1. The Bank of America Alaska Atmos Business Visa card has an increased sign-up bonus of 85,000 miles after $5,000 spend in 90 days.

    Yes, you can still clown with BofA, just clown once per day.
  2. The NFCU Flagship Premier Visa card has an increased 90,000 point sign-up bonus after $5,000 spend in 90 days. The card has a $95 annual fee and a $100 airline credit.

    The card’s main claim to fame is 4x on travel. (Thanks to DoC)
  3. JetBlue increased its checked bag fees to between $50 and $70 for the first checked bag.

    Apropos of nothing: How is competition in the current US aviation marketplace? Ask me again in two weeks when we see whether or not all the other airlines matched the increase, like was the case earlier this year.
  4. VanillaGift.com has $250+ fee-free gift cards through November 26 with promo code VGTHANKS26.

    These are Vanilla / InComm gift cards.
  5. Having problems with giftcards.com Visa redemptions? It’s not just you. Reports of errors are everywhere both in public and private forums and customer service hold times are hours long, so bad that even Aeroplan is blushing.

Happy Wednesday!

Proposed airline industry holiday party merch.

  1. The Synchrony Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of $100 after $1,000 spend in 60 days. The card earns a flat 2%, and carries no annual fee. Also, I know it’s redundant but it’s Synchrony.
  2. American Express has a 30% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic through November 30.
  3. Capital One added Copa ConnectMiles as a 2000:1500 transfer partner. There’s a 30% transfer bonus through December 1, pushing the ratio to 2000:1950 because why keep it simple when you can be annoying? Sweet spots:

    – United domestic Polaris, 25,000 miles each way, plus decent non-saver award pricing
    – Emirates business: 80,000 miles each way with minimal surcharge

    Copa ConnectMiles expire after 24 months but expiration is easily reset with activity.
  4. Giftcards.com has a $10 bonus giftcards.com gift card with the purchase of a $100 Visa e-gift card using promo code GIVEMORE. This code is now on all the major airline portals, so hit those bonuses.

Happy Tuesday friends!

Preview of Capital One’s next transfer partner.

  1. The major airline portals have November spend bonuses:

    – AA: 4,000 miles on $1,600+ spend through November 20
    – Alaska: 1,500 miles on $650+ spend through November 20
    – Delta: 2,000 miles on $1,200+ spend through November 21
    – Southwest: 5,000 miles on $800+ spend through November 23
    – United: 5,000 miles on $1,000+ spend through November 20

    Sometimes these stores earn more than 1x at giftcards.com, but the overlap of > 1x with bonus offers like this is rarer than kids that like getting Necco Wafers on Halloween.
  2. Chase has new transfer bonuses for November:

    – 80% bonus to IHG points through December 3, a 10:18 ratio
    – 30% bonus to Wyndham Rewards through December 3, a 10:13 ratio
    – 30% bonus to Avios programs through December 1, a 10:13 ratio

    Why hotels on December 3 and Avios on December 1? I don’t know, but it has to do with people that give Mounds candy bars out for Halloween.
  3. Capital One has a 20% transfer bonus to Air France / KLM FlyingBlue through November 30, a 10:12 ratio. Yes, this is also Mounds people’s fault.
  4. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have a digital coupon for 10x points on Zift cards through November 11, excluding cards that convert to Amazon. Why exclude those? Because Zift knows that Amazon sells Mounds and Necco Wafers.
  5. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 in Visa gift cards through Saturday. Always buy in even multiples of $300. (EDIT: Visa, not Mastercard)

    These are Pathward / Blackhawk Network gift cards.
  6. TheGiftCardShop.com has fee-free custom gift cards through November 11 with promo code CUSTOM26.

    These are Sutton / InComm gift cards.
  7. American Express Offers has an offer for $200 off of $1,000+ with Lufthansa Group booked direct through AmEx Travel.

Happy Monday friends!

Pop quiz: These or Necco Wafers? Answer: Neither.

  1. The Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority and Premier Visa cards have increased sign-up bonuses, and both should be available for referrals either today or Monday:

    – Priority: 90,000 points after $3,000 spend in three months, $229 annual fee is not waived the first year
    – Premier: 85,000 points after $2,000 spend in three months, $149 annual fee is not waived the first year

    Getting two of these cards and hitting spend before the end of the year is likely your last opportunity for a Companion Pass before the program no longer counts sign-up bonuses toward qualification in 2027.
  2. Meijer stores have 10,000 mPerks points with the purchase of $100+ in Visa or Mastercard gift cards through November 10.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. AA has a buy-one-get-one-20%-off discount on paid First tickets to and from ORD, booked by November 4 and flown by February 28, 2027. There are blackouts around the holidays.
  4. United “First Base” fares have now launched domestically. What are we looking at?

    – Seat assignments aren’t free
    – Only one checked bag
    – $199 change fees
    – Non-Base fare upcharges are reportedly exceedingly high

    Scott Kirby also claims they’re more fun.
  5. Stop & Shop, Giant, Martins, and Giant Food stores have 6x points on third-party gift cards through Thursday.

Have a nice spooky weekend!

The calm before the costume storm.

You can call Bilt Rewards a litany of things, and each one of them is probably accurate. A few examples since nobody asked: Innovative, weird, tone-deaf, star-studded, disruptors, gamers, builders, puppy-haters, and Ankur+celebrity of the month selfie generator.

I think it’s hard to argue though that Bilt doesn’t care greatly about its perception in media and participation in its program. In fact, that’s one of the core tenets of the business, so much so that they often talk about member engagement and metrics in their public and investor messaging.

Bilt’s monthly Rent Day has been one of the main drivers of the company’s coveted engagement. But, those monthly Rent Days have been getting worse over time, and as of Sunday, November 1, they’re approaching complete unremarkability and mild uselessness. In case you missed it, their next monthly promotion is either (1) poor value gift card redemption boosts, or (2) a 10%-15% hotel credit for rooms booked through their portal (which incidentally often marks up hotel retail prices by a lot), but it’s not-combinable with other Bilt Cash hotel credits. Neat eh?

So, what can you do about the general decline of the Bilt program and its rapid decline in Rent Day promotions? Don’t engage, and don’t boost the platform’s metrics. Businesses that don’t get value out of the promotions that they run will stop running those promotions, and businesses that don’t get the engagement they seek will pivot.

Why so salty today, MEAB (asks no-one in particular)? I’m actually not really salty about this, Bilt can run their program the way they see fit and as a community, we’ll take part if it makes sense and won’t otherwise. I’m just encouraging you to choose one of those options deliberately.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Bilt’s other Rent Day promotion: Bilt Cash redemption for a free 90% grapefruit 10% orange. (Grapange?)

  1. The Citi AA Executive Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 125,000 AAdvantage miles after $15,000 spend in five months. The card’s $695 annual fee is not waived for the first year.

    The card includes access to Admirals Clubs for cheese cube connoisseurs, but Flagship lounges need another method. (Thanks to DoC)
  2. The Citi Business AA Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 75,000 AAdvantage miles after $5,000 spend in five months. The card’s $99, soon-to-be-$150, annual fee is waived for the first year.
  3. The resident schizophrenic churning classic, the Bilt card, decided to retool its reward program, generally for the worse. What are we at now, Bilt 3.0? The tl;dr: The Bilt Cash program as you know it is going away on January 1 and being replaced with 1.25x housing credit earn on spend and a few other minor card benefits, and Palladium hotel benefits are being nerfed.

    You can opt-in to the old Bilt Cash earning and redemption method, but unless you explicitly do so you’ll be converted to the new method with no way to get back. Study away, but unless you put only a non-manufactured-spender amount of spend on the card, the new program is almost certainly worse.
  4. The Citi Platinum Select and Business AA cards are changing on January 27, 2027:

    – Both cards’ annual fees increase to $150, up from $95
    – Both cards will have $100 annual credits for AA inflight purchases
    – Business: 2x points in a once-per-quarter selectable category: shipping, office supplies, or advertising in addition to existing bonus categories
    – Personal: Complimentary Walmart+ Membership and new 2x earning in EV charging and streaming, other bonus categories remain unchanged

    Churners with more than one credit card in their wallet are probably just exchanging $55 in new fees for $100 in inflight credits, and they’ll soon discover that the new white whale is an AA flight with catering for purchase.
  5. The Chase IHG Premier Visa has an increased 180,000 point sign-up bonus with $3,000 spend in three months, and an additional 10,000 points for adding an authorized user card. The $150 annual fee is not waived the first year.
  6. Smart & Final stores have a promotion for $25 off a future purchase with $100 in One4All gift cards through Tuesday.
  7. American Express Offers has a card linked offer for $350 off of $1,850+ with Air New Zealand through December 31.
  8. Alaska Airlines is adding:

    – Anchorage, Alaska to Tokyo Narita, Japan
    – Anchorage, Alaska to Austin, Texas
    – Anchorage, Alaska to Dallas, Texas
    – Anchorage, Alaska to Nashville, Tennessee

    For avgeeks, inaugural paid flight prices are surprisingly reasonable.

Digging through reddit reveals Bilt’s origin story.

  1. Rakuten has a $100 or 10,000 point new account bonus for new Synchrony High Yield savings accounts. The bonus requires deposits of at least $1,000 within 55 calendar days, but those deposits don’t have to stay there.

    If you wanted to be annoying for sport, you could schedule 1,000 $1 ACHs in and back out.
  2. AT&T and AA have a 5,000 or 2,500 mile promotion for linking your accounts. Both AT&T wireless and internet customers are eligible. (Thanks to SideShowBob233)
  3. The Southwest Premier Business Visa has a new sign-up bonus of 80,000 miles after $3,000 spend in three months.

    Generally I’d say “just get an Ink instead”, but 2026 is your last hurrah for earning Companion Pass points on credit card sign-up bonuses. Besides, what other airline is going to connect you from West Texas to Houston via Colorado Springs and Kansas City?

Happy Tuesday friends!

Southwest route planning in action.

  1. On January 1, the American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection credits are changing, unfortunately as predicted a week and a half ago with p=0.90. The changes:

    – Only 2+ night stays eligible
    – Airbnb Luxe properties will be eligible
    – A $250 Airbnb experiences credit with an Airbnb Luxe booking

    The Airbnb Luxe addition feels like a nice add, until you look at the properties you’re getting and the dollar cost that is.
  2. Citi ThankYou added Copa ConnectMiles as a 1:1 transfer partner. Sweet spots:

    – United domestic Polaris, 25,000 miles each way
    – Emirates business: 80,000 miles each way with minimal surcharges

    What’s the opposite of a sweet spot? Using this program for US – Europe in any cabin.
  3. Citi ThankYou has a 10% transfer bonus to Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles through November 14.
  4. The Chase Avios cards have increased sign-up bonuses of 90,000 Avios after $5,000 spend in three months:

    – British Airways
    – Iberia
    – Aer Lingus

    Each card has slightly different benefits. Generally the British Airways option is the best for its modest surcharge rebate if you’re going to book on British Airways metal with Avios.
  5. The American Express Business Platinum cards are changing a few benefits on February 17, 2027 in the wake of, I guess gaming?

    – Only named cellular providers are eligible for the monthly $10 wireless coupon
    – Only named shipping services are eligible for 2x points on shipping

    The fact that American Express is treating lack of breakage as public enemy number one should tell you a lot about their current economic predictions for consumer credit.
  6. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have a digital coupon for 10x points earning on $50+ in Zift Zillions cards excluding those with Amazon through Saturday.
  7. The Citi AA Executive Mastercard added 2x$100 InKind dining credits annually. split into January – June and July – December credits. If you value these at above 2x$65, then you probably should see what Costco’s up to lately.
  8. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday. Whether or not math is your strong suit, buy in even multiples of $300.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  9. Staples stores have fee-free $200 Visas through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Happy Monday, friends!

MEAB Exclusive: American Express’s Q1 economic model output.