Calby Ng

🚨 Chase Refreshed the Sapphire Preferred and I Don’t Hate it 🤔

The annual fee is staying at $95 but Chase is adding:

✅ 3x on gas + EV charging
✅ 3x on vacation rentals like Airbnb & Vrbo
✅ $100 Chase Travel hotel credit, up from $50
✅ Global Entry / TSA PreCheck / NEXUS credit up to $120
✅ 1 year of Apple TV
✅ Emergency evacuation + transportation coverage up to $100K

So on paper, the Sapphire Preferred got better.

But there are two big catches:

❌ The 10% anniversary bonus is going away for new applicants
❌ Hyatt transfers are getting nerfed from 1:1 to 4:3 for Sapphire Preferred cardholders

That Hyatt change is the big one. Hyatt has been one of the best reasons to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points and now Chase is basically saying, “if you want the best Hyatt transfer ratio you need the Sapphire Reserve” The Ink Business Preferred isn’t even safe from this refresh 😭

My honest take? Chase is making a major push to get people into the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

The Preferred is still a good $95 card, but Chase is clearly creating more separation between the Preferred and Reserve. And with the Reserve keeping 1:1 Hyatt transfers, this feels very intentional.

Also, timing matters ⏰

The Chase Sapphire Reserve all time high 150,000 point welcome bonus is ending soon on June 15 at 9 a.m. EDT.

That’s 150,000 Chase points after $6,000 in spend in 3 months and this is the biggest offer we’ve ever seen on the card.

If you’ve been considering the Reserve, I would seriously look at it before this offer disappears.

Use my link to apply and support the channel:
👉 link.calbyng.com/ChaseSapphireReserve

One more thought, this is speculation, not official advice:

If you do not already have the Sapphire Preferred, I’d personally consider waiting until after the refresh (June 15th). We’ve seen refreshes come with bigger welcome offers before, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Chase eventually rolls out a stronger Preferred bonus.

Also, since the Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve are now treated as separate cards for welcome bonus eligibility, I think getting the Reserve bonus now may not block you from a future Preferred bonus assuming you’ve never received the Preferred bonus before (hopefully they don’t change it 🤞)

But again, that part is just me thinking out loud. Not confirmed. Don’t make a move purely based on that speculation.

My bottom line:

The Sapphire Preferred got some nice upgrades, but the Hyatt nerf makes the Reserve look a lot more important for anyone who cares about Chase points.

What are you doing? Are you going to grab the Reserve before the deadline, waiting for a bigger Preferred offer, or skipping both? 👀

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1 day ago | [YT] | 30

Calby Ng

Which Credit Card Has the Best Luxury Hotel Program?

5 days ago | [YT] | 23

Calby Ng

Going to be live with ‪@Thecreditcardconnection‬ and the gang! Tonight (5/12) at 7PM EST 👀

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 9

Calby Ng

Check out the video I did with ‪@SledgeIncTeam‬ 🔨

1 month ago | [YT] | 5

Calby Ng

Some Big Personal News, Baby Calby is on the Way! 👶

Becoming a dad has been wild to even type out, even now it still doesn't feel real. What's the first card you recommend adding this baby to? Amex Platinum out the gate? 😂

Thank you all for being part of this channel through every credit card unboxing, timeshare ambush, and 90-minute Bilt application livestream. You're a real reason I get to do this; and now my kid gets to grow up with that.

Two ways to be part of it if you want:

🎲 Place your bets. I set up a prediction pool: gender, birth date, weight, and length guesses. Free to play, just for fun (no money involved):

www.babybookie.com/pools/228591-calby-s-first-baby

🎁 If you want to spoil this kid (or just see what's on the list and wouldn't mind recommending suggestions to add), here's the registry (any advice is appreciated):

my.babylist.com/baby-calby-ng

I know I've been less active in the comments, but I hope to get to them soon! Enjoy the update video to the Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum video, it's an interesting one!

What The "Exclusive" Amex Platinum Is Really Like (4 Month Update): https://youtu.be/UxxhHwyF0jU

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 191

Calby Ng

Check out Anthony’s latest video, had the pleasure to appear on his channel and we went over the insanity of the Morgan Stanley Amex Platinum. So check it out!! I’ll be making my own update video soon as well 🫡

2 months ago | [YT] | 5

Calby Ng

⚠️ Heads Up: ‪@thriftytraveler‬ Premium Goes Up in Price on March 14

Thrifty Traveler let me know starting March 14:

- Premium goes from $99.99/year → $129/year
- Premium+ goes from $149.99/year → $189/year

If you sign up before March 13 with my link, you’ll get:

- $20 off your first year
- Lock in the lower price for life, including renewals

Thrifty Traveler is one of the tools that helps surface flight deals I probably wouldn’t find on my own. Sometimes one good deal can easily make the membership worth it.

Check out some of the deals I've been getting in my inbox ⬇️

✈️ My Link: link.calbyng.com/ThriftyTraveler

#ad

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3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 19

Calby Ng

🚨 HUGE TIME SENSITIVE NEWS 🚨

We all knew this was coming, but Hyatt just devalued their points. 

Instead of (Off-Peak, Standard, and Peak) it'll be (Lowest, Low, Moderate, Upper, and Top) and this change includes all properties.

💥 How bad is it?

The expensive properties take the biggest hit:

- Category 7: 35k → 55k (+57%)
- Category 8: 45k → 75k (+67%) 🤢
- And Category 8 will range from 35k–75k depending on demand.

🟢 Not ALL bad news

- Some lower-end hotels may price cheaper on the “Lowest/Low” end.
- Hyatt also announced digital points transfers (no more emailing customer service)
- They’re also incentivizing status + the Hyatt credit card: cardholders and elites (Explorist/Globalist) may get earlier access to award availability.

🧠 What I’d do right now

If you’ve been eyeing a Category 7 or 8 “aspirational” Hyatt, you should seriously consider booking before May 2026.

Worst case: if it becomes cheaper later, you can usually cancel and rebook (most award rates have free cancellation; always check the specific hotel’s policy).

🔥 Need more Hyatt points?

One of the easiest ways is earning transferable points and sending them to Hyatt:
➡️ Chase Sapphire Preferred / Reserve: link.calbyng.com/Sapphires

Or if you want to buy points remember to activate the Points.com offer on Rakuten to earn 1.25% cash back (or MR or Bilt points): link.calbyng.com/Rakuten

Hyatt Devalued: world.hyatt.com/content/gp/en/rewards/award-chart-…

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3 months ago | [YT] | 38

Calby Ng

🏨 It's Free Hotel Credits But It Ends February 28th 🚨

Gondola’s signup bonus is boosted $50 → $75 through Feb 28.
Link: link.calbyng.com/GondolaAi

✅ How it works:

Make your first booking $150+

Get $75 Gondola Cash for your next booking

Also works for you all who signed up but never made your first booking yet

⭐ Why I like it:

- Books direct with the hotel (not a third-party)

- Total price matches the hotel site (if not you can get them to price match it by emailing concierge@gondola.ai)

- You still earn credit card points

- Along with Gondola Cash

⏰ Important: You don’t need to stay by Feb 28 just book by then to count towards the $75 increased bonus; afterwards it'll drop to the $50 standard.

💸 Bonus tip: Autosave, which is free, can rebook if the price drops if you link your credit card (or it’ll email you so you can decide whether you want to rebook).

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3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 23

Calby Ng

💳 Any Bilt 2.0 or Palladium Questions? 🪙

I've held the Bilt Palladium card for almost two weeks now, are there any burning questions you have?

- I was going to test out all of the coupons Bilt now has, using Bilt Cash, but then I realized half of them aren't even available until MARCH!! 🤯

- Me and ‪@AnthonyVenture‬ are definitely going to be putting Bilt Home Away From Home (basically FHR) against Amex FHR, to see which will garner the best experience. 

- And of course we will be pairing Mastercard World Elite concierge vs Mastercard Legend concierge.

But is there anything else? Let me know! 👇

3 months ago | [YT] | 64