Get $1k in value from this one card

☀️ Good morning and happy Monday, my friends. Today, I’ve got a series of card-focused tips and benefits to share with you – and I think you’ll like them.

Let’s get into it:

• 📆 Top Cards Update (June)

• 🏨 Hyatt makes a small (but positive) change

• 💳 Earn 16,000 bonus MR points

📆 Top Cards Update (June)

Wow… it’s already June. That’s kinda crazy.

But that also means it’s time to update you on the latest and greatest cards and offers.

This month, the belle of the ball is still none other than this premium credit card, which is still offering an all-time high 150,000 UR points after meeting the minimum spending requirements.

And rather than explain why the 150,000 points are valuable (which I think you understand by now), I want to do something different today:

Let me tell you how I personally recouped the card’s $800 annual fee in just a few transactions over the past month.

$500 hotel credits

One of the headline perks of the card is $500 of credits to use at The Edit, a collection of premium hotels bookable through the bank’s travel portal.

The credits are broken up into two $250 credits. But you can use both of them anytime, even for back-to-back stays (more on that in a sec).

When you book through The Edit, you’ll get elite perks like:

• Breakfast for two

• $100 property credit per stay

• Late checkout

• Potential room upgrades

• Earn 8x UR points per dollar (since you’re booking through the travel portal)

But also, if you book a hotel that’s part of a loyalty program (like Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, etc), you’ll earn points with that hotel, rack up elite nights, and qualify for any promotions.

In other words, you’re saving money with the credit, getting benefits from the portal, AND earning tons of UR points (and hotel points) from spending on the card.

I just used both of these credits for a single 4-night stay here in Hong Kong for later this week, in fact.

I booked two back-to-back 2-night stays at the Mondrian, which triggered both of the $250 credits.

Plus, as part of Accor Live Limitless, I’ll also earn Accor points and status points on my stay.

But it gets even better…

The Edit hotels also qualify for Points Boost, which lets you redeem your UR points for higher-than-normal value.

In my case, I used just enough points to make each stay cost $250, then paid the rest with around 10,000 UR points per stay:

In total, I spent $6 and 20,000 points out of pocket for a $1,000 hotel stay. 💅 

Plus, I’ll also be getting:

• Accor points

• Status points

• Elite nights

• $200 of property credits

• Free breakfast

• Late checkout

And, right off the bat, I’m getting $500 of value toward that pesky annual fee.

Don’t forget about the even better travel credit

The single BEST perk of the card in question is the annual $300 travel credit.

And unlike the other credits, there’s no fancy portal needed, and it’s not divided up between months or quarters.

Just charge travel expenses to your card, and the credit will automatically be applied up to $300.

This covers “normal” travel like flights and hotels, but also things like taxes and fees on award tickets, rideshare apps, buses, trains, ferries, and more.

It’s HELLA easy to use.

Oh yeah, there’s one more credit this year

A lot of people tend to forget that, at least in 2026, this card is offering one other $250 hotel credit at select chain hotels like IHG, GHA Discovery, and more (also when booking through the bank’s portal).

I used mine back in March to book a 2-night stay at the Hotel Indigo in Belgrade, Serbia, which cost $308 total.

The credit was automatically applied the next day, and I even earned points and elite nights for the IHG stay.

In Summary

From these three sets of credits alone, I earned $1,050 back from just a few transactions.

To be clear, these are far from the only credits that this card offers.

But as you can see, it can be pretty easy to justify the painful annual fee – especially when you throw in the historic 150,000 UR point welcome offer. 😉

🏨 Hyatt makes a small (but positive) change

In other good news, Hyatt has made a tiny tweak to its program that helps soften the blow of the recent devaluation.

Starting June 30th, some people will get access to award nights a month earlier than everyone else.

What does this mean

Currently, Hyatt allows you to book award nights up to one year in advance.

For people who plan ahead (or anyone looking to book aspirational properties), booking this early can be essential.

However, later this month, the following groups will get access to awards 13 months in advance (an extra month's head start):

• Holders of a Hyatt co-branded credit card

• Explorist and Globalist elite status members

The easiest path here is obviously holding a co-branded credit card.

Between the bonus elite nights, annual free night certificate, and ability to spend toward status, Hyatt fans should already hold one of these cards.

Now, you just get a tasty extra perk.

How useful is this, really?

Well, not useful enough to outweigh the complete gutting of the award chart…

But hey – if it means being able to lock in awards at properties like Alila Ventana Big Sur, the Park Hyatt Tokyo, or other popular hotels that are usually sold out, then I’m happy to have it as an option.

The bottom line

This isn’t ground-breaking… In fact, it’s pretty lame for most use cases.

But in a world of bad news and points devaluations, we’ll take any wins we can get. 🤷🏼‍♂️

💳 Earn 16,000 bonus MR points

Speaking of good news, there’s one more thing I want to share with you today:

If you have a card that earns MR points, you might be targeted with a sweet offer to earn bonus points for spending money on… anything.

Here’s the deal:

Some people are being targeted with offers to earn bonus MR points over the next 90 days.

Here is the one I got:

• Earn 5,500 bonus MR points after spending $5,500

• Must spend within 90 days

• I can earn the bonus up to three times (16,500 points total)

Personally, I got the offer on this card. But I know of people who have also received it or a slightly different but similar offer on this lower-fee card that also earns MR points.

Basically, this adds an extra point per dollar to all your spending, regardless of the category bonus.

MR points are super valuable, in my opinion, so I’m considering diverting most of my spending to the card in order to take advantage of it.

Plus, I can pay my rent with a credit card, so I can effectively earn 2x MR points per dollar on rent and other non-categorized spend.

Anyway, go check all of your accounts for this offer (or similar ones). Just make sure you activate any offers and read the terms carefully.

And if you don’t have a card that earns MR points and feel left out right now, there’s an easy solution:

That’s all for this Monday edition, folks. I hope you enjoyed some nitty-gritty card talk. I’ll see you tomorrow to share some REALLY exciting points redemptions.

Ciao,

6.9175° S, 107.6191° E

With contributions by Sam Anthony and Katie Begnoche.