Welcome Back!

Hope everyone is doing well 😊 

We had our first snow of winter here! Some shoveling and some snowballs, and no tripping on slippery ice, which is all good. But you know, since coming back from that Norway trip I went on a month ago, it’s still not all that cold to me. Maybe I should go to the Arctic circle every November so that I get acclimated to the winter faster ☃️

As it is the last newsletter of the year, I do want to take a moment to say thank you to each and every one of you for reading and for interacting with the newsletter - this is just a hobby of mine, and so to have people even reading what I’m putting out there is super cool! Whether I have ten or ten million subscribers at any point, the newsletter will never stray from its goal to make sense of the points and miles world for you!

With that, for the last time in 2025, let’s dive into the stories.

In today’s edition:

• 🚨 Earn 5x Points for Q1 2026 🚨

• 🏦 Transfer Bonuses ✈️

• 🇸🇬 Singapore Deals: December Edition 🇸🇬

• 📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💳️ Best Card Signup Bonuses 💳️ 

🚨 Earn 5x Points for Q1 2026 🚨

With 2026 and a new quarter right around the corner, I thought I’d dedicate a section to quarterly rotating categories. Just incase you are not familiar: cards with rotating categories give extra rewards for certain categories of card spend, like gas, flights, groceries, and more.

For Q1 2026, the categories are:

¹Let me know if I’ve missed any cards with rotating categories!

These rotating categories can be hit-or-miss, but for people who do spend money on these categories, this will really help you earn more rewards!

I want to highlight the dining category for the Chase Freedom Flex, because the card already gives 3x/3% on that category. So with dining being a 5x category for next quarter, that means for Q1 2026, you’ll earn 7x/7% back on dining purchases with the card (1x for all spend, 2x for the bonus dining category, 4x for the quarterly bonus category for 7x total)!! 7 points per dollar for dining is very good, even if its limited to $1500 for the quarter 🥳

Not sure about the inclusion of the American Heart Association, but I imagine it would be possible to make a donation via credit card, earn 5x points, and then get a tax deduction from them for your tax returns? 🤷

The Discover card also getting grocery stores and wholesale clubs for Q1 is pretty big - 5x on groceries too is very good, even if it won’t work for Costco (Costco takes only Visa in-store). The Citi Dividend then also has Amazon as a category, which I know is a popular one!

As always, happy earning 💸 

🏦➡️✈️ Transfer Bonuses

A chart of transfer partners by bank, along with other information, can be found here!

¹ Transfer between 1,000-74,999 points for a 15% bonus, between 75,000 and 174,999 for a 20% bonus, and 175,000 or more points for a 25% bonus.

🇸🇬 Singapore Deals: December Edition 🇸🇬

Singapore released this month’s Krisflyer Spontaneous Escapes! As per usual, Singapore releases discounted award flights in the form of Spontaneous Escapes on the 15th of every month. All deals released are 30% off 💰️ 

The details to keep note of are that:

• You must complete your booking by December 31st 📆

• Travel booked through this can take place between January 1st and January 31st, 2026 📆

• Awards are non-refundable and non-changeable (so be careful)

This month’s discounted routes from the US are:

• Business from JFK to FRA (and vice versa) for 62.3k points each way

  • Or 19.25k in economy each way, or 39.9k in premium economy

• Economy from LAX and SEA to SIN (and vice versa) for 30.8k points each way

• Premium economy between Tokyo (NRT) and Los Angeles (LAX) for 56.35k points each way

  • Or 29.75k in economy each way

• Premium economy from JFK or EWR to SIN for 59.15k miles each way

Included in this month’s deals is the fifth freedom route between New York and Frankfurt! I’m actually flying this route soon, which is exciting! The nonstop routes from New York to Singapore is also included this time around, which I have also flown before and would recommend if going to Singapore. Remember that Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi points all transfer to Singapore at a 1:1 ratio! ✈️ 

If you are interested in going to Singapore or flying Singapore Airlines to Germany in January, do take advantage of these discounts, available till December 31st! And if not interested now but interested in the future, then keep an eye for these discounts on the 15th of every month!

Happy travels 😊 

📰 Other Stories & Deals 💰️

• 💛 Spirit is a new Bilt transfer partner!

• 🏨 IHG has a targeted offer to buy points and earn Diamond status along the way!

• 🤝 You can now redeem Air Canada Aeroplan miles for travel on AirBaltic! Could be helpful for some Northern Europe stuff.

• 👎️ You’ll no longer earn miles or Loyalty Points for American Airlines basic economy flights…

💳️ 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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