
Travel Hacking Like a Pro | Aaron Hurd
From The Financial Independence Show by Cody Berman and Justin Taylor
February 5, 2026 · 43 min
About this episode
Aaron Hurd discusses a rational approach to credit card rewards and travel hacking.
Aaron Hurd joins us today to share a more rational, math-based approach to the world of credit card rewards. Aaron is a long-time expert in the space who has written for major publications like Forbes , The Wall Street Journal , and The Points Guy . After years of writing for others, he recently shifted focus to become an independent content creator with his Cards and Points YouTube channel. In this episode, we dig into Aaron’s unique backstory—from buying $250,000 in dollar coins to rack up rewards to his “economist” philosophy on point valuations. We also cover: The “Hustle” Origins: How Aaron got his start stacking rebates on Dell computers and exploiting the U.S. Mint’s dollar coin program to generate massive rewards. The Economist Approach: Why focusing on “cents per point” is often a trap. Aaron explains why you should value points based on what you would actually pay in cash, rather than the inflated retail price of a luxury flight. Rational Decision Making: The key questions you should ask yourself before redeeming, such as “What is my alternative?” and “Can I earn cash back instead?” Wallet Strategy: A…
People in this episode
Hosts: Cody Berman, Justin Taylor
Guest: Aaron Hurd
Topics covered
- travel hacking
- credit card rewards
- financial independence
- rational decision making
- point valuation
Keywords
- travel hacking
- credit card rewards
- financial independence
- point valuation
- cash back
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Points Guy, Cards and Points, Dell, U.S. Mint
Products: dollar coins, credit card rewards, cash back
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