Welcome to Beyond Brief — where signal > noise.

Let’s make this Monday count. ⚡

🛡️ Brought to you by Trust and Will

About a year ago, I became a dad 👶— and suddenly, estate planning went from “someday” to “today.”

Enter Trust & Will. They hit me up at the perfect time, and in less than 30 minutes, I had a legit trust set up. No legal mumbo-jumbo. No awkward office visits. Just a fast, guided online process that made me feel like an actual adult (for once).

If you’ve got a kid, a house, or anything worth protecting — this is the move. 💼

Why I loved it:

Don’t wait for a wake-up call. Set it up now → trustandwill.com

🏝️ Travel season is here. Get almost* free flights

⚔️ The AI Video War Is On

Just finished listening to that Tim Ferriss episode about maximizing travel points, and man, it reminded me why I’m obsessed with this stuff. The points game has completely changed in the last few years, and if you’re still manually checking airline websites one by one like it’s 2015, you’re wasting hours of your life.

Here’s the thing: award availability is the bottleneck. You can have a million points, but if you can’t find the seats, those points are worthless. That’s where these tools come in.

I’ve been testing the top award search tools extensively, and three have completely changed how I book travel. Here’s my honest breakdown of each:

What it does: Seats.aero is the fastest search engine for award travel. Explore availability across entire regions, search with instant results, create free alerts and more to find the best flights for your points.

THE GOOD:

• Lightning fast searches across an entire year in seconds

• Every few hours the tool searches for award space across a large number of routes and award programs

• Specialty tools that are absolute game-changers: ANA First Class Finder, Qatar QSuites Finder, Lufthansa First Class Finder

• Regional flexibility - search “USA” or “EUR” to cast a wide net

• Rather than combing through seat maps or looking for seat descriptions on Google Flights, this tool will show you which flights feature the product and have availability to book with your preferred mileage currency

THE BAD:

• Not beginner-friendly - It might just be the single most-powerful tool on this entire list. But be warned: It’s a very nerdy tool, so you’ll need to have more advanced knowledge about points and miles to really use it to your advantage

• Missing key programs - notably no Avios support yet

• Phantom availability issues - there are issues with phantom availability, especially on Japan Airlines

• Buggy alerts - they auto-delete after triggering, which is annoying

WHO SHOULD USE IT: Advanced points enthusiasts who know carrier codes and partner availability inside and out. If you’re hunting for unicorn awards like Etihad First Apartments or Singapore Suites, this is your weapon.

COST: Free version (60-day window) | Pro: $9.99/month or $99.99/year

What it does: Real-time award search across 20+ airline programs with powerful multi-search capabilities.

THE GOOD:

• Insane flexibility - you can do a 32 day date range; or list up to 32 airports with a single date; or search across 2 origin airports, 4 destination airports, and 4 dates; or any combination thereof

• Mega search feature - up to 35 simultaneous searches at once

• Fast results - typically 15 seconds for comprehensive searches

• Multi-airport searches - perfect for flexible travelers

• Hotel search included - bonus feature for Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott

THE BAD:

• Extremely buggy - One big issue with AwardTool is that it is buggy. They’re great about throwing powerful new features out there all the time, but they seriously need to do more testing

• Alert problems - the alerts don’t work. I set up an alert on a route and date showing availability across MANY carriers and programs for Economy, PE, Business… It has been a full 24 hours and still no alert

• Interface quirks - powerful but can be overwhelming

WHO SHOULD USE IT: Intermediate to advanced travelers who prioritize search flexibility over polish. Great if you’re willing to search multiple airports and dates simultaneously.

COST: Free version (limited) | Pro: First year pricing varies

What it does: Search and book award flights and maximize the value of your points. Travel on points for less with point.me’s flight award search tool.

THE GOOD:

• Most user-friendly interface - This is the most user-friendly award search tool on this list. The step-by-step booking instructions make this easy to navigate

• Comprehensive program coverage - searches 30+ loyalty programs

• Real-time transfer bonuses - Point.me reflected these transfer bonuses in the corresponding search results

• “Explore” feature for open-ended destination searches

• Concierge service available for complex bookings ($200/passenger)

• Mixed-cabin search - economy on short legs, business on long ones

THE BAD:

• No flexible date search - You also can’t use flexible dates or a date range to search, something that’s key when booking award flights

• Single airport limitation - can’t search multiple airports at once

• Most expensive - Point.me costs more than either alternative

• Slower searches compared to competitors

WHO SHOULD USE IT: Beginners who want hand-holding and don’t mind paying premium for simplicity. Perfect if you have specific dates and routes in mind.

COST: $5 for a 24-hour pass, $12 per month or $129 per year | Premium: $260/year

Here’s my honest take: Use multiple tools. Each has strengths that complement the others.

My workflow:

1. Start with Point.me for user-friendly overview and transfer bonus opportunities

1. Move to Seats.aero for unicorn award hunting and regional exploration

1. Finish with AwardTool for flexible multi-airport/date scenarios

The points game isn’t just about earning—it’s about knowing how to spend strategically. These tools are your competitive advantage.

Look, I get dozens of pitches every week, and honestly, most miss the mark. But I'm always looking for interesting people with real stories to share with my audience. My podcast reaches thousands of people who actually take action and invest in solutions.

Here's what gets me excited:

If that sounds like you, I'd love to hear from you. Just shoot me an email with a quick overview of what you're working on and why it matters.

No need to overthink it - just tell me your story and what you've learned along the way.

Let's chat.

After months of internet whispers and AI nerd conspiracies, Midjourney just went Hollywood. The company launched its first-ever video model (V1)—and it's a pretty bold swing at the future of visual storytelling.

🚀 Why it matters:Midjourney isn’t just chasing viral video tools. They’re eyeing something bigger—"real-time open-world simulations." Think GTA meets Pixar… but made by AI.

🔍 What V1 Actually Does:

Samples from some Art I made:

And here is the automated animation they applied to it

⚔️ The AI Video War Is OnMidjourney’s diving head-first into a fight with Runway, OpenAI, Adobe, Google, and probably a few secret AI labs inside mountain bunkers.

But here’s the twist: they’ve done this before.In the crowded image game, they still became the go-to tool for artists and dreamers. Don’t be surprised if they do the same with video.

🧠 Big Picture:This isn't just about generating cool clips. It’s about building worlds in real time—and Midjourney’s just laid their first brick.

Stay tuned. The simulation’s loading.

We’d love to have you on the podcast—and introduce you to our small but mighty audience!

Benatar Brands has your back. The right emails can boost your revenue by 30–40%.

🌍 Looking to hire overseas growth talent?

AssistantHub will match you with experts at 40–80% lower costs

Sponsor this newsletter and supercharge your reach.