Alaska goes to Europe, Amex Gold 60th surprise, WF boosts partners
Talking Points - Issue 36
This post contains affiliate links. Affiliate disclosure
Have you ever realized a show you already love is secretly about your hobby? White Lotus Season 4 is filming in Saint-Tropez and Cannes, France. It’s centered around the Cannes Film Festival, and the main character hotel is a Hyatt. Specifically, Hôtel Martinez — part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection.
Yes, you can book it with transferable points, unlike seasons 1-3, which featured Four Seasons properties. The points world is having its hotel moment. On primetime HBO.
Meanwhile, it’s been a busy start to May. Lots of headlines, two new best-ever card offers, and Rakuten’s big event is returning. And, I’ll share a tool that helps you stack savings.
Key Points
✈️ Alaska Airlines just landed in Europe for the first time: The Seattle-based carrier touched down in Rome this week, marking its first-ever transatlantic flight. This is a big deal. Alaska picked up Boeing 787 Dreamliners through its Hawaiian Airlines acquisition and is now gunning to be the fourth U.S. global airline. Rome is just the start, with Seoul, Tokyo, and London Heathrow routes in the pipeline.
💳 Amex Gold turns 60 and gets a mini glow-up: The Gold Card, known for its superior 4x earning on food spend like Grocery and Dining — added 5x points on prepaid hotels through AmexTravel (up from 2x), complimentary Hertz Five Star status, new dining credit partners (Buffalo Wild Wings and Wonder), and a limited-time Uber One annual membership. Annual fee stays at $325. Catch: the welcome bonus minimum spend jumped from $6k to $8k in the first 6 months (for up to 100k bonus points). Still a strong card. Just plan your spend accordingly.
↔️ Wells Fargo adds Cathay Pacific as a 1:1 transfer partner: This addition is worth noting, as it’s Wells Fargo’s 2nd new transfer partner in as many weeks, as Wyndham Hotels was added previously. There are now 10 transfer partners available for Autograph and Autograph Journey cards (both earn transferable points). Asia Miles are solid for redemptions across Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Wells Fargo now has only 3 fewer partners than Chase.
Enjoying Talking Points? Buy me a coffee to fuel more ☕️
Insiders Recap
From the Live Rewarded Insiders Facebook group this week: Where to get $50 off $100+ of groceries every weekend in May, how families can save hundreds on a Disney vacation, and where to score 6 months of free DashPass membership. The kind of wins that stack up fast.
Not in the group yet? Come join us. It’s free and full of opportunities to put more money back in your pocket.
Rakuten Big Give Week returns
GET READY — This week (5/4-5/11), Rakuten is offering 15% Cash back at stores like Expedia, Ulta, PetSmart, Adidas, LEGO, Columbia Sportswear, Viator, DSW, Ray-Ban, Sonos, LG, Bombas, Puma, and more. There are usually targeted offers of 20% back, too.
And remember: you can set your account to receive Amex or Bilt points instead of cash back, which makes this even more valuable.
Fresh Picks
150,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $6,000 spend in the first 3 months (worth ~$2,700) ⭐️ Highest-ever public offer ⭐️
$300 credits each on travel, dining, DoorDash, StubHub, plus $500 toward Edit hotels, and an additional $250 hotel credit for this year only, lounge access, and more.
$795 annual fee
Annual value ~$2,000
150,000 IHG points after $3,000 spend in 3 months, another 35,000 IHG points after $6,000 spend in 6 months (worth ~$1,100) ⭐️ Highest-ever public offer ⭐️
Annual free night, Platinum elite status, $50 United TravelBank cash
$99 annual fee
Annual value ~$350
Note: 5/24 and other rules apply to both Chase cards. See my card application guidelines.
Spotlight
TL;DR: Compares cash back rates across portals and shows stackable card offers
Savewise helps you compare all shopping portals at once, in one dashboard, to determine which portal is paying the highest rate for any store at any given moment (think Rakuten or Airline Shopping Portals). But what makes it even more useful is the stacking layer: it pulls in card offers (like Amex, Chase, and Citi) and other stackable deals, so you can see where you can double- or triple-dip before you buy.
The Pro version continues to add new benefits, and already includes tools like auto-activated card-linked offers, which removes the most annoying part of card offers: manual activation. You can also set custom alerts, custom point valuations, and view portal offer history to see if the current rate is normal or if you should wait a few days or until another time for something better.
🎂 Save 30% on Savewise
For its 2nd birthday, Savewise is running 30% off Pro plans, but only through Sunday, May 3.
- Annual $72 $50
- Lifetime $149 $104
Use code BIRTHDAY at checkout. The lifetime option is the better deal if you’re going to use this for more than a year.
For more details, check out my full Savewise review.
Threads Roundup
Weekly highlights. Follow @liverewarded:
Current card transfer bonuses for May
6 airline cards that cover your checked bag fees
Three core ways to use Bilt Cash
Where are Amex’s 2026 transfer bonuses?
Alaska’s 20-min baggage guarantee
Got questions? I’ve got answers. Stuck on a points strategy? Confused about which card to get next? Want me to cover a specific topic that’s been bugging you? Send me your questions – I read every message, and you might get your 15 minutes of fame if featured in a future Talking Points.
Live rewarded,
Jason
Editor’s note: Opinions shared in this article are solely the author’s and do not represent the views of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other organization. The content has not been evaluated, approved, or endorsed by any of the mentioned entities. These are recommendations, not financial advice. I may receive a commission if you click through any of the links in this article.