This week, we'll cover my top 10 takeaways from 2025, big new credit card welcome bonuses, earn up to $10k and 500k points from brokerage bonuses, business class award flight deals, ways to save $1,000+ and get free park days at Disney World, Rakuten's $50 bonus extended through 3/31, how to plan an incredible 2026, and more!

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🎯 My Top 10 Takeaways from 2025

📋 My Past Week

Here's a quick recap of what I was up to last week:

• I've spent most of my free time the last week in ​Cursor​ building a very comprehensive credit card optimization app. At this point it not only fully replaces my existing ​Credit Card Spreadsheet Tool​, but it also tracks every credit on all your cards and even marks them used if you link your accounts. I've already started letting ​our members​ play around with it and hope to share it more widely soon. It is so crazy how good these software development tools have gotten, so if you're at all curious, you should defintiely try to build your first app!
• I haven't done too many brokerage bonuses, but it's been on my list to spend more time on this year. Fortunately the ​TastyTrade​ deal (see further down this email) is one of the best I've ever seen and should be an easy $4-10k for anyone who has ≥$100k in cash to invest or already taxable investments they would move to another brokerage.
• Our family got a ​Nex Playground​ for Christmas this year, and with all the rain we had last week, it was the perfect way to get the kids moving at home. But it's not just for kids... Amy and I had so much fun playing too! So far Hungry Hungry Hippos was the most fun, but we still have lots of games to try.
• This week Amy and I tested out two new recipes from my friend Joshua Weissman, and they were fantastic: ​Perfect Mango Sticky Rice at Home​ and ​The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever​. I highly recommend both of them, though you might want to double up the recipes, because they were gone way too fast.
• Many zoos around the country set up huge animal lantern exhibitions around the holidays and last night we went to the one at Oakland Zoo (​Glowfari​). It was a ton of fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

Travel, Points & Miles

🤑 New Year, Tons of New Credit Card Welcome Offers

There's been a ton of increased welcome offers out this week so I wanted to do a roundup here. 

• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: 100k points after $8k spend in 3 months.
• ​Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®​: 100k miles after $10k spend in 3 months.
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card: 5 Free Night Awards after $3k spend in 3 months.
• ​Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard®​: 90k miles after $5k spend in 4 months

And as always, you can find the full list of best card offers on our ​​Best Cards Page​.

📣 New Airline, Hotel and Points Promos This Week

Business Class Award Flight Deals

• 🇦🇼 Aruba: From ​15K Atmos Rewards points​
• 🇨🇱 Chile: From ​50K Atmos Rewards points​
• 🇩🇪 Germany: From ​54K TrueBlue points​
• 🇲🇦 Morocco: From ​55K Atmos Rewards points​
• 🇰🇷 South Korea: From ​56K Aeroplan points​

Status Matches

• Hilton: ​Status match​ valid for 90 days with the possibility to extend for 2+ years through 3/31/28 with qualifying activities.
• Wyndham: ​Status match​ valid for 90 days with a possibility to extend through 12/31/27 with qualifying activities.

Airline Promos

• Delta: ​Earn 1 MQD per $1 spent​ on hotels, vacation rentals, and car rentals​ booked through Delta Cars & Stays before 2/16 and completed by 9/13.
• Air Canada Aeroplan: ​Deals for flights across the Americas and Asia-Pacific​ booked before 1/14 for travel between 1/14 and 12/16. Plus, earn 50% bonus Aeroplan points on cash bookings.
• ​Qatar Airways​: ​Up to 20% off economy and business class flights​ booked before 1/14 for travel between 1/15 and 10/31. Plus, earn up to 10K bonus Avios on eligible bookings when using promo code JANBONUS before 1/16.
• Southwest: 1.5¢ per point with a ​50% bonus​ until 2/23.
• United: 1.88¢ per point with up to a 100%​ bonus​​ until 1/26.
• Alaska Airlines​: Get ​$25​ or ​$50​ (based on where you live) towards your next flight when you join Atmos Rewards.
• ​United (Targeted): ​Up to 13k bonus miles​ on credit card purchases through 3/31. Register ​here​ to see if you're eligible.
• ​Upgraded Points Giveaway: ​Stand a chance to win $1,500​ to upgrade your flying experience when you ​submit your application​ before 1/23.

Hotel Promos

• ​Radisson​: ​Up to 35% off plus 3K bonus points​ per stay when you book by 1/15 for stays between 2/2 and 12/31.
• IHG: ​23% off stays​ in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and South Asia when you book by 1/21. Valid for stays between 1/10 and 10/10.
• IHG: ​15% off award stays​ between 3/1 and 3/31 at newly opened IHG properties. Booking deadlines vary by property.
• Hyatt: ​500 bonus points/night​ at select properties listed ​here​.

🤑 Latest Deals

💰 Two Huge Brokerage Bonuses I'm Doing Soon

Right now there are two really incredible brokerage bonuses that I'm going to be doing soon. I don't have any experience with either of these companies, nor do I know anyone that works there, but I'll be keeping my balances below SIPC limits, which gives me enough comfort to try them out. That said this is not investment advice and you should do your own research.

• 4% Cash Bonus on up to $250k: ​TastyTrade​ has one of the best brokerage bonuses I've seen, offering a 4% cash match for new customers. You can earn up to $10k, which means you'd need to deposit or transfer $250k to get the max bonus. But unlike other 2%+ brokerage bonuses, this one only has a 12 month holding period, which makes it one of the best bonuses I've seen. Unfortunately IRA accounts are not eligible, but from my read of the terms, you and your spouse could both open individual accounts and qualify. If you're interested, here's ​my referral link​, which also includes the 4% bonus promo code.
• 1x Points per year on up to $500k: ​Silo​ lets you earn 1x points on your balance each year (up to 500k/yr), as part of their $80/mo Platinum plan. While they are saying these points will soon transfer to airlines/hotels, you can currently redeem points for 1¢ each. That means that with a $500k balance each year, you'd be paying $960 to earn $5,000. Any balance >$100k should earn more than the cost of the membership, and if you want to check it out, here's ​my referral link​.

💸 Rakuten's $50 Bonus Extended Through 3/31

Rakuten's ​$50 new member bonus​ (or 5,000 points) has been extended through 3/31. If you use a ​referral link​ (here's ​mine​) to sign up and spend $50, both the referrer and the referee receive $50. ​Rakuten​ is one of my favorite shopping portals because they have great cash back offers and let you convert cash back to Bilt and Amex points. If you're already a customer, now's a good time to check if your friends and family are and send them your referral link if not.

🔗 Card-Linked Offers Worth $300+

Here are some card-linked offers I found this week with expiration dates in parentheses. Some of these offers are targeted, so I recommend using ​CardPointers Pro​ (get 30% off ​here​) to automate these offers.

• Expedia: ​10% back​, up to $120, on prepaid hotels​ (2/2)
• AT&T Wireless:​ $50 off $65​ (2/28) or ​$75 off $100​ (N/A)
• CLEAR+ & CLEAR Concierge+: ​$50 back​ (3/29)
• Wynn/Encore Las Vegas: ​$60 back on $300+​
• Utilities: ​$25 back​ when you pay two utility bills using a U.S Bank business card

🏰 Disney World: $1,000+ in Savings + Free Park Days

Planning a Disney trip this year? ​Here​ are a few ways to save big!

• All Guests: 30% off resort stays from 5/1 to 10/4.
• Annual Passholders: Up to 40% on stays from 5/1 to 7/29.
• Florida Residents: Up to 35% on stays from 5/1 to 7/29.
• Free Days Package: 2 free hotel nights and 2 free theme park days when you book a 4 hotel nights and 4 park days package between 5/26 and 9/15, but you have to book before 2/15.

Plus, you can stack these offers with the free Disney Dining Plan for kids (ages 3-9) and free water park entry on arrival day.