My 2023 Credit Card Point Redemption Recap (REVEALED)

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

🎥 If you want to see how much money I made from my credit cards in 2023, watch this video next: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hp2TmZ57fNWplZo

[@reggiethecommenter9137]

Idea for you: Once you max out the referral bonuses that you can get from a specific card, use the referral bonus link from either 1) one of your subscribers or 2) one of the people who used your referral links; getting you points. Either can be chosen randomly. This will drive viewers, subscribers and engagement.

[@LK_EBM]

Good idea. But he'll probably have affiliate links soon, which don't have a max.

[@williamfeliciano6003]

Dammm they could atleast give back to us.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I appreciate the idea brotha! I think there are definitely ways to implement that in specific use cases, but for full transparency, I only have referral links active for the beginning of the year and then switch to my affiliate links as those are what allow me to continue making these videos full time. So while I wouldn't be able to constantly have someone else's links in my descriptions, maybe we could do it as a giveaway of sorts when we reach certain milestones or something like that! I'd love to hear more about your thoughts on this, so feel free to DM me on IG if you wanna talk about it further!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I get where you're coming from, but it's important to remember that 1) you don't have to use our links if you don't want to, and I always recommend to use friends and family members links first, and 2) a lot of the folks using our links feel like they've received a lot of free value from our content and like to support at no additional cost to them. There are many ways to get your referral links out there (my Discord, Reddit, etc.) if that's all you want, but hopefully that's not the only thing driving you to be in the community. I'm happy to talk more about this if you DM me on IG though!@@williamfeliciano6003

[@JakeVanderPloeg]

It’s videos like this that remind us why we do it! To explore the world and have a taste of luxury! Excited to see what 2024 looks like!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That's great to hear man! Traveling for free is the name of the game in my opinion, so I'm happy to share those experiences with everyone in hopes that they'll be able to do the same!

[@jimmyjames6492]

Awesome redemptions! Thanks for the info + video!

[@KevinYang]

Always interesting seeing how others use their points, especially when Southwest is one that is remotely close to being on my radar! Also totally agree that looking at more of those international flights is where you could get a ton more "value" (come join the Aeroplan train!). Looking forward to hearing about your Croatia trip!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I'm glad you enjoyed it man! I definitely plan on doing some more of those high value redemptions in the coming years when they make sense. I'm stoked to share them with y'all too!

[@Jakob1396]

I used my Chase points the same time that they were giving the 25% boost to get my mom a new iPhone 13 and was able to take that phone and immediately upgrade it to the iPhone 14 so I was able to get even more value for that redemption. Thanks for the videos. Keep up the great work

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Dang, that's a pretty cool use case for that Chase x Apple bonus! Thanks for sharing your experience brotha!

[@TheCreditFrog]

Great video Spencer! It’s awesome to see how much value you got from credit card points/miles and seeing how much you were able to travel last year. It’s going to be interesting to see how this year will compare with your big international trip coming up!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Thanks so much man! Hopefully I'll be able to blow these numbers out of the water this year. I'm currently on the way back from trip #2 of the year, but we have plenty more to come!

[@MattWelterOfficial]

Love the travel redemption break-down, the best part about accumulating CC Points is showing how we are actually able to use them to offset some of those major travel expenses! Excited to hear about the redemption for that Croatia trip this year! Great video Spencer!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I'm glad you enjoyed it brotha! To me, traveling for free is what the credit card game is all about, so I love getting to share my experience in that regard. Definitely got some fun redemption videos coming up this year!

[@DJOctober]

Awesome redemptions! I’m planning on using some points either for spring break or for the summer. When I do, I’ll probably record it all and start a Spanish credit card KZbin channel! Love your content. - Ivan

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That's so cool man!! You'll definitely need to send me the link when you make that. Although I don't speak Spanish, I'll be there to support 👊🏼

[@MontyTheCardNerd]

Great redemptions Spencer! I agree that what "value" means is so specific to the individual. You showed how you were able to maximize it for your 2023 self through offsetting your organic travel expenses and with the Macbook.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Thank you Monty! Everyone's strategies and redemptions will be different, but that's a great thing in my opinion! I agree that value is subjective, and while there are mathematical ways to ensure you get the highest cpp possible, that may not always provide the most value over time.

[@MikeMaye]

I'm a "earn it and burn it" kinda guys with my points. I already have my Fall trips planned from my VX and Chase BU cards. You got a lot of value from your points and I love that you use it for travel. Any international trips in the future? Great vid Spencer💥

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That's a great way to do it! Luke has definitely influenced me to do more of the same. Other than that big Croatia trip this year, I don't have any other international trips coming up, but I have a few ideas on the list! Thanks for watching as always Mike!

[@Fish4Points]

i love SW and had my wife get the sapphire prefered with the elevated SUB of 75K points transferred 59,428 points to southwest for a round trip flight for 2 to the bahamas from BWI at the time cash value was about $1,200 taxes and fees was $234.20 which i maxed that value by using my amex plat to pay for the taxes fees to get 5x points MR points but that is the cheapest I have ever flown for 2 people round trip so i will continue to transfer chase points to SW for flights unless SW is not an option depending on the destination great video i have learned so much from you and the others

[@OfficialEricGao]

Flight and Hotel redemptions are amazing. Yes, it takes a lot of work to earn those points and sometimes people will argue, it's not all worth it. But when I can get my parents to go visit home for virtually nothing out of their own pockets, it's an amazing feeling.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Dude, that's such an awesome way to use your points and I bet cpp doesn't really cross your mind when you see the joy you're able to give your parents. I love it!

[@AirForceA7x]

So you redeeming those points for Apple product and a computer at that. Did you write the computer off still seeing as it was used for business purposes?

[@BenFranklin1776]

Doesn't Chase's portal give 1.5x value when booking through it with the CSR? Im considering CSP or CSR since I use Southwest a lot. Was surprised that your minimum redemption for the UR wasn't that 1.5 on anything Southwest. Am I missing something?

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That is correct! And I can understand how that was confusing. All of the flights I booked with SW last year were when I still had the CSP, so my base redemption rate was 1.25 cpp through the portal, making those SW redemptions better than that. Now that I have the CSR, I'm changing up the way I book to ensure I get at least 1.5 cpp the majority of the time.

[@chadpennycuff]

Great Video Spencer. I'm curious as to what percentage of your points earned in came from referrals. I'm not card focused but I got about 40% of my points from referrals, 40% from SUBs and 20% earned on spend in 2023. Whenever you transition from personal referal links to paid affiliate links, I'm curious how the math works there.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Thank you so much Chad! That's actually exactly what I covered in that video breaking down my total points earning from 2023 (on the end card of this vid). As for when I swap to affiliate links, I use those for cards I don't have as well as after I max out my referrals. Hopefully that helps a bit!

[@dylanschang6386]

So for all those trips you made for creator conversations and meetups, wouldn’t it be smarter to book in cash so you can write them off on your taxes as business trips? I travel constantly, but they’re all for one of my businesses. I stock up a lot of points and got travel credit cards because I travel so much, but now I can’t really spend the points because all my trips are for business. I book the business trips in cash on business cards so I can write them off

[@balloonpark]

Thanks for sharing. I'm confused as to why you accept less than 1.5 cents per point by transferring chase points to southwest when the CSR gives you that 1.5 minimum value through the portal when booking with points. Can you explain your thoughts there?

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

No problem!! I can understand how that was confusing though. All of the flights I booked with SW last year were when I still had the CSP, so my base redemption rate was 1.25 cpp through the portal, making those SW redemptions better than that. Now that I have the CSR, I'm changing up the way I book to ensure I get at least 1.5 cpp the majority of the time.

[@LK_EBM]

Goes to show that >2 CPP redemptions probably won't be possible for most people. Thanks for sharing your redemptions!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

It's definitely a viable goal to have if you're strictly traveling internationally (and in higher classes), but for most domestic trips, it's a bit more difficult for sure. Thank you for watching as always! 👊🏼

[@williamfeliciano6003]

Your southwest redemption are good

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I appreciate that man! At the end of the day, those redemptions aren't for everyone, but they were above my base redemption rate for my Chase points at the time which is all I really cared about.

[@germananditravels]

I hope to get a 2CP valuation for my point this year on flights. On hotels there's no way I'll have enough to cover them all since it'll be some long trips 😩😂

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That would be awesome!! The hotels can definitely get tough with how many points you need sometimes. I'm excited to hear about your redemptions this year!

[@germananditravels]

@@SpencerJohnsonOfficial for sure, I'll be sure to share good info!

[@dsr8223]

@16:05 You say you booked a rental car with cash. But, do you mean you charged it on a CC (that ultimately gets paid with cash) in order to get rental car insurance coverage?

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That is correct. I booked it using my Capital One Venture X! I never actually use cash these days, I just say that to make it clear I didn't use points for that specific booking.

[@elliottnixon-wq6sp]

Bro, don’t sweat the CPP too much. I don’t understand the whole “Chase is worth 2 cents” talk because it’s all on paper. The moment you need to book a room or a flight, the CPP is whatever the price is and you know some other person will book it cash. Winning here means using points for fun and getting points without going to bankruptcy court.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Luckily, I don't sweat it at all, but I know a ton of folks do, so this is super helpful. I personally like to lay all of the facts out there in my videos and do my best to explain to people exactly what you stated here. To me, making memories while offsetting most of your travel costs is what it's all about, and we'll never remember the CPP redemptions in the future. Just those memories!

[@34skyline]

I have 106K MR with Amex and 70K with Chase, Still trying to raise more points before redeem them, I did a video of my card setup, I tag you in the video don't know you were notified

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

That's awesome man! Keep those point totals going up!! I checked out your video too, and I'm excited to see more content from you soon!

[@sjg6158]

Well you certainly squeezed the juice out of the orange. Now with the Bilt Card, you may have enough for several free Hyatt nights, if you redeem in that manner.

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Haha I do what I can! I'm definitely hoping to put my Bilt points to work this year.

[@SOXGATORS]

👍🏻

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

👊🏼

[@SpartanOfFinance]

First!!

[@ItsMeCJ]

You’re disqualified too 🙂

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Super close race here! I appreciate you being here early! 🥈

[@mccraeday5809]

I dont understand your view points on the CC game at all, You did a bad cpp redemption on a macbook and then tried justifying it. THen you say because your a creator you dont care about cpp. But every video you have is always about maximizing cpp. I will unsubcribe, I can tell this is just a money earner for you and not for anything else.

[@Tony36847]

I have to agree with this commenter. Showing your audience how you got crappy redemption values isn't helping anyone. If you're willing to let Chase points go for 1.25 cpp, I'd pay to 1.5+ if that was allowed

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion! That's the beauty of credit cards and KZbin as a whole. I'm just here documenting my personal experience and I never claim to have it all right. That's impossible to do considering everyone's goals are different. I can promise you that my driving factor in making videos is not to make money. My driving factor is helping people improve their lives by taking trips/putting cashback in their pockets by responsibly using credit cards. Thank you for your comment though and I hope you resonate with another channel more!

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

I understand where you're coming from, but I don't share my redemptions to force people to do the same. I actually preach the opposite! I'm just here documenting my personal experience without pushing you to do exactly what I do too. I do appreciate your concern though!@@Tony36847

[@ItsMeCJ]

First

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Dang CJ, you're gonna win one soon. I believe in you 😉🥉

[@CesarJoel]

Love seeing how others use their points! Great breakdown Spencer, thanks for information!🫵

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Everyone has their own strategy and goals, and that's a beautiful thing about the credit card game! Thanks for being here as always my man!

[@AhmadKhwajazada]

First

[@ItsMeCJ]

😑….disqualified

[@SpencerJohnsonOfficial]

Let's go dude!! You're the man 👑