🕤 I Flew to Tahiti For Free

Breaking Down the Cost of the Trip

Jan 22, 2023

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In this Email:

How I used credit card points to pay for my trip to Tahiti
Going over the business headlines of the week

Sup. Zaid here.

If you read my newsletter from last week (or follow me on IG) you’ll know that I was in Tahiti celebrating my 7 year anniversary.

The trip was fun. Except for the fact I got the worst sunburn of my life. Also, my wife fell of a jet ski while I was driving…but thankfully nobody got hurt (except for maybe my ego).

Overall, it was a fun trip. We stayed in those overwater bungalows that were all over Instagram back in 2017.

The best part, I used credit card points to save a ton of money. Here is a breakdown of how much the trip cost.

Flight: Free (using 140,000 credit card points)
- The roundtrip flight from Houston to Tahiti was 70k points per person (140k total for wife and I).
- I already had about 60k United airline points because I signed up for the United Explorer Credit Card a couple years ago
- I transferred 90k points of my Chase Points (that I accrued over 4 years using my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card) to United
Hotel: $1,500 for 4 nights
Food / Entertainment: $500

Total: $2,000 for 4 nights

This trip was special for me. My wife wanted to go to Tahiti (and stay in an overwater bungalow) for our honeymoon 7 years ago. But back then, I couldn't afford it. I told her we’d go once we had the money. Fast forward to today, we were able to go and save money on flights.

Plus, if crypto keeps pumping like this, we might be able to go back next year 😆

Market Vibe Check

Stocks: Good times don't last forever. The S&P500 and Dow Jones had their first down week of 2023, likely due to the debt ceiling drama and mixed earnings reports. Nasdaq is still partying on, finishing in the green.

Crypto: It's amazing how quickly the crypto market can turn around! One minute we're in a bear market, the next everyone's predicting Bitcoin will hit $30k. Talk about a vibe shift! I’m still not convinced it’s sustainable though.

Business News You Should Know

> Microsoft, Google and Amazon announce layoffs: 10k at Microsoft. 12k at Google. 18k at Amazon Layoffs sucks. I hate that people are losing their jobs. But tech companies hired too many people during the pandemic. Even after these layoffs, Microsoft, Google and Amazon all have more employees today than they did before the pandemic. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see even more layoffs from these companies later this year.

> US Hit Debt Ceiling $31.4 Trillion: *sigh* I feel like the debt ceiling is in the news every 2 years. It’s more politics than economics at this point. As of right now, the US can’t borrow any more money, until the debt ceiling is raised. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the government has enough money to pay all the bills until June. We’re probably going to be talking about this for months.

> Netflix added 7.66 million subs in Q4: Netflix had a HUGE Q4. Adding 7.66 million subs (vs 4.57 million expected). I’m still not bullish on Netflix long term, or the streaming business in general. But Netflix might have gotten their mojo back. Netflix’s Founder Reed Hasting is stepping down after 25 years.

(Read More: CNBC)

> Tim Cook Taking a Pay Cut: Tim Cook will ONLY take home $49 million in 2023. That’s down from the $99 million he made in 2022 (50% pay cut). Tim Cook requested this pay cut himself. Smart PR move by Timmy? Note, Apple is the only big tech company that hasn't announced layoffs…yet.

> Apple’s M2 MacBook Pros and Mac Mini: Apple’s had a lowkey product announcement. New Macbook Pros and Mac Mini with M2 chips coming very soon. But unless you’re editing 4k videos, (or are rich af) you probably don’t need one. The M2 Mac Mini is pretty enticing though. It’s only $599. I’ll likely be buying one. Stay tuned for a review.

(Watch the 18 minute Keynote)

Throwback Headline

JANUARY 16, 2007: Netflix Launches Streaming

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