Hey, how's it going everyone? It's Ernest from Trip Astute. Hope you all are having
a great week. In this video, we're going to review some of the exciting new
features of one of our favorite tools -- AwardWallet, and how they can benefit
those of you in the points and miles hobby.
A few weeks ago, we did a video on
AwardWallet and why we think it's one of the best tools for points and miles
collectors. If you haven't watched the video, make sure to check it out.
AwardWallet is one of those tools that's been around since I started collecting
points and has served this community for many years by simplifying the way we
track our various point currencies. The other week, I noticed that AwardWallet
started to roll out some new features, so I thought I'd do a video on what they
are and show you how to use them. The service already does a lot more than
just tracking your points, but these new features are ones that I believe address
a lot of the issues that I've seen or heard, especially from those of you in the
points of miles community. Before we dig into the features, if you're new here,
welcome to our channel. Trip Astute is a travel channel that is focused on
sharing ways to make travel easier, affordable, and more enjoyable. Traveling
can be stressful and expensive, so we're looking for ways to help you maximize
your experience through travel tips, points and miles, and innovative gear. If
that sounds interesting to you, please consider subscribing. Today I want to
talk about AwardWallet's new credit card optimization tools and balance
watch feature. These are new enhancements to their service that should be
extremely useful for those of you that collect points and miles. So, let's run
through each one. If you log into your AwardWallet account, you'll notice that
there are some new features on the upper left-hand side of the dashboard. The
three new tools listed are under a section called Credit Card Optimization
Tools, and includes a Credit Card Spend Analysis, Merchant Lookup Tool, and
Reverse Merchant Lookup. These tools rely on crowd-sourced data from AwardWallet
and they can help give you some additional insight. The Credit Card Spend
Analysis Tool allows you to see where the bulk of your spending occurs and
whether you're maximizing your point earnings. AwardWallet shows you a
breakdown of where you're spending money and what you've earned in terms of
points. The tool also recommends other cards that might help you earn more
points. One thing that I didn't realize is that AwardWallet isn't just comparing
the multiplication factor. When researching the topic, I actually reached
out to the AwardWallet team and found out that they assigned values for each
of the major point currencies. For example, they value Chase Ultimate Rewards
points at 2.65 cents and American Express
Membership Rewards points at 2.5 cents. What's cool is that they're looking to
eventually evolve the system to allow you to designate your own customized
point values for each currency. As you all know, measuring a points value is
very subjective and it can differ from person to person, so check out our Points
Value video for a more detailed breakdown on how to measure points and also
calculate the adjusted earning rate on credit cards. If you only want AwardWallet
to give you recommendations based on cards that you already have, then you
can simply click on the "Cards Used to Make Recommendations" section and
uncheck any card so you don't have or not interested in. For example, suppose
you're trying to build Chase Ultimate Rewards points but you notice that the tool
recommends higher bonus categories using American Express and Citi cards, you
might consider unchecking those cards from the list if you don't have any
interest in building those points programs. Keep in mind that you'll need
to have your credit card accounts added to AwardWallet to see this analysis.
Though I think the tool can help you in many ways, especially if you're trying to
see how you could be earning more points. I also think the tool will be valuable over
time to help us determine where we are spending money so we can make informed
decisions when applying for new credit cards. In fact, whenever I do a credit
card consultation, one of the most important questions that I ask is "what
are your highest categories of spend?" This helps me to develop a card strategy
since we can match up cards or programs that will maximize bonuses on those
categories of spend. The second Credit Card Optimization Tool is the Merchant
Lookup Tool. I absolutely love this tool! It allows you to search for merchants
and see how they're coded. Remember AwardWallet is crowdsourcing this data
from their users, so you're pulling from a fairly large and diverse data source.
The merchant lookup tool allows you to see how a merchant is coded when it
comes to your credit cards. This is useful to know for those of you that
pursue credit card bonus categories. I know that I've sometimes wondered how a
smaller and independent store in my area codes if I were to use a credit card. For
example, in my area, there's a smaller drugstore and gift store called Dana
Drug Store. You would assume it's a drug store but it's more of a gift store
that also happens to sell drug store supplies. When I look up the merchants on
AwardWallet, I can confirm that the business codes as a drug store. This can
also be an issue with stores or delis that not only serve food but also have
groceries or a bakery. For example, there's a popular bakery in the Los
Angeles area called Porto's. It's a Cuban bakery and it's
always crowded, no matter what time the day. They have all sorts of incredible
pastries but there's also a cafe inside of the bakery where you can order
sandwiches, lunch plates, coffee, and more pastries. Since you're able to order food
and eat at Porto's, you probably would assume that it would code as a
restaurant or cafe. Though if you search on Porto's using the Merchant Lookup
Tool, you would see that the merchant actually codes as a grocery store. I
actually wish I knew this information earlier since I remember not getting my
points on my Chase Sapphire Reserve card last year when I ate there.
I suspected that this was the case since the receipt didn't have a section for tip. However,
had I known it coded as a grocery store, I probably would have used my American
Express Gold Card when I went there last month since it earns 4 points per dollar
on groceries. The last Credit Card Optimization Tool is the Reverse
Merchant Lookup. This is basically searching for merchants that qualify for
a bonus category based on a specific card. This tool is still in beta but it's
yet another way to review common merchants that can earn you a bonus with
these cards. Finally, there's one more feature that AwardWallet has
released called Balance Watch. This is a very useful tool that was inspired by
requests from other AwardWallet users. Basically, the tool can alert you as soon
as the balance is updated on a specific account from a points transfer or points
purchase. Now you might be wondering, "why would you even need it?" Well, oftentimes
when you're trying to make an award booking you'll need to transfer points
to a specific airline or hotel from another points program like Chase's
Ultimate Rewards, American Express' Membership Rewards, and Citi's ThankYou
Rewards. Since there can be a delay in the transfer, it can prevent you from
completing the booking. This can be both frustrating and scary, especially if the
airline or hotel shows limited availability for your booking.
AwardWallet already tracks point balances, but enabling a Balance Watch on a specific
account makes it track your account every hour and send you a notification
via desktop, mobile, and email when the balance is updated. AwardWallet lists
out the transfers that typically do not occur instantaneously which is extremely
useful to know. However, technical issues can also delay point transfers that are
usually instantaneous, so keep that in mind. Also, folks on FlyerTalk claim that
if you recently created a new loyalty account, it can cause delays when
transferring points. In order to use this feature, you have to be an AwardWallet Plus
subscriber. You get one free Balance Watch credit
for just being a subscriber. very time you renew AwardWallet Plus, you receive one
credit for free as well. You can also purchase more Balance Watch credits if
you need them. The cost is $5 or less, depending on how many credits you
purchase at a time. Since it's taxing on AwardWallet's system to constantly
monitor an account, they want to make sure to prevent misuse of the feature. If
you anticipate using this feature a lot, then you might want to consider buying
several credits at a time. That way you take advantage of the discount. To
activate it, you want to make sure that the account that requires tracking is
added to your AwardWallet account without any issues. You also want to
check your AwardWallet notifications to ensure that you have them set up to your
preferred methods. I recommend also installing the app on your smartphone so
you'll be able to get mobile notifications. You'll then want to click
on the edit button next to the account that you want monitored. Keep in mind
that you want to click on the account that is receiving the points and not the
one that is losing points. For example, if I'm transferring points from American
Express to ANA, I want to make sure that I'm clicking on the edit button on my
ANA account. You'll then enable Balance Watch by clicking on the checkbox, then
adding details about the transfer. You'll need to specify where the points or
miles are coming from and the expected amount. The tool will also ask you when
you requested the transfer, which will help AwardWallet track and create metrics to
help other users who might be doing the same in the future. You'll then need to
acknowledge the terms and conditions and click the update account button. The
account will then show in the main screen that it's being tracked. A
notification will be sent as soon as the points transfer over, allowing you to
complete your booking as soon as possible. There are a few things that you
need to be aware of when using Balance Watch. AwardWallet says that this shouldn't
be used to track when a welcome offer posts to your credit card account since it
can often take a few weeks or a full statement cycle for these points to
show up on your account. You'll want to rely on the standard monitoring tools on
AwardWallet. The Balance Watch tool is intended for transfers that are
scheduled to occur within a few days. Even though this feature costs extra, I
think it can definitely be worth the cost. If you think about the time and
effort to constantly check your account in order to make a booking with points,
this could simplify the process. Oftentimes you have to log out and log
back in to see updates to your points on your loyalty accounts. Just refreshing
the screen usually doesn't work. And if you were to successfully book a flight
with miles and points and save money, then the extra five dollars or less is
probably worth the cost and convenience. Overall, I love that AwardWallet
is constantly working to improve its service to provide additional value
to their users. I think it's also smart that they're leveraging the crowdsourced data
that they already have in order to help travelers, especially points and miles enthusiasts,
with getting the most value from their points. I'm excited to see what
other new features are released in the future by the company. What are your
thoughts on these tools? Have you tried any of these new features? If so, let me
know how it's working for you. If you're interested in applying for a new credit
card, we would love it if you used our link in the video description or on our
website. It's an easy way to support our channel, especially if you found our
content to be valuable and helpful. Also, if you need the help with determining
what your next credit card should be, sign up for a free credit card
consultation service. You'll basically fill out the questionnaire and schedule
a 15-minute call with me to review your recommendation. If you enjoyed the video
and found it useful, please give us a thumbs up and consider hitting the
notification bell next to the subscribe button. You'll not only get notifications
on new videos, but also content that I'm posting on our community tab. That way
you'll be up-to-date on any important announcements or offers that get
released during the week. Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.