Pick your partners.
If I’ve said it once on the Stack Your Points podcast, I’ve said it a thousand times.
I’ve also said I’m becoming a portal person.
At first blush, these two ideas seem to be in direct conflict. Partners require direct connection, while portals lay out options like the all-you-can-eat crab leg night in Red Lobster’s glory days.
Turns out I can have it all, if all means my partners and a portal. Really, I haven’t stopped picking my partners, just their websites.
Two years ago, the idea of willingly moving as much of my travel spend as possible to a portal would have sent me into the kind of laughing fit that ends with a red face and trouble breathing. But things have changed in the points and miles game, in my life and, most importantly, in my wallet.
The most important card in this story is one I never thought I’d want: the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I didn’t plan to get it. Honestly, I didn’t.
But I’m on a new-card timeout and I wanted to try something, so I moved a little-used Chase Freedom Unlimited up the chain. And poking around in the Chase portal suddenly opened up some plays I hadn’t thought to unlock before, which is a big part of why I’m heading down the path toward portals with a bit more speed than I had been.
When I wrote about giving up on the status hunt, I meant it. In 2027, the only statuses I’ll hold (at least the ones that matter) are Delta Platinum, IHG Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold and Marriott Gold. I found the Marriott Gold behind a dumpster and nursed it back to health; we’re very attached.
And with the Sapphire Reserve giving me access to “Eligible for Loyalty Plus” bookings and The Edit hotel program, I can pass through my IHG status (more often than not) at the very least, and IHG is the chain I stay with most. Delta status isn’t an issue with the Sapphire Reserve either, since Delta sees a portal booking as a cash booking, so dollars earn MQDs and miles and everyone’s happy.
8x points in the Chase portal is hard for me to beat, on top of the loyalty pass-through Chase is leaning into. Not to mention being able to book activities. Amex still has my attention, though, because the Platinum does so well for me with FHR, Resy and the other credits on my trips downstate to the City. 5x in their portal is fine enough, even though these days the Gold matches or nearly matches the Platinum half the time.
Even with my venture into portals, my IHG card will still get some love, the Delta card will get attention when I need to book something through Delta Stays or Delta Vacations, and the Amtrak Preferred isn’t going anywhere. But the Classic Green may only have a year left in my wallet, the Amex Gold is already penciled in for cancellation and the Hilton Honors Business card may or may not hang around.
While I don’t love cash back, the AAA Daily Advantage, at the time of writing, is a great card that covers enough of my life to earn its place in my wallet. My other cash back cards fill their roles well enough.
But the Amex portal, and even more so the Chase portal, will be my 2027 standard, with certificates, specials and points bookings being the only reasons a direct booking happens. Thanks to the points pass-through on FHR, The Edit and now Chase’s portal outside of The Edit, the days when a direct booking was my best path to points, counted nights and perks are winding down. I haven’t stopped picking my partners; I’ve just stopped picking their websites.
Amazing what two years can change, isn’t it?
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