Welcome Back!

Hope everyone is doing well 😊

Depending on when you read this, I may still be on the flight to Korea, so in that case, hello from the plane! Also, I usually read, sleep, and watch movies on the flight - is there anything else people do to pass the time that I don’t know about?

Speaking of watching movies, I had a realization that I have all these streaming services (Netflix, Disney Bundle, etc.) but definitely don’t make enough use of it. So I’ve set a goal for myself to watch 2 movies a week for the year! I’ve been watching some amazing films, and would love any recommendations from you if you have any 🎥 

Just incase you wanted to know what I’ve watched so far this year, here’s my Letterboxd!

Oh, and I’ll be taking next week off while in Korea - thanks for the understanding, and I will write to you all again on the 24th!

In today’s edition:

• 🗾 ANA’s Good and Bad Changes ✈️

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• 💸 Chase’s Pay Yourself Back 💸 

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

🗾 ANA’s Good and Bad Changes ✈️

Another change to an airline rewards program, and it’s ANA this time - this could have been a lot worse, as changes to airline rewards usually are just all bad these days…

But this one is a bit of a mixed bag, so I’ll dive right into it, with the good changes first: You can now redeem ANA miles for one-way awards!

If you’ve redeemed through ANA before, you’ll know that only round-trips were allowed, but starting June 24th, 2025, one-ways are bookable! One way rates from the US to Japan are below:

How is April, like peak cherry blossom season, low season? Beats me, but it could represent a good deal! But the high season one-way first class pricing is rough…

Well, it all couldn’t be good news, sadly - the existing roundtrip redemption rates did go up:

Low and Regular season prices did stay the same, but the high season rates, especially in first and business, went up by 50%. Rough 😥 

But the biggest news for me is that Round the World bookings will no longer be available on ANA from June 24th, 2025. ANA has an amazing redemption chart for RTW trips:

This will all be still available until June 23rd, so do go on that long trip around the world if you can through this!

But yeah, a bit of a mixed bag here, with a new one-way booking option for flexibility, but upping some pricing and getting rid of the RTW booking opportunity. But again, this could have been worse.

Fingers crossed always that devaluations are not too bad this year… 🤞 

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

💸 Chase’s Pay Yourself Back 💸 

I talk a lot about using Chase UR points for travel via Chase Travel or through transfer partners. There’s a program called Pay Yourself Back, though, that you can also use Chase points for! I personally pretty much only use transfer partners, so don’t use the PYB program nearly as much.

With the CSP now offering a 100k bonus, I figured it would be worth discussing some potential non-travel related use cases for Chase points too!

So Chase PYB (pay yourself back) essentially is a program where Chase selects a few categories where you can redeem points to offset purchases in that category. Typically that would have the points be worth 1 cent per point, but with Chase PYB, sometimes this is 1.25 or even 1.5 cents per point!

Now, I’ll admit: The PYB-eligible categories for this quarter suck - For the CSP, Freedom cards, and Ink cards, the only category on the list for Pay Yourself Back is select charities…

For the CSR, however, there are a few more categories: Groceries (except for Walmart and Target), Pet stores and Veterinary services, and gas stations are also categories of spend on the list! If you have the CSR, you can redeem points on these purchases at 1.25 cents per point. If you are sitting on a bunch of UR points and aren’t traveling anytime soon, this could be something to consider!

The one other PYB program to note is the one offered through the Aeroplan card from Chase - if you have the card, you can redeem Aeroplan miles on all travel purchases at 1.25 cents per point! This does have a 200,000 point redemption limit per year, so careful there.

What’s interesting about the Aeroplan PYB is that it’s not only Chase that has Aeroplan as a transfer partner - Capital One and Amex are also partnered with Aeroplan this way. So theoretically, you can transfer your Capital One or Amex points to Aeroplan, and then use those miles at 1.25 cents per point in Chase’s PYB program. It’s an interesting proposition, although it doesn’t seem that Aeroplan likes this idea…

There are a few other PYB options available, but anything under a 1 cent per point redemption value, or anything regarding redeeming points to offset the annual fee, I won’t discuss - just simply not good enough value imo to be worth it.

But yeah, hopefully PYB brings back some good categories for the Ink, Freedom, and Sapphire cards! Do take a closer look here if you are a non-traveler sitting on some Chase points! 💸 

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• ☕️ Capital One Cafes are back with a free handcrafted beverage every Monday during the MLB season!

• ✈️ Alaska is offering complimentary MVP status if you fly roundtrip from the US to Sydney or Auckland! Some terms do apply, though.

• 💻️ The Amex Business Platinum is decreasing the Dell credit to $150 per year, down from $400…

  • They did add an additional $1k off if you spend $5k per year on Dell though 🤷

• 🛒 Walmart+ Week is coming soon, from 4/28 - 5/4!

💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

Again, the usual solid cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred^® / Reserve®

• Chase Freedom Unlimited^®/Flex^®

• Amex Gold & Plat

• Capital One Venture X

Do search for public links for the above cards to compare signup bonuses to make sure you get the highest one (incognito mode, Resy, etc.).

For cards with elevated signup bonuses (targeted bonuses are not included), I’ve got:

📤️ Spread the Word! 📤️

Thanks for subscribing! This newsletter is committed to helping you maximize your points and rewards, at no direct cost to you! (appreciate you using any of my referral links, though!)

If you do find this newsletter informative, helpful, or entertaining, I’d greatly appreciate you spreading the word about it! If not, please do give me feedback on how I can improve your Sense per Point experience.

Also, if my newsletter helps you to book travel using points, let me know! It’ll make me so happy 😄 

Hope that all makes sense! That’s all for this week’s edition of Sense per Point.

Wishing everyone a wonderful rest of your day and week 😊 

- Sean Kim

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