Month: August 2025

Generally, the quickest way to move cleared funds between deposit accounts in the US is via wire transfers. Churners often like wires because:

  • Limits are huge
  • Funds are guaranteed (they can’t bounce)
  • Fees are often minimal

Wires have a dark side though: For the exact same reasons that they’re useful for a churner, they’re risky for a sending bank. Because of that risk banks often have fraud analysts look at your wire and your account activity before releasing funds, and if you play lots of manufactured spend related games, I’m guessing a fraud analyst won’t like what they see.

I get a report at least monthly from someone who had a bank or credit union shutdown after sending a wire, so keep your activity, bank history, and profile in mind before sending one from an account you care about.

Happy Tuesday!

An analyst looks into an infamous churner’s deposit account.

  1. Staples has fee-free $200 Mastercard gift cards through Saturday, limit nine per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  2. Meijer MPerks has a promotion for 10,000 MPerks points with $100+ in One4All gift cards, other than Giving Good and Ultimate flavors, which is good because those cards taste gross.

    Home Depot is still available on other One4All cards though. (Thanks to GCA)
  3. The Barclays JetBlue Plus Mastercard has an increased offer for 60,000+20,000 TrueBlue points and a waived annual fee after $1,000 spend in 90 days and $6,000 spend in the first year, respectively, beating last week’s offer by a full $99.

    Use promo code 31337, 07734, or 58008 (if you’ve got a fifth grade mindset) during the application.
  4. Capital One Shopping brought back eBay as a redemption option, and in the last month has steeped up its targeted, heightened offers in many manufactured spender friendly stores. For a refresher on getting discounts, see Capital One Shopping: Manufactured Discounts.

Happy Monday!

The approximate flavor of Giving Good gift cards: banana dipped in old chili.

  1. American Express has newly targeted offers for the Delta SkyMiles cards, and they’re pulling up different offers based on the browser used, device type, IP address, and probably the last type of beverage you had. The best offers seem to be:

    – Personal: Gold 80,000 SkyMiles, Platinum 90,000 SkyMiles, Reserve 100,000 SkyMiles
    – Business: Gold 90,000 SkyMiles, Platinum 110,000 SkyMiles, Reserve 125,000 SkyMiles

    Both the personal and business gold cards have a waived first year annual fee. (Thanks to FM)
  2. Hilton for Business has a relatively lame tie-in with Delta Skymiles for Business: Enroll in SkyMiles Business with promo SM4BHLTN by August 31, link your Hilton for Business account, then book and fly a revenue flight in 90 days to receive a $50 Delta eCredit.
  3. Raley’s, Nob Hill, and Bel Air stores have an unadvertised promotion for 15x points on Choice cards through Tuesday. If these stores sold electronics this could be a deal of the year, but instead it’s effectively just a discount hot dog machine.

    Obviously some Choice cards are better than others, but if you’re lucky you’ll find some that convert to BestBuy and Home Depot, both of which are currently reselling at 93%+. (Thanks to Bill)
  4. The MooMoo brokerage, one of only four US brokerages founded and operated by cows, has several stackable promotions:

    – Tiered NVDA stock worth up to $1,000 for brining up to $50,000 in new money and holding for 60 days
    – 8.1% APR on up to $20,000 in a cash account for 90 days, then 4.1%
    – An ACATS match of 3% on up to $20,000 in transferred stock held for at least 60 days
    – $40 back at several portals for a new account

    Believe it or not, this is on the simple end of MooMoo gaming. (Thanks to DoC)

Have a nice weekend!

Hot dogs from a discount hot dog machine.

  1. AA’s status match, err I guess “Instant Status Pass”™®©, is back. Matchers from other programs will have status for four months, and a fast track to qualification for the current elite year.

    The current program awards top-tier Executive Platinum status for Delta Diamonds and United 1Ks too. (Thanks to yoshi)
  2. AA and Hyatt’s reciprocal elite status match and fast track programs are back too:

    – Hyatt status for AA elites (register by October 31)
    – AA status for Hyatt elites, targeted (register by September 4)

    You can link your Hyatt and AA programs here if you haven’t already done so. (Thanks to MikeDCA)
  3. Stater Bros stores have $10 off of groceries in the same transaction as $50+ in Visa or Mastercard gift cards through August 12.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  4. Alaska has a new MileagePlan membership promotion for a $25 or $50 discount code depending on your residence running through December 31:

    – $50 for Alaska, California, or Hawaii residents
    – $25 for everyone else

    Let me preface this by saying I don’t think $50 off of an Alaska is worth gaming and I wouldn’t risk my Alaska loyalty account over $50 either, but let’s pour one out for all the extra Alaska accounts created for us from Bank of America’s top notch IT integration.
  5. Air Canada’s Aeroplan is:

    – Introducing three new mileage acronyms: status qualifying credits (SQCs), status qualifying segments (SQSs), and status qualifying dollars (SQDs)
    – Awarding redeemable miles based on ticket cost
    – Giving 25k status for new Aeroplan cardmembers
    – Awarding 35k status with $75,000 spend on the Aeroplan Mastercard annually

    I had a really hard time not writing ‘stupid’ instead of ‘status’ for each of those new acronyms, but I held back. I do hope going forward your internal monologue will read the first ‘S’ in those acronyms as ‘stupid’ though.
  6. Like the Barclays JetBlue Business Mastercard mentioned yesterday, two Barclays Jetblue personal Mastercards also have increased sign-up bonuses:

    – JetBlue Premier: 80,000 TrueBlue miles and 5 tiles after $5,000 spend in 90 days
    – JetBlue Plus: 60,000+20,000 TrueBlue miles after $1,000 spend in the first 90 days and $7,000 spend in the first year

    Both also require that you pay the annual fee because reasons.

Always be probing.

SQS indeed.

  1. AirCanada has a targeted offer for Chase Sapphire Reserve card holders for a 5,000 point Aeroplan Rewards Certificate, which reduces the cost of a flight award by 5,000 points. You’ve got until August 18 to register, and the certificate is good for a year.

    This works on both business and personal Sapphire Reserves, but not everyone is targeted. (Thanks to IronDukey)
  2. The Barclays JetBlue Business Mastercard has an increased sign-up bonus of 80,000 TrueBlue points after $2,000 spend and paying the $99 annual fee within 90 days.

    Side note: How many people paid everything but the $99 fee and let the bill default, causing this rule?
  3. Citi Shop Day offers 20x rewards when shopping through the Citi Shop browser extension to several online retailers, including buyer’s club favorites like BestBuy and Kohls. Watch for exclusions though, they’re real and they’re not spectacular.
  4. US Bank is sending bonuses for spend in August and September, registration required. Check for email from [email protected]:

    – $50 statement credit after 10 transactions
    – $100 statement credit after 20 transactions
    – $150 statement credit after 30 transactions

    To qualify, each transaction must be $75+, making this a bonus 6.67% cash back in addition to regular rewards for maximizers. (Thanks to Jonathan)
  5. Alaska is adding flights ton London, England and Reykjavik, Iceland from Seattle in Spring 2026 on 787-900 and a 737-MAX8 aircraft respectively, and these will likely be easy awards for the first couple of weeks that they’re bookable.

    I wouldn’t want to fly the Iceland route for eight hours on a domestically configured narrow body aircraft, but you do you, dear traveler.
  6. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U stores have a coupon 10x points on Zift Zillions through Saturday, as reported a couple of days ago. Starting today, there’s an additional $10 grocery certificate with $50+ purchased on various gift cards, including Zift Zillions cards, limit one per transaction.

    Obviously if you thought 10x was good on its own, 10x + $10 in a slightly annoying to use grocery certificate is slightly better. (Thanks to SideShowBob233)
  7. Southwest has a paid and award sale for 40% off of base fares booked by tomorrow night with promo code LUVFALL, a promo code obviously created to celebrate their fall from grace.

    The concept of “base fares” didn’t used to matter much with Southwest, but now that we’re in the “Southwest-is-basically-Ryanair” era of travel, I’d like to share a reminder that anything not included in the fare itself won’t be discounted, like seat selection fees and checked bag fees. Sometimes booking a bundle that’s 40% off that includes seats and checked bags in the fare is cheaper than booking basic and paying for add-ons, but only sometimes.

Happy Wednesday!

LUV’s fall from grace, illustrated.

What does credit card unicorn hunting look like in 2025? Well, unicorns come in many forms and are often very tied to different manufactured spend techniques. But once you’ve moved past sign-up bonus hunting, you should be looking for some combination of:

  • Credit cards that take lots of different types of payments
  • Good base earning multiples
  • Category specific earning multiples unique to your situation
  • Bill payment methods that earn rewards
  • An issuer that doesn’t mind cycling

You’re not going to find the full deck with American Express, Chase, or other giant banks, but you’ve got a great shot of finding your own unicorn by scouting credit unions and regional banks. Always be probing.

Have a nice Tuesday friends!

Right idea, but too literal, 2/10.

  1. Discover has a 15% discount when redeeming points for Apple gift cards through August 31. With resale rates on those cards at approximately 91%, this route gives an indirect cash out of 1.07 cents per Discover post.
  2. US Bank has increased sign-up bonuses for new business checking accounts with promo code Q3RPS25 through September 30:

    – Business Essentials: $400 bonus with $5,000 deposited
    – Platinum Business: $1,000 bonus with $25,000 deposited

    Both require five transactions (even five $1 ACHs is fine), and that you have the money present between days 30 and 60 after opening. If you’re good with a calendar, both of these are slam dunks, earning either 8% or 4% respectively with a 30 day money lock-up.
  3. Hyatt has new targeted promotions, you can look for one on your Hyatt Offers dashboard, or try the following links compiled by DDG if you like disappointment:

    – Tiered bonuses for up to 90,000 total bonus points
    – 20% back on points redemptions up to 30,000 points
    – 2x points for two night stays
    – 2x points for three night stays
    – 3x points for two nights stays
    – 3x points for three night stays
    – Category 1-4 free night certificate for two night stays
    – Category 1-4 free night certificate for three night stays
    – Suite upgrade award for five night stays
    – Suite upgrade award for 10 night stays
    – Double elite qualifying nights, up to 20x
    – 1,000 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 1,500 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 1,500 bonus points per night, maximum 20
    – 2,000 bonus points per night, maximum 10
    – 2,000 bonus points every two nights, maximum 10 nights
    – 3,000 bonus points every two nights, maximum 10 nights
    – 3,000 bonus points every five nights, maximum 50 nights
    – 5,000 bonus points for every five nights, maximum 25 nights
    – 10,000 bonus points for every five nights, maximum 25 nights
    – 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights, maximum 30 nights

    I got exactly zero of them to work on my account, does that mean I win?
  4. Safeway, Albertsons, Vons, and other Just4U rewards stores have a digital coupon for 10x points on Zift Zillions cards through Saturday. If you’re going for this deal, the blue ones tend to work best. Why those? I guess because they’re made with genuine artificial Zillions powder.

Happy Monday!

Unlike Zillions, these are made with real powder.

I didn’t realize that July 31 was national weird credit card offer day, but here we are. Since we’re not savages, we’ll start with a Hyatt promotion as an amuse bouche before the deluge.

  1. Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 15% back on points booking at Under Canvas properties between August 8 and December 1.
  2. The Marriott Bonvoy American Express card line-up has increased bonuses, and all are available through referrals so go that route first:

    – Brilliant: 185,000 Bonvoy points after $6,000 spend in six months
    – Bevy: 155,000 Bonvoy points after $5,000 spend in six months
    – Business: 125,000 Bonvoy points after $8,000 spend in six months

    These are all time high offers, but Marriott properties are also at all time high points redemption cost, so maybe check a couple of bookings to decide if these really make sense for your travel patterns.
  3. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card has new beginning of month targeted spend offers for online and in-store “retail, including Sears” spend, and each is valid for three months, so you can get the maximum statement credit monthly in August, September, and October). We’ve seen:

    – 10% back on $800+ (max $80 back monthly)
    – 10% back on $800+ (max $100 back monthly)
    – 10% back on $1,000+ (max $100 back monthly)
    – 15% back on $1,000+ (max $175 back monthly)

    They’ve excluded grocery, wholesale clubs, and home improvement stores from the promotion, but explicitly included office supply stores, department stores, and miscellaneous general merchandise stores as eligible, in addition to some more niche merchant types. (Thanks to K, Shmuel, Fish, Matt, and Josh)
  4. There are increased sign-up bonus for the American Express Business Gold and Platinum cards, some of which are no-lifetime language (NLL):

    – Business Gold (via referrals): 200,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend in three months
    – Business Platinum (via referrals): 250,000 Membership Rewards after $20,000 spend in three months
    – Business Gold (NLL): 175,000 Membership Rewards after $15,000 spend in three months

    If you don’t have another player for a referral, reach out to a churning friend and use theirs.
  5. The FNBO Amtrak card has an increased sign-up bonus of 40,000 points after $2,000 spend in three months for applications through August 13. Unlike the all-time high bonus for this card, the $99 annual fee is not waived with this bonus.

    Amtrak points are worth about 2.6 cents per point. (Thanks to hic2482w)
  6. The Chase Freedom Flex card was pulled for new applications on June 30, but it’s again available for applications and for product changes. Let’s hope the Shop Your Way Rewards card comes back too.
  7. Reader Oslo let me know that Kroger’s 4x fuel promotion has a new third-party gift card exclusion: In addition to Amazon, all fuel retailer cards are also excluded.
  8. Chase Offers has a targeted offer for $100 back on $600+ travel portal spend in a single transaction through September 30.

Happy Thursday!

Confirmed: The gorilla foot car store codes as general merchandise, rest easy friends.