The Sugar Daddy Podcast
Ready to normalize talking about money? Then welcome to The Sugar Daddy Podcast. Every episode will get you one step closer to your financial goals. Whether that is learning how to invest, budget, save, retire early or simply make better money choices, Jess & Brandon have got you covered in a way that's easy to understand, and easy to implement. Tune in as they demystify the realm of dollars, so it all makes cents, while giving you a glimpse into their relationship with money and each other.
Brandon is an award winning licensed financial planner, and owner of Oak City Financial, with over a decade of experience and millions of dollars managed for his clients all over the United States.
New episodes published the first three Wednesdays of every month.
The Sugar Daddy Podcast
96: Spencer Howard on Unlocking Luxury Travel Through Credit Card Strategy
What if luxury travel wasn’t just for the 1%? In this episode, travel rewards expert Spencer Howard reveals how everyday spending can unlock first-class flights, champagne service, and global adventures—without going into debt.
You’ll learn:
- The 3 strategic approaches to credit card rewards (and which one fits your lifestyle)
- How to maximize point value by avoiding the biggest rookie mistake
- Why premium cabins aren't just comfortable—they’re career-building
Whether you're a points newbie or a seasoned collector, Spencer breaks down exactly how to travel better, smarter, and often for (almost) free. This isn’t your average “use a travel card” advice—this is the real playbook.
Ready to upgrade your next trip? Press play and get started.
Watch this episode in video form on YouTube
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You can email us at: thesugardaddypodcast@gmail.com
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Learn more about Brandon and schedule a free 30-minute introductory call with him
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Notes from the show:
Follow Straight to the Points on Instagram
Connect with Spencer Howard on LinkedIn
no-transcript day. That was from a blogger which I kind of mocked because at the time I was used to reading, like the aviation journalist at the wall street journal and so I was like. What does this blogger think?
Speaker 2:they know.
Speaker 1:Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him now and he's he's super smart. But, um, I was poking around to site and started to see these things about like credit cards and using the points you earned the credit cards to fly places and I was like, oh okay, um, that's interesting. Um, I never really cared about credit cards until then. And then I saw him posting about like business and first class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use that I'll take like you write it, I'd like the space.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's a. That's the long way of saying how I got into all of this sugar teddy podcast. Yo learn how to make them pockets grow. Financial freedom's where we go Smart investments, money flow.
Speaker 3:Hey babe, what are we talking about today?
Speaker 2:Today we are diving back into one of our favorite topics points and miles. But we're going to do it a little bit differently this time, because today we are focusing on luxury. We're going to be talking about business class, first class, using those points and miles to make sure that we get that lovely luxury experience which you know. For me, it starts at the airport. Give me my lounge, that's the first part, and then you know if I can be in first class, business class, anything but main cabin economy.
Speaker 3:Which is funny, because I never flew first class until you and I were together.
Speaker 2:And now do you want to go back?
Speaker 3:No, I'm not going to lie, you know, I'm not. I wouldn't call myself necessarily a bougie person, but I'm also not a small person either. So that extra leg room definitely helps.
Speaker 2:It definitely helps. Give me the big seat, give me the leg rooms, but we're here to talk with Spencer Howard today. He is going to help us dive into all of the nuances of how to get the most out of our points and miles. Spencer, thank you for being with us today. We're excited about this conversation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jessica Brandon, thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So let's get into this bio so everybody knows that they can trust you in the things that you're going to say today, please believe me Right in guiding them in the right way to do points and miles.
Speaker 2:Spencer Howard is a credit card loyalty program and travel rewards expert. He's also the founder of Straight to the Points, the go-to resource for individuals looking to demystify credit card points so they can experience traveling in luxury. After helping family and friends understand credit card points for years, he launched Straight to the Points in 2017 and has been offering members complimentary and premium content through his award alert newsletter ever since. His newsletter, read by over 20,000 people, is the place to get the most up-to-date information on everything from first and business class alerts on flights to tutorials on how to effectively book and secure flights using credit card points. Spencer has worked in the travel writing industry for nearly a decade and has been featured in various news outlets such as Forbes Advisor, cnbc, travel Leisure Asia, the Washington Post, bloomberg and Business Insider. Spencer believes that everyone deserves to fly business class at least once in their lifetime, and he is on a journey to make that happen. Since 2017, he's traveled for three months of the year and seen 60,000 countries. Oh my gosh, I need another coffee.
Speaker 1:I've gone to other planets, exactly,000 countries. Oh my gosh, I need another coffee.
Speaker 2:I've gone to other planets, Exactly outer space, 60 plus countries. He lives in Washington DC with his family and recently became a dad. Congratulations for that.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being with us, Spencer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thanks so much.
Speaker 2:All right, 60,000 countries, let's get into that no, I'm just kidding. Let's get into your first money memory. I want to see if there's any connection to that and what you're doing now with all these points.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's interesting, I think for me it was probably making money doing not even home repairs, like helping tear down walls at a house that a friend's family was uh redoing, uh, and that was like the first time I think I'd really gotten paid for work. Uh, I was in high school, um, so that was just uh, that was a new moment for me. I was like, ah, I mean, you know, when you're making, like you know, 20, 40 bucks or whatever, you're kind of like, wow, all this money when you're, when you, when you go from not having any.
Speaker 1:But I think that was the first time that I really started thinking about it and then kind of moved into like freshman year of college. During the summer I would, I did another job and this was like repairing houses and things like that and I again it was just making a little bit more, a little bit more Um, and that was just kind of like okay, this is useful Um, and it basically working. That summer funded an unpaid internship the following summer, so that was a really important one for me, but you didn't want to go into general contracting after those repairs.
Speaker 1:I had a good time, um, but yeah, I had other things that I wanted to do and they didn't. Working in politics, uh, in college, they don't really pay you, they just tell you get experience, um. And so I had to uh fund living in DC for a summer when I was interning, and that all came from, uh, the the year before, um, so I've never really been a big spender, so it wasn't that hard to save it. It was just uh, yeah, it was all, it was all.
Speaker 3:All a plan, I guess, is the best way to put it a lot of internships don't pay you, regardless of what you know, industry yeah I think some, some have to now there's like new rules, but back then it was just like I'm doing the same job and not getting.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's. It's definitely interesting when you work on like political campaigns as an intern. You're like did I spend 80 hours a week here and not get paid at all?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, but think about all that you learned right and you're like, yeah, but I can't even afford to eat anything right now.
Speaker 1:So it's not important.
Speaker 2:Not important, did you? When you were making money in high school and you started these projects? Did you have anybody at home kind of prompting you to save money to you know? Was there anybody giving you life lessons on what to do with your money once you started earning it?
Speaker 1:That's interesting. I don't think there was any like specific lesson other than just like don't spend more than you have. But my dad also went through like he worked for a couple of companies that went out of business um kind of pretty quick succession when I was in go, kind of going into kindergarten and then coming out, and so I just kind of like saw what it was like to like be struggling to find not that he was like struggling, he, he did fine, but it was just losing a job sucks. It's really stressful and you have to really think about where your money's going and being you know couponing and stuff like that, and I remember my mom's like box of you know all those paper coupons that you'd cut out.
Speaker 1:Um, so I don't know, I just think that was just kind of always. I'm just always aware of it. Um, yeah, I think naturally I'm not really into stuff as much. All the little toys you see up here are like souvenirs from airlines, so it's not actually things that I'm just randomly buying. But yeah, but I think I was just kind of aware of the situation is the best way to put it Just kind of like seeing what that's like for your parents.
Speaker 3:All right, real quick. I want to speak to the person listening who feels like they can't work with a financial planner yet because they're carrying a lot of debt. First of all, I see you and I need you to know. You're not broken, you're not behind. You're just in a tough season. I created something just for you because I've had people reach out who are serious about changing their money story. But the full financial planning package just wasn't the right fit yet.
Speaker 3:So I built a new service through Oak City Financial that's focused completely on debt reduction no fluff, no shame. You'll get a one-time planning session, a personalized payoff strategy, your own financial dashboard and monthly coaching. If you want extra support while you climb out, it's $300 to get started and $100 a month. If you want that ongoing guidance, that's it. This is about helping you get unst100 a month. If you want that ongoing guidance, that's it. This is about helping you get unstuck, not making you feel like you failed. If this sounds like what you've been needing, go ahead and schedule a call with me. The link is in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Let's take the first step together. How did you transition from you know growing up seeing your dad face layoffs? Um, you said you're not a big spender. How did you take that into? Hey, let me maximize points and start traveling the world Cause that, I mean there's. That seems like a pretty big jump right. I mean walk us through that transition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think, well, first off, I worked in politics, basically my sophomore year of college and then for like 10 years from there, from then on and you don't get paid a lot in most positions in politics If you work in the nonprofit world, same thing, and I did that, like you don't get paid a lot there. Um and so that it was paired with the fact, the fact that they really stressed work, don't take time off, there's important things we're doing here, we're helping people. You need to work, and so you're kind of always working. I mean, some campaigns are like 20 hours a day, seven days a week absolutely insane it's got to be against, like labor laws or something right.
Speaker 2:What are those?
Speaker 1:It's um, but I think it think it was. It was so it was coming out of that. I got my last political job at the us travel association um kind of fitting.
Speaker 1:But they, they kind of wanted to live the mission and so they would tell you to like take your time off, and that I thought it was a joke. At first I thought I was being pranked by one of like the vps there. He's asking me where I wanted to go this year, and I was like, oh I, oh, I'm good, I'm good, I'm just, I'm just working, um. So that was kind of what started me thinking about. Travel, was like, oh, I can take time off, um, and then from there it was just like find the cheapest flights to wherever I could go. And then I stumbled onto an article in our press clips that we would get each day. That was from a blogger which I kind of mocked because at the time I was used to reading, like the aviation journalist at the wall street journal, and so I was like what does this blogger think?
Speaker 3:they know.
Speaker 1:Um, he actually is super nice guy, friends with him now and he's he's super smart. But, um, I was poking around to site and started to see these things about like credit cards and using the points you earned with the credit cards to fly places, and I was like, oh, okay, um, that's interesting. Um, I never really cared about credit cards until then. And then I saw him posting about like business and first class flights and I was like, oh, I'm six, three, I could use that.
Speaker 1:I'll take like you write it, I'd like the space. So yeah, that's a. That's the long way of saying how I got into all of this how I got into all of this.
Speaker 2:Very nice, you said in your bio that you started helping friends and family, which we've had so many people on the podcast that all start with like, hey, I was just helping friends, I was helping my family members, and then you know their spouse is like, hey, maybe you could actually make some money doing this. Like nudge, nudge. What's your story with helping friends and family and getting into like making it an actual business?
Speaker 1:yeah, I'm somebody who's really intense about the things they like, so I got really excited to share it with everybody who is around me and truly, I moved from like helping friends and family to helping people in Facebook groups within the span of about like three months, of learning about points. I mean, I spent like four hours a night for like six months reading about all the credit card fine print and airline rules for their loyalty programs and as I was doing that, I was just like, oh, I can help with this question, and so I did that in Facebook groups and within about six to nine months, I started writing part-time about this stuff.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, you became the blogger.
Speaker 1:It was real fast Wow.
Speaker 2:The progression came quickly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so that was like part-time writing and then another six months and I moved full-time. Wow, you know, you spend 10 years building a career in one field and then six months after starting a part-time gig, you're just like I'm just gonna leave that behind.
Speaker 2:Was there, um any you know pushback from your partner in any way of like, wait a minute. You've been building your life in politics and now you want to be a blogger and talk about credit card points. I mean, that's a pretty big pivot.
Speaker 3:Also, what year approximately is this? Because, like you were saying, with the blogging was, it sounds like it was a new thing throughout the time period.
Speaker 1:It wasn't, it was, I would say we were kind of in the heyday of what I would call points and miles blogging. Now it's a lot of it shifted to like Instagram and Tik TOK and things like that, youtube even Um, but that was 2016 when I started writing and then by the end of the year, I'd signed on to do full-time writing. Basically, I just had enough freelance that I had to pick one or the other. So, yeah, it worked out well. I'm still here. It's changed. It's changed. It's changed a lot more social media content than before. But, yeah, it's been a fun journey.
Speaker 2:So no pushback then on making this big pivot. Not really, I think that's great.
Speaker 1:My wife at the time girlfriend like saw how excited I was about it, um, and she saw that I was getting opportunities to write and it was enough for me to make a living.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I'm sure she was probably hiding the nervousness.
Speaker 3:So did you have like a writing background in regards to some maybe the courses you?
Speaker 1:I was a poli-sci major, which is mostly just research and writing. So I was pretty well, honestly, like pretty well suited for taking in a lot of information and then trying to make it make sense in a shorter form and understandable.
Speaker 3:Yeah, see, at least your college degree still makes sense.
Speaker 1:When I was in politics, I was like nobody in politics cares if you studied poli, poli sci. They just want you to be an insanely hard worker and passionate and like that's it.
Speaker 2:We don't care if you're an engineer, a lawyer, whatever, just like come do the thing, um, but yeah, this was yeah, and this.
Speaker 1:this felt like the. This actually feels like uh, my degree applies more than it used to. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's get into how to actually utilize points miles. Can you if somebody is listening and I know a lot of people are wanting right to use points and miles, and on our podcast we've talked about the benefits of you know if you can use them responsibly using your credit cards on the things that you would normally spend money on anyways? Right, you are going to buy the diapers anyways, you might as well get some points and miles or whatever for them. Um, so if you can do that responsibly and you're looking to dip your toe into this world, you're more on the luxury side. Where do people get started? What do you?
Speaker 1:suggest it's whether or not you're trying to fly economy business first doesn't matter to me, like the concepts are still the same. You really just want to be lining up your spend with credit cards that have bonus categories where you spend your money. Uh, so if you spend a lot at the grocery store, at the gas station, going out to eat, whatever our flights hell. If you're a small business owner, um, and you're booking yourself flights to go to see clients, whatever, like wherever you're spending the money, just make sure your credit cards match that. Uh, that's just like the very basics, um, so it's, it's uh, it's always a little bit of work upfront, but I think that's like anything else we learn, um, but it's kind of doing those front loading, I guess, will set your set you up for success later, so you don't have to kind of think about it on the fly as much.
Speaker 2:That's one thing that Brandon and I don't do, and I've talked about this on a previous podcast is okay, use this card for gas, use this card for that. Mentally, I don't have the capacity for it. I would literally need to like put a little sticky note and tape it on my card which I know.
Speaker 2:I mean it's like you have to kind of hack your own life in a sense of like use this for dinner, use this for gas, use this for groceries. We're not, we're not doing that and I know we're not maximizing it, but we do like. We had big purchases recently, so we both ordered, ordered, opened new credit cards to get the 75,000 bonus miles, so that when we go to Jamaica for Christmas, boom, there's our flights Right.
Speaker 1:So, we're.
Speaker 2:we're strategic, but I know that we're not maximizing all that there is, so do you have any tips or suggestions on? How to do that without it feeling like this is now what you do for a living, like figuring out which card to use for which points and miles and bonuses what you do for a living, like figuring out which card to use for which points and miles and bonuses.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's. I mean it's a great question. I think what I tell people is there's three kind of basic approaches to points. Um, there's that keep it simple, like one to three cards, you've got the bonus categories that match your spending, and you just never think about it again. Um, a step further, I call it kind of a. It's a hub and supplement model where it's like you build a hub with, like we'll say, four to six cards focused on the bonus category still, but maybe also some benefits, kind of like airport lounge access, and then every so often you'll get a new card, kind of like the way you did. You're like, oh, I have a big purchase, let me get a signup bonus, cause you're never going to earn points faster than when you get a signup bonus. Um, so I think that's I.
Speaker 1:I see a lot of people that start maybe at the keep it simple and then they migrate in to the like let me just do a little bit more, uh, once they kind of have a handle on it. And then there's the maximalist approach, if you get like really obsessed, um, and that's basically like you get a new card, you hit the sign, the minimum spend for the signup bonus, and then you just repeat constantly and you will earn more points than the other two approaches by far, or at least faster. You're going to earn them faster. It's just more tracking. So you have to keep in mind, like, okay, an annual fee is hitting 12 months after I open this card. Now do you want to decide, like, is this a keeper or is it something I'm getting rid of? And so that one you just have to, one you have to mark down on your calendar. Like, okay, this is when this is coming up, is.
Speaker 1:And then you have to think about it, like is this a card I'll keep? Is this a card I'll get rid of? So it's, it's more effort but more reward. And it's again, there's no right way to do this. It's a choose your own adventure game. Uh, the analogy I always use, even though I'm not a golfer I have friends who go to the driving range every week and then they go the putting green and they practice, and they go play on the weekends and they're trying to best their score. And then I have other friends who joined them, who just show up on Saturday and drink beer and like have fun.
Speaker 1:They both have a great time. They are not going to get the same like they're not going to have the same score. The guy who's just drinking beer does not expect to get. What this guy practices every week is getting out of this. But both are having fun and it's just a matter of like how you choose to do that. It's the same thing with points. You kind of choose how much time or even interest you have, so it's there's no pressure. I think that's. The big thing is like this is an addition to your life, not the core.
Speaker 3:That's true I mean we definitely do, I would say some aspects of more than just the basic, because we definitely have, you know, recently downgraded a card that we weren't really using. We kind of you know realizing.
Speaker 2:No, it's on the calendar for october to downgrade well we downgraded one of my cards.
Speaker 3:Oh, you love calendars. Yes, everything's on the calendar and on the spreadsheet we definitely downgraded one of my cards because it was, like you know, the, like you said. The annual fee was coming up and we weren't really going to use it because we were using another card and the benefits for that. So we do have a hybrid approach, but yeah I definitely see where there is a wide variety as far as, like you could be kind of the basic or you could put put the time and effort into really maximize those benefits. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And there's again, like I said, there's nothing wrong with either. I think I started probably in the more maximalist, uh, end of things, not the simple side, just because, again, I'm really intense about what I'm learning, um. But then over time it's like okay, I've kind of set up my system and figured things out, and so I've kind of kind. But then over time it's like okay, I've kind of set up my system and figured things out, and so I've kind of come back into this more like hub and supplement model, where I'm like ah, here and there, I'm not rushed, I've earned a lot of points and I've got things maximized so that I'm continuing to earn points, both from personal spend, business spend. I will say, if you have a small business that spends a decent amount of money on credit cards, that's like the cheat code you open yourself up to business cards in addition to the personal cards. They have different bonus categories that are sometimes more lucrative. I mean, I've had clients who spend $20 million a year on credit cards for the business.
Speaker 1:And it was just like you're just stocked with points all the time. I mean, they don't even have to think about new cards.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 1:So it's like, if you have that, it doesn't even have to be 20 million, but it's just like the idea of like, if you have a lot of spend for your business, why not?
Speaker 2:Um, so, that's one thing that we are looking into for the podcast, because you know we do, it's not 20 million. I'll say that but it is one day right, but it is, you know, it's the subscriptions and the this and the that and the scheduling, I mean it all adds up. And so I did tell Brandon, because he obviously has his own financial planning business too. But I said we need to open a card with whatever really great bonus for the podcast this year, Like that's on the to do list again to maximize, because there's also, like you said, different perks, different bonus offers and even insurance.
Speaker 2:You know different kinds of insurance levels when you put things on the card, which is helpful.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 2:I know that when you're booking through, like the airline portal, that is not the way to get the most out of your points right. If I go to Delta, yes, the bank portal so you can book through.
Speaker 1:like if you have chase ultimate rewards points, you can book through the chase ultimate rewards portal versus transferring your points to an airline. So I always think about it as like portal and transferring.
Speaker 2:So which one is better? The portal, it depends.
Speaker 3:That's my favorite phrase. It depends.
Speaker 1:It's a it's a context thing. I would say if you want to fly business or first class, generally transferring points to an airline partner is your best bet, not always, but most of the time. So let's take chase points, for example. You can transfer them to 10 plus different airlines, as well as Hyatt for hotel stays. Then it becomes a game of arbitrage, like which airline do you transfer to that may allows you to book a flight for the fewest points? Um and so, it's just, it's a game. So chase can transfer to air Canada aeroplan or United mileage Plus.
Speaker 1:They're both in star Alliance. Since they're part of that Alliance, they can book flights within any of those partner airlines. It's the same, same alliance. So those two airlines, like uh, united and Air Canada, can book the many of the same flights. But one has, uh, let's say, an award rate of 60,000 points from I don't know JFK to in New York, to Zurich and Switzerland or something, and that's, you know, 60,000 airplane points. But United is going to require 88,000. It's a really obvious decision when you're transferring points. Now, sometimes it's a smaller difference, but it's it's that. That's where it becomes a game. Um, you have to figure out how these programs work and it's different depending on what route you're flying. All that and that's kind of fun for me, miserable for others.
Speaker 2:I was going to say it's. I don't think it's fun. It's so time consuming.
Speaker 1:It's and that I mean that's why I started the newsletter, is why I post content on Instagram, like I'm trying to make this process a lot easier, cause it's. It's actually kind of fun if you don't have to go through learning all the ins and outs, um, and you have lives. So like, why would you make this a full-time job, like me, if you're not doing it as a full-time?
Speaker 2:job.
Speaker 1:But that's, I think, the real core of what we try to do. There's some variation on like taxes and fees, so you're always going to pay the government taxes or airport fees. Those are the same. But some airlines have what we call carrier-imposed surcharges and those get passed on on award tickets as well. So knowing that if I book with Aeroplane or United they don't pass on the surcharges, so like I only have to pay the taxes, that's a good thing to know if the surcharges are going to be seven, eight, $900 for a one-way ticket.
Speaker 1:Sometimes the surcharges are 200 or 100. So it's not as bad, so it's just again. It's just, the more you do it, you start to become familiar with it. Or the more you read somebody doing it or watch somebody doing it, you just start to go oh okay, I remember that last time. Um, it's, I mean truly everything builds on itself. You just you start with these kinds of foundational things and as you go and learn, like about a different airline program, you start to notice the similarities with the last one and the differences and it just it's not like, oh, I have to learn everything today.
Speaker 3:I feel like you're. I feel like you're in a similar boat to me when it comes to the financial planning aspect, where, like for you, learning all this information is self-serving on two fronts, because obviously you can use it in your own personal life or your own travel, but then also, on the other side, you get paid for actually learning this information.
Speaker 3:We're saying for me you know learning more on all that I can from a financial planning standpoint. We utilize in our personal life when it comes to our own planning, but then also I get paid by doing that for other people. So most people are not going to be able to do what you do and what I do because they have another job that they have to get paid from and that takes up a good bulk of their time. So why not cut that down significantly from a time standpoint in your own life by utilizing professional who knows all the information already?
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure. I mean, I have a quick start guide on my website where it's like here are the, like the basics of the basics. You just have to know these, excuse me, um. And then it's like, okay, I have some points and now, oh, the newsletter will just tell me what dates I have to I can book, and here's the different ways I can book them with the points. And so, oh, I have these points with, like chase or Amex, and this is the best way to use those, those points, for this particular flight. And like that's what I'm here for. It's I'm just trying to kind of move you through the process faster because, again, people are busy, like I think now more than ever, people work insane hours They've on top of having kids, even if you don't have kids, it's insane sometimes. So it's just, yeah, why, why stress out trying to get into the nitty gritty when there's ways to make it easier for yourself?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and also so also the thing is too. Is that like for individuals who are maybe listening, they're like, you know, I just I don't really care about my. You know where I'm sitting on the plane, I just want to get there. Yeah, trust me, once you try yeah, more than economy.
Speaker 3:It changes your viewpoint, because I had that viewpoint and you know I'm six foot three also, so I like space. But I had the same viewpoint. I was like, oh, I can deal with it. Then once I sat in business uh, first class I was like it's hard to go back.
Speaker 2:Don't do it unless you can do it mostly regularly. Because it's hard to go back, don't do it unless you can do it mostly regularly. It's hard to go back.
Speaker 3:We have our set where, like if the flight's going to be a certain time or more, we're like we got to do like at least business, or first you know, just because yeah, it's. I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I was going to say the thing is too is for individuals out there that maybe aspect of their job or they want to move up in their career.
Speaker 1:From a networking standpoint, you'd be surprised who you meet when you're sitting in business class and first class. So true, it's so fascinating. Nothing crazy, it's just like I've. So I also have a luxury travel agency and so I do like hotel bookings, cruises, luxury trains in like europe, and that's those are cash bookings. This is unrelated to points, but flying with points and being able to go to like not just like an airport lounge you get with your credit card, but like maybe a nicer lounge that's only accessible through either status or sometimes just flying in a certain class of service, like I've met people and like gotten new clients.
Speaker 2:It's so silly, right? Yeah, it's a it's.
Speaker 1:I'm there for the flight review and the lounge review, but also to pick up clients. Now it's I mean, it's amazing how that works. Uh, I actually first noticed that before I even got into points like I can't, I was flying home from a campaign, actually, actually, and I just happened to sit. I think I got upgraded to like domestic first class or something, because I just had status from flying quite a bit for work and I sat next to was like a VP from a bank and the person in front of me who heard us talking, was interested in our conversation, was like this prominent journalist and started talking with us. And I'm sitting here, is like I just work on campaigns and I was like, oh my God, you could just like network your way to better and better career opportunities just by sitting up here.
Speaker 2:It's being in the right spaces.
Speaker 3:It's being in the right spaces. I mean we a couple of years ago when, uh, just as former employer, we had the opportunity to go to the U S open and we went strictly with the idea of being in the room to network. That was it we're not golf people and it paid off, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, those the connections in that room.
Speaker 1:I mean that I'm still maintaining to this day, Absolutely I just love the idea of them being like what do you think of that shot on the 17th? And you're like the what? Oh, we're at a match.
Speaker 3:We're completely honest, we were completely honest and no one looked at us weird for like not being golf. People were like, we're all about an experience as well.
Speaker 2:They were all I mean yes, of course, if they're golf people, then they're golf people. But they totally understood like, no, we're here to like network and have a good afternoon and, yeah, have a good time, and that's absolutely I mean that's kind of what it is when you're going to the lounge or flying up front, like it's an experience.
Speaker 1:It's not just like I've flown to asia, flown to europe, sitting in the back of the plane with my knees in my chest, brandon, you know um like but it's it's like okay, I do it, but it's different, that's like you're dreading it.
Speaker 2:That's just a mode of transportation.
Speaker 1:It's a bit like all right, I'm getting on the bus because that's how I get from a to b, it's not. I'm getting you know into this spacious experience where I'm just going to relax and chill and, oh, a glass of champagne, fine, um you know, twist my arm three glasses of champagne, fine, um, but it's I don't know.
Speaker 1:It's a completely different experience and you're right, once you fly up front, it's really hard to go back. My friends joke when they hear me talking to kind of new people. They're like don't listen to him, he will ruin flying for you. Like you'll either go bankrupt or you'll really figure out how to use points like you're going to make this a priority, um, and that's, and that's what it is. For me, it's just a priority. I like I want to fly that way, and so that's why I put the effort in and I'm trying to help others do is do that as much as possible.
Speaker 3:Also, the thing is too, is that you know if you're going to take these trips anyways?
Speaker 1:one. Why not take to try this amazing hotel? Maybe it's a bucket list thing. I know people now because of white Lotus are talking about the four seasons in Koh Samui and it's like it's not a cheap hotel. So it's like if you're, if you get into the points world, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are kind of ruined financially. In fact, to participate in it you need a 700 plus credit score, you need a good income to get the cards you to earn the points.
Speaker 2:You just have to kind of pay the $700 annual fee.
Speaker 1:I mean, yeah, it's like if we're like I let's just be candid it's it's not a game for people who are financially struggling. It's a game, it's an extra like you shouldn't be involved until you've gotten to a place where you're state everything's stable and kind of going well enough and I just like this isn't something I'd like to see people get into if they're worried about hurting their credit or financial well-being. This is it's not worth it. But when you are at a certain point, a lot of people who earn points have the budget to book the flights or to book nice hotels. This just gives you some extra. On the other end, um, so if you have a travel budget, you're like, oh, I can go stay at this really nice hotel. Doesn't mean you do it every time, but maybe you know it's a special trip, um, or you're just somebody really likes, like nice hotels. More power to you.
Speaker 3:That's why I hate. There's one very well-known finance guy who says that credit cards are terrible, that we don't ascribe to. I know who it is.
Speaker 2:His name is Dave Ramsey. I don't know why you don't say his name.
Speaker 1:I was like why are we saying the name? Yeah, I don't know. I was like can we do initials? No, everybody say the name. Yeah, I don't know. I was like can we do initials? No, everybody knows we're talking about dave ramsey. He's blocked friends of mine on twitter for mentioning things to him where he's missed things.
Speaker 3:So the thing is like credit cards and of himself are not bad. It's a matter of if you use them improperly, that's when it's bad because, in all honesty, if you use a credit card the right way, it's great. One from like well, we're at the conversation we're having about benefits, but then also from a protection standpoint, like it's, there's nothing else that can protect you. The same way in regards to spending your money Right.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I've seen people have their debit cards hacked and the amount of hoops they have to desperately jump through quickly to get the money, cause it's already gone it's out of the bank account now and it's literally their money.
Speaker 3:I literally had somebody texting me the other day. That was, like you know, saying like hey, what should I do? Someone hacked into my bank account. I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, it's brutal.
Speaker 1:And so for me it's like I've had people steal any number of my credit card numbers, because it just happens over time, and a lot of the time they just send me a message. When it happens, they're like hey, is this you? Yeah, I'm like no, it's not. And they're like and you say no, and they're like cool, we've canceled your card and we're sending you a new one.
Speaker 1:And I've had cards show up the next day and it's like I've had friends who've had the same thing happen when they're abroad and they send the card to them abroad and they get. It's amazing. This is, I mean it's. I never thought I would love credit cards, but I do. I didn't care about them until I knew about points. Before it was just like okay, I don't spend more than I have, why do I need this like money to spend that I can't pay off? So to me, credit cards have always just been debit cards in a slightly different form.
Speaker 3:That was also how they were kind of put out to people. Like you know, don't get a credit card. That was also how they were kind of put out to people like you know, don't get a credit card.
Speaker 2:It's going to get you in trouble and obviously that narrative has changed.
Speaker 3:You do have to have the discipline. Yeah, of course you do, you do.
Speaker 2:You also have that narrative from like, when you go off to college and you have all those credit card companies sitting there first day orientation, trying to sign new 18-year-olds up for credit cards, knowing that more than likely, Are they still allowed to do that.
Speaker 3:Um, I think things have changed. Yeah, but um, you know we're older, so that was definitely a thing.
Speaker 2:No, yeah, you would go through like the promenade and all of a sudden, like it was, hey, get a free t-shirt, sign up for this credit card. And you had no idea what you were signing up for for every time you went to old navy, you know, or victoria's secret or anywhere. It's like here, sign up for this 30 percent apr credit card. And save 42 cents on this purchase, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So for me I'm I'm interested in credit cards for the protections and then the points and then even some of the benefits um around, like not just lounge access but the uh like an examples the chase uh ink preferred. It's a business card. If you pay your monthly cell phone bill and something happens to your phone, they will cover up to like $800 to help replace it. Obviously there's some like caveats you need to read the terms. But like that's a really nice thing and as someone who just recently broke a phone and had to get a new one, You're like, let me cash that in, please.
Speaker 1:I had the phone for two and a half years. We were on a good run, Even had the case on it. I don't know what happened. Somehow it hit just right and I was like great. But I pay my monthly bill with it every month and so I'll just file the insurance claim. So there's a lot of fun benefits with credit cards, as long as you're handling them responsibly.
Speaker 2:But yeah, yeah, I was telling um Brandon, one of our friends was mentioning that she has rental properties and had to replace, I think, a dryer and she had an extended warranty like an additional year from the manufacturer's warranty because of the business credit card. So again, you know that in itself paid for the annual fee, you know. So, as long as you. I think this is where the spreadsheet helps right when it's like okay, don't miss out on this perk, these benefits, these deadlines, you know things like that, because you do need to make sure that you're getting bare minimum the whatever annual fee that you've spent.
Speaker 2:you want to at least get yourself back to zero right and get that benefit yeah, and it's.
Speaker 1:it's interesting too, like one of the ones I've used in the past is like trip delay, so different cars if you're. You know flights delayed or canceled, say, six or twelve hours is usually the time frame, uh, depending on the card for the delay. Like I use that once, three times in like four months. That's, that's insane and it doesn't usually happen that way, but I mean it's really handy. When I guess one of them was I was at New York, in New York, at JFK, and I remember looking out the window from the lounge, thank you.
Speaker 1:And then I like went to get food and I came back and I couldn't even see the plane in front of me because it was raining so hard, and so they canceled all the flights out of there, out of jfk, that night and I like immediately jumped on my phone, went to maybe the hilton app and like booked a room and there was like there were like two rooms left and this was four hundred dollars because it was two hundred two rooms left or something, and the credit card will cover up to five hundred dollars um of like reasonable expenses including a hotel, hotel room, food, local transportation.
Speaker 1:So even with the $400 hotel room, I was still able to like, squeeze in Uber rides to and from the hotel and get some food at the hotel, and it was all covered after I filed the insurance claim. Meanwhile, if it's a weather delay and you don't book with a credit card or trip delay protection, you're on your own. The airline's going to be like oh sorry, not our fault, and it's not, it's not their fault. I get that, but doesn't mean that it doesn't affect you.
Speaker 2:Right yeah, such an inconvenience, no those are things too. I always forget about trip delay, but it absolutely is something where you can again make that experience that now stinks because you were looking to get home to your family. Maybe you've been traveling for days. You're just like exhausted. Well, it's better to you know. You're in the lounge, you've got a nice meal, you've got some drinks.
Speaker 2:Now you can go to a nice hotel, you know, and and you don't have the added stress of oh, this is going to cost me an arm and a leg, or I wasn't planning for this expense so yeah absolutely worth it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's fun.
Speaker 2:Spencer, for anybody listening and I know you're going to say it depends, but just come on, do me right here Somebody starting out name two of your favorite credit cards for us.
Speaker 1:I like that you gave me the option for two.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I'm being kind you are. It was very nice of you.
Speaker 1:Um, I would say along the lines of like, just keep it simple. Um, the capital one, venture X, is one of my favorites for people who just like, don't want to think about it. Um, it earns two X on basically everything. Um, pretty, I mean everything. But if you use their travel portal so functionally in your day-to-day life, 2x on everything.
Speaker 1:I don't think you should have one point per dollar on anything, and so for me, some card like that should always be a part of your wallet anyway, because I think a lot of us do spend on category or on products that don't fall into a bonus category. Not everything can be bought at the grocery store, so that, to me, is just like a really good base. And the Venture X also comes with some lounge access, so that's nice. And then, man, a second one If you wanted to get we'll say deeper into the points there's this kind of saying we have to just start with Chase. Chase has some restrictive rules on which cards you can get after you've gotten so many. So getting what you can from Chase at the beginning is a good idea. So, like the Chase, sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve are good options, especially if you go out to eat and travel a decent bit.
Speaker 2:Very nice.
Speaker 3:We have both of those cards.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:The Chase and the Capital One. There you go. See, you guys are already on your way.
Speaker 2:Well, because again I can't mentally be like which card to use for which transaction. So the two times points is great. Now we do look at you know those bonus kind of categories, or every you know month they kind of change. Like I ordered flowers for somebody last month and on a Capital One it was like 20 times the points. So, yeah, I went with that flower vendor so I got 20 times the points on the $100 flowers that I bought. That just I mean, we're definitely doing things like that, yeah, so like Capital One has the Capital One offers, where you can get those bonuses.
Speaker 2:Very easy.
Speaker 1:Chase and Amex have their own offer section. Those are typically discounts. Sometimes Amex does bonus points. Yeah, there's all kinds of things, shopping portals you can go through. Um, so yeah it's similar, so so chase, with the ultimate rewards uh program, has a portal for shopping there. Amex doesn't have a shopping portal but if you have an Amex membership rewards card you can link it to Rakuten If you know that shopping portal and you can link it to Rakuten if you know that shopping portal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you can choose to be paid in Amex membership rewards points instead of cash back. So basically, if you see 3% cash back and it's basically three points per dollar instead of 3%.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just saw somebody else post about that who had over 400,000 Amex points because of them shopping on. Rakuten Again something we're not tapping into, but probably should.
Speaker 1:I'll add it to my list we've been using our amx so yeah, yeah you know, what's really interesting about that one to me is people love shopping portals and I know they earn so many points from them. I just don't shop a lot and so yeah, for me. I'm always like it's just not that big a deal to me, um, but when you do actually have to make a big purchase and it's like, oh, 5x or 10x or, if you get it lucky, a 15x like promo and just wait till your kids get older.
Speaker 3:That's the moment, yeah, it's, your child gets older, more and more.
Speaker 1:Oh no yeah, yeah, I actually know I have friends who they buy a lot of stuff on amazon for like baby products or whatever, and so they have like a credit card that earns 4X at the grocery store and so they'll buy Amazon gift cards for 4X points at the grocery store and just load up their Amazon account knowing that they have to spend it because they would otherwise earn 2X on Amazon. So they're just like, let me just double the points I'm getting paying for all these kids.
Speaker 3:Maybe we need to tap into everything on.
Speaker 2:Amazon we do.
Speaker 1:It's so funny, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's do a little bit of a rapid fire, because we know that you've taken some incredible trips and flights and lounge experiences. So I want to you know, live vicariously through you. Let's start simple aisle or window seat for you. Both If you're flying up front, you can have both. Okay, we haven't flown that far up front yet.
Speaker 1:Clearly you can if you fly business on an international flight? Yeah, it's just they usually do like one two, one seating arrangement.
Speaker 2:So as long as you're in that one, you gotta you get both, you get both or if you're in a very tiny plane or if you're very, that's not the luxury I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just fly overseas, find those long haul flights. Yeah, because how can you turn down a window?
Speaker 3:I know you just need space.
Speaker 2:Always turn down the window, okay yeah he always picks the aisle, but do you?
Speaker 1:yeah, I guess if you're sitting next to somebody, I definitely get that. It's when you're on your own, though, and there's nobody to crawl over, um yeah, pick the window it's like, then it's nice you're on your own, got a little privacy yeah I'm somebody who, like this is where I'm just like a plane nerd, is like I'll just watch the engine while I'm like looking out the window, like that's what fascinates me.
Speaker 3:I can say 100%. I've never done that either.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just you have to think about like man. You're actually up here all because of the you know.
Speaker 2:Matt. No, yeah, I love that. You're like nerding out about that.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I love planes. I'm that person, I'm that person.
Speaker 2:So what has been your most luxurious flight and where were you going?
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a good question. I don't. I'm trying to think which one maybe Singapore Suites Singapore Airlines has on their A380. It's a double-decker plane. For those who are unfamiliar. I really like their first class. It's huge, like you have a seat plus a separate bed. Your seat can rotate around. It's pretty cool. I've got a fun like if anybody saw Austin Powers back in the day, like Dr Evil, like video of me turning around in the chair. It's pretty great. But the crews are just so nice, like they're so good at what they do. They serve really nice champagne. They have great food. I mean, what's not to like?
Speaker 1:So that was a flight from Sydney Sydney, yeah, sydney to Singapore, and I did a stopover as part of the award ticket, and then it included another flight, same class of service, to Hong Kong a few days later, so got to see a couple cities out of it.
Speaker 1:That was awesome, but I've had a ton of like. Truly, I've been so fortunate to have just tried most of the fun products out there Um, it's, uh, it's. I'm not going to be mad about flying any of them, but that was a special one, very nice. What is your favorite lounge and where is it located? That's a great question. I don't know if I have a favorite one. No, I think personally, it's called the pier.
Speaker 1:It's in Hong Kong's airport for Cathay Pacific first class. I don't know. There's just something about it that's. I've been to it a number of times. It's just a special restaurant, you know, it's a whole thing. You can look at planes from, um, from the seating area. They also have little nap pods or like nap rooms where, again, you can watch planes. Um, notice the trend tarmac views are the best. If you have a lounge, you want to be able to see the planes take off and land, stuff like that. Um, but yeah, I'll give us an honorable mention to uh, swiss, uh uh. In Zurich they have the business and first class lounge, have a terrace where you can stand outside, um, and just like watch planes land and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:And it's you know it's like it's just.
Speaker 1:it's a beautiful place too, you know, I think Switzerland is nice.
Speaker 3:That's how Atlanta's airport is as well. The one lounge we were in has a terrace.
Speaker 1:You can go out down, oh the centurion.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, they do have a terrace, you can go out atlanta in the summer is just different.
Speaker 1:It's where my dad's family's from, so it's like it's not as easy to be like. Ah, enjoy this like nice breeze and it's like, oh, it's 105 85 humidity. You walked outside and immediately were sweating.
Speaker 2:So that's not the same.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it in the middle of the summertime.
Speaker 2:Out of the non like luxury airlines for people who are, you know, doing the Deltas United's Americans. Do you have a favorite amongst kind of the standard?
Speaker 1:domestically. I like Alaska Airlines, even though I'm on the East Coast. I've had good experience with them.
Speaker 2:Wait. Who do they partner with what? What partner?
Speaker 1:Their alliance is One World. That's a more recent development. Um, so American airlines is a partner of theirs? Um, but yeah, they're. I've, I've enjoyed them when I'm flying out in the West coast or to the West coast. Um, yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 2:Tell us, too, about you. Have a complimentary portion of your newsletter and a upgraded paid version.
Speaker 1:What do?
Speaker 2:you get in each for those listening who are? Like, let Spencer do the work for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the basics of this all started around me sending out award space for business and first class flights on international routes. Specifically two or more seats, because those are the hardest to find. Specifically two or more seats, because those are the those are the hardest to find. Um, business in first class can be tough to find for one person, but two, four, six, when you start getting into families, um, that's where it's really tough. So I'm always looking for multiple seats.
Speaker 1:Um, so I basically send out the exact dates you can book, the different programs you can use to book and how many points each requires the taxes and fees you'll have to pay.
Speaker 1:And then I do have a section where I break down and explain, like, why you would use one program to book versus another.
Speaker 1:Um, like I was mentioning, you can book similar flights if you are um with like air Canada or United's programs and just kind of, hey, if you have these points transferred to air Canada, but if you have this, uh, if you're flying from this airport and you have these points transferred, united stuff, like that, I'm just kind of removing the thought process for you and just saying just follow these steps.
Speaker 1:Um, cause it's and it's different because, uh, you know you'll have times where Amex or chase will run a transfer bonus to one of their partners, and so one program could be the best option this time. And then a transfer bonus to one of their partners, and so one program could be the best option this time, and then a transfer bonus pops up and now it's another program. So it's just a lot to keep up with. So I try to just explain that as simply as possible. Um, those, that kind of explanation. You know the number of points, the taxes and fees, the different uh banks you can transfer points from and the exact dates. Those are like pay, that's the paid version.
Speaker 1:That's the premium version, so the free version and the paid version both get kind of a quick like here's how to search for the award space. They get uh kind of a rundown of what the flight will be like, but the free version only gets like the date range. So I'll tell you it's like January to June of 2025. Um, I'm not going to lay out all the dates for you and and I'll tell you what airline, what airline it is and what routes you can fly and how many seats you can find, um, and then after that it's kind of up to you to decide how you want to use your points and find the space and um, yeah, so it's. It's for people who are really really good at it and don't need the information, but I also send it out like 72 hours or more later. So if you're okay missing things, that's also up to you.
Speaker 2:So if you want it early and want details, you've got to go paid. If you're okay with just kind of like the general information.
Speaker 1:You can stick with the complimentary I think that's totally fair because, like you said, it's so much work that you're putting into doing these searches and teeing everything up and really making it brainless.
Speaker 2:Right, you can look at everything and then go book. I mean that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I have a few friends on the list who say that I idiot. Proof it for them yeah that's amazing. Like that's a little strong, but I do try to make it just a less time intensive and energy intensive process. Um, I like to say it's a premium product, then yeah, it's only $99 a year, so it's like I say it's 27 cents a day. Um, it's, it's really not that bad. Um, I still want it to be accessible. I'm not trying to like prevent people from getting this, Um, so yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:People from getting this, Um, so yeah, that's amazing. If you had one piece of advice for our audience listening who they want to get started, maybe they want to like level up a little bit from where they are what would you say?
Speaker 1:Just dedicate like I don't know, an hour a week, even just to start. If you've got 30 minutes a day, just like read um blog posts or I mean, you don't need to go into the actual airline programs Like I did. Um, I post content on Instagram at straight to the points. If you want to like see things there, you can also look for a lot of. There's a lot of different blogs that cover the basics. Um, don't be afraid to ask questions. That was a big thing. So I asked. I answer a lot of questions. People DM me questions all the time on Instagram and you know I'm there to try to help as much as I can.
Speaker 3:People make your life simple. Just the $99 for the year yeah, subscribe to my newsletter. Yes.
Speaker 2:We'll put that in the show notes, of course, so that we can, you know, help you get the, the take the guesswork out of it and let Spencer do all the hard work. So thank you so much for being with us. We want people to enjoy life and the fruits of their hard labor and for us, travel is always number one on the list and exploring new places, new cities, new countries, and now we're starting to do that with our families. So definitely need to start looking into those multiple seat situations. Like you said, it is hard to find. So we'll be, you know, utilizing your newsletter as well. But thank you for doing all the hard work for us and for you know, making it accessible and approachable and taking kind of the intimidation factor out of it. You talk about it so casually and so easily. I think that that's very helpful for people who are feeling like it's intimidating. So thank you for the work that you're doing, Spencer.
Speaker 1:Thank you guys for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Don't forget. Benjamin Franklin said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest you just got paid. Until next time. Thanks for listening to today's episode.
Speaker 2:We are so glad to have you as part of our sugar daddy community. If you learned something today, please remember to subscribe, rate, review and share this episode with your friends, family and extended network. Don't forget to connect with us on social media. At the sugar daddy podcast, you can also email us your questions you want us to answer for our past the sugar segments at the sugar daddy podcast at gmailcom or leave us a voicemail through our Instagram.
Speaker 3:Our content is intended to be used, and must be used, for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment based upon your own personal circumstances. You should take independent financial advice from a licensed professional in connection with or independently research and verify any information you find in our podcast and wish to rely upon, whether for the purpose of making an investment decision or otherwise.
