1. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards on sale through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  2. Bank of America cards have retention offers, and they’re occasionally available in-app via chat with Erica, the virtual agent, too. Just open the app and click “Close” when you’re presented with a list of options (the act of clicking Close won’t actually close your card), and you may see an offer. In bad news for my P2, the app does need to be up-to-date. Current best offers are $175 after $1,500 spend in three months.

    I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but closing a Bank of America card a month or two after meeting a retention offer doesn’t seem to cause any lasting repercussions on your account.

Happy Monday!

I’m not saying this is a bad idea either, but […]

  1. Do this now: Check for your United MilePlay targeted bonus. I got nothing.
  2. Do this now: Check your Marriott Bonvoy account for targeted bonuses. I got nothing, but this time in stereo.
  3. The Bank of Hawaii Barclays Hawaiian Mastercard has a 60,000+10,000 Atmos miles sign-up bonus:

    – 60,000 miles after $1,000 spend in 90 days
    – 10,000 miles after $2,000 spend in 180 days

    This is a great option for those of you no longer scared of Bank of America Saturdays.
  4. The Chase World of Hyatt Business Visa has an increased sign-up bonus of 70,000 points after $7,000 spend in three months.
  5. Chase has more targeted spending bonuses for co-branded personal cards, most of which are between 0.75x and 10x bonus points on spend at grocery, gas stations, and dining. The generic chase.com/mybonus link works, but if you like the hamster wheel game you can try each individual link compiled by FM.
  6. Stop & Shop and Martins have 8x points on Zift Zillions gift cards through Thursday, and Martins only has 6x points on DoorDash. Per-account limits are either $500 or $2,000 depending on the chain.

    Meanwhile, sister brands Giant Food and Giant have 2x points on Mastercards for the same timeframe, limit $1,500 per account.
  7. There’s a lot to write about recent Kroger changes, but we’ll save that for another day. For now, let’s just mention that there’s a 4x promotion on third party gift cards through Sunday with the usual exclusions, and also 4x on fixed value Visas and Mastercards.

    If you’ve never done Kroger 4x fuel points manufactured spend, this probably isn’t the time to start.
  8. The Kitty brigade added Singapore KrisFlyer as a transfer partner.

Have a nice weekend friends!

The calendar I references for yesterday’s post.

  1. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, the let’s go with Messi of credit cards, sent new mid-month targeted offers for:

    – $50 statement credit with $750+ online spend
    – $75 statement credit with $1,000+ online spend

    The no-annual fee card remains unavailable for new applicants, and the likelihood of that changing is about the same of the US winning the World Cup this year. Go head and prove me wrong, Citi.
  2. Hyatt and Air Canada Aeroplan have a new partnership, you can link your accounts here. The tl;dr:

    – Aeroplan miles can be redeemed for Hyatt Category 1-4 certificates “starting at” 25,000 miles
    – 50,000 Hyatt points can be redeemed for a 30,000 point Aeroplan reward certificate

    – Aeroplan elites get a 20 night Globalist Hyatt status challenge
    – Aeroplan elites can convert Aeroplan to Hyatt at a 2:1 ratio
    – Hyatt elites will have an Aeroplan status challenge opportunity later this year

    – Hyatt elites get an annual CAD $20 Aeroplan flight credit, which is worth approximately one gallon of milk at current exchange rates
    – Hyatt points transfer to Aeroplan at a less bad, but still bad, 2:1 ratio

    On the positive front, that CAD $20 flight credit can be used to cover taxes on an award ticket, and on the uh-oh front, there’s now a backdoor from American Express to Hyatt.
  3. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 100% transfer bonus to IHG through July 30, bringing the transfer ratio from 1:1 to 1:2, which, like above, is less bad but still bad. On July 31, the bonus drops to 70% through the end of August.
  4. Singapore Airlines has discount business class awards for travel booked this month and flown next month between Los Angeles and Tokyo for 79,800 miles.

    There are lots of economy class discounts too, but uh, yeah.
  5. Meijer mPerks has 10,000 points with $100+ in One4All gift cards, limit 10,000 points per customer through Tuesday. I think this deal signals the end of the “mPerks is great” era, and brings us to the “mPerks is ok” era. Long live Nob Hill I guess?

Happy Thursday friends!

Don’t worry, science has already charted Meijer past and present.

  1. Capital One’s non-Venture business cards have increased sign-up bonuses:

    – Spark Cash: $1,000 statement credit + $250 travel credit with $10,000 spend in three months, annual fee is waived the first year
    – Spark Cash Plus: $2,000 statement credit + $500 travel credit with $30,000 spend in three months

    For big spenders, the Spark Cash Plus is a monster with an additional 0.4x ($2,000) on every $500,000 spend and an annual fee refund after $150,000 spend.
  2. The Rove shopping portal and travel booking engine added Qantas Frequent Flyer as a 1,500:1,000 transfer partner through August 14, and then as a 1,000:1,000 transfer partner.

    Qantas is most interesting for Emirates First awards, but there are plenty of other use cases.
  3. Japan Airlines and Marriott Bonvoy teamed up to combine the world’s most consistent service with the world’s least consistent service. The highlights, after you link your JMB and Bonvoy accounts:

    – Marriott elites earn JAL FLY ON points
    – JAL elites earn elite status and stay based bonus points annually, but 🤏

    I suppose FNBO hackers might now earn lifetime Bonvoy Gold too, which is probably worth at least $60 USD (or $6,000 TPG). Also if you like lighting money on fire and throwing its burning embers directly into a sewer, you can transfer JAL miles to Bonvoy at a 4,000:3,000 ratio.
  4. Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping has a bonus of 2,500 miles after $500 spend through August 10.
  5. Yesterday morning we chatted about Just4U’s 12x in-store DoorDash promotion, and yesterday afternoon multiple reports rolled in about 12x actually being 10x in true Just4U fashion. If you’re affected, customer service is manually crediting missing points – always check your receipt. (Thanks to Dawn for the nudge on a PSA)

Happy Wednesday!

Instructions unclear, dollar lit on fire.

Let’s start with a few deals:

  1. Brex has a new $500 gift card bonus when signing up for one or both of a new Brex card or Brex business checking account in July. To be eligible, you’ll need to spend either $2,500 on your Brex rewards debit card or deposit $50,000 within the first 30 days. A few notes:

    – Brex doesn’t like sole proprietorships
    – Brex likes tech companies, especially venture funded companies
    – Brex has interesting transfer partners and spend multiples, but transfer ratios aren’t 1:1

    Brex can be down to clown as long as you tend to behave like a regular customer.
  2. The United Airlines shopping portal has promotion for 2,500 bonus miles with $600+ spend through August 9.

    Giftcards.com remains an easy option, and as of this writing it’s 2x-3x on the portal too. (Thanks to SideShowBob233)
  3. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have 12x points earning on DoorDash gift cards through Saturday. Annoyingly, the maximum denomination is $200 per gift card.

    There might be a reason that a churning and manufactured spend blog is writing about DoorDash, and it’s not just about lowering the cost of expensive food.
  4. Citi has a targeted offer for $75 off of $400+ when booking hotels through its portal. This offer stacks with annual Citi hotel offers.

And follow with some mildly interesting notes:

  1. Wyndham temporarily increased its transfer limit to Caesars Rewards to 60,000 annually through September 11.
  2. American Express is requiring re-enrollment for Hertz President’s Circle status for many Business Platinum cardholders. You’ve got until the end of 2026, but I’d knock it out right now and forget about it.
  3. The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, formerly the Shop Your Way Rewards card, will no longer have access to transfers to JetBlue on September 20. To make up for it though, expect new targeted spend offers tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday!

At least you earned 12x points for your $65 DoorDash that looks nothing the like AI image, right?

  1. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday. For best results:

    – Buy in integer multiples of $600
    – Look for the lower fee “Everywhere” cards if you can liquidate them

    Remember that zero is an integer too if you’re exhausted by $200s. These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  2. The original American Express Blue Cash, unavailable to new applications since 2018 (!), is being transitioned to a Blue Cash Everyday card on March 4, 2027.

    It’s not too hard to spend $56,500 at grocery stores, gas stations, and drug stores in two months and American Express doesn’t care about cycling for seasoned accounts, so send it.
  3. The Synchrony Plus World Mastercard has a targeted offer for 10% back on spend for 60 days. If you don’t have a mailer, you’ve got a few options:

    – According to the Javascript on the site, a promo code is two letters followed by nine numbers
    – Remember that zero is also a percent and opt for the alternate, zero bonus multiplier
    – Try and browbeat a Synchrony representative into a code

    For no reason at all, here’s a friendly reminder that Synchrony cards shouldn’t be cycled, at all, ever.
  4. A long useful travel hack is about to become less useful, so smoke ’em if you got ’em while you still can. Also, learn from this trick because travel hacking across different loyalty programs, or even different aspects within the same loyalty program, often rhymes.

Happy Monday!

More lessons in rhyming.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s Summer promotion for 3,000 bonus points for three night or longer stays at Hyatt Place and Hyatt Select properties through the end of the month, which (probably) stacks with the other Summer promotion for 2,000 bonus points for two night or longer stays after the second stay through September 7.
  2. The Chase Hyatt personal Visa card has a highest ever bonus of:

    – 45,000 points after $5,000 spend in three months
    – +1x points on up to $30,000 spend in six months

    So, $30,000 spend is at least 105,000 total points, also known as enough for 1 ½ nights at Park Hyatt Kyoto or long enough to decompose (30 nights) at the Hyatt Place Lubbock. This will probably be available for referrals on Monday.
  3. There’s reportedly a targeted Capital One Business card referral bonus for 100,000 miles (!) for the referrer and the regular sign-up bonus for the referred. The link is valid for referrals to the Venture X Business and the Cash Plus Business card, and you can check your referral offers here.

    I got a rock, but it was at least a shiny rock this time.
  4. Stop & Shop, Giant Food, and Martins have 10x points on Home Depot and Lululemon gift cards through Thursday. Per-account limits are either $1,500 $2,000.

    It’s been a while, but the corporate overlords are punking the sister brand Giant with only 6x points.

Have a nice weekend, friends!

The green means money, right?

The two worst US programs in loyalty showed us why they’re the worst, again:

  1. Delta introduced Basic Business, which means you’re going to pay more for tickets if you want:

    – Seat assignments
    – More checked bags
    – Change fee on revenue tickets
    – No same day changes, no standby
    – No lounge access, at least included in the ticket

    Remember friends, choosing to fly Delta is a choice, and choosing to spend on a Delta American Express Card is a bigger choice. And if you’re choosing to Delta’s product on 767-300, I mean wow.
  2. Marriott Bonvoy devalued points redemptions between 5% and 15%, bringing my scientifically calibrated made-up point valuation down to 0.39 cents each. Now who wants to go earn 3*0.39x on general card spend?

    Don’t worry though, the resort fees and the parking you’ll pay on your free-night awards didn’t devalue, they’re still full price.

Both have good alternatives in loyalty, and you can still pay for hotels with cash too. Be deliberate friends! Now, let’s illustrate a loyalty program that’s trying:

Happy Thursday friends!

Delta’s 767-300 business class, international config.