Costco is offering โ$10 off orders of $35+โ with the promo code WINTERSAMEDAY26 on same-day delivery until 2/22.
๐ 100% Back on Paper Mate Products at Staples
Staples is offering โ100% back in pointsโ (up to $40) on Paper Mate products. If you want to stock up on pens, pencils, and other writing supplies, take advantage of this offer before 1/31.
๐ Latest Gift Card Deals
Here are some gift card deals I found this week with expiration dates in parentheses.
- Office Depot/OfficeMax: โ$15 off $300+โ Visa gift cards (1/31)
- Safeway: โ10x-12x pointsโ on Instacart gift cards (1/31)
- Kroger: โ4x fuel pointsโ on 3rd party gift cards (2/1)
- inKind: โ$64.99 for a $100โ gift card at Costco (02/22)
- Safeway: โ$10 off $50โ select 3rd party gift cardsโ (2/12)
P.S. If you want to learn how to save and profit from gift cards, check out โEp #212โ.
๐ซ Travel, Points & Miles
๐ณ Increased Credit Card Welcome Offers: United & Delta
United
- United Questโ Card: 80K miles after $4K spend in 3 months.
- Unitedโ Explorer Card: 70K miles after $3K spend in 3 months.
- Unitedโ Business Card: 100K miles & 2K PQP after $5K spend in 3mo.
- United Clubโ Business Card: 100K miles & 2K PQP after $5K spend in 3mo.
Delta
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Cardโ: Up to 125K miles. 100K after $6K spend in 6mo, plus 25K after an additional $3K spend. Offer ends 4/1.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card: Up to 100K miles. 80K after $4K spend in 6mo, plus 20K after an additional $2K spend.
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card: Up to 90K miles. 70K after $3K spend in 6mo, plus 20K after an additional $2K spend. Offer ends 4/1.
- Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card: Up to 125K miles after $15K spend in 6mo.
- Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card: Up to 100K miles after $8K spend in 6mo.
- Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card: Up to 90K miles after $6K spend in 6mo.
As always, you can find the full list of best card offers on our โโโBest Cards Pageโโ.
๐ฃ New Airline, Hotel and Points Promos This Week
Business Class Award Flight Deals
- ๐ฆ๐น Austria: From โ70K Aeroplan pointsโ
- ๐จ๐ด Colombia: From โ15K Atmos pointsโ
- ๐ฉ๐ช Germany: From โ60K Aeroplan pointsโ
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland: From โ45K Atmos pointsโ
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand: From โ85K AAdvantage milesโ
- ๐ต๐น Portugal: From โ60K Aeroplan pointsโ
- ๐น๐ท Turkey: From โ65K Miles&Smiles or MileagePlus milesโ
Hotel Promos
- Accor: โUp to a 125% transfer bonusโ from Bilt for February โRent Dayโ on 2/1.
- Best Western: โ$50 gift cardโ when you stay 3 nights between 2/2 and 5/10.
- Best Western: โUp to 26K bonus pointsโ, 2.6K points per stay between 1/26 and 5/10. โRegister hereโ and book before 2/1.
- Preferred Hotels: โ2x pointsโ when you register here before 4/30 and complete a 2+ night stay between 3/1 and 4/30.
- Preferred Hotels: โFree 250 pointsโ when you vote for your favorite hotel โhereโ before 1/31.
- IHG: โUp to 30% off staysโ across Europe, India, and the Middle East. Book before 2/1 for stays through 3/15.
- IHG (Targeted): โEarn Diamond statusโ with 8 paid nightsโ by 3/15. Register โhereโ.
- Wyndham Rewards: 0.72¢ each with an โ80% bonusโ on purchased points.
- Hilton Honors: 0.5¢ each with a โ100% bonusโ until 3/14.
Airline Promos
- Air Canada: 1.37¢ per point with a โ100% bonusโ until 2/16.
- United (Targeted): โFree Economy Plus seat upgradeโ if your birthday is in February. Use the code FEB2026BDAY for flights between 2/1 and 2/28.
- Uber: โEarn Avios, Aeroplan points, Flying Blue miles & moreโ on rides internationally.
๐ต๏ธ Top Finds
๐ ๏ธ Six Reasons to Learn DIY Skills
One of our readers (Justin) wrote โthis very relatable articleโ about the value of learning DIY skills. Building skills isn't just about saving money; it's about gaining independence, understanding how things work, and finding satisfaction in creating and fixing things yourself.
๐ค Amazon's New Auto Buy Feature
Amazon just launched โAuto Buyโ, which automatically purchases items when they hit your target price. I regularly use the โKeepaโ browser extension to track prices on Amazon and I'm excited to use the Keepa data to set price targets and see what happens.
Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.