CardStack Insiders #6

Hey there! I usually send the newsletter on Sundays but it was a busy weekend so I apologize for the delay. I spent the entire weekend fixing bugs and improving CardStack. A new build (1.3.1) is waiting for you on the App Store. Special shout out to Silas, Jason, Ayden and many of you for your continuous feedback. Much appreciated! More updates at the bottom.

P.S. If you’re enjoying CardStack, I’d really appreciate a rating or review on the App Store — it helps people discover the app.

If you have ThankYou points and a spouse, family member, or anyone you’ve ever pooled with, you have until May 16 to move them. After that, person-to-person transfers are gone for good. Pooling between your own Citi cards still works.

This was the one thing Citi did better than Amex and Chase. Amex doesn’t let you transfer to anyone. Chase only lets you transfer within a household. Citi let you send up to 100K points per year to anybody. They’re killing it.

The cap is 100K sent and 100K received per calendar year. Shared points expire 90 days after they land, so don’t move them unless you have a redemption in mind. If you’re sitting on a stash and your partner has a card pairing you’ve been meaning to combine into, do it this week.

Annual fee stays at $325. The earn rates that matter most got a bump:

• 5x on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel (up from 2x)
• 2x on prepaid car rentals and cruises through Amex Travel (up from 1x)
• New Hertz Five Star status (skip the counter, free additional driver, vehicle upgrades when available)
• The $120 dining credit added Buffalo Wild Wings and Wonder, dropped Goldbelly and Wine.com

Limited-Time Gold Card Anniversary Offers:

• Uber One Membership Credit: Up to $96 back when you pay for an annual Uber One membership on the Gold (covers a full year at $96). Through October 30, 2026.
• Hilton Honors Transfer Bonus: +20% when you move MR to Hilton through May 30, 2026. Still usually a weak trade (~2 cpp MR vs ~0.5 cpp Hilton) unless you’re topping off a booking.
• The Hotel Collection (Amex Travel): Deals at 250+ properties — think free 3rd/4th night, room/suite discounts, or $150+ property credits. Through July 15, 2026. Terms apply.
• Extra 60th Anniversary Amex Offers: Curated Amex® Offers for eligible Gold cardholders; personalized, enrollment required. Terms apply.

The 5x prepaid hotels is the only structural change. If you book through Amex Travel anyway, this is a real win. If you book direct for elite benefits, ignore it.

I’ve updated the American Express Gold Card in CardStack to reflect those changes.

150,000 points after $6K spend in 3 months. (not an affiliate link). I value that at ~$3,000. The card carries a $795 annual fee, but a stack of statement credits goes a long way toward offsetting it if you’ll actually use them.

Here are some of those credits:

• $500 in annual statement credits (two up to $250 credits) for bookings of two nights or more made with The Edit, Chase’s luxury hotel booking platform
• $300 in statement credits for travel purchases each account anniversary year (this credit is flexible and applies to all travel purchases automatically, up to $300)
• $300 annual dining credit (up to $150 biannually) when you dine with restaurants included in the Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables program (which can be booked through OpenTable)
• $300 in annual statement credits (up to $150 biannually) for concert and event tickets purchased with StubHub and viagogo (activation required; through Dec. 31, 2027)
• $300 annually in monthly DoorDash promos (up to $25 monthly; through Dec. 31, 2027; you’ll also receive a complimentary DoorDash DashPass subscription through the same date; activation required)

Eligibility note: if you’ve earned a Sapphire Reserve bonus before, you can’t earn it again. You can hold both Sapphire Preferred and Reserve and earn each bonus separately, but only once per card in your lifetime.

I never had this card so I’ll be applying this week and use those points for a future Hyatt redemption.

• Chase to Marriott Bonvoy: +65% (through May 15)
• Chase to Flying Blue: +20% (through May 27)
• Capital One to Qantas: +20% (through May 31)
• Amex to Hilton Honors: +20% (through May 30)
• Citi to Leading Hotels of the World (Leaders Club): +25% (through May 16)

Bookmark the transfer bonuses page and check it any time you’re about to move points. I still get good value transferring to Flying Blue, but +20% is pretty underwhelming on its own.

Chase → Marriott Bonvoy +65% sounds huge until you stack it against what each point is actually worth: Chase Ultimate Rewards are worth roughly ~2¢ apiece when you use them well, while Marriott Bonvoy points usually land closer to ~0.8¢, depending on the redemption. A big bonus percentage doesn’t always mean you’re trading up. Run the math before you transfer, and avoid speculative moves.

Elevated rates at hundreds of stores including Adidas, Bombas, Columbia, DSW, Expedia, Kate Spade Outlet, KitchenAid, LEGO, Lenovo, PetSmart, Puma, Ray-Ban, Sonos, and Ulta. New members get a $50 bonus after $50 spend through my referral link.

If you’re already buying something this week, stack the Rakuten cashback on top of an Amex or Chase offer on the same merchant and a category bonus card. Three layers of return on one swipe.

• Delta: Diamond elites lose complimentary CLEAR Plus on June 1. You can still get free CLEAR through Amex Plat, Biz Plat, Green, and Aspire.
• Flying Blue: 25% off economy from 11 North American cities to Europe. Book by May 31.
• JetBlue: Added China Airlines as a transfer partner. They keep stretching what TrueBlue points can do.
• United: Polaris Business is rolling out on transcon and HNL routes. Watch for low-cost award space.
• TSA: Back to normal after the 76-day shutdown.
• Frontier: GoWild Summer Pass is $199 through 9/30. Useful only if you actually fly Frontier.

• 🇧🇶 Bonaire economy: 7.5K Atmos from MIA
• 🇩🇪 Germany business: 60K Aeroplan from BOS, NYC, PHL
• 🇪🇸 Madrid business: 40.5K Atmos or Avios
• 🇨🇳 Shanghai business: 104K Flying Blue from SEA, LAX, DTW

Always check active transfer bonuses in CardStack before moving points. The Flying Blue bonus changes the math on that Shanghai redemption right now.

May reset hit. If you have an Amex Platinum, Gold, or Business Platinum, your monthly Uber Cash, digital entertainment credit, Walmart+ rebate, dining credit, and shipping credit all reloaded.

Lots of other cards have monthly credits too (streaming, rideshare, dining promos, wellness, etc.) — same rule: use them or lose them. Cross-check what your lineup includes on cardstack.money/benefits, and let CardStack flag what’s unused and what’s expiring in the app. CardStack can help you stay on track.

v1.3.1 is on the App Store now. Here is what I’ve shipped:

• Browser Extension Update. You can now pair CardStack with Chrome, Safari on Mac and iOS all at once.
• Best Card. New specific categories for Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Amazon, Whole Foods, Costco, and Lyft have been added to the “Best Card” section in the app. Earn rates are locked in: United Club earns 5x on United; Sapphire Reserve earns 4x on hotels (8x through Chase Travel) and 5x on Lyft.
• Improved Automatic Credit Redemption. Uber rides apply toward United Club’s rideshare credit. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal apply toward the Platinum’s digital entertainment credit.
• Free Perks & Bilt Caps. Mark $0 perks like Priority Pass as activated when you’ve enrolled. Bilt semiannual credits show the correct cap and progress without flipping to “fully used” mid-cycle.
• Card Library Update. Refreshed card art and data on 40+ cards and tightened catalog accuracy across Platinum, Bilt, CSR (personal and business), Citi Strata, Amex Green / Gold / Business Gold, United Club, and the wider portfolio.
• Performance & bug fixes. Faster, smoother day-to-day use and reliability fixes throughout the app.

I’m also focused on improving automatic credit matching, more accurate earned/missed Swipes transactions, and making the app faster and smoother to browse. If you run into any issues or have suggestions, let me know.

That’s it. Reply with feedback. Forward to a friend who is into the credit card rewards game. Subscribe here if someone forwarded this to you.

Adam

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