The easiest low-hanging points fruit

Good morning and happy Friday from gloomy (in a good way) Tallinn, Estonia. 🇪🇪

I’m ready to go into hibernation up here in the great north… but before I do, let’s finish off the week with some simple (but effective) points tips:

• 🏨 I’m turning this Marriott promo into a points farm

• 🍇 The easiest low-hanging points fruit

• 💳 Current Transfer Bonuses

🏨 I’m turning this Marriott promo into a points farm

Marriott Bonvoy is running a global promotion right now that I think is one of the best we’ve seen from them in a while.

Here’s the simple version:

• You earn 2,500 bonus points per stay (on paid stays)

• Plus 1 bonus elite night credit for every unique brand you stay at

That might not sound crazy at first… but the structure of this promo is what makes it interesting.

Because it’s per stay, not per night. Which sounds pretty lame at first, until you start thinking about it the right way.

Here’s exactly what I’m doing

I’m heading to Vilnius next month, and I found a really good example of how to stack this.

There’s a second promotion running at select brands where you can earn 2,000 bonus points per night, as long as you book a specific rate.

The rates are usually a bit higher… but sometimes they’re still cheap enough to make the math work.

For example, I found a night at the Courtyard in Vilnius for $83 on that promo rate to earn an extra 2,000 points.

Now let’s break down what that one night actually earns:

• 2,000 points from the special rate

• 2,500 points from the global promo

• 1,453 points from my Titanium status (17.5x on the stay)

• 498 points from paying with my Marriott credit card (6x)

So for one $83 night, I’m earning 6,451 points. That’s a lot of points for a pretty cheap stay.

But to make things even better, I’m also earning:

• 1 elite night credit from the stay itself

• +1 bonus elite night because Courtyard is a different brand

So that’s two elite nights from one actual night in a hotel. And if you repeat that across multiple brands, it adds up fast.

This is where it starts to snowball

I’ve already been doing this over the past month across Africa and Europe – just mixing in one-night stays at different Marriott brands when it makes sense.

From that alone, I’ve already picked up 12,500 bonus points from this promo.

And the best part? There’s no cap on the total bonus points you can earn.

So I’ve decided to make Marriott regret that decision. 😈

How I’m going to turn the dial to 11

When I get to China in a few weeks, I’m planning to lean into this even harder.

Basically: Stay at a different, cheap Marriott property each night, rotate brands when possible, and stack as many of these bonuses as I can before the promo ends.

It’s a fun way to explore new neighborhoods, regions, and cities… while also building a massive stash of points for future trips.

For example, the Fairfield and Four Points brands are both very popular in China. They’re cheap, they’re everywhere, and they both often have that rate for 2,000 extra points per night. 👇

Spending $40-50 per night and getting 4,500-5,000 points back per night is just bonkers.

Anyway, here are a few rules of thumb if you want to get the most out of this promo:

• One-night stays are your friend (because the 2,500 bonus is per stay, not per night)

• Look for rates that include extra bonus points

• Always pay with a Marriott co-branded card if you have one

• Mix brands to earn extra elite night credits

🍇 The easiest low-hanging points fruit

There’s a new offer on a no-annual-fee card that earns $250 cash back after spending $500 in the first three months.

On its own, that’s already excellent. You’re effectively getting 50% back on your spending with almost no effort.

There are no complicated hoops to jump through, no annual fee, and no credits to worry about – just spend $500 like you normally would, and get $250 back.

If that’s all you want, you can stop there. It’s a very straightforward, low-effort win.

But there’s a second option that’s worth understanding… 😏

If you also have a card that earns UR points, you can combine your accounts and convert that $250 into 25,000 UR points instead of taking it as cash back.

Those are the same points you can transfer to travel partners like Hyatt, United, and other programs.

And this is important, because 25,000 points can often be worth significantly more than $250, depending on how you use them.

For example, I recently stayed three nights at the Hyatt Regency in Sofia, Bulgaria.

It’s a Category 2 property, which means award nights cost between 6,500 and 9,500 points.

My stay priced at 8,000 points per night, for a total of 24,000 points – which I transferred to Hyatt from my stash of UR points.

The cash rate for those same nights was over $250, which means I would have paid close to $1,000 if I had booked with cash.

Instead, I used points.

So in that case, 24,000 points got me roughly $1,000 in value – far more than the $250 you’d get if you took the bonus as cash back.

Either way, it’s a very low barrier to entry. Spending $500 to unlock that kind of value is about as easy as it gets, so check out the card if you’re interested.

That’s all for today, friends! I hope you enjoyed some simple but effective ways to rack up points with minimal effort.

Have a great weekend,

59.4370° N, 24.7536° E

With contributions by McKay Moffitt and Sam Anthony