New year, new you, new travel card strategy? With the help of an extra special guest - TT co-founder Nick Serati - the guys answer the age-old question: What’s in our wallets? They tackle rising annual fees, Bilt’s botched rollout, and other travel credit card trends shaping the year ahead. Plus, Gunnar recaps a romantic hot air balloon ride and the guys help a listener plan a card strategy around taking two trips to Europe with her best friend.
New year, new you, new travel card strategy? With the help of an extra special guest - TT co-founder Nick Serati - the guys answer the age-old question: What’s in our wallets? They tackle rising annual fees, Bilt’s botched rollout, and other travel credit card trends shaping the year ahead. Plus, Gunnar recaps a romantic hot air balloon ride and the guys help a listener plan a card strategy around taking two trips to Europe with her best friend.
00:00 - What’s our “desert island” card - the last one we’d give up?
02:13 - A special shout out from a hot air balloon near Mexico City
04:45 - What’s in our wallets?
23:15 - Something cold: Annual fees are going up
28:15 - Something colder: Bilt fumbles its 2.0 rollout
39:03 - A word from our sponsor: CardPilot, the best way to pick a credit card
40:00 - What cards should you get in 2026?
48:00 - Listener Question: Cards for Eurotrips
51:20 - The perfect 2-card combo
52:20 - On the Spot: Our physical wallets
Produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas
Video editing by Kyle Thomas
Show music: “All That” by Benjamin Tissot
Yo, welcome to the show. I'm Gunnar, that's Kyle, as always. And you know we're doing a credit cards episode 'cause Nick Serati is here, co-founder of Thrifty Traveler. Nick, welcome to the show. Thanks, guys. Excited to be here. So we're gonna do a big roundup of all the points you should be earning and all the credit cards you should open in 2026.
But very quick to start out, I wanna hear from each of you and Nick, we'll start with you. What's the last card that you'd let go and why? Uh, I would. I would've to say the Venture X card. It, uh, the value proposition is just too good and too easy at the, at the current annual fee of 3 95, it earns a lot of my three x, or I'm sorry, my two x spend on, on things that otherwise wouldn't earn a bonus.
And, uh, every year you renew the card, you get that 10,000 mile anniversary bonus. The math is just, it just works out and it doesn't require a lot of effort. So. Until things change. I think that's the last one I'd let go, Kyle. Is it the last one we would let go, or the last card that I actually let go of?
No, no, no. The last one you would let go. So, you know, the, your Desert Island card, I need so many more important things than a credit card on a desert island. Um, it, you know, honestly, it probably would be either the Venture X, which my wife has and I'm an authorized user on, or the Capital One Venture Card, um, more than ever.
I'm just so high on the Capital One. Mileage program. Um, there are so many reasons why it stands out to me, even though it doesn't have, you know, the Hyatt that people love Chase Ultimate rewards for, for example. But yeah, there's just so much to love about Capital One miles. The versatility is just unmatched.
Yeah, I'm right there with you guys on the Venture X. That was gonna be my answer too. I was worried this would happen, that all three of us would go this direction, but we've got more on the Venture X. A little later in the show. So today we're examining what credit cards and points you should get in 2026.
We're starting with a review of what's in our wallets right now, and then looking at what's most exciting in travel rewards, credit cards in 2026, all that and more.
Alright. Introducing the show this week was Rustin from a hot air balloon in Mexico City. Thank you so much for sending us your unreal video. Over the pyramids of Tete Wacon, you've officially set the standard. If you want us to feature your video on the next episode, upload it to thrifty traveler.com/voicemail.
Have either of you ever done that? Hot air ballooning expedition before. Not in, not in around Mexico City. I've done it in Turkey, but this rust didn't set the bar real high. Yeah. What makes the rest of us who have uploaded our own videos look like, uh, amateurs. Honestly, that video was a bit triggering for me because I did that exact expedition in Mexico City in a hot air balloon.
Is that where you pooped your pants? I did not poop my pants on that expedition. Thanks for asking. Um, we were in a group of six of us. It was three couples and the balloon holds 10. So there were two other random couples, and so they're like, it has to be five and five in each basket. And so I was like, you know what guys?
I'll go to the other side of the basket. So I'm with these two other random couples. We're, we're high above the pyramids at like, you know, six in the morning. It's beautiful out. It was just an awesome experience and I, it's really tight quarters, like you're kind of right in nestling with everybody. And I look over and the two other couples in my basket are just making out like so aggressively and I'm just, I'm touching, you know, I'm in there with them just in the mix touching them.
I'm looking over to the other side where my wife is and I'm like, can anyone see what I'm going through over here? Can anyone come kiss me? I just wanna kiss and this hot air balloon. Um, so that was, that was a really sad, sad morning for me. My wife and I separated by the flame of the basket, and these two random couples suck in face right next to me.
It was, it was a tough experience. Why do you hate romance? I don't hate romance. I was just very jealous at the time. Just to be clear, if, if you're just listening and not watching on video, Rustin not making out with anybody. Over at TOT Walk on. No, Rustin had it right. Rustin looked like he was having the morning of his life, so that was awesome.
Thank you Rustin. Um, a quick note. A a lot of you have found the show as we've started the new year, so welcome, uh, we're really happy to have you buckle up for some more unhinged content as the year goes on here. Um, if you are somehow enjoying all of this, please let us know. Uh, give us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts and write a review too.
It helps other travelers find the show and get exposed to all of our best insights and deals. And I'll make you a deal. Go ahead and roast me in your review. All right. Incorporate some fun airport codes, share a red hot travel take. Everything is fair game. We'll pick the best, funniest, and perhaps if you roast me meanest, uh, reviews and we'll read it aloud on next week's show.
Does that sound good with you? Yeah. All right. Okay guys, in this episode we wanna break down the credit cards and travel rewards landscape for 2026 to tell you what points you should be earning and what cards will help you get there. But first, we thought it would be fun to do a little what's in our wallet segment so you can see what we're working with.
A few assumptions. Uh, we're not working on any spending bonuses in this exercise, so this is simply what I'm calling a peace time credit card strategy. This is just what you're doing with your everyday spend. Sound good. Peace Time. Peace time. Yeah. Peace in our time. Um, that means when you're working on a welcome bonus, it's war, I guess.
Uh, we're, we're gonna break this down into our starters. Those are gonna be the cards we use and swipe all the time, our backups, the cards that have uses, but maybe don't get most of our spend. Our bench cards are the ones that we hold just for the benefits and then some cuts if we have anything on the horizon that we're looking to get rid of.
Nick, I'm gonna start with you. What are your starters? Yeah, let's do it. So. I already mentioned the, the Venture X. That is definitely one of my starters. Uh, I have a lot of, a lot of spend that I would say otherwise wouldn't earn a bonus. So the two x is really appealing to me, so, uh. My 1-year-old daughter, uh, is in daycare.
Daycare allows us to pay with a card. So that essentially Venture X is, is the workhorse there. I earn two x on all of that spend, which un unfortunately is, is, is a lot. Um, and the other one, the other big one, you know, you ask us to pick two. The other big one is the Amex Gold card. Uh, it earns all of my.
Dining and grocery spend. Uh, with a family of five. We spend a lot on groceries. So that's all at four x. Um, there are others, but I would say that those two cards earn the vast majority of my, my daily spend. Nice. That's the Capital One Venture X card. And the Gold Card from American or is it the American Express Gold Card or the Gold Card from American Express?
The American Express Gold Card. Okay. Get it right or they will sue you? They will, they will, they will come after you. Swing the hammer down, Kyle. Uh, not to be a broken record, but those are the two that I use most frequently day in and day out too, for the exact same reasons. I mean, I would reverse them. I would say the vast majority of my spend is either on groceries or restaurants.
So that's the Amex Gold is a card that I use literally daily. Um, and then for, you know, a lot of the other things, if it's not a flight or a specific hotel with a specific chain where I have a reason that day, that time to use. A different hotel card. The Capital One Venture Card or the Venture X just gets so much of the money that we spend to earn two x points on everything and to earn miles that we really, truly care about and just can't seem to have enough of.
Yeah, the Capital One Venture X is also in my starting lineup for all the many reasons you all explained. I also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred in there. It's such a cheap card and it still earns really well three x on, uh, groceries and dining, and I use a. All the time if we're not using my wife's Amex gold, that is, so a lot of overlap here on our starters.
Let's move to our backups, Nick, your cards that have uses but maybe don't get most or all of your spend. Yeah, so I'm gonna start with the Delta Sky Miles gold card. Um, that is in my wallet. I, I've had the reserve, the delta reserve, and I've had the platinum. Uh, as I've just more or less given up on the quest for Delta status and, and become a free agent.
Uh, I've worked my way down the Delta card food chain. Um, but it's a card that I think is still really important to have in your wallet, especially if you are a hub captive like the three of us are here in, in Minneapolis, uh, for a couple reasons. One, um. You're still gonna get free check bags for you and up to eight people on your reservation.
So I have a family of five. We travel and when we do, we more, we're always checking bags with, with young kids. So that's a huge part of it for me. And then the second piece of it is, anytime I'm booking a Sky Miles award ticket, uh, the gold cards still gets you access to the. The Delta Takeoff 15, which gets you 15% off of award tickets.
So it's, it's kind of a no brainer. It earns almost none of my spend. Um, but it's the car that I'll probably keep until, until something changes. Uh, then the other option, I know this is one of your starters Gunner, but I've got the Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of my, my backups. Um, it doesn't earn a lot of my spend, but, uh, I was in New York City this past weekend.
Uh, we ended up taking quite a few Lyft rides and so that was a good example of right now, I think through 2027, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve card earns five x per, uh, per dollar you spend on Lyft. And then if you link your built rewards account, you can earn two x on built. So essentially you're earning seven X on Lyft rides of, of some of the most valuable points out there.
So, um, I don't spend a lot on the, on the Sapphire Preferred, but it, it. I did this trip. So it's a, it's a good one that I keep in the rotation. Very nice. Kyle, your backups? Uh, you know, I, I mentioned before, very specific hotel chains for specific bookings. The hotel chain that I would say we're most loyal to in, in my family is Hilton.
So the Hilton, a buyer card earning what, 14 x on Hilton reservations. Uh, and, you know, with some accelerators and occasional promos, that can go a lot higher. So that is a, is a no brainer for me to use. In those situations where I'm booking a single night hotel stay or, or part of a special trip. And, and then the other one is, um, I'm gonna cheat it.
There, there is no such thing as peace time. You're always at war trying to earn more points. So there always is, or generally is some card that I'm trying to work towards a bonus on. Very infrequently. Would that not be a piece of my strategy? You know, I think for a lot of people listening to this, it should be, um, whether it's, you know, you're opening two cards a year and they have a six month window to hit that, you know, four to eight to $12,000 spending requirement.
Those are things you gotta think about. And I do think you gotta keep those in mind. And especially if it's a big bonus that's gonna earn you a ton of points that should really be at the top of your wallet, even if there is a card that's gonna earn you four x on groceries at your restaurant, because, you know, if you.
Get $200 closer to earning a big bonus that is worth a lot more, that is worth more of your time and attention than just earning, you know, 800 points on a big dinner. You're gonna get much closer to earning that big bonus. Yeah. Well, thanks for following the rules of my game in good faith, and I'm your boss, so make it up, live with it, make it up as you go.
Um. My backups, uh, the platinum card from American Express. Uh, I use this for all of the credits that we get, the very long book of credits. Um, that last time we all got on a pod and talked was when that card was revamped. I also use it on all airfare. Um. The Chase Inc. Business Cash card is also one of my backups.
Um, phone and five earning five x on phone and internet, which is very handy at home. Uh, and then two x on gas. I just use it there. I just like to have a good inflow of Chase Ultimate rewards at all times. So the CSP and my Chase Inc card kind of do that just on everyday spend for me. Alright, let's go down to the bench.
The credit cards we hold just for the benefits, Nick. Yeah, so Gunner, you had the, the Amex Platinum as one of your backups. I've got this on the bench. Um, I am the same way I, this card earns spend just to take advantage of all the, all the benefits and credits that it provides, and then also on airfare.
But, uh, there's rarely a time that I spend on this card if it's not tied specifically to a credit or. Some, you know, even Amex offers, uh, the Platinum card gets a lot of those. So if you're not familiar with those, uh, they're essentially digital coupons that you can attach to your card and then when you spend, you get money or points back.
Um, the Platinum Card seems to get the best of the best of those. And so that's another situation where I might use it. Uh, the other one on my bench list is the Alaska Atmos Summit card. So this is the new, uh, I would say mid-tier premium card that Alaska rolled out, uh, last summer, uh, $395 annual fee. I, I essentially opened this card for the, for the a hundred thousand point Alaska miles bonus that is currently not available.
I think it's at 80,000 points right now. Um. But I am, I'm kind of thinking about what I'm gonna do with this card when the annual fee comes due. I think one of the really interesting benefits on this card. Is it earns three x points per dollar spent on all foreign transactions, uh, which is a really interesting benefit and something that is not on any other card to my knowledge.
Um, I have a lot of international travel coming up this year, and this is probably gonna earn the vast majority of my spending, uh, abroad. Uh, so I think it's a really interesting benefit. And, but outside of the welcome bonus that I've already hit, it's just been sitting, kind of sitting in a sock drawer waiting for its time to shine.
Uh, when we, when we head abroad next month. Nice. Kyle, your bench bench. Also the Amex Platinum with an important caveat that it's kind of flirting with a backup versus the bench in part because against what I would hope I have this credit card number memorized, so for those times when I'm like, I don't have my wallet with me, do I really wanna walk downstairs or do I, I don't want to ask my wife to send me a picture of a credit card or whatever.
I'm like, okay, I guess this is gonna do it on top of. All of the credits, I mean. Amex, Amex did it guys, much to our chagrin, they made this card really have to become a backup card because you use it so frequently. It forced me to memorize that credit card number. I mean, like I am a perfect exhibit A of how Amex wins by doing these things and playing these games and making us play these games.
So. Yeah. Congrats guys. My wife has a Delta Sky Miles reserve card that she has memorized and to, much to my chagrin as well, she puts so much on it just because it's the card that she has in her brain. Yep. I'm like, please, please memorize a different card. Any other card. I, I have my Amex platinum card memorized.
I have my Sky miles number memorized. Couldn't tell you how old I am today. So, you know, I just have important knowledge up here. Uh, you guys, sorry, you guys need to, to get with the times here. Uh. So I end up using my Venture X in those situations a lot because if you open the Capital One app and push a single button, it'll generate a virtual card number for you, and it's tied to your actual card, and then you don't actually need to remember the number.
It's, it's like convenient to a point where I'm willing to do that instead of like, go get the card that would earn the most points. It's like, all right, you got me Capital One. But Capital One, just generally speaking, their, their IT and their technology is really good. And the virtual card number thing is, is really cool and I use it all the time.
I like that round out your bench. Uh, other second card on the bench is the Delta SkyMiles Gold. For all the reasons Nick listed free bags though, I would say, you know, for my wife and I, we rarely check bags, but it does come in handy. We have, at the very least, recoup that annual feed just on bags alone each year.
And at the biggest thing is just the takeoff. 15, 15%. Off discount when redeeming sky miles on any and all Delta operated flights. They have also turned that into a must have for Delta hub captives, like the three of us. I, I never spend on that card unless if I'm redeeming a credit like the Delta. Stays hotel credit, a hundred dollars on that card.
That combined with free bags just makes it so easy and both for free bags and those, uh, take off 15 discount. There is no requirement to actually charge whatever balance you're charging for at Delta for a flight to your Delta Sky Miles card. You don't have to. You just get those benefits regardless.
Nice. Yeah, I, a lot of the same themes for me. Um, my bench is just all my co-branded credit cards. Uh, I have a skymile platinum card, um, and I hold just that one tier higher just because that companion pass. I always get good value outta that 'cause someone's getting married in some very inconvenient place that I need to get there.
Um, same thing with, uh, Hyatt and Hilton Cards. I hold those just for those free nights, more or less. Um, and then I even hold a, an AA card, the lowest level AA card just for the free bag there. So that's a, you know, a few hundred dollars in annual fees every year. But I find that, especially traveling with tons of baggage now with, uh, an infant, um, I'm using all these things like crazy.
So. Okay. Let's get down to the tough part guys. Who are you cutting from the roster this year? Yeah, this was a tough one, gunner. 'cause you said, uh, one card. Max and I, I will be the first to admit, I have a lot of cleanup to do this year. I've got a lot of, uh, higher annual fee cards that were opened for a specific reason.
Probably a big bonus last year. Uh, and I've got a lot of of things to clean up. And I would say the top of my list at this moment is the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, which I. Opened this summer. Um, I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Reserve. I was not eligible to earn the bonus on the reserve, so I did a, I did a product change from the No annual Fee Chase Freedom Card and upgraded to the Reserve.
Um, one because it's my job to cover these cards and understand them. And two, because I felt like I could, I could recoup the value, um, which. Uh, to be fair, I have done, but I will say that that card is a huge pain in the butt and a lot of the, the credits and the value proposition that the card provides now with the, the new $795 annual fee, it's just not for me.
Um, you know, I think the, the DoorDash credits, the lift credits, the, it's a lot of monthly check-ins and like, you use the DoorDash credit, but it's like, did I really get value outta that or am I just using this to use it? And I think, uh, for, for the vast majority of the year, it's been the latter for me.
Um, and I have the platinum card, which, you know, I, in my opinion, has a much better hotel credit, which is a big part of the, the Sapphire Reserve value proposition. So one thing I will mention though is, uh, a couple of weeks ago, maybe about a month ago, report started surfacing that Chase's offering, uh, retention offer bonuses on the cha, the Chase Phi reserve of $400.
So people are calling to cancel their card. And Chase is saying, Hey, we'll give you $400 to keep it open. So if that is still around when I need to close this card out this summer, it probably changes the equation a little bit. But assuming that there's no retention offer for me, I think that card's gone.
I just never travel through airports that have a Chase Sapphire lounge. And if I did, that would probably change the math a little bit for me. But at this moment, that's number one on my list. You are using our podcast, uh, as a platform to fluff up your retention offers a little more like, Hey Chase, if you wanna keep a high profile guy like me around.
I don't know that four hundred's gonna cut it. Maybe five. Maybe five. Kyle, yours. I just wanna point out, you know, we've talked a lot about the spreadsheets that we've built to help people track this stuff, and I do really think that they are one of, if not the best tools to stay on top of these increasingly expensive, hard to use credits.
But man, I vividly remember building out the sheet for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card and finishing it and looking at the list of 130 rows of data saying. Oh my God, this is the most annoying credit card in the world. It's not even close. It's crazy how many things there are on that card to keep track of, which to Nick's point, it's time is money too.
And you gotta figure out whether it's worth the amount of time and it takes so much time to keep tabs on that card in particular. I think too, you know, when you look at the American Express Platinum Refresh, did they add any credits that were. Quote unquote monthly that you had to deal with. I think everything is half year or quarterly and so much easier to deal with and come up with a plan on how to use it.
And I think Chase just missed the mark with that entirely. There. There are what? The DoorDash, which is split into two grocery delivery and one takeout delivery. Yep. So there are three a month Indoor. It's just, come on guys. Enough is enough. Um, ironically, the, the card that's on my cut list is the Amex business Platinum.
Um, I, I think the three of us agree that the. The personal Platinum Card is better than it was a year ago. I think the opposite is true with the Business Platinum Card. I think that card has gotten significantly worse. Um, they changed the Dell credits, which were annoying, but relatively easy to use. In the past, you would get $200 twice a year, so.
Every six, six months, I would order some Google Home device, which is nice to have, not a need to have, but they have replaced that with one credit, which doesn't go as far a bunch of business service credits that I can't really use. But I think most importantly, they nuke to that card's most important benefit, which prior to this changeover in mid-September of 2025, you would get 35% off points bookings for any premium cabin flight using booking through Amex travel.
And, uh, any economy redemption on your airline of choice. And now that one airline of choice is what dominates the entire system no matter which cabin you're booking. So before it was a great option if you found a reasonable premium economy, business class, or first class fair to be able to book with points, um, and have it be treated as if you just booked it with cash, which is a win-win.
And now that just doesn't go nearly as far. So that, that for me says I'm going to use up. Every single credit that I can in the calendar year of 2026, and when that annual fee comes due, I'm gonna get rid of it. Yep. Smart. Okay. Mine's the, uh, Delta Sky Miles reserve card, which I signed up for last year, just for the bonus.
And, uh, I thought I could maybe get a little more out of it. And then I realized that spending to Delta status is still just way outta reach for me. And so I don't really have a use for this card. The Platinum Card gives me everything I need in the Sky Miles portfolio. So goodbye sky miles reserve card, good, thick, healthy wallets.
From all of us, and I think some good cuts in the new year as well. How do we feel about our rosters? Yeah, I feel good. I, the, the business platinum card is also on my cut list and I figured that was gonna be Kyle, so I went, I went a different angle, but, uh, yeah, just last night, in fact I was, I was going through my, my annual fee renews in February, so I'm just trying to get everything out of it I can, and I did burn up the Dell credit on something I definitely don't need, and, uh, was able to use the, the new, uh, hotel credit on that card, which previously did not have a hotel credit.
That was probably the one, the one part of the update when they made that to the business Platinum Card that I think was positive. Uh, is they added the, the fine hotels and resorts, $300, uh, credit twice a year. Uh, so I was able to use at least the first half of that. So feeling good about dumping it and, and getting what I could out of it.
Very good. Okay, let's look a little bit more big picture in something hot and something cold. And this week we're actually gonna start with something cold. Uh, something that we've noticed and something that we're. Kind of projecting forward is that credit card, annual fees are going up across the board.
Um, I think, you know, uh, $150 is the new $95 is the way that you put it to me the other day, Kyle. And did I say that? Yeah, I think you did. Oh, that's good. Yeah, it is good. Right. Good job, Kyle. And then I would say. $895 is the new $695. Right. If we're thinking about it in terms of the platinum card from American Express.
So here's a question I'll pose to you. I guess I'll, I'll send it to you first. Nick. Is a fee hike on your favorite card just inevitable at this point? Yeah, I mean, I, I think it is, when you look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred, uh, $95, that's, that's the price it's been since that card launched in 2011. Uh, you know, the, the Sapphire Reserve was refreshed over the summer.
That card has went from five 50 up to 7 95. So when you think about the delta in between those two, now it's $700. That's a, that's a lot. There's nothing in between there. So, you know, I think the, there was some rumors circulating last fall that the, the Sapphire preferred annual fee was, was gonna increase this year.
I haven't really seen much movement on that, but I think it's. It's inevitable it's gonna happen. They're probably gonna add a couple of coupon, e statement credit type things to the card to, to justify it. But I think the days of the $95 fee sapphire preferred are gone. And then I would also say, just looking at the, the Venture X at 3 95, which you know, really is competing in that premium card space.
Um, I wrote a story on this like two years ago now that was like this, the, a fee hike on the, the Venture X is inevitable. And I've, I'm happy to be wrong about this. Um, I think, you know. Looking at that card and what it provides, they could, they could increase the annual fee. I, I don't wanna give you any ideas here, capital One, but they could increase the annual fee on that card by a hundred dollars and it would still be the cheapest premium card by far.
So I feel like they have some wiggle room to do that. Um, whether or not they do it is, is another thing, but I think every, every card in the history of, of premium travel cards has increased the annual fee multiple times. Venture X launched in 2021 and it hasn't done that yet, but I think it, it's gonna have to at some point.
Yeah. It's, it's only a matter of time. Uh, Nick, you, you weren't wrong. You were maybe just a little early about what's gonna happen with the Venture X and let's be clear, we don't know whether this is gonna happen, but I think to Nick's point, like we talked about a few weeks ago on the show, they have so much room to push up that annual fee and still keep it simple.
Still keep what? What people love about that card. Learn some lessons for where I think we all agree that Chase went wrong with how it revamped the Sapphire Reserve card and not leaning so hard into tons of different, use them or lose them benefits. But yeah, I mean going from 3 95 to even four 50, $500, that still gives them the edge of being able to say, alright, these three big banks that people really care about.
I mean, 'cause there really are three. And then the rest, chase, American Express and Capital One, at least from, for the people that we talk to, they could, they could push, push higher on annual fees and still be able to say. We are $400 or more cheaper than everybody else on the market and giving you the same benefits and in some cases even better benefits.
Yeah. Like, like you said, Nick, I don't want to give Capital One any ideas and everybody knows that I am massively influential in this space. Uh, but I wouldn't bat an eye at, at $500 for that card. It's just so valuable to me and I get. I, you know, I, I use it like crazy and, and I would continue to do so at that price.
Anything north of that you'd get me to start thinking, but um, I still really love that card, but I do fear what's ahead in 2026 for the Capital One Venture X. Anything else on this one thing? So, I just discovered this last night, and I don't even know if you guys are aware of this yet, but, uh, the. The Venture X $300 credit that it comes with historically.
So you have to use that through Capital One travel. And historically that's been, that's been, you know, booking a flight, a hotel, or a rental car. Uh, they have now added activities in Capital One travel. So my wife and I are headed to, uh, Switzerland at the end of February, and I was able to book a couple of activities in Zurich while we're gonna be there and apply my $300 travel credit.
One is like a three hour walking tour the day that we get into town. Um, and it was, I think it was like $60 per person or something like that. So they've given me another like, easy way to redeem that, that credit and make this card kind of a no brainer. Which, you know, the, the activities piece is, is awesome to me.
I historically use Airbnb experiences a lot for that. And you can, you can actually use venture miles to. To wipe those away as well. Um, but you can book these directly through Capital One. I, I actually don't know when they added this, but, uh, I, it was a nice surprise. That's very cool. I wonder if I can get myself a lift ticket through Capital One.
That'd be pretty amazing. Don't try going to Aspen. No, not an Aspen. That's one day of, uh, $300 credit right there. Okay. Time to move on. All right. This was, uh, initially pegged as something hot, but unfortunately circumstances have changed. Uh, so something colder this week we're talking about built 2.0.
This is a, a new rollout of their new suite of credit cards and new ways to earn on rent and mortgages. And I need you all to explain to me how the earning on rent and mortgages actually works, because I still don't know if I understand. Is this a three hour podcast? I, I don't think anybody wants that.
It's, this has become a little bit of a mess, I think, and there was so much hype surround it surrounding this launch of built 2.0 and the promise of earning points on mortgages in addition to rent, which is what built really established itself by doing, and it was so simple. S pay your rent with a credit card.
If you have the built credit card, you earn tons of bill points one x every month as long as you make at least five non housing transactions a month. And I understand why they needed to rework that and you know, built in communicating that this was coming made clear that. It wasn't sustainable and that's fine, but I think they just swung way too far in the opposite direction where what was a very easy to understand system for whether it's the three of us who live and breathe this stuff, or especially for people that live in a place like New York City or Washington DC or Boston or San Francisco.
Spend thousands of dollars a month on rent and just want one card to earn points on travel or to earn points that they can turn around and just redeem towards rent credits and they don't wanna spend time studying these things. I think they lost that with this. So how does this work now? It depends on who you ask.
It depends on when this podcast comes out because Built 2.0 launched last Wednesday. By Friday, they made changes to how the system of earning points on both rent and mortgages work that does not bode well. Yeah, I think, you know, as I've thought about this. This, this probably more than any credit card or point system on the market has become like so personalized.
Whether or not this makes sense and getting to the conclusion of whether or not it makes sense requires a lot of math. And you know, if the three of us are confused who, who live and breathe the stuff, like you said, Kyle, good luck trying to get, you know, the, an average Joe points. A collector onboard and understanding this, I think, I think it's just become way too complicated and I will, I will preface that by saying, you know, at the top of the show I said I have a lot of non bonus spend that earns two x on Capital One.
Um, that the built Palladium card, the $495 annual fee card is, it's an attractive option for me because objectively, you know, built points are. Are probably the most, the most valuable points currency out there. And I would rather have built points than Capital One, but like figuring out the math on how this actually works for me, is it, it's gotten a little crazy.
And then it got, like Kyle said, it's gotten even more crazy 'cause they've introduced a new option, uh, on Friday, which, you know, to me says that they're not super confident in what the, the original product they rolled out when they've already made changes to it two days later. So it's just. I don't know who, who they're really gonna appeal to with this.
I think they've, they've upset the, the long time built 1.0 cardholders. That really helped get the program off the ground. And it's become too complicated for people that are just not familiar with built of, like how they actually make this work. So it just feels like a, a botched job altogether. Yeah.
I'll, I'll go, uh, I guess angel's advocate here, I'll give built a little bit of the benefit of the doubt on some of this one. There, there are. Some easier ways to make this make sense. Uh, Nick, you sent me, uh, our friend Max Miles points put together a calculator that can help you figure out, you know, what you need to spend in order to earn points and miles on your rent and mortgage.
Uh, which looks pretty slick. Uh, it's a nice easy calculator there. Um, also, you know, I think a lot of credit cards come out with confusing, uh, aspects at the beginning. This is just a whole new. Uh, for travel rewards people, this is all just gonna be brand, brand new, right? No one's ever tried anything like this.
I guess American's loyalty points is like the closest thing, but it's still not the same. Like applying build cash to earn points and miles. It, it is gonna be very confusing. Maybe, you know, a year down the line when everybody wraps their minds around this and sees some of the opportunity, it'll become a little bit more clear.
But I think for now, uh, considering. How little they've explained any of this to anybody, and the mechanisms don't totally make sense to people who, who, for whom this is foreign. Um, I think it, they deserve a little bit of the criticism here. If you need a calculator to determine how many points you're gonna earn for the main value proposition, earning points on rent or, and now mortgage.
If you need a calculator to figure that out, you screwed up. I think that's, that's pretty simple, especially because the appeal, especially as Bill's brand power has grown over the last couple of years, the appeal has been less and less about the three of us and probably most of the people listening to us talk right now.
It had, it has been about those people in those major markets of whom there are truly millions who just want one card. They just wanna spend on it all the time. Maybe they're going to use those points to book a flight or a hotel, but probably they're gonna use it for something else. And if you're asking those people to pull out a calculator in order to figure out how many points they're gonna get on their monthly rent or mortgage payment, you lost them, I think.
And you know then, then it's like, where did Bill win with this? Because I think. The overarching story of, part of why this has gone so wrong is, again, I understand if this was unsustainable, that Bill was too rewarding and that especially as they moved into awarding points on mortgage payments, they couldn't afford to do the spend, you know, make five transactions and then you earn one X points on your housing payments.
I understand that, but it's not. Every day American's job to understand whether their business model was sustainable or not. It's just like, this is great. I like it. If you take that away like Lucy, with the football, people are gonna get pissed. And that's what has happened. And I think part of the story here is that Bill really got a foothold.
Talking directly to people like us of, you know, the sickos, the points and miles, obsessed weirdos who live and breathe this stuff. And then they've started to move away. So they've kind of lost on both segments of this. People who really understand how this program works are now like they don't care about us anymore, which, it's not Bill's job to do that either, but it's not our job to sympathize with them.
And then for, you know, the everyday people. It's like, what is, what is this program? Now? How am I supposed to understand this? And if I don't understand this, what confidence do I have to keep spending on this credit card? It just, it's, it feels like a swing and a miss. Yeah. You know, and I think the introduction of two different currencies that you're gonna earn on the same spending.
So built points, which you've always earned, and then they've got the built cash, uh, which every one of the new, the three new cards is gonna earn. 4% built cash per dollar spent. And essentially built cash is how you're gonna cover the, the, the fee to pay your renter mortgage. But they have said that there's other ways to use this built cash, which no one fully knows yet.
And so that part of it I think has just provided a lot of confusion and it feels very rushed. Like I feel like you've got to, you've gotta release and make it clear what this currency can do outside of, you know, covering the fees on your rent and mortgage before you roll this out. Otherwise you're just introducing chaos into, into the rollout.
I was talking to a friend of mine. Over the weekend who has seen all the headlines is like, so how do I earn points in my mortgage with this? And I started explaining it to him, like the math. And like before I was even done, I realized how complicated this was. And he was just giving me a look like, like Randy Jackson from American Idol, who was like, yeah, that's gonna be a no for me dog.
And I could just see, I could just see him like glazing over where it was like I lost him. I lost him. Trying to explain this in like the most simple possible way that I could. And he is not a points and miles person. He was intrigued by the the ability to earn points on his mortgage. And the complication of it is just, he's out.
And so to Kyle's point, like who is, who are they going after here? Who is this for? Yeah. I, you know, we've talked a little bit in the past about Bill wants to be everything for everyone, and I wonder if, you know, the, the travel rewards people is just becoming a smaller slice of the pie for them and they're, you know, they just don't.
Care as much about, uh, the people who are trying to earn points to transfer to Hyatt, uh, than they do just the people who are swiping their card for prescriptions at Walgreens. Right. So their, their business model may have changed here. The calculus may have changed for 'em. And one thing we didn't even mention yet, so as a part of this whole changeover, uh, Wells Fargo dropped built for, I think some of the reasons Kyle talked about how, you know, just it was not a profitable, a profitable card for Wells Fargo.
'cause people were paying their rent. Making five, oftentimes very small purchases just to unlock the rent payment. And that was about it. And so, like Kyle said, we understand why they had to make that change. Um, and so they've moved to Cardless as the new issuer. Um, but there's been just a lot of hiccups with that as well.
I'm a, I was a built 1.0 card holder and did the changeover to, to cardless and I do have the built palladium. And I will say that for the 50,000 point bonus and some of the other stuff it offers, I'm willing to give it a chance here for the first year just 'cause like I said, I have a lot of. Otherwise non bonus spend that I think this can work for me and I'm willing to do the math and I realize a lot of people aren't, but I think one of the, the things that's been an an absolute mess is people that are built 1.0, card holders that have like applied to get one of the new options are, are getting straight up, declined for the card.
And it's not even supposed to be a hard credit poll. It's supposed to be like some sort of a changeover and you, you get to choose which card you want and then there's a whole issue of people that are getting like smaller credit lines with the new card than they had previously. So. They've upset a lot of like long supporting built cardholders that, that, uh, are just trying to do the changeover and they're getting declined and can't get the card and it just feels like there's a lot of loose ends that they need to figure out here.
Yeah. Wouldn't wanna be in Built HQ last week or this week, trying to figure some of this stuff out. Anything else on built 2.0. Okay, well we're gonna make some recommendations on what credit cards we think that you should pick up in 2026, but first we're gonna take a quick break. Kyle, when people ask me what credit card should I get, I can pretty much only give them the most annoying answer possible.
It depends. There are so many factors and moving parts to choosing the best credit card. I cannot give a one size fits all answer. It's like, what kind of the points and miles do you want? How is your credit? Do you have cards already? What are you eligible for? Uh, what kind of annual fees are you willing to stomach?
What are your travel goals? When you get asked a question like this, Kyle, what do you answer with? I mean, these days I just tell 'em to use card Pilot, a tool that we created to help match travelers individually to the credit cards that fit their personal needs. It's available online and it's completely free to use.
Here's how it works. Answer a few quick questions about your current credit cards, your travel goals, spending habits, and personal finances, and you'll receive. Personalized recommendations within minutes. We don't collect any identifiable information and we never sell your data period. Give it a try today at card pilot dot thrifty traveler.com.
That's card pilot dot thrifty traveler.com for your personalized credit card recommendations. If you're asking Gunner for credit card advice, you're doing it wrong. Use card pilot instead. Alright, back to the show. All right, it's time for the extra mile where we dig a little deeper on an important travel topic.
And this week I just wanna ask you both a very simple question that might have some not so simple answers. What credit cards should travelers get this year? Let's each pick one or two that intrigue us for 2026. Let's start with you, Nick. Yeah, I think, I think one card that is intriguing and something that, you know, for the, for the last handful of years I've really written Citi off.
Uh, Citi thank you points specifically. I just. They haven't, don't get me wrong, they're very valuable. There's a lot of good transfer partners with Citi, but that just the lack of a US airline transfer partner, um, and just generally Citi's it and, and the lack thereof, uh, has just turned me off of the program.
They re, they launched a new premium travel card just like everybody else did last year, called the City Strata Elite. It's currently out with a hundred thousand point, uh, bonus. Uh, after you spend, I think it's $6,000 in the first three months, um, they have added American Airlines as a one-to-one transfer partner, and there's a lot of interesting credits on that card, which I like.
They, they have a. $200 annual splurge credit is what they call it. So you can use it for, uh, anything that you spend with American Airlines. You can actually use it at Best Buy. Uh, Citi is the issuer of the Best Buy co-branded card. So I'm sure that's how that partnership came to be. But there's a lot of interesting stuff on that card, and I think it is worth a look, especially if you've been kind of out on Citi for, uh, for, for a long time like myself.
Yeah, I, I really liked that card. I picked that one up recently. And, um, I've gotten good use of, I, I plan to just send them all to American unless something else pops up, but as just a way to fill up my American coffers, um, and kind of quickly and easily do it and their, it is way, way better. I was kinda surprised 'cause I'd never been in the city ecosystem before and everyone complained about their IT and I logged on, I was like.
It's pretty much the same as everyone else. So, uh, but I, I like, I really like that card, Kyle. I wouldn't say they had a glow up. I think they just grew up. Yeah, they joined the 21st century finally, within the last year or so. Um, I, I'm gonna sound like a broken record. I don't care. It's just any Capital One card, especially either the Venture or the Venture X.
If you don't have either of them, I think people harp, especially people who talk about what we do, harp on max value. Which I get, I understand. And I also appreciate how great it is to send Chase points to Hyatt and book hotels that cost $900 a night for 30,000 points or less. That's really cool. But for me, the most valuable thing in this world is flexibility and versatility.
And I think with Capital One Miles, that is just absolutely unmatched. Not just because you can not just, you know, transfer points to Turkish Airlines or British Airways, or Finn Air or whoever else. But you can cover any travel purchase in the world. Just pay for an airline ticket, pay, pay for an Airbnb, pay for a tour through Viader, and then go back and cover that cost.
So if it's $500, it costs you 50,000 miles. That's amazing for those situations where there just isn't an option, a traditional option to cover your travel expenses with points, but they also take it to the next level in two really important ways to me anyway. No bank makes it easier to combine points with other people.
You can send Capital One miles to any other card holder, whether they live in your household or they're a complete stranger. Don't recommend doing that, but it is an option. As long as that other user has a Capital One card, you can transfer miles between them, and that includes if you're earning points for a small business, like even with a Capital One Spark card, you can transfer those miles to a personal venture card holder.
We've done this for family trips where, you know, my, my in-laws have a ton of capital one miles from their business. They transferred those miles to our personal account and then we booked. Tickets to Hawaii for everybody in the family. No other bank makes that so easy or free. And in many cases it's just not possible, period.
And the final thing that I really love about Capital One Miles, and I'll get off my soapbox, is most banks, all banks really require you to transfer points in increments of a thousand. Which means if your flight costs 38,500 miles, you have to transfer 39,000 miles, and then you just have 500 miles stranded somewhere in Air France or Virgin Atlantic or wherever.
Is that the end of the world? No, but it's pretty annoying. Capital One allows you to fine tune your transfers in increments of a hundred, as long as you transfer at least a thousand miles. So you can transfer 38,500 miles or. 1,500 miles to top off an account that you have in order to get those, you know, 40,000 miles that you need in order to book an award ticket.
I just, I am higher on Capital one than I think I have ever been because of those things. So I think it should be on the top of everybody's wishlist. Nice. Capital One. Any Capital One card as Kyle's answer. Any others on your list? Nick touched on the, uh, Alaska Atmos Summit card, uh, especially because of that three x on, uh, foreign transactions.
Uh, I don't have this card yet. It's on my list for some time in 2026. Hopefully they come out with another elevated bonus, which will gimme, you know, the kick in the butt that I need to, to open it and get it, and then it would just become a fixture in my wallet anytime I'm traveling abroad, because to Nick's point, earning three points per dollar on.
Any purchase overseas is unheard of. Yeah. And then I think the, one of the reasons I'm, I'm really considering just keeping this around long term, not only because of that, but they offer, uh, these companion award tickets. So like if I book an Alaska award ticket, it doesn't have to be an Alaska, it can be on any of the partners.
Um, if I'm booking it for myself and my wife. I think every year you get a a 25,000 mile certificate that you can just apply to that second companion booking. So I have a lot of Alaska miles that's, uh, it's essentially 25,000 off on award booking. And if I get that every year and I can make use of it, I think that card sticks around for the long term.
I also had this card in my What to get in 2026. Um, the Hive Mind. Yeah. For all. Here we are for all the things you guys mentioned. The, the free points pooling, um, among 10 users is also awesome. You get a 10,000 point, uh, card anniversary bonus as well. A partner award fee waiver. 'cause Alaska does charge like an extra, you know, what is it 12 bucks on some their 1250?
Yeah. Yeah. On their partner awards, which is. Not crazy, but it's just annoying. Um, especially when you're booking like a really cheap, quick American Airlines flight in the us. Um. And the same day change fee waiver, which I don't fly Alaska a ton, but those kinds of things are great perks. I, I end up same day changing a lot of flights.
Probably half of the flights I take, I end up same day changing. So, um, but yeah, that three x foreign transactions is pretty amazing and even an 80 K bonus is still really good. I had, in case you stole that one from me, which I knew you would, um, I had a backup of. I've been really getting curious about.
The United Co-branded cards, specifically that lowest level explorer card, $150 annual fee waived in year one. Um, most importantly, it's the check bag and the access to this new special award inventory that United is doing where if you're, if you hold one of their co-branded credit cards, if you're getting access to discounted awards.
Is a lot more in some cases than that. 15% off you get with the Delta Sky Mouse cards. And we've seen as much as, uh, you know, 50% off on some awards like that. So I'm curious, I'm united curious, uh, even though I don't fly United a whole lot. So those are some cards to get in 2026. Any other honorable mentions from you guys?
I was waiting for you to mention O'Hare and I was gonna shout you down. So kudos on your restraint this week. Not this week. I don't wanna get the people fired up quite yet. Okay, let's move on to a listener question. Uh, and before we get started with that, uh, a reminder to send your travel, brag that welcome back to the Thrifty Traveler Podcast, video to thrifty traveler.com/voicemail.
You can find the link in the show notes. Uh, leave us a message under one minute. That's thrifty traveler.com/voicemail. To leave us a message, someone has to beat Rustin's, Mexico City Balloon video. Okay. Our question this week comes from Kimberly. Kimberly asks, what credit card or cards should my best friend and I apply for to take advantage of flight deals to Europe next year?
We'd like to go at least two times in 2027, but don't know if we should consider specific airline cards or general points earning cards. Or a combination. I've heard you discuss sweet spots and stop over options, but I'm confused on the best cards to get for using miles to Europe. She says the main priority is Switzerland, but they'll definitely visit some other countries as well.
They want to have points ready for when all the TT premium alerts come out. Kimberly also says ps I have an upcoming stay at the mirror of all using points and miles, and we'll definitely record an intro for the podcast while I'm there. I'm excited to see that Kimberly, please send that in. Um. I would say for Kimberly first, great job.
Reverse engineering a trip, getting out ahead of what you wanna do and then creating a credit card strategy, uh, to maximize that. I think that's really smart. Alright, you guys, if you want two round trips to Europe in 2027, what card or cards are you looking at? I mean, the, the most important thing is the cards.
I wouldn't be looking at, which is any airline co-branded card because it'd be one thing if we were talking about 20, 26 and per perhaps booking in a matter of weeks or months. But if you're talking about 2027, and you may not book this for a year or more. The odds that what that ar airline, whose credit card you just opened in order to earn 80 to a hundred thousand miles, starts charging significantly more miles between now and next, you know, this coming November or December, or even January of next year are just too high for comfort.
So I think the, the biggest thing would be to focus on transferable credit card points from American Express or Chase or Capital One or Citi. To make sure you have as many options open to wait for the deal, send those points to the transfer partner that's gonna work, and then book. And to that point, if you're willing and ready to open two credit cards, I would diversify and get.
A credit card from one of those major banks and then a different credit card from another one that has, you know, a handful of different transfer partner options because there are a lot of overlap, especially to, you know, all of these major banks sent to Air France, KLM, and most of them sent to Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, avios.
But if you can make sure you have a way to send points to at least a handful of different programs, that's going to maximize the reach that you have when the right deal comes, so that you're ready to transfer those points in book. Nice Nick. Yeah, I would just kind of build on, Kyle kind of laid out the strategy and I'm, I'm just gonna mention a couple of specific cards I think would make sense.
You know, assuming you, you don't have either of these cards. The, the Capital One Venture X, I know we kind of sound like a broken record with this card. And the Chase Sapphire preferred those. We have a story on our website called like the Perfect two card combo. And I, I really believe that those two cards just work unbelievably well together.
Uh, like Kyle said, you're not putting all your eggs in one basket. And I think importantly, if, if Switzerland is the goal, um, there's a lot of. Star Alliance possibilities with the transfer partners. Uh, I'm headed to Switzerland next month and I booked that flight, uh, both there and back through Air Canada, Aeroplan, which is, uh, on on Swiss Swiss Airlines, which is, uh, one of their partners.
And you can transfer both, uh, capital One miles and Chase points to Swiss. And it was very easy to book and it's a, it's a deal. We feature quite frequently as a part of our premium membership. Um, I think you're gonna get a lot of bang for your buck if you're willing to, to shell out, you know, $95 for the Sapphire Preferred and 3 95 for the Venture X and, uh, that would, that would be my suggestion.
Yeah. Awesome advice for Kimberly. Kimberly, sick brag that you're going to Europe twice and you have a best friend. That's pretty amazing. Couldn't be me. Yeah, not us. Uh, if you'd like us to answer your question on the podcast or if you have any. Feedback. Hit us up at podcast@thriftytraveler.com and we might feature your question on next week's show.
Alright, to close the show as always, it's our on the spot segment and I've got something for Nick and Kyle. So we did a what's in your wallet question, but I wanna know about your actual physical wallets. What are you guys packing? What is your wallet? I see yours right here. Nick, what do you got? Like what brand is the wallet?
Yeah, what's your wallet? Tell me about your wallet. It is. I, I couldn't have answered this question before looking at it, but it is a brand called Distill. Okay. And, uh, I like it because I can carry a lot of cards in it, and it's not like a George Costanza really fat wallet. Um, that's pretty slick. That's my wallet.
I like it. Kyle, I have a Chinola card case, which. Technically has room for four cards. This is what happens is you end up putting more cards. You're like, oh, I can probably fit two in this slot. And then you always have to have two in that slot because once there's one, it just falls right out. So while there is on paper room for four cards, uh, I have six plus an ID in here, so Okay.
Yeah, that's pretty good. I was gifted this Cole Han. Money clip card holder for my middle school graduation from my, uh, uncle Dave and Aunt Mimi, and it's been the only wallet I've ever carried in my life. Uh. It, yeah, money clip. Usually pretty, pretty thin on the money. Um, but as you could see, plenty of plastic in there.
And, uh, yeah, like Kyle said, it gets bigger every year and now I have to hold the maximum amount of cards in there. Otherwise they all fall out into my pocket or onto the concourse floor. That's impressive that you've never lost a wallet. Never lost a wallet. Oh, I, I really, you are tempting thing. I really don't care for that.
Sorry, I had to knock on wood producers. Y'all, if, if you find gunner's wallet in an airport somewhere, send it to me. I'll take care of it. Don't worry guys. Awesome. Uh, really fun episode guys. Thank you for helping everybody figure out what cards to get and points to earn in 2026. And thank you all for listening to the Thrifty Traveler Podcast.
Rate us five stars on your podcast platform of choice and, uh, you know, write a review that really roasts me. I'm excited to see. What you all have in store, like and subscribe to the show on YouTube and send this episode to someone you know who needs a vacation and the points to get them there. If you have feedback for us, send me a note at podcast@thriftytraveler.com.
We'd love to hear from you there. Kyle, tell us about the team. This episode was produced by your favorite host who is gonna be crying in a couple of days while he reads your roast worthy reviews. Gunnar Olson, who was produced and edited by Sylvia Thomas, and edited by Kyle Thomas. Our theme music is by Benjamin Tissot.
Nick. See you next time, gunner. See you next week. See you later.