• "The Wheel of Time" TV series is back for its third season on Prime Video.
• The series adapts a fantasy book series comprised of 14 novels and one prequel.
• Here's the correct way to read the entire series.

The fourth book in "The Wheel of Time" series (and some of the third) have been adapted for the latest season of its eponymous TV show.

Fans of the show who want to read the source material can do so in order of publication — but have two options for digging into the prequel.

You can read 'The Wheel of Time' in publication order

"The Wheel of Time" follows Rand al'Thor and his friends Egwene al'Vere, Nynaeve al'Meara, Matrim Cauthon, and Perrin Aybara after they are forced out of their village, the Two Rivers, to save the world from an evil known as the Dark One.

The series is filled with magic, which is called the One Power, monsters, magical artifacts, and even portals to other worlds.

In order to stop the Dark One and his minions, Moiraine Damodred and her trusty Warder, Lan Mandarogan, must guide and train the five villagers, one of whom is the Dragon Reborn and is destined to either save the world or destroy it.

The order of the original series is as follows:

1. "The Eye of the World"
2. "The Great Hunt"
3. "The Dragon Reborn"
4. "The Shadow Rising"
5. "The Fires of Heaven"
6. "Lord of Chaos"
7. "A Crown of Swords"
8. "The Path of Daggers"
9. "Winter's Heart"
10. "Crossroads of Twilight"
11. "Knife of Dreams"
12. "The Gathering Storm"
13. "Towers of Midnight"
14. "A Memory of Light"

Author Robert Jordan, real name James Oliver Rigney Jr., wrote the first 11 books in the series and the prequel, "New Spring."

After he died in 2007, a fan and fellow author, Brandon Sanderson, was chosen by Jordan's editor and wife Harriet McDougal to finish the last book using the late author's notes. It was later decided to split the book into three novels.

The final book includes an epilogue written by Jordan before his death.

Season one of the TV series adapts "The Eye of the World," while season two merges a few plotlines from "The Dragon Reborn" into "The Great Hunt" storyline. Season three will focus on book four, "The Shadow Rising," but also includes a few storylines from "The Dragon Reborn."

'New Spring' can be read first or after 'Crossroads of Twilight'

"New Spring," set 20 years before the events of the main series, follows a younger Moiraine who is training to become an Aes Sedai, a specially-trained witch, alongside her close friend Siuan Sanche. Siuan is the leader of the Aes Sedai in the main books and the TV show.

In the novel, we see how she and Siuan become involved in the prophecy of the Dragon Reborn and how she meets Lan.

If you have been watching the TV series, a lot of this was explored or teased in the first two seasons.

"New Spring" was published between book 10, "Crossroads of Twilight," and book 11, "Knife of Dreams," so you could read it between those two novels. Alternatively, you could read "New Spring" first as your entry into the world of "The Wheel of Time."

According to a note published on the official "Wheel of Time" Facebook account, "New Spring" was meant to be the start of a prequel trilogy, but Jordan never got to finish the series before he died.

'Wheel of Time' inspired 'Game of Thrones'

The show's third season, which premiered on Thursday, is part of Amazon's attempt to create a fantasy franchise that rivals the success of "Game of Thrones." "The Wheel of Time" and "The Lord of Rings: Rings of Power" have been hits on Prime Video, but haven't recreated the critical and cultural highs of "Game of Thrones."

Jordan's novels, written in the '90s and early '00s, inspired George R.R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" series.

Martin told Entertainment Weekly in 2020 that "GOT" would not have been successful without "The Wheel of Time."

"Jordan essentially broke the trilogy template that Tolkien helped set up. He showed us how to do a book that's bigger than a trilogy," referring to the author of "The Lord of the Rings." He added: "I don't think my series would've been possible without 'The Wheel of Time' being as successful as it was."

It's unlikely there will be more 'Wheel of Time' books

Sanderson said in a 2020 video on his YouTube channel that he didn't want to take ownership of the series and does not plan to write any more spinoffs or sequels.

"I handed that ring back, and I told Harriet, 'I'm not going to write any more 'Wheel of Time,'" Sanderson said. 

While publisher Tor and McDougal could hire another author to take over the series, there hasn't been a new book in over 10 years.

Sanderson also said that Jordan was against other authors writing their own "Wheel of Time" stories for much of his career, and only became open to the idea of another author helping him finish the series when he was close to death.

Correction: January 5, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misidentified the author of the final three "Wheel of Time" novels. It is Brandon Sanderson, not Brian Sanderson. 

Democrat Sara Jacobs told ABC News that officials at Guantanamo Bay said it cost $16 million to stand up the migrant camp.

We need more community-based resources providing mental health treatment for kids before they need emergency or inpatient care.

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, with billions in self-serving government contracts, has not done one thing that will lower costs for working families.

The documentary film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective recently took home the Oscar for Best Documentary.

• Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, and Tom Hardy all star in Paramount+'s new crime drama, "MobLand.'"
• Brosnan and Mirren play mob bosses, while Hardy is their fixer.
• Here's what to know about the show produced by Guy Ritchie.

Paramount+'s new crime drama, "MobLand" starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren revolves around a British crime family in London.

Mirren and Brosnan play mob bosses Maeve and Conrad Harrigan who employ Harry Da Souza (Hardy) as a fixer for their shady dealings.

The show was produced by Guy Ritchie, and comes after his 2024 Netflix series "The Gentlemen," which is a spinoff of his 2019 movie of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey.

Here's what to know about "MobLand."

'MobLand' is about warring crime families

Like any good story about London's criminal underworld, "MobLand" revolves around rival criminal gangs.

The synopsis for the show reads: "Power is up for grabs as the Harrigans and Stevensons, two warring London crime families, clash in a kill-or-be-killed battle that threatens to topple empires and ruin lives.

"Caught in the crossfire is Harry Da Souza, the street-smart 'fixer' as dangerous as he is handsome, who knows too well where loyalties lie when opposing forces collide. As kingdom goes up against kingdom, lines will be crossed — and the only saving grace is a bet-your-life guarantee: family above everything."

The show was originally meant to be a spinoff from "Ray Donovan," a long-running crime drama series on Showtime that starred Liev Schreiber. But Ritchie later reworked it into an original story, Variety reported.

Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Pierce Brosnan lead the 'MobLand' cast

Hardy, Mirren, and Brosnan lead a talented cast of British actors including Paddy Considine as Kevin Harrigan, the Harrigan family heir, while "Sherlock" star Lara Pulver plays his wife, Bella.

"Downton Abbey" actor Joanne Froggatt plays Jan Da Souza, the wife of Hardy's character, and Geoff Bell plays Richie, the leader of the Stevenson gang warring with the Harrigans.

"MobLand" is a reunion of sorts for Hardy and Ritchie, who worked together on 2008's crime thriller, "Rock 'N' Rolla," in which a group of gangsters cross paths with a Russian billionaire.

"MobLand" premieres on Paramount+ on March 30. The whole season drops at once, so audiences will be able to binge-watch it.

• Reid Hoffman said Thursday that a feud with Elon Musk is one-sided.
• Musk has accused Hoffman of funding Tesla protests, which Hoffman denied.
• The two clashed on X, with Hoffman mocking Tesla's stock plunge.

Reid Hoffman has dismissed the idea that he has a personal "beef" with Elon Musk, saying their ongoing feud is one-sided.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, the LinkedIn cofounder and early OpenAI donor said Musk was still bitter over OpenAI's success after his departure. Musk left OpenAI in early 2018.

"Well, so actually, it's more his beef with me for having made OpenAI successful with his departure," Hoffman said. "Because he left saying, you know, 'You're all a bunch of jackasses and you'll fail,' and I helped them succeed."

Hoffman added that AI should be developed by those willing to "consult with and deal with other people" — something he said Musk doesn't do. "That's not how Elon operates, which anyone who has two eyes can see," he said.

The latest clash between the two played out over the weekend on X, the social media platform Musk owns. Musk claimed that Hoffman was among several donors funding Tesla protests.

"An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla 'protests,'" Musk wrote on Saturday, listing Hoffman alongside George Soros and other political donors.

Hoffman fired back on Monday, calling Musk's claims false.

"Just one more of Elon's false claims about me: I never funded anyone for Tesla protests," Hoffman replied in a Monday X post. "I don't condone violence. But it's clear Americans are angry at him—it's easier to explain away their anger than to accept that actions have consequences."

Musk replied: "Describe your favorite island vacation."

Hoffman shot back with a graph of Tesla's stock price decline, writing: "I don't know about islands but here's your least favorite mountain."

Tesla stock closed down 15% on Monday, dragging Musk's net worth down by $29 billion — a 6.7% drop in a single day. Despite the hit, Musk remains the world's richest person.

Hoffman and Musk were both early OpenAI backers. Hoffman, who remained a supporter of OpenAI after Musk's departure, has been a vocal critic of Musk's actions. In September 2024, he dismissed Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI as "sour grapes," suggesting Musk was frustrated by the company's success without him.

Last month, Musk led a $97.4 billion bid to take control of OpenAI, which the company's board swiftly rejected.

Musk and Hoffman did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

As the Trump administration overhauls foreign aid, revelations about U.S. priorities abroad should serve as an enormous wake-up call.

The "Stranger Things" star gave a shoutout to the celebrity couple in a new video for her cosmetics and fashion brand.

Rory McIlroy supported the idea of moving big events outside of America and pointed to one tournament that he believes should be elevated.

• I graduated from college around the same time my grandmother died.
• When I couldn't get a job, I moved in with my grandfather.
• We became even closer during the three years we lived together. I'm grateful for that time.

As I've gotten older, I've realized that certain people have an undeniable force surrounding them. My grandfather has always been one of those people in my life. Ever since I was little, I've been enamored by him. He moves through the world with an unwavering sense of confidence, a blend of street smarts and book smarts that makes him both inspiring and, at times, maddening.

He's the kind of wise where, even when I don't like his advice, I know deep down I should listen.

The year I needed his advice the most was in 2019, the year I graduated from college, which happened to be the same year my grandmother died. As my senior year wound down, I had precisely one job offer. It was with a small event planning company, offering a laughably low salary and no benefits. It wasn't the dream job, but it was a job, and who was I to turn down my only option?

I called my grandfather. He didn't sugarcoat it: "It's not a good deal." So, I turned it down.

The job market was brutal, so I moved in with my grandfather

A few weeks later, I graduated with no job and no plan. I felt lost. My grandfather, meanwhile, was adjusting to life without his wife. I asked whether I could stay with him in Birmingham, Alabama, for a few weeks while I figured things out. He agreed, and soon after, I moved in with him and his rescue dog.

Since I'd only ever visited with my parents before, those first few days were spent observing, trying to understand his rhythms. Shoes off at the door. One trash can for trash, one for garbage (I still don't know the difference). Beds must be made. Water cups can stay by the sink, but everything else must be hand-washed — though I later convinced him the dishwasher was worth using. Eggs are cooked with butter (lots of it), never oil.

Not only does he have rules, but he also has a routine. Saturdays are for dinner with friends; Sundays are for family. And at the time I moved in with him, he was 80 years old and still working as an ENT surgeon. While he used to work five days a week, during this time he worked two days a week; on Mondays he performed surgery, and on Tuesdays he did office visits. Again, an inspiration.

I had planned to stay for only a few weeks while I applied for jobs in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles — anywhere but Birmingham, Alabama. But the job search was harder than I expected, and to my surprise, I found myself enjoying Birmingham more than I ever anticipated. I settled into a routine. While my career felt stalled, I was growing in other ways.

His rules were the structure I needed

Living with my grandfather taught me discipline and structure in a way college never had. His rules, which at first felt arbitrary, became the guardrails I needed. He never told me what I wanted to hear, only what I needed to. And most of all, he showed me what it meant to love your work, because to still be a practicing surgeon in your 80s and enjoy every second of it? That's something special.

I had always thought highly of my grandfather, but living with him helped deepen my admiration. It's easy to think of grandparents as relics of a different time, and while I never saw my grandfather as outdated, I also never saw us as equals. He was someone to look up to. But then, somewhere along the way, we became friends. Best friends.

We gossiped, laughed, and cried together. He consoled me. We watched "Ozark" every night until we ran out of episodes. I read romantic novels on the patio while he smoked a cigar and told me stories about his trips to Miami with my grandmother.

Moving in with family after graduation felt like a step back, but it wasn't

Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years. We lived together through the pandemic, through the time he got hit by a car and severely broke his ankle, through his retirement, through my first job and my first resignation, and through the moment I met the boy I'm about to marry.

I stayed for only about three years, but they were three years of profound growth, both personally and professionally. Had they not happened the way they did, I know I'd be a different person. My grandfather is the reason I'm now driven, more confident, and surer of myself.

It's easy to feel like moving in with family after graduation is a failure. Like it's a step backward. But for me, it was three steps forward. And for all three of them, I have my grandfather to thank.

• High schooler Matteo Paz won $250,000 for discovering 1.5 million new space objects with AI.
• Paz built an AI algorithm to search data from a NASA space telescope for objects like black holes.
• His discoveries could help solve one of the universe's biggest mysteries.

When Matteo Paz scored a high school internship at the California Institute of Technology, the scientists there gave him the daunting task of manually sorting reams of data from a NASA mission.

It was "classic intern work," Paz, an 18-year-old from Pasadena, California, told Business Insider. "The very menial, tedious, dirty tasks that require a lot of time."

Instead of manually sifting through the data, Paz built an AI algorithm to do it for him. Ultimately, he discovered 1.5 million new objects in space, including supernovae and supermassive black holes.

On Tuesday, he won $250,000 in the Regeneron Science Talent Search for his efforts.

Every year the competition casts a net across the nation for high schoolers doing the type of research you might expect from graduate students. This year Paz snagged first place out of nearly 2,500 entrants.

"Surprised isn't a strong enough word," Paz said shortly after the award ceremony. "I didn't even give a thought to what I'd say to people if I'd won."

The objects in Paz's catalog aren't just plain old stars or planets. They're all variable objects, meaning they change dramatically, violently, and often unpredictably. A black hole, for example, can emit powerful jets that vary in brightness depending on how much material it's gobbling up or how fast it's spinning.

That makes these objects a wealth of information about some of the universe's most befuddling mysteries. For example, they can be used to measure how quickly the universe is expanding from the Big Bang — a puzzle scientists are still trying to solve, which could rewrite physics.

Most of the objects Paz discovered are "candidates," meaning further study is required for scientists to confirm what Paz's analysis suggests they are.

Luckily, astronomers are already digging into his catalog.

Building an AI to scan the sky

Paz needed his machine-learning algorithm to comb through nearly 200 terabytes of data from a 10-year infrared survey of the entire sky by NASA's NEOWISE space telescope.

Looking in the infrared — wavelengths invisible to the human eye — the NEOWISE mission searched for asteroids and comets near Eart. Infrared wavelengths, however, can also reveal objects deep in space that are shrouded in interstellar dust.

Even though NEOWISE wasn't designed to look for such objects, Paz thought he could tease them out of the data with his AI algorithm.

"Prior to Matteo's work, no one had tried to use the entire (200-billion-row) table to identify and classify all of the significant variability that was there," Davy Kirkpatrick, who was Paz's mentor at Caltech, told BI in an email.

Other surveys had tried to comb through NEOWISE data for specific types of variable objects, he added.

At the end of the summer program, "we were so impressed with his results that we hired him part-time at Caltech to finish the catalog," Kirkpatrick said.

Paz said a lot of that work was him "in a dark room, eye bags heavy, looking at my computer, trying to solve a bug." Sometimes he worked out math problems on a whiteboard at Caltech. He also consulted a variety of astrophysicists and astronomers.

Once the algorithm was ready though, it blew him away.

Making 1.5 million new discoveries

In order to analyze all 200 terabytes of data, Paz divided up the data into 13,000 equal parts.

The algorithm analyzed miniscule changes in infrared radiation to identify variable space objects and sort them into different classes, such as black holes or double-star systems. In some constellations, the algorithm was discovering more objects than anticipated.

"That was where I first started to see a lot of promise in the project," Paz said.

In the end, he surveyed over 450 million objects in the sky and identified 1.9 million that may be variable objects like black holes or supernovae. Of those, 1.5 million had never been cataloged before — they were new discoveries.

"It's very beautiful. Not just that number — it's a big number that obviously makes you proud — but when you visualize the data," Paz said.

Here's that visualization, plotting all the candidate objects he discovered:

"You can see the Milky Way, you can see satellite galaxies, you can see Andromeda, you can see star-forming regions," Paz said. "Even though it's a very one-dimensional view of the universe, just plotting a point at every discovery we've made, we can really see the intricacies and the glory of the night sky."

Now an infrared research group at Caltech is already using his catalog, called VarWISE, to study dual-star systems in the distant universe. They've already found dozens of star systems in VarWISE that weren't previously detected, Kirkpatrick said. He added that the research helps them calculate the mass of distant alien planets.

Paz is submitting the catalog for publication in the Astrophysical Journal later this year. The catalog has not yet gone through the peer-review process, but the algorithm itself was peer-reviewed and published in the Astronomical Journal in November.

"The variable candidates that he's uncovered will be widely studied and illustrate the enduring value of astronomical surveys," Amy Mainzer, a scientist who led the NEOWISE mission, told BI in an email.

"It's clear that he is simply a unique talent — smart, hardworking, and with a crazy ability to assimilate newfound knowledge into new ideas for studying the universe," Kirkpatrick said.

From LA fires to the Big Bang

As for Paz and his $250,000, the next frontier is college. He said he's been accepted at Stanford University, and is keeping his mind open about potential career paths.

Just weeks before flying to Washington, DC for the awards ceremony, Paz woke up in his Pasadena home to see flames outside the window. The Eaton fire traveled so quickly that he had received no official warning. After evacuations and several days of fire, his family's home was spared.

"It really gives you a new perspective," he said. "I have a new appreciation for the problems that I have the privilege not to worry about."

Now he's pondering the possibility of putting an infrared telescope into Earth orbit — this time to monitor Earth itself for emerging fires.

More immediately, though, Paz wants to use his NEOWISE findings to study the elusive expansion rate of the universe, starting from the Big Bang, and hopefully help scientists solve the biggest mystery in cosmology.

"It will either contribute to the resolution of a very contentious topic in current research, or it's going to reveal something truly foundational about the origins of the universe," Paz said.

• China has warned Walmart against squeezing suppliers to offset US tariffs.
• US tariffs on Chinese goods have risen amid heightened tensions with the Trump administration.
• Companies were already shifting some manufacturing to other developing countries due to US-China tensions.

Beijing brought Walmart executives in for a meeting earlier this week — a sign the country is keeping a close watch on retailers amid concerns about US tariffs.

On Tuesday, Chinese authorities summoned the retail giant for a meeting, reported Yuyuan Tantian, a Weibo social media account linked to state television CCTV.

A spokesperson at China's Commerce Ministry said at a press briefing on Thursday that it had communicated with Walmart after reviewing reports and feedback from some enterprises, according to CCTV. Walmart has explained the situation, the ministry said without further elaboration.

Yuyan Tantian's post said the authorities, including the Ministry of Commerce, sought to discuss reports that Walmart had asked suppliers to cut wholesale prices to offset higher US tariffs.

The social media post said such a move would create risks of supply chain disruption and may "violate commercial contracts and disrupt the order of normal trading."

It also cautioned Walmart not to pass on costs from the tariffs to its Chinese suppliers.

"If Walmart insists on doing so, then what awaits Walmart is more than just a meeting," according to the post.

Beijing's meeting with Walmart underscores Chinese leaders' concerns about the economy, as US President Donald Trump's trade war injects fresh challenges.

"Beijing has essentially warned that it would take action against Walmart if Chinese suppliers are coerced to absorb the tariff impact," wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research for Asia excluding Japan, in a Thursday note.

Beijing "is on its guard against US tariff assault on the margins of Chinese manufacturers," he added.

The development shows the tensions between US efforts to blunt inflationary effects from tariffs and Chinese efforts to ward off worsening deflationary risks, wrote Varathan.

On Wednesday, the US started imposing additional new tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. On March 4, Trump's administration doubled blanket tariffs on Chinese goods to 20% on top of existing levies.

Walmart did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment outside regular business hours. However, the company confirmed the meeting to Reuters and said it would continue to work closely with suppliers to "find the best way forward during these uncertain times."

China is the world's factory floor for companies worldwide, including Walmart. The retail giant's $5 billion worth of net sales in China account for about 3.5% of its total net sales globally.

Bessent: 'Prices won't go up'

Trump's new tariffs come as China is trying to revive confidence in its economy, which has been struggling to recover since pandemic lockdowns ended. It's dealing with multiple problems including a property crisis, high youth unemployment, and deflation.

In February, China's consumer inflation fell below zero for the first time in 13 months, highlighting weak demand.

China's industrial profits at large companies — a key indicator for how well factories, mines, and utility firms are doing — fell 3.3% in 2024, marking its third straight year of decline.

Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News he was positive Chinese suppliers would absorb the tariffs.

"With the China tariffs, I am highly confident that the Chinese manufacturers will eat the tariffs — prices won't go up," Bessent said.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing have been simmering for years, spurring companies — even Chinese ones — to move manufacturing outside China. The moves accelerated during the pandemic due to supply chains disruptions in China, which implemented on-off lockdowns of nearly three years.

Beneficiaries of the trend include India, Vietnam, and Mexico.

• One number stood out in Adobe's earnings report: AI's annual recurring revenue.
• Investors are eyeing Adobe's ARR from AI as the company bets big on the technology.
• CEO Shantanu Narayen says Adobe plans to double its AI ARR by year-end.

One number from Adobe's quarterly earnings on Wednesday caught investors' attention: annual recurring revenue from AI.

At $125 million from the first quarter this year, it's a small slice of Adobe's $5.71 billion in total quarterly revenue. But analysts were quick to talk about the breakout number on Wednesday's earnings call.

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's CEO, said on the call that the company expects to double its AI ARR by the end of the financial year.

"Whether it is innovation, having our own models, integrating it across all of our products, brand new revenue streams like GenStudio in the enterprise and then usage and monetization, I feel really good about it," Narayen said on the call.

The company said it expects revenue to increase to between $5.77 billion and $5.82 billion in the second quarter.

Adobe's stock dipped 4.5% in after-hours trading, extending a rough year that has seen shares slide 23%, even as the S&P 500 climbed 8%.

As AI spending surges, investors are watching closely to see if tech companies can turn big bets into real returns.

Narayen said on the earnings call that future info on AI's ARR would be released "periodically" — not quarterly.

In a research note ahead of earnings, Gregg Moskowitz, a managing director at Mizuho, wrote, "Adobe is unquestionably a frustrating stock in 2024."

He wrote that analysts remain optimistic that Adobe would successfully monetize its generative AI offerings and see strong growth in ARR and revenue guidance for the financial year.

Equity analysts from Jefferies said in a report published on Sunday that chief information officers they surveyed expect their companies' spend on Adobe's creative software to accelerate in 2025.

The surveys included 15 chief information officers and 40 end users. The report said that Adobe's AI offerings are "competitive" and that "fears of AI reducing the need for Adobe may be overblown."

Of end users surveyed, 65% told Jefferies their use of Adobe's creative software would increase within the next three years, while 50% evaluated Adobe's AI offerings "as better than competitors."

Adobe did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, sent outside business hours.

• I got a Chase Sapphire Preferred travel card when I got engaged.
• I used the card for big purchases for my wedding, amassing major points over my 15-month engagement.
• Those points ended up paying for all the lodging on my honeymoon.

When I got engaged in May 2023, I was overwhelmed with excitement. My now-husband and I giddily called our loved ones to share the news, and we toasted to our future with glasses of bubbly. I fell asleep fantasizing about our perfect wedding day.

By the time I woke up the next day, a to-do list had formed in my mind. I needed to insure my ring, hire a wedding planner, and find a venue. The list got longer and longer the more I thought about our nuptials, my mind racing as I tried to figure out where to start.

As we formed a plan, there was one task I was glad I had completed a few days before my husband proposed: applying for a travel credit card.

Picking a travel card

I had been interested in getting a travel rewards credit card for a while when I finally applied for one in May 2023.

I fly often, particularly because my extended family is based in Atlanta while I live in New York. I also knew I would be in Atlanta more in the lead-up to my wedding since my husband and I had decided to get married there to accommodate my aging grandmother.

It seemed like a good idea to make my travel purchases work for me, especially since my husband and I wanted to go to California for our honeymoon but knew we wouldn't have much of a budget for the trip.

There are several travel credit cards out there, but I decided to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. A friend of mine already had it and got bonus points for referring me, and it had all the travel benefits I was looking for, including five points on travel purchases and three points on dining for a $95 annual fee.

After getting the Chase card, I started using it for my daily life and wedding purchases.

Racking up credit card points

Once I got my Chase card, I made it my go-to credit card, determined to earn the 60,000 bonus points the Sapphire Preferred card offered if I spent $4,000 on it within the first three months. The task was easier than expected, as I made several big purchases for the wedding in the summer of 2023.

I booked whatever I could for the wedding on my credit card and paid it off twice a month throughout our engagement, using the wedding budget and amassing points simultaneously. I also decided not to use any points until the honeymoon, preferring to put them toward one big purchase rather than smaller ones.

As our engagement continued, I made several travel-related purchases through the card, like the Airbnb I rented for my bachelorette weekend and the hotel suite my husband and I stayed in over the wedding weekend.

Plus, I flew to Atlanta monthly for preparation and events like showers in the final six months before the wedding. Each time I booked a flight, I felt grateful the cost earned me points I could use later.

When our wedding rolled around in September 2024, I had close to 250,000 points saved. My husband and I used the points on lodging for our California road trip in February 2025.

Booking our dream honeymoon hotels

On our honeymoon, my husband and I visited Monterey, Sonoma, and Yosemite National Park for two days each, flying in and out of San Francisco.

As we planned the trip, we looked for hotels through Chase Travel℠, only considering lodging that would allow us to use the points for our stays. That didn't feel like a limitation because Chase partners with so many hotels.

After careful research, we selected three hotels that gave us a different experience in each city. In Monterey, we stayed at the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, a high-end hotel on the water with multiple restaurants and a café.

The partial oceanview room we stayed in cost 83,307 points and gave us a view of the ocean and the hotel's courtyard. Sitting on our patio, we could people-watch and look for sea otters, which we loved.

Next, we chose The Lodge at Sonoma for our time in wine country. We stayed in one of the resort's private cottages and took advantage of the hotel's amenities, such as a jacuzzi, a free wine-tasting happy hour, and a spa.

The Lodge staff also helped us book a day of winery tours in Sonoma, a highlight of our time there. The cottage cost us 71,203 points.

Our most unique stay was at AutoCamp Yosemite, a luxury glamping site in Midpines, California, that gave us easy access to Yosemite National Park through the valley. We stayed in one of AutoCamp's Vista Airstreams, which cost 49,844 points when we booked it.

The views on the property were stunning, and we loved being immersed in nature throughout our stay while still enjoying the amenities of a hotel.

One evening during our visit, we grilled out for dinner using a kit we bought from AutoCamp's store.

We spent just over 204,000 Chase points on lodging for our honeymoon, so after booking the hotels, we still had points left.

The travel card made perfect sense for us to use on wedding expenses whenever possible, as it allowed us to save on our honeymoon even as we spent on the wedding.

The memories from our honeymoon were priceless — and the fact that our wedding helped us save money on it was the perfect cherry on top of the trip.

Offers, rates, and fees for the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card are accurate as of 03/12/2025.

"Republicans will need to make deep cuts" to SNAP in order to fulfill the cost cuts, the report reads.

Vladimir Putin was dressed in military camouflage as he visited a command post in Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.

We don't need food elitists and their allies to scrap a production system that is the envy of the world.

The current debates over tariffs are the latest example of the Trump era sending conservatives back to the drawing board.

Mark Levin spoke out against making Canada the 51st state, which would result in "millions of libs" becoming American citizens.