Epic points-stacking opportunity

We've talked a few times now about the glory of points stacking. For those of you who are new here, let me give a brief refresher:

Points stacking is when you combine offers like credit card deals, shopping portals, and more for the same purchase in order to reap multiple levels of benefits and earn a huge return on your spending.

Today I have a complex (but fun) example of this that will actually turn a PROFIT if you do it right. That's right, you will actually be paid money in exchange for... well, earning free money. Don't ask questions, just go with it.

Here's the quick summary:

Basically, we're going to combine a Citi Merchant offer with a Cashback shopping portal with an American Airlines SimplyMiles offer.

Now it's time for the fun part: where I overwhelm you with some basic arithmetic.

So right now, there's a Citi merchant offer for a brand called Craftsy. Never heard of it before? Neither have I. But that's fine because it doesn't matter. Here's what does:

If you use your Citi card to make a purchase of $89.99 at this merchant, you'll receive 97% rebate, which is just silly. That means that from spending $90 you'll get $87.30 back from Citi, leaving you with a net cost of $2.70.

Now here's why your Craftsy purchase doesn't matter at all: If you use a shopping portal like TopCashback, you'll earn 21% cashback, or $18.90, from the purchase as well. 

This step results in a net PROFIT of $16.20. Congrats, you've just been paid to do nothing. Pretty sweet, eh?

BUT THERE'S EVEN MORE. In fact, I haven't even told you about the best part yet (or the part that makes this entire section travel-related in any way).

The final piece of the cake is that Craftsy is also part of the American Airlines SimplyMiles portal. If you aren't familiar, SimplyMiles basically requires you to register any eligible Mastercard product (in this case the Citi card you used for the first step) and receive varying amounts of AA miles for shopping with their merchants.

Currently, SimplyMiles is offering 45 AA miles for every dollar spent at Craftsy.

While we're on the topic of AA miles, why don't I tell you about the easiest possible way to earn an additional 1,000 miles on top of those 4,050 you hopefully earned from the previously mentioned deal.

American Airlines also has a program called AAdvantage dining, which awards you AA miles for registering credit cards and dining at various restaurants. You might remember the recent newsletter where I told you about Eat Around Town by Marriott Bonvoy. This program is identical, except for the type of points you earn.

Like the Marriott program, you simply need to register for the dining program, link one or more of your cards, and eat food. I think we can all agree that eating food is among the easiest ways to earn free travel.

Well, to make things even sweeter, you can earn 1,000 AA miles just for signing up for this program and spending $25 in the first 30 days. I think we all eat to the tune of at least $25 per month. If not, I am truly worried for your health. Or I want to learn your ways of eating enough and spending that little...

1,000 miles is worth about $18, meaning you can get a 72% return on your dining purchase. Combine this with the last offer and you'll only be a couple of thousand points away from a free flight.

Again, 1,000 miles isn't life-changing, but just another example of "low-hanging fruit" in the points and miles world. You can easily see which restaurants in your town or city are eligible for AA dining on their website, so be sure to check it out and start earning free travel from your food.

I am VERY excited to finish off the newsletter with some excellent new out of the land of the rising sun. 

We have been hearing whispers lately of possible plans to reopen the country of Japan to tourists without any tour requirements. In case you weren't aware, you currently need to either book a guided tour OR pay a tour company to give you approval for you unguided tour in order to enter the country.

Even if you are planning everything out yourself, you still need to pay roughly $300 for this entry document.

Well, as of October 11th, this requirement will be disappearing, meaning you can enter Japan with ease.

I'm personally really excited about this development. I will be in Japan in November and have been holding off on paying the tour fee just in case something like this happened before my arrival. 

Japan has been mostly closed off since the onset of the pandemic, so this is welcome news for many tourists. However, some cities like Kyoto are worried that the influx of tourism will overwhelm the city with Instagram-crazed tourists, which was very much the case in 2019 before they closed.

I read this great article recently about how you can enjoy the amazing sights and experiences of Japan while remaining respectful of the locals. If you plan on visiting Japan anytime soon I think it's worth a read.

That's gonna do it for today, folks. Next time you hear from me I'll be 5,000 miles away exploring the lovely city of Athens to kick off my 2-month world tour. I'm super excited, and I welcome any recommendations you have for places I end up visiting 😊

Are you an American Airlines fan? Do you think these deals are worth pursuing to get the free miles and/or cash? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.

Until next time,

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