Two awesome credits I used this week

Gooood morning, folks!

I had a whole intro written out about how it’s Friday, only to realize that today is, in fact, very much not Friday. And I gotta say – it was devastating.

But that’s okay, there’s plenty left to discuss this week:

• 💳 Top card offers for March 2026

• 🏨 Two awesome hotel credits I used this week

• ✈️ Spend $350 on travel, get 15,000 miles

💳 Top card offers for March 2026

A lot of you have reached out saying something along the lines of, “You keep talking about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card… but are there any other good offers right now?”

And the answer is… yes.

Obviously, the Venture offer is amazing. It’s definitely the best one out there right now.

But if you already have it (or it’s just not for you), there are a few other offers floating around that are definitely worth a look.

First up: Southwest co-branded cards.

Right now, the Southwest cards are offering a combo of points plus a promotional Companion Pass, which is one of the best deals in domestic travel.

Companion Pass basically means you can add a second person to your flight for just the taxes and fees whenever you fly. Book a ticket for yourself (with cash OR points), and your companion comes along for almost nothing.

And the fun part is that each card with an elevated offer comes with the same Companion Pass, but the number of bonus points varies depending on which one you choose:

• The lower-tier version comes with 20,000 points

• The mid-tier version comes with 30,000 points

• The higher-tier version comes with 40,000 points

But the Companion Pass benefit is identical across all of them – meaning the real value here isn’t just the points… It’s the ability to effectively get two-for-one flights for almost a year.

Next up is this popular card, which currently has an elevated welcome offer of “as high as” 100,000 MR points.

And honestly… if you live in the U.S. and spend money on food, this card should probably already be in your wallet.

That’s because it earns a ton of points on dining and groceries, which, for most people, are two of their biggest spending categories.

So unlike some cards where you have to play weird optimization games to earn points, this one just racks them up naturally while you’re doing normal things like… eating dinner.

And on top of that, it also comes with a handful of useful credits (most of which are also food-related) that can help offset the annual fee.

In other words, if this card has been on your radar, grabbing it while the welcome offer is sitting as high as 100,000 MR points is probably the move.

And finally, we’ve got a bit of a Hail Mary offer. 🏈

Right now, this Marriott card is offering 5 Free Night Awards, each worth up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

That’s a LOT of potential value depending on where you use them.

The catch?

This offer ends today at 9 a.m. Eastern Time.

So by the time many of you read this, it may already be gone. But if you're catching this newsletter early and have been considering a Marriott card anyway, this is definitely one of the better offers we’ve seen.

So yeah, there are a few strong card offers floating around right now. But also… there’s a reason I keep bringing up the Venture card. 🤷🏼‍♂️

🏨 Two awesome hotel credits I used this week

One of the things I love most about premium travel cards is that the credits aren’t just theoretical.

If you actually travel… they get used fast.

This week alone, I used two different hotel credits while bouncing around Europe: one in Rome and one for an upcoming stay in Belgrade.

And together they saved my butt hundreds of dollars.

Stop #1: Rome 🇮🇹

First up was a last-minute two-night stay in Rome.

I booked The Hoxton Rome literally the day before I arrived. The total came out to $460 for two nights, which is pretty reasonable for a last-minute booking in Rome.

I booked through a bank’s hotel portal using this premium travel card, which comes with $600 in annual hotel credits ($300 semi-annually).

Those credits work in two ways:

• Fine Hotels + Resorts®: usable on 1-night stays
• The Hotel Collection: requires a 2-night minimum

Since I was staying two nights anyway, I booked through The Hotel Collection.

And that unlocked a few perks:

• $300 statement credit from the card
• $100 property credit (which I used for dinner and breakfast)
• 5x MR points on the booking

Because the Hoxton is part of Accor’s network, I also attached my Accor Live Limitless number and got a free welcome drink when I checked in.

So the math ended up looking like this:

I paid $460… but got $400 in credits, a free drink, and 2,300 MR points.

Not bad for a spontaneous booking in Rome.

Stop #2: Belgrade 🇷🇸

Next up is a stay I booked in Belgrade, which is honestly one of my favorite cities in Europe.

This time, I used a credit that many people don’t even realize exists.

For 2026 only, this premium travel card comes with a $250 hotel credit that can be used at select hotel brands, including IHG, Pan Pacific, NH Hotels, and a few others.

And here’s the cool part:

If you book an IHG property, the stay is still eligible for IHG One Rewards.

That means you can earn:

• Points from the card
• Points from IHG
• Elite nights and status benefits

So I used that credit to book a two-night stay at the Hotel Indigo in Belgrade, right in the heart of town.

The total price for the stay was $308 for two nights. 👇

But thanks to the $250 credit, I only paid $58 out of pocket.

And because I have IHG Diamond status, I’ll also earn nearly 6,000 IHG points on the stay…

… plus another 2,400 UR points from the card itself, since it earns 8x points when booking through the portal.

So yeah – even when you’re traveling in expensive European cities, these hotel credits can really come in handy.

These credits can save you money, give you extra perks, and even let you double-dip on points earnings.

✈️ Spend $350 on travel, get 15,000 miles

If you hold a Capital One credit card, you probably already know that you get access to something called Capital One Offers.

And every once in a while… one of them is actually ridiculous.

Right now, there’s an offer that gives you 15,000 Capital One miles when you spend $350 on Trip.com.

Trip.com is one of my favorite travel booking platforms. In fact, I wrote an entire newsletter about it last year because I love them so much.

The short version is that their website and app are fantastic, especially if you travel internationally.

They consistently surface cheap hotel rates, competitive flight prices, and they’re particularly useful if you’re booking trains and flights in China, where they have special access to the lowest fares on Chinese airlines (which has saved me thousands of dollars over the years).

So if you’re someone who travels regularly, spending $350 on Trip.com is not exactly a stretch.

And when you add 15,000 bonus Capital One miles on top of whatever you’re booking anyway… this turns into a pretty killer deal.

Honestly, it’s also just another reminder of why it’s worth holding at least one Capital One card.

Alrighty, folks. That does it for today. Have a good day, and I’ll see you tomorrow for actual Friday. 😉

43.7102° N, 7.2620° E

With contributions by McKay Moffitt, April Wilson, and Alison Carrico