Happy Thanksgiving
Plus 2024 Personal Highlights, Community Highlights, and BowTiedBum Santa Guide
Intro
Happy Thanksgiving bums!
If you’re reading this right now, you likely have already stopped paying for flights and hotels out of pocket, or you’re in the process of learning the ropes.
Let’s take a second to rationalize how wildly blessed we are to have some extra fee time to have the luxury to learn this game.
I’m certainly grateful for it every day.
I’m also super grateful for all of you guys, and wanted to say a quick thank you and share some personal highlights, community highlights, and drop of a fun BowTiedBum Santa Guide.
Damn.
Today marks my 173rd BowTiedBum Substack post.
One alfa-packed post a week.
Every week.
Since October 25th, 2022.
It’s been a great ride, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without readers like you!
I’m hoping each of you get some time today to have a relaxing day with your families.
As tempted as I always am, I try my hardest each year to take this day completely off and step away for the game for 24 hours.
No Buying Groups, no Slack, and as little screen time as possible other than watching some football with family.
The Buying Group deals aren’t going anywhere and will pop off tomorrow, so this is the annual calm before the storm for me.
The next week and a half will be chaotic to say the least, but one of the most exciting periods of the year for bums.
After?
In a week and a half from now, I’ll be enjoying a high end luxury all-inclusive Caribbean vacation with my family.
We’ll also be flying my father-in-law out from Europe to join us and covering his hotel.
It’s wild, because I often find myself measuring time by holidays…Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc..
I remember a few years ago sitting around the Thanksgiving table with a whole bunch of extended family, and telling them to by crypto (around 2017)…
They looked at me like I was crazy.
Then, I told them about how I was starting to use credit card points to travel all over the world for free.
They thought it was some sort of scam.
Just two years ago, I told them that I was going to start a Substack and would be able to find people that were interested in this space and willing to learn.
They replied “good luck” and rolled their eyes.
This isn’t intended to rub it in their faces or say “I told you so.”
It’s more to show how this game changed my life and gave me opportunities that I never would have thought been possible.
On a larger scale, it’s given me the opportunity to teach you guys a few things, and I’ve been grateful to witness the evolution of the members of this community with the ALFA you guys provide in the Slack Group and the stories you share in the #wins channel.
That’s what keeps me going, and I have no intentions of slowing down anytime soon!
That said, I’m grateful for all of you and here are a few personal highlights I wanted to share with you all.
Personal Highlights
Jamaica
We spent one week in March in Jamaica on 7 Mile Beach in Negril. Stupidly simple, we stayed at a tiny resort right on the beach. This is one of our favorite beaches on the planet and this is a destination that we’ve been to before and will surely go back to.
Powered Up Points Course
This was a fun one. I put off launching a course for the longest time, but finally took a few weeks to grind and got it done. While I didn’t really publicize it at all, I got really good feedback from it, and I think some people are just much more visual learners and really benefited from it.
That said, the course was a PITA to put together, and will require constant updates, which makes it tough. But I bought a sweet microphone, and who knows? Maybe there will be a podcast one day.
Epic Europe Trip
I knocked a major destination off the bucket list. I got to visit Bordeaux, France this Summer and my sister-in-law was living there so got to show me around.
As a wine snob, I got to sample delicious wines at Le Bar à Vin…Which is now my favorite wine bar in the world.
We also got to visit wineries in Saint-Émilion and explore the beautiful scenery.
One of the highlights here was eating at Cent 33, a Michelin Star restaurant that offered terrific value.
Which leads me to the next section as this has been a major shift in priorities for me in 2024.
Michelin Star Restaurants
This year my priorities have definitely shifted.
After that delicious dinner in Bordeaux, I completely changed my outlook on this game.
I went to three different Michelin Star restaurants this year, and I hope to go to more in 2025.
When visiting cities and staying in the downtown area, I am placing more emphasis on eating one or two really nice meals at a Michelin Star restaurant and trying to use fewer points to redeem my stays.
For me, a hotel in a city is a place to rest my head at night, so I’d rather cash in my points to create memories at these amazing restaurants instead.
Chase LOL/24
I’ve finally hit the point in 2024 where I no longer care about 5/24 and likely never will again. Between P2 and I, we have 10+ Biz Ink cards, personal and biz Hyatt, CSR, IHG and two Freedom Flexes.
Unless anything changes I have all the tools to print a plethora of Chase points each year.
And it’s quite satisfying to not have to worry about 5/24 or getting a Chase signup bonus ever again.
I’m totally okay with it and it feels good!
P2 Fully Onboard
I don’t know what happened or what caused the shift…
But my P2 is fully onboard in a way like I’ve never seen before.
Prior to this year when I was opening cards for her, she had to close her eyes and thought it was sketchy, and said “I don’t want to know, just make sure they get paid off.”
Now, she’ll actively ask me about cards and learns more of the rules like 5/24 charge cards vs credit cards, etc.
That said, I still do all of the MS and games myself. Maybe one day I can teach her how to be self sufficient!
Community Highlights
Spaces/Slack Q&A Calls
The first Twitter Space we ever did with Cheeseman was epic!
I think having live Q&A calls every couple of weeks really added a dimension to our community and helped inspire each other.
Previously the Slack Group fostered a sense of community, but hearing each other’s voices and interacting in real time was an added element that had me looking forward to each call.
We’ll continue to do these periodically or as needed as major things come up.
Cheeseman
There’s too many wins to highlight all individually, but CheeseMan had the most epic win this community has seen to date.
To hit nearly $60K in 2024, fully fund you wedding, honeymoon, mortgage payments, and living expenses is insane.
We are overdue with a live Q&A call to hear all about his wedding and get recent updates on his journey!
Others
Justin started in mid July and came out swinging!
He’s brought a strong work ethic and curiosity that has delivered lots of ALFA to this group and I for one am incredibly grateful to have him in our group.
$20K+ Threshold
While it’s nice to see bums hit $10K+ in 2023, the goal posts have moved with the recent Amex ALFA.
$20K+ a year should now be the target that everyone strives for.
This change allows people flexibility to cover all of their travel and then have bonus cash left over to use however they’d like.
BowTiedBum Santa Guide
Real quick here. If you’ve been a member for a while and active in the Slack Group, you’ll know that the Amazon Synchrony plays was one of the best this year.
Especially after Black Friday, I plan on using my points to cover all of my Christmas shopping (below is just a random screenshot from a few months ago, I earned way more than that this year).
Prewrapped and free! Great way to gift give and splurge a bit on your loved ones.
Conclusion
Hopefully you guys can take some time to relax today and enjoy some time with your families.
If you’re already killing this game, give yourself a pat on the back! It takes some courage to dive headfirst into something you don’t know much about and it’s a humbling process.
If you’re new hopefully you are not paying out of pocket for flights, hotels, or Christmas presents in 2025.
If you have any questions, make sure to join the Slack Group as well as our biweekly Q&A calls.
Have a great holiday y’all!
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind.
Happy Thanksgiving
Is the paid plan worth it for non-US residents? Are the methods applicable if living in Europe?