Category: Credit Cards

  1. Today is the last day that the American Express Business Gold card has a $295 annual fee. If you’ve been slacking on a product change or a new application and that slacking extends past tonight, it’ll cost you an extra $80. A few notes:

    – If you’re going to apply head on, don’t forget that you can probably get a much better offer by trying several browsers and connecting to a Dallas VPN
    – If you can’t find a better offer through a VPN, at least use a referral link
    – If you triple dipped Business Platinum cards in December 2022, a downgrade might be a better option than closing the card given the current lack of no-lifetime language (NLL) links
    – American Express’s calendar day ends before midnight Eastern, but after midnight UTC, because reasons

    The Business Gold card also has an unadvertised spending bonus (of sort) via phone in employee offers or via online employee offers, and now has $240 in annual office supply credits.
  2. Southwest has 50% off of flights to and from Denver or Colorado Springs booked by tomorrow night with promo code SAVENOW for travel between February 20 and May 22.

    As is typical with targeted promo codes and Southwest, there are a bunch of excluded days and routes, most of which correspond to the days that normies working with school schedules want to travel.
  3. Do this now: Register for Best Western’s Q1 promo for 5,000 bonus points per stay for up to 10 stays through May 5.

    Look, I’m not planning on staying in a Best Western either, but sometimes it’s the best option and in case that happens the promo will already be attached to your account.

Have a nice Wednesday!

You shouldn’t could combine the second and third items at the Best Western Movie Manor (pictured).

Introduction

An important aspect of offsetting an annual fee on premium American Express cards is creative use of credits like:

  • $400 annual Dell Credits (Business Platinum)
  • $200 annual airline incidental credits (all Platinums)
  • $10/$15/$35 monthly Uber credits (personal Golds and Platinums)

The calculus for me on the on an annual fee’s effective credit offset involves a discount factor representing what the credit is actually worth based on whether I can resell something, whether I’d actually spend that money either way, and how much work I have to put in to liquidate the credit. It also involves the credit face value, and considerations like a double or triple dip.

Let’s walk through a concrete example with the Business Platinum card, assuming we opened it in late November or early December. For a single year’s annual fee, the main credits are:

  • -$695 annual fee (no discount) = -$695
  • +$800 Dell credits (25% discount) = +$600
  • +$600 Airline incidental credit (20% discount) = +$480
  • Net: -$695+$600+$480 = $385

Ignoring things like Adobe, Indeed, and Clear credits, which are harder to game, the card’s fees are net positive.

News

Two news items came up over the last week that conspire to change this calculus:

  1. Dell, Adobe, and Indeed credits now show an end date of 12/31/2024
  2. AmEx announced a refresh of 40 products globally next year in Friday’s earnings call

Combining the two and reading the between the lines, I think it’s safe to say that the likelihood of Dell, Adobe, and Indeed going away in 2025 is at least 2/3. Updating the above math for a triple dip in December 2024 to subtract 2/3 of the Dell credits in 2025 and beyond (given that it’s likely going away) gives a net annual fee of -$695 + $200 + $400 * (1/3) + $480 = +$118. So, the value from those credits with today’s lens has fallen, though remains positive.

Predictions

Yogi Berra famously said “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” He’s right, and I think my crystal ball is at least as opaque as average so, yeah. Nonetheless, I’m going to predict with broad strokes based on the previous news items:

  • Credits that don’t have an analog on other premium credit cards from Chase, Capital One, Bank of America, Citi, or US Bank are going to get the axe for 2025
  • Credits that are almost certainly paid for by a retailer that don’t lead to additional purchases will be refreshed away, like Saks, for 2025
  • Credits that bring new incremental revenue to a retailer will stick around, like Uber and Equinox
  • We’re going to see more monthly or quarterly credits, and fewer annual or semi-annual credits

Will the cards still be worth it? It depends on what kind of AmEx user you are: If the annual credits represent a significant source of value for premium cards, you’re in a tougher spot. If they don’t because you’re taking advantage of category bonuses, employee cards, offers, and other games, then it’s annoying but not a game changer.

Good luck!

2025’s refreshed American Express Green card monthly coupon credit.

  1. The Chase United Business MileagePlus card has a heightened sign-up bonus of 100,000 MileagePlus miles after $5,000 spend in three months. The $99 annual-fee isn’t waived, and neither is the surly service that you’ll get onboard either.

    This probably isn’t the best option to hold on to after year one, but I do like holding at least one United card at a for expanded award availability (XN acccess).
  2. The Chase United Club Business card also has a heightened sign-up bonus of 75,000 MileagePlus Miles and 1,000 Premier Qualifying Points after $5,000 spend in three months. The $450 annual-fee isn’t waived, and the card also gets you access to unlimited crackers, cheese cubes, and Coors Light when visiting a United Club.

    I’d hold this card if I were regularly flying United out of an airport with a United Club for XN access and club access, but fortunately for all of us I’m not currently doing that; if I was you’d have suffer through me whining about United a lot more than you already do.
  3. Kroger.com has $10 off of $150 or more in physical Visa and Mastercard gift cards through January 31 with promo code NEWYEAR2024. A few notes:

    – The activation fee recently increased to $6.95 on the $100 cards
    – You’ll be earning 2x fuel points
    – You won’t earn a grocery category bonus
    – These are US Bank cards

    You’ll pay shipping too, but the cheapest option is ~ $0.50.
  4. Staples has fee free $200 Mastercard gift cards starting Sunday and running through the following Saturday, limit eight per transaction.

    These are Pathward gift cards, so have a liquidation plan in place, in-store limits are $480 every six minutes, unless you get lucky and your store cycles through merchant accounts.
  5. The Chase Marriott Boundless Visa card has a heightened sign-up bonus for five free night certificates for up to 50,000 points per night after $5,000 in spend in three months, and the $99 annual fee is not waived for the first year. The certificates expire one year after issue.

    Given Bonvoy’s hyper-inflated currency, 50,000 points may not get you a night at your favorite hotel, so double check that you won’t need to burn these in Lubbock because everything else is priced out of your range. No really, the Courtyard Lubbock is 39,000 points.
  6. Giant Food and Martin’s stores are running a 10x points promotion on Apple gift cards through February 1, limit $2,000 in spend per account. (Thanks to GCG)
  7. Some American Express accounts have a targeted upgrade from a Business Gold to a Business Platinum with 120,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months. To see if you’re targeted, look for a popup on the dashboard. (Thanks to joremero)

With hip styling like this, who wouldn’t want to burn 39,000 Bonvoy points at the Courtyard Lubbock?

  1. Do this now: Register for IHG’s Q1 targeted bonus points promotion. Variations:

    – 2x points on every stay
    – 2,000 bonus points for every two nights
    – 8,000 bonus points for every four nights

    Some IHG hotels are great, like the Intercontinental brand. Others, are, well, beds. (Thanks to FM)
  2. The American Airlines credit cards page has an interesting offer for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card:

    – $400 statement credit after meeting $1,500 spend in three months
    – 30,000 AA miles after meeting $1,500 spend in three months
    – Waived annual fee the first year

    If you’re AA miles poor I’d wait for a higher mileage offer. If you’re not AA miles poor, this is a nice zero cost offer. (Thanks to coole106)
  3. Capital One has increased sign-up bonuses online for the Venture X Business mileage card, and for the Spark Cash Plus card. The bonuses are tiered:

    – 150,000 miles or $1,500 cash back after $20,000 spend in three months
    – 150,000 additional miles or $1,500 additional cash back after $100,000 spend in six months

    With the base earning of 2x or 2% cash back on these cards, you’re earning 5x total for $100,000 spend in any category, which is frankly a great multiplier provided you’ll hit the spend.
  4. There’s an even better version of the above two offers, but it’s only available through a business relationship manager:

    – 400,000 miles after $250,000 spend in six months
    – $4,000 cash back after $250,000 spend in six months

    With a base earning of 2x or 2% on these, you’ll earn 3.6x total for $250,000 spend in any category. If you’re a heavy hitter, this is almost certainly a better offer. (Thanks to JR)

Happy Wednesday!

An empty AA account, but as a hot pocket.

  1. The Chase Hyatt cards have new signup bonuses through March 6. Both bonuses are tiered. The personal card:

    – 35,000 points after $3,000 spend in 90 days
    – 30,000 additional points after another $12,000 spend in six months

    The business card is similar, with:

    – 60,000 points after $5,000 spend in 90 days
    – 15,000 additional points after another $7,000 spend in six months

    You can get both back-to-back with a modified double dip. For those of you manufacturing globalist, getting both and hitting the minimum spend will earn you 16 status nights and two category 1-4 free night certificates.
  2. Do this now: Register for Delta’s 10%-20% bonus MQD promotion for flights to and from the Pacific Northwest between February 2 and March 15.

    In case you were wondering how airlines in general are doing, or how Delta’s new elite program in particular is doing, the fact that this promotion exists should tell you everything you need to know.
  3. If you have upcoming travel on Spirit Airlines, especially if it’s more than a couple of months away, I’d suggest booking refundable backup flights on another carrier because Spirit is exploring bankruptcy and may file as soon as next week.

    Spirit’s in a very tenuous position after a judge blocked its planned merger with JetBlue airlines on anti-trust grounds, and let’s just say it’s not currently well positioned for long term success after it followed Breeze Airways down the “shovel money into the fire” path.
  4. Safeway, Albertsons, and other Just4U stores have a promotion for 10x points on $50 or more in certain gift cards running through either Tuesday or Friday depending on your region. The good options for our purposes are Choose Your Card gift cards which can be converted to other high resale value cards.

    Note specifically that Choose Your Card gift cards have a Visa BIN, an expiration date, and a CVV. Does this mean anything? I honestly don’t know currently, but always be probing because in the past it’s meant something. (Thanks to GCG)

Have a nice weekend friends!

The currently display on Spirit Airlines’s in-air aircraft alerting system.

  1. The Alaska MileagePlan Personal Visa card said “hey guys, I’m cool too” after yesterday brought an increased MileagePlan Business card sign up bonus. Yes, you can get both under a single hard pull if you apply on the same day:

    – Personal Visa: 70,000 miles after $3,000 spend in 90 days
    – Business Visa: 75,000 miles after $4,000 spend in 90 days

    Advanced churners don’t stop at just these two cards though. Don’t worry too much about bonus language with Bank of America cards either, if you’re approved and hit the spend, you’ll get the bonus.
  2. American Express has new bonuses for adding authorized users and meeting minimum spend on a few personal cards:

    – Personal Platinum: 10,000 Membership Rewards with $2,000 spend for a new authorized user card, limit one
    – Hilton Surpass: 5,000 Hilton points with $1,000 spend for a new authorized user card, limit four

    Remember that if American Express can correlate an authorized user card with a real person’s identity, it’ll show up on their credit report. (Thanks to SideShowBob233 and Agile.Travel)
  3. There’s an American Express Business Gold link that’s been lurking around private forums for about a week, and now it’s found its way into several public forums too, including reddit. The bonus is 130,000 Membership Rewards after $10,000 spend in three months, and it’s relatively immune to pop-up jail.
  4. Alaska’s MileagePlan shopping portal has a bonus of 1,200 miles for $300 or more in spend through the portal by January 26. Giftcards.com is an obvious way to knock this one out.

Happy Thursday!

Alaska lounges, famous for their pancake machines, introduce a special machine just for the “I’m cool too” Personal Alaska Visa card.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Surely you noticed that yesterday autocorrect got surly and took it out on me. It’s corrected though, and rest assured that I’ve given myself the requisite face-palms. Oh, and don’t call me Shirley.

  1. Do this now: Check for targeted Chase offers for 5x-7x on up to $1,500 spend at groceries, gas, and restaurants on co-branded cards. If you get an error, open an incognito window and try again.

    These can usually be knocked out on a single trip to the right gas station or grocery store.
  2. The Alaska MileagePlan Business card has a new, 75,000 mile sign-up bonus after $4,000 in spend in 90 days. Don’t forget that there’s much more than meets the eye with Bank of America credit card applications and limits aren’t always limits. (Thanks to DoC)
  3. American Express Offers has new travel related card-linked offers for:

    – $225 statement credit on $1,250 or more in airfare purchased directly with Air New Zealand through March 16 for flights originating in the US
    – $150 statement credit on $750 or more at Omni Hotels through May 15

    Yes, one can game these offers, but also yes, both are nice products for non-gamers.
  4. The Motley Fool has a storied past with churners, and I typically avoid writing about their promotions as a result. However there’s a confluence of deals and multiple positive reports show that they work together on this round, so here we are. The promotions:

    – American Express Offers has $50 back on $99 or more at Motley Fool through May 5
    – AA’s eShopping Portal has 6,200 miles for a new subscription

    The Motley Fool Stock advisor happens to cost $99, so with the two offers together you’re buying 6,200 AA miles and Loyalty Points at 0.79 cents per point, which is a great deal if you’ll use them. Just set a reminder to end your subscription at least 61 days after subscribing. (Thanks to Paul and Ryan)

Happy Wednesday!

Taking ‘knocked out in a single trip to the right gas station’ literally.

  1. Kroger has a 4x fuel points promotion on third party gift cards and fixed value Visa and Mastercard gift cards running through Tuesday, January 24. The market for fuel points remains strong, but as is typical, the market for gift cards to go along with those fuel points is relatively weak.

    For gift card beginners: An easy way to dip your toes into the water is to buy a single $250 gift card (like Amazon or something else you’ll probably use). You’ll earn 1,000 fuel points worth $1 per gallon at Kroger and Shell gas stations, up to 35 gallons total.

    For non-beginners: It’s go time.
  2. Hyatt has a corporate status challenge for the third year in a row, and in theory this one allows for registration throughout the entirety of 2024; many large corporations are eligible, so if you’ve got a way to get an email address at a major corporation then you can probably register. The challenge:

    – Earn Explorist for 90 days
    – Keep Explorist through February 2026 with 10 nights
    – Earn Globalist through February 2026 with 20 nights

    The now defunct, defacto way to manufacture this status was mobile check-ins at MGM’s Excalibur (or is it Exaliburist? I forget). After a status match, you’d effectively be buying elite nights at $20 each, and could complete a Globalist challenge for about $400. Now it’s a bit harder but there are always angles. (Thanks go Guilane2)
  3. Apparently in an effort to rejuvenate spending on Delta cards after the October elite program massacre, American Express has new sign-up bonus level retention offers for existing card holders:

    – Delta Platinum: 70,000 miles on $2,000 spend
    – Delta Platinum: $1,200 on $4,000 spend
    – Delta Reserve: 90,000 miles on $3,000 spend

    To check retention offers, call or chat with AmEx and say something like: “I’m considering closing this card due to [reasons, like budgeting], but before I decide what to do, I’m wondering if there are any retention offers available?” If they give you an offer, always ask if there’s another offer available before accepting, often there is and it’s better than the first. (Thanks to royalic)
  4. Stop & Shop, Martins, and Giant Food stores have 2x points on Vanilla Visa gift cards running through Thursday of next week. Note that Vanilla Visas have been rocky for the last couple of weeks, and you may find that some liquidation channels have a three swipe limit before the cards start declining for a while. (Thanks to GCG)

Have a nice weekend and watch for tomorrow’s guest post from SideShowBob233!

Unfortunately, we also no longer have access to Excalibur’s elite member welcome amenities.