– $1,000 bonus with $20,000 in new funds – $1,500 bonus with $50,000 in new funds
If you bring $100,000 in new funds, you’ll earn Platinum Honors status which boosts earning on cash-back Bank of America cards tied to the same business. Note that new accounts can fast-track the status to avoid parking funds for a year, and note that you can churn these bank accounts and thus the fast-tracked status. There are rumors that the program is changing in May though, so #bonvoyed either way I guess.
– Will Spirit still be around by March 4? Maybe, it’s iffy – Will you get your money back if they’re not? Maybe, it’s iffy – Will you find MEAB flying Spirit? That one’s not iffy
In case you’re wondering how many Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays this sale covers: I counted, there are 17. But don’t worry, Spirit threw three blackout dates in there too, so, on-brand.
Happy Wednesday!
From the future: The remnants of Spirit airlines in December, 2026.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt is on vacation until at or around January 1, 2026. Until then we have guest posts, today’s post is brought to today’s post is brought to you by the reader most likely to correct my math jokes (which I appreciate), John from Bank Account Bonus Central. Special thanks for the post!
People go to different places to get information about how to profit from banks, credit cards, brokerages, and other financial products to get cash and travel points. They look at websites, blogs, vlogs, YouTube videos, podcasts, Reddit discussion groups, and even pick through the garbage bins at the Hyatt in Lubbock, Texas, to get the profitable information they’re looking for. What if it were the banks that told you how to make money from them? This was my story, and it never gets old sharing what the banker told me about how to make money from them… so, I’ll share it again here.
I started as a customer of Washington Mutual. I got my mortgage from them, and eventually, things would sour for Washington Mutual, or WAMU, as they were called, and Chase grew their banking monopoly by buying up the remains of WAMU. I became a Chase customer over 25 years ago by default. I paid off my mortgage the Dave Ramsey way within 6 years of getting it and I sent them my direct deposit without them paying me anything to do so.
About 8 years ago, I was looking up different things online and found an advertisement that, little did I know, changed the direction of my life. The Advertisement was from Chase Bank and promised a $300 bonus for NEW checking customers.
I was NOT a new customer, but I was curious about this bonus and if there was any way that I could take advantage of it. I went in person to my local Chase branch and asked my local Chase Banker about this $300 bonus. I was promptly told this bonus was for “New Customers Only”. I said, “You are paying new customers $300, what do you have for loyal customers?” I was promptly told, “Nothing”. I followed up with, “Well, what value do you have for loyal customers?” She told me, “None.”
I followed up with, “How do I become a new customer if they have all the value?” I was told, “Close out your account and return in 90 days.” I asked, “So, you will pay me $300 to close out a 20-year-old checking account?” She said, “Yes, that is how we do business at Chase.” I said, “Perfect, close down my checking and savings accounts.”
I returned 90 days later and opened up a new checking account for the $300 bonus, and sure enough, I got my $300 bonus about 3 days after my direct deposit hit. I asked the banker, “What else do you have for new customers?” The banker replied, “Open up a savings account and get another $300.” I opened up a savings account and got $300. My wife also opened up a savings account and got another $300. I then asked what else they have for new customers. I was told that if I upgraded my checking account to a Sapphire Checking account, I would get another $600 bonus. I said, “Sign me up.”
I made $1,500 in short order from Chase as a “new customer.” I started researching who else values new checking customers. I quickly learned that almost every bank and credit union values new customers and doesn’t give a second thought about their existing “loyal” customers. I have devoted myself to being a “Professional New Customer” for the rest of my life. I am not only a “Professional New Customer” but also teach as many people as are willing to participate in this fun and profitable game.
What does this have to do with a blog about traveling? As mentioned, bank points can be converted to either cash back or travel. In 2021, my family spent over 1 million in Chase UR points on resort vacations. The mindset is not too different between either team cash back or team travel. I am currently a high school math teacher looking to buy the most expensive thing in my life: my retirement from the public education system. Ultimately, this hobby seems more and more like a video game. So many accounts can be opened, and cash and points received without any human interaction. Simply push the right buttons on a keyboard. Who knows, the garbage bin at the Lubbock Marriott may have even better info than what is offered here. As you can see from the picture below, the bank vaults are full for both new customers and for repeat new customers.
Let’s make 2026 more profitable than 2025! Let the Churning Adventures continue!
SoFi accounts are churnable and Swagbucks has a referral bonus so use another player or a friend’s referral link.
The Citi ThankYou Mastercard, the card issued to replace Citi Shop Your Way Mastercards, sent out targeted offers over the weekend, continuing in its predecessor’s path:
– $75 off of $750+ in online spend through December 14 – $100 off of $1,000+ in online spend through December 14
You can’t currently apply for this card as far as I can tell, but there is hidden code on the dashboard with an application link. It’s probably vestigial, but there’s a 🤏 chance that you’ll be able to apply in the future.
American Express now requires social security numbers at application time for personal authorized user cards. I confirmed the news on my accounts, but I can tell you that they’re still not once in a lifetime. Also, business employee cards are still “same as it ever was, same as it ever was, … water dissolving, and water removing” though (sorry about the ear-worm).
Articles were everywhere because it was great content-monster food, but I’ll try and keep it as short as possible here so you don’t waste your time elsewhere:
Hilton added a new Diamond Reserve tier that requires $18,000 of qualifying spend at Hilton properties with 40 stays or 80 nights, there’s currently no other way into it. They also lowered the requirements for other tiers slightly, but credit card jockeys need not care. The benefits for the Diamond Reserve tier are lukewarm at best (automatic 4PM late checkout, a suite upgrade certificate, a concierge, and premium club access at the ~10 properties that offer it.)
– Click the enrollment button first – Rewards are paid out monthly equally for 12 months – Stocks transferred via ACATS and cash deposits are both qualifying
SIPC insurance on brokerage accounts is for up to $500,000 per customer because reasons.
LifeMiles historically was a very quirky program that benefited travel hacking, but more recently the quirks are just mildly annoying. Also, watch for phantom space.
North American include New York, Chicago, Seattle, Orlando, Austin, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Detroit, Washington DC, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal.
Happy Tuesday!
Also coming soon: The all new Stop Your All Way sign.
Now that winter blend fuel is prevalent in most of the US, the fuel points resale market is strong.
Capital One has a tiered business banking new account bonus. To qualify, deposit new money within 30 days and hold in your account for another 60. You’ve also got to make 10 transactions, like $1 ACHs back and forth, in the same time frame. The tiers and their effective APRs:
– $5,000 new money: $500 bonus (60% effective APR) – $30,000 new money: $1,000 bonus (20% effective APR)
Use promo code BIZBONUS1000, and close the account after the bonus posts to set yourself up for another in 366 days. (Thanks to DoC)
– Deposit $25,000 within 30 days (ideally on day 29 probably) – Hold at least a $25,000 balance for the next 60 days – Have five transactions, like $1 ACHs or something
If you hold the money in the account for exactly 60 days, you’re earning an effective APR of about 28.8%, which isn’t bad in this economy. These accounts are scalable with a bit of creativity, and churnable on a per-business basis 12 months after closing.
American Express offers has an offer for a $225 statement credit with $1,500+ at Icelandair through December 31 for US originating flights booked in US dollars (sorry, it’s not always that easy).
Hopefully the ratio of Rakuten points to Bilt Rewards will be 1:1, but given Richard Kerr’s involvement I wouldn’t call that a foregone conclusion. Go ahead Richard, prove me wrong.
Chase has new targeted offers for both its Freedom cards and United cards, you can check your eligibility at chase.com/mybonus, ideally in a new incognito window for each card. Offers include 3x-5x earning at gas, EV charging, and groceries on up to $1,500 spend through November 30, a fixed bonus on 20 purchases monthly for three months, and 10,000-15,000 bonus points on $3,000-$4,000 spend.
The American Express Delta cards have heightened sign-up bonuses, coming back a short three days after the targeted NLL versions expired. The Gold and Reserve offers beat the last round’s bonuses, while the Platinum cards are each slightly lower. Spend requirements were tweaked slightly too:
– Personal Gold: 80,000 SkyMiles after $3,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived – Personal Platinum: 90,000 SkyMiles after $4,000 spend in six months – Personal Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months – Business Gold: 90,000 SkyMiles after $6,000 spend in six months, annual-fee waived – Business Platinum: 100,000 SkyMiles after $8,000 spend in six months – Business Reserve: 125,000 SkyMiles after $15,000 spend in six months
– $500 with $5,000 in deposits held for 60 days (effectively a 60% APR when annualized) – $1,000 with $30,000 in deposits held for 60 days (effectively a 20% APR when annualized)
Both require 10 transactions, but $1 ACHs back and forth will do. These bonuses are churnable every 180 days. (Thanks to DDG)
– 140,000 points after $4,000 spend in three months – 60,000 points after $9,000 spend in six months
This card’s annual free-night certificate is for nights up to 40,000 points. The offer is available via referral, so use another player’s or another churner’s referral instead of the public link.
Southwest will have free-WiFi onboard starting on October 24. This sounds great, other than that they’ll still have their legacy inflight internet system which was already really slow when < 10% of the plane was using it. So, I guess each passenger will get to relive the 2,400 baud internet speeds of the early 1990s?
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:
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)
The MooMoo brokerage, one of only four US brokerages founded and operated by cows, has several stackable promotions:
