π° My Top Picks, Recommendation & More (11/7/26)
This week, weβll cover 9 things I've changed my mind about, 7 new transfer bonuses to airlines and hotels, 4 free Hyatt nights after a $5K spend, up to 17,500 miles from 5 airline shopping portal bonuses, up to 25% off Southwest awards, quick guide to better motivation, and more!
π€ 9 Things I've Changed My Mind About
This week, I revisited the rules, products, and strategies I've changed my mind about, and I share what I'm doing differently now. I also cover a surprising airfare pricing quirk, major updates from U.S. Bank, Bilt, Alaska, and BoA, and why I'm scaling back my AI experimentation. Plus, new thoughts on browsers, AR glasses, skincare, and hiring.
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π My Past Week
Here's a quick recap of what I was up to last week.
- Amy and I just got back from spending 3 days at the βMiraval Resort in Arizonaβ and it was such a different and amazing vacation. We left our phones in our rooms for the entire stay and spent all our time relaxing, eating, and trying a ton of different experiences, including lots of meditation, spiritual drumming, hot stone massages, and so much more. I'll cover it more in a future episode, but it's such a fantastic use of points that I'd suggest it for anyone looking to relax or reset.
- While on our trip, we finished the latest season of Nobody Wants This, which we both enjoyed a ton. Next up is season 2 of Stick, and hopefully at some point we'll finally watch the latest season of Slow Horses. Despite how much we enjoyed the last 5 seasons, it seems like every time we're ready to watch a show, we're always in the mood for something funny and short, and the suspense/drama shows keep getting punted to the next time.
- In my quest to find the perfect replacement browser for Arc, I've now spent a week or two using Chrome and Dia, and am just starting a week with Safari. I'm surprised at how reliant I've grown on a handful of Arc features, but I'm even more surprised at how easily I've been able to recreate just about any feature I want with custom browser extensions I can make with Claude.
- With Halloween behind us, Amy is ready to put up the Christmas tree and start decorating the house. In the past I've strung white Christmas lights on the roofline of our house, but we just got βthese LED lightsβ that are small enough we're hoping to leave them up all year and change the colors for different holidays. I can't endorse them yet, but hopefully they're as good as the ones a few of our neighbors have.
- I've been traveling 16 of the past 30 days, so it feels really good to not be going anywhere for the next few weeks, and even better to be home for Friday Pizza and a Movie night last night.
β My Top Picks
π¨ New Bonus: Earn 4 Free Hyatt Nights
A solid welcome offer just landed on The World of Hyatt Credit Cardβ: earn 4 free nights at any Category 1-4 Hyatt hotel or resort after you spend $5,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. It's not the best ever, but the spend is far lower than the old offer, and World of Hyatt is one of the most rewarding hotel loyalty programs out there. Category 4 nights can cost up to 25K points at peak, so this offer could be worth up to 100K points. Note that the certificates expire 12 months after they're issued, but they're also transferable. If you want to learn more about the WOH program, check out my recent episode below.
ποΈ Deep Dive on World of Hyatt
ποΈ Up to 17,500 Bonus Miles From Airline Portals
Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest and United are all running tiered spend bonuses in their shopping portals for up to 17,500 bonus miles. The best ones (e.g., Southwest) will earn an extra 6.25x on your shopping and with some airlines (e.g., Alaska), you can earn status points from their shopping portals. Expiration dates are in parentheses.
- Alaska Airlines: βUp to 1,500 bonus pointsβ (11/20)
- American Airlines: βUp to 4,000 bonus milesβ (11/20)
- Delta: βUp to 2,000 bonus milesβ (11/21)
- Southwest: βUp to 5,000 bonus pointsβ (11/23)
- United: βUp to 5,000 bonus milesβ (11/20)
βοΈ Southwest Award Sale: Up to 25% Off
Southwest's current promo is taking up to 25% off award flights, domestic and international, in any fare class, for travel through 3/10/27. You need to book by 11/9 (blackout dates apply). If you've already booked an award, check for lower prices and rebook. βFull details hereβ.
π 7 New Transfer Bonuses to Airlines and Hotels
November is transfer bonus season, with seven new transfer bonuses. Despite all these bonuses, I wouldn't recommend transferring points without a redemption in mind. That said, with so many great bonuses right now, it's a fantastic time to plan a trip.
- Amex β Virgin Atlantic: β30% bonusβ
- Capital One β Flying Blue: β20% bonusβ
- Capital One β Copa: β30% bonusβ
- Chase β Avios: β30% bonusβ
- Chase β IHG: β80% bonusβ
- Chase β Wyndham: β30% bonus
- Citi β Turkish: β40% bonus (max 50K miles)β
β±οΈ Quick Guide to Better Motivation
Daniel Pink, bestselling author and 2-time guest on our podcast (βEp #40β & βEp #162β), breaks down what motivates us in βthis short videoβ. The big takeaway? Motivation isn't something you can simply give someone. It's about creating the right conditions for people to feel driven, take initiative and do their best work.
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π° The Rest of the Week
π³ Credit cards & points
- Amex: βPay over time becomes mandatory starting 2/1/27β
- Bilt: βNew $50 Thumbtack Handyman Redemptionβ
- Capital One: βCopa added at 2:1.5 with a 30% bonusβ
- Citi: βLimited-time offer of 75K points on AAdvantage businessβ
- Silo: βAdds Avianca as first transfer partnerβ β I'm excited they finally launched a transfer partner, but more excited for whichever airlines come next.
βοΈ Airline news & promos
- American: βOption to stand by for earlier flights and keep seatsβ
- American: βFlagship dining opens to biz at DFW, LAX, MIAβ
- American: β10 miles per $1 donated to Red Crossβ β Only worth it if you're already planning to donate.
- Finnair: βBuy Avios from ~1.06Β’β β Pay in yen for the best price, and only buy for a specific booking.
- Flying Blue: β25% off award flightsβ β A wider list than usual, worth checking if Europe is on your list this winter.
- Flying Blue: βSAF XP cost up 50%β β This is a bummer if you're looking to get to Air France Platinum status.
π¨ Hotel news & promos
- Hilton for Business: βDouble elite nightsβ
- Hyatt: βAmerican partnership ending soonβ β Link by 11/15 to keep earning through 2/28/27.
- Wyndham: βFree one-level status upgrade before end of yearβ
π Card-linked offers
- Any Airfare: β$200 off $900β β This is one of the best offers I've seen in a while, as long as you have a premium Bonvoy card.
- Air France/KLM: β$150 off $1,500β
- Avis: β$75 off $350β
- Etihad: β$200 off $1,000β
- Giftcards.com: β5% back, up to $40β
- IHG: β$50 off $250β
- Monarch: β$50 off $69.99β
- Omni Hotels: β$100 off $500β
- Southwest: β$60 off $300β
ποΈ Other deals
- Grubhub: β$100 gift cards for $79.99 at Costcoβ
- Lyft: βNew Lyft Go, 8% back, free with DashPassβ
- Rakuten: β$50 signup bonus extended to 12/31β
- Uber Eats: β$40 off + ββ$0 deliveryββ with Amazon Primeβ
- Visible: βVisible+ Pro $225/year with code BLACKFRIDAYβ
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Editorβs 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.