Colin Stroud

credit card rewards consultant for SMB | stop wasting your points

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

I just walked a client through a $34,740 hotel booking. They spent $0 out of pocket and got a *sweet* points deal. Here's how we did it:

Client was sitting on 1.3 million Amex points. They wanted to do a couple's trip with their business partners.

2 rooms, 7 nights, somewhere warm - hoping for a good points deal.

I showed them the Waldorf Astoria Costa Rica Punta Cacique - they loved it and the deal was TOO good:

Amex points price: 860,000 points for 2 rooms//7 nights
Cash price: $34,740
Cents per point: 4.04 (legendary value)

If we assume their Amex points are worth 1 cent, then I saved them $26,140. $8,600 worth of points for a $34,740 stay.

This is why I charge money - because my fees are a joke compared to the savings I bring you.

I've spent countless hours and thousands of dollars building a points research service (we deal hunt for you) that works seamlessly. It's $50 to get started, and you only pay the rest of my fee if we find you a great deal.

Start here: https://t.co/jx0DAJS1Lx

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

just secured $20,856 business class flights to Europe for a couple for just 459,000 points + $1,046 in fees. They leave in a few weeks:)

My points research service/team is *slaying* right now.

- Roundtrip business class flights for 2
- Into Athens from DFW
- Home from Paris
- Cash rate: $20,856
- Points price: 459k + $1,046

4.32 cents per point. Incredible.

We also got a great testimonial from them:

"Fantastic service. Ben was remarkable. Kind, patient, available with little notice and just amazing. Thank you. Already sharing with neighbors and other family!"

Ben is one of the experts who works for me. His points knowledge is unmatched, dare I say. It far surpasses mine.

THIS IS SO FUN!

If you're sitting on 250k+ points I want us to find you a deal for your next trip, start here: https://t.co/566vu8rTV3

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

One of my biggest client wins of 2026:
$26,519 of flights & hotels for just $1,150 out of pocket.

DFW guy, taking his wife on a European river cruise to celebrate an anniversary!

There weren't any good deals from DFW, so he's re-positioning to Dulles, then flying to Vienna from there.

Total cash price of flights/hotels: $26,519
Total points used: 479,000
Cash out of pocket: $1,150

It's crazy what's possible with points.

Honestly, it's probably not worth you spending a wild amount of hours learning how to do all this stuff.

You can just hire me to figure all of this out for you:)

https://t.co/566vu8rTV3

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Accountant was spending $12.5k/month on Quickbooks (ouch). One simple change and I'm helping him earn an extra 450,000 points/year from that spend.

This kind of stuff comes up all the time in my credit card strategy audits for small business owners.

They're busy running the business and have never thought how many points they could be earning from some of their spending (just not a priority, I get it).

This guy had a card earning him one point per dollar on his QuickBooks spend.

I told him to switch to the Amex Business Gold card. It earns 4x points per dollar on software. At his spending level that's an extra 450,000 points a year.

That's worth $4,500 MINIMUM.

But I'm also helping him plan a trip to Europe later this year with his family. He's flexible on dates so I'm fairly confident I'll be able to find his whole family a good deal on premium cabin flights. Likely I'll save him over $4,000 on those flights.

This is why I charge $875 for my services and offer a $4,000 guarantee. Hoping to create minimum $8,000 of value for this guy before our engagement is over.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

still can't believe I was on the pod! Thanks Chris.

[Chris Koerner @mhp_guy]

Meet Colin. He's 26 and made $231,000 last year helping people do something they already do every day.

He charges $875 for a 75 minute phone call. He has zero sales experience.

Colin started as a side hustle while working insurance.

First month: $1,000. Costs: $100 in software.

Eight months later he quit after making $13,000 in a single month.

All his clients come from LinkedIn. Doesnt even do outbound. They show up in his inbox every day.

A few months before he started, he knew nothing about this industry. But literally spent a weekend with Claude and some blogs and became an expert.

What is it?

He's a credit card rewards consultant.

Helps business owners spending $20k to $60k/month on credit cards earn 2-3X more points than they currently are.

Most of these guys are on 1% cashback cards from their local bank.

Colin shows them how to switch to cards earning 3X or 4X on the same spending. Then books them a trip to Europe in business class with the points.

In this episode Colin:

- Breaks down his $875 package and exactly what's included

- Shows how business owners are leaving hundreds of thousands of points on the table

- Explains why points devalue faster than the dollar

- Gives the exact tools he uses to find award flight deals

- Explains why anyone could start this as a side hustle today

Even if you're not a "points guy", this is a banger.

[Chris Koerner @mhp_guy]

Meet Colin. He's 26 and made $231,000 last year helping people do something they already do every day.

He charges $875 for a 75 minute phone call. He has zero sales experience.

Colin started as a side hustle while working insurance.

First month: $1,000. Costs: $100 in software.

Eight months later he quit after making $13,000 in a single month.

All his clients come from LinkedIn. Doesnt even do outbound. They show up in his inbox every day.

A few months before he started, he knew nothing about this industry. But literally spent a weekend with Claude and some blogs and became an expert.

What is it?

He's a credit card rewards consultant.

Helps business owners spending $20k to $60k/month on credit cards earn 2-3X more points than they currently are.

Most of these guys are on 1% cashback cards from their local bank.

Colin shows them how to switch to cards earning 3X or 4X on the same spending. Then books them a trip to Europe in business class with the points.

In this episode Colin:

- Breaks down his $875 package and exactly what's included

- Shows how business owners are leaving hundreds of thousands of points on the table

- Explains why points devalue faster than the dollar

- Gives the exact tools he uses to find award flight deals

- Explains why anyone could start this as a side hustle today

Even if you're not a "points guy", this is a banger.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Client just emailed me this: "Colin - too good to be true??" No sir, this is actually 100% legit, and one of the funnier travel hacks out there.

It's a timeshare offer. They let you in for cheap, make you commit to attending a 2hr sales presentation, and hope they can close you.

I'm not a timeshare expert, but basically everyone I respect thinks they're a bad idea. So I wouldn't buy one... But I'd totally do this! $999 for 6 days in Hawaii at The Westin is hard to beat.

Average retail value of this place is $4,438 (according to Marriott).

Fair warning - these timeshare salespeople are known to be quite pushy. You have to go in with a resolve not to buy...

Fun fact - someone I know did one of these for his honeymoon - was working in ministry and had no money - legend has it he was out of the presentation in under 5 minutes.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

We just helped a family of 6 book $12,690 flights for their Europe trip for only $1,638 out of pocket. Still crazy this is my "job". Here's how we did it:

Family wanted to book a multi-city Europe trip for this fall: London, Cotswolds, Paris, Grindewald, Kanderstag, Zurich - the works.

Anyone who's looked to book a multi-city itinerary (flying into one place and out of another) knows it can be *VERY* expensive. We saved them big here.

They'll fly Delta to London, then KLM home from Zurich. We found the deal, guided them through booking via transferring their Capital One Miles to 2 different airline transfer partners.

Points price: 345,000 + $1,638
Cash Price: $12,690
Cents per point: 3.2 (very good)

When I say "we" did this, I'm talking about my team. I do all the marketing (& a whole lot of other stuff), but I'm building a truly legendary team of researchers that are doing this kind of work for me and handling communications with clients.

It brings me great pride to say that each one of them is better at this stuff than I am. These guys are seasoned experts - and they are obsessed with finding clients the the best deals.

If any part of my business can scale, it's this part. We've got 26 active trips right now and are dreaming of how it'd be possible to have 100. We'll see!

If you want help using your points to find a great deal on your next trip, fill out my form below - it's 100% free to submit the form.

https://t.co/566vu8rTV3

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

I just went on one of the biggest business podcasts in the U.S! @mhp_guy is getting millions downloads/month - can't believe he had me on.

This was crazy, bc I've been listening to him forever. A few months ago his team put something out asking for interesting business owner guests.

I thought what I've built with Go Somewhere was pretty interesting so I threw my name in the hat. Nothing for 2 months, then someone from his team reached out, and I was scheduled within a few days!

We had a great conversation yesterday about my business, my story, and how other people can start businesses just like mine (there's a lot of demand for help with points, I promise).

Don't know when this goes live yet but I'll share the link when it does.

Really glad I decided to start posting (on LinkedIn) back in 2023.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

@recap_david PULSE!

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

absolutely unreal testimonial.

disco call to be like Hayden: https://t.co/0YkkZo06Aj

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Hyatt is lighting their program on fire on May 7th. You've got 16 days to score a deal. Pls don't miss this.

You can book all the way out to late April/early May 2027. Even if you're not sure you want to go, book it anyway. You can always cancel.

You don't want to miss out on the best hotel points pricing there is. It's about to be gone, forever. Prices will go up 60+% for some hotels.

I'll never forget the rush of booking a $1,200+/night room at the Park Hyatt St. Kitts for only 30,000 points/night, then getting upgraded to a $1,900/night suite. The value Hyatt offers is unmatched, and it's my mission to help as many people realize that value in the next 16 days.

We are open for business. If you want help booking a great Hyatt deal before it's too late (and you have Chase, Hyatt, or Bilt points to use), fill out our free intake form:

https://t.co/566vu8rTV3

We can guide you through the entire booking process if you're new and potentially save you thousands, especially on luxury stays - and we can help use your points for flights!

You've been warned!

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

well this is compelling. Open the card, pay $99 fee, & get unlimited BOGO flights for 1 year.

Southwest must know people are mad at them. I'm not complaining, though!

Won't be doing this myself, but this could be a huge win for anyone with a lot of Southwest flying planned for the year.

& this card is totally worth keeping because it gets you a free checked bag and free standard seat on every flight - now that SW charges for those things lol.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Delta Flash Sale *TODAY ONLY*. As low as 26,000 SkyMiles for roundtrip spring flights to Europe. Took me 30 seconds to find this deal from Raleigh, NC:

👉 April 7-14
👉 28,000 SkyMiles + $142 in fees
👉 Main Basic Fare

This is super low for Europe, especially from Delta. And if you have a Delta credit card, you get 15% off the points price.

You have to book by EOD today and travel must take place before April 30, 2026. Act fast!

I'm seeing deals from all over the country, lowest prices are from the East Coast.

Can't wait to hear who books this!

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Easy SoCal points win: $3,789 Laguna Beach stay for just 100,000 points. Dang, I’m jealous, Laguna Beach is easily one of my favorite places I’ve been.

Just look at the scenery around this hotel - The Ranch at Laguna Beach.

Here’s the deal I’m looking at:

→ July 3-7 (4 nights)
→ King Room
→ $3,789 cash rate
→ 400,000 Preferred Hotels & Resorts points

Citi ThankYou Points transfer 1:4 to Preferred Hotels, meaning this would only require 100,000 Citi points.

Capital One transfer 1:2, meaning you could book this for 200,000 Capital One Miles (less value here, but decent still).

“They make it impossible to use your points, it’s too hard.”

Naw. You just don’t know where to look // you’re not letting the deals determine where you go.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

@MikeWebb_CRG thanks for the share!

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

I just vibe-coded a calculator that tells you if you're getting a good points deal or not.

It's right here: https://t.co/1G6zjnwDaO

The most important metric in the points world is cents per point (CPP).

Cents per point tells you how much value you're getting from each point, aka, how good a deal you're getting.

0.5 CPP = horrible
1 CPP = standard
1.5 CPP = mid
2 CPP = solid
3 CPP+ = great

You calculate it using the points price of a flight/hotel, the comparable cash rate, and the applicable taxes/fees.

I spent 2 years using a clunky + ugly calculator until I realized ITS 2026 AND I CAN JUST VIBE CODE THE STUFF I WANT.

Please use it and let me know what you think!

Calculator: https://t.co/1G6zjnwDaO

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Working with a dentist spending $25k/mo getting ZERO travel from his spending. I put together a plan for him to get $10k/year (minimum) of travel:

He has a 1.5% cash-back card, but the cash only comes as a statement credit. Basically, he never sees or feels his rewards.

The business is fine, so I recommended he use rewards for personal/leisure travel.

He loves to travel, and has been paying 100% out of pocket for recent trips to Europe & Asia. With his new strategy, he will:

- Earn ~415,000 Chase points/year
- Earn ~145,000 Citi points/year

Worst case scenario, this is about $6,000/year of travel - but I can help him do MUCH better than that. With a few solid redemptions (SO much low-hanging fruit here), this could easily be $10,000+ of travel. It could easily be $15k+, honestly.

We chatted about luxury hotels in Mexico, premium cabin flights to Europe, and much more. I taught him a few things, but I can do/will do the heavy lifting for him.

When you purchase my business owner package, you get a credit card strategy audit, a new customized strategy, and your next big trip planned for you - aka I deal hunt for you and help you get massive value from your points.

If you're like this guy, spending $25k+/mo and still paying out of pocket for all your trips, you are missing out. Seriously. I'd love to help.

Start here: https://t.co/LZTM8xqMUC

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Fall 2023. I had just finished helping my parents implement a strategy to earn an extra 1 million points/year. I had a crazy thought - what if I could do this full-time?

I was making $55k/year and didn't like my job. I had started writing on LinkedIn about credit card points and was helping people put together better strategies, mostly for free.

After helping a few people spending a few thousand dollars/month, I asked if my parents would let me take a swing at their points situation. They're small business owners, and spend a lot on cards to keep their business running.

When I audited their card setup, I couldn't believe how bad it was. The changes I helped them implement resulted in them earning an additional 1 million points in year 1. And I helped them book a luxury Caribbean trip with their new points.

I thought: "Whoah, now THIS could be a big business." It hit me right there. I was onto something. Maybe this super weird niche business could support my family one day?

About 14 months later, I made more money from Go Somewhere than I did from my full-time W2 job. I called my boss and quit. And the rest is history. I've been full-time since November 2024 and am still going strong.

There can be long days and late nights, but I think as long as I live, I'll always be proud of what I built here, even if the government comes in and shuts down points & miles tomorrow (only half joking).

Besides marriage and children, building Go Somewhere has been the most epic and fulfilling thing I've ever done.

I continue to share my crazy story because it was posts just like this that gave me the confidence to finally start posting on LinkedIn and start my business.

You can just do things, as they say.

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

A British airline sells Delta seats for 63% less than Delta does. This is why you need to understand points. Allow me to explain:

Looking at flights for a client and found a pretty juicy deal:

→ Friday, February 20th, 2026
→ One-way nonstop flight from DTW to SLC
→ Cash price: $489
→ Delta Skymiles price: 43,500 + $6
→ Virgin Atlantic points price: 16,500 + $5.60

This is crazy. It’s 63% less points to book a Delta flight through Virgin Atlantic (a British Airline started by Richard Branson, if you haven’t heard of it).

I’ve been preaching this stuff for years, but people still don’t get it. You can book flights on your favorite airlines through partner airlines, and sometimes save big. Since Virgin Atlantic and Delta are both in the Sky Team alliance, you can book Delta flights through Virgin. Virgin often has WAY better pricing.

This doesn’t always work (there’s not always availability), but when it does, it is SWEET.

Remember, every major bank’s points transfer 1:1 to Virgin Atlantic - so almost anyone sitting on points right now could take advantage of a deal like this.

Stop paying Delta’s outrageous prices. There’s a better way (what I just showed you). Play around with this today using a tool like https://t.co/vF2vAbdwAg. Good luck!

[Colin Stroud @_gosomewhere]

Greg was spending $20k/month on credit cards but getting nothing back. Here's the plan I put together to get him $10,000 of travel/year:

Greg spends $15k/month on his business and $5k/month personally.

The business spend was going on an Amex Blue card, which isn't a horrible card, but the rewards come in the form of statement credits - he never saw the cash.

The personal spend was split between Costco and Southwest cards. Not an ideal setup.

New setup: Business & personal spending on Chase Ink/Freedom Unlimited cards - unlimited 1.5x points/dollar that he can move over to his Sapphire Preferred card to use for travel.

He'll earn 360,000 points/year with this strategy (+ an extra 150k this year from bonuses). More importantly, I'm helping him get 2-4 cents per point from those points.

Greg loves fancy resorts in Mexico. That's really all he wants to do. He could stay 6 nights at the brand-new Park Hyatt Cabo for around 270,000 Chase points. The cash price for that place? Easily $9,000 for 6 nights. & that still leaves them 90,000 points to fly to Cabo (plenty).

That's all he wants. 1 luxurious trip to Mexico each year. A $10,000 trip ($9k of hotels + $1k of flights), covered with points. Problem solved.

This is the reason I charge money for my services. I'm deeply confident that any business owner spending $20k+/month can get $10,000 of travel/year from credit card points, easily.

My service that sets up this system for you and does your trip planning/research for you costs just $875, or $750 if you skip the discovery call and just book:)

Mid-January is a great time to finally fix your terrible CC rewards setup. Book a free intro call here or email me to get started: https://t.co/LZTM8xqMUC