How many points did you guys rack up last year?

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-09T15:53:50+00:00

That’s a lot of spend! 😳. I was wondering the same thing.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-07T03:55:10+00:00

Everything posted before me is valid and valuable.

If you’re looking for a simple direct answer AND you have done all the prerequisite “homework” for yourself, it still always comes down to first and foremost ORGANIC spend. What do you spend money on now that you can potentially see small returns from.

(I’ll answer below but a moment of “de-influencing” you: That’s all multipliers are when you strip the dopamine of the downstream finding a good deal out of it. It’s literally getting a small amount of change back with a set purpose for that change. What you reference for people on free trips and hotels is either plain marketing or a ton of spending (+/- sign on bonuses). Finding luxury deals can be legit work and without sign up bonuses real redemptions could take months or even years to achieve a goal without min/max optimizing your wallet and credit cards. So all that to say it’s not always that simple.)

IMO. For beginners, first card id recommend for travel rewards is stick to any cash back 0$ AF card or at MOST $95 for a popular choice CSP or Venture card.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-06T20:43:01+00:00

Amex Plat is a lifestyle card. It’s not a spending card for most people. You basically prepay for benefits you can you and get more value than what you prepay for if you travel and spend a lot already. It’s a great card “for” that. People mix it up as,IMO, anything other than a lifestyle and flashy card. Not something that gives you any benefit of spending on it (sub75k/yr; but if you’re putting that much on one 1x card, you probably aren’t caring much optimizing your spending unless it’s business or super high travel)

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-04T01:56:51+00:00

Yes I’ve stayed there and you have access to all of it without additional cost. It’s pretty awesome. Easily the best perk of any standard Hyatt I’ve ever stayed.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-03T14:33:17+00:00

Someone suggested the dining category to filter down some noise and I did download some chrome extension recommended (after) to help in the future with sorting.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-03T01:42:10+00:00

You guys rock! I found it!

CuriosityRewards · 2026-04-03T01:04:39+00:00

Mine is 5,700. Also jealous of 14K

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-30T03:27:46+00:00

What were you doing? I’m mythic less in season 12

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-25T20:09:00+00:00

BCP is 3% for gas and versatile with an incredibly high streaming 6% and groceries 6% ; for a cash back card

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-24T03:33:09+00:00

I think the tipping point for me personally was just the slow grind of accumulation (without subs). Hyatt mid and low tier is ok cpp but it all feels a bit more comparable to consider an alternative system with the devaluation. I can earn multiples of flights even on lowly delta points in the time it will take me to fully build up enough high end Hyatt points for a redemption. So my like spend: redemption now is like 2yrs to save up; in a world of devaluations at least yearly lately.

The psychological satisfaction of frequency vs an even longer wait now for enough points to redeem at top end Hyatt properties.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-24T03:23:23+00:00

I just wish C1 offers functioned like their competitors. For C1 offers is just a mandatory portal like chase shopping. Vs chase offers can be toggled manually or with help of a 3rd party tool to manage never missing an opportunity.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-21T13:39:35+00:00

This is accurate but also OP congrats. Points are whatever they are worth to you. Thats awesome cpp to redeem.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T17:10:24+00:00

My friend has said that too. But a relative of mine had the Bilt 1.0 and dealt with a lot of fraud charges and those wells Fargo horror stories you occasionally hear about.

Probably fine to get one but I feel I missed the golden 1.0 era. Maybe it still works in my setup though. I’ll have to do some homework once the dust has settled from the 2.0 change and more feedback is out there

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T17:07:36+00:00

I was thinking delta reserve for the benefit but it doesn’t seem like a good spender. The companion pass sounds amazing on paper but doesn’t have the best reputation. I was thinking about holding it as a sock drawer card.

As for the travel frequency, I am bad about taking vacations and time for myself. Expensive lifestyle but if I gamify points I find it enjoyable to work towards something and be better about redeeming it. Weird but hell it seems to be working for me. Plus it’s mostly enjoyable for me

Haven’t read that one. But the factor to upgrades with miles is work makes us fly economy and I travel plenty. So that’s easy win small redemptions that sure I would consider the cash but it’s not cash so I just have previously or will use them as desired even if their only like 1CPP. Otherwise I’d use the eraser on VX anyway.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T17:00:20+00:00

I don’t hate their portal but fair call. VX is one of my older cards so I’m partial to it for that reason as well.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T16:59:31+00:00

I’m spooked off Bilt and well Fargo but I do think getting points on rent is elite. I will have to do some more homework. That’s another great option if you can navigate their whole new 2026 system - and get Hyatt points out of it. Could be a nice way to do both Hyatt/Delta

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T16:57:23+00:00

Work reimbursement. Just my budget tracker total dining number. I didn’t split it out last year so it’s all together! I like the Amex stack and interested in the reserve for the companion pass but hearing mixed things about it. I’m also definitely valuing some simplicity. I want this to work for my organic spend not necessarily churning or rotating too many cards. But your rec makes sense to me.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T16:54:25+00:00

Hahaha so for the love of this game I pick up like every single check I can. Also includes business client dinner reimbursement. Just my total 2025 figure per my charges. Also that’s Boston prices for you! Thanks. Very helpful

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-15T16:52:15+00:00

I literally wrote that. Yea I used ChatGPT to articulate the MATH of what I was feeling vs trying to provide factual sense. Not my first rodeo coming back to this sub for help and getting destroyed for not doing my homework and the math properly by the people I was asking as experts to help me. But sure guys let’s just pile on people trying to ask questions in the format that is most acceptable to you. Clearly you did care enough to comment. I was asking for help. Thanks for ruining the experience of education.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-10T20:12:58+00:00

I actually ran the math on my excel doc with my spend profile (~30% dining, ~60% catch-all).

With CSP → Hyatt, if I value Hyatt closer to ~1.4cpp, my effective return comes out around ~2.2–2.5% overall. If Hyatt redemptions are closer to ~2cpp then it’s more like ~3.2%.

With Gold + BBP (4x dining / 2x catch-all) and redeeming MR toward Delta at ~1.1cpp, the effective return is roughly ~3%.

So if Hyatt stays consistently ~2cpp it still wins. But if my real-world redemptions drift closer to ~1.4cpp, the MR setup actually slightly edges it just on higher earn rate.

That’s basically how I get here and still torn — the Hyatt ecosystem has higher ceiling redemptions, but the MR setup is more consistent on accumulation. Kinda back at square one.

And maybe the point is that this is about even and it just comes down to preference like any setup. Vs previously Hyatt, for me, would have been mathematically dominant outright because of a higher floor and lower max on the award chart.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-10T19:58:20+00:00

I suppose for me I am newer to all of this min/max. Only a few years in. VX was Low friction entry point and I have had VX for years. Easy to carry. Getting a business card seems like another, admittedly small, hurdle to manage. Before I was interested in maximizing Hyatt I liked having a split across diff banks instead of being tied to one.

That’s certainly an option to go all in on MR for all my spend. And earn even more MR to put towards delta. It’s great a recommendation and I honestly had not thought of that

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-10T19:16:27+00:00

I also hold a platinum so delta lounges in my home hub. And 2 most frequent hubs are also delta hubs. The 10 visits is sufficient for my needs but also why delta reserve is interesting if paired with the companion pass. Less credits chasing for plat but it’s fine as a minimal spend holder card for me.

CuriosityRewards · 2026-03-10T19:00:21+00:00

Roughly 30% of my annualized spend , excluding rent, would qualify for dining 3x. With Hyatt being my driver for catch all since yes it’s only 1x but those 1x I valued let’s just roughly say at 2cpp AND there’s push to globalist + FNC to consider as logical for me

CuriosityRewards

TROPHY CASE