Category: Airlines

  1. Bank of America has a targeted promotion for +2x or +2% on top of regular earning between August 1 and September 30 via USPS and (probably) email. Like last year’s version, it appears that the rewards are uncapped. (EDIT: Some cards are reported to have a $5,000 spend capacity for the promotion, others don’t)

    If you’re targeted, it’s probably worth spending some time with charges on your cards to get the fraud alerts under control before August 1, and it’s also worth figuring out how to pay Bank of America in a post alternative payments world. (Thanks to Rocky)
  2. Citi ThankYou Points has a 50% transfer bonus to Accor ALL through July 19. With the bonus, the fixed euro value of an Accor point, and the current US dollar exchange rate, this is a cash-out value of 1.74 cents per ThankYou Point.
  3. Citi ThankYou Points also has a 20% transfer bonus to AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue through July 19.

    Citi’s prior transfer bonus to FlyingBlue was 30%, which is *checks notes* 10% more than this one.
  4. Southwest has a Companion Pass offer:

    – Book two one-ways or a round-trip by June 27, non-basic economy
    – Fly by August 31
    – Get a Companion Pass for September 11 – November 15

    Rebooking any travel booked before May 29 will cause you to lose free checked bags, better cancelation terms, your dignity, etc.
  5. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards excluding Amazon, and on fixed value Visas and Mastercards running through July 8.

    What about Pepper you say? Look, I know an update is overdue, but give it another week or two, everything keeps changing in a static kind of way.
  6. Giftcards.com has two promotions for select gift cards, which include virtual Visas, Virtual Mastercards, One4All, and Home Depot gift cards:

    – $5 free giftcards.com gift card with $50 purchase using promo code BOGO50
    – $10 free giftcards.com gift card with $100 purchase using promo code BOGO100

    These codes come and go, so if there’s no inventory now check later and you may find it. Portals specifically exclude these codes from earning, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t work.
  7. The Bank of America Air France / KLM FlyingBlue Mastercard has a heightened bonus of 70,000 bonus miles and 100 XP after $3,000 spend in 90 days.

    Annual bonus XP stacks with these cards, but sign-up bonus XP don’t, and yes, you can get multiple.
  8. The Chase United Quest card has an increased sign-up bonus of 115,000 MileagePlus miles and 3,000 PQP after $4,000 spend in three months. You’ll need a promotional code from a United Agent for this offer. You can find one in the comments of a DoC post, make one up in the form UA3[XXX] where [XXX] is three random letters and numbers, or you can just use 999999.
  9. Chase Sapphire news:

    – Reserve referral links are now available
    – Preferred has a heightened bonus of 75,000 points after $5,000 spend in three months
    – Pre-October 26 earned points have boosted travel redemptions, post-October 26 earned points don’t (referring to 1.5/1.25 cents per point on the Chase Travel Portal)
    – Points are redeemed in FIFO order (first in, first out)
    – Pay Yourself Back remains

    I’m going to do my best to not talk about the Sapphire for the rest of the week, there’s absolutely no need feed the marketing machine.

Happy Wednesday!

Yes it’s about birds, but it might as well be about Sapphire marketing.

  1. The FNBO Amtrak Mastercard’s sign-up bonus is now 40,000 points after $2,000 spend in three billing cycles, matching its all-time high bonus. These points are worth about 2.6 cents each for rail redemptions.
  2. The Ramp business credit card has a $1,000 sign-up bonus after spending $1,000 and making a payment within 90 days. You’ve also got to have $25,000 in an “operating account”, which I believe only needs to be linked to Ramp but not held at Ramp.

    The bonus is available only via affiliate links. I found a couple of random ones online for companies that I’ve never heard of and don’t know anything about, like this one for Fundrise (EDIT: Adds $1,000 to your Fundrise Innovation Account, thanks to Daniel G) or this one for some bank named “stifl” (EDIT: Adds $1,000 statement credit). Three things: (1) no, I didn’t make the name stifl up, but I wish I did, (2) I have no relationships with these companies, and (3) it’s entirely possible that these companies kill puppies, idk.
  3. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points promotion running today through Sunday for third party gift cards other than Amazon, and for fixed value Visas and Mastercards.

    The post-Pepper gift card resale market is strong, looking much like the pre-Pepper gift card market.
  4. Rakuten has $300 bonus for new SoFi accounts, and you’ll get another $325 from SoFi with two $500 deposits in the first 45 days. For those who can’t math, $325+$300 = a bigger number. Actually whether or not you can math, it’s a bigger number.
  5. Hyatt has a code for between $50 and $100 in property credit for stays at Grand Hyatt properties in the Americas through September 30 using promo code GRANDSTAY.
  6. Emirates points transfers are back online with all major US banks. If your goal is Emirates first, Qantas is still a better option unless you have elite status.
  7. Stater Bros markets have $10 off of groceries purchased with $50+ in One4All gift cards through July 8.

Have a nice weekend friends!

The restrooms at stifl’s corporate offices, I assume.

  1. I’m sure you’ve seen Sapphire news everywhere. Here’s a bit of tl;dr so you don’t have to read a bunch of thousand word promotional essays:

    – 1.5 cents per point and 1.25 cents per point travel booking uplift is going away
    – Targeted up to 2.25 cents per point bookings on some hotels and premium cabin flights
    – You can get both the business and personal card
    – You can get both a Preferred and a Reserve card
    – Approvals will be driven by an algorithm, no more 48 month language for bonus eligibility
    – The coupon overload is legit and real
    – Personal AUs will carry a $175 annual fee and will include lounge access

    For a great breakdown without blogger fluff, see this excellent reddit post for the personal side, and this adequate post for the business side.
  2. Southwest has a targeted offer for 6,000 bonus points for flying on a new business booking or 5,000 bonus points for flying on a new leisure booking, and the offer is valid for 90 days once you activate it. You’ve got until December 31 to start.

    The offer was also emailed with the subject “We’ve got a 🎁 just for you!” (Thanks to Larry)
  3. The Mesa Mastercard added Aeroplan and SAS EuroBonus as transfer partners, the latter of which is a unique in the US Market and is a great frequent flyer program for redemptions. (Thanks to FM)
  4. Second tier airlines are running second tier fare sales:

    – Breeze 35% off with promo code SUNSHINE book by Friday
    – Southwest fares “starting from $39”, book by tomorrow
    – JetBlue Award sale, book today

    No word from Allegiant or Spirit. Either that or I just didn’t care, who can tell?

Have a nice Wednesday!

Striving for adequacy and succeeding.

  1. The US Mint is releasing a silver coin tomorrow at 9AM Pacific / 12PM Eastern, limit one. Premiums are currently $70+ above cost, scale with multiple US Mint accounts. Now’s a good time to get a credit card saved and current shipping information in each of your Mint accounts for faster checkout.

    There’s a rumor that American Express won’t earn points on these purchases, but that rumor is flaming trash.
  2. Southwest has a targeted promotion for bonus miles with trips booked after registering and flown by August 31:

    – Two one-ways or one round-trip: 5,000 points
    – Four one-ways or two round-trips: 10,000 points
    – Six one-ways or three round-trips: 20,000 points

    Those don’t stack, you’re only getting one of them (or I guess none of them).
  3. The Alaska MileagePlan shopping portal has a promotion with $200+ through June 20. *cough* giftcards.com *cough* also works with AmEx *cough*

Happy Thursday!

Pictured: The rumor mill’s performance American Express points earning.

  1. Rakuten In-Store has 1% or 1x Membership Rewards on its card linked site for purchases at Food Lion on purchases of up to $1,000 per transaction. You’ve got 75 days after adding the offer to use it, and once you use it the offer remains valid for another hour. After that hour, you can add it again and start over. Complex much?

    You may be surprised to learn that Food Lion sells more than just food and lions too.
  2. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday. For best results:

    – Buy in even multiples of $300
    – Look for the lower fee “Everywhere” variety if you can liquidate
    – Cry that Dosh is gone

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  3. The Future Debit card currently has a fixed $30 rate for Hertz rentals, any EV car and any US location with no end date specified using CDP code 2234544 and paying with your Future card (though I doubt the second part is necessary). They also have a targeted promotion for up to 100% back up to $35 in Future points with Hertz.

    Obviously gamers gonna game, but this time with a Cadillac EV for a week? (Thanks to DoC)
  4. Southwest has a promotion for double points earning for flights booked by today and flown by November 19. The terms and conditions are sneaky though, and it looks like this only applies to basic fares, which by the way are non-refundable and also travel credits from cancelled basic fares expire six months after booking.

    Apropos of nothing, Southwest hates puppies and kittens too.

Happy Monday!

Southwest Airlines glare, post puppy.

  1. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 20% transfer bonus to AirCanada Aeroplan through July 17.
  2. The American Express Delta cards have increased offers:

    Personal cards:
    – Personal Gold: 70,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months, waived annual fee
    – Personal Platinum: 90,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months
    – Personal Reserve: 100,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months

    Business cards:
    – Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months, waived annual fee
    – Business Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $8,000 spend in six months
    – Business Reserve : 110,000 SkyMiles after $12,000 spend in six months

    Cobrand cards like this remain easier to play popup games than non-cobrand cards.
  3. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy cards have new sign-up bonuses, also available via referrals so use those instead:

    – Bonvoy Boundless: Five free night certificates, 50,000 points each after $5,000 spend in three months
    – Bonvoy Bold: 60,000 points and one free night certificate worth up to 50,000 points after $2,000 spend in three months

    The Bonvoy Bountiful card, one of the three most ridiculously named Chase Bonvoy cards, has no increased bonus.

Have a nice weekend friends!

The head of Chase’s Bonvoy credit card naming team.

  1. Do this now (if you hold a Chase Southwest card): Register for Southwest’s promotion for 10x points on up to $500 spend at Southwest through Sunday.

    In the post-Elliot Southwest universe, award ticket fees are your best gamer bet. (Thanks to Dave)
  2. Bank of America’s Spirit card has an increased sign-up bonus of 65,000 points and a $100 companion flight voucher after $1,000 spend in 90 days, and the annual fee is waived for the first year. Redemptions on Spirit are often in the 2,500 – 7,500 point range.

    Note that you’ll need a promo code, and reportedly 110662 works, though generally with these any six digit number starting with a ‘1’ also works. (Thanks to DoC)
  3. Kroger has a 4x fuel points sale on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercards running through Tuesday, June 17. Amazon gift cards continue to be excluded.
  4. The Incomm sites are playing their Incomm tricks:

    – MasterCardGiftCard: Fee-free cards with promo DAD2025
    – VanillaGift: Fee-free cards with promo VGDAD25
    – TheGiftCardShop: *crickets*

    Science is still trying to determine what the reason for this promotion is. We may never know. We do however know that these cards work better than others for certain big box retailers, in certain circumstances with certain velocity limits.
  5. Citi ThankYou has Apple gift card redemptions at 10% off, and with $100 Apple gift cards reselling at 90%+ you’ve got a slight edge over a one cent per point cash-out.
  6. Chase Offers has an offer for 10% back on $250+ at Southwest up to $400 through July 2. Obviously this pairs nicely with today’s lead.

Have a nice Thursday!

If gaming Southwest was a fridge, it’d be like a bachelor fridge.

  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.