Search Results for: 99

  1. Southwest has 50% off of both paid and award bookings on “select flights” with promo code WOWZERS, a promo code that proves Southwest’s humor has officially entered the 1990s.

    Note that if you change any flights booked before May 28, you’ll lose the pre-Elliott benefits of those flights like free checked bags, same day changes, and non-expiring paid flight credits.
  2. AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue released its June promo rewards for travel through November 30. US cities include:

    – San Diego
    – Las Vegas
    – Denver
    – Orlando
    – New York

    Economy flights are 18,750 miles and business flights are 60,000 miles between the US and Europe. Don’t forget train stations for faux-direct flights to Paris or Amsterdam.

Happy Wednesday!

Southwest’s fashion inspiration board circa 2025.

  1. The Barclay’s Lufthansa Miles & More credit card has an increased sign-up bonus of 70,000 miles after $4,000 spend and paying the $89 annual fee within 90 days.

    The card is basically 1x everywhere on the earn side generally speaking, but it’s one of the best way to earn Lufthansa miles so I guess you win some and lose some? Did anyone notice that lose rhymes with floosies?
  2. The Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard has an increased sign-up bonus of 80,000 miles after $3,500 spend in four months. The card’s $99 annual fee is waived the first year.
  3. Office Depot / OfficeMax Stores have $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday. Practically speaking you should be buying these in even multiples of $300. Remember even and odd numbers friends? #MathIsHard

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. Wyndham has a weird partnership with Costco that’s I guess tailored to the intersection of manufactured spend and award travel: Get 4,000 Wyndham points and a $40 shop card with a new Executive Membership using promo code WYNDHAM26 through September 16; you’ll provide your Wyndham Rewards number during the sign-up process.

    There’s also an offer for the Gold Star Membership, but you’d be making TeddyH cry if you chose that option. Of course Groupon may still be better because reasons. (Thanks to FM)

Happy Tuesday!

Leaving half eaten bars of chocolate ice cream in the fridge also makes TeddyH sad, reportedly.

  1. Two American Express Marriott cards have increased sign-up bonuses:

    – Bonvoy Bevy: 125,000 points and $150 statement credit, $250 annual fee
    – Bonvoy Brilliant: 150,000 points and $250 statement credit after $6,000 spend in six months, $650 annual fee

    As of this writing, both links appear to be popup-free. Marriott is going to devalue soon though (see their earnings transcript and search for Bonvoy), so … that’s great.
  2. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Visa has an increased sign-up bonus of four 50,000 point free-night certificates after $3,000 spend in three months, and is also available via referral links so use one of those from a friend or from P2.

    This one also has a must-activate-before-spend offer for two semi-annual $50 airline credits after $250 in airline spend, which is unfortunately is a big enough flexible rebate that you should pay attention to it.
  3.  The Chase IHG Premier card has an increased sign-up bonus of 160,000 bonus points after $3,000 spend in three months, 5x$20 in IHG food and beverage vouchers which is just as annoying as it sounds. If you get an error on the application page, check the Chase mobile app instead because #tech. The card’s $99 annual fee is not waived.

    You’ll also get 10,000 extra points for adding an authorized user and putting a charge on that card; but don’t get too excited, 10,000 points is worth about $50. This should be available for referrals in the next couple of days.
  4. The Synchrony Virgin Red Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 60,000+20,000 points. The card’s $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year. Breaking down the spend:

    – 60,000 points with $4,000 spend in three months
    – 20,000 points with $6,000 total spend in six months

    You can also add up to four authorized user accounts for 2,500 bonus points each, though it’ll hit their credit report so use caution. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. Frontier Airlines has a discounted GoWild unlimited travel pass for $199, valid for travel through the end of February 27. This pairs well with matched Frontier elite status, but there are blackout periods around holidays.
  6. AA’s elite upgrade policy is changing to allow for only one class of service upgrade on three class aircraft starting on August 25.

Happy Friday!

More from the Marriott earnings call.

  1. SoFi, a name derived by combining the words “sock” and “fiasco”, has a new account bonus of $335 through Swagbucks and $400 directly, provided you have direct deposits totaling at least $5,000 within 25 days of the first direct deposit and the first direct deposit is at least $400 (thanks to dylan for the note about the first deposit).

    These accounts are mostly churnable, contrary to the propaganda orchestrated by the big sock lobby.
  2. Staples in-store has fee-free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. Staples.com has fee-free $200 Visa gift cards, limit five total and four per transaction, special thanks to Sean for the distinction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  4. Kroger stores have a coupon for a fee-free $150+ Visa or Mastercard through tomorrow.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  5. American Express Offers has an offer for $80 off of $400+ spend with Hawaiian or Alaska through September 30. The level 0 churning game on this one is to book a non-basic economy flight for $400 and then cancel it to your travel wallet.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards. Oh wait, it just seemed like something I was supposed to type at this point.
  6. Emirates has a partner award sale for 25% off of economy redemptions through August 9. These are particularly attractive for short haul flights, which coincidentally is also exactly the type of flight that I’m willing to sit in economy on.
  7. Chase Offers has two new travel related offers:

    – 7% back on between $100 and $500 at Hyatt Place in the US through September 30
    – 10% back on between $100 and $500 at Marriott in the US through August 31

    The level 0 churning game on here is gift cards at the front desk.
  8. Giant, Martins, and Stop & Shop have 2x rewards on Mastercards. Giant Food has 8x points on Zift Zillions gift cards.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.

Happy Monday, friends!

Ever wonder why you don’t see these out in the wild much? Again, big sock.

  1. The Samsung Galaxy Barclays Mastercard soft-launched yesterday and launches officially today, and includes a $200 statement credit after $2,000+ spend in 90 days via the public application page. The card’s important vitals:

    – No annual fee
    – 3% back on Samsung Wallet purchases, unlimited
    – 1% back on general purchases

    Early adopter data points suggest this card is being approved even at lol/24, but credit lines are small. The fact that Samsung is behind this rather than a bank with $3.73 million in total assets means it might last for a while. Samsung Wallet works anywhere Google Pay is accepted.
  2. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer accounts started getting error messages last week when searching for awards, and now they’ve updated their terms and conditions to make it official: You have to have recent activity to search for award flights, reportedly a 1,000 mile transfer in is sufficient, but miles that have been there for a long time aren’t.

    This is ostensibly to combat botting.
  3. Delta SkyMiles has multiple promotions for bonus miles, registration required. The most interesting is probably double redeemable miles on Main Classic or Main Extra tickets booked by tomorrow.

    In case you’re wondering, that’s only 2/9 or 2/11 (depending on the flight) of the types of tickets available. Classic.
  4. Hotels.com has an offer for $20 extra OneKey cash for bookings made by Sunday. The terms say it’s only valid for their intended recipients, but it will likely work for everyone. (Thanks to Mike)

Happy Wednesday friends!

Samsung Galaxy Card auditing office, September 2027.

  1. Citi ThankYou has a 20% transfer bonus to AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue through August 22.
  2. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, known for it’s boundless ability to trap business travelers that don’t know any better, has a heightened sign-up bonus of:

    – 125,000 Bonvoy points
    – 50,000 point free night certificate
    – Free rental of a two plastic keycards with every stay

    The bonus requires $3,000 spend in three months, and is available via referrals too. The $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year.
  3. Chase Offers has an offer for a $100 statement credit with $1,000+ at Air Canada in a single purchase through September 18.
  4. Greendot’s Gobank, not to be confused with Greendot’s Go2bank, eliminated bill payments this month. Its real utility is long gone, and now its little remaining utility is gone too, kind of like cigar umbrellas which were also apparently a thing.

    So long, debit card version of the cigar umbrella.
  5. A few more airline shopping portals added back-to-school bonuses:

    – AA eShopping: 2,500 bonus miles with $1,200+ spend through August 8
    – Delta SkyMiles: 2,000 bonus miles with $600+ spend through August 10

    Giftcards.com is still the too-cool-for-school way to hit these.

Happy Tuesday!

Rejected marketing campaign for the cigar umbrella.

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. The Delta American Express Business cards have new, targeted online upgrade offers:

    – Delta Business Platinum: 50,000 SkyMiles with $8,000+ in six months
    – Delta Business Reserve: 60,000 SkyMiles with $12,000+ in six months

    If you have a Business Gold and your account is lucky, you can do the Business Platinum upgrade, wait about 31 days, then do the Business Reserve upgrade. If you want to (likely) get shutdown, you could potentially go in the opposite direction.
  2. Staples stores have fee free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward / BlackHawk Network gift cards.
  3. Kroger stores have a coupon for a fee-free variable load Visa or Mastercard loaded with at least $150, expiring today.

    Unfortunately these are limited to one per account, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you might have more than one of those. Call me crazy I guess.
  4. I don’t know of a good place for consolidated grocery news for manufactured spenders, so let’s quick-form one today:

    – Safeway’s Just4U program’s $20 and $15 cash-out options are back after a month hiatus
    – Kroger’s shutdown team works regular business hours, more or less
    – New gold Zift cards aren’t earning Just4U points automatically
    – Kroger coupons continue to stack in new and unusual ways

    I’m still workshopping a name for a periodic section like this, and grocery quickies just doesn’t feel like it.

Happy Monday!

MEAB meets the internet.