- Some applicants that used Citi Strata Elite’s 100,000 points offer links both online and in-branch are now locked with requests from Citi for a 4506-C income verification form. A few notes:
– If your application wasn’t wildly different than the 4506-C numbers, you’ll be fine
– This appears to be a bug in Citi’s IT systems, not a crusade to out churners
– Going for a double dip with these links increases the likelihood of 4506-C requests
– The form is available your message center if you’ve enabled paperless statements
– Both online and in-branch approvals are affected
For a non-mainstream take on the risk versus reward of using the heightened offer links, see Chasing Cetaceans, my favorite new churning blog. - American Express quagmire elevator games are dead and have been for a few weeks. Based on other system updates, I don’t think they’re coming back either.
If you don’t know what this means, it doesn’t affect you. #crypticmeab - The Barclays Hawaiian Mastercard and the Bank of Hawaii Mastercard both have increased sign-up offers:
– Barclays: 80,000 HawaiianMiles after $2,500 spend in three months, use random numbers for promo code
– Bank of Hawaii: 50,000+30,000 Hawaiian Miles after $2,000 in 90 days and $5,000 in 180 days, respectively
These miles will become Alaska Atmos miles at the end of the month, and presumably you won’t be able to get either card after that point. You don’t seem to be able to get both versions of this card any more. - Southwest has a nice bonus points and Companion Pass offer that’s targeted, but I think using this link you can register even if you weren’t targeted. The offer:
– 1 round trip: 5,000 bonus points
– 2 round trips: 5,000 additional bonus points
– 3 round trips: 5,000 additional bonus points
– 4 round trips: a Companion Pass valid between January 6, 2026 and March 6, 2026
There are also various targeted status shortcut promotions available, check your promotions at the bottom of your My Account page. - Some airline shopping portals have sweepstakes for winning lots of miles and cash, and you can register to enter by logging in at one of the sweepstakes pages (churners have occasionally won these in prior years):
– AA eShopping: 100,000 miles and $2,500
– Alaska Atmos Shopping: 100,000 miles and $2,500
– United MileagePlus Shopping: 100,000 miles and $2,500
If you do win, you’ll probably need to dispute the value of the miles with the IRS because their 1099 valuations are whack, like Boston born Mark Wahlberg teaching Southern California about Mexican food whack.
Happy Tuesday!
How it’s going: The American Express elevator.