Had an awesome time down in Austin & got a ton of value from our conversation, and I hope people get value from this conversation as well. Thanks so much for having me on Spencer!
Thanks so much for making the trip and coming on the show man! I had a great time with this one and look forward to more to come! Oh also, here's your medal 🥉
I would agree with the comment above. It all depends on your travel habits, but if you're able to at least use those free nights for high value redemptions, that covers the annual fee on both right there. But I wouldn't just rely on those necessarily... they're a big perk, but you have to consider whether or not you would have paid for a room of that caliber without the card when calculating the effective annual fee.
Two of my favorite creators in the same room!! What a great conversation with Matt! His insights on the travel game are top notch, and I’m very much looking forward to his upcoming redemptions. It’s been such a privilege being in this community with the both of you since we all started YT together, and can’t wait to see what the future holds. Awesome collab, Spencer!
Getting connected with both of you and the very beginning of our UA-cam journeys is a huge part of why I've been able to consistently put out content and enjoy the journey along the way. I'm definitely excited to see what's to come from all of our channels in the future. Thanks for watching as always Stan!!
Same with you Spencer, been pretty delayed in the hotel game.. Really gotta kick start adding those to my setup soon! Looking forward to all the redemptions Matt, especially when they're in areas I'd have little to no knowledge about!
I'm right there with you! The Boundless was my first step into the hotel game and it's helped a lot already, so I'm excited to get more. Thanks for watching as always Kevin!
love this collab/conversation! matt's videos have been incredibly helpful and inspirational throughout my credit card journey (as yours have been) so seeing you two in person together for the creator conversations series is amazing! you two have definitely opened my eyes to the power of hotel credit cards vs. strictly going the route of cards from lenders vs cobranded cards. great video as always!
Thank you so much Brenley!! I've always really enjoyed spending time with Matt and this conversation was no different! Your support means a ton to both of us... thanks for watching as always!
Spencer, I am not in the Amex ecosystem yet. (So I'm not saying this in a pompous way😅) But I do agree with people who say (maybe in a different way) Amex is trying to be more exclusive again. I remember when the Platinum card used to be a pretty big deal... now it seems everyone has it. I believe they have more than doubled Platinum holders in the last 3 years.
Yeah I agree with that sentiment too in a sense! It just depends on how it's being phrased. There are definitely way too many people out there with the card that shouldn't have it, but that doesn't mean that it should be so exclusive that only the "elite" people should have it (which seem to be what the people making those comments think they are). It all comes down to whether or not you'll get positive value at the end of the day, and while a lot of people holding it don't get that, a majority of us dedicated to the credit card game likely do.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialfor majority of ppl “value” is breaking even & easily). For issuers it’s ppl spending on the card (with hopes that a good # carry balance and a low # need to be collected on).
I think them adding the Grocery category for one year SUBS to the Freedom cards is them testing the waters on a new option. Come next year, I'm fully expecting either the Flex or Unlimited to be changed up to include Grocery. Or perhaps removing the 1x Sapphire restriction and allowing you to have both the Preferred and Reserve, giving the Preferred the Grocery element like the AMEX Gold.
both Sebby & Uncle Luke said on their channels that hotel experience are way better than spending your points into business or first class flight which only lasts 11 to 16 hrs only
I would tend to agree with that for sure! Some people try to spend as little time as possible in their hotels though, so it really all depends on preference.
I appreciate that man! These conversations are definitely intended to be more laid back so I'm glad they're coming off that way. Thanks for watching as always man!
Wow didnt know you could get a refund for a prepaid hotel woth venture x. We had a similar situation and didnt even give it a shot, just assumed it was no-no. You win some, you lose some i guess :)
No problem with the SUB for the Capital One Venture X on my end. Applied in September 2023, and got the 90k SUB a few days after hitting the $4,000 mark late October!
Spencer I'll probably make multiple comments as I like responding to certain topics you discuss😅... but I recently saw a few videos from Matt. He has some interesting perspectives and has accumulated a bunch of cards very quickly and at a young age. I loved his video with his wife where they talked about all the cards they have applied for along with when and why they applied for them. He's really lucky to have such an active player 2! (I mean I can't complain as my wife has applied for more cards than me!)
Haha no worries at all man! I love getting to hear your perspective on things. Matt's definitely a great dude and I've always enjoyed spending time with him. His channel definitely has some unique perspectives on it that I really enjoy, and that includes his wife being so involved in the credit card game which is awesome. I'm glad to hear your wife is at least tolerant of it too! 🤣
Let’s goooo! Matt and I have had an eerily similar journey with credit cards from timing of cards, which cards he got at the same age as me and for what purpose like putting his engagement ring on the CSP for the bonus, so I consider him a twin in this space for those reasons haha. Just started watching, so I’m very excited for this one!!
Matt. I have the Alaska card (after the nerf) but for me it's definitely worth spending the $6k a year. We travel to the east coast with our kids every year and the companion passes save us $400+ each that's about a 6% return on spend not including the Alaska miles gained. We also just got JAL business class flights from Tokyo-SFO worth $4800 for 60k miles and $57... its going to be interesting to see what happens with the devaluation. Matt looking forward to your redemption channel/travel channel.
Nice!! JAL Business will be awesome! Alaska definitely has some sweet spot redemptions that can get you a ton of value. Also, totally get the validity for still liking the Alaska Card with how valuable those companion passes can be as well. Thank you for watching!
I know this comment was more for Matt, but I appreciate you sharing your DPs! I always love learning more about how people get use out of their cards and it sounds like the Alaska card gives you plenty of free value every year which is great.
@LK_EBM 2 tickets. I got the card with a 70k bonus, referred 4 friends and family (10k per) and the rest was spend and travel points. (As I fly Alaska domestically) so I had about 128k miles. My wife still has 90k Alaska miles so might top off her miles if there's a good redemption.
@@druiz012 Got it. I thought you bought round trip tickets for your entire family in business class, so spending like 600k Alaska miles. What did you book to fly to Tokyo from SFO? Did the kids stay home? I'm hoping to book a family trip (5 people) to Asia in 2025 and looking for advice. I don't expect us all to be in business class
First of all….I’m obviously first. Woah! It’s Matt!! This is about to be lit!! Man, Matt, I’m sorry to hear about your trouble with that SUB. First it was the unrecognized popup jail, now this. Super frustrating. I like Matt’s B Roll as well. It’s definitely nice when we can include those in our videos. Wait…I forgot that Matt had another channel and started over. I sometimes wish I started a new channel, but, it doesn’t matter so much now 😂. Great interview….now I need to watch the Brian Jung conversation, and still comment “first” on that as well.
Hahah he's here to claim his spot! I'm sure soxgators won't have a problem giving up their first place crown 😉 I appreciate you watching and commenting as always though man. Truly means a lot!
For Spain, without other experience there, I would recommend Valencia. Barcelona is a bigger "tourist" city, but Valencia is a more "Spanish" location... Try the toor there...
Matt's content is great! He is working the credit card game really well. I love that he is going south of the border to explore all the cool places that many of the blogs don't talk about. Nice collab between you two 🙌🏾
I actually began my credit card journey with the Marriott Bountiful card. Definitely not the traditional starting point but I love it for it's free night benefit, gold elite status, and 4x on food and grocery. I feel like it's a super slept on card. Only downside is the annual fee. Great content, Spencer!
Oh wow that's definitely an interesting start, but it's a solid card for sure! Honestly, the annual fee isn't an issue at all with all the benefits it gives you, especially the free night. I've loved my Boundless card so far!
Great video and collaboration! I have noticed the Venture X does have noticeably better customer service reps. If I have to call C1 for my Savor One I put in my Venture X number and then tell them I used the wrong number and give them the Savor One number to get the better service.
Thanks so much Steve!! And that's what I've heard from a lot of folks, so it seems to be true across the board. That's a really smart little hack for it though haha. You would hope that they'd just have good customer service across the board, but hey, it's Cap1 we're talking about 😆
I think it's awesome Seattle has a representative in the credit card community. I'm looking forward to hearing about flight redemptions out of SeaTac. I've migrated to Amex and using Delta instead of Alaska because their miles are slow to earn.
Heck yeah! Kevin Yang is another guy I've interviewed that does a lot of international redemptions through Seattle. Definitely some solid folks in that area.
I really appreciate that Mike! All the effort required for them is so well worth it. And I'd do it with or without a camera, so it's always a pleasure to me.
Awesome conversation! Agree that almost all hotel cards are worth a test run ... a couple free nights from the sign up bonuses at worst, but potentially very valuable keeper cards.
Thanks so much Monty! I completely agree on the hotel cards. I'll be testing a good amount of them out over time, so I'm excited to see which provide the most value.
after watching Credit Shifu, Ask Sebby, Brian Jung for the last 3 yrs, the best hotel CC for me are Chase Ritz Carlton (pc from Marriott Boundless) & Chase IHG Premier business RC for Gold status + Priority pass & great EAF IHG Premier business for Platinum status & FNA AMEX recently nerfed the Surpass (removed the FNA & Priority pass) & nerfed the Aspire as well... who stays in a $50 hotel that you need to use each & every quarter of the year 😂
That's great that you found the cards that work best for you!! I'm excited to do the same. As for the Hilton cards, I think those changes are actually a positive for me personally. The $50 credits seem to be able to be used for any purchases on property, so that covers a free meal with a spouse is you wanted to use it that way. It just all depends on your use case and what they allow to trigger that credit!
Two great content creators that I appreciate a lot! 🫵 Hotel credit cards and their bonuses can provide so much value with little spend! That Aspire card is in a different level 👑 I agree that banks aren’t your friends 😂 Been watching both for quite some some time and this was a great collaboration! Hope to see you both again in 2024 during the meet up! 🫵
Just go with the brilliant amex. In the long run you will enjoy marriott properties & program more than hilton. For marriott you can still get good value but not superb by redeeming them at sheraton and marriott level (midscale). But for hilton, you can only get good value for their points if you redeem them at waldorf or conrad. So its like hilton is forcing you to unnecessarily redeem more points in order to extract better value. Hyatt points on the other hand, can give you great value even with their lower tier category properties.
That's a fair assessment of the top hotel brands! I personally would want a bit of access to all of them running that hotel free agent strategy for a while like Matt, but eventually I'd try to get it down to just one for status hunting purposes.
🎥 To see more Creator Conversations episodes, click into this playlist next: spencerjohnsonofficial.com/creatorconversations
Had an awesome time down in Austin & got a ton of value from our conversation, and I hope people get value from this conversation as well. Thanks so much for having me on Spencer!
Whenever you're ready for the AMEX Platinum, the Seattle Centurion Lounge is pretty great!
Thanks so much for making the trip and coming on the show man! I had a great time with this one and look forward to more to come! Oh also, here's your medal 🥉
@maxwelterofficial which Ink would you go with?
I got the Ink Unlimited recently!@@MarkS-cd3cw
Would it be difficult to squeeze value out of the brilliant and aspire if you hold both?
Not at all. They only give you one hotel night per card.
I would agree with the comment above. It all depends on your travel habits, but if you're able to at least use those free nights for high value redemptions, that covers the annual fee on both right there. But I wouldn't just rely on those necessarily... they're a big perk, but you have to consider whether or not you would have paid for a room of that caliber without the card when calculating the effective annual fee.
Two of my favorite creators in the same room!! What a great conversation with Matt! His insights on the travel game are top notch, and I’m very much looking forward to his upcoming redemptions. It’s been such a privilege being in this community with the both of you since we all started YT together, and can’t wait to see what the future holds. Awesome collab, Spencer!
It's been awesome being in the Credit Card Community with you as well Stan & growing alongside each other! Appreciate the kind words!
Getting connected with both of you and the very beginning of our UA-cam journeys is a huge part of why I've been able to consistently put out content and enjoy the journey along the way. I'm definitely excited to see what's to come from all of our channels in the future. Thanks for watching as always Stan!!
Just signed up for the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card with the 5 free night promo. I’m going to let me holiday shopping pay for it
That's great man! I hit that bonus a while back and now I just gotta find where I wanna use em.
Same with you Spencer, been pretty delayed in the hotel game.. Really gotta kick start adding those to my setup soon! Looking forward to all the redemptions Matt, especially when they're in areas I'd have little to no knowledge about!
I'm right there with you! The Boundless was my first step into the hotel game and it's helped a lot already, so I'm excited to get more. Thanks for watching as always Kevin!
love this collab/conversation! matt's videos have been incredibly helpful and inspirational throughout my credit card journey (as yours have been) so seeing you two in person together for the creator conversations series is amazing! you two have definitely opened my eyes to the power of hotel credit cards vs. strictly going the route of cards from lenders vs cobranded cards. great video as always!
Thank you so much Brenley!! I've always really enjoyed spending time with Matt and this conversation was no different! Your support means a ton to both of us... thanks for watching as always!
Spencer, I am not in the Amex ecosystem yet. (So I'm not saying this in a pompous way😅) But I do agree with people who say (maybe in a different way) Amex is trying to be more exclusive again. I remember when the Platinum card used to be a pretty big deal... now it seems everyone has it. I believe they have more than doubled Platinum holders in the last 3 years.
Yeah I agree with that sentiment too in a sense! It just depends on how it's being phrased. There are definitely way too many people out there with the card that shouldn't have it, but that doesn't mean that it should be so exclusive that only the "elite" people should have it (which seem to be what the people making those comments think they are). It all comes down to whether or not you'll get positive value at the end of the day, and while a lot of people holding it don't get that, a majority of us dedicated to the credit card game likely do.
@@SpencerJohnsonOfficialfor majority of ppl “value” is breaking even & easily). For issuers it’s ppl spending on the card (with hopes that a good # carry balance and a low # need to be collected on).
If Chase would just add a good year round grocery option they would be truly dominate
I think them adding the Grocery category for one year SUBS to the Freedom cards is them testing the waters on a new option.
Come next year, I'm fully expecting either the Flex or Unlimited to be changed up to include Grocery. Or perhaps removing the 1x Sapphire restriction and allowing you to have both the Preferred and Reserve, giving the Preferred the Grocery element like the AMEX Gold.
@@Lancun would be nice. glaring hole in their lineup
Exploring Columbia and Panama sounds amazing! Looking forward to the B-roll from those trips on Matt’s channel.
Thank you Bob!
I'm stoked to see more about that too!!
both Sebby & Uncle Luke said on their channels that hotel experience are way better than spending your points into business or first class flight which only lasts 11 to 16 hrs only
I would tend to agree with that for sure! Some people try to spend as little time as possible in their hotels though, so it really all depends on preference.
Love Matt and Spencer’s easy going attitude and style! Really enjoy the variety of creators in this series
Thanks very much!
I appreciate that man! These conversations are definitely intended to be more laid back so I'm glad they're coming off that way. Thanks for watching as always man!
Nailed another great video. You guys rock.
Thanks so much Chad!
Wow didnt know you could get a refund for a prepaid hotel woth venture x. We had a similar situation and didnt even give it a shot, just assumed it was no-no. You win some, you lose some i guess :)
Which Chase Ink would you go with?
Go Matt!
Thank you!
Great conversation! I enjoyed hearing about yalls journeys and future plans!
capital one screwed me out the sign up bonus too. screw them!!
What happened?
No problem with the SUB for the Capital One Venture X on my end. Applied in September 2023, and got the 90k SUB a few days after hitting the $4,000 mark late October!
Dang, that's crazy! I'm sorry to hear that. But thanks for sharing your experience!
Spencer I'll probably make multiple comments as I like responding to certain topics you discuss😅... but I recently saw a few videos from Matt. He has some interesting perspectives and has accumulated a bunch of cards very quickly and at a young age. I loved his video with his wife where they talked about all the cards they have applied for along with when and why they applied for them. He's really lucky to have such an active player 2! (I mean I can't complain as my wife has applied for more cards than me!)
Appreciate the kind words!
Haha no worries at all man! I love getting to hear your perspective on things. Matt's definitely a great dude and I've always enjoyed spending time with him. His channel definitely has some unique perspectives on it that I really enjoy, and that includes his wife being so involved in the credit card game which is awesome. I'm glad to hear your wife is at least tolerant of it too! 🤣
waiting for Graham Stephen
Let’s goooo! Matt and I have had an eerily similar journey with credit cards from timing of cards, which cards he got at the same age as me and for what purpose like putting his engagement ring on the CSP for the bonus, so I consider him a twin in this space for those reasons haha.
Just started watching, so I’m very excited for this one!!
My god I love these
I love to hear that!! Thanks so much for watching em!
Welter is the man! I think I’m going to be in some of the same locations this January!
You know it man! Matt's a great dude. Looking forward to hearing about your trips!
Matt. I have the Alaska card (after the nerf) but for me it's definitely worth spending the $6k a year. We travel to the east coast with our kids every year and the companion passes save us $400+ each that's about a 6% return on spend not including the Alaska miles gained. We also just got JAL business class flights from Tokyo-SFO worth $4800 for 60k miles and $57... its going to be interesting to see what happens with the devaluation. Matt looking forward to your redemption channel/travel channel.
Nice!! JAL Business will be awesome! Alaska definitely has some sweet spot redemptions that can get you a ton of value. Also, totally get the validity for still liking the Alaska Card with how valuable those companion passes can be as well. Thank you for watching!
How many JAL business tickets did you book? How would you rack up so many Alaska points?
I know this comment was more for Matt, but I appreciate you sharing your DPs! I always love learning more about how people get use out of their cards and it sounds like the Alaska card gives you plenty of free value every year which is great.
@LK_EBM 2 tickets. I got the card with a 70k bonus, referred 4 friends and family (10k per) and the rest was spend and travel points. (As I fly Alaska domestically) so I had about 128k miles. My wife still has 90k Alaska miles so might top off her miles if there's a good redemption.
@@druiz012 Got it. I thought you bought round trip tickets for your entire family in business class, so spending like 600k Alaska miles. What did you book to fly to Tokyo from SFO? Did the kids stay home?
I'm hoping to book a family trip (5 people) to Asia in 2025 and looking for advice. I don't expect us all to be in business class
You guys are in for a huge treat when you do your first business class redemption.
First of all….I’m obviously first.
Woah! It’s Matt!! This is about to be lit!!
Man, Matt, I’m sorry to hear about your trouble with that SUB. First it was the unrecognized popup jail, now this. Super frustrating.
I like Matt’s B Roll as well. It’s definitely nice when we can include those in our videos.
Wait…I forgot that Matt had another channel and started over. I sometimes wish I started a new channel, but, it doesn’t matter so much now 😂.
Great interview….now I need to watch the Brian Jung conversation, and still comment “first” on that as well.
Hahah he's here to claim his spot! I'm sure soxgators won't have a problem giving up their first place crown 😉 I appreciate you watching and commenting as always though man. Truly means a lot!
For Spain, without other experience there, I would recommend Valencia. Barcelona is a bigger "tourist" city, but Valencia is a more "Spanish" location... Try the toor there...
That's great to know Rick! Thanks for sharing!!
Matt's content is great! He is working the credit card game really well. I love that he is going south of the border to explore all the cool places that many of the blogs don't talk about. Nice collab between you two 🙌🏾
I completely agree! Matt's content is awesome and he's an awesome dude too. Thanks for watching as always JP!
I actually began my credit card journey with the Marriott Bountiful card. Definitely not the traditional starting point but I love it for it's free night benefit, gold elite status, and 4x on food and grocery. I feel like it's a super slept on card. Only downside is the annual fee. Great content, Spencer!
Oh wow that's definitely an interesting start, but it's a solid card for sure! Honestly, the annual fee isn't an issue at all with all the benefits it gives you, especially the free night. I've loved my Boundless card so far!
Great video and collaboration! I have noticed the Venture X does have noticeably better customer service reps. If I have to call C1 for my Savor One I put in my Venture X number and then tell them I used the wrong number and give them the Savor One number to get the better service.
Thanks so much Steve!! And that's what I've heard from a lot of folks, so it seems to be true across the board. That's a really smart little hack for it though haha. You would hope that they'd just have good customer service across the board, but hey, it's Cap1 we're talking about 😆
I think it's awesome Seattle has a representative in the credit card community. I'm looking forward to hearing about flight redemptions out of SeaTac. I've migrated to Amex and using Delta instead of Alaska because their miles are slow to earn.
Heck yeah! Kevin Yang is another guy I've interviewed that does a lot of international redemptions through Seattle. Definitely some solid folks in that area.
The gold is a points machine especially if you have a family. That’s my next card but I can wait for a monster bonus.
100%! I'm excited to hear back when you get approved for it!
I love your collaboration episodes with other creators. Very good and informative convo as always. Great vid Spencer (and Matt) 💥
I really appreciate that Mike! All the effort required for them is so well worth it. And I'd do it with or without a camera, so it's always a pleasure to me.
Awesome conversation! Agree that almost all hotel cards are worth a test run ... a couple free nights from the sign up bonuses at worst, but potentially very valuable keeper cards.
Thanks so much Monty! I completely agree on the hotel cards. I'll be testing a good amount of them out over time, so I'm excited to see which provide the most value.
after watching Credit Shifu, Ask Sebby, Brian Jung for the last 3 yrs, the best hotel CC for me are Chase Ritz Carlton (pc from Marriott Boundless) & Chase IHG Premier business
RC for Gold status + Priority pass & great EAF
IHG Premier business for Platinum status & FNA
AMEX recently nerfed the Surpass (removed the FNA & Priority pass) & nerfed the Aspire as well... who stays in a $50 hotel that you need to use each & every quarter of the year 😂
That's great that you found the cards that work best for you!! I'm excited to do the same. As for the Hilton cards, I think those changes are actually a positive for me personally. The $50 credits seem to be able to be used for any purchases on property, so that covers a free meal with a spouse is you wanted to use it that way. It just all depends on your use case and what they allow to trigger that credit!
$50 quarterly credit. 😂. Can’t even get a massage! Clown card $600 af
Hilton falling off…..
Depending on how you look at it! I was happy with the changes to their cards overall. It just depends on how you use em.
First? I don’t know anymore 😔
Bro…step aside, I’ve arrived. You know the drill!
Haha soxgators is out to get you! 🥈
😊
Dude you're killing it lately!! Here's your crown once again... 👑
Two great content creators that I appreciate a lot! 🫵 Hotel credit cards and their bonuses can provide so much value with little spend! That Aspire card is in a different level 👑 I agree that banks aren’t your friends 😂 Been watching both for quite some some time and this was a great collaboration! Hope to see you both again in 2024 during the meet up! 🫵
Appreciate you Cesar!!
You're the man Cesar!! One day I'll get your favorite card added to my setup... don't worry 😉 I'm stoked to see you again at the next meetup!
Just go with the brilliant amex. In the long run you will enjoy marriott properties & program more than hilton.
For marriott you can still get good value but not superb by redeeming them at sheraton and marriott level (midscale). But for hilton, you can only get good value for their points if you redeem them at waldorf or conrad. So its like hilton is forcing you to unnecessarily redeem more points in order to extract better value. Hyatt points on the other hand, can give you great value even with their lower tier category properties.
That's a fair assessment of the top hotel brands! I personally would want a bit of access to all of them running that hotel free agent strategy for a while like Matt, but eventually I'd try to get it down to just one for status hunting purposes.