Category: Credit Cards

  1. There’s a great sign-up bonus for $1,000 statement credit after $5,000 in spend on one of the lamer named credit cards on the market, the AmaZing Business Credit Card. It’s available for residents of Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, or Texas.

    The card is a no-annual fee business Visa that earns 3x at office supplies, telecom, and networking, 2x in categories better served by other cards, and 1x everywhere else. The application process for the card looks streamlined but is actually archaic; that can be a good thing though, amirite?
  2. American Express Membership Week has enrollable offers for:

    – $75 back on $250+ at Curio, Canopy, Tapestry, Motto, Tempo, and Graduate Hilton properties in North America through May 15
    – $70 back on $350+ at Hertz within the US through April 30
    – $50 back on $200+ at Lowes online or in-store through March 31
    – $50 back on $250+ at Dell through August 15

    These work with faux-cardpointers too, and if you’re not seeing them remember the 100 offer rule. Also, here’s your periodic reminder that often these work more easily on third party American Express cards at AmEx Connect.
  3. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points promotion starting tomorrow and running through April 1 on third party gift cards excluding Amazon.

    The best options for a bulk resale are still Apple and Lululemon, because Pepper blew everything else up for funsies.
  4. Citi ThankYou Points has a 25% transfer bonus to Avianca Lifemiles through April 12. Best uses:

    – ANA First to and from Japan
    – Lufthansa First to and from Europe
    – Mixed cabin shenanigans
    – Taking advantage of loose definitions of regions
    – Travel between Asia and Oceana

    There’s decent economy short-haul value too, I guess. But that’s definitely not funsies.
  1. Do this now: Register for your 5x bonus on rotating category cards:

    – Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex: Amazon (and “select streaming services” I guess)
    – Discover IT: Grocery stores and wholesale clubs, but Walmart and Target don’t count
    – Citi Dividend: Who knows, because it’s giving an error right now #citigonnaciti
    – US Bank Cash+: I choose utilities and electronics, cause #meabgonnameab

    Given Pepper’s explosion all over the gift card market, you should be getting a much bigger discount than 5x on Amazon purchases, either by using Pepper if you dare, or by buying Amazon gift cards from Pepper users at 12%+ off. I guess if you’re masochist there’s Raise/GCX at 7.60% off too.
  2. The Citi Shop Your Way Rewards card has released new mid-month offers including (I believe) a new all time high spending bonus for online spend through April 14:

    – 325,000 Shop Your Way Rewards after $1,000+ online spend
    – 250,000 Shop Your Way Rewards after $750+ in online spend
    – $100 statement credit after $1,000+ in online spend
    – $75 statement credit after $750+ in online spend

    (Thanks to uppereastsider, irieriley, Matt, and David 99)
  3. Meijer MPerks has a digital coupon for $10 off of $150+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday. This coupon doesn’t specify a limit, which probably means you can re-clip the same coupon after checkout repeatedly.

    This is the kind of low profile deal that can be so valuable that it’s worth it to travel from out of state if you don’t live by a Meijer, provided you have a good liquidation channel for Visas.
  4. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300+ in Visa gift cards through Saturday, and this one is confirmed working unlike last week’s Mastercard version, which didn’t work even though stores had the flyer, then worked after stores took down the flyer, then maybe worked, but only if you were lucky. For best results, always:

    – Buy in even multiples of $300
    – The “Everywhere” cards sometimes have lower fees and definitely work differently for liquidation

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  5. Hilton has a targeted bonus for 3,000 bonus points after your next stay within four months of registration, but no later than the end of the year. (Thanks to Beneficial-Board6959)

From the people in charge of last week’s Office Depot / OfficeMax’s Mastercard promotion.

  1. The American Express Marriott Bonvoy personal cards have increased sign-up bonuses through May 14, available head-on, or via referral (and if you know anyone with a referral, please use theirs instead of applying head-on):

    – Brilliant: 185,000 Bonvoy points after $6,000 spend in six months, $650 annual fee
    – Bevy: 155,000 Bonvoy points after $5,000 spend in six months, $250 annual fee

    A couple of notes: (1) I prefer points offers like these to certificate offers, and (2) if you’re going to get a personal Bonvoy card, the Chase one at least has an upgrade path to the Ritz card.
  2. All Kroger brands now have a digital coupon for no purchase fees on $150+ in Visa or Mastercard variable load cards just like Harris Teeter through Tuesday, limit one per account.

    If only it were possible to have multiple Kroger accounts, but alas, science hasn’t figured that one out yet.
  3. The US Bank Smartly card is reportedly no longer available for new applications in branch, and rumored to unavailable for applications online in the next month.

    Assuming that’s true, now’s the time for this card if you want it.
  4. Kroger stores have a 4x fuel points sale today only on all third party gift cards that don’t start with an ‘A’ and end with ‘mazon’. Pepper continues to murder the gift card resale market for all of the major brands it sells, so that means this promotion is basically useful for Apple and Lululemon only. (update: dead)

    Don’t worry, one day the gift card resale market will stabilize.

The multiple Kroger account science room clock.

  1. American Express has a newly targeted offer for 20,000 Membership Rewards for turning on Pay Over Time. You’ve got two shots:

    – Check the generic landing page for an offer on every charge card
    – Check this specific link for an offer on every charge card

    Make sure you set a reminder to turn off Pay Over Time in 121 days, and if you get the bonus offer on multiple charge cards, consider activating them in separate tabs as close together as possible. All of this is obviously because reasons.
  2. American Express Offers has new targeted offers for:

    – $50 back on $250+ at Grand Hyatt through April 15
    – $300 back on $2,000+ at Qatar through April 30
    – $150 back on $1,000+ at Emirates through April 30
    – $100 back on $500+ at Mandarin Oriental through May 6
    – $100 back on $400+ at SLS hotels through May 14
    – $200 back on $900+ at Four Seasons in the Americans and Europe through May 21
    – $40 back on $200+ at Ceasars though June 30

    Gamers gonna game.
  3. Meijer MPerks has a promotion for 50,000 bonus points with a $500 third party gift card purchase, limit 50,000 points per MPerks account. Obviously it’s impossible to have multiple MPerks accounts, right?

    In normal times there are plenty of brands that are well suited to this promotion, but in the current Pepper-pocolptic market, the workable brands are basically Apple and Lululemon.
  4. The Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card has an increased sign-up bonus of three 50,000 point free night certificates after $3,000 spend in three months, and the $95 annual fee is not waived in the first year. The main utility in this card is that it has an upgrade path to the Chase Ritz-Carlton card after one year; it’s definitely not found in three 50,000 point certificates which will work at a lower end US airport hotel if you’re lucky.

    The same offer will probably be available through referrals by the end of the week too, so check referrals before applying.

Happy Tuesday!

Sample US Airport hotel currently priced at 50,000 Bonvoy points nightly.

  1. The Chase Freedom Unlimited card has an uncapped double cash for the first year back sign-up bonus. You may need to try different browsers, mobile devices, a VPN, or by making Chase jealous and applying for an American Express instead.

    There are golden plays where uncapped 3x Ultimate Rewards massively moves the needle.
  2. Etihad Guest has a tiered transfer bonus for incoming Capital One, Accor ALL, and Hyatt transfers through March 31:

    – 20% bonus: < 10,000 miles
    – 30% bonus: < 50,000 miles
    – 40% bonus: 50,000+ miles

    The bonus miles aren’t awarded instantly, and may take up to April 15 to arrive.
  3. The Office Depot / OfficeMax $15 off of $300+ Mastercard gift cards promotion mentioned on Friday turned out to be lies, and not the good kind (?). I guess there’s no need show up to a 9,000 square foot sparsely stocked, poorly-lit office supply store manned by exactly two 19 year olds, one of whom is on their lunch break, this week.

The Chase and American Express relationship.

We have a lot of strange updates to slingshot us into the weekend, just like yesterday’s SpaceX Starship was slingshotted (slungshot?, slingshat?) to orbit:

  1. The next installment of American Express versus the Floosies dropped. In the new chapter, Chapter IV: That Time Maurice Posed in Duck Face, American Express blocked most floosie merchants, preventing charges from going through. This was made especially easy because the floosie merchants all shared some common traits.

    My opinion: The floosies are lucky that it shook out this way and that it wasn’t worse. I bet they’ll strike back though.
  2. The AA, Alaska, Delta, Southwest, United, Airline shopping portals have limited earn on giftcards.com purchases to the first $20,000 per rolling 365 days. Emirates, JetBlue, and Virgin Atlantic have limited earn to the first $2,000 per month. The curious case of another portal remains a curious case though.

    My takeaway is that giftcards.com orders through an airline portal should only happen when the bonus is 2x+, or when there’s a cumulative spend shopping bonus.
  3. Recurring American Express statement credits for airline incidentals, $200 Dell credits, $10 telecommunications, $10 GrubHub, $50 Saks, and $20 flexible business credits stopped posting for charges after February 17. Resy 10x and 15x bonus points stopped around the same time too. Don’t stress, it’s not you, it’s them. They’ll get it fixed eventually, this happens roughly every year.

    Dunkin, Hilton, Clear, Walmart+, and Resy restaurant credits remain unaffected.
  4. Office Depot / OfficeMax stores have $15 off of $300 in Mastercard gift cards through Saturday. Buy in even multiples of $300 for a bigger overall discount. Also, finally, something normal!

    These are Pathward gift cards.

Have a nice weekend friends!

Yes the duck face is real, and no you won’t find it here.

  1. The AirFrance / KLM FlyingBlue Bank of America Mastercard has two new increased sign-up bonuses:

    – 70,000 FlyingBlue miles and 100 XP after $3,000 spend in three months
    – 60,000 FlyingBlue miles, a $100 statement credit, and 100 XP after $3,000 spend in three months, presented during checkout with a dummy flight booking

    This card is interesting for status chasers, especially because you can have multiple and the anniversary XP bonus stacks.
  2. Alaska has an award sale for fares booked by tonight, but generally only for travel starting in late march and ending in late May . I’m seeing:

    – 4,000 miles for short-haul and some flights to Mexico
    – 7,500 miles for west coast to Hawaii
    – 7,500 miles for transcontinental flights

    You can still transfer Membership Rewards to Alaska via Hawaiian, though hopefully (?) that dies soon.
  3. Southwest Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Fare Plus fares earn fewer miles per dollar spent. Why mention it here? It slightly changes the calculus Chase Sapphire Reserve point bookings versus transferring to Rapid Rewards and booking with points through Southwest.
  4. The Southwest Rapid Rewards shopping portal has 1,000 bonus miles with $300 spend through March 17. Something something points calculus.
  5. Harris Teeter stores, the zombie stepchild of Kroger has 4x fuel points on all third party gift cards excluding Amazon through Tuesday.
  6. Reportedly the Capital One Travel portal has a promotion for 20x points on a hotel booking for those who haven’t booked a hotel through the portal before, with a maximum bonus of 50,000 points through April 15. (Thanks to FM)

Happy Thursday!

Kroger affiliates: Harris Teeter (left), the others (right).

Before we dive in, let me answer a few frequently asked questions about yesterday’s post:

  • No, I’m not building an alternative gift card marketplace
  • I think the opportunity for someone who successfully builds one is huge though
  • Yes, there are probably a bunch of mid-tier gift card resellers that you don’t know
  • You can find a recent-ish list of reputable gift card buyers here
  • No, I wouldn’t recommend starting new with Pepper any more, if you’re still there, float what you’re willing to lose based on your risk tolerance
  • No, I haven’t tried the Campbell’s ghost pepper soup, but yes, I do have a reader review ready

And now, today’s news:

  1. Chase has been accidentally reporting open business credit cards to TransUnion for a relatively small set of churners, but seemingly only if cards were opened with a social security number as the primary tax ID (versus an EIN).

    This seems to be an error on Chase’s part, and they’re fixing it within 10 business days if you call and ask. In theory . So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to check your TransUnion credit report and put a ticket in with Chase if necessary.
  2. FlyingBlue Promo Rewards for March have been released for travel booked in march and flown through August 31. The promotional US cities are Detroit, Seattle, Washington DC, Boston, and Austin.
  3. Chase Ultimate Rewards has a 20% transfer bonus to British Airways Avios through the end of March. As usual, this is effectively a transfer bonus to all carriers that use Avios as their currency.
  4. Staples has fee free $200 Visa gift cards through Saturday.

    These are Pathward gift cards.
  5. VanillaGift.com has fee free Vanilla Visa gift cards with promo code VGWOMEN through Saturday. Purchase limits for Incomm sites are $10,000 per account per rolling 24 hours.

    These are Incomm gift cards. Incomm sites won’t earn points or count toward a sign-up bonus on American Express first party cards.
  6. The Chase Freedom and Freedom Flex cards have two bonus 5x categories in March: Insurance and tax preparation services, no registration necessary.

    The original $1,500 spend across all 5x categories for the quarter remains.

Happy Tuesday!

Your next mission: Fly for 12 hours in this.