Earning Caesars Rewards Status in 2026 – Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast
Join host Justin Vacula and returning co-host Darren Remsburg for a deep dive into earning and maximizing Caesars Rewards status in 2026.
In this episode, they break down why miles and points enthusiasts should care about Caesars Rewards, how casino loyalty overlaps with traditional travel hacking, and where the real value is for low-cost travelers.
You’ll hear practical strategies for earning tier credits, leveraging credit card rewards, stacking grocery and gift card deals, and using online gambling (with an edge) to unlock status.
Justin and Darren also walk through the perks of Caesars Diamond and Seven Stars, including free and discounted hotel nights, waived resort fees, celebration dinners, and other on-property benefits that can significantly cut your Vegas and Atlantic City costs.
They also highlight meetups, Frequent Traveler University (FTU), and other community events where you can learn, network, and sharpen your strategies alongside like-minded travelers.
Recorded December 1, 2025, this episode is packed with actionable ideas to help you travel more while spending less.
Timestamps
00:00 Low-Cost Travel with Points, Miles & Casino Loyalty
00:32 Meet the Hosts & Episode Overview
01:05 Upcoming Meetups, FTU & Social Events
02:14 Thanksgiving Promos, Grocery Points & Stacking Deals
04:08 Planning for Caesars Rewards Status in 2026
12:19 Tier Credits, Diamond Benefits & Core Perks
17:43 Using Gift Cards to Fund Online Gambling (with an Edge)
23:46 Announcements, Community Updates & Upcoming Events
29:34 Travel Plans
30:11 Mapping Out the Path to Caesars Status in 2026
30:25 Caesars-Branded Credit Cards: Overview & Strategy
31:07 Maximizing Tier Credits with Everyday Spend
36:28 Frugal Lifestyle Habits That Support More Travel
39:22 Pushing Toward Seven Stars: Is It Worth It?
51:47 Future Trips, Status Goals & Credit Card Plans
54:59 Wrap-Up, Key Takeaways & Final Thoughts
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Rough Transcript:
Theme Song: [00:00:00] Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring the smiles. Many adventures tales to be told, make and save money, the world will unfold.
Fight the war on happiness. Pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold.
Justin Vacula: You’re listening to the Hurdy Gurdy Travel podcast, I’m your host, Justin Vacula, here to help you make money, save money, and travel the world at next to no cost with credit card points, miles, benefits, and loyalty programs. Returning co-host Darren Remsberg joins me to talk about earning Caesars Rewards statuses in 2026.
Why should miles and points people be concerned with Caesars rewards? What are the overlaps between gambling and miles and points? [00:01:00] You’ll learn lots in today’s episode with practical and actionable tips for 2026. Visit meetup.com/philly miles and points to RSVP for monthly Greater Philadelphia Travel Credit miles and Points meetups I host in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
The next meetup is December 21st, 2025. Also find social meetups in 2025 and beyond. This December I added Lancaster, Boston, and the restaurant Kalaya in Philadelphia, come and use your Resy credits at Kalaya, your Aspire credits and Lancaster and FHR credits in Boston. Find a link in the show notes.
For more content between episodes, follow Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast on Facebook and x. Follow Justin Vacula on Instagram. Subscribe to Hurdy Gurdy Travel podcast on YouTube for daily content including travel videos, podcast clips, and post. Find more information, including select episode transcripts at HurdyGurdyTravel.com.[00:02:00]
On with today’s episode recorded December 1st, 2025. Welcome back to the show, Darren. Thanks, Justin. Always good to be back and chat and fun
Darren: points and miles. Opportunities like this one
Justin Vacula: just wrapping up with Thanksgiving. We’re recording here December 1st. How many grocery rewards did you use to feed your family and others this Thanksgiving?
Darren: As it turns out, I just converted a bunch of, uh, points to grocery reward and so we’ll, we’ll be in good shape here for the next month or so. I didn’t convert a lot, I did actually end up using this may surprise you, Justin, but I have, don’t tell anybody more than one giant account. And so each one of those counts.
Now, to be fair, one’s for my me, one’s for my wife, one’s for my, my daughter who’s 18, right? All perfectly legal. Just uh, in case anyone from Giant Food Stores is listening. We’re very appreciative of the fantastic rewards program that you guys offer. I redeemed a Turkey certificate on each account and [00:03:00] donated that to, uh, a local food pantry this year.
So it wasn’t a nice and easy way to do that. Um, we weren’t able to use the Turkey certificates this year. Traveled for Thanksgiving, as we often do,
Justin Vacula: and all your Acme rewards Ready too. With the Fresh Pass Program,
Darren: I finally bought into the Fresh Pass Program with all the, uh. ESPN bet, although maybe not anymore.
E ESPN bet we don’t know. And, uh, and the score, the score, we don’t, I don’t know. It’s to be determined. So if any listeners out there are using ESPN BET gift cards on the score, uh, let us know. But, uh, yeah, there was a couple good gift card deals and I was trying to do the math on how I was gonna able to use all of my, my grocery points in one month.
And it, it wasn’t masking. And we know America loves math, Justin, so. I was in for the Fresh Pass. They ran a half price deal or something. I dunno.
Justin Vacula: Yes. And
Darren: yep. Points
Justin Vacula: never expired. Now they got
Darren: me, they got me, Justin, they got me. It’s
Justin Vacula: a great deal. $5 store credit every month too. So it’s
Darren: pretty good. Yeah, so I, and it’s way worth [00:04:00] it.
Yeah, thank you. Act 1200 points for $20 off and so forth and so on. So I was able to stack a few of those, which I hadn’t been able to in the past. That was nice. But Justin, we’re not here today to talk about grocery rewards, although we do love grocery rewards. We’re here to talk about Caesar’s reward status.
No apostrophe.
Justin Vacula: Yes, definitely no apostrophe. Whoever’s doing that is just completely wrong. It’s not even an optional thing. It’s not a question. It’s just completely wrong. They’ve clarified that. We chatted last year about earnings, Caesar’s reward status, and now we’re back with an updated episode for 2026.
Since a lot has changed, war on happiness, no more matching the Caesar’s Diamond from Wyndham Diamond or other programs. As far as I know. So we have to earn the status in different ways. I think with low cost. Some people might think, oh, I’m going to have to play slots. I’m gonna lose thousands of dollars in order to get status.
That doesn’t make sense. But we’re here to tell you, once again, that slots are a terrible value proposition. We can’t possibly recommend them [00:05:00] playing on the square unless you have some very specific opportunity or promotion. So we can get diamond status in many ways, and I think this is the sweet spot for most listeners.
It might be too costly, even with these methods for the higher status levels and probably not worth it for those who aren’t in casinos as often, diamond Status is giving you waived resort fees. When staying at Caesar’s Properties, these can be 40, $50 a night, even on comp stays nice to get those waived resort fees, you get a $100 annual celebration dinner.
You have to use this all in one shot. You get a trip to Atlantis for a $60 a night resort fee, which includes a nice room and access to the Aqua Venture Waterpark. You can see past content I’ve uploaded for some videos from the waterpark, the rope bridges, the room. I stayed in and much more. I’m planning on returning in 2026 in January.
I’ll make an announcement about that soon. Hopefully Diamond Status also gives you VIP check-in. Valet [00:06:00] parking and some lounge access or free drinks at some properties. It varies from casino to casino. A lot of the lounges have closed and possibly other benefits from Diamond status. On the way to Diamond status, you’ll get a Comp Knight per 5,000 tier credits and you’ll possibly match your diamond status to other casino programs.
This tier credits, this is the metric for Diamond. Do you need the tier credits to earn status? In your Caesars quest for rewards, this was the name of a past promotion they had. You’ll earn reward credits. These are comps. These are used for food, hotel stays and other purchases.
Darren: 30, I mean up to 30 k, as well as the celebration dinner.
Uh, I think it’s a great value as we start thinking about what’s the potential cost here. We’re gonna get into that in a minute to earn these, the opportunities to add value as you go along. If you’re gonna spend any time in Atlantic City in Las Vegas. In Reno, in Tahoe. Really? There are, there is a lot of [00:07:00] places that you can redeem these free nights, free dinners, like you said, Atlantis.
I do have a personal question about Atlantis. Justin, since I earned status in 2025, do I need to, when do I need to take my Atlantis trip? That’s the question.
Justin Vacula: Yes. That’s a really good one. I believe you have to book it before January 31st. Could be mistaken on that. And then you get some time to. Take it.
I’m planning on going in mid-January, possibly around January 14th, so I think that resolves the issue. I’m not sure if we’re able to take it after January, but that’d be something you’d have to ask. You have to call a particular number for the benefit and speak with a human on the phone. So they would give you options for when you can book, and usually the off season is the best time to do it because you get better offers if you try to do it during the summer.
You don’t get as many nights. The place is more crowded. So I think January is one of the best months to go.
Darren: Yeah, I, that would make [00:08:00] sense to me as well. I think, uh, January probably is gonna be a busy calendar for us, but, uh, maybe I’ll look into it a little bit more. Maybe we’ll take a, uh, weekend down and usually go probably during the week too, instead of the weekend.
I
Justin Vacula: think you can pick weekends as well. Okay. I think you get a lot of options. It depends on availability, and I say January 31st because that’s the status year that your status lasts through January 31, and then if you don’t requalify, you just lose it. The earn year is often where you have to use a lot of the benefits, like the celebration dinner needs to be used before January 31st as well.
Darren: That’s what I’m saying. I just, uh. Since we were gonna talk about Caesar’s, no apostrophe today, I thought I’d just log into my account here and see what options I have. And since I have the expert here on the podcast with me, I pepper you with a few questions that maybe our listeners have as well.
Justin Vacula: Yeah, absolutely. And that’s the 15 K tier for Diamond at [00:09:00] 20 5K. That also gives you free drinks in Las Vegas or comp drinks in Las Vegas. I really like Pinky’s Vanderpump inside of Flamingo Casino. It’s. A new-ish restaurant, I believe it opened on or around November of 2024. The casino is old, but this is a brand new restaurant and they have all kinds of specialty drinks that are around 24, 20 $5.
So you can get a comp drink up to $25 and you can get four of them per day. It’s a very interesting benefit.
Darren: I’ve seen the pictures that you’ve posted, Justin, they look, uh, look like delicious. Cocktails, and I guess if you’re not a drinker, probably mocktails too. But
Justin Vacula: yeah. Great. Yes, they do have the mocktails.
I definitely wouldn’t pay $25 out of pocket for a drink. I have to keep my frugal credentials, of course, because a lot of critics are claiming that we’re overspending that may or may not rhyme with bathe dansey. But, um, I take the water almost every time for free when I can get it, rather than [00:10:00] paying $20 for a drink.
But getting four of the drinks complimentary per day is a cool bene. It used to give you free drinks or comp drinks at Starbucks, but they took that away and I think now you need seven stars to get the Starbucks drinks. So we’ll get into that a little bit later, as I might get seven stars this year.
Darren: Yeah, a little world of happiness for the rest of us. But maybe Justin, you can treat us we’ll see.
Justin Vacula: Yes, I promise there will be sharing of drinks if you arrive in Las Vegas. It is inevitable. We know it is.
Darren: I know it’s, uh, it’s just been, it’s been crazy with different, uh, different things going on. So, back to Caesar’s here, you said.
So Diamond is 15,000 and like you said, it, you can acquire a few benefits along the way. I certainly enjoy the celebration dinner in the past. I’ve been able to status match my wife and be able to double up on the, uh. On the celebration dinner there, we each throw in a hundred, a hundred dollars. And I think you have or in the past joined together with other people and, and done a, [00:11:00] a big celebration dinner.
Is that, am I remembering that correctly?
Justin Vacula: Yes. There was a lot of swapping of the benefits. Past podcast guest, Mandy and I went to the Bachanal Buffet where it used to be $60 each, so we had to pay about $20 total after the a hundred off. For two buffets at quite a nice buffet during the brunch hours, but that has since changed.
So I’ve been going to other restaurants and just trying to get the bill under a hundred, or maybe it goes slightly over. So yes, you have a Caesar’s friend, you can do something like 50 and 50 each and get two meals out of it rather than going solo and getting a hundred dollars for yourself. I think that’s a good way to play it.
Darren: And it’s always more fun to have dinner with friends too, right? So there’s something to be said for that.
Justin Vacula: Yes. Last year’s Zor Fest event in 2024 was at Horseshoe in Las Vegas. So when there were times where meals were not provided, or later at night, I would chop up a celebration dinner with someone else.
So that was a good opportunity. [00:12:00]
Darren: Very nice. So hopefully we’ve, uh, convinced a couple people that Caesar’s Diamond status might be worth trying to achieve. How do we get there? Justin, what was your strategy for achieving? I know you’re gonna go well beyond. Diamond status, but how did you, how would you, or how did you get diamond status this year?
Justin Vacula: You can earn tier credits through gambling. Usually it’s one tier per $10 wagered on video poker or a coin in or play through. We’ll use those terms. You would play one hand of $10 or two hands of $5, for example. This would give you one tier credit. This is likely your best bet for earning tier fast and at a low cost.
And Caesars often offers promotions, giving you more tier credits for your play. 2025 had numerous 10 x tier credit multiplier promotions. So the effective earn was one tier per dollar wagered. So we have an America Loves Math moment. If we were to play through 15,000, if we were to play $15,000 worth [00:13:00] of video poker hands, the worst case scenario, meaning you would do nothing else to earn tier credits if you were to play a game that returned 97% in the long run.
So the house has an advantage of about 3% in this game. You stand to lose an expected $450, but you’ll also get return offers, some reward credits or comps, some free play and other bonuses, mainly perks of status that we mentioned. You might get, Hey, come back to Vegas. Stay for four nights complimentary.
Hey, here’s an invitation to this blackjack tournament or slot tournament. Hey, here’s a video poker tournament entry. Come and get a gift. Come and get another 50 or a hundred dollars. Free play. So this is a case where playing a game where the house has an advantage, but since we’re earning things like status, that’s giving benefits, return offers, free play gifts, a $450 cost for the status, I think is a really good deal.
And this would be the worst case scenario, [00:14:00] meaning that we just went there one day, we did this big session, and we would get our status. At the 10 x tier credit multiplier, but with many other ways to earn, our cost won’t be $450, and this is over the long run. It is gambling after all, but over a large sample size.
This would be what the numbers would work out to be. There might be a day where we’re up a few hundred, down a few hundred if we’re playing optimal video poker strategy. I have YouTube videos on my Hery Gordy Travel podcast channel about the basics of video poker. You can learn it with the video poker.com app.
I think a pretty good skill to have in this space because you can use your free play towards video poker and many other promotions and programs. You’ll have to play some to get statuses or certain offers.
Darren: You did all your play in casinos, Justin, or did you do some from the, uh, comforts of a local Panera Bread?
Justin Vacula: Oh, yes, yes. Some online play. Indeed. We’ll get [00:15:00] into that. So this is the worst case scenario if you play just one big session in person with this 10 x tier credit multiplier scenario. But you also get bonuses for earning a certain amount of tier in one day so you can spread out your play instead of just having this big day of play, you can spread it out to a few sessions in the year.
If you were to earn a base 500 tier credits, you earn a bonus 125 tier credits. If you earn a thousand tier credits in one day, a thousand base tier credits in one day. If you get a bonus, a thousand tier credits, and if you earn 2,500 base tier credits, you get a bonus of 5,000 tier credits. I say base because this is before the 10 x multiplier, so this is a good way to lower that cost and lower the time you’re sitting at a machine.
So with a 10 x promotion, a thousand base tier would be 10,000. You’d get another 1000 and this would place you very close to diamond status with play in one day. [00:16:00] $10,000 in play through for about a 9,700 expected return for a cost of about $300 for that really nice diamond status if you can be there during these 10 x tier credit multipliers.
You could also play table games, like in-person blackjack, in-person craps, but this is more mysterious. You get a certain rating from the pit boss depending on what you’re betting or how the pit boss is feeling or thinking that day. It’s a much slower earning compared to video poker, so I don’t usually recommend playing table games in person with Caesars, but the online play can also give you some benefits if you’re in an online gambling state with table games.
Darren: I think that’s maybe interesting to folks that maybe we’re only gonna go to Las Vegas once a or twice a year. I, I know that would be shocking to you, Justin, who. Likes to visit every time you’re, every time you’re in the air, there’s a always a reason to stop in Las Vegas, right?
Justin Vacula: Yes. I’m excited. I’m going to, [00:17:00] uh, Los Angeles to fly to Australia, and it’s obligatory for me to stop in Vegas on the way.
Darren: I mean, how can you Not really. It just makes sense. I’d be flying over it. Yeah. It’d be crazy not to. But in that scenario, I think what many folks, what I would like to do right, is to build status prior to getting to the casino and then have. Whatever, however many, many days I have in Las Vegas or in Atlantic City or wherever I’m gonna be, I already have at least diamond status so I can take advantage of some of these things.
Maybe a comp night, maybe valet parking. So I think that’s where either playing locally, like you said, maybe you have a local casino or playing online if you have that opportunity in your state really makes a lot of sense. I’m sure Justin, you’re, let’s see, you’re, you’re just using cash right? To load your money into the casino sites.
Just straight cash homie. Like, like Randy Moss.
Justin Vacula: We have a better way, and again, this is more advanced. We found some Caesar’s gift [00:18:00] cards. They’ve, they’ve been appearing in numerous states, often at grocery stores and the office supply store. Staples a familiar friend. It seems like Pennsylvania will take as many gift cards as you’d like to deposit.
I’d start small scale up over time, but several data points from New Jersey and one today from Michigan. Shout out to Marcus. He got a little stuck. He bought a bunch of Caesar’s gift cards and after using five or six of them, they just wouldn’t work. And it wasn’t a problem with the gift card, but the site just wouldn’t take them.
So I think there’s something on the backend in Jersey and Michigan that’s stopping people from depositing. As usual, start small and don’t end up holding the bag with about $5,000 in gift cards.
Darren: Well, yeah, and hopefully it’s a, it’s a limit per day, right? That we have seen in New Jersey. Oh, no. This is
Justin Vacula: like a limit per month or maybe, oh, no.
Oh, no, Marcus. No. Yes. Paul Bearer from WWE B Oh, [00:19:00] yes. This is an oh no more. But I, I did, I did him a favor and he did me a favor too by, uh, exchanging them at a discount. Thanks, Marcus. Yeah, it’s a really nice opportunity. So instead of just aching money in from a bank account and just taking the full house edge in Blackjack, for instance, we can buy these gift cards.
Something like the Chase in Cash will give us five X points. We could transfer these to a Sapphire card for ultimate Rewards. Or the Chase Inc. Preferred. So we’re getting five x points, essentially with a chase in cash when we’re buying these Caesars gift cards as staples. Or we can use cards like the American Express Gold Card earning four x membership rewards at grocery stores.
I usually pay with multiple credit cards, if possible, to avoid adverse action and fraud alerts. So if I were to go into Staples and buy a thousand in these Caesars gift cards, I would split the transaction, put something like. 487 33 on one card and the rest on the other. So it looks more like an organic purchase and [00:20:00] doesn’t trigger a fraud alert or some other adverse action.
They’re usually pretty good about that at Staples. So when playing through the funds, I keep track of my play. I’ve detailed this in past YouTube videos. You can search her Gerdy travel blackjack. I have a click counter where I keep track of my play. So if I deposit a thousand, I play through that a thousand dollars.
Yeah, and earn some tier credits in the process. The tier earn is slow. It is a one tier credit per $25 played, but you’re always playing with an edge when you’re using new money from the gift cards because you earned on the acquisition side four x, five x or maybe even more if you’re working on a signup bonus or stacking offers like grocery rewards, fuel points, merchant offers, and other tricks.
Darren: I think that’s right. I think it’s a stacking right. That becomes valuable. Ideally, it’s a signup bonus, as you said, with a card that you earn some sort of multiplier at the, at the store where you’re buying it. [00:21:00] Amex personal gold at a grocery store, like you said, chasing cash at a staples. Any, anything like that is, uh, is ideal.
And then like, yeah, and then you, you start to put those things together and uh, all of a sudden you’re not playing. Quote, unquote, full value. You’re, you’re, you have a card that maybe you think face value is $200, but you stacked up 10 x on the front end, and so really you’re, you’re more like, uh, 95%, you know that you have into that as depending on how you view those points, right?
So it provides a discount upfront. It switches, like you said, the expected value from negative to positive. Then you’re also earning reward. Tier credit on the site. So really a nice way to, uh, to, and playing blackjack is, uh, is kind of fun. To be fair,
Justin Vacula: yes, I have gotten a lot of bonuses in the past, but they really nerfed the bonuses.
I saw one recently with something like a 100 x play [00:22:00] through, so that means if you deposited a thousand for a bonus, you would need to play through a hundred thousand dollars to clear a bonus. It was just amazing to see things like that. It used to be something like 10 x 15 x. And when the bonuses were high enough, it made sense, but no longer the bonuses have been nerfed, so that’s really sad.
Using the gift cards though is quite nice, and I just ignore the bonuses. And there are some new rewarding debit cards that released or new-ish debit cards, but I’m unsure about how much they would tolerate gambling. We saw the Southwest debit card recently. The United Debit Card. The Wyndham debit card.
I used to use others in the past. They no longer work with gambling, so war on happiness there. But with Southwest United and Wyndham, maybe some listeners might be interested in using these for online gambling if they work. And again, I’m not sure how much they would tolerate, but at least you’re getting something back rather than a C Hing money in.
Although [00:23:00] I think the gift cards are really the sweet spot here. I think so too. But maybe a little bit hard to find them. They can quickly go out of stock or maybe they’re not stocked much to begin with, but these are all new, so hopefully we see them populate in other places. I think this was the trajectory of DraftKings gift cards.
They first started popping up years ago, and then we’d see them at new merchants, and now they’re super easy to find from my experience.
Darren: Yeah, I agree. I think DraftKings is by far the most prevalent out there. I just wish they weren’t 20 fives and fifties stuck in there with the hundreds, right
Justin Vacula: as the, uh, Pennsylvania lottery mascot says, keep on scratching.
We’re not advocating for the Pennsylvania lottery. Uh, no, they’re also not a sponsor of the show, but we do have other sponsors. So we’ll take a break for announcements I’ll be speaking at and helping organize for frequent Traveler University, FTU Dallas. This will be in Irving, Texas near the DFW airport.
May 1st through the [00:24:00] third 2026 at the Nylo Las Colins Hotel by Hilton. Join me and community members for social events and educational sessions. Ticket sales are live $200 for FTU members and $249 for non-members, potentially discounted depending on when you buy a ticket for maybe Black Friday, cyber Monday or other promotions.
You can also grab an FTU annual membership for online courses. Seminars, member perks, event discounts, and much more. Use my affiliate link in the show notes for membership and conference tickets. Darren, will you be in Texas? May 1st through the third.
Darren: Strong, maybe on that. Justin Strong maybe. Okay. Yeah.
Alright. Yeah, we’ll take
Justin Vacula: a maybe for now.
Darren: Yeah. I, I’ve been looking at the, uh, at the lineup in addition to you. Of course. Uh, it’s, it’s fantastic and should be a great time in, in Texas that time of year. It is the weekend after my wife’s. Birthday, so we may need to plant around that a little bit. But, uh, [00:25:00] yeah I like the lineup.
I think it’s, uh, FTU. I’ve been, uh, once in person, once online. It’s a good conference, so yeah, strong. Maybe for me,
Justin Vacula: I’m going to be in Las Vegas April 26th through May 1st, and then fly to Dallas. So we get Vegas in once again. Las Vegas.
Darren: What? That’s crazy Justin. That’s crazy. Guess
Justin Vacula: Rio had nights for $15 and 20 cents per night and no resort fees without globalist status.
So I’m getting the breakfast at hash house a Gogo and the qualifying nights and the stays for only $15 a night is really wild. Tell tk I said hi when you’re there. Chicago Seminars event Hyatt Regency O’Hare recently concluded. Stay tuned for 2026 date announcements and more information. The event formerly known as the Chicago Seminars Heritage Edition at Holiday Inn was renamed as the Chicago Points Travel Festival.
This will take place October 16th [00:26:00] through the 18th, 2026. I’ll be there and use promo code HurdyGurdy and join the wait list if you can, because the event is already sold out.
Darren: W Wait, Justin, isn’t there a special code or something I need to use at one of these things about how I must have a promo code?
Are are we done with that now?
Justin Vacula: Oh, it’s promo code HurdyGurdy. Oh no, Justin just, oh, yes. Oh yes. This episode is also supported by card pointers. If you have multiple credit cards like me, card pointers helps you automatically activate bank offers. It knows which card to use for maximum rewards card pointers saves me time and money.
Use my link at CardPointers.com/HurdyGurdyTravel for a discount on annual and lifetime plans. Perhaps also getting another discount during promotions. You recently signed up during the Black Friday deal, right? I did. Everyone loves a good deal. I saw a notification 4% cash back at Giant recently, so some grocery store gift cards getting additional [00:27:00] rewards.
How about that? I like the sound of that, Justin, all the stacks. Finally, I host monthly travel and points meetups in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Next meetup, December 21st, 2025. If you’re local or wanna make the trip, it’s a fun casual way to talk point strategies. Meet like-minded travelers and share ideas.
RSVP at meetup.com/philly miles and points in addition to meetings, check for new social events. Will we see you there in December, Darren? I know it’s more difficult what? The holidays.
Darren: Another strong maybe. I’d love to go, I always enjoy these meetups. I think they’re, yeah, like you say, you run a great show.
Not, not only just in the podcast, but the meetup as well. Lots of great information that you’re sharing, but also other people are sharing and. I’m usually coming with hopefully some, some knowledge and some experience, but also maybe a question or two that I’ve had great help with. So the Southeast Asia trip we booked ended up booking on, on the way back with Alaska miles that, uh, that [00:28:00] gene had had suggested.
And then, uh, Brian had suggested the, uh, Singapore flights. So really a nice, a nice fit sort of narrowing down some of those options and how that worked out. So. It’s a great meetup. And anybody that’s in the local area, or even, I know we’ve had folks from shoot, didn’t we have somebody from Texas come on time?
Justin Vacula: Oh yes. People traveling quite a way. Some from Michigan, some from Texas, recently. Seattle. Thanks Marty for coming. Not to be confused with the giant mascot, Marty, but Marty came to Washington, DC to meet some people and then rented a car. Went from DC to Philadelphia, so I think he won the award at the furthest travel.
At the last meetup we had about 15 to 20 people. So it’s getting hot.
Darren: People are hungry and wanna learn, wanna get together, FTU or Chicago Seminars, or Zurk Fest. All these meetings are fantastic. And yeah, the seminars are great and, and the Zurk Fest is gonna have the labs, which I would love to attend. I think they’ll be really valuable.
But [00:29:00] it, it’s also the, the lunches, the dinners, the after dinner drinks or whatever. And, uh, talking with folks one-on-one. Sharing your experiences and, and folks giving tips, making connections that you then you can reach back out, right? And say, Hey, didn’t you say you’ve been to so and so? Or, I’m looking for a flight.
Didn’t you tell me you flew? Or How did you book this? And it’s really building that network so that when you are looking to spend some of these high, hard earned points and miles that you’re doing it for maximum value and taking that once in a lifetime trip at least once a year. Justin.
Justin Vacula: We have the meetings from 1:00 PM to four and then we hang out in the cafe after, and some people even come the night before and hang out.
I know the New Yorkers, some from Jersey will also do that as well. So very popular.
Darren: Have we been missing the opportunity for a Hyatt house run close to Willow Grove, Justin,
Justin Vacula: there are some people who stay at Hyatt House or Hyatt Place in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and there’s also the King of Prussia.[00:30:00]
Hyatt, but I think the Mount Laurel one is a better value.
Darren: That makes sense. That makes sense. Mount Laurel’s a a fair distance for, for me at least, maybe for other folks it to be. All right.
Justin Vacula: All right. Back to the discussion, earning Caesars status in 2026. I’m here with Darren. We talked about in-person gambling, online gambling.
What are some other ways to earn tier credits towards status? The Caesar’s credit cards are somewhat interesting. These are issued by C Amenity slash Bread Financial. Unfortunately, many listeners probably don’t have any cards with C Amenity or Bread Financial. Maybe they haven’t had cards or they had them and then they decided they didn’t like us and they shut the cards down.
But for those who weren’t affected by shutdowns, they have the Prestige Card. This released in 2025. We dedicated an entire episode to this one. Find it past podcast episode or on the Hery Gordy Travel Podcast. YouTube channel. Currently the [00:31:00] signup bonus is 20,000 reward credits. This is $200 in comps, essentially, and 2,500 bonus tier credits.
After 1000 spend outside Caesar’s Properties earn an additional 2,500 tier credits for spending $5,000 in a calendar year. Earn another 2,500 tier spending 10,000 total in a calendar year. And another 15,000 tier for spending $50,000 in a calendar year. A high amount. It’s a total of 25,000 tier credits, if I added that correct.
Sadly, this card doesn’t earn tier on all spend. The MGM credit cards due, the Caesars credit card does not. So unfortunately, a major weakness, you only get tier from these spend goals each year. 50,000 spend max for 20 5K tier. So it’s a capped one tier per $2 spent. We cannot spend our way to diamond delete and seven stars, which are higher status levels.
Other perks to this card include a hundred [00:32:00] dollars yearly dining credit, a celebration, dinner clone, $50 in free play, and another comp hotel night. Each year, a top the comp nights that you earn from the tier goals. So not an amazing card, but there is some potential here with the Prestige credit card.
Darren: Yeah. And we know Justin, that the answer to most problems is more credit cards. Right. So it makes sense. It’s a good way to kick things off. And I just wanna be clear, this is the Caesar’s no apostrophe S credit card, prestige credit card, not the city prestige credit card, which is discontinued, correct?
Yeah. Just a note point of clarity there. Also, I can’t get Citi cards, so that’s probably not relevant to me
Justin Vacula: anymore. Can’t get community cards. You can’t get C cards so I can get community cards.
Darren: Don’t, don’t be lumping me in with your, uh, with your shenanigans over there, buddy.
Justin Vacula: Lifetime Achievement Awards for sure.
But thankfully you were able to get diamond status without the Caesars [00:33:00] credit card. I don’t, I don’t think these Caesars credit cards will be good for people. New to miles and points. You’re probably going to be starting with much better. Credit cards, especially with Chase. That’s a whole other discussion, but it’s an option.
There’s also the no annual fee card with Caesars. 2,500 tier for 5,000 spending in a calendar year. 15,000 tier for 50 K spend. Probably skip this one. Go with a Prestige card if you’re to get any of them and you can’t have both, which is really strange. It’s only one Caesar’s credit card. Allowed. So some earning from there.
But a lot of spend, 50 K spend. Although for some advanced to intermediate listeners, people have been in the game, the miles and points game for a while, probably. That’s not a big deal, especially when you’re buying and selling a lot of things and engaging in more creative spending.
Darren: Yeah, I think that’s right.
I think you’re probably not a top, top five, top 10, maybe even top 15 card, but. [00:34:00] Maybe it is if, if you’re really interested in earning Caesar’s status and, uh, and want to kickstart things again with the idea, say, you know, you’re gonna be gone to Vegas in June, and so you wanna make sure that when you get there you have diamond status.
Justin Vacula: So doing a combination of things, usually the way to go for earning status, even with other loyalty programs like Delta, American Airlines, Hyatt, and much more. If you can also earn tier through dining shows, hotel stays if you’re paying the cash rate, not using comps, although on hotel stays, I have seen some tier even on comp stays, but this earn is minimal and we don’t advocate wailing out spending a hundred dollars or more on a single meal, especially when it’s pretty easy to earn comps or transfer Wyndham rewards to Caesar’s Rewards for those that have Wyndham credit cards that give Wyndham points.
So some tier is earned and I’m looking forward to going to Vanderpump at [00:35:00] Paris Las Vegas. I have the $150 Chase exclusive tables benefit, so I’m going to spend $150, get $150 back on the credit cards. This is going to give me 150 tier, I believe, one tier per dollar spent on dining. So spending without spending, I absolutely wouldn’t.
Pay $150 out of pocket, but Chase is giving me a dining credit to do it, and I’m grandfathered into the benefit after paying the old annual fee on the credit card. So some tier through that, some stacking,
Darren: right? It really is all about what do you anticipate you’re gonna find value in? And then how can you try to achieve that value at minimum cost?
I think you’re a master at that. Justin. I think you’re frugal, right? So what you find value in might be different than someone else. Whether and how you wanna spend your reward credits, your comps, essentially, right? How you wanna spend your celebration dinner. Yeah. It’s kind of up to you. There’s lots of choices, but yeah, think about it and, and make sure you’re [00:36:00] using it in a way that, that you’re gonna enjoy.
The point of taking a once in a lifetime vacation is, it feels like it’s once in a lifetime. So yeah, don’t whale out necessarily. Right. Don’t, uh, go over the top and order the. Crystal, is that still a thing? But nice glass of wine, nice bourbon. That’s what you’re into, especially with, uh, with Vander Pomp free drinks.
Go for it. And, uh, have, have a great time when you there.
Justin Vacula: Yes, I’ll get a drink comped, but I won’t pay $25 for a drink. And it’s the nice thing about points and miles, we get all these, what people consider to be nice things or luxurious things for free or comp or extremely low cost. So we get the best of.
Both worlds. There’s some criticism of the frugal lifestyle. Oh, you’re missing out on this experience. Oh, you’re not really doing much. But with points and miles, I get to go on these comp cruises we’ve discussed in many other episodes and only pay taxes and fees. So paying something like $300 for a seven night, 10 night cruise, and having all the meals [00:37:00] included.
The drinks included. Depending on the offer, and much more is really nice at low cost where I wouldn’t spend a thousand dollars or $1,500 to go on a cruise, but if I can get it comped and just pay the taxes and fees, I’m quite a buyer. I’ve been largely or almost all unconvinced by arguments saying, go to the steakhouse, spend $150 out of pocket for a nice meal, a nice experience.
I really haven’t found this to be worthwhile when I can just get entertainment in other ways. Have this quote unquote nice food or luxurious food in other ways without paying for it. Still doing all right and doing this since 2018. Still having success, not overspending, as some critics say, and still getting to have all these experiences, the best of both worlds.
Darren: I agree. And to be fair, I’m not surprised a vegetarian doesn’t find a lot of value at a steakhouse. I’m just gonna throw that out there, Justin. I’m just throwing that out
Justin Vacula: there. I have gone [00:38:00] to the steakhouse on a virgin voyages cruise, and they did have a lot of veggie. They did have a lot of veggie options.
Darren: They do. They have a whole salad bar. It’s lovely.
Justin Vacula: No there There was the grill.
Darren: Oh, the grill. Okay. Okay. I stand corrected. Okay. I must have missed that. I must have been focused on the meat on a stick that they bring around and put on your plate for you.
Justin Vacula: There is that. And of course the drinks. I’ve definitely seen some really expensive drinks.
On many menus or the pescatarian options such as the expensive fish. So that could be a way to whale out and, and it was funny because I had a $300 comp recently at Live Casino Philadelphia, and I could have gone by myself and used all 300, but I usually just go in there and get eggplant, which is about $20 in comps.
And I didn’t really want more than that, so I brought a lot of friends. We had about eight or nine people that came and we split the $300 and I thought that was much better value. Rather than spending 300 on myself or splitting it with you, Darren, and having 150 each. [00:39:00]
Darren: Well, I would’ve happily taken the 150 each, but no, I, I’m, I agree.
I think it’s fun to, to do that kind of stuff, right? To get a group of folks together and, and yeah, celebrate, right? Whether it’s a, a truly a celebration dinner or, uh, or just, just some comps that you earned and accrued along the way. So Fantastic.
Justin Vacula: Yeah. Lots of fun. And the winds. Continue as I am potentially getting seven star status 2025 and having it all through 2026.
So I’m interested to see what will happen with that.
Darren: So this mythical seven star status. Justin, tell us about that. What, what would you expect if you’re, uh, if you’re so lucky enough you’ve earned the 150 K, right? That’s the, the line that, that we think you have to cross.
Justin Vacula: Yes, I was Diamond Elite and it went up and up and up and eventually I got to about 149,000 tier credits.
It crossed over [00:40:00] to 150,000 and then there was a message at 1 49 ish that said Seven Stars by Invitation, and it had a tracker of how far I was away, and then when it hit the 150,000. Then the buy invitation went away and it’s still showing Diamond Elite. So I waited about a week. I didn’t see any changes.
I posted in the Travel Zork Facebook group because this is my first time at this level, and they said, you should just message your host. And I do have a host in Atlantic City because I’ve played video poker at Harris numerous times during promotions. And the host said, I put in the request, it just might take time.
I’m hoping to, oh, get that very soon. We’re recording on December 1st, so it would be absolutely amazing if it could be in December 2nd, so then I could use those benefits in Vegas when I fly out tomorrow from when we’re recording. Use these benefits at Zor Fest, allegedly extra drinks in Vegas, potentially other benefits [00:41:00] in Vegas as well.
But I think the main one that I’m looking forward to is the enhanced. Atlantis, stay free transportation to and from the airport Free play. I think something like a hundred, $150 in free play for being seven stars. You get a better tower or hotel room in a different section. You get a hundred dollars dining credit each night.
So for a four night stay, you would get $400 in dining credits. And of course the food in Atlantis is quite expensive. We’ve discussed that in past episodes, past podcast guest. Mandy, so a hundred dollars a day dining, credit free play, an upgraded stay, and waived resort fees in Atlantis. So I’m really looking forward to that benefit.
Darren: Did you let your host know that you’re gonna be in Vegas this week and would love the opportunity to enjoy your seven star status?
Justin Vacula: Yes, I did let my host know that, and I let my host know that I’m intending on going to Atlantis in January. Because from what I [00:42:00] understand, if you book it at the diamond delete level.
And seven stars isn’t confirmed yet. You only get the Diamond Elite benefits, which aren’t as good as the Seven Stars benefits. You also get a annual retreat. You could designate a Caesar’s property. You get comped flight Comp, hotel, and some other perks, perhaps dining credits. You get more celebration dinners, you get numerous a hundred dollars dining credits.
You get special invitations to seven stars events throughout the United States. And there’s the potential to match seven stars to other programs. As we’ve seen many other casinos say, Hey, come in, show a competitor’s player’s card and we’ll give you our high status, which will give many benefits with other casinos too.
So I played a few sessions of video poker during the tier credit multiplier promotions, and I played a lot of online blackjack. I mentioned previously there were some rewarding debit cards in the past. That would give something like 1.5, 1.6% cashback, [00:43:00] 2.22% cashback. But eventually these stopped working on gambling sites.
But when that was in play, it was full steam ahead. Choo, even more than the MBTA in Boston, that’s for
Darren: sure. Oh, yes. We’re all wishing you the best in your seven star status. Here. I was trying to think of another S word, but I couldn’t think of it. I think it’d be outstanding if they were to pull that through in time for your upcoming trip here to Vegas and Zork Fest.
Yeah, have a great time. I know that’s gonna be, well this may come out during Zork Fest, so you’ll be probably having a great time as this launches.
Justin Vacula: Yes, and unfortunately I can’t hang up call again on my host because I only have one host. So the the request is in, and of course, in future episodes, we’ll.
Let listeners know what happens. We can’t hookah hang up call again. We’re just going to have to patiently wait and it would be nice to use these benefits in 2025, but it might take until 2026 to use [00:44:00] them. And then we might be in the first world problem of too many dining rewards because when Seven Stars triggers, they get all these a hundred dollars dining credits, and it’s my understanding that those would be good through January 31st.
So I’d have to use all the dining credits before January. Like 400, $500 in diary credits to use. So that could be another enhancement in Vegas if I could just use all those credits when I’m already in Vegas anyway, rather than using them in Atlantic City or having to wait until the end of January when I’m staying at Rio to use the benefits.
Darren: Yeah. Yep.
Justin Vacula: And Atlantis, I want to book as soon as possible and go in mid-January rather than having to go at the end of the month. So it gets a little bit tight with this, but I didn’t think I was going to reach seven stars, or I might have had to play video poker again in person to get there, which would be more of a cost that may not be worth it if I was further away, but with the rewarding debit cards that used to work with the Caesars gift cards that just recently popped up.
It’s more of a reality. So some [00:45:00] positives happening after some negatives for sure.
Darren: It’s like everything else in this game, right, Justin? There’s things that come in that you find, uh, find are a great fit for you. It you can really maximize them while they, while they are available and then they go away for whatever reason.
Whether that’s, uh, a change in earning status or how something codes or availability. So I think it’s a great lesson in, in the proverbial striking while the iron is hot, right? And, and taking advantage of. Of the opportunities you have in the moment. And we always wanna know where the line is, right? So we don’t cross the line.
But on the other hand, we’ve talked about this in the past, some of these things are only worth doing if you’re gonna do them at 11, right? If only if you’re gonna turn it out to 11 to use spinal tap parlance there. But that’s the way it goes. Hopefully this all works out for you and and yields back that seven star status, and you’re able to really capitalize and enjoy that.
Again, that Right. That would last for not just this year, but would last all through 2026, right? And into early 2027. [00:46:00]
Justin Vacula: Yes. It’s a big gap from the Diamond Delete status. The seven Stars Diamond delete is 70 5K tier credits, seven stars is 150 K tier credits. So you wouldn’t want to be in a space where you only got around a hundred K tier credits.
If you’re gonna pass 70 5K, you pass it by just a little bit, or you just keep going and go to Seven Stars. So I’m not sure. I’m gonna go for seven Stars. For Requalifying for seven stars in 2026, it might not be worth it, but the game might change. There could be other opportunities and we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Darren: That’s right. We never know what might, uh, might come up next year.
Justin Vacula: And for you, you still have some of the diamond benefits to use before the end of the year. So Michu, go to Atlantic City, use the dining credits there, or maybe Harris’s Philadelphia. Go to the Asian restaurant there.
Darren: Yeah, that’s a good question.
I, I was thinking Atlantic City, but yeah, Harris Philadelphia is maybe not a bad idea. Do dinner there. [00:47:00] I don’t know if I’d stay the stay the evening there. I don’t know that my wife really is, uh,
Justin Vacula: they don’t have a hotel, so that’s, oh,
Darren: let’s save, save me the trouble. I appreciate that. Yeah.
Justin Vacula: Yeah. That’s how much you haven’t been there.
Yeah. Yeah,
Darren: that’s exactly, I, I’ve,
Justin Vacula: yeah, there’s a prison next to the casino. Yeah. I, I hotel for some,
Darren: yeah. Involuntary. Yeah. I, I’ve stopped in as, so, so long as to get my physical card that I needed for status match a couple years ago, but nothing recently. So yeah, like you say, I’m, I’m just never there. I, I have spent a little time in Atlantic City, a couple of the places there.
But not recently there either. So I, we’d love to spend some time in Atlantic City, maybe take a, maybe even take a trip to Las Vegas, Justin. But we’re getting close to the end here to, to use some of these comp nights. So just gotta make it happen. Find the time.
Justin Vacula: Quit your job. 2026.
Darren: Probably not
Justin Vacula: part-time.
2026
Darren: also, probably not.
Justin Vacula: No.
Darren: But, uh, virtual work parts. Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. [00:48:00] Right. That’s, uh, it was the, what was the gig, right? Like you hire somebody. Hire two people to do your job, but you outsource it so it’s at a fraction of the cost. And so basically you’re just, you’re just managing two people to do all your work.
You have more free time to do whatever you want. Yeah, maybe So
Justin Vacula: fire up the phone. Army. Yeah. To Boston. Ride the MBTA. They hide a past podcast guest. Purple Princess Perry. Perry Kim from Love on the Spectrum on Instagram. Yeah, do all the things.
Darren: I will be in Boston in April for a, a work related event for kind of a long weekend, so maybe
Justin Vacula: at least ride the tee.
You can take a shuttle to the airport station and then go from airport station closer to destination and maybe directly to your destination.
Darren: I’ll make sure to reach out when the, when that gets closer and I got my flight and everything figured out. Yeah, don’t just take the easy route and use the
Justin Vacula: Uber, ride the tee.
Darren: Uh, yeah. I do enjoy. Local public transportation. It’s a great way to get a, a feel for the city.
Justin Vacula: [00:49:00] Very good. Maybe some chicken noodle soup. If you go to Encore, Boston Harbor with fine hotels and resort credit.
Darren: Yeah, maybe So Justin, maybe some chicken noodle soup. If I go to Boston, although I think they’re more known for their clam cda.
Justin Vacula: Ah, yes, that’s a possibility. I’ve had that at Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor. You check in and they give you clam chowder tokens with Hyatt globalist and maybe without Hyatt globalist. Yeah,
Darren: that’s funny. That’s not the little crackers, right? That they put in the chowder.
Justin Vacula: It’s not the oyster crackers.
Darren: Oh, there we go.
Yeah. Doable
Justin Vacula: for a cup or a bowl of clam chowder. I forget which.
Darren: Got it. That’s interesting. Status has its benefits, right? Who knew it included clam chowder?
Justin Vacula: The clam chowder tokens. I like that they called it that. That was very amusing. I like that for sure, and I’ve been seeing a lot in my social media feeds from Poland, the Christmas markets in Poland, and lot Polish Airlines.
I took a trip there earlier. Are you going to be traveling to Poland for Christmas or other travels?
Darren: We’ll stay local. [00:50:00] Um, although we do try to get into the city of Philadelphia. It’s, uh, our local metropolis for, uh, a Christmas market. Uh, we have on the list visiting Christmas market in Europe one year.
I think I mentioned maybe I mentioned before, my daughter is in high school and taking German. I’m trying to convince her she should take AP German next year. I told her if we, if she takes it and we can go to the Christmas market and she can practice her German. Uh, but she knows me too well, Justin. She said, well, what if I don’t take it?
Can we still go to the Christmas markets? And I was like, yeah, I don’t think I did a very good job of, uh, of motivating her. But we’ve really enjoyed them here in the US and I anticipate that and have heard that they’re even better overseas. Probably not in Poland, but maybe.
Justin Vacula: I’ll be in Lancaster around Christmas time.
They have the Strausberg or Strausberg Railroad and Christmas themed trains. Allegedly a photo opportunity with Santa Claus. So I’m looking forward to that as I went on a cruise one year [00:51:00] and had a Santa Picture. I know. Podcast listener side show. Bob really likes my pitcher with Tony the Tiger. Perhaps he’ll also like the Santa Claus pitcher if I get it,
Darren: but will it be great?
Justin Vacula: Ooh, it might be even better than great.
Darren: Maybe so. Couldn’t resist
Justin Vacula: anything else today.
Darren: I don’t think so, Justin, it’s, uh, it’s great to talk about Caesar rewards and the opportunities it provides for anybody that’s gonna spend some time in Vegas or Atlantic City or any of the other locations. And, uh, how can we, as always, how can we earn status and enjoy some of those perks at low or no cost, as we like to say?
Justin Vacula: Or maybe even negative cost if online gambling,
Darren: if you can find gift cards at the right price, right?
Justin Vacula: Absolutely. And any new credit cards for you coming in the new year? It’s December 1st, and I know that the MGM iconic credit cards sign up on this of 45,000 points before December [00:52:00] 14th compared to the usual 30 k offer.
I think this card should be on the top of your list. Checking your list, checking it twice. Is Darren going to be nice and sign up for the MGM iconic credit card? Finally?
Darren: I don’t know. I’m not convinced. Justin. I, I have all these, oh, I have all these more Atlantic City.
Justin Vacula: More
Darren: Vegas. Well, I have all these Caesars credits, right?
That it’s the end of the year and, and I haven’t done anything with him yet, so we’ll see. Well, it might, it might be a 2027 plan, but, uh, who knows where we’ll end up on that. I want you to get MGM gold
Justin Vacula: more than you wanna get it. It seems I used
Darren: that does seem to be the case. Yes, it it seems like you’re more excited about than I am.
And, and to be fair, you have it, you know, all the benefits. So that’s probably, probably makes sense. Complimentary cruise.
Justin Vacula: I know. Golf, veterinary cruise.
Darren: I know I do love a good cruise, but we shall see where that ends up. Atmos credit cards
Justin Vacula: for 2026.
Darren: Already have the summit and ascent. My wife has the, uh, sense, so I could, I could get her spun up [00:53:00] on the summit and that, that would be good.
We both have business cards already, so in, in small, in, in some extent, that’s where we accrued all our Alaska miles to, uh, to book a five in business on condor from Bangkok to, uh, to Toronto. Um, that, that was a good deal. Yeah, it’s time to your point, it’s time to refresh and, uh, replenish the, the Atmos rewards points, I guess is what we’re calling them these days.
And yeah, that, that would be a good way to do it. I think just like you, I signed up for a no lifetime language Business Platinum, uh, recently, and I’m working on that. That was, uh, 200 K membership rewards for 20 k spend. So working on that signup bonus right now, I just finished, or excuse me, why, why wife just finished her Chase Sapphire Reserve spend and I have about 2K left on mine.
So I’ll finish that up here as my statement closes. And I have the [00:54:00] rest of the month to spend on that. So that’ll be an influx of some chase points. That’ll be good. I don’t Amtrak credit card. Amk amk. Yeah, I have, I uh, I got the Amtrak card. I had a little aara. At the same time that, uh, tuition was due for my oldest daughter.
So that worked out well. Uh, just use some of that organic spend to our advantage and so that, that worked out, uh, was able to get a bunch of signup bonuses in Tru, including Amtrak. And we liked to take the train up to the, to New York City when we travel for a weekend away, that sort of thing. So that’ll be good.
I don’t have any specific plans. For new cards yet again, maybe the MGM card, probably an Atmos card would make sense and find a way to use that, uh, 20 5K cert or six K spend or whatever it is. So that would be easy to use.
Justin Vacula: All right. Hopefully, yeah, an iconic new year, MGM Gold status.
Darren: There you go.
Justin Vacula: Thanks for [00:55:00] coming on today, and thanks to everyone for listening.
Darren: Always a good time, Justin. Appreciate the opportunity.
Justin Vacula: For more content between shows, follow Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast on Facebook and x. Follow Justin Vacula on Instagram. Subscribe to Hurdy Gurdy Travel podcast on YouTube for daily content, including travel videos, podcast clips and posts. Find more information including select episode transcripts at HurdyGurdyTravel.com
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The website, UDIO.com created the podcast intro and outro music. It’s not me singing. AI features of the website Descript helped me edit and improve audio quality. [00:56:00] Thanks for listening. Have a great day.
Theme Song: Travel at low cost with points and miles. Credit card rewards bring smiles. Many adventures tales to be told, make and save money, the world will unfold.
Fight the war on happiness. Pick up the gold. Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast breaks the mold.