Overview of 9 Things I’ve Changed My Mind About
Chris Hutchins uses this episode to revisit strategies, products, and assumptions that no longer hold up. The thread through everything is simple: the “best” answer in travel, credit cards, tech, and business can expire quickly, so it pays to re-check your defaults. The biggest themes are cheaper flight booking strategies, shifting airline/card loyalty, a new willingness to rely on existing software instead of building everything yourself, and a few surprising product wins.
Travel and Loyalty Strategy
Search round-trip flights again
- Chris used to default to one-way searches, but found that domestic one-ways are often much more expensive than half of a round-trip.
- He cites data showing the major U.S. airlines frequently price one-ways higher, especially for close-in bookings.
- Real-world example: a Delta itinerary to Minneapolis dropped from $968 for two one-ways to $579 round-trip, saving nearly $400 and a lot of points.
- New rule: always compare round-trip pricing, even when you think you only need one direction.
Alaska Airlines is back in favor
- He had drifted away from Alaska status after route cuts and his success with United 1K.
- After actually using United’s top tier, he found the upgrades and perks underwhelming on major routes.
- Alaska is now more attractive because of:
- Strong West Coast network
- OneWorld alignment and American Airlines reciprocity
- Valuable international partners, including several not in standard alliances
- Distance-based earning, which is especially good for cheap or award-heavy travel
- Useful West Coast perks like same-day changes between co-terminal airports
- He’s now strongly back into Alaska and even optimistic about chasing higher status again.
Bank of America cards may become much more valuable
- Chris previously viewed BofA cards as less exciting because the best rewards depended on high balances and they weren’t clearly better than other premium cards.
- That changed when Alaska announced point transfers from Bank of America.
- If transfers are 1:1, BofA travel cards could become strong Alaska earners, especially for people who qualify for Preferred Rewards / Platinum Honors.
- His thinking: these cards could become a much better long-term play than they were before.
US Bank and Bilt predictions flipped quickly
- He and Brian predicted US Bank transfer partners would never happen — then they arrived days later.
- US Bank added partners like:
- Air France/KLM
- Qantas
- Accor
- Avianca
- Ethiopian
- For Bilt, he’s excited that rewards can now be redeemed for Blacklane and Blade, making Bilt Cash more useful for premium travel and transportation.
- His takeaway: when rewards programs change, the value proposition can shift fast.
Credit Cards and Offers
Amex offers now require a different workflow
- He used to automatically add every Amex offer to every eligible card.
- Amex’s change to offer activation means that approach no longer works the same way.
- He still likes using CardPointers, but now he has to be more manual about activating offers.
- He’s not abandoning the strategy — just acknowledging that the old “auto-add everything” habit is gone.
The Robinhood Gold card was an accident
- He never really wanted the Robinhood Gold card because its 3% cash back has important exclusions, especially for taxes, bills, and other business-related spend.
- But a referral reward led him into an unexpected “solid gold card” situation.
- The card itself is more of a collectible than a practical payment tool, and he’s now deciding whether to:
- keep it,
- sell it,
- or melt it down for value.
- It’s a funny example of how rewards and promotions can produce outcomes you didn’t actually want.
Tech, Tools, and Automation
He’s less interested in building broad AI automations
- Chris was deep into AI agents and custom automations earlier this year.
- He’s now more skeptical of building everything from scratch because maintenance becomes its own job.
- His new rule:
- Use existing tools when they already solve the problem well
- Build only when the tool gap is real and important
- Examples:
- He still builds for podcast production and CardTool.
- For personal data removal, he prefers DeleteMe over trying to automate the entire process himself.
Browser preferences changed again
- He loved Arc, but once development slowed, he moved to Chrome.
- Chrome frustrated him with:
- poor tab-switching ergonomics
- weak cross-device session syncing
- awkward picture-in-picture behavior
- missing easy “send to desktop” workflows
- Then Arc was officially sunset, so he moved to Dia.
- He’s cautiously optimistic, but still wishes browser UX were smoother.
AR glasses are actually useful now
- He previously tried Meta Ray-Bans and returned them.
- He was unimpressed by the bulk of Apple Vision Pro.
- But Xreal One Pro glasses changed his mind:
- lightweight
- travel-friendly
- easy USB-C connection
- huge virtual display
- He says they’ve become one of the best tech products he’s used this year, especially for flights and portable work.
Personal Habits and the Business
Skincare finally stuck
- His wife had been encouraging a skincare routine for years.
- What finally worked was a simple, low-friction routine from Wild Roman:
- face wash
- serum
- moisturizer
- Why it stuck:
- simple
- natural ingredients
- smells good
- easy to maintain
- He sees it as a long-term “anti-aging” habit that’s finally realistic for him.
He’s more open to hiring full-time help
- Chris had avoided hiring a full-time U.S. employee partly because of concerns around solo 401(k) rules.
- He’s now rethinking that and is open to bringing in a senior person who can help with research and production.
- The main reason: his quality bar is high, and he wants someone who can do deep, trustworthy work.
Podcast video still feels uncertain
- He’s been recording video for the podcast, but he still believes most listeners prefer audio.
- Apple’s support for video has helped growth — he says the show grew significantly on Apple after adding it.
- Still, he’s not convinced video is essential for a mostly audio-first show.
- For now, he’ll keep doing it, but he’s still weighing whether the extra work is worth it.
Main Takeaways
- Re-check old assumptions: the travel and points world changes fast.
- Round-trip searches can save real money even for domestic travel.
- Loyalty programs matter most when the network and redemption options fit your actual life.
- Automation is only worth it when it reduces work long-term, not when it creates a second job.
- Simple, practical tools win — whether that’s skincare, browsers, or AR glasses.