Introduction

We talked about Bank of America shenanigans about a year ago, and US Bank shenanigans about six months ago. As a result I think many of you have card anniversaries and half-anniversaries to consider and it’s probably worth a re-read of both. That said, today we’re going to do the same for Barclays because they’ve just increased sign-up bonuses on three of their main four co-brand cards:

  • Wyndham Earner Business: 65,000 points after spending $2,000 in 60 days and another 10,000 points after a single purchase on an employee card (Update: corrected bonus from 60,000 to 65,000 points. Thanks to Miles)
  • JetBlue Business: 70,000 points after spending $2,000 in 90 days and another 10,000 points after a single purchase on an employee card
  • Hawaiian Business: 80,000 points after spending $2,000 in 90 days

If you live in New England or Florida, the JetBlue card is a great option. If you live near a Speedway, the Wyndham card is a stand out. If you like churning satire, the Hawaiian card can’t be beat.

Rules

Barclays doesn’t have as many loopholes as legacy banks, but there are some. Here’s what you should know:

  • Barclays will combine hard pulls in the same day
  • Barclays will approve up to three credit cards in the same day
  • Barclays business cards won’t appear on a credit report
  • Barclays’ reconsideration department will work with you more than most banks will
  • Barclays won’t let you have multiple versions of the same card

To contact Barclays reconsideration, dial (866) 408-4064 for business cards or (866) 408-4064 for personal cards. When you call, a simple “I was hoping that you’d take another look at my application and help me find away to get approved. I’m happy to provide any additional information you may need!” may be enough to negotiate your way into an approval after you’re denied.

How I’m Playing It

I don’t need more JetBlue points and I really don’t need more Hawaiian points, but Vacasa redemptions via Wyndham are hard to beat. So even though the AA Business co-brand card offer isn’t at a relative high, I’ll be pairing it with the Wyndham card application for a combined hard-pull without messing with my quest to drop below 5/24.

Good luck!

Barclays reconsideration staff is much friendlier than it looks.

Yesterday’s post spurred plenty of questions, discussion, and further digging. Sam at HelpMeBuildCredit.com started by letting me know about other heightened offers from Barclays, and I heard from many of you about their rules. Let’s go over both:

  1. The JetBlue Business Card has an offer for:

    – 80,000 TrueBlue points and a $99 statement credit after spending $2,000 in 90 days

    The card has a $99 annual fee which is effectively erased by the statement credit. As with yesterday’s Barclay AA card offer, this one is probably a “get the sign-up bonus, sock-drawer, then cancel or get a retention offer after your one year anniversary” card. That said, I know a few of you like to keep it and spend $50,000 a year for Mosaic status.

  2. The Hawaiian Business Mastercard has an offer for:

    – 80,000 Hawaiian Airlines miles and a $99 statement credit after spending $2,000 in 90 days

    This card also has a $99 annual fee effectively erased by the statement credit. This is also a sock-drawer and cancel after a year card.

And, a few things that came up in the last day:

  • Q: Can I have multiple versions of the same Barclays card?
    A: No
  • Q: Do I have to close a card to apply for it again?
    A: Yes
  • Q: Will Barlcays offer to match a retention bonus if you recently opened a card?
    A: Sometimes, YMMV
  • Q: Do I really have to wait six months between closing a particular card and opening the same card again?
    A: Probably, YMMV
  • Q: Does Barclays care about credit line cycling?
    A: They don’t seem to care on business cards as long as it’s 2-3x per month, they’re stricter on personal cards
  • Q: Barclays doesn’t care about anonymous bill payments.
    A: That’s not a question

And finally, I’ve been told that Barclays may not enforce 6/24 at all on personal cards — if you have a datapoint related to that I’d appreciate it if you let me know.

Happy Wednesday friends!

Against all odds, Barclays comes back for another post.

Barclays has heightened sign-up bonuses on several of their cards rolling out this week:

  1. The Barclays AAdvantage World Elite Business Mastercard (editors note: just typing that card name made my eyes glaze over, and its 15 trademarks almost made me ditch this post entirely) has an interesting new sign-up bonus:

    – 80,000 AA miles and a $95 statement credit after spending $2,000 in 90 days

    This is effectively a free 80,000 miles for $2,000 in spend in the first year after the $95 annual fee is offset by the statement credit, and it might be interesting beyond the sign-up bonus if you’re playing the AA LoyaltyPoints game. If you’re not, sock drawer it after hitting $2,000 in spend and close it in after a year.

  2. The Barclays Wyndham Business Visa card (editors note: I’m not typing the whole credit card name after the above fiasco) also has an interesting sign-up bonus:

    – 65,000 Wyndham points after spending $1,000 in 90 days
    – 10,000 additional points for making a single purchase on an employee card

    This one doesn’t have a statement credit to offset the $95 annual fee unfortunately, but if you can manufacture spend at gas stations it’s probably worth holding long term even with the fee.

Now, because we’re gamers, let’s talk about gaming:

  • Barclays will combine hard credit card pulls for applications made on the same business day, and you can be approved for up to three cards a day
  • If you have an existing Barclays credit card, spend a lot, pay off your balance, and then apply to boost your approval odds.
  • You can churn Barclays cards, but you typically need to wait six months between churns
  • Barclays has a 6/24 rule that’s usually enforced (you’ll probably be denied for a card if you’ve had 6 new accounts on your credit report in the last 24 months), but big spend on existing Barclays cards can bypass the rule

Just redeem those AA miles on partner airlines if you can. Unless you’re in to the whole “regulated garbage” things that is.

If you have a Barclay’s credit card, Check your email inbox for a 60,000 miles or $600 spend offer ($3,000 spend required). So far, people have received the offer on:

  • Aviator
  • Arrival (no annual fee version)
  • JetBlue
  • Uber
Crazy nurse mind-melding with a brain
Barclay executive consulting the marketing department

(HT: Windbag Miles)

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 3,000 bonus points per night at Hyatt Vacation Club properties between December 1 and March 30, 2025 with a maximum of 30,000 bonus points.
  2. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third-party gift cards excluding Amazon, and fixed value Visas and Mastercards through December 3.

    Holiday demand for third party gift cards is soaring, and fuel points demand remains steady.
  3. The Barclays JetBlue Plus Mastercard has an offer for 80,000 TrueBlue points after $1,000 spend and paying the annual fee within the first 90 days in the mobile app. I can’t make this appear on desktop without some trickery, but it appears on the front page of the mobile app even if you’re not signed in. (Thanks to abhirpduttamit)
  4. Staples in-store has fee-free $200 Visa gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit nine per transaction.
  5. The personal United cards from Chase all have an increased sign-up bonus for those of you light on MileagePlus miles. Yes, the increased bonus even includes the stupidest United card of all, the Quest:

    – Gateway: 30,000 miles after $1,000 in three months, no annual-fee
    – Explorer: 60,000 miles after $3,000 in three months, $95 annual fee is waived
    – Quest: 70,000 miles and 500 PQP after $4,000 in three months, $250 annual fee
    – Club: 90,000 miles after $5,000 spend in three months, $525 annual fee

    Only the Club’s bonus gives enough miles for a one-way long-haul partner redemption from the US to Europe or Asia, which should tell you something about the actual value of these cards especially as compared to an Ink. Each card does get you XN award space access, which is great for domestic economy awards I guess. Each card also earns an extra 5,000 bonus miles for adding an authorized user within the first three months. (Thanks to DDG)
  6. Hy-Vee stores have $10 off of $150 or more in Visa gift cards through Monday. You can repeat this with back-to-back-to-back transactions until either the police are called or they run out of stock.

    These are Pathward gift cards.

More weekend catchup (?) fun.

  1. The Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard has a heightened sign up bonus of 70,000 AAdvantage miles after a single purchase in 90 days. The $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year.

    This card is useful beyond the sign-up bonus because it can eventually be product changed into the AAdvantage Silver card, but only after a year thanks to the CARD act.
  2. Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, and other Just4U stores have 10x points on Zillions and Zillions Zift cards through Saturday. On Saturday when the “surprise” weekend gift card 4x event is released, you’ll get 12x. (Spoiler alert to Safeway management: Surprises that happen reliably every week with the same offer and same duration cease to be surprises at some point.)
  3. Meijer MPerks has a bonus of 10,000 points with the purchase of a $150+ Visa or Mastercard gift card through November 9, limit one per account.

    Meijer sells both Pathward and Sunrise gift cards.
  4. Giftcards.com has Gift of College gift cards available with no purchase fee. You might earn 2% back in giftcards.com rewards after registering for their program through the end of October, though Gift of College is technically excluded from that program. You will earn portal cash back if you’re sly. Always be probing, Gift of College has been ripe for weirdness in the past but eventually the money does need to end up in a 529 account.
  5. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 or more in Visa gift cards through Saturday, limit 10. For best results:

    – Link your credit cards to Dosh
    – Buy in even multiples of $300
    – Look for lower fee variants if you know how to liquidate them

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  6. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a heightened redemption for Apple products at a rate of 1.5 cents per point for the Sapphire Reserve or 1.25 cents per point for the Sapphire Preferred or Ink Business Preferred cards (or less on other, stupider cards). The promotion runs through the end of November.

    These rates beat regular Pay-Yourself-Back rates, especially if you’re in the reselling game.
  7. There are two small business merchant processing sign-up bonuses:

    Bank of America $1,000 after $100,000 processed in 90 days
    US Bank $1,000 offer after accepting charges monthly for three months

    Since we’re MEABers around here, let’s caution a few items: (1) running more than a few gift cards will almost certainly get your account shut down and banned from the processor which could have repercussions on future real businesses; (2) running your own credit cards will almost certainly get your credit cards shut down, sometimes even same-day with banks like AmEx; and (3) you’ll get a 1099 for payments processed. So always be probing, but know when a fence is electrified too, and this one is.

    My advice is to keep these accounts completely above board if you’re going for the bonus. If you don’t have a real business for merchant processing, consider selling a few things on Facebook Marketplace. Combine with the previous item for extra #flair.

Happy Monday!

Stupider cards, prolly.

  1. Alaska MileagePlan has upcoming changes in 2025:

    – Earn elite qualifying miles (EQMs) on award travel redemptions based on distance and ticket class, a minimum of 1 EQM per mile flown including partner redemptions
    – Earn 1 EQM per $3 spent on a co-brand credit card, up to $90,000 spend
    – Earn EQMs for mileage partners, especially the MileagePlan shopping portal
    – Milestone rewards like AA
    – Multi-partner award redemptions are coming this “winter”

    It’ll be relatively easy to earn MileagePlan status via manufactured spend next year, which when coupled with AA status, could make you a double oneworld Sapphire, capable of viewing the Double Rainbow.
  2. The speculation that Barclays would buy the GM credit card portfolio from Marcus Goldman Sachs has been confirmed, and cards will switch issuers in 2025.

    If you’re banned from Barlcays, getting a GM card may be a back-door way back in, but historically Barclays is tough on bans so I wouldn’t count on it.
  3. Do this now: Register for your targeted United Mileage Play offer. My offer was “Book and take a trip in a premium seat 2 times to earn 21,000 bonus miles.” My fine print says travel by December 13 and each ticket has to cost $500 before taxes and fees, so best case this is a +2x miles on spend deal.
  4. United has an economy award sale for travel to and from Taipei, Tokyo, Osaka, and Hong Kong at 35,000 miles in each direction for travel through February 25, 2025 booked by tonight, but only for Chase co-brand card holders. The regular saver price is 55,000 miles in each direction. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. American Express Offers has three more offers for hotel stays:

    – $100 back on $300+ at Radisson Blu or Cambria hotels through November 30
    – $100 back on $300+ at Small Luxury Hotels through December 31
    – $150 back on $650+ at The Hotel Collection properties through December 7

    The top two are gameable, the bottom one, probably not so much. How do you game these? As always, buying a gift card is the simplest way, but not the only way.

Happy Thursday!

Another important headline from around the US.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s double points promotion on stays in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa between October 7 and December 20.
  2. Do this now: Register for Wyndham’s promotion for 7,500 bonus points on paid 2+ night stays with Wyndham, and a bonus 5,000 points if you hold a Wyndham credit card. There’s a whopping limit of 15,000 bonus points if you don’t have a credit card, or 20,000 points if you do.
  3. Transfers between Alaska MilagePlan and Hawaiian HawaiianMiles are now live and must be done in 500,000 or fewer mile increments. Sorry to all of you that are moving 37 million miles, that’s a lot of clicking. Also, is this a good time to remind everyone that Barclays Hawaiian card members can transfer miles to immediate family members? No reason.

    Unfortunately Membership Rewards transfers to HawaiianMiles are currently being rejected and refunded, so that’s great. #bonvoyed
  4. The Chase Aeroplan Visa, notable for 3x earning at grocery stores, has an increased sign-up bonus of 100,000 bonus Aeropan miles after $4,000 spend in three months, and another $16,000 tiered spend in 12 months. The $95 annual fee is not waived. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. Southwest said a lot of words yesterday, but the salient points you probably care about are:

    – Flights with assigned seating will be sold in late 2025 for flights in 2026 and beyond
    – Checked bags remain free
    – Southwest will partner with IcelandAir in 2025
    – A-List Preferred elites will get free preferred seating selection at booking
    – A-List elites will get free preferred seating selection at T-48 hours

    They’re also scrambling to avoid massive losses by trimming markets and selling aircraft so I expect these details to change somewhat as they continue to focus on top line revenue and making the bottom line turn black. No word from Southwest on the diagonal line.
  6. Citi has a new card linked offer for 4% back at Giftcards.com with up to $30 cash back two times by November 10. Historically these promotions ironically haven’t worked when buying Visa and Mastercard gift cards, but in 2024 they’ve been working as you’d expect. (Thanks to GCG)
  7. Reader Mike let me know about a deal at Aloft Hotels via Wells Fargo Deals through September 30. When I went looking for it, I found a few other good ones, all expiring the same day:

    – 10% back at Renaissance Hotels up to $75 cash back
    – 10% back at Hilton Garden Inn up to $65 cash back
    – 10% back at TownPlace Suites up to $57 cash back
    – 10% back at Aloft Hotels up to $57 cash back

    Wells Fargo offers are gamble in the same ways as Chase and BankAmeriDeals.
  8. Wells Fargo points can now be transferred to Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Red at a 1:1 ratio.

BankAmeriGuy is upset that Wells Fargo offers is encroaching his territory.