🤑 My Top Finds, Latest Deals, and Best Recommendations (4/12/25)
This week, we'll cover how to earn points on taxes, navigate market volatility and stack deals, limited time welcome offers on travel cards, free 2024 bookkeeping, up to 15% off gift cards, bank bonuses worth up to $2300+, free streaming subscriptions, how to earn up to 1,500 miles via airline shopping portals, easy 1,500 Marriott Bonvoy bonus points, and more!
🤑 Earning Points on Taxes, Navigating Market Volatility, Stacking Deals and More
Tax season is here, and it can be overwhelming. But what if you could earn points (or profit) on your tax payments by leveraging a credit card welcome offer like this 100k bonus? I’ll also share how I'm navigating the current U.S. stock market, tips for teaching kids about money, ways to stack card-linked offers, and how I'm using VPNs for savings.
🛫 Travel, Points & Miles
💳 Limited Time Welcome Offers on Travel Cards
I noticed the welcome offers on two travel cards I opened last month have increased, which is a great way to boost your points or miles.
- Citi Strata Premier: Earn 75k points after $4k spend in 3 months. I haven't gone deep into the Citi ecosystem, but ever since they added Preferred Hotels as a transfer partner last year, I wanted to jump in, so I'm slowly building up my balance now.
- Citi® AAdvantage Business: Earn 75k AAdvantage® miles after a $5k spend in 5 months. Plus, the $99 annual fee is waived the first year. Finally, there's a promo this year where employee cardholders AND primary cardholders earn loyalty points, so it's possible to get a 2-for-1 on earning AA status.
👆Not referral/affiliate links, just sharing the best offers I could find :)
✈️ Earn up to 1,500 Miles via Airline Shopping Portals
United, American, and Alaska have limited-time bonuses through their shopping portals. Expiration dates are in parentheses.
- United: Spend $100, earn 500 bonus miles (4/14).
- American: Spend $200, earn 500 bonus miles (4/14).
- Alaska: Spend $100, earn 500 bonus miles (4/18).
🚗 Marriott x Uber: Easy 1,500 Bonus Points
Marriott is offering 1,500 bonus points when you link your Marriott and Uber accounts (only if you haven’t already) before 4/16. This is a one-time bonus, and there is no purchase required.
🫠 Latest on the US Bank Smartly Card
When the U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card launched with 4% back on everything, it seemed too good to last — and now, some big changes are rumored to be coming on 4/14. So you may want to apply this weekend if you have your eyes on getting the card.
- Capped Rewards: Bonus earnings above 2% are now limited to $10K spend per billing cycle (max $400/month).
- Excluded Categories: Taxes, insurance, tuition, gift cards, third-party bill pay, and B2B payments will now earn just the base 2%.
- Eligible Balances: Earning 4% now requires $100K in a U.S. Bank checking account — savings and investment won't qualify.
- 90-Day Average: The balance requirement is now based on a 90-day average, not 30, making it harder to maintain eligibility.
🏆 Mileage Plan MVP Status When You Fly Down Under
Alaska Airlines is offering MVP status when you book a roundtrip flight on Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines from the US to Auckland or Sydney. Flights should be completed by 12/31 and no registration is required.
🤑 Latest Deals
🎁 Up to 15% Off Gift Cards + 5% Cash Back
Here's a great example of stacking deals to save on everyday spending: Giftcards.com is running an Easter promo through 4/20, offering up to 15% off brands like Uber, Hulu, Xbox, and PetSmart. Plus, you can stack it with a 5% cash back card-linked offer (valid through 4/30) for up to $50 back.
P.S. If you want to learn how to save and profit from gift cards, give a listen to Ep #212 :)
🏦 Bank Bonuses Worth Up to $2300+
Another way to maximize your savings is by leveraging bank bonuses. So here are 3 worth checking out:
- $540 from Chime: Earn $540 when you open a new Chime account through InboxDollars and make at least two direct deposits of $200 or more before 4/30.
- Up to $900 from U.S. Bank: Earn $500-$900 when you open a U.S. Bank Business Checking account using promo code Q2AFL25 and complete a qualifying deposit ($5,000+ for the $500 bonus and $25,000+ for the $900 bonus) within 30 days and maintain the balance for 60 days. Offer expires 6/30.
- Up to $900 from Chase: Open an eligible checking and savings account before 7/16. Set up a direct deposit to the checking account AND deposit a total of $15,000 into the savings account in 30 days and maintain the balance for 90 days.
📺 Free Streaming Subscription Deals
There are a few streaming deals out now:
- Free 4 months of Paramount+: 1 month free w/ code NEWSEASONS + $12.99 off $12.99 (up to 3 times). Expiring 8/3.
- Free 3 months of Disney Bundle: $10.99 off $10.99 (up to 3 times). Expiring 6/30.
- Free 3 months of Peacock Premium: $7.99 off $7.99 (up to 3 times). Expiring 6/30.
📱 Unlimited Data for $20/Month
There are two promos right now that will get you unlimited data for $19 - $20 per month:
- Mint Mobile is offering their Unlimited 5G plan for $20/month when you pay upfront for a 12-month plan.
- US Mobile has their Unlimited Starter plan for $19/mo when you pay upfront for a 12-month plan ($228 total). My referral link for a free $25 is here.
That said, I think the US Mobile Unlimited Premium plan for $29/mo is one of the best deals out there if you want priority data and the ability to swap between Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T's networks.
☕️ Free Drink Every Monday at Capital One Cafés
If you have a Capital One card, you can grab a free beverage at a Capital One Café every Monday through 9/22. No purchase necessary; just register here to receive your coupon.
⛽️ Earn 4x Fuel Points on Gift Cards at Kroger
Until 4/22, you can earn 4x fuel points on 3rd-party gift card purchases at Kroger. They have hundreds of brands to choose from—think Amazon, Airbnb, Lowe's, DoorDash, Sephora and so much more.
🕵️ Great Finds
🧠 Sam Altman's Productivity Playbook
Sam Altman (CEO of ChatGPT) wrote this great post, sharing some good tactical insights on productivity that I'll be incorporating. Thanks to Tim Ferriss for sharing this in his newsletter yesterday.
Editor’s Note: The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of our partner offers may have expired. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Hi, I'm Chris Hutchins 👋
Founder / Host
I love sharing my quest to optimize and upgrade my life. Previously I was Head of New Product Strategy at Wealthfront, co-founder and CEO of Grove (acquired by Wealthfront), co-founder of Milk (acquired by Google) and a Partner at GV, where I focused on seed and early stage investments.
🤑 My Top Finds, Latest Deals, and Best Recommendations (4/5/25)
