Category: Bank Bonuses

I’m not saying banks colluded to drop a bunch of card linked and spend offers on the same day, but banks colluded to drop a bunch of card linked and spend offers on the same day:

  1. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards Mastercard, a phoenix that rose from the ashes of Sears, sent new mid-month spending offers for cumulative online spend:

    – 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $1,000+
    – 200,000 Shop Your Way Rewards points after $750+
    – $70 statement credit after $1,000+
    – $50 statement credit after $750+
    – $30 statement credit after $500+

    If your utility takes online payments, these will stack with those offers too. (Thanks to Ben, MS Ninja, Adam W, Jen T)
  2. Citi Merchant Offers has an offer for a 4% statement credit on up to $750 spend at Giftcards.com through November 10, two uses per card.

    In addition to Pathward Visa and Mastercards, giftcards.com sells lots of third party cards.
  3. American Express Offers has two gameable offers:

    – $150 off of $750 or more booked with Carnival Cruises
    – $150 off of $700 or more at Hawaiian Hyatt Hotels
    – $200 off of $1,000 or more at Fontainebleau Las Vegas

    Mahalo AmEx, and also stay classy. (Thanks to Shredder05)
  4. Chase Offers has 10% back on up to $570 in spend at IHG hotels through December 5.
  5. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 40% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club through November 30.

    This is an abnormally high bonus, but we know that Virgin is devaluing their award chart on October 30, so maybe this bonus won’t even make up for price changes?

Happy Wednesday!

Upcoming expose about boring bank stuff.

  1. Do this now: Register for Choice’s Q4 promotion for 8,000 bonus points on two night (or longer) paid stays through January 5.
  2. Do this now: Register for Marriott and Singapore Airlines reciprocal earning promotion for bookings and flights between October 10 and December 12. You’ll earn:

    – 500 Singapore KrisFlyer miles on paid Marriott stays
    – 1,200 Marriott Bonvoy points on paid Singapore flights

    Because Marriott is Marriott, 500 Singapore miles are probably more valuable than 1,200 Bonvoy points.
  3. The Chase Hyatt personal card has a new sign-up bonus for five free category 1-4 free night certificates with $4,000 spend in three months. The $95 annual-fee is not waived the first year. I prefer the points version of the sign-up bonus since those don’t effectively expire and are more flexible. (Thanks to shris420)
  4. Etihad Guest has a tiered 20%-40% transfer bonus for incoming Citi ThankYou point transfers through October 31. With the transfer bonus, AA short0haul flights are cheaper to book with Etihad than with Alaska MileagePlan.
  5. Qatar Avios has a 25% transfer bonus for incoming Citi ThankYou points transfers through October 31.
  6. Bank of America has a $500 personal checking account bonus requiring $15,000 deposited within 30 days, keeping the money there through day 120, and one of: sending a bill payment, using Zelle (don’t do this), mobile depositing a check, or making a singe direct deposit. Use promo code MCC500CIS. There are exclusions for

    The effective APR of this deal is 13.3% in the best case or 10.0% in the worst case, but the real reason to do this is for opening up Bank of America credit card approvals. (Thanks to DDG)
  7. US Bank has a $900 business checking account bonus requiring $30,000 deposited within 30 days and maintaining the balance for 60 days using promo code Q4AFL24. This bonus requires that 12 months have passed since you last had a business checking account with US Bank.

    The effective APR of this deal is 36% at best and 18% at worst which is reason enough to go for it, but like with Bank of America, opening a checking account will help with credit card approvals. (Thanks to DoC)
  8. Chase’s Q4 Pay Yourself Back 25% bonus categories are: utilities, insurance, fitness clubs and gyms, gas stations, and annual fees. Bonuses are all only the Sapphire Reserve this quarter too. “Select Charities” remains at its 50% bonus value. So long high volume gold cash-out, but hello octopus insurance cash-out!
  9. Chase is making a change to the Sapphire Reserve $300 annual travel credit which seems to be:

    – $300 travel credit resets in December as usual for use past your December statement
    – Remainder of unused December credit becomes a statement credit on December 31
    – $300 travel credit for January 2025 – [your anniversary date]
    – $300 travel credit for [your anniversary date 2025] – [your anniversary date 2026]

    I think this means a bonus $300 travel credit in 2025.
  10. Chase’s has a few targeted promotions for booking through the travel portal:

    – 10,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards after booking a hotel stay of $400+ by January 31 (via email)
    – $100 back on $500 in spend by October 31 (via Chase Offers)

    These will stack, and these are (probably) both gameable. (Thanks to FM)

Pay yourself back hiccups when buying Octopus insurance.

  1. Do this now: Activate Q4’s quarterly rotating credit card categories:

    – Chase Freedom: PayPal, McDonalds, pet shops, vets, and some charities
    – Discover IT: Amazon and Target
    – Citi Dividend: Currently the page errors out, cause #CitiGonnaCiti, but in theory it’s restaurants and Citi travel
    – US Bank Cash+: I choose utilities and electronics stores

    For gaming these in the absence of organic use: PayPal P2P works well, Amazon and Target both sell gift cards, utilities usually allow overpayments, and electronics stores like BestBuy sell gift cards. Amazon, Target, and electronics stores are also typically good targets for buying group activity.
  2. Do this now: Register for IHG’s Q4 promotion for 3,000 bonus points for every two nights stayed between this Thursday and December 31.
  3. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card, run by a team who seems to think that they’re a venture capitalist funding a FinTech that will make money “really soon now”™, sent mid-month offers for online spend. We’ve seen:

    – $30 statement credit after $500 spend
    – $50 statement credit after $750 spend
    – $75 statement credit after $1,000 spend
    – 200,000 Shop Your Way Rewards after $750 spend
    – 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards after $1,000 spend

    (Thanks to Y, MS Ninja, BrandonV, and Jack)
  4. Citi ThankYou Points has two transfer bonuses running through October 19:

    – Leading Hotels of the World Leaders Club: 25% transfer bonus
    – Avianca LifeMiles: 25% transfer bonus

    Both are solid choices, and if you’ve never looked into Leaders Club redemptions, it’s probably worth your time to do it. (Thanks to yt-nthr-rddtr and Oofzies)
  5. The Chase Avios co-braneded cards have increased sign-up bonuses for 100,000 Avios after $7,500 spend in six months. You can choose between British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus cards, and once you have Avios you can transfer them between programs. The $95 annual fee is not waived the first year. Note that smaller benefits, like economy companion certificates or flight statement credits after lots of spend aren’t the same on all three cards.

    Yes, it’s possible to collect all three, but maybe grab some Inks with a referral instead and transfer into Avios programs if you really need them?
  6. Meijer stores have 50,000 MPerks points for $500 in third party gift card purchases through September 28, limit one per MPerks account.

    We all know that you can only have one MPerks account per email address, and we all know that you can have only one email address, right?
  7. M&T Bank has a $350 bonus for opening a new checking account with promo code TN and direct depositing, or “direct depositing” $500 within 90 days. Some regions like California are excluded because reasons.

Who wouldn’t want $1,500 (times n cards) worth of this?

  1. Check for targeted spend bonus offers on your Chase cards, but only if $15 off of $100-$150 in spend on utilities, insurance and other less useful categories is worth your time.

    Side note: I can’t decide if this deal is above the line or below the line for this site. $15 is below, but n*$15 may not be, so I’m choosing metaphorical violence today I guess. #sorrynotsorry
  2. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on Happy, Choice, One4All, and sportsbook gift cards through September 24.
  3. The best way to cash out Shop Your Way Rewards points, at least since Sears effectively disappeared from the planet, is Visa gift cards. Those cash-outs are 5% off through September.

    Side note: Again, violence I guess.
  4. Chase Offers and BankAmeriDeals have spending offers for 10% back, up to $57 each, at various Marriott Brands:

    – Townplace Suites
    – Renaissance Hotels
    – Sheraton Hotels
    – Aloft Hotels

    As usual, the least sus way to game these is to buy gift cards at the front desk. What’s the most sus way? Look, I’m not choosing that much violent. (Thanks to DDG)
  5. US Bank has updated its regular business checking sign-up bonus for new accounts with promo code Q3AFL24 or Q3BUS24, depending on your state. The bonus:

    – $300 with a $5,000 deposit
    – $800 with a $30,000 deposit

    If you deposit the money on day 29 and withdraw on day 61, then you’ve only got the money tied up for 32 days and are still eligible for the bonus. You can’t have had an existing US Bank Business checking account in the last 12 months.

Apparently, today’s motto.

  1. Do this now: Register for your United MilePlay targeted promotion.

    I got “book and take a trip in a premium seat 1 time to get 5,000 bonus award miles” through September 13. Sounds great at first, but the fare must be $500 so it’s not that great.
  2. Do this now (if you didn’t yesterday because I bungled the link): Register for targeted AA promotions for miles or loyalty points. My offer was 5,000 bonus AAdvantage miles after two paid flights in any cabin in August or September.
  3. You’ve heard of Bilt, right? They are to credit cards what Marriott Bonvoy is to Loyalty Programs; sure there’s value to be had, but you have to wade through plenty of sludge and grime to find it. A few choice examples:

    – They’re actively seeking to bonvoy manufactured spenders
    – They’ve recently removed valuable transfer partners
    – They shutdown a bunch of their users, but didn’t actually, it was just an accident

    Well, they’ve found another way to #bonvoy their early adopters and presumably biggest fans: At the end of the year, they’re closing cards opened in 2021 and early 2022 issued under Evolve Bank, which, side note, leaked customers’ private data for funzies. Don’t worry though, they say if you apply by the end of August they’ll give you 10,000 bonus points, so it’s all cool right? No, not right. At least you can lock all of your credit reports, apply and get denied, and still earn 10,000 points. (Thanks to pizza42bob)
  4. Staples stores have fee free $200 Mastercard gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit eight per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  5. Chase’s no annual fee Marriott Bonvoy Bold card has a sign-up bonus of 60,000 points and a 50,000 point free night certificate after $2,000 spend in three months.

    I think there’s a niche for this card, specifically if you don’t spend many nights in Marriott Hotels but occasionally need them when nothing else is available. I fit this bill, but very much nothing else has to be available.
  6. Chime has a $301 or $318 portal sign-up bonus for new customers that apply through the end of the month and have two direct deposits (or “direct deposits”) of $200+ in 30 days. (Thanks to FM)

Have a nice weekend friends!

Better alternative to Marriott Courtyard: No $39 parking fee and no $59 resort fee on free night stays.

  1. Southwest has 40% off of fares to and from Hawaii booked by tomorrow night for both paid and award travel from August 13 through December 17 with promo code HAWAII40. Of course there are blackout dates around Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Also SNA airport is excluded because it’s too convenient.

    Side note, do you know why I’m not in marketing? The real reason is I don’t enjoy it, but the fun reason is I’d refuse to release a promo like this without the promo code being HAWAIIFIVE0, on principle.
  2. Alaska Airlines has a paid and award fare sale for travel between August 20 and November 30, booked by tomorrow night. Some sweet spots:

    – West coast to and from Hawaii for 7,500 miles
    – Short haul to and from Mexico for 4,000 miles
    – Transcontinental flights for 10,000 miles

    They’re calling this “Autumn’s on sale!” Not bad I guess, at least they didn’t call it the “Alaska 1282 blow-out sale!”
  3. JetBlue has 25% off of all non-Mint, non-transatlantic fares booked today for travel from September 7 through November 20 with promo code FALL.

    Incidentally, they’re calling this one “Get the fall rolling”, which again, I’m not in marketing, but an airline talking about making things fall feels like, uhh, a choice.
  4. WeBull has a new account brokerage bonus for 2% of net transferred portfolio value in July for up to $5,000,000 in assets. Bonuses will be paid half on July 31, 2025, and the other half on July 31. 2026.

    SIPC insurance limits are $500,000 per account in case you have reservations about the longevity of a brokerage that chooses to turn the noun “bull” into a verb, seemingly on purpose. (Thanks to DoC)

After the “Get the fall rolling” sale, JetBlue prepares its next sale: “New England on fire”

  1. Multiple reports including this one confirm that Chase is matching last week’s increased Ink Preferred sign-up bonus of 120,000 Ultimate Rewards on referred cards, which means in two player mode the effective bonus is 160,000 Ultimate Rewards:

    – 40,000 points for the referrer
    – 100,000 points for the sign-up bonus after $8,000 spend in three months
    – 20,000 points for a matched sign-up bonus via Chase Secure Message

    Of course if you’re in two player mode, each player can refer the other and based on a weird academic discipline called “math”, 2 * 160,000 = 320,000 Ultimate Rewards points.
  2. British Airways devalued short-haul flight redemptions on AA and Alaska metal. A couple of notes:

    – Alaska’s MileagePlan award prices were already cheaper for short haul
    – Etihad awards are cheaper for short haul on AA
    – Other Avios currencies like Qatar and Finnair have lower prices
    – You can freely transfer Avois between programs

    So yes, this kinda sucks, but there are plenty of workarounds. Never blindly accept award pricing in oneWorld. Can’t we just get back to fake travel blogger rage until the next British Airways Visa card heightened bonus comes out and move on?
  3. There are two brokerage bonuses that may be worth your time:

    – TastyTrade: up to $5,000 but only for new customers
    – Schwab: up to $6,000 for new and existing customers

    Brokerage bonuses are typically easy if you have retirement (or non-retirement) assets in the stock market, because you can ACATS transfer your existing portfolio to meet the requirements without a taxable event (but of course, I’m not a tax advisor and no one should ever take my advice about anything, literally ever, instead consult with an accountant from a weird academic discipline called “finance”).
  4. Meijer has a couple of promotions running through Saturday:

    – A clippable digital coupon $10 off of $150+ in Mastercard gift cards
    – An automatic 10,000 MPerks points with $100 or more in Choice gift cards

    Often the clippable coupons can be reloaded after each purchase on the same MPerks account, but I don’t know if that’ll work this time. In case it doesn’t, based on a weird academic discipline called “Information Technology”, it’s possible to have multiple email addresses and thus multiple MPerks accounts. (Thanks to GCG)

A credit card offer from a weird, non-academic discipline called churning.

  1. A Chase Ink Preferred 120,000 Ultimate Rewards after $8,000 in purchases in three months link surfaced yesterday. This link is a business banker link, which means it’s got a good shot of bypassing 5/24 up to 8/24.

    I like to get one of these cards every three months when I’m below 5/24, or 8/24 as the case may be. (Thanks to here)
  2. Do this now (if you hold a Chase Aeroplan card): Register for 40% bonus points on up to $40,000 in spend between July 14 and July 17. Bonus multipliers will boost on this promotion too, which should tell you a lot about how Chase’s current interchange gross revenue looks. (Thanks to Miles)
  3. American Express Offers has a few new Hilton offers, all expiring September 30:

    – $50 off $200 or more
    – $60 off $200 or more
    – $180 off of $750 or more at specific properties in the US, Mexico, Anguilla, or French Polynesia
    – $250 off of $1,250 or more at specific properties in the US, Mexico, Anguilla, or French Polynesia
    – 5 bonus points per dollar at Hilton on up to $5,000 spend

    They’ve added new language to subvert gaming, but it’s really just a roadmap for how to game.
  4. American Express Offers also has a targeted offer for $100 off of $500 or more at Wyndham properties through the end of October. Interestingly, this one lacks a gaming roadmap.
  5. Chase Private Client has a $3,000 bonus for opening a new account through July 24 and bringing $500,000 in new funds. Normally it’s a terrible, horrible, very bad idea to have a Chase deposit account unless you’re just starting out, but US Credit Card Guide notes that a full service brokerage account with JP Morgan still qualifies for the bonus.

    Thanks to the Volcker Rule and Dodd-Frank, there’s good separation between JP Morgan investing accounts and Chase Consumer and Small Business cards, so the normal risk associated with deposit accounts doesn’t apply, and you can happily ACATS transfer assets into a full service brokerage for the bonus without actually selling any investments.

Have a nice weekend friends!

The weeds leading to being ok with collecting a $3,000 bonus from Chase.