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.
- Do this now: Register for Hyatt’s promotion for 15% back on points booking at Under Canvas properties between August 8 and December 1.
- 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. - 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) - 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. - 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) - 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.
- 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.
- 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.