Right now, if you sign up for Airbnb through this link, you’ll get $50 off your first qualifying booking.

Many moons ago, Airbnb started as a home sharing platform and turned into a full-fledged hospitality behemoth. Sure, you can still get a room in someone’s house, or even a bed in a shared room, but most travelers are now using Airbnb as an alternative to a hotel stay.

You get more space, a kitchen, a separate living space and whatever amenities your pocketbook can afford.

You might be wondering why do you need business credit cards? Or maybe you think you can’t qualify for one because you don’t own what most people would perceive as business? There are a lot of misconceptions about what qualifies as a business, who is eligible and how to apply for these cards.

However, business cards often come with some of the most attractive welcome offers and have the most generous earning structure. They can prove to be extremely rewarding for anyone who is willing to learn and understand the rules.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and the Capital One Venture Credit Card both have made a few waves in the ocean of rewards credit cards recently. Both earn flexible points, have comparable annual fees and charge no foreign transaction fees.

However, are these two cards really that similar? Let’s go over their differences and similarities to help you decide which choice suits your needs best.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® CardCapital One Venture Credit Card5X points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠3X Ultimate Rewards points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs).

There are a few fundamental rules to the success of anyone involved in points and miles. If there’s one that is more important than any other, it is the Chase 5/24 rule.

The Chase 5/24 rule is so fundamental that you’ll almost always hear someone mention it when discussing sign up strategies. “What’s your 5/24 status?” is almost always the first question asked when someone asks for credit card recommendations.

If you haven’t heard of the 5/24 rule yet, you may be wondering what the big deal is.

If we were to start handing out awards here at MileValue, we can officially declare Chase the winner of some of the most exciting updates in the credit card marketplace for September 2020. Between updating the welcome bonus on the Chase Sapphire Preferred, and improving the Chase Freedom Unlimited® and the introduction of the Chase Freedom Flex®, Chase has been all over the news in the points and miles world as of late.

And guess what: they’re back in the news again.

In this three-part series, we are looking at the basics of the cheapest domestic awards. This encompasses frequent flyer programs spanning all three alliances:

Oneworld – British Airways, Iberia, and American Airlines

Star Alliance – Avianca, Turkish Airlines, and United

SkyTeam – Air France/KLM and Delta (this post)

SkyTeam is one of the smaller airline alliances but that doesn't mean there aren't good options to book domestic awards.

In this article, we'll look at how we can use Air France/KLM Flying Blue and Korean Air SKYPASS programs to book domestic award flights on SkyTeam's U.S.

When I’m trying to decide what my next credit card is going to be, I consider a lot of factors. What trips do I want to take in the next one to two years? What points do I currently have? What points do I want? What’s my 5/24 status? 

These questions always help guide me towards a card that will help me meet my goals. I don’t open cards just for the sake of opening them.

UPDATE 10/18/19: A few key details about the Companion Pass and the offers for the Southwest co-branded Chase credit cards have changed since this post was originally published. The Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card's bonus dropped from 80k to 70k Rapid Rewards for meeting a $5,000 minimum spending requirement within three months of opening the card.

It's been a while since we've heard from Mike Hammari, the man who is walking across the United States using travel rewards to minimize accommodation costs and therefore nights slept outdoors. He's vlogging his experience on YouTube and blogging about it here on MileValue.

A Quick Catch Up

These recounts of his journey are being written in retrospect. Mike took a break in the middle of his walk to return to work, travel some (not on foot), and is now back on the steaming, late summer road of central Texas. Last I heard, his shoes had recently melted.

If you have a credit card issued by Chase, in May you should have received an email from Chase with the subject line, "Important information regarding changes to your Chase account". In said email you were informed that Chase will alter your cardmember agreement to include a legal provision called binding arbitration as of early August.